Chapter 31: Make Her Kneel

Nanny He secretly applauded the young mistress in her heart and immediately took up the thread of conversation. "Our Little Prince had urgent business at the palace today and had to attend an imperial audience. It is by no means that he does not cherish the young mistress or intentionally avoided accompanying her on this homecoming visit. Look, he specifically dispatched me and this retinue of servants to accompany her, and the two grand carriages of homecoming gifts are still displayed right before the Marquis's manor gates. With all those eyes watching, who could possibly claim that our Little Prince does not dote on his new bride?"

"You wicked old servant, are you daring to imply that I am blind?"

Old Madam Mu felt a tightness in her chest from anger. She had assumed that Shen Ruojin had prepared so many gifts and brought such a large retinue only to maintain a facade of dignity. What use was a large entourage when the bride's husband was not there to accompany her on her homecoming?

Convinced that Shen Ruojin was merely putting on a brave front, the Old Madam’s tone grew increasingly caustic. "If the Little Prince of Qin couldn't come, surely he could have at least written a letter? I know Shen Ruojin better than anyone; she was spoiled rotten by the Shen family. She lacks real substance but possesses a temper as large as the sky..."

"Mother," Mu Gaoyuan interrupted, "Today is the day for Ruojin and Yunwei’s homecoming visit, and we have a son-in-law present. It would be best if you said a little less."

It was hardly decent to lecture his own daughter in front of the new son-in-law. Although Pei Jing remained silent, he frowned slightly, clearly perplexed by the behavior of the Marquis's manor matriarch. Noticing the refined and elegant scholar, the Old Madam restrained herself slightly out of consideration for Mu Yunwei’s reputation.

Madam Sun of the eldest branch smiled to smooth things over. "The hour is getting late. Since the Little Prince of Qin is not coming, let us begin the banquet."

"Exactly, I have been hungry for a while now." The fourth young lady of the manor, Mu Yunyi, winked at Shen Ruojin, signaling with her eyes for her "Second Sister not to take the biased grandmother’s words to heart."

Mu Gaoyuan nodded. "Then have the food served."

"Wait," the Old Madam interjected. "Before we begin, I have something to discuss with Ruojin. You men go on ahead."

Mu Gaoyuan glanced at Shen Ruojin and, seeing that she did not appear to be suffering any grievance, reasoned that it was indeed inconvenient for the men to be present during a discussion among the women. He led Pei Jing and Mu Yunyi to the adjacent parlor.

Once the men had departed, only the women of the Marquis's manor remained in the hall. The Old Madam’s face darkened immediately. "A few days ago, Nanny Li went to the Prince’s manor to invite you home, but you wouldn't budge. Fortunately, you still regard the Marquis's manor as your natal home, knowing enough to return on your homecoming day..."

"If the Old Madam has something to say, please be direct."

This time, Nanny He could no longer hold her tongue. Those who knew better understood this was the Old Madam of the Marquis's manor; those who didn't might mistake her for a shrewish old woman raised in some uncivilized wasteland.

Shen Ruojin, however, had long since grown accustomed to the Old Madam’s ways. Having abandoned all hope for "grandmotherly affection" long ago, she referred to her only as "the Old Madam."

Interrupted twice by Nanny He, the Old Madam was greatly displeased and signaled to Nanny Li with her eyes to speak instead.

"The Old Madam means..." Nanny Li had been to the Prince of Zhenbei’s manor and had seen how highly they regarded Shen Ruojin. Fearing to offend her too deeply, she spoke with hesitation.

*Useless old hag!*

The Old Madam cursed Nanny Li inwardly and spoke for herself: "Ruojin, don't say that Grandmother didn't teach you. You were never as sensible or tactful as Yunwei. Having been raised wild at the border, you are without manners and lack a sense of proportion. It is no wonder the Little Prince of Qin does not care for you."

"Is that so?"

Shen Ruojin recalled the spring night behind the bed curtains. She wasn't sure if Qin Lang was happy in his heart, but his body had certainly enjoyed it—time and time again, without restraint.

Seeing that she did not refute this, the Old Madam assumed she must be having a miserable life at the Prince’s manor. Taking on the air of someone imparting wisdom on marital management, she said, "For a woman who has married, whether she can stand firm in her husband’s house depends entirely on the backing of her natal family. Since you have no siblings of your own blood, you must be on good terms with your cousins and support one another."

Mu Yunwei echoed in a soft tone, "Grandmother is absolutely right. I have always kept that in mind."

