Higher Level Wife

Chapter 81: Mother-in-Law

Jin Fengju deliberately kept their pace slow as he studied Fu Qiuning’s shadow on the ground. His fists clenched unconsciously as he made secret vows to himself. It was at that moment he realised that this woman had, at some unknown time, entered his heart. Without his knowing, she had firmly occupied an immovable position inside of him.

When they reached Health & Longevity Court, Madam Fang and Madam Jiang as well as the other women were already there. They were all very shocked to see Jin Fengju and Fu Qiuning enter together. The ones who were most surprised were Jiang Wanying, Concubine Xu and his other concubines. However, Jin Fengju pretended not to notice the tension, smiled and said, “Since I am free today, and found that the mother and children were done with their work at Night Breeze Pavilion, I brought them here. Seeing how Old Ancestor has eaten many of Qiuning’s things, surely it is reasonable to treat them to a meal? Since I have brought them here, I do hope that Old Ancestor would not be stingy and demand this grandson to pay for the food, right?”

“All of you, just listen to that mouth of his. How dare he ruin my good reputation?” Old Madam Jin was obviously very happy. She spared Fu Qiuning and the children from the formal greetings and ordered the servants to bring more seats in. Then, she addressed Jiang Wanying, Concubine Xu and the rest, “If you are busy, you may leave. I shall play some cards here.”

[1] She turned to Madam Fang, “Your husband is not back yet. If you have any work needed to get done, just have your daughter-in-law do it. Stay and entertain me for a while. Your sister-in-law (Madam Jiang) is always praying to Buddha around this time. Since this is a great moral service, I shall not stop her. Let her chant more Sutras, consider it as her chanting on my behalf and earning me a little merit.”

Everyone laughed. Jiang Wanying stepped forward to say, “Old Ancestor, you mustn’t be so partial. I am busy every day, surely it’s fine for me to give myself some leisure time? Let this granddaughter-in-law play a few rounds with you, so as not to let others stir up trouble”

(Gumi: No idea what JWY trying to imply).

Jin Fengju smiled, “You all enjoy yourselves here. I need to visit my brother-in-law. He had friends visiting and had been calling for me to come over for a while now but I have been too busy lately. However, I can no longer push off the visit.” He turned to Fu Qiuning, “There’s no need for you to rush off so early. It’s rare for you to visit this place. You should visit more and accompany the Old Madam for a game or two. After all, you have benefited too, and therefore should earn your meals here, right?”

At this, everyone laughed (again, ugh). Old Madam jokingly spat a few times with a laugh. Jin Fengju laughed heartily (everyone laughed, let’s all laugh. Ha ha ha) and left. Helpless and trapped by the Old Madam and her devious grandson, Fu Qiuning could only sit in place. Madam Jiang also expressed an interest to join in the fun today (Gee, I wonder why). Thus, that day’s card game participants consisted of Old Madam Jin, Madam Jiang, Madam Fang and an old female relative.

[1] Old Madam smiled at Jiang Wanying, “Go and watch your mother-in-law’s cards. Qiu girl will look after mine.” Thus, Fu Qiuning was directed to sit next to Old Madam Jin while Jiang Wanying was made to sit behind Madam Jiang.

An hour into the game later, Madam Jiang and Jiang Wanying had to pull out. Old Madam Jin had had a great time. She laughed and said, “It’s been a long time since I had such a nice time. Enough, you may leave, I am tired. Qiu girl, stay and have a chat with me.”

At this, Madam Jiang and Jiang Wanying left. When the two of them reached Madam Jiang’s room, Jiang Wanying’s eyes reddened and she tugged at Madam Jiang’s sleeves with tearful eyes. “Aunt, did you see how cousin had… had… yesterday, the wind was so strong, but that did not stop him from running over to Fu’shi’s room. Fine, that is his privilege, but why did he have to bring that household over to greet the Old Ancestor? Isn’t this just slapping me in the face? As she is Cousin’s official wife, am I to suffer the fate of a discriminated secondary wife? What am I? Clearly, even the Old Madam is confused too. Why is she letting Fu’shi charm her like that? She keeps protecting that woman and pushing her to the forefront. Clearly, that woman is preparing herself to enter the main courtyard. If that happens, I… do I still have a position in this marquisate?”

Madam Jiang was also quite annoyed with her son. She patted Jiang Wanying on the hand and said, “My dear, don’t be afraid. You still have your aunt on your side. It is very clear to me that your cousin is reluctant to divorce that woman and is now running off to Night Breeze Pavilion all the time. Who knows what kind of ecstasy soup that vixen has fed him, to the point that he is so determined to raise that Fu woman? I ask you now, have they shared a room?”

Jiang Wanying sobbed, “Wh- what should we do, ah? Auntie, just look at my cousin. Isn’t he making plans to move her into the inner court? Though I have set some plans in place, they would only show results after a few months. I’m afraid, by that time she would have entered the inner court in a grand manner. Once Father-in-law returns… Mother-in-law should know that he likes the scholarly types most and often said that a hero’s background should never be questioned. Back then, when Cousin ignored those two children, Father-in-law disapproved. If he sees just how promising and likeable those children are… W-wouldn’t it be even more impossible to drive her out?”

Madam Jiang pondered over this seriously, “You’re right. However, just how are we to drive her away? You and I are merely women. In this family, so long as Fengju is around, we cannot force him to divorce her, ah. Otherwise, he would have listened to me all those months ago and given her the divorce letter. No, we must come up with a plan that would make Fengju dissatisfied with her. Wanying, you have always been very clever. This is not the time to panic, think carefully. See if there’s anything or any situation we could turn to our advantage?”

