Chapter 119: Zhou Yuanshen Physically Assaults Someone

Cheng Zhao didn't look around.

She slowly drank her tea, her gaze never wandering recklessly.

She neither looked at Zhou Yuanshen's current expression, wondering if he was smug, nor did she glance at the two maidservants, though her peripheral vision caught them sneaking peeks at her and him.

She also didn't look at Huan Qingtang. From any angle, with the Lord Duke, his wife, and his concubine sitting there, she shouldn't have stayed—yet she acted as if nothing was amiss, remaining with them.

As if this large bed had a place reserved for her, too.

Cheng Zhao found it inexplicably amusing.

Her marriage couldn't bear deep thought; the moment she dwelled on it, it became absurd.

Still, it was rather interesting.

Life within high-ranking households was often dull and insipid, with conflicts that grew tiresome. But the Zhou family added a few extra laughs.

If the Zhou family ever fell from power, these matters would be gossiped about freely, providing fodder for mockery for over a century.

Cheng Zhao sat up straight, expressionless, until a maidservant entered and said: "Doctor Wang has finished taking the pulse; the Dowager Madame requests the Lord Duke."

Zhou Yuanshen turned to Cheng Zhao instead: "Go and ask Grandmother and the doctor to come out here for a chat. If we all crowd in there, it won't be good for Concubine Mu."

Cheng Zhao: "..."

Either he didn't return to the residence at all, or he'd toss a hot potato to her the moment he came back.

But thinking it over, with all these women in the room, could he order his elder brother's widow around, or command the two maidservant-concubines?

Only Cheng Zhao was available.

Grumbling inwardly, Cheng Zhao wasted no time on her face. The moment his words fell, she performed a crisp bow: "As you command, Lord Duke."

She left.

The inner bedchamber of Mu Jiang was particularly ornate. Between the bed and the door stood a boxwood screen—costly material, with a painting on it by a master's hand.

Cheng Zhao still remembered how Zhou Yuanshen had once spent a night in the Nonghua Courtyard; afterward, to "appease" Mu Jiang, he had specially given her an expensive screen, something Mu Jiang bragged about to the entire household.

This was probably it.

Truly a fine piece, certainly worth boasting about.

Circling around the screen, she saw Mu Jiang sitting on the bed, the Dowager Madame seated beside her on the edge; half a roomful of maidservants and matrons stood around. She was no gentle-born lady—during the pulse diagnosis, the bed curtain wasn't lowered, as the doctor needed to observe and listen.

Doctor Wang had already packed his medical bag, standing respectfully to the side, waiting.

Cheng Zhao caught a faint, familiar fragrance.

It seemed recognizable, but she couldn't recall where she'd smelled it before.

"Cheng Shi, where is the Lord Duke?" the Dowager Madame asked with a smile.

Cheng Zhao: "Grandmother, the Lord Duke is very worried about the Secondary Wife. He came straight from court in his official robes. Since he's been running around the court and government offices all day, he was afraid the smell on his clothes would bother the Secondary Wife. He asks Doctor Wang to come out for a word."

The Dowager Madame smiled: "The Lord Duke is always so thoughtful and considerate."

As she said this, she looked at Mu Jiang.

Mu Jiang could have replied, uttering a few polite and graceful words, but her expression changed instead.

She stood up abruptly: "I want to see Third Brother."

Two matrons quickly moved to hold her down: "Secondary Wife, please don't get agitated. Doctor Wang said you must rest quietly."

Even Doctor Wang was startled: "Secondary Wife, you need to take it slowly."

"I want to see Third Brother!" Mu Jiang raised her voice.

In front of Cheng Zhao, the Dowager Madame, and—an outsider—Doctor Wang, she blatantly disregarded all propriety, shouting loudly: "Third Brother! Third Brother!"

Cheng Zhao: "..."

Sometimes she thought, to live as freely as Mu Jiang, doing everything without overthinking, must be very easy.

She called out several times in a row.

What was surprising was that no footsteps came from beyond the screen.

Zhou Yuanshen, in the Eastern Side Room, seemed not to have heard.

He should have heard.

Mu Jiang seemed stunned, tilting her ear to listen for movement outside.

Dead silence.

After several breaths, she stood there dazed.

Doctor Wang wished he could disappear; the Dowager Madame's smile didn't fade in the slightest.

"Grandmother, did Third Brother...did he go out?" Mu Jiang asked, shock giving way to tears brimming in her eyes, before she called out again with a sob, "Third Brother!"

This time, crying and shouting, she called out four or five times in a row.

