Chapter 136: The Mistress of the Duke's Mansion Can Only Be Her
Mu Jiang wept tears like rain, quietly gazing at the Dowager Madame.
In that fleeting look, anyone could see the thick hatred; hatred mixed with tears, both heart-wrenchingly painful and venomously malicious.
In the depth of the night, it sent chills down one’s spine.
She no longer struggled as she was dragged away.
There were dark stains on her dress, as if blood had seeped through from beneath.
The Dowager Madame boarded a small oiled cart, supported by Zhou Yuanshen.
“Yuanshen, come here,” the Dowager Madame beckoned to him.
He followed her to Shou’an Courtyard.
Cheng Zhao said to Second Madam, “It’s late, Mother. You should go back and rest.”
Second Madam held her hand. “Don’t be afraid.”
“Yes,” Cheng Zhao replied.
Only then did Second Madam turn and leave.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the eldest branch took a small oiled cart and returned to Chengming Hall.
Huan Qingtang helped the First Madam inside, and the First Madam did not push her away, though she certainly showed no kindness.
“The Concubine is gone. How will Lijing Courtyard be arranged?” the First Madam seemed to ponder, as if asking Huan Qingtang.
Huan Qingtang replied, “The Concubine will surely return, Mother. If Grandmother and the Lord Duke wanted her dead, they wouldn’t keep reminding her of things.”
She also recalled the Emperor killing someone in Chengming Hall...
Huan Qingtang felt that Mu Jiang still had plenty of life left. She wouldn’t die until the very last moment, unless the Dowager Madame found her worthless.
If Cheng Zhao and Zhou Yuanshen wanted to get rid of Mu Jiang, they’d have to rely on their own abilities.
The First Madam saw none of this, and Huan Qingtang wouldn’t say more.
“It won’t be easy for her to return. Cheng Shi is no pushover,” the First Madam said.
Saying this, she looked at Huan Qingtang with a half-smile. “Cheng Shi holds the title of Duchess of the Duke’s residence. She’s not easy to deal with. Fortunately, I have it too.”
Huan Qingtang did not.
Cheng Zhao could easily target Huan Qingtang; but the First Madam, being both a titled lady and an elder, had the advantage when facing Cheng Zhao.
First Madam Song’s words didn’t seem intended to win Huan Qingtang over—they were purely meant to provoke her.
She used words to needle and belittle her.
Huan Qingtang looked up at her. “Mother, you are the mistress of Chengming Hall...”
“I think you’re the one who wants to be the mistress of Chengming Hall! You pride yourself on your youth and beauty, and your petty cleverness. You think the Lord Duke will be charmed by you and disregard me,” First Madam said coldly.
Huan Qingtang had been treated poorly everywhere that night.
She looked at the First Madam without changing her expression, her cheeks trembling slightly, but her words came slowly and respectfully: “Mother, I have no such intention. You will understand my heart in time.”
“In time?” the First Madam sneered. “In time, who will be sitting here is still uncertain. Don’t think that just because you’re young, you’ll outlast me. You’re still too green.”
Having vented her anger from Second Madam and Cheng Zhao all on Huan Qingtang, she felt much better.
Huan Qingtang walked out of Chengming Hall, giving only a helpless smile.
She turned and glanced back at the gate of Chengming Hall, taking in its solemn grandeur. How could the mistress of this place lack tolerance? The Duchess of the Duke’s residence would only be her.
She could endure these slanders and cold stares.
In the future, children, grandchildren, servants, and clan members who had branched out would all surround her, flattering her just as they did the Dowager Madame.
As her mother-in-law had said, she was young, beautiful, and brilliant.
She walked away with light steps.
Mu Jiang had lost her child and been sent to the family shrine. The power struggles in this residence were now clearer and more defined.
From now on, she was the only blade in the Dowager Madame’s hand.
Just as Zhou Yuanshen was the Emperor’s blade.
She would gain more from this.
—Would the blade ever turn on its master?
The one most like Zhou Yuanshen should be her; and with Mu Jiang’s miscarriage, she finally had some respect for Zhou Yuanshen.
He truly was unlike ordinary people.
She returned to Cuiyun Courtyard.