Now that matters have come to this, it was their only way. Luckily, she had her aunt on her side no matter what. Jiang Wanying sought some comfort in that as she thought hard. She wiped her tears and said, “Yes, I understand, auntie. I will go back and think over the matter a little more. In fact, I am not moved by jealousy alone. Cousin is an outstanding person, therefore, it is inevitable that many would adore him. If he were to accept new people, I would definitely not object. However, that Fu’shi, her identity is too unfit for our family. Not to mention, did she even have the proper social status to be Cousin’s official wife? Back then, she was stuffed into this house to humiliate us. If Cousin really got together with her, wouldn’t it just invite people to mock us? Mock the Jin Marquisate for having no backbone? That we would uphold the bastard daughter of the Zhenjiang Prince as the official wife?”

“My dear, you are very right. Isn’t this the very reason why I wish to have her driven away? Otherwise, how could I bring myself to commit such a sin? Amitabha.” Madam Jiang said somewhat helplessly as she put her hands together in prayer. Seeing her mother-in-law’s white face, Jiang Wanying knew that she had been moved by her argument. Thus, with her mother-in-law’s blessing, she left.

However, even until she had returned to Clear Soft Pavilion, no great idea struck her. Irritated, Jiang Wanying was pacing about in her room when Qiu Xia lifted the doorway curtain. The maid said, “Madam, it should be time to hand out the monthly allowance. Since we have delayed them for a few days, people from Concubine Xu and Concubine Huo have been sent to inquire about it. As they could not see you easily, they bade this maid ask for Madam’s instructions.”

Jiang Wanying sneered, “Who are they putting on this ‘poor me’ show for? Do they think that I don’t know about their dowry outside? Each month, they easily collect over a hundred silver taels from various businesses, so how could the monthly 10 taels be anything to them? They are clearly trying to make trouble for me. Fine, you give the order, give out the monthly allowance. After all, I have earned enough these few days.”

[1] After Qiu Xia left, she slowly got up from the bed and looked out the window.

“Monthly allowance. Even though it’s just a few silver taels, those lowly maids would only receive 500 coins each month. They probably never even touched silver. Still, no matter how little, once that small stream dries up, they have no way to survive.” Jiang Wanying muttered to herself as she relished the power of life and death in her hands.

Suddenly, her expression stiffened. [2] A sudden thought had struck her. Just then, Qiu Xia came in with a notebook in hand. “Madam, the allowance would be given out according to this list. Would Madam please have a look and…” her voice trailed off as Jiang Wanying stared at her with dazed eyes.

Jiang Wanying suddenly sat down and said, “Qiu Xia, let me ask you. In a household of 5 people. Without a scrap of food reserve or money, how long do you think they can live??

Hearing this question, Qiu Xia became confused. She said, “5 people? With no access to money or clothing? No silver or copper coins? How could they live, ah? Surely they would have died from starvation within half a month?”

“That’s right, they would not survive past half a month,” Jiang Wanying’s hand clenched into a fist. She thumped the table once and stared at Qiu Xia with wolf-like eyes, freaking out the maid a little. Her mistress continued in a sinister voice, “If that’s the case, then how did they survive until now? Over 6 years have passed. You tell me, just how did they survive?”

“Madam… just who is Madam talking about, ah? Surely… surely that’s too ingenious…” Qiu Xia was not actually stupid, but faced with her mistress’ freakish eyes, she was suddenly struck dumb. Her brain became sluggish at Jiang Wanying’s glare.

“Stupid thing, I’m talking about the residents of Night Breeze Pavilion. Those 5 people at Night Breeze Pavilion. Just how did they survive until now?”

“Oh, Madam is talking about them, ah?” Qiu Xia sighed with relief. Then, her expression became thoughtful, “That’s right, ah. Madam is right, before this, the Master ignored them completely, seemingly having forgotten about them.” She went quiet and looked around furtively before coming over to Jiang Wanying’s side to whisper, “The Master thought they had at least some allowance and supplies, though not much, but still enough to survive. However, he must not know that Madam never intended to let them live. The allowance and supplies have never been given out. If that’s the case, just how did those women and children survive until now?”

Gumihou: Everyone laughs at Old Madam Jin’s every little joke. You can tell by the number of people laughing at their lame jokes just who the powerful people are in a room. Also, yes, I don’t like the Old Ancestor. Gumi despises hypocritical people. Jin Fengju is more or less made in her image.

Jiang Wanying is created as a plausible villain. She is selfish, spoilt, haughty, proud and used to getting her own way. However, she had also been short-changed by life (or White Pear Flower). The flaws in her character are obvious and made us dislike her. However, Gumi is also sad for her. Jiang Wanying was smart enough to know the kind of woman Jin Fengju desired and tried her best to shove herself into that box. She is both sensitive and intelligent, a terrible combination when in love with a man who saw her as little more than a tool to humiliate another and a way to cement a relationship between two families. She also knows that Old Madam did not like her. She is sharp enough to know almost immediately that Jin Fengju was interested in Fu Qiuning.

So long as she has feelings for Jin Fengju, she will never be happy.

Jiang Wanying, Gumi sincerely hopes that you transmigrate or be reborn into a better life.

[1] Some minor sentence adjustments for better flow.

[2] Adjusted the text for dramatic reasons.