The gifts were sent by the Jiang family, so if trouble arose, it was...
For some reason, Duke Xiangguo especially wanted to stay tonight. Usually, he only thought his wife was beautiful but somewhat petty, not as good as Concubine Miao. But after hearing her words, he realized she was insightful and sensible, just good at hiding her intelligence. However, the Duke was unwilling to admit defeat to Lady Sang. If only Lady Sang would give him a way out first, he would stay in her room tonight to rekindle their rare marital affection.
Unexpectedly, Old Mammy Hu from Concubine Miao's side hurriedly reported: "Your Grace, Brother Yu fell while playing on the rockery in the garden. He's bleeding from his head. Our lady is frantic."
Lady Sang had no intention of keeping the Duke anyway. She ordered a maid to bring plenty of the wound-healing medicine she had made and send it with the Duke to Concubine Miao's courtyard, finally seeing off this great Buddha.
Wen Yuan'ai heard what the Duke had said and went to the study to pester Wen Qiao into teaching her to write her own name. Lady Sang, afraid that Aijie'er's pestering would keep Qiao'er reading until late, coaxed her daughter over to her own room's heated brick bed to practice character tracing.
Wen Yuan'ai could sit still. Although tracing big characters was slow, she learned the correct grip on the brush and could write some passable dots, strokes, and slants.
In the study, Wen Qiao opened a volume of the Book of Songs and happened upon the chapter "Liao E." When he read the lines, "My father gave me life, my mother nurtured me. They fondled me, kept me, grew me, raised me; they cared for me, turned for me, carried me in and out," he marked a cross through the character for "father."
In his memory, his father had only shown him approval by patting his head on the day he passed the prefectural examination and became a student. As for Wen Yu, his father had personally taught him his first characters.
When he had gone to Sujing earlier, Uncle Jiang Shaohua had guided him through several essays. Yuanyuan would catch frogs, katydids, butterflies, and other small creatures and run into the study to show them to her father. Uncle was never angry that Yuanyuan rolled around in the mud in her silk clothes or that she was naughty and playful. Instead, he praised the color of the frogs she caught, the loud chirping of the katydids, the beauty of the butterfly patterns, and so on.
But his own sister was just as pretty and adorable as Yuanyuan—a little maiden with snow-white skin, thick black hair, and a particularly charming smile. Yet his father always thought she was either stupid or clumsy, even though sometimes Yuanyuan was also a bit of a scatterbrain and silly.
If he and his sister had a father as good as Uncle Jiang, then their mother wouldn't have to wipe tears in secret. Yuanyuan was so lucky. He was envious.
*
Duke Xiangguo had dinner in Concubine Miao's room, drank too much, and lay down first on the daybed in the inner room. Concubine Miao sat on the heated brick bed in the outer room, watching the maids clear the bowls and chopsticks from the table. Old Mammy Hu held the wound-healing medicine Lady Sang had sent and asked whether Concubine Miao wanted to use it on Brother Yu.
"Throw it away," Concubine Miao said as she cracked melon seeds. "I know that woman is praised by the Empress herself as a miracle doctor, but people's hearts are hard to fathom. Who knows if her years of virtue and kindness are just an act?"
"This servant thinks so too," Old Mammy Hu agreed. "Lady Sang can't bear healthy children herself, and seeing the fine young masters and ladies you've given birth to, she can't be harboring only bad intentions but also a bellyful of resentment toward you." She said she would indeed throw away the medicine, but in her heart, she planned to sell it at the pharmacy for money.
Concubine Miao glanced toward the inner room. "If that woman were a good person, would she have secretly begged the Old Madam for help? The Old Madam has never favored me. My only hope in this mansion is the Duke. My birth is better than Lady Sang's; her family just has some stinking money. In the order of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants are the most base. Back then, if my mother's illness hadn't required a certain medicine from Imperial Consort Dowager Sang's dowry, today I would be the Duchess of Xiangguo."
Concubine Miao sneered. "She stole another's true love and can't bear healthy children—that's her own retribution."
A maid came to report that Wen Yu, having bumped his head, didn't want to study today. Concubine Miao sternly told the maid, "Elder brother is tormented by his cold disorder every day but still gets up at cockcrow to study. When Brother Yu goes to sleep, Elder Brother's study is still brightly lit. If Brother Yu dares to slack off and not study today, I'll go to the Old Madam tomorrow and have him sent to Lady Sang to raise."
The maid relayed the original message to Wen Yu. He had been lying in bed, eating peeled grapes fed by another maid, but he immediately leapt up like a carp and sat properly at the desk, pretending to read.
Concubine Miao sighed in disappointment. "Brother Yu always compares himself to others in food and clothing, but not in studies. He never gives me any peace of mind."
Old Mammy Hu smiled. "Our Brother Yu is clever, but he just doesn't apply it to his studies. If he were willing to work hard, he would far surpass the elder brother."
"The child I bore is naturally no worse than that sickly child of Lady Sang's," Concubine Miao said.
*
At the end of the month, Jiang Xuesui received a letter from her father. She could recognize over a thousand characters, and her father used characters she knew as much as possible so she could read the letter herself. Along with the letter came a cartload of fun trinkets he had collected for her and two handkerchiefs he had embroidered as a beginner. On both handkerchiefs were embroidered qilin, and the threads were in Jiang Xuesui's favorite colors: pink and blue.
In the letter, her father said he would practice on two handkerchiefs first and would definitely embroider a pouch for her in a month. Jiang Xuesui remembered a phrase her father often said: "Whatever other little ladies have, our Yuanyuan will have too." Her father had never broken his promise to her.
