At this time, He Dalang had just walked out of Countess Jing’an’s courtyard. However, it wasn’t just him and his wife now; a young lady was following behind them with her head lowered and a blush on her cheeks.
This lady was Countess Jing’an’s handmaid, Miaozhen.
Miaozhen was no longer Countess Jing’an’s handmaid, and was now Dalang’s bed servant- essentially, a concubine.
This was something that Matriarch He had personally decided. The matriarch had even ordered He Dalang to consummate their relationship this very night.
He Changqi had a cold expression on his face now. His looks had taken after Count Jing’an- a square face and a tall, strong body with tanned skin. When he put on such an expression, it was hard for others to get close to him.
Right behind He Changqi was the pale Madam Zou. Halfway back to their courtyard, she wanted to tug at her husband’s sleeve. However, even though she reached out a few times, she couldn’t bear to lower her dignity to do it in the end. By the time they reached home, the couple still hadn’t exchanged a single word.
Matriarch He’s Senior Servant Liu was following behind the couple. She observed the couple indifferently before shifting her gaze away, remaining silent as well.
When they reached the parlour, instead of trying to plead with He Changqi, she simply continued standing there with a ghastly pale face. This action made He Changqi press his lips together in empty disappointment.
Even Senior Servant Liu who was not far behind shook her head secretly. Madam Zou was just too much of a failure as a wife. When the steadfast loyalty of her relationship with her husband was being tested, she was still unwilling to lower her head and only tried to keep up a strong and haughty pretense. What sort of result could that action get her?
Senior Servant Liu hadn’t spoken at all on the way here in order to give Dalang and his wife a chance. This was also something that Matriarch He had instructed her to do in secret. Unfortunately, Madam Zou hadn’t been able to grasp this chance.
In the parlour of their courtyard, husband and wife kept silent and waged a cold war with each other. He Changqi was originally a more traditional kind of person. How could he lower himself to coax his wife? Thus, the cold war brewed even fiercer.
Finally, Senior Servant Liu had to step up to break this stalemate.
“Eldest Young Madam, it’s getting late. You’ve been busy the whole day, so why don’t you rest a little earlier? This old servant will help arrange matters for Heir Jing’an.” Although Senior Servant Liu spoke politely, it was clear in her tone that she wasn’t going to accept any refusal.
Frustration had been brewing in Madam Zou’s belly for a long time. Senior Servant Liu’s words were like the spark to light the fuse. While in front of her mother-in-law, Countess Jing’an, she had to control herself and suppress her emotions, but now that it was just an old servant in front of her, she could no longer continue holding herself back.
Madam Zou abruptly stood up and pushed Senior Servant Liu with a burst of strength that had come out of nowhere. “You old servant! What are you?! When has it been up to you to dictate matters in our branch?!”
How could Senior Servant Liu have expected the normally dignified Madam Zou to have lost her temper? What’s more, she was acting like an immoral and unreasonable shrew. After getting pushed by Madam Zou, Senior Servant Liu lost her balance and fell right onto the floor on her behind.
Senior Servant Liu was no longer young. How could her body bear such a fall? She cried out in pain, unable to get up.
It was only when Madam Zou noticed the extremely pained expression on the servant’s face that she realised what she had done. She froze on the spot, not knowing what to do.
He Changqi’s eyes widened in shock. By the time he could finally react, he was about to try catching Senior Servant Liu, but she had already fallen to the ground.
He strode over quickly and asked, “Momo, are you alright?”
He Changqi had already been angry with Madam Zou. Now that he had watched her personally push down his grandmother’s trusted old servant, he was beside himself with rage.
He glared fiercely at Madam Zou and shouted, “Madam Zou! Look at what you’ve done! Calling you a shrew would be letting you off lightly!”
Madam Zou had already been frightened by this turn of events. Now that her husband was shouting at her, she immediately switched gears. “He Changqi, who are you calling a shrew?!”
“I’m talking about you!”
“Good, very good. He Changqi, you traitor! You bastard! How dare you scold me like that?!”
How could Madam Zou bear with such insult? Furthermore, this was someone she had walked hand in hand with for close to ten years.
Her rage turned her face white; her chest heaved as she swept everything off the nearby table.
Clatter, crash, went the porcelain teapots and cups as they met with the floor.
That wasn’t enough to quell her rage, so she picked up a cup that had been spared from the carnage and threw it at He Changqi. He Changqi stood there without dodging it, glaring at her with an icy expression. Thus, the cup smashed against the corner of He Changqi’s forehead. In the next second, crimson blood dripped down from the cut, dyeing half of his face red.
TL Note: In ancient China, there were different levels of concubines. The normal concubine is usually seen as half-wife and half-servant and may even take up the role of lady-in-charge of the household if there is no wife present. Meanwhile, men can take maidservants (sometimes their wives’ very own handmaids) into their harem as ‘bed servants’, who were usually seen as just servants. Bed servants might even be able to rise to the rank of a normal concubine if they gave birth to sons. Children born from these concubines or bed servants were all seen as ‘illegitimate’ and only children born from lawfully wedded wives were seen as legitimate.
There is also another rule (which can be broken) that men cannot take concubines until they have a legitimate wife- or they might be seen as ‘crooked’ and not very ideal as husbands. The exception to this is taking a bed servant- usually a handmaid bestowed by their mothers- who is meant to educate them on… nightly duties.
Hopefully this helps to explain some of the inner tensions and reactions of the noble families, as well as why Matriarch He and Countess Jing’an seem so blase about giving He Dalang a bed servant. A bed servant would hardly take the place of Madam Zou and might even help with giving birth to a son for Dalang, so there’s no threat to Madam Zou. As a virtuous wife, she is also expected to accept her husband’s expanding harem.
