Chapter 204: Running Water

The Duke’s residence was bustling with activity.

Huan Qingtang had also heard about Cheng Zhao and Zhou Yuanshen moving into the General’s residence.

Huan Qingtang sat before her writing desk, copying a Buddhist sutra.

Cheng Zhao had mentioned to the Dowager Madame that she wanted to enshrine the Child-Giving Guanyin, and asked Huan Qingtang to transcribe a sutra for her as well; Huan Qingtang agreed.

“What is Cheng Zhao trying to do?”

In Huan Qingtang’s view, Cheng Zhao’s goal this time was to move into Chengming Hall.

But was Cheng Zhao really aiming for something so blatant and undisguised?

It was too obvious.

“What’s her plan?” Huan Qingtang wondered again.

She sorted through Cheng Zhao’s reasoning: stir up the termite problem, bring Xian Si to Nonghua Court, then use Xian Si to create an incident and move out of Nonghua Court?

Wasn’t she afraid of gaining a reputation for jealousy?

Or did she have some other purpose?

Huan Qingtang felt she might be overthinking and missing the key point.

She finished copying a scroll of the sutra and sent her maid: “Deliver this to Nonghua Court, and take a look at what’s going on there.”

Her closest maid said, “I’ll go personally.”

Huan Qingtang nodded.

The maid was gone for quite a while. After all, the walk from Cuiyun Court to Nonghua Court was a long one. Nonghua Court was in a very remote corner.

“Cheng Shi isn’t in the courtyard,” the maid reported.

The day’s work finished in the afternoon, and Cheng Zhao had already returned.

“Her maids said she was at Jiangyun Court,” the maid added.

“It seems Cheng Shi goes to Jiangyun Court every day to wait on her in-laws during the morning and evening meals,” the maid said further.

At that, the maid’s tone carried a hint of schadenfreude.

Being a daughter-in-law was hard; standing attendance on one’s parents-in-law was grueling. Fortunately, her own mistress didn’t have to serve her mother-in-law.

“She’s very good at this kind of hollow show. When the servants talk about her, they inevitably praise her filial piety. Word will spread, and it will do wonders for her reputation,” Huan Qingtang said.

“Young Madam, I’ve truly never seen such a disagreeable person,” the maid spat.

Huan Qingtang: “The Cheng family has always been like this—excellent reputations. She was raised on it, and has known since childhood how to play these hypocritical games.”

The maid once again heaped contempt on Cheng Zhao and the Cheng family.

“...So she’s not at Nonghua Court? What about that new concubine?” Huan Qingtang asked again.

The maid: “I asked out of curiosity. Her maids said she was in the side chamber doing needlework.”

“This new concubine is rather interesting,” Huan Qingtang remarked.

“She’s truly patient. Compared to the secondary wife, this new concubine has far more skill,” the maid said. “And she’s beautiful—delicate and alluring. No man could resist her.”

“If she can stay steady, she’ll have good days ahead,” Huan Qingtang said.

She found herself thinking of her own situation.

She was also beautiful.

All she needed to do was do nothing, maintain her noble elegance, and in time she would get what she wanted.

Men always tired of the old and craved the new.

So why couldn’t she stay steady herself? What was she so anxious about?

Was she worse off than a singing girl?

“Young Madam, is there anything we need to do?” the maid asked.

Huan Qingtang: “Let’s wait too for now.”

The maid looked as though she wanted to say something but held back.

“What do you want to say?”

“Young Madam, staying steady is all well and good—winning through patience. But Cheng Shi keeps nibbling away bit by bit. For us, staying steady means falling behind,” the maid said.

The calm surface of Huan Qingtang’s heart rippled once again.

Yes, Cheng Zhao’s offensive was too fierce.

If both sides remained quiet and dutiful, Huan Qingtang could just wait, wait for the perfect moment.

But Cheng Zhao would not.

She chose to cut through brambles, charging forward boldly. She never waited passively for anything; whatever she wanted, she schemed to obtain.

Ever since Cheng Zhao married into this household, nothing she had gained had come from waiting.

Everything had been actively fought for by Cheng Zhao.

And in the process, Cheng Zhao had even made sacrifices.

Take, for example, the honorary title of “Duchess”—the highest-ranking noble title. She had seized a misstep from Mu Jiang and, at the cost of some of her own reputation, secured it.

