Chapter 8: Mandarin Wife of Honor

Cheng Zhao returned to the Chen Duke's Estate in the mid-afternoon.

After visiting the Second Madam, she returned to the Nonghua Courtyard.

After dinner, the sky grew dark, and lamps were lit indoors.

Her managing matron, Nanny Li, asked her, "What did the Prime Minister say?"

"Grandfather told me to stay here with peace of mind," Cheng Zhao replied. "He also told me some inside information about the Zhou clan."

She added, "The Duke might take on the lineage of both branches. The Old Madam mentioned this to the Emperor. The Emperor had a headache at the time and didn't hear it clearly, but the head eunuch reminded him later. Grandfather was right there."

Nanny Li pondered, "That makes sense. The Old Madam doesn't want to adopt a child from a collateral branch."

Once an adoption occurs, the Old Madam would have to make a decision about which branch gets the noble title and estate. If they don't adopt, the eldest son and eldest grandson would have no one to offer incense to them, leaving them as nameless ghosts, and the maternal families of the First Madam and the Eldest Young Madam would never agree to that.

The only solution was for Zhou Yuanshen to inherit both branches.

This way, his eldest sister-in-law would also become his wife, and the title and estate would smoothly remain with the first branch.

Both the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the first branch were excellent women carefully selected by the Old Madam. Their maternal families had good reputations and could cultivate the noble and pure prestige of the Zhou clan.

The words "noble and pure" were envied by everyone; all high-ranking aristocratic families desired such a reputation.

"...But if that happens, your situation will become even more difficult," the managing matron added.

"I need to find a way to improve my reputation. The time is too short, so many of my methods cannot be put into practice, and they won't show immediate results anyway," Cheng Zhao said. "How about I try paying respects to the Old Madam more often?"

The managing matron ordered the senior maids to withdraw.

She whispered to Cheng Zhao, "If the Duke doesn't come to you, you won't be able to board the ship of the Zhou clan."

If she didn't board the ship, all the glory and struggles on it would actually have nothing to do with Cheng Zhao.

The best and fastest method was to quickly become a true husband and wife with the Duke and have a child.

Pausing for a moment, the managing matron continued, "The Old Madam won't change her opinion of you just because you are diligent. Last time, when you used the jade dumpling incident to threaten her, she only grew to resent you more."

"I understand," Cheng Zhao said. "It's just that the Duke has recently taken in Concubine Ru, and the two are deeply in love. Making a move on him now would be rash. We can only wait until Concubine Ru gets pregnant first."

The managing matron called Cheng Zhao naive.

"The Old Madam has already rewarded Concubine Ru with two beautiful maids. Once she is pregnant, these two maids will be elevated to bedchamber maids. The Duke won't possibly be able to leave the Lijing Courtyard," the managing matron said.

Cheng Zhao asked, "You even managed to find that out?"

"I asked the older female servants from the Jiangyun Courtyard. The Second Madam is quite well-disposed toward you and is willing to guide us."

Cheng Zhao gave a slight nod. "My mother-in-law has a pure and kind heart and is unguarded against others."

She added, "The Old Madam is just taking advantage of my mother-in-law's good temper. Since the Duke has inherited the title, there must be an explanation regarding the estate. Leaving my mother-in-law suspended like this, neither up nor down, is extremely awkward. Anyone else wouldn't be able to stand it."

It was a tremendous slap in the face.

It wasn't just about the title and estate, but also personal dignity. Anyone put in the Second Madam's position would feel a lingering sense of injustice.

The two were chatting idly when they suddenly heard a sharp cry of alarm from outside.

Cheng Zhao immediately stood up.

Night had just fallen. The courtyard still held half a ray of golden sunset light, but the base of the walls was pitch black.

Cheng Zhao's maid, Qiubai, was curled up into a ball. The cry of pain had come from her.

"Qiubai!" Cheng Zhao hurried over.

The others quickly gathered around.

Nanny Li brought over a palace lantern. Shining it on Qiubai, she first saw her head covered in cold sweat; then, looking at the hand she was clutching, they saw her thumb starting to turn black.

"...Something moved, and I thought someone was peeping. As soon as I reached out, it bit me. It's a 'Slow Wind Snake'," Qiubai said.

She added, "Quick, bring a knife. This hand must be chopped off to save my life."

Suyue immediately ran back to the room to get a knife.

Cheng Zhao's heart ached fiercely.

