Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Like Father, Like Daughter
In Capital City’s teahouses and wine shops, a storyteller had already taken Jing Niang’s filthy chatter and spun it into a grand drama: “The Marquis Household Matriarch Outsmarts the Vixen.”
“Last time, we left off at the part where that merchant girl, Jiao Jiao, was carried into Marquis Yong Chang Manor in a small sedan chair—sent there by her own father. Now, let’s continue.”
The storyteller slapped his clapper block, snapping every head in the room toward him.
“That merchant girl, Jiao Jiao, dared to talk back to the Marchioness right in front of the Eldest Young Master. She tore apart the Marchioness’s long-laid schemes, one by one, in broad daylight.”
The hall erupted in chatter.
“If you ask me,” one guest said, “the stupidest one is that merchant girl’s father. He could’ve become a Marquis’s father-in-law. Instead, he sends his daughter in as a concubine.”
At another table, someone let out a cold laugh. “You’re blinded by wealth. The Marchioness is ruthless and capable. If that merchant girl’s family doesn’t cut off their tail and crawl for survival, they’ll die with nowhere to be buried.”
A fat man nearby, arms wrapped around two women, scoffed. “You make it sound like a nightmare. It’s just inner-household trouble. How could the Marchioness have that kind of power?”
The storyteller chuckled, eyes glittering. “You all don’t understand. Ah… forget it. I can’t say it. I really can’t.”
That only made the crowd itch harder.
“What can’t you say? It’s just a story!”
“Exactly! Speak up!”
“Here, take the money—say it!”
Copper coins rained onto the stage, mixed with broken bits of silver and even banknotes, clattering like hail.
The storyteller beamed, then deliberately leaned in as if he were afraid of being overheard. “I’ll tell it, and you all listen—but don’t take it as truth.”
“That Marchioness? Her birth father is the Reigning God of War. Once, he led five thousand troops, went deep behind enemy lines with a lone force, and crushed thirty thousand enemies!”
“And the Marchioness—she’s been steeped in military texts since childhood. Whenever her birth father went to war, she was raised at the Grand Empress Dowager’s knee and taught under palace discipline. Tell me—how could a woman like that be ordinary?”
The guests left satisfied, already eager to go home and flaunt the “secret” to their families.
Upstairs, in a private room on the second floor, the young madam of Duke Ji’s household pressed close to her mother, eyes bright with gossip. “That Gu Nan Xi—was she really that capable? If she’s so impressive, how did she raise children who are all so useless?”
Old Madam reached out and pinched her ear. “What are you doing lately, always asking about Gu Nan Xi? Fine. I’ll tell you. Just stop prying.”
The young madam quickly poured her mother tea, smiling like a faithful lackey.
Old Madam took the cup and said flatly, “The storyteller wasn’t lying. It’s not even a secret. Plenty of people know Marquis Yong Chang Manor survives on Gu Nan Xi’s dowry.”
The young madam’s eyes widened. “So that’s why, back then, when Jing Niang snatched the steward authority, you all only laughed. You weren’t worried at all.”
Old Madam sighed. “It wasn’t Gu Nan Xi setting a trap on purpose. If that merchant girl had put in even a little effort, asked around just a bit, she would’ve known. Gu Nan Xi only went with the current—just like her father.”
Old Madam set down her teacup, and her tone turned distant. “Gu Nan Xi was dazzling, back then. Childhood sweethearts with the late emperor. In everyone’s eyes, she was the Crown Princess Consort.”
“But later, General Gu died in battle, and the current Empress Dowager snatched that future away.”
“The Empress Dowager feared the late emperor would remember old feelings, pull Gu Nan Xi into the harem, and create a powerful rival. So while the late emperor was away on a personal campaign, she issued an imperial marriage decree and married Gu Nan Xi to Su Yan Ting of Marquis Yong Chang Manor.”
“At the time, Marquis Yong Chang Manor had already declined. Su Yan Ting was only the Second Young Master, without a title of his own. The whole of Capital City knew the manor was broke.”
“When the late emperor returned in triumph and learned his beloved had married another man, he flew into a rage. He shoved Su Yan Ting into the army.”
Old Madam’s mouth twitched, half amused, half helpless. “That Su Yan Ting is a stubborn mule. He knew about the late emperor and Gu Nan Xi, yet he still had two children with her in three years, and three in five.”
“That enraged the late emperor so badly that when Gu Nan Xi got pregnant with Su Yun Yan, he demoted Su Yan Ting to the Borderlands and forbade him from returning to the capital for ten years.”
The young madam didn’t know whether to pity Gu Nan Xi or admire her. “So she endured all these years, and only dared to act after the late emperor died…”
Old Madam stared at the steam rising from her tea and let out a long sigh. “I thought time would grind down her pride. I thought she’d become just another woman of the rear courtyard like us.”
“I didn’t expect her methods to grow sharper instead. Everyone knows it’s her hand behind things, yet no one can catch her in a mistake.”
The young madam’s voice turned sour. “Was she really that unforgettable? So many people couldn’t let her go?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Old Madam said. “Later, the late emperor had long since thrown her aside. Gu Nan Xi was simply cautious by nature.”
“But now? She’s better than before—like aged wine, richer and deeper with time. If the late emperor were still alive and saw Gu Nan Xi like this, he wouldn’t let go.”
The young madam snorted. “Men like delicate flowers at fifteen or sixteen. Who would look twice at us half-aged women in our thirties?”
Old Madam tapped her forehead. “Experience remakes a man. It can also make a woman fragrant and captivating. Men love delicate flowers because the inner household molds women into the same shape.”
The young madam bristled. “Then Gu Nan Xi is different? With tricks like hers, wouldn’t men fear her like a tiger?”
“Silly child,” Old Madam said, eyes calm. “If a concubine behaved like that, men would despise it. But if the head matriarch does? Who wouldn’t be pleased? Men are the most practical of all.”
The same conversation echoed through countless noble households.
Even Su Yun Yan—who rarely went out—was teased the moment she stepped into a gathering.
“Yun Yan, you’re not what you used to be. Your mother handed you the steward authority. She’s truly training you now.”
Su Yun Yan stomped, cheeks burning. “It’s such a small thing. How did it spread so far? You all have been learning household management for ages—why are you still teasing me?”
The second miss from Duke Ji’s household laughed. “We’re not the same. My mother isn’t as capable as yours.”
“That’s true,” Su Yun Yan said, grinning. “But how do you all know my mother is capable?”
The second miss rolled her eyes. “Who doesn’t know? And you—your mother kept the late emperor hung up for more than ten years, and you never leaked a word. That’s so unfair!”
The other girls chimed in, delighted. “Exactly! With a mother like that, no wonder she isn’t afraid of that merchant girl.”
Su Yun Yan went rigid.
So that terrifying woman… was her own mother?
And her charm hadn’t faded—she could still make grown men lose their minds?
But her mother barely left the courtyard, ate, drank, and lazed around like the world was none of her business.
Was that, too, part of her scheme?