Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Retaliation

Outside the manor gates, the Song Shan Academy matter boiled louder by the hour. Inside, with the courtyard doors shut, Gu Nan Xi returned to a life that felt almost leisurely.

In the yard, Lu Mei directed two or three servants to dig holes beneath the peach tree, then lower clay jars into the earth one by one.

“Madam,” Lu Mei said, wiping her hands, “the fine daughter’s red wine is buried. But among the common folk, they bury daughter’s red wine from the day a young lady is born. Aren’t we doing it a bit late?”

Gu Nan Xi lay on a bamboo lounge chair under a thin blanket, basking in the noon sun. The weather had turned colder and colder—only sunlight at its strongest could chase the chill from her bones.

“Who said it’s for when Yun Yan marries?” she said lazily. “After the one-year mourning period, we’ll dig it up and drink it.”

According to the Book of Rites, mourning was supposed to last three years.

But since the founding emperor of this dynasty, simple burials were praised from top to bottom, and cremation was common among the people. As for mourning, the rules weren’t strict. One to three years all passed. In special cases, you could even count months as years—three months in place of three years.

Gu Nan Xi planned to follow the usual path and mourn for one year.

After all, in only a few short years, the whole family would be seized and executed. If she spent that time eating only vegetarian food and hiding from life, it would be tragedy piled on tragedy.

Lu Mei had no objections. After the jars were buried, she hurried toward the small kitchen. “Madam, you’ve lost weight lately! I’ll prepare something for you to eat.”

Gu Nan Xi nodded in full agreement. Of course she had. She wasn’t young anymore—one night of staying up, and she needed several nights to recover.

Besides, winter was coming. It was the perfect season to put on some weight.

Gu Nan Xi lay there with a perfectly clear conscience.

She had just started to drift when Lu Mei’s startled cry snapped through the yard.

“Little lady?! What are you doing?”

Gu Nan Xi cracked an eye open and found her silly daughter approaching with a tray, excitement written across her face like a banner.

“Mother! I made these myself—orange-brewed tofu, roasted tofu skin, stir-fried beans, spicy dried tofu…”

Gu Nan Xi blinked, truly at a loss. “Why is it all beans?”

Su Yun Yan looked delighted to answer. “Because you always tell me to eat more tofu pudding. So I knew you love bean products the most!”

A perfect boomerang—thrown long ago, now returned to stab straight into Gu Nan Xi’s chest.

Lu Mei covered her mouth and snickered. Gu Nan Xi leaned forward with a grim expression to inspect the tray.

Four porcelain plates lay in messy disarray, clean as fresh snow. If she ignored the charred black lumps of unknown origin, the remaining reds, yellows, and oranges were actually arranged nicely.

“What’s the black stuff?” Gu Nan Xi asked carefully. “Star anise? Cinnamon bark?”

Su Yun Yan clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Mother, that’s tofu, beans, tofu skin, and dried tofu.”

Gu Nan Xi instantly felt full. “You worked hard. I’m not hungry right now.”

Su Yun Yan shoved the tray into Lu Mei’s hands, then crouched by Gu Nan Xi’s feet, eyes bright. “Mother, what else do you want to eat? Just say it. I’ll make it all for you!”

“You still want to cook?!” Gu Nan Xi blurted.

Su Yun Yan nodded solemnly. “Of course. How can I quit halfway?”

“You’re a Jiao Jiao girl,” Gu Nan Xi tried desperately. “How can you spend day and night around the stove?”

Su Yun Yan didn’t even blink. “After I marry, I’ll do it for my husband and my mother-in-law. Now, why can’t I do it for my own mother?”

Gu Nan Xi had nothing to say.

So she dug into her robes and produced a book, pressing it into Su Yun Yan’s hands. “Good child, since you’re this sincere, I’ll pass this ancestral secret manual to you. Culinary God Manual. Study it well. Just make one dish a month for me.”

Then she added with ruthless practicality, “On normal days, go find your ten brothers to taste-test.”