Without waiting for Shen Ruojin’s response, the Old Madam demanded, "On the day you were married, you took away Yunwei’s dowry as well. You should return half of it today. One must not be so fixated on money that they disregard the bonds of sisterhood."

"If the Old Madam is so fond of listening to rumors, have you not heard that I purchased the Fanghua Troupe two days ago? My dowry was far from enough; my mother-in-law had to subsidize quite a bit, and now I don't have a single penny left." Shen Ruojin deliberately claimed the money was gone.

"You spent your dowry on purchasing the Fanghua Troupe?" The Old Madam had never anticipated this.

Shen Ruojin nodded. "That is correct." In truth, she had used the Prince's money. Nanny He knew the truth but did not speak up at this moment, finding the Old Madam’s reaction genuinely amusing.

"Are you insane?" The Old Madam was so enraged she could barely sit; she stood up and pointed at her, scolding: "It is one thing that you cannot hold onto the Little Prince’s heart, but you cannot even hold onto your own dowry?"

Shen Ruojin retorted, "If you are unwilling to lose the bait, you cannot catch the fish. If I don't try, how would I know if I can hold onto him?"

Mu Yunwei’s eyes turned red with anger. "Half of that was my dowry! It is one thing for you to squander your own share, but you even spent mine?"

Shen Ruojin replied matter-of-factly, "Once it was given to me, it became mine." She then asked the grandmother and granddaughter, "Is the Old Madam now asking me, your cousin, to use my money to support the Third Sister and her husband?"

That was indeed what the Old Madam had been thinking, but she lacked the face to admit it. She had agreed to give both dowries to Shen Ruojin only because of the urgency of the situation, and had always intended to reclaim it. She had calculated everything, yet she had never expected Shen Ruojin to be such a spendthrift. That was twenty thousand taels—enough to hollow out both the Marquis's manor and her own private coffers. No matter how much the Old Madam doted on Mu Yunwei, she had nothing left to give her.

And Pei Jing was merely a penniless scholar with nothing to his name. No matter how much the young couple loved each other, one cannot truly survive on love alone.

Hearing that the money was gone, the Old Madam’s fury peaked. She gasped for air and collapsed backward.

"Grandmother!"

"Old Madam! Old Madam, are you alright?"

Mu Yunwei and Nanny Li caught her, one patting her back to soothe her, the other shouting for a physician. The commotion startled Mu Gaoyuan and the others, who rushed back from the parlor.

Mu Gaoyuan hurried forward, anxious. "Mother... Mother, what has happened?"

Clutching her chest, the Old Madam gasped in agony, "My heart ailment... it has flared up again. It is all Shen Ruojin’s curse! Make her go and kneel in the ancestral hall—make her kneel!"

This had been her tactic even before the Shen family came to take Ruojin away. Whenever the Old Madam felt the slightest discomfort, she would blame Shen Ruojin as a harbinger of disaster, forcing her to kneel in the ancestral hall and copy sutras day and night to "dissipate the calamity."

But now, Shen Ruojin was grown, skilled in martial arts, and married into the Prince of Zhenbei’s manor. She was no longer the little girl who had to obey every whim of her cruel grandmother.

"Ruojin, look at what you’ve done to your grandmother! Quickly, apologize to her and go to the ancestral hall!" Mu Gaoyuan was too panicked by his mother’s sudden illness to consider anything else.

"Ruojin, just listen to Grandmother and go to the hall," Mu Yunyi said from the side, lowering his voice: "It's not as if you really have to kneel, just pretend—"

"Just pretend to be filial?" Shen Ruojin cut off her cousin, her expression cold. "On what grounds?"

On what grounds was she a harbinger of disaster just because the Old Madam said so? On what grounds must she go to the ancestral hall just because the Old Madam demanded it? And on what grounds should she be filial to such a wicked woman?

"Grandmother is barely breathing! Hurry, go and kneel in the hall!" Mu Yunwei’s voice was now choked with tears.

Outside, a heavy rain had begun to fall. Shen Ruojin had long been accustomed to the behavior of the people in the Marquis's manor; she felt no heartbreak, only a biting cold that chilled her to the bone.

The wind swept through the hall, and rain drummed against the eaves. Suddenly, a voice—the same one that had lingered in Shen Ruojin’s ears amidst the bed curtains the night before—rang out from beyond the doorway, silencing the entire room with just one phrase:

"Who among you was just talking about making someone kneel in the ancestral hall?"