Chapter 60 Madam

Fortunately, Madam Shen still cared about the matter. Master Shen was, in truth, a rather cold and indifferent man. Madam Shen’s own background—as the sole daughter of a Duke’s estate—had once been marked by immense pride. The couple had endured a period of bitter estrangement, which was later compounded by the affairs of the second branch. Perhaps fearing that Han Yueqi might follow in her exact footsteps, Madam Shