Chapter 53 A Newly Appointed Mistress Gets a Blow from Reality...
Seeing his maid, A Cai, frantically trying to signal him with her eyes, Changsun Qingjing realized that this usually clever maid from the Li family was starting to fall behind him.
She couldn't help but miss Mu Boxiu, the shopkeeper of Daxing Liren Market. If her whimsical idea had been handled by him, it would surely have been a sure thing. It was just a pity that this was Luoyang, and she could only ask him to find another way.
"Ah, I spoke too fast. What's your name?" Changsun Qingjing slowed his speech and asked kindly.
"My name is Guoniang. It was given to me by the Lady of Tang." The young girl felt that her mistress favored her among all the servants, and unconsciously used the name given by the former mistress to emphasize her special status.
Changsun Qingjing chuckled inwardly at how aptly the name was chosen.
“Alright, Guoniang. Listen carefully this time.” Changsun Qingjing instructed, “You grind the ink for me, and I will write down the outline of the landscape painting for you. You will set off for Fengdu City before noon and find the screen or painter according to the instructions in the note. Is that possible?”
Guoniang nodded and said, "That's not difficult. I'll take care of it." After saying that, she laid out paper and pen for Changsun Qingjing and didn't stop for a moment.
Seeing that Changsun Qingjing had handled the affairs of the inner courtyard well, Lady Liu took her leave and went to make arrangements for the future residence of the new mistress.
The maids found a large old curtain, preparing to cover the old screen as Changsun Qingjing had instructed.
The sound of hurried, heavy footsteps came from under the corridor.
"What are you doing?" Li Shimin asked, somewhat surprised, as he looked at the newly furnished warm chamber.
"I heard you went to prune the plum tree yourself?" Qingjing took out a silk handkerchief from her bosom and carefully wrapped it around a slightly damaged corner of the old screen. "Madam Liu said that Father and Mother planted it together. Why didn't you tell me sooner? I wanted to go and see it too. Is the tree growing well?"
"It's freezing cold, the trees are bare, what's there to see?" This tone was as if he were a completely different person. Changsun Qingjing vaguely remembered that even during Lady Dou's funeral, when Li Shimin was at his most desperate and helpless, he had never spoken to her in this tone, which surprised her.
"Then I'll accompany you to admire the flowers when spring comes." Changsun Qingjing guessed that her husband was starting to miss her again, so she tried to find some pleasant topics to talk about.
"Let's talk about it when it gets warmer." Li Shimin strolled into his mother's old study, looked around, and said as if deliberately reminding Changsun Qingjing, "This is where Mother used to live."
“I know. Ah Nai told me. But this is a temporary place for you.”
"I don't need to make any changes during the mourning period; everything can remain the same." The maids, who were unfolding the old curtains and laying them flat on the ground, preparing to wrap and store them as the new mistress had instructed, suddenly stiffened, caught in a dilemma, unsure of whose advice to follow.
“I didn’t make many changes. I just wanted to…” Changsun Qingjing was about to say, “I just wanted to make your life more comfortable,” when Li Shimin pointed to the book box on the table and said, “Why did you hide your mother’s favorite collection of poems and essays without permission?”
Changsun Qingjing took a step back, unsure whether this was a normal interrogation or a random outburst of emotions, which made her feel very uncomfortable.
"It was my idea," she said bluntly, gesturing for the maids, who were caught in the middle, to step aside.
"The screen is also a memento of my mother, a gift from her uncle. According to the story of Emperor Taizu of Zhou, every princess would receive a screen inscribed with excerpts from the 'Biographies of Exemplary Women' as a reward from her father. My mother was not a princess, but she received the same preferential treatment as Emperor Wu's own daughters. This is a keepsake she was very proud of... What do you intend to do with it?"
"I had no other intentions, nor could I say I acted on my own initiative. I simply wanted to store the treasure screen for you." Changsun Qingjing didn't like to use empty excuses to cover up his true reasons.
Such unwarranted accusations left Changsun Qingjing completely bewildered.
She thought simply: if she couldn't bear to part with it, she could just leave it behind; why get angry?
"With my mother gone and my sister-in-law far away in Daxing, wasn't it my turn to temporarily take over?" the young mistress asserted, defending herself firmly. "I was merely exercising the most ordinary rights of a lady of the house. If the young master finds my actions eccentric or unsatisfactory, he should report to the master and let him decide!"
Li Shimin was speechless for a moment, and not knowing how to handle his wife's polite and measured rebuttal, he changed the subject unreasonably: "Putting aside the screen, why did you hide Xue Daoheng's poems and essays? Are my mother's preferences so shameful?"
