Chapter 15
The First Madam returned to Fu’an Courtyard. Without saying a word, she sat down to drink tea, her face livid from beginning to end.
“That wretched girl, Li Weiyang, is getting bolder by the day! She actually dared to talk back to Mother to her face!” Li Changxi seethed at the thought and couldn’t help speaking up.
The First Madam glanced at her, the corners of her mouth drooping. She said nothing.
“Fifth Sister, how can you speak of Third Sister like that? It’s utterly improper!” Li Changle frowned. Though she, too, felt Li Weiyang needed to be taught a lesson, in public she still had to maintain the perfect bearing of the eldest young lady.
Li Changxi gave a cold snort. “Eldest Sister, didn’t Mother have someone investigate her before? They said she was foolish and timid. But look at her now: she speaks without leaving a single opening, and she doesn’t seem timid at all. That’s nothing like the girl people described.”
The First Madam shot her a reproachful look, then asked, “Changxi, do you have any ideas?”
Changxi glanced at the First Madam and spoke softly. “Mother, I think it’s time to put the maid you sent over to good use.”
The First Madam paused for a moment, then smiled. “You’re right.”
Li Changxi’s eyes rolled, a cold glint in them. “Old Madam may be protecting her now, but what if she angers Father? Everyone will remember that she was born in the second month and is a calamity-bringing star. By then...”
She didn’t spell it out. She only watched the First Madam, beaming.
“You clever girl, you’re always quick to think of something.” The First Madam’s smile deepened. “Still, it really is a good idea.”
Li Changxi immediately brightened and sidled up to her ingratiatingly. “Mother, you gave that girl a pair of bangles today!”
The First Madam smiled faintly. She ordered Nanny Lin, who stood nearby, to fetch a pair of jade phoenix hairpins, then handed them to Li Changxi. “One is for you, and the other is for your Fourth Sister.”
Fourth Sister hadn’t lifted a finger! Li Changxi had never thought much of her dull-witted older sister. She decided to keep both hairpins for herself, then thanked the First Madam.
Li Changxi was neither too stupid nor too clever, and the First Madam nodded with satisfaction. She needed Li Changxi to be obedient and to rush to the forefront in everything, doing all the dirty work for them so that neither she nor Changle would get blood on their hands.
After chatting a little longer, Li Changxi finally left, delighted.
“Mother, you’re far too kind to her,” Li Changle said coolly, watching Li Changxi’s retreating figure. “I’m afraid she’ll lose all sense of her place and grow bolder and bolder.”
“Silly girl, that’s exactly what I want.” The First Madam gave a cold laugh. “With that narrow-minded one from the Second Branch, that sharp-tongued Fifth Sister, and that dull-witted Fourth Sister, you’ll shine all the brighter.”
Li Changle understood perfectly well what she meant. She smiled and leaned against the First Madam. “Mother, don’t we still have a clever, quick-witted Third Sister?”
The First Madam’s lips curled. “Weiyang may not be stupid, but soon enough... she’ll make a mistake!”
Ever since Li Weiyang had put on that performance in front of Old Madam, her new clothes had arrived in less than a day: four sets for each season. Li Weiyang chose a bright, soft rose-red padded jacket and skirt. She felt the thick, sturdy cotton padding inside; even in winter, it would keep her warm.
That meant she had won that battle beautifully!
Li Weiyang sat in her room, sipping hot tea as she considered how best to spend the silver Old Madam had given her. Huamei came in carrying a pair of newly embroidered shoes. “Third Miss, I noticed that the shoes you’re wearing are worn out. I also saw how lovely Eldest Miss’s shoes are, embroidered with colorful phoenixes, so I hurried to embroider you a pair as well! Do you like them?”
Li Weiyang glanced at them. The shoes were made of bright red satin, embroidered with golden phoenixes. The stitching was exquisite and dazzling; clearly, Huamei had put a great deal of effort into them.
Huamei glanced carefully at Li Weiyang and smiled. “Do you like them, Miss?”
Li Weiyang tried them on in front of her, then broke into a radiant smile and nodded emphatically, just like an innocent young girl who had received a beloved gift.
Huamei immediately relaxed. She lowered her head to straighten the beads on Li Weiyang’s shoes, then remarked as if casually, “The maids are all saying that Third Miss is so beautiful and refined, much prettier than Fourth Miss and Fifth Miss!”
At least she knew not to compare her with the peerlessly beautiful Eldest Miss. This maid wasn’t entirely foolish. Li Weiyang pretended not to understand and examined her shoes closely.
“I joined the household late, but I’ve heard the older servants say that Third Miss takes after Seventh Concubine. Seventh Concubine was a beauty in her day, too!” Huamei couldn’t hold back any longer and let the words slip as if by accident.
Li Weiyang suddenly looked up. Huamei’s heart skipped a beat under her gaze, and she hurriedly lowered her head and slapped herself across the mouth. “This servant was wrong. I shouldn’t have said that!”
To her surprise, Li Weiyang only smiled. “Huamei, these shoes are truly lovely!”
Seeing that she didn’t seem angry, Huamei relaxed. “I’m glad Third Miss likes them. Sigh, you really are so lonely. It’s hard without your birth mother by your side. Fourth Miss and Fifth Miss have Fourth Concubine looking after them; they have it so much easier!”
Li Weiyang blinked and deliberately asked, “Huamei, what are you talking about?”
Reading her expression, Huamei replied, “I heard that Seventh Concubine has been getting worse these past two days.”
At the mention of Seventh Concubine, Li Weiyang instinctively touched the jade pendant at her chest. When she had left Pingcheng, the Li family had stepped in to help her reclaim it. It was the only memento her birth mother had left her.
Seventh Concubine Tan had once been a maid who served the First Madam by washing her feet. After one drunken night with Li Xiaoran, Tan had unexpectedly conceived Li Weiyang. Because Li Weiyang was born in the second month, she was forced to leave. The First Madam had elevated Tan to concubine merely to put on a show. The other concubines in the Li household all had something to recommend them—connections, beauty, or a favored child who could lend them status. Seventh Concubine alone had neither a respectable background nor anything to boast of besides a daughter born in the second month, so she naturally lost Chancellor Li’s favor. In her previous life, she had died of illness half a year before Li Weiyang returned. But in this life, Li Weiyang had returned to the Li household a year earlier, so Seventh Concubine was still alive.
Over the past month, Li Weiyang had tried every way she could think of to learn about Seventh Concubine. All she had discovered was that she was neither favored nor respected, and that her health was poor. The First Madam had sent her to recuperate in the most remote part of the South Courtyard. In truth, the South Courtyard was merely a section of the servants’ crowded communal compound, a world away from the main courtyard. Just across a wall from it was the noisy, bustling compound where the low-ranking maids lived.
Seventh Concubine was the most down-and-out and most easily mistreated person in the entire household. The thought flashed through Li Weiyang’s mind, and a sudden needle-sharp pain pierced her heart. But she quickly remembered that Huamei belonged to the First Madam. There was no way she had brought up Li Weiyang’s birth mother so suddenly without an ulterior motive!
As Li Weiyang thought this over, a cold smile slowly rose in her heart. She gazed at Huamei with a serene expression. If someone had set a trap for her, she might as well step into it—but who would end up in dire straits was anyone’s guess!