Cold Shoulder

"Qing only bears a bit of a resemblance to the heir, that's all. One look and you can tell his character is improper. The old madam really shouldn't have chosen him. Now that there's a child like that, you'll have no peace from now on, madam—but how did you know Qing had a callus on his right hand from writing?"

Of course she knew!

Qing had grown up in the countryside. Though he had studied with a teacher and learned to write, the foundation of his early education had been shaky.

When the time came for him to sit the imperial examinations, how could his results be fit to show anyone?

She had feared the child would never make his way into the civil service.

As soon as he entered the household, she had watched over him day after day, correcting him herself, starting with his writing. Never mind the callus on the middle finger of his right hand; she knew exactly how he held his brush and made his first stroke.

Come to think of it, that was probably one of the reasons he hated her, too.

The ridiculous thing was that he never mentioned who had kept him company day and night as he studied for ten years by the cold window and earned his scholarly rank.

Lin Yunwan lowered her eyes and said mildly, "I didn't know. I was only sounding him out on a whim."

"I see... Madam, you really are wise!"

Ping Ye smiled proudly.

Lin Yunwan sat before the bronze mirror, studying herself.

In her previous life, she had been beyond cure, her features withered and haggard, with not a trace of her beauty left. She had almost forgotten what she looked like.

The difference between how she looked now and how she had looked before her death in her previous life was truly as vast as heaven and earth.

Ping Ye came over and said happily, "Madam, your beauty was famous when you were still a maiden, and it hasn't faded a bit in the seven years since you came to the Marquis's Residence. Don't worry, madam. Once the heir returns to the Marquis's Residence, within half a year he'll..."

Lin Yunwan couldn't help laughing. "He'll what?"

She still remembered the first words Lu Zhengliu had said to her on their wedding night: "Marrying you was not my intention." Seven years of neglect had followed.

That had chilled her heart and shattered her hopes of a loving marriage and children raised together.

Otherwise, she would never have agreed to adopt someone else's son at such a young age in her previous life.

Ping Ye picked up the ivory comb, unable to continue.

"Take out my hairpins and ornaments. I want to sleep for a while."

Lin Yunwan was utterly unruffled.

Ping Ye said, "Madam, are you sleepy again?"

As soon as she married into the Wuding Marquis Residence, madam had gradually begun taking charge of the household. Though the old madam oversaw the greater affairs, the stewardesses under her reported every matter, great or small, to Lin Yunwan first. It was just about time for her to see the servants, and in seven years, she had never once been late or left early.

Yet these past few days had been strange. She often wanted to sleep as soon as she returned to Drooping Silk Hall.

Seeing how tired Lin Yunwan looked, Ping Ye felt great pity for her and helped her settle down to rest.

Lin Yunwan closed her eyes and lay in bed, slowly drifting off to sleep.

During the twenty years she had managed the household in her previous life, she had risen earlier than the chickens and gone to bed later than the dogs. For a time before her death, illness had also kept her awake night after night. Now that she had come back to life, she wanted to get some proper rest.

After resting for a few days, Lin Yunwan suddenly fell ill.

But she knew her own body. This time it was only a minor illness, unlike when she had been gravely ill in her previous life and felt as though she might die at any moment.

"Madam, it's time for your medicine."

The maid Tao Ye brought the medicine in, along with a bowl of candied fruit, which she set by the bed.

Lin Yunwan sat up in bed, her face a little pale.

"Where did Ping Ye go? Why haven't I seen her for half the day?"

Tao Ye hesitated, then said in a low voice, "Madam, please take your medicine first."

"What are you hiding from me?"

As Lin Yunwan took her medicine, she quickly thought of the answer.

She closed her eyes for a moment and sneered. "The heir has returned?"

In her previous life, it had been just about this time that the Lu family, seeing the turmoil of seven years before had passed, found a way to have Lu Zhengliu summoned back to the capital.

Tao Ye said, "...Yes, the heir has returned."

At the mention of her husband, Lin Yunwan's expression turned cold. "What does his return have to do with Ping Ye disappearing?"

Tao Ye's eyes reddened. "She went to teach some loose-tongued little hussies a lesson."