Su Yun Yan’s eyes shone like she’d been handed treasure. “Thank you, Mother!”

Kind Mother System screamed in Gu Nan Xi’s mind. “Gu Nan Xi, are you poisoned? Culinary God Manual is for you to learn so you can cook for your son and daughter! And you gave it to Su Yun Yan so she can cook for you?”

Gu Nan Xi closed her eyes as drowsiness returned. “Whoever cooks, cooks. Doesn’t that still deepen the bond between mother and daughter?”

Kind Mother System stared at Su Yun Yan’s eager, itching-to-try expression and promptly shut down in fury.

Maybe even heaven couldn’t tolerate Gu Nan Xi’s shameless laziness. Before she could fall asleep, a loud commotion rose at the courtyard gate.

“Uncle, you can’t go into the inner courtyard! It’s improper!”

A rough male voice thundered back, barely holding rage. “What a joke! My whole family is about to be ruined by Gu Nan Xi, and you want me to care about propriety?”

Footsteps pounded in, messy and fast.

“Uncle, whatever it is, talk to me,” Su Xuan Ming said, voice tight. “Don’t go disturb my mother.”

“Hmph, talk to you?” the man snapped. “If it weren’t for you, Su Xuan Ming, how would my family have ended up like this? Move aside!”

Gu Nan Xi opened her eyes in time to see Su Xuan Ming trying to block the Su family uncle—only to be shoved until he staggered.

“Xuan Ming,” Gu Nan Xi said, rubbing her temples, “let your uncle come in.”

So much for her nap.

The Su family uncle stormed forward and jabbed a finger at Gu Nan Xi as if he meant to poke holes in her dignity. “Gu Nan Xi, can you still be the matriarch of Marquis Manor or not? If you can’t, tell my brother to hand over this title!”

Gu Nan Xi didn’t rise. She didn’t even soften her posture. “Brother, letting you into the inner courtyard was already for the sake of family ties. If you have something to say, say it. Don’t curse and disturb my peace. If you keep running your mouth, I’ll have you escorted out.”

The uncle swallowed the rest of his temper, likely remembering how different Gu Nan Xi had been lately—as if she had someone backing her. He snorted. “Su Xuan Ming won’t better himself and won’t study, but my eldest son is a good seed for learning!”

“He got into the Imperial Academy on his own ability. He’s the hope of our Su family. But because of you, the Imperial Academy wants to expel him!”

His voice cracked as if he might burst into tears again. “The Wen Qu Star of our Su family—ruined by you!”

“On what grounds are they expelling him?” Gu Nan Xi asked, finally sharpening.

The Su family uncle wiped at his eyes. “They said he can’t complete three subjects! But it’s an eight-year student path. My eldest son has already studied two years. He was just about to pass two classics and become a candidate for a literary attendant post… and at this exact moment, they say his grades aren’t good enough!”

The Imperial Academy was a state school under the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, one of the Nine Ministries. Its director and doctors were appointed with the emperor’s approval.

It mainly taught the classics and history, using the Confucian Five Classics as core texts, with the Four Books as supplements.

After two years at the Imperial Academy, if you passed two classics, you could become a candidate for a literary attendant post. Even if the waiting line stretched into the unknown, it was still a way out.

Gu Nan Xi frowned. The reason sounded perfectly proper—no crack to pry open.

“How are your eldest son’s usual grades?”

“Not top-tier,” the uncle admitted bitterly, “but he’s never failed!”

“During the exam, was anything strange?” Gu Nan Xi pressed. “Was his paper switched? Was he deliberately targeted?”

The uncle’s face turned ugly. He gritted his teeth. “None of that! But my eldest son said this exam’s questions were harder than before!”

Gu Nan Xi understood at once.

They hadn’t changed the passing line on paper—they’d raised it by changing the paper itself. A sixty-point pass turned into a seventy-point pass, neatly shaving off the students stuck in the middle.