Chapter 16: Sheng Hong

Lady Sheng spoke with suppressed anger.

Unrelated servants hurriedly slipped out of the courtyard and hid far away.

Hearing the voice, County Magistrate Sheng Hong quickly raised his head, walked into the courtyard with a guilty expression, and bowed.

“Mother, I and Miss Lin…”

Before he could finish, Lady Sheng snapped sharply.

“Enough.”

Sheng Hong shuddered.

As she spoke, one of Lady Sheng’s trusted maids stepped forward to the unconscious red-clad woman and prepared to drag her to the side courtyard.

Sheng Hong’s eyes grew hot; he knelt on the ground.

“Mother, please spare her life—she is already with child by me.”

Lady Sheng flew into a rage and raised her hand to strike him, but her hand froze midair.

Perhaps twenty years of marriage had worn down her temper; she swallowed her fury and spoke coolly:

“The Wang family is a lineage of scholarly nobility. You passed the imperial exam, and they gave you their second daughter in marriage—do you know how great that favor was?”

“Mother, I swear here and now: I will have only Miss Lin as my concubine, no other. I beg you, Mother, to grant me this.”

He bowed his head and knelt low.

Lady Sheng looked at her illegitimate son kneeling before her, closed her eyes, and her maid Fang Mama quickly stepped behind her to support her.

“Miss, don’t be so angry—it will harm your health.”

Sheng Hong knelt on the ground, staring intently at the cracks between the floor tiles. Hours passed.

When his knees grew painfully sore, his legitimate mother spoke coolly:

“You’re the head of this household now—decide for yourself. You truly are your father’s son!! Hmph!”

With that, Lady Sheng swept her sleeve and walked into the house.

She looked at Lady Wang, weeping inside, and sighed.

“From now on, Hualan will live with me. Bo Ge is your legitimate son—don’t dwell on it. It’s normal for a man to have concubines.”

“Mother, my father died in office; His Majesty granted him ancestral rites in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. I thought the Sheng family was a scholarly house, yet Lin Qinshuang is so base—she claimed to discuss poetry with my husband, but in truth she seduced him.”

“Even a legitimate wife bears the duty to expand the family. When Lin Qinshuang gives birth, raise the child as your own. Concubines are merely servants.”

"Mother, I won't raise that whore's child."

“Hualan, would you like to live with your grandmother from now on?” Lady Sheng ignored her daughter-in-law and turned to her granddaughter.

The little girl glanced at her mother and nodded.

The boy in Lady Wang’s arms used his tiny hand to wipe away her tears; Lady Wang looked at her son and buried her face, weeping.

“Why is my fate so bitter!”

The boy in her arms, wise beyond his years, whispered softly: “Mother, don’t cry.”

Lady Sheng held Hualan close; seeing such a dutiful grandson, she was struck by some memory, her eyes suddenly reddened, and she turned away, wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

“If you’re truly suffering, blame me—blame me for my foolish kindness in helping such a woman.”

Night fell.

Lin Qinshuang knelt on the ground of the main courtyard and offered tea to Lady Wang; when she tried to go pay respects to Lady Sheng, Fang Mama blocked her at the gate.

Lin Qinshuang stood at the courtyard gate, her face filled with apology, tears still in her eyes: “Has the old lady grown to despise me?”

“The old lady says your connection with her is ended. Do not come to her courtyard again.”

Without another word, she shut the courtyard gate.

Lin Qinshuang stared blankly at the closed door. After a moment, she turned around—her face no longer held apology, her eyes no longer held tears.

Her brows arched, her lips curled slightly, radiating pure triumph.

Then she hummed a quiet tune as she walked away.

Shou’an Hall.

In the courtyard, Hualan had returned to Lady Wang’s chamber to sleep.

Lady Sheng knelt on the prayer mat in the Buddha hall, her eyes brimming with tears.

She thought of her own biological son—he had been as dutiful as Chang Bai—but who knew he had been poisoned by a concubine’s treachery.

“Miss, Wei Ge has sent word.” Fang Mama’s voice came.

Lady Sheng wiped her tears with a handkerchief and rose to go to the outer room.

Sheng Wei was the son of Lady Sheng’s sister-in-law, Lady Sheng’s own husband’s brother’s wife.

Now Sheng Hong held office, while Sheng Wei thrived in commerce; they supported each other. Sheng Wei’s success in business was due largely to Lady Sheng’s intervention—she had protected his family’s assets and shops from being seized by his elder branch. Thus, Sheng Wei held deep reverence for this aunt.

The two families frequently exchanged letters.

Fang Mama handed the letter to Lady Sheng; by candlelight, she read it carefully.

Her in-laws’ family, ever since she refused to let a concubine’s daughter from Dai Prefecture marry into the household, had grown distant—no contact for nearly ten years (her parents were still alive when the third-place scholar died).

The relationship had effectively ended; they were now strangers, never mentioning kinship.

When Sheng Wei had trouble last time, the Sun family lent aid; Lady Sheng had merely sent a congratulatory gift for the Sun matriarch’s birthday.

But she had made no gesture toward her own family, the Yongyi Marquis House.

Sheng Wei’s letter spoke of events in the capital: in the capital, Lady Sheng had a close friend, Old Lady Yu, wife of the Grand Tutor;

the Cao and Sun families were connected to the Empress and the Kaifeng Prefecture Office;

thus, the Sheng family’s business had grown larger, and Sheng Hong’s branch received a generous share of the profits.

Knowing his aunt’s love for polo, Sheng Wei had specially sent six fine horses to Nan’an.

Lady Sheng was pleased with this nephew; Sheng Wei’s childhood had been even more miserable than Sheng Hong’s, so he had grown up even more sensible.

Meanwhile, Sheng Hong’s promotion was nearly arranged; this letter from Sheng Wei gave Lady Sheng clarity.

Lady Sheng lit the letter concerning Sheng Hong’s promotion and placed it in the brazier.

Beside her, Fang Mama watched and whispered: “Miss, I believe Sheng Ge is mindful of the Sheng family’s reputation and his own career. Don’t be too angry.”

“From now on, the food in this courtyard must be plain. I’ve grown too complacent—I let myself be blinded! Father said this would lead to disaster.”

Lady Sheng continued: “I will no longer treat my daughter-in-law as I once did.”

“Also, tomorrow, set up a small kitchen in the Shou’an Hall courtyard—so I won’t have to see that concubine at meals.”

She shook her head.

“Yes, Miss.”

In the brazier, the letter turned to ash.

Time passed like a white horse darting through a gap.

Eight months later, County Magistrate Sheng Hong of Nan’an had a bastard son, named Chang Feng.

Less than half a month later, Lady Wang’s mother sent a seasoned old maid surnamed Liu—if Xu Zaijing had known, he would have called her the Wang family’s external brain, their ultimate assistant.

Accompanying her was a woman named Wei Shuyi, daughter of a scholarly family, exceptionally beautiful; Lady Wang had personally granted her the status of concubine, and she entered the household as Sheng Hong’s second concubine.

At first, Sheng Hong refused—but after seeing Wei Shuyi once, he said nothing more; the next day, he slept in her quarters.

One day, when all came to pay respects to Lady Sheng, she observed the Wei woman—strikingly beautiful, yet with eyes as still as a deep well—and ordered her to serve beside her and learn proper conduct.

The new sun replaced the old moon.

Kaifeng.

Before dawn, the vast city stirred awake; voices rose in chaotic clamor.

When daylight broke,

Quyuanjie,

Yongyi Marquis House,

On the open ground outside the stables, a fearsome-looking groom was instructing Xu Zaijing in a spear technique; his single eye glowed with satisfaction.

His disciple—though without formal master-disciple ties—was too dutiful: extraordinarily quick-witted, unusually hardworking, and blessed with innate strength.

Before his downfall, he had been perceptive in human dealings, meticulous in action—but alas, he had failed to resist the lure of a beautiful woman.

A major deal was sabotaged; he lost all his wealth and nearly lost his life.

Had he not been exceptionally skilled in martial arts and kept one extra precaution, he would have become a corpse by the roadside.

Though he didn’t die on the spot, he was grievously wounded.

The one who saved his life was none other than Yongyi Marquis Xu Minghua, whom he had casually befriended in the capital.

For Xu Minghua’s life-saving grace and promise of vengeance, he had vowed to repay with the rest of his days.

His body was crippled, his martial skill reduced to less than one-tenth—but thanks to his profound knowledge of horses, he was no longer useless.

The very skill that earned Xu Minghua’s admiration, he would teach Xu Zaijing without reservation.

Thus, he treated Xu Zaijing with extreme strictness—any movement not perfect had to be corrected repeatedly.

(End of Chapter)