Lin Yunwan understood at once. "The heir has been back for a few days, hasn't he?"

Yet he had not come to visit his sick principal wife. Anyone with a brain could tell he was deliberately giving her the cold shoulder.

The older female servants and maids in the inner household were even more prone to suspicion, and rumors had long since spread everywhere.

Ping Ye couldn't bear to hear such talk. She had gone out that morning, lost her temper several times, and taught all the loose-tongued servant women a lesson.

"Madam, don't be upset. Get well first. The heir... he'll come sooner or later."

Tao Ye tried to comfort her through her sobs.

After taking her medicine, Lin Yunwan went to sleep with a calm expression.

If she were to grieve over something like that again, she really would be a fool!

Old Madam Lu lived in the Hall of Longevity.

"Grandmother."

Lu Zhengliu had just returned from outside. He had changed out of his military uniform days ago and now wore the fine silks and satins favored by the capital's young noblemen. The manner of a noble scion had long since faded from him, replaced by something of a soldier's stern bearing.

The black boots on his feet, embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns, did not quite match his silken clothes.

Old Madam Lu had not seen her grandson in years, and their meetings over the past few days had been hurried. Grandmother and grandson had not had a proper conversation.

She first smiled warmly and asked, "Have you paid your respects to your uncles in the clan and the other relatives?"

"I've paid my respects to them all."

Remembering that her grandson had yet to visit Lin Yunwan, Old Madam Lu immediately frowned. Still, her tone was only mildly reproachful, and she did not truly blame him. "Yun Wan fell ill from exhaustion before you returned. Did you know?"

Lu Zhengliu said indifferently, "I heard the servants mention it."

"Since you heard the servants talking about it, why haven't you gone to see her?"

He put down his teacup, his manner exceedingly cold. "Grandmother, I told you long ago that I didn't want to marry her, but you and Grandfather insisted on having her marry into the family anyway."

"Then she brought this on herself."

"I have no reason to concern myself with her health or her dignity."

Old Madam Lu was stunned.

He sounded nothing like a man speaking of his own wife.

Anyone who didn't know better would think he was talking about an enemy!

She sighed. "I know you're unhappy that your grandfather and I forced you to marry. If the Marquis's Residence hadn't faced disaster back then..."

Seeing that her grandson had no patience to listen further, Old Madam Lu had to change tack. "Listen to me. Yun Wan really is a very good girl. You..."

Lu Zhengliu's lips curved as he interrupted her. "Of course you think well of her."

"As soon as she married into the family, she joined you and Grandfather in advising and restraining me at every turn. It was less like I'd married a wife than an elder."

"If I spoke a little harshly, it was as though I'd bullied her terribly. Just looking at her was enough to irritate me."

"A woman like that..."

Though she was beautiful, she was truly dull and uninteresting.

There was nothing appealing about her.

Besides, he had long since given his heart to someone else. Now that he had found her and their son again, how could there be room in his heart for anyone else?

Old Madam Lu frowned and told him, "That all happened years ago. You've changed a great deal during your years at the border, and Yun Wan isn't the same as she used to be, either."

It had only been five years. How different could she be?

Lu Zhengliu gave a scornful laugh and paid Lin Yunwan no mind.

The matter of recording his son as an adopted child in the clan genealogy had yet to be settled.

He rose and paid her a formal obeisance. "Thank you, Grandmother, for bringing Qing back to the residence for me."

At the mention of an heir, Old Madam Lu helped him up and sighed helplessly. "There was no reason to leave a child of the Lu bloodline outside the family."

It was just that her grandson had acted first and reported afterward, leaving her no choice but to help him pull the wool over everyone's eyes and register the boy under Lin Yunwan's name. It was a most improper way to handle the matter.

Lu Zhengliu, however, refused to rise. Lowering his head, he said, "...Grandmother, I actually have one more request."

"What is it?"

Old Madam Lu had a bad feeling.

"I want to bring Qing's mother back to the residence as well."

Old Madam Lu's face changed dramatically. "No! The Lu family will never allow a shameless woman who coupled without a matchmaker to enter its doors!"