She knew about the Slow Wind Snake; it was a type of black snake used to transmit messages. It was as thin and long as a rope, but its mouthparts were extremely long. Secret reports could be stuffed into its mouth, and it moved as fast as the wind.

Being so swift, it was deliberately given the lowly name "Slow Wind."

Most Slow Wind Snakes used for messaging had their fangs removed.

Cheng Zhao said to another maid, "Use a rope to tie Qiubai's wrist tightly, pierce her finger to let out the poisoned blood, I need to go out for a moment!"

Slow Wind Snakes were very difficult to breed, and military spies used them to pass messages. For it to appear in the Duke's Estate, there was only one possibility: it was raised by Zhou Yuanshen.

Since he raised this snake, he definitely had the antidote.

Cheng Zhao strictly instructed, "Do not chop off her hand, wait for me to return!"

She strode out.

As Cheng Zhao walked out of the Nonghua Courtyard, she suddenly realized that she had no idea where Zhou Yuanshen lived.

Marrying into the Duke's Estate, to establish a firm foothold, the Duke himself was not important in the initial stages. She needed to smooth out her path first before she could take a step further: getting household management power and having a child. Only then would she need to use Zhou Yuanshen.

Furthermore, Zhou Yuanshen was avoiding Cheng Zhao.

Cheng Zhao had not planned to accomplish everything at once. She held many of the Zhou family's secrets, but the one thing she didn't know was where Zhou Yuanshen usually rested.

Although her mind buzzed for a second, Cheng Zhao did not stop her steps and ran directly toward the Lijing Courtyard, where Concubine Ru, Mu Jiang, lived.

There was a high probability that Zhou Yuanshen was staying at the Lijing Courtyard.

Cheng Zhao walked extremely fast, with a maid following behind her. The master and servant dashed madly in the direction of the Lijing Courtyard. Her shoes did not fall off, but a hairpin dropped from Cheng Zhao's head, and half of her hair bun came loose.

She knew the location of the Lijing Courtyard.

She knocked forcefully on the door.

A maid opened the door, saw her, didn't recognize her, and frowned: "Who are you?"

"I am the Duke's wife. I need to see the Duke," Cheng Zhao said.

The maid immediately tried to close the door: "The Duke is not here!"

Cheng Zhao raised her voice, "My Lord Duke! My Lord Duke, my maid was bitten by a Slow Wind Snake, I need the medicine!"

Her voice was loud enough to carry into the courtyard.

There was movement inside.

Cheng Zhao saw Concubine Ru, Mu Jiang. She seemed to have already gone to bed, wearing only her inner garments. Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall, looking charming and naive.

Upon seeing Cheng Zhao, she shut the courtyard door without a word.

The courtyard door almost hit Cheng Zhao's nose.

"The Duke is not a doctor. If your person is injured, go fetch a doctor yourself," Mu Jiang replied coldly from behind the door, her voice haughty.

She added, "Coming to knock on doors in the dead of night shows a lack of upbringing. Even the courtesans in the brothels wouldn't stoop to your methods. You are utterly shameless."

Just as Cheng Zhao was about to kick the door, someone suddenly spoke from behind her.

"Looking for me?"

It was a young man's voice, cold and clear. She had heard it before, on their first wedding night.

Cheng Zhao turned around.

Her hair was messy, and her face was covered in sweat—whether from the heat of running or a cold sweat—with strands of hair sticking to it. She looked utterly disheveled.

The man was not in the Lijing Courtyard but had come from elsewhere. He stood in the shadows of the courtyard wall, dressed in black robes. His face could not be seen clearly; only his tall, slender silhouette was visible.

"My Lord Duke, my maid..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Zhou Yuanshen raised his hand. "Here is the medicine."

He tossed over a medicine bottle.

Cheng Zhao reached out and caught it.

"She won't die within half an hour. The venom of the Slow Wind Snake is not that terrifying," he said.

Cheng Zhao merely said her thanks and hurriedly went back.

She couldn't care about anything else.

However, the incident of her barging into the Lijing Courtyard at night and attempting to steal the man still spread throughout the Chen Duke's Estate.

The servants inevitably gossiped.

They said that Madam Cheng, having been given the cold shoulder for so long, had finally gone mad.

Cheng Zhao barely slept that night; she and her trusted aides stayed gathered around Qiubai.