Again, silence outside.

No one spoke.

The maidservants and attendants held their breath, barely daring to breathe.

The Dowager Madame's face turned pale.

Doctor Wang looked at Cheng Zhao, wanting to retreat but feeling it would be too obvious.

Still, silence.

When Mu Jiang rushed out again, no one tried to stop her; instead, they all followed her.

Wearing only her inner garments and trousers, without shoes, she charged straight into the Eastern Side Room.

Zhou Yuanshen sat on the heated brick bed by the window in the Eastern Side Room; Huan Qingtang sat on a nearby armchair, while the two maidservant-concubines stood quietly to the side.

Seeing Mu Jiang burst in, Huan Qingtang rose slowly.

Without a word, she gestured to the two maidservant-concubines, and the three of them withdrew into the main hall.

The Dowager Madame, supported by the supervising Nanny Sun, also came out, followed by Cheng Zhao and the two matrons.

Doctor Wang lagged behind, standing among the maidservants.

The Eastern Side Room and the main hall were separated by a single wall, with no door shut—only a half-length curtain hanging in the doorway.

"Third Brother, why did you ignore me?" Mu Jiang's voice, crying and accusing, carried clearly to everyone: "Why do you only favor Cheng Shi and neglect me? I'm already able to serve you."

Zhou Yuanshen's voice was low and slow: "Concubine Mu, not only do you disrespect me, but you also fail to show respect to the lady with a super-rank honorary title?"

Cheng Zhao: "..."

Very clever—he shifted the blame onto her. The men of the Zhou family were indeed all masters at this.

"And you still want to defend her?"

"It's not because you're delicate or because you're pregnant that I won't strike you. It's because that slap wouldn't land on your face—it would land on Grandmother," Zhou Yuanshen said.

He seemed to have turned his head: "Grandmother, am I right with those words?"

The Dowager Madame could no longer stand idly by: "Go and bring Concubine Mu out."

Concubine Mu...

Those two words struck like a thunderclap in the room. Not only Cheng Zhao, but even the unflappable Huan Qingtang raised her eyes to look at the Dowager Madame.

In front of everyone, the Dowager Madame was also calling Mu Jiang "Concubine Mu"?

If one didn't know Zhou Yuanshen's cold nature, one might think he deliberately provoked Mu Jiang just to challenge the Dowager Madame.

And clearly, he had won.

Mu Jiang had trampled both her own face and the Dowager Madame's.

Nanny Sun and another matron entered the Eastern Side Room.

Mu Jiang wept and screamed: "Third Brother, why are you treating me like this? I'm carrying your child!"

Nanny Sun pressed a hand over her mouth.

"Secondary Wife, if you move again and the child is harmed, you'll have even more to cry about in the days to come," Nanny Sun threatened her in a low voice.

Mu Jiang's struggles instantly stopped.

She was led out of the Eastern Side Room, and upon seeing the Dowager Madame, tears streamed down her face: "Grandmother, you must do right by me."

Then she saw Cheng Zhao: "It's all your fault! You've stirred up chaos in our household, poisoning Third Brother with your wicked ways... Ah!"

Her knees buckled. Nanny Sun and the matron didn't steady her in time, and she stumbled, kneeling before Cheng Zhao.

Her lower abdomen nearly hit the ground.

"Secondary Wife!" The matron feared she'd accidentally dropped her, panicking.

But everyone could see that Zhou Yuanshen, standing at the doorway, had pulled one of the beaded strings from the room's curtain and struck Mu Jiang's knees with the beads.

The beads on the curtain snapped at that very moment, scattering with a series of sharp cracks across the floor. Plump and round, they bounced vigorously against the blue bricks.

For a long time, the room remained utterly silent, the only sound the rolling of beads.

Zhou Yuanshen stepped forward, bypassing Mu Jiang, bypassing the Dowager Madame, and clasped Cheng Zhao's hand.

"Grandmother, you have seen it for yourself. Concubine Mu is not ill; she is merely acting spoiled and throwing this tantrum," Zhou Yuanshen said.

He fixed his gaze on the Dowager Madame. "If you refuse to handle it, let Cheng Shi take charge. She is my secondary wife, and disciplining my concubines is her rightful duty, is it not, Grandmother?"

The Dowager Madame’s cheek twitched sharply.

She was losing control.

She stared back at Zhou Yuanshen, her gaze fierce yet quiet: "That will not be necessary. I will continue to teach Ah Jiang myself. Cheng Shi is young; what does she know of managing others?"