Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Pitiful Marchioness of Yong Chang

The young noblewoman looked as if she’d taken a brutal blow. She couldn’t help crying out, “The Marchioness surrendered just like that?!”

The old attendant sighed, shaking her head. “What else could she do? Between her pride and her son, she chose her son.”

The young noblewoman wiped at her tears, furious. “Something this huge, and she actually gives way to an unmarried merchant girl. The Marchioness has been wronged!”

The old madam took out a handkerchief and dabbed at the girl’s eyes. “From now on, you must teach Liang Er properly. If our family ever produces a Su Da Lang, I’d rather drown him the moment he’s born!”

Not a word of it escaped Su Xuan Ming.

Only then did he begin to sense it—maybe what he’d done really had wounded his mother.

“Su Lang, this is my first time handling something so big. I have no experience… can you help me?”

Jing Niang caught the flicker of guilt that crossed his face and immediately cut off his thoughts.

Su Xuan Ming nodded quickly. “Of course.”

Jing Niang smiled at him, sweet as honey. “My father said the Marchioness values us so highly, we can’t let Madam lose face. So the awnings, the decorations, all the expense the stewards have to arrange—my family will cover it.”

Su Xuan Ming lifted a hand to refuse. “How can that be acceptable?”

Jing Niang clasped his hand, her gaze full of gratitude and adoration. “My feelings for Su Lang are the same as yours for me. It’s only money. As long as we can be together, what does it matter even if we spend every last coin?”

Su Xuan Ming was moved to the core. He felt blessed beyond measure—he had a mother who doted on him, and Jing Niang, who loved him with single-minded devotion.

The funeral procession itself was grand and proper. The only flaw was that everything had been prepared in a rush.

Some guests left in a sulk. Others left smiling to themselves. Not one of them was willing to stay behind and chat with the manor’s stewards.

By the time the sun slanted toward the west, Gu Nan Xi had people move the meal into the courtyard and set up a barbecue. Only then did the Su family members finally return, their steps heavy with exhaustion.

“Mother,” Su Yun Yan called the moment she arrived, “I heard you were sick. Are you feeling better?”

Ever since she’d learned her own mother was a hidden master of household warfare, Su Yun Yan had been desperate to glue herself to Gu Nan Xi’s side and pick up even a few tricks.

Gu Nan Xi lounged in her chair. In the distance, the sunset burned red as blood. Smoke curled lazily above the courtyard. The scent of skewers drifted through the air—peaceful, warm, almost idyllic.

Then the Su family barged in and shattered it.

Su Yun Yan rushed straight for her. Gu Nan Xi yanked her arm back so fast it nearly whistled.

Su Yun Yan pouted and, having nowhere else to cling, grabbed the armrest of the lounge chair instead.

Gu Nan Xi heard the wood creak and silently thanked the heavens it hadn’t been her arm.

“I’m better,” Gu Nan Xi said. “Why are you all here?”

Old Madam Hou slammed her cane hard against the ground. “You’re the matriarch of Marquis Yong Chang Manor, and you handed the old marquis’s funeral to an outsider! Where do you expect Marquis Yong Chang to put his face?”

Gu Nan Xi clutched her chest dramatically. “Lu Mei! Lu Mei, go call the doctor! My head hurts, my chest hurts, everything hurts. Sigh… my body is so useless. If I can’t manage the household, should we just hand it over to you to steward?”

Old Madam Hou’s expression froze. She turned on her heel and marched away. “I’m already this old, and you still want to work me to the bone? I’m exhausted. I’m going back to rest.”

Gu Nan Xi turned, half about to point at Concubine Duan. “Concubine Duan, how about—”

Concubine Duan moved faster than lightning. No more weak willows and delicate steps—she bolted after Old Madam Hou, calling as she went, “Madam! I’m going to attend on Old Madam! Old Madam, walk slowly!”

Gu Nan Xi watched them flee and went utterly speechless.

What was wrong with Marquis Yong Chang Manor?

In other households, stewarding power was something women fought over until blood ran down the walls—between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, between sisters-in-law, between wife and concubines.

Here, stewarding power had become a scalding hot potato. No one wanted it. No one would even take it when it was shoved into their hands.

Gu Nan Xi bit down hard on a grilled mushroom. The juice burst across her tongue—fresh, tender, absurdly delicious.

She’d originally planned to fake illness and dodge the whole funeral business.

It was certainly improper. Old Madam Hou would come looking for trouble, and Gu Nan Xi could use the chance to dump the household authority onto someone else—ideally earning herself a nice, comfortable punishment like confinement.

A perfect plan: one stone, two birds.

And up until that point, everything had gone exactly as expected.

But when it came to the final step—pushing away the stewarding power—it collapsed on the spot.

No. For the sake of her lazy, unbothered life, she had to find another way.

“Mother!” Su Yun Yan’s eyes glittered. “That was retreating to advance! A master’s move!”

So this was what it meant when experts exchanged blows?

No wonder Mother’s grip on the household never wavered. In the smallest details, the real fight had already happened—three moves, five moves, who knew how many.

Gu Nan Xi patted Su Yun Yan’s head. “Good child. Once the mourning ends, I’ll have the kitchen make you extra brain stew. During mourning, eat more tofu pudding.”

Maybe tofu pudding counted. People said you nourished what you ate, didn’t they?

Su Yun Yan was so moved she burrowed into Gu Nan Xi’s chest like a puppy. “Mother loves me best.”

Gu Nan Xi felt as if a hammer had slammed into her ribs. For a heartbeat she couldn’t breathe.

She tried to push Su Yun Yan’s head away. It didn’t budge.

Su Xuan Ming spotted her distress, dropped the skewer he’d been grilling, and hurried over to pry Su Yun Yan off.

Su Yun Yan twisted aside, offended. “Brother, what are you doing?! Are you jealous I’m closer to Mother?”

Then she rubbed her head in again—deliberately, with added force.

Su Xuan Ming looked at Gu Nan Xi’s flushed face and felt a spike of panic. Jealousy could wait. If Su Yun Yan kept that up, he might not have a mother left.

Gu Nan Xi slumped back in her chair like a dead fish and gulped air with her mouth open.

Fine. No struggling. It was just wasted effort.

Su Yun Yan was only twelve and already frighteningly strong. Give her a few more years and she’d probably be hauling cauldrons around with one hand.

If Old Two could swap bodies with her, he could swagger into the Martial Arts Alliance Leader seat and no one could stop him.

“Little Sister,” Su Xuan Ming said quickly, “the skewers are ready. Eat.”

Food was his ultimate weapon. It worked.

Since they were in mourning, everything on the grill was vegetarian. Even so, it beat boiled vegetables by a mile.

Su Yun Yan ate with her head down, barely blinking, and still couldn’t stop her mouth from running.

“On the way back, I heard a bunch of people saying the Marchioness of Yong Chang is a coward—she let an unmarried merchant girl press her down.”

One sentence, and she offended two people at the table. Impressive.

“If you ask me, Mother really got wronged. How are you supposed to go out now? The moment you step outside, those noblewomen will laugh you to death. They smile while they stab you—vicious, all of them.”

Su Yun Yan patted her chest, eyes wide with sympathy.

Su Xuan Ming lowered his head and said nothing.

Gu Nan Xi smiled and handed Su Yun Yan a skewer of grilled chives. “Then Mother just won’t go out.”

What a considerate daughter—she’d even found her an excuse.

Thanks to Su Yun Yan’s running mouth, Gu Nan Xi spent two peaceful days sprawled in her courtyard without anyone bothering her.

On the third day, she had to abandon her beloved bed and lounge chair at last.