After being bitten by the snake, Qiubai panicked at first, but a moment later she grew completely calm, even prepared to chop off her own hand to save her life. The others carefully carried her back to the room and bled her fingertips. She then adjusted her internal energy, slowing her breathing to a crawl.

She knew some internal martial arts and could hold her breath underwater for the time it takes a stick of incense to burn. It was exactly this "turtle breath" technique that delayed the spread of the snake venom.

Cheng Zhao had also brought back the antidote.

After taking the medicine, Qiubai gradually fell asleep.

Though she slept soundly, Cheng Zhao and the others felt no drowsiness at all.

"I will stay and watch over her. Young Madam, go take a nap and come back to see her when you wake up," Suyue said.

Cheng Zhao agreed.

She went into the inner bedroom and sat on the heated brick bed by the window, completely devoid of sleepiness.

Among her personal maids, Qiubai was the only one with true martial arts skills; Suyue only knew some basic fist and footwork, merely amateur tricks. The other maids had learned to use short crossbows.

On the second day of her marriage, Cheng Zhao had indeed frightened the Second Madam.

When Cheng Zhao's father was in office, he had saved an armed escort's family during a lawsuit. Having no other way to repay the debt, the escort sent his daughter, who had practiced martial arts since childhood, to serve as Cheng Zhao's maid.

Cheng Zhao was seven years old that year. Suyue was also sold into the manor to be a maid that same year. She had spent ten years together with Qiubai and Suyue.

She taught them how to read and do needlework, while Qiubai taught Cheng Zhao and Suyue martial arts.

When they grew a bit older, her mother taught her two older sisters how to manage a household, and Cheng Zhao learned alongside them. She, in turn, taught Qiubai and Suyue how to read account books and cook.

At the rooster's crow, Nanny Li came in and whispered to her, "Qiubai is awake. She says she is very hungry."

She added, "If she knows she's hungry, it means she should be fine. You should go inform the Second Madam and have the steward take the estate tally to invite a doctor to take a look at Qiubai. That way, you can be completely at ease."

"I will go see her."

Qiubai's face was pale. She sat up and said her entire body felt weak.

"It must be the lingering poison. You need to rest for a few days," Cheng Zhao said. "I will go find Mother and ask her for help in calling a doctor."

She turned and left.

Cheng Zhao told the Second Madam the whole story from beginning to end, also mentioning the Slow Wind Snake.

The Second Madam clicked her tongue. "His uncle gave that to him. It's meant for delivering messages in the military. Who would have thought he wouldn't remove its fangs?"

She offered a few words of pity for Qiubai, then immediately dispatched an older servant woman with her tally to have the steward invite a doctor skilled in treating snake venom.

Cheng Zhao thanked her repeatedly.

After she left, the Second Madam said to her trusted maid, "She looks like she hasn't slept all night. A person who knows how to protect her own people has good character."

Before the doctor even arrived, the rumors beat him to it.

The estate's tea water room was the liveliest place in the morning, as the masters of every branch required hot water for washing. With so many people bustling about, news spread the fastest there.

The Second Madam's maid returned and told her that Madam Cheng had gone to the Lijing Courtyard the previous night to snatch a person away, only to be harshly scolded by the concubine.

"...The concubine's insults were incredibly harsh, and those gossiping old women are repeating them everywhere," the maid said.

The Second Madam knew exactly what had happened and was so furious she almost suffered a heart attack. "How dare she spread such slanderous rumors! Tell them all to shut up!"

But how could they be stopped?

The Second Branch lacked prestige, and the servants had been acting like snobs who served dishes based on the guest's status for far longer than just a day or two.

Everyone was waiting to watch the new madam make a fool of herself. Coupled with their desire to curry favor with Mu Jiang, they naturally seized the opportunity to trample Cheng Zhao into the mud.

The Second Madam was half-dead with anger.

Belittling Cheng Zhao was a slap in the Second Madam's face. She was absolutely enraged.

She even took her anger out on Cheng Zhao.

The Second Madam was not bad at heart, but when her temper flared, she could be quite exasperating. "Did you not know to send a maid to look for someone? Now look what's happened! Both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have become a laughingstock, and you've dragged me down with you."

Cheng Zhao's attitude remained gentle.

She respectfully apologized to the Second Madam. "It was all your daughter-in-law's lack of consideration that caused trouble for Mother."

The Second Madam said, "Look at them, this is exactly how they bully people. It infuriates me. I can't hold my temper, and I was counting on you to have some self-restraint. Who knew it would be a case of 'birds of a feather flocking together'?"