Time had passed; who still remembered how cornered Cheng Zhao had been by Mu Jiang back then, or the incident of her rushing to Lijing Court to snatch someone away? Even if they did, it no longer stained Cheng Zhao’s name.

People never see flaws in the successful. At least, not in the eyes of the world, nor in the eyes of the servants.

Take the main kitchen, for another example.

Next would probably be the gatekeeper’s post.

And perhaps before long, Chengming Hall would welcome a new mistress.

At that thought, Huan Qingtang’s heart ached sharply.

She, too, had exhausted her wits to marry into the Zhou family; she had endured more than a few grievances since arriving.

Was she, at this point, to see it all slip away and remain a widow forever?

Was there no other path for her?

Then Huan Qingtang thought of Mu Jiang.

The thought came abruptly.

“Perhaps Grandmother has already planned a way out for me?” Huan Qingtang mused.

She kept that thought to herself.

If making a sacrifice could win her everything she desired, she was willing—just as Cheng Zhao had done.

She let out a soft sigh.

Meanwhile, Cheng Zhao was at Jiangyun Court, admiring the new spear that Second Madam had acquired.

“...Your father-in-law bought it,” Second Madam showed her.

Cheng Zhao knew a bit about spears and was skilled at praising them, though she couldn’t wield one well herself.

She praised everything from the shaft to the spearhead, making Second Madam beam with delight.

“Mother, you and Father clearly have a wonderful relationship,” Cheng Zhao said.

Second Madam: “One day, you and Ah Shen will be the same. He’s quiet, but he dotes on his wife just the same.”

Cheng Zhao smiled.

Then Second Master and Zhou Yuanqi came back.

Zhou Yuanqi spotted the spear and said, “Mother, a spear isn’t as pricey as a ruby headdress—Father was being cheap.”

Second Madam rapped him on the head: “Stirring up trouble, and with no taste to boot. What use is having a son like you?”

Zhou Yuanqi refused to back down: “What use is a broken spear anyway?”

“More uses than you can count,” Second Madam said.

Second Master added, “Your mother’s title as First-Rank Pacifying Lady came from a spear. It may prove useful for even bigger things later.”

Zhou Yuanqi: “...”

He was about to say more when Zhou Yuanshen walked in.

Cheng Zhao shot him a smile.

Zhou Yuanshen carried a few bundles of pastries.

“Where did these come from?”

“Not bought. Tried them at the Eastern Palace, found them quite good, so I asked the Crown Prince for some,” Zhou Yuanshen said.

He handed them to Nanny Fan, who took them away to be arranged on plates.

Before the evening meal, the family sat together for tea and snacks.

Zhou Yuanshen asked Cheng Zhao, “How did things go at the mansion?”

“Word has been spread—everyone is praising how in love we are,” Cheng Zhao said.

Second Madam and Second Master: “...”

Zhou Yuanqi: “You have no shame.”

“What’s there to be ashamed of?” Cheng Zhao laughed. “I wrote the script myself and had the main kitchen circulate it.”

Second Madam couldn’t help but chuckle.

She said Cheng Zhao was refreshingly unpretentious.

Zhou Yuanshen picked up a piece of date-paste pastry and offered it to her.

Sweet without being cloying, easy to swallow—Cheng Zhao nodded repeatedly, saying it was even better than what you could buy outside.

Zhou Yuanqi tried one too, adored it, and wolfed down three or four in a row.

Second Madam told him to eat fewer or he’d be too full for dinner.

The evening meal finished early.

Cheng Zhao and Zhou Yuanshen left the house again, heading for the General’s residence.

Word of this reached the Dowager Madame and Huan Qingtang.

That very night, something happened at Nonghua Court.

The small Buddhist shrine where Cheng Zhao kept her Child-Giving Guanyin caught fire, blazing with flames that lit up the sky.

When Second Madam heard the news, she threw on her robes in alarm and rushed out to see rolling black smoke.

Terrified, she quickly changed and went with Second Master to Nonghua Court.

Everyone from Nonghua Court stood outside the courtyard walls, while Nanny Li directed the coarse laborers to haul buckets of water to put out the fire.

“What’s going on?” Second Madam asked urgently.