Chapter 4

Chapter 4: There’s a Deal Like That?

Perhaps because of transmigrating, Gu Nan Xi felt endlessly exhausted. No matter how much she slept, it never seemed to be enough.

And yet funerals demanded extravagance. A lavish burial was considered filial—so much so that even bankruptcy was acceptable, so long as the elder was sent off with grandeur.

All through Yong Chang Prefecture, lights burned through the night. Music played without pause.

Gu Nan Xi finally found a moment to rest, only to spot Su Xuan Ming lurking not far away, peeking like a guilty cat.

He was tall and handsome, yet his timid, hesitant movements made him look absurd.

Gu Nan Xi met his bright, hopeful eyes, then simply turned over and closed hers again.

Su Xuan Ming’s gaze dimmed. He paced for a moment, then inched closer, step by step, as if walking on knives.

“Mother,” he said softly. “Thank you.”

Gu Nan Xi cracked her eyes open just in time to see him bolt away like a dog had chased him off, stumbling as he ran.

“Tch.” She rolled over and went back to sleep.

The ones thanking Gu Nan Xi weren’t only him. Jing Niang’s entire family was buzzing with excitement.

“Jing Niang, we heard what happened today,” Old Man Li said, crowding around her and praising her until his cheeks reddened. “You’ve really made something of yourself!”

Li Da had once resented her for taking the shopkeeper position, but now, seeing the family’s fortunes rising with hers, he immediately wore the face of a devoted brother. “Our Jing Niang is graceful and clever. Anyone who sees her has to praise her.”

Old Man Li sat down and wiped at his eyes. “Who would’ve thought the marchioness would be so reasonable? She loves Young Master Su so much. When you marry in, you’ll live in comfort.”

“Tomorrow I’ll go to Da Xiang Guo Temple and light a perpetual lamp for the marchioness,” Li Da’s wife said with open envy. “A mother-in-law like that—may she live a hundred years.”

Jing Niang, however, kept her pretty face cold and her gaze sharp. “You all think she’s kind,” she said, “but you don’t know how deep her schemes run.”

“Oh?” Everyone turned to her at once.

Jing Niang sat straight as a spear. Her voice was clear and chilly. “She deliberately made me handle the funeral alone. She let the nobles make things difficult for me, hoping I’d retreat.”

Old Man Li hesitated. “Would she really? The Old Marquis’s funeral is no small matter. The marchioness wouldn’t treat it like a game.”

Jing Niang’s lips curved in a thin, icy smile. “What’s more important,” she asked, “the dead… or the living?”

Old Man Li leapt up and grabbed her shoulders. “Jing Niang. You must hold this reputation tightly. Our whole family is your backbone!”

The next morning, before dawn had even fully lifted, Marquis Yong Chang Manor’s gate grew noisy again.

This was the most important step of the mourning rites: the funeral procession.

Guests poured in—among them the town duke’s grandson, now inheriting as first-rank earl Li Ji Zong; the qi duke’s grandson, the hereditary third rank Nation-Guarding General Liu Rui Wen; and more besides. Over ten large sedans, twenty or thirty smaller ones, and countless carts filled the street—at least a hundred vehicles in all.

The guests whispered among themselves. “Today they won’t let that merchant girl take charge again, will they?”

A familiar noblewoman spoke with certainty. “The marchioness is strict about rules. Unless she’s too ill to rise from bed, she’ll come out to oversee everything.”

“That merchant girl took plenty of losses yesterday. How could she have the face to appear again?”

“What is Marquis Yong Chang Manor doing? They’ve gone a hundred paces and haven’t even put up a canopy!”

Someone frowned, already searching for faults.

Before the complaint could settle, music rose from the far end of the road—voices and instruments braided together.

Everyone turned.

A vast crowd approached, carrying paper money and paper gold ingots, moving in an orderly surge toward Marquis Manor.

At the front—wasn’t that Jing Niang?

Jing Niang walked up and greeted the noblewomen she had hosted the day before, calm and graceful, carrying herself like she already belonged at the center of the household.

A young noble lady whispered to her elder, “She has the nerve to show up. The marchioness’s plan is going to fail.”

The older woman’s face darkened. “In this round, the marchioness either falls short at the last step… or swallows the loss in silence. Either way, it’s ugly. This merchant girl is ruthless.”

Some guests worried for the marchioness. Others waited, gleeful, for blood in the water.

The noisy street gradually quieted.

All eyes fixed on Marquis Manor’s main gate, waiting for the moment the door would open.

Inside, Gu Nan Xi had her personal maid knead her aching back. “Next time I fall asleep outside,” she said, “carry me to bed.”

Lu Mei answered softly, “Yes, Madam. But the time has come. Shouldn’t you set out?”

Just imagining the long, complicated funeral procession described in the book made Gu Nan Xi’s scalp prickle.

“Get up!” kind mother system popped back into her head, frantic. “The female lead is here again! Hurry out and slap her down!”

Yesterday, because Gu Nan Xi hadn’t followed the plot, kind mother system had sulked and ignored her.

Today, the female lead appeared again.

The plot had to be dragged back onto the rails.

With that “warning” in mind, Gu Nan Xi asked, “I think I hear Jing Niang outside. Did she come? Why didn’t you invite her in?”

Lu Mei froze mid-knead. What did Madam mean by that?

Was she really inviting Jing Niang in… or preparing to drive her out?

At that moment, Su Xuan Ming shouted from the doorway, “Mother, it’s almost time! We should leave now. Jing Niang is here too—she even set up a roadside canopy.”

Lu Mei nearly cried from anger. “The eldest young master has truly been bewitched! That girl is forcing you! Just to secure the reputation of ‘taking charge,’ she even paid out of her own pocket to set up a canopy. Does she think she can put up a canopy just because she wants to?”

Gu Nan Xi’s eyes lit up.

There was a deal like that?

Someone would spend money and do the work… just for a bit of reputation?

And what was reputation worth, really? Could it lift coffins? Could it manage servants? Could it handle chores?

Gu Nan Xi beckoned Lu Mei close and whispered instructions.

Lu Mei’s eyes widened. “Madam… you—”

Gu Nan Xi lay back down, pulled the blanket over herself, and said with absolute finality, “Do as I told you.”

Lu Mei stormed toward the main gate, cheeks puffed with fury. On the way, Su Xuan Ming kept asking, “Why isn’t Mother coming out? Is she unwell?”

Lu Mei answered with heavy sarcasm. “The eldest young master is truly filial—so concerned about Madam.”

Su Xuan Ming glanced around, cheeks flushing. “I misunderstood Mother for years. Only yesterday did I finally realize… Mother loves me deeply.”

Lu Mei choked on the words, then let out a cold laugh and strode to the gate.

Jing Niang immediately craned her neck, searching past her. “Where is the marchioness?”

Su Xuan Ming ran up beside Jing Niang. “Mother didn’t come out.”

Every gaze in the crowd shifted onto Lu Mei.

What would the marchioness do?

Lu Mei met Jing Niang’s challenging look and nearly exploded—but she remembered her orders and forced herself to speak in a stiff, measured voice.

“Madam’s grief was too heavy. She has fallen ill. Madam has a message: please have Jing Niang take charge of everything.”

The street erupted.