The lights in Nonghua Courtyard blazed brightly.
Cheng Zhao called Suyue to her side and carefully applied medicinal powder to her injured hand.
There was a break on Suyue’s hand.
“It doesn’t hurt, just a small wound,” Suyue insisted.
Cheng Zhao said, “Rest for a few days. Don’t work until the wound scabs over.”
Suyue assented.
Nanny Li, Qiubai, and Suyue gathered around Cheng Zhao, discussing the commotion from earlier.
They wondered, “Will the Concubine ever return?”
Cheng Zhao thought she would. Neither the Dowager Madame nor Zhou Yuanshen had intended for her to die.
But these were not things to share with anyone, not even her confidants.
An hour later, Zhou Yuanshen returned from Shou’an Courtyard.
The attendants withdrew. Cheng Zhao helped him remove his outer clothes, and the couple went to bed.
“What did Grandmother say?” Cheng Zhao asked him quickly.
“She told me not to touch Concubine Mu, to spare her life,” Zhou Yuanshen said. “Basically, it was a threat.”
There were too many things the Dowager Madame could use to threaten Zhou Yuanshen.
“The greater situation matters most,” Cheng Zhao said.
Zhou Yuanshen said nothing.
He lay down and covered the bedside lamp. “This Dragon Boat Festival, we’ll go to the maternal family’s home. Too many things have happened lately. You and Mother need some peace.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll watch the dragon boat races with the Emperor and the Crown Prince in the morning, and then head to my maternal family’s home in the afternoon. We’ll stay overnight,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
He added, “You all can go watch the dragon boat races too.”
“I’ll ask Mother,” Cheng Zhao said.
Zhou Yuanshen grunted in the dark.
Then he asked, “Cheng Zhao, would you like to visit the General of the Western Pacification’s mansion?”
Cheng Zhao thought it was neither here nor there.
But since he brought it up, it wouldn’t hurt to go see.
“When?”
“After the Dragon Boat Festival,” Zhou Yuanshen said. “There are several pomegranate trees, and the pomegranate flowers are blooming beautifully.”
“I really like pomegranate flowers,” Cheng Zhao said.
Zhou Yuanshen hummed in acknowledgment.
Early the next morning, Cheng Zhao and Zhou Yuanshen got up and went to Second Madam’s Jiangyun Courtyard.
Zhou Yuanqi had arrived earlier and was asking about the previous night’s events.
He had missed all the excitement.
“...She is utterly despicable,” Second Madam said, gnashing her teeth about Mu Jiang.
When she saw Cheng Zhao, her anger immediately subsided. “It’s still Zhaozhao who is clever. By talking to the Dowager Madame, you made her realize the truth about the Concubine’s miscarriage.”
Zhou Yuanqi curled his lip. “She might not believe it. She’ll surely think Third Sister-in-law is lying on purpose.”
“Who cares whether she believes it? All that matters is that the servants do. No one harmed her—she got rid of the child herself,” Second Madam said.
She added, “How much trouble has she stirred up since getting pregnant?”
She had never let up.
Second Master listened quietly, then looked at Zhou Yuanshen, who was sitting nearby. “What did your grandmother say?”
“Grandmother said the environment at the family shrine is peaceful, which will do Concubine Mu good. She’s told her to stay there for a while,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
Second Master said, “That’s not a good thing.”
He gave Zhou Yuanshen a meaningful look. “Lijing Courtyard is empty now.”
The Dowager Madame had many ways to keep Zhou Yuanshen in check.
Once, she had rewarded him with many beauties and sent him soup regularly to maintain her image as a kind matriarch.
That “soup-delivering” had been forced to stop after First Madam Song drugged it; Lijing Courtyard then became the Dowager Madame’s sacred ground for displaying her affection for her grandson.
But with Mu Jiang gone, Zhou Yuanshen had an excuse not to go to Lijing Courtyard. How could the Dowager Madame accept that?
Thus, Lijing Courtyard might soon host someone new.
Next to Lijing Courtyard was Yujin Courtyard, which could also accommodate a concubine.
“Father, I have it under control,” Zhou Yuanshen said blandly.
Cheng Zhao looked up at the father and son, then lowered her gaze.