The news that Wu Xian was staying in Consort Mi's courtyard reached the confined Madam before long. Even the warm orange candlelight couldn't improve her complexion. The flames flickered softly as Madam sat there deathly pale, dark eyes churning with malice.
The Second Young Master draped a cloak over her shoulders.
He lowered his voice. "Mother, you've misunderstood Father."
It took Madam a long while to come back to herself. Her voice was hoarse. "If it were a misunderstanding, he wouldn't have abandoned the main courtyard and stayed in a dancer's residence. He's only just come back. Even staying in his study would be better than sleeping in a concubine's room. He never intended to spare me any face. He won't even give me the least bit of dignity..."
She didn't need to think to know that the news of "Wu Xian confining his principal wife as soon as he returned" had already spread like wildfire. She could also imagine how everyone else was gossiping and laughing at her. Just picturing it made her cheeks burn, as though someone had slapped her until they swelled.
The Second Young Master suppressed his irritation.
He had defied his father for his mother, yet she hadn't noticed at all. She was still fixated on her petty grievances with his father, narrow-minded and only ever holding him back. It wasn't that he didn't love his mother; he was just frustrated that she could never tell what mattered most, and remained entangled with her maternal family. Did she not know how much his father detested her brothers? They were useless as mud, yet his mother still thought they could be relied upon.
When the Second Young Master was young, he had been influenced by her and grown close to his uncles. But as he got