Her tone was poor, but her words implicitly treated Cheng Zhao as family.

Cheng Zhao dropped the formalities, stepped forward, and took her arm. "Mother, please do not be angry."

The Second Madam was stunned for a moment.

She felt very surprised, and a bit odd.

Her fiery temper extinguished.

She felt extremely awkward.

She had never acted affectionately toward her own mother or mother-in-law. Since she had no daughter of her own, no one had ever been this intimate with her either.

The Second Madam wasn't exactly "at a loss," but her attitude did soften momentarily.

"Mother, this is a good opportunity. You must help your daughter-in-law and have them spread these rumors even further and wider," Cheng Zhao said.

The Second Madam's eyes went wide. "Have you lost your mind?"

People usually tried to avoid scandals. Who would deliberately pour dirty water on themselves?

Cheng Zhao explained, "Once the matter spreads out of control, I will go cry and complain to Her Majesty the Empress. When that time comes, to prevent the Duke from gaining a reputation for 'favoring the concubine and destroying the wife,' the Old Madam will have to compromise. They will have to request an imperial title for me."

The Second Madam froze.

"Will that actually work?" she asked hesitantly.

Cheng Zhao replied, "If you kill a thousand enemies but lose eight hundred of your own, you still profit by two hundred. A narrow victory is still a victory. 'Duchess' is an ultra-ranked imperial title. Even if it is just an empty name, it is highly useful."

The Second Madam was speechless.

The female members of the Zhou clan all had imperial titles, but the Old Madam was a Duchess, as was the First Madam. Their status was entirely unshakable.

If Cheng Zhao received one too, the Second Madam would finally have room to breathe.

"Gossip is hard to listen to. Don't go crying when the time comes," the Second Madam said.

Cheng Zhao said, "Thank you, Mother, for your care."

The Second Madam snorted.

She felt a strange sensation in her heart—a little sour, yet a little soft. Just a few words from Cheng Zhao had made her want to reward the girl with something nice.

Mu Jiang was indeed belittling Cheng Zhao everywhere.

"...In the Duke's estate, she is completely powerless to fight back. She shouldn't think that an imperially bestowed marriage allows her to throw her weight around. I will make her learn her place early on," Mu Jiang said.

As a concubine, she wanted to completely overshadow Cheng Zhao to the point of irrelevance.

The First Branch was also discussing the matter.

The First Madam said, "Madam Cheng is too young and too impatient. If she had just been obedient and kept to her place, she might not have lost so much face."

She added, "Mu Jiang certainly has some skills, forcing Madam Cheng into such a desperate corner in such a short time that she completely abandoned her dignity."

The Eldest Young Madam, Huan Qingtang, however, was deep in thought.

"Mother, will trampling Madam Cheng like this backfire? Mu Jiang is not in the right here," Huan Qingtang said.

Mu Jiang had monopolized the Duke, and Madam Cheng, as the legal wife, had to go snatch him back. If word of this spread, both the Duke and Mu Jiang would be viewed unfavorably.

Madam Cheng only lost face. But in terms of broader moral principles, she might actually draw sympathy.

"Mu Jiang doesn't need to be in the right. She has the Old Madam's backing, the Duke's favor, and the Emperor as her patron. By stepping on Madam Cheng to build her own prestige, she is guaranteed to win," the First Madam laughed.

Watching the Second Branch make a fool of themselves was also quite entertaining.

However, things gradually spiraled out of control.

Several titled madams went to pay their respects to the Empress, and it was unknown who among them brought up the matter.

The Empress was furious.

She didn't dare summon the Old Madam of the Zhou clan, but she did summon the First Madam of the Zhou clan into the palace to ask if it was true.

"...Does Duke Chen disregard all moral principles? Does he wish to favor his concubine and destroy his wife?" the Empress demanded.

Prime Minister Cheng used the incident to ask Duke Chen when he planned to request an imperial title for his granddaughter, since they were, after all, already married.

Knowing she was in the wrong, the Old Madam did not step forward to stop it.

In less than half a month, Qiubai fully recovered and was as lively as ever. At the same time, the imperial decree granting the title arrived at the Duke of Chen's estate.

The Zhou clan now had three ultra-ranked titled madams: the Old Madam, the First Madam, and Cheng Zhao.

The servants were momentarily stunned.