Chapter 211: Moving into Chengming Hall

Zhou Yuanshen came in, and Second Madam immediately asked urgently, “What did you talk about with your grandmother?”

Zhou Yuanqi’s drowsiness was now completely gone.

Second Master also looked at his son.

Cheng Zhao moved aside and gave her chair to Zhou Yuanshen.

Zhou Yuanshen sat down before saying, “I told her that Cheng Zhao and I don’t want to live in Chenming Hall. We plan to stay at the General’s mansion long-term.”

Everyone was taken aback.

Second Madam nearly lost her seat: “Why not stay? That place is rightfully yours.”

“Making Cheng Zhao a chief steward isn’t very meaningful,” Zhou Yuanshen said.

Cheng Zhao understood what he meant.

If the rent income from the hereditary estate never passed through Cheng Zhao’s hands, then no matter how hard she worked in the household, she would just be a manager.

She’d have status, but no money.

Second Master stayed silent.

Zhou Yuanqi then said, “Don’t be greedy. What if grandmother goes mad and has us all killed? I’m still young.”

The little scholar, who was always afraid of being caught up in the fallout, valued his life dearly.

Second Madam shot him a dissatisfied glance.

Cheng Zhao couldn’t help but smile.

Zhou Yuanshen told him, “You can practice the spear or sword to protect yourself.”

“That would be beneath my scholarly dignity.”

Zhou Yuanshen replied, “‘The gentleman hides his tools upon his person.’ You constantly cultivate virtue and learning, so surely your dignity is harder than blade and spear. No need to worry—you won’t die.”

Zhou Yuanqi: “...”

Cheng Zhao’s smile was almost impossible to suppress.

Before she could laugh, Second Madam burst out laughing, which made Zhou Yuanqi very unhappy: “Mother!”

“Alright, alright,” Second Master said, stepping in to smooth things over. “Stop derailing. Let Yuan Shen continue.”

Turning to Zhou Yuanshen, he asked, “You’re not really going to give up the residence, are you? Not at this point. What did your grandmother say? Did the two of you come to an agreement?”

“Grandmother is still alive. If we asked for the accounts of the hereditary estate now, it wouldn’t sound good to outsiders,” Zhou Yuanshen said. “Grandmother also doesn’t want to be harsh to the younger generation. She said she would give each household fifty thousand taels a year.”

Second Madam was stunned again, hardly believing it: “Fifty thousand taels?”

That much?

Second Master asked, “By ‘each household,’ which ones?”

“Jiangyun Courtyard, Cuiyun Courtyard, and Chenming Hall,” Zhou Yuanshen said.

That covered Second Madam’s side, Cheng Zhao, and Huan Qingtang.

If Huan Qingtang had money in her hands, she would likely stir up trouble again.

The Dowager Madame was giving her capital to contend with Cheng Zhao, wasn’t she?

At that thought, Cheng Zhao said nothing.

“Paying out a hundred fifty thousand taels a year—where would the old lady get all that silver? How many years could she sustain it?” Second Madam asked.

Everyone fell silent.

Zhou Yuanqi was blunt: “Mother, the yearly rent income is far more than a hundred fifty thousand taels, let alone whatever’s been saved up before.”

Second Madam: “The estate produces that much?”

“If it didn’t, they wouldn’t be holding on to it,” Zhou Yuanqi said.

Second Madam: “...”

She truly had no idea.

She simply clung to the title of “Duke’s Manor” because she refused to leave and couldn’t swallow that humiliation.

She rarely calculated the estate’s income.

The Fan family had made up for her dowry lands and shops, her mother occasionally slipped her some money, and Second Master had his own private assets. Second Madam had never been strapped for cash, so she never paid much attention to wealth.

Thinking it over more carefully, Second Madam was startled: “The emperor really did gift the Zhou family a great deal!”

“Mother, please say less. Third brother hasn’t gotten me killed yet—you’ll do it first,” Zhou Yuanqi said.

Second Madam: “...”

Zhou Yuanqi and Second Madam kept interrupting, and the conversation kept drifting off track. It was Second Master who kept pulling it back.

He asked many questions.

All of them were things Cheng Zhao wanted to ask.

Zhou Yuanshen gave detailed answers to everything. He spoke to Second Master, but he was also speaking to Cheng Zhao.

"Since we've come to an agreement, when will you move into Chengming Hall?" asked the Second Master.

Zhou Yuanshen replied, "Let's pick an auspicious day."

"We should choose a good day. But it needs to be soon," said the Second Master. "Only once you're settled in can we rest easy."