“No.” Changsun Qingjing shook his head and pushed the book box toward Li Shimin. “You heard what Xiao Guojiu said just now. The Li family is in a precarious position, and His Majesty is skeptical of our loyalty. A single thought can bring about all things, and a single thought can extinguish all ties. We must not let His Majesty find any fault with us.”
A muffled roar echoed in Li Shimin's mind, along with his farewell to his mother, his father's departure for his post, and Xiao Yu's warning, all of which tore at his last remaining shred of reason.
After all, the girl in front of him was willing to go to Hongmen with him, so why should he care so much about her words and actions that were contrary to his expectations?
But Changsun Qingjing spoke first: "Young Master, I love Xue Daoheng just like Mother did. But I will not openly proclaim this love to the world, nor gamble the fate of a family on the Emperor's game. As for the screen, it was my fault. If you want to hate me, then hate me. I will not defend my presumptuous actions. I have also experienced the pain of losing a loved one, and I am overwhelmed with sorrow when I see objects that remind me of him. My uncle said that when I think of my father, it is not just sadness, but when I learn to use his shrewdness and resourcefulness to resolve conflicts, then I truly become a part of his blood, and he will always stand in my heart. I originally wanted to tell you these words from the beginning, but I felt that it would be too much to ask such a thing after Mother's recent death, so I kept quiet."
She breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling incredibly relieved to have released all her pent-up emotions.
Several maids, sensing the tense atmosphere between the young master and the young lady, surrounded Lady Liu and came forward to mediate.
This was the first time Lady Liu had seen the couple so tense, and she didn't know how to offer any advice. She kept glancing inside through the curtain, but dared not enter the room. Changsun Qingjing simply shook his head at her, indicating that it was nothing serious and that she should just wait for him.
She took out the Nirvana Sutra, which Lady Dou had not finished copying, from her bosom and handed it to Li Shimin with both hands: "This is a Buddhist scripture that my mother did not finish copying. I originally intended to try my best to copy it. Now it seems that you, my lord, do not want to see my writing in this scroll, so it is best not to disgrace her. I have misjudged my abilities and position, and I am somewhat ashamed. I am returning it to you as is, and I hope you will not take offense."
Having said that, Changsun Qingjing called for Lady Liu to lead the way, and they hurried out of the pavilion that Li Shimin had declared she had no right to dispose of. Suppressing her shame and indignation, she politely and respectfully left in front of the group of trembling maids.
Lady Liu was confused, only getting the gist of it from the maids. All she could do was keep praising the young master's filial piety and sentimentality, trying to persuade Qingjing not to get angry.
It was rare that Qingjing was still in a bad mood and still managed to appease Liu Niangzi. It wasn't until they arrived at their new residence that she dismissed Liu Niangzi and the other servants of the Li family, leaving only Acai to serve them.
"Close the door! I won't see anyone!" she said imperiously, pointing at the door.
A-Cai eagerly awaited the sudden appearance of the enlightened young man in the corridor, who would stumble and fall as he apologized to Changsun Qingjing and comforted her.
"What are you dawdling about?" Qingjing saw through Acai's thoughts. "Someone else's husband is bullying your wife, and you're still worried about whether he'll come or not, or whether he'll be turned away when he does!"
A Cai dared not disobey Changsun Qingjing's wishes, so she half-closed the door.
Changsun Qingjing snorted, feeling aggrieved. Not only had her fervent enthusiasm vanished without a trace, but the immense waves it had stirred up had almost swept her into the sea. Her eyes were red and swollen, her lips were bitten, and tears welled up in her eyes; she felt utterly wronged.
"As stupid as Liu Ruan left the mountain, it's no wonder his path to the immortal realm is so long," Changsun Qingjing said bitterly. She grabbed a slingshot from the table and fired a projectile at the painting of a phoenix perched on a parasol tree on the wall.
The bullet grazed the parrot's perch and struck the phoenix's crown feather squarely.
The parrot, which was sharpening its beak on its perch, was startled by the sudden attack and flung out a few feathers, muttering, "Serves it right, serves it right, serves it right..."
A teardrop under Changsun Qingjing's eyelashes rolled down her cheek with a hearty laugh. "Well said! Give that vulgar, ignorant, and ungrateful scoundrel a good laugh!"
She played with the parrot for a while, but then found it boring, so she lay down on the couch fully clothed, still feeling resentful, but not so heartbroken anymore.
She recalled Xiao Yu's account of how the Cheng family was being manipulated, how the uncle and nephew, husband and wife were being sown apart, and how prophecies were rampant. Seeing the collapse of the great empire, she was terrified and jumped up as if pricked by needles.
"In short, the daughter of the former Right Valiant Guard General wouldn't do anything foolish with the son of the current Right Valiant Guard General," Changsun Qingjing muttered to himself. "Regardless of whether he's willing or not, I need to figure out how to save myself first. Perhaps I should talk to the Lord about my thoughts first. But I heard from my mother that the Lord was also childish before; he got a fine horse and a flying eagle, but he refused to offer them to His Majesty. Alas, Erlang is just like his father. I don't know which one would be more useful to persuade."
She reflected on how the opera "Bo Tou" had caused a minor embarrassment during the roadside ceremony, leaving Li Yuan quite embarrassed. However, due to her status as a new bride and Li Shimin's strenuous protection, he hadn't reprimanded her. She decided it was best not to be too outspoken for the time being.
"The prophecy that 'Li should become emperor' and the nightmare of the late emperor flooding Chang'an have been embellished and spread for many years, yet his position as duke remains unshaken. You, sir, have cultivated your career in the officialdom for many years and have your own informants and survival strategies that I do not know. If I were to speak rashly, wouldn't I only invite your ridicule?"
She held the hand warmer, tapping her knuckles on the table, then suddenly relaxed her furrowed brow, a feeling of relief like the moon emerging from the clouds.
"Ah Cai, give the order that I am going to Yique to worship Buddha tomorrow morning, and prepare a fast horse."
"Ah Cai, secretly bring the grasshopper girl here later, but don't disturb Erlang."
"Ah Cai, count the gold coins in my dowry chest."
"Ah Cai, call a few strong women to send all of Erlang's weapons and musical instruments over there. Don't keep a single one! They're an eyesore!"
Relying on her years of service, A-Cai stepped forward and advised, "My lady has just arrived in Luoyang. She should rest for a few days and avoid strenuous activity to prevent the cold from invading her body."
“I’ll just go for a walk around the Buddhist shrine I keep at home and come back in half a day,” Changsun Qingjing explained. “Luoyang is my hometown, and I’m very familiar with the people and things there, so I won’t be tired.”
Knowing she couldn't win against her wife's sophistry, A-Cai stopped pursuing the matter and changed the subject to another thorny one: "Wife, are you really prepared to continue ignoring your husband like this?"
"Hmm." Changsun Qingjing responded irritably, then mischievously picked up his slingshot and aimed it at the self-important phoenix in the painting.
A-Cai stood in front of Changsun Qingjing.
"Get out of my way, don't make me angry."
“My lady, please listen to me.” A-Cai abruptly snatched the slingshot from Changsun Qingjing’s hand and bowed, saying, “Erlang has always been kind to you, my lady, and is not a heartless person. Although he was outspoken and somewhat rude today, it is ultimately just a matter between the two of you. You must not let the whole family know about it. Your family has lost its protection, and the Gao family is not doing well. You have no choice but to compromise your principles…”
"I understand what you're saying." Changsun Qingjing nodded, feeling a pang of sadness at her isolation and helplessness.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ah Cai suggested, "If you don't mind, Madam, I'll go and talk to Madam Liu myself. She's the young master's wet nurse, and she's always been kind to you and me. If she can mediate, you and your husband can reconcile as before, wouldn't that be alright?"
"Well, then I won't throw away all of Erlang's utensils for now. You take care of the first three things for me first, and I'll see if that blockhead will crack open on his own. If he doesn't crack open by tomorrow night, then we'll go and consult Madam Liu." The young mistress had no choice but to temporarily reconcile with her current situation.
However, let's wait and see.
She turned to look out the window. The setting sun, like a pool of thick blood, hung heavy over the western sky, making it hard for her to breathe.
Luoyang is an illusion forged from blood-red coral. Everyone in this illusion walks on burning gems until the flames devour their bones.
Author's Note: I'm trying to write a plot where "you are heartless, you are cold-blooded, and you are unreasonable."
Having just obtained the authority to act as regent, won over the hearts of the people, and made some minor preparations for Hirokami's undercover investigation.
The newly appointed mistress of the house was dealt a heavy blow by reality.
Arguing with my husband across servers is really infuriating.
Qingjing was, after all, just a girl in the second year of junior high school. When her teenage angst kicked in, she wanted to throw all of Li Shimin's things away.
Cute little A-Cai offers advice
Guess who will give in first? [Please!]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