There was also a quilt made from fireball mouse fur and fire peacock down, which her mother had specially instructed her father to find these rare materials and have the best embroiderer make it for Wen Qiao. It was to thank him for saving her that day and preventing her family from being separated. In the letter, her father wrote that if he gave the quilt only to Brother Qiao, the other young masters and ladies in the mansion might be disappointed. She should ask Aunt Hailan how to handle the social obligations.
When Hailan learned of this, she immediately opened the storeroom and found a set of twelve quilts with auspicious beast patterns. These quilts had faces of multicolored reunion brocade and linings of great saint green sparrow down, each worth at least five to six thousand taels. But the most valuable was still the quilt for Wen Qiao, a good thing that money couldn't buy—unburnable in fire, unwettable in water, and even able to warm the body, calm the mind, and prolong life for someone with a cold disorder. The material came from the tiny pieces of fireball mouse's heart fur and the softest down from the fire peacock's neck. Making a single inch of that quilt cost a hundred pieces of gold.
When Jiang Xuesui heard how precious the quilt was, she sat in a round-backed armchair and nearly fell over laughing. "In my father's heart, Yuanyuan is a young lady worth a hundred thousand, a million, or ten million gold pieces." Hailan, who had been feeling sorry for the Jiang family and regretting that such a fine quilt had been given to Wen Qiao, was stunned. Her young lady truly treated pearls like dung and gold like dirt. But after all, the entire Jiang family estate would one day go to her young lady. Hailan just wondered which young master would be lucky enough to enjoy such tremendous wealth with her.
*
The young masters and young ladies of the mansion were scattered across different courtyards. Hailan had intended to send maids to deliver the quilts one courtyard at a time, but Old Madam Wen got wind of it and ordered each courtyard to send a maid to Jiangxue Residence to collect their quilt.
The maids from the second and third branches quickly took the quilts and returned to their young masters or ladies. For the main branch, Cuicui, who attended Wen Yu and was personally trained by Concubine Miao, went with Wen Xiang, who attended Wen Qiao, to collect their young masters' quilts. Cuicui had sharp eyes and knew quality; she could immediately tell that Wen Xiang's quilt was extremely good. But she couldn't grab it openly at Jiangxue Residence. Only when they were almost at Luanfeng Pavilion, where Concubine Miao lived, did Cuicui put on a flattering smile and say to Wen Xiang, "Since the quilts the young lady sent to the elder and second young masters are the same, how about we swap? The pattern on the second young master's quilt is more to the elder young master's liking, okay?"
Wen Xiang knew Cuicui was up to no good. When they went to collect the monthly allowances, Cuicui always bullied the elder young master for not caring, and the elder young lady for being simple-minded, secretly swapping their better things for inferior ones.
Seeing that Wen Xiang ignored her, Cuicui called for helpers from Luanfeng Pavilion. Four or five maids blocked Wen Xiang's path, clearly intending to seize the quilt she was holding. Coincidentally, over a dozen maids from Fuxi Pavilion were also on their way to Prince Duan's Mansion to pick up the young prince for a visit. Seeing that people from Luanfeng Pavilion were trying to rob their elder young master's things—and having endured many grievances from Luanfeng Pavilion—the maids from Fuxi Pavilion joined the fight. The conflict escalated until it reached Duke Xiangguo.
*
In Mingli Hall, Duke Xiangguo sat upright on a taishi chair. Lady Sang and Wen Qiao sat on the left. Concubine Miao and Wen Yu sat on the right.
The Duke began: "An elder brother should defer to his younger brother. It's just a quilt, and you're fighting like this. When the property is divided in the future, will you risk your lives for it?"
Before Lady Sang could speak, Concubine Miao took the initiative to admit fault: "Your Grace, it's my fault for not properly disciplining those maids. They rarely see good things in Brother Yu's room and thought that since Brother Qiao's room is full of treasures bestowed by the Empress, the Imperial Consort Dowager Sang, and the Old Madam, Brother Qiao wouldn't care about a single quilt."
Lady Sang said gloomily, "Do you mean to say I've mistreated you and your son?"
"My Lady, I never meant that," Concubine Miao said, looking at the Duke with tearful eyes, pitiable and fragile.
"Miaoyi, you're twisting Suxin's words again."
Miaoyi was Lady Sang's courtesy name; Suxin was Concubine Miao's. Lady Sang knew that when her own name was spoken, nothing good would follow. She simply stated the facts: "Your Grace, it was Yuanyuan who decided which quilt goes to which young master."
As soon as Concubine Miao entered, her eyes had lingered on the two quilts, and she understood why Cuicui had to snatch Wen Qiao's quilt for her Wen Yu. "Our Brother Yu is born of a concubine, not a legitimate son like Brother Qiao. Even when the young lady sends gifts, she shows partiality."
The Duke understood Concubine Miao's implication and felt sorry for her and her son. He was about to order the exchange of Wen Qiao's quilt for Wen Yu's when a small figure appeared at the entrance.
"Elder Uncle."
Jiang Xuesui entered and first curtsied to the Duke, then to Lady Sang. When she reached Concubine Miao, she gave only a perfunctory greeting.
Hailan had said that most parents in the world favored one child over another. Jiang Xuesui didn't believe it, so she came to see for herself what parental favoritism looked like. Hailan had also said that since the gifts were from the Jiang family, if trouble arose, it was up to the Jiang girl to settle it. Jiang Xuesui agreed. She was young, but when her mother taught her to write the character "人" (person), she said it was written to stand tall and upright. As the only young lady of the Jiang family, she had to bear responsibility. In the future, she might not become a towering figure, but she would still be Jiang Xuesui who could distinguish right from wrong and support her own household.