He glanced meaningfully at Zhou Yuanshen. “The Song family, your aunt’s family on your eldest uncle’s wife’s side, has gotten into trouble. The case is about to go to trial.”

Zhou Yuanshen uttered a soft "Mm."

The Second Madam asked, "What happened to the Song family?"

"No arrests have been made yet; it's just rumors at this point," said the Second Master. "Once the Court of Judicial Review hands down a verdict, I'll tell you."

The Second Madam said, "My sister-in-law just went out of town to recuperate, and now her natal family has run into trouble. Could it be that the Old Lady..."

She stopped mid-sentence and covered her mouth.

No more could be said.

The conversation was nearly wrapped up. Zhou Yuanshen rose to his feet. "Father and Mother, please retire early. We'll go rest as well."

"Are you two heading back to the General's residence?"

"We'll stay at Chenhui Courtyard for now," said Zhou Yuanshen. "The side rooms are a bit simple, but they're perfectly livable."

The Second Madam wanted to persuade them to stay. But then she thought about how the household was full of prying eyes and wagging tongues, and how the Dowager Madame and Huan Qingtang were still watching with hawk-like vigilance. It really wouldn't be proper for the young daughter-in-law to sleep in her in-laws' courtyard.

It wasn't as if they were guests staying over.

"If you need anything, just take it from Jiangyun Courtyard," said the Second Madam.

"We lack for nothing, Mother. I take my midday rests at Chenhui Courtyard, so everything's within reach there," said Cheng Zhao.

The Second Madam gave a slight nod.

That night, the Second Madam barely slept. She kept the Second Master up, talking.

"...I've often said, I've been married into the Zhou family for over twenty years. When I think about it carefully, in the decade or so since we returned to the capital, we've known nothing about what goes on in this ducal manor. We've been blind, deaf," said the Second Madam.

The Second Master replied, "There's no need to know, either. We have no say in these matters, so why trouble ourselves?"

"What secrets does this manor actually hold? And how much wealth? Not just farmland—shops, properties, all of it," said the Second Madam.

The Second Master said, "I'm not really sure either."

"Of course you're not. The Old Lady never favored you, so why would she tell you anything?" said the Second Madam.

She rambled on and on, and gradually fell asleep.

The Second Master, however, barely slept at all.

On the seventeenth day of the ninth month, Cheng Zhao moved into Chengming Hall.

In the days leading up to it, the five main rooms of Chengming Hall had been completely redone.

The bed was custom-made by the Xu family workshop—they made the finest beds around. The screen was rush-made by the Hu family workshop, with a huanghuali wood base.

Every table, every chair had its provenance. Every detail was exquisite.

Most of it had been brought back by Zhou Yuanshen; some pieces came from the Zhou family storerooms; and the antique ornaments on the decorative shelves were part of Cheng Zhao's dowry.

Early in the morning, Zhou Yuanshen went to court as usual, and Cheng Zhao rose early to wash and dress.

The Second Madam made a special trip over to take a look.

"Ah Shen must have made preparations a long time ago to have you stay in Chengming Hall," said the Second Madam after inspecting the place.

Otherwise, that great bed in the inner chamber would have taken months of work to finish—how could it possibly have been ready in such a short time?

"I had no idea either," said Cheng Zhao. "I thought the Lord Duke was too busy to bother with household trifles."

"He takes after his father in that regard. Your father-in-law—when he gets meticulous, he's utterly fussy. There are times I find it quite trying," said the Second Madam.

"Mother is blessed in her marriage."

"You're not doing badly yourself," said the Second Madam, beaming with pleasure.

At the doorway of the inner chamber hung a beaded curtain of colored glass, as resplendent as brocade embroidered with flowers.

These glazed glass pieces were a gift from the Second Madam on Cheng Zhao’s last birthday. Cheng Zhao had also added some diamonds, which had previously hung by the inner bedroom door of Nonghua Courtyard and have now been moved to Chengming Hall.

The morning sunlight streamed through the doorway, falling directly on the colored glass and refracting into a dazzling array of multicolored light that illuminated both the interior and exterior of the entrance.

"How beautiful," Second Madam said.

"Mother's gift is a fine one," Cheng Zhao said with a smile.

Second Madam finished her inspection, utterly delighted.

The stewards arrived one after another at the parlor of Chengming Hall to report their affairs, and Second Madam prepared to take her leave.

As she stepped out, Second Madam encountered two groups of stewards.

They each respectfully greeted her.

She also saw Huan Qingtang there.