Chapter 6: Taking a Concubine

A month after Cheng Zhao's wedding, Zhou Yuanshen took a concubine.

Mu Jiang moved into Lijing Courtyard.

However, the concubine-taking ceremony was not as lively as Cheng Zhao had imagined—no banquet was held.

When an ordinary family took a respectable concubine, she would be carried in through the side gate, and two tables of food and wine would be set up for relatives and friends to celebrate; for higher-status families, it just meant a few more tables.

When Zhou Yuanshen took Mu Jiang, there was no banquet. Only a firecracker was set off at the side gate when the small soft sedan chair entered.

"The new concubine entered the manor tonight," said Suyue, one of Cheng Zhao's senior maids, with great disdain.

Her tone carried anger and contempt.

The managing matron, Nanny Li, reminded her, "You should call her 'Secondary Wife'. Our lady has just arrived; do not stir up trouble over such trivial matters."

This was, of course, not for Mu Jiang's sake, but out of respect for the Old Madam.

The Old Madam's status was extraordinary.

Over thirty years ago, when the Emperor was still just the Tenth Prince, he married the eldest daughter of the Zhou family. As a young couple, they were deeply in love.

In his later years, the late Emperor grew senile and paranoid, ruthlessly killing his wives and children. With the imperial court shrouded in treacherous political storms, the Tenth Prince and his wife lived in constant fear.

Later, the Tenth Prince feigned illness, and the Old Madam of the Zhou family used the excuse of visiting relatives to take her entire family, along with her daughter and son-in-law, to the borderlands, thus escaping the power struggle.

When they returned eight years later, the Tenth Prince, who had wisely retreated from the fray, was the only surviving legitimate son of the late Emperor's first wife. The late Emperor no longer had the energy to cause further turmoil.

For those eight years, the Tenth Prince had only studied and completely avoided contact with the border army, behaving with the utmost propriety. He finally won his father's trust. Coupled with the strong backing of the Duke of Chen, he was installed in the Eastern Palace as the Crown Prince.

The following year, the late Emperor passed away, and the Tenth Prince ascended the throne.

It was just a pity for the eldest daughter of the Zhou family; her fragile health could not withstand the bitter cold of the northern frontiers, and she passed away from illness not long after returning to the capital.

During those most dangerous eight years, the Emperor had lived by the side of the Old Madam of the Zhou family. With his first wife dying young, he harbored a deep sense of gratitude and affection, leading him to frequently bestow rewards upon the Zhou family over the past decades.

In the Emperor's heart, the Old Madam was practically half an Empress Dowager.

Now, the Emperor had walked down the same path as the late Emperor, becoming paranoid and murderous.

The Old Madam had stepped forward several times, bringing him pastries made in the Zhou family's kitchen, which would somewhat soothe the Emperor's temper.

Let alone Cheng Zhao, even her grandfather, Chancellor Cheng, had to be mindful of the Old Madam's moods.

Mu Jiang was an orphan raised by the Old Madam, and rumor had it that the Emperor himself had picked her up back then. Regardless of the truth, the Old Madam favored her, and Cheng Zhao could not afford to touch this reverse scale.

At the very least, she could not call Mu Jiang "Concubine Mu."

"Suyue, do not feel wronged on my behalf," Cheng Zhao said to her senior maid. "We need to establish a firm foothold first. The Zhou family did not ask for this marriage themselves, so it is understandable however they treat me. It will be much harder for me to establish myself than it is for an ordinary daughter-in-law."

She added, "If the Old Madam suddenly assigned a maid to me and inserted her among you, would you be able to tolerate her?"

Suyue respectfully lowered her head. "I was wrong, Young Madam."

It had been a month since the wedding, and everyone around Cheng Zhao had changed how they addressed her, no longer calling her Fifth Miss.

Cheng Zhao's husband was a Duke, and she should rightfully be called "Madam," but the Old Madam was still alive, and there were two generations of elders above them. Since the eldest young master's wife was called "Young Madam" by the servants, Cheng Zhao could only share the same generational title.

Seeing that Suyue had taken the lesson to heart, Cheng Zhao gave a slight nod. "Let us go. It is time to pay our respects to Madam."

The September wind was a bit chilly, so a maid fetched a cloak for Cheng Zhao.

Zhou Yuanshen stood at the entrance of Jiangyun Courtyard, pondering as he looked at the gate, without raising his hand to knock.

There were footsteps behind him—not heavy, with small strides, suggesting the newcomer was short in stature, a child.

He did not move.

The person behind him spoke in a feigned mature voice, "You are blocking my way."

Zhou Yuanshen was speechless.

He turned around and saw a child wearing a powder-blue robe. He looked like a doll carved from jade, with pinkish-white cheeks and pitch-black eyes, as pretty as a little girl.

His expression was serious.

He glanced at his younger brother; his brother tilted his head up, glaring at him with an unfriendly gaze.

Zhou Yuanqi's path had been blocked by his older brother. His little brain originally had several phrases to tell him to "step aside," but then he felt they were too complicated and overly literary. A brute would not understand them, so he had to pick plain words.

"After you," Zhou Yuanshen said, stepping to the side.

Zhou Yuanqi felt he was being teased.

But his brother was so tall, and talking to him was always a strain on Zhou Yuanqi's neck, so he could not be bothered to scold him and just stepped inside.

Zhou Yuanshen remained standing at the door. A moment later, the Second Madam came out.

"Why don't you come in?" the Second Madam asked him. "Are we mother and son still holding grudges?"

"Mother ordered me never to step foot into Jiangyun Courtyard again. This son dares not be unfilial."

"...And contradicting me is filial?" the Second Madam flared up. "Get in here right now."

The last time mother and son argued, the Second Madam had been so furious she wanted to whip him with a soft whip. It was over the matter of Chengming Hall in the Duke of Chen's manor.

The Second Madam wanted to live in Chengming Hall and obtain the honor and wealth that came with the title, but Zhou Yuanshen said that all of it belonged to his grandmother, and she could give it to whomever she pleased.

The mother and son could not see eye to eye, and the Second Madam angrily told him to get lost and forbade him from ever taking half a step inside again.

That was why he had stood at the door for so long.

"Where is that secondary wife of yours? Why didn't you bring her over?"

The Second Madam asked after they both sat down.

This was not meant to be nitpicking.

Since Mu Jiang was now with Zhou Yuanshen, she should frequently come to pay her respects to her mother-in-law from now on.

Zhou Yuanshen, however, replied, "She is but a concubine; Mother need not elevate her status."

A concubine had no right to perform the daily morning and evening greetings to a mother-in-law; that was the duty of a daughter-in-law. Concubines in ordinary households were merely confined to their small courtyards, isolated from the world thereafter.

A concubine only needed to pay respects to the primary wife, which was Cheng Zhao.

The Second Madam was surprised. "Everyone says she is a secondary wife..."

"Is a 'secondary wife' not still a concubine?" Zhou Yuanshen asked in return.

The Second Madam was rendered speechless.

She did not say anything, and the Second Master did not speak up either. To the side, eight-year-old Zhou Yuanqi nodded. "Those words are correct and very much in line with worldly etiquette. A wife is a wife, and a concubine is a concubine; the moral order cannot be disrupted. You have made progress."

Everyone fell silent.

The Second Madam thought to herself, what exactly had she raised?

Three sons, and not a single one acted like a normal son; they either acted like their father or like their ancestors.

After a few more words, Zhou Yuanshen stood up. "Grandmother has something to discuss with me; I will have dinner over there."

The Second Madam asked, "What is it this time?"

The Second Master smiled and said, "Let him go. With all the family affairs and his duties at the imperial court, he is busy enough."

The Second Madam said no more.

Zhou Yuanshen walked out the door and remembered there was something he had forgotten to mention to his parents, which he ought to tell them. He turned around and saw a group of people walking over from the eastern path.

The woman leading the group was tall and slender, followed by several maids.

Zhou Yuanshen did not look closely. There were not many masters in the Zhou family, and he remembered what everyone looked like, but this one was a stranger.

Without a doubt, it was the wife the Empress had arranged for him.

He had heard Mu Jiang mention a few things.

She had also said that his mother had already been won over by the new Madam and had even given her the family heirloom, an emerald jade bracelet. It had also been publicly acknowledged by the Old Madam.

These trivial matters held no meaning.

Having no interest in them, Zhou Yuanshen turned and walked away.

Cheng Zhao also caught sight of his back. Sweeping a glance from the corner of her eye, she casually withdrew her gaze and entered Jiangyun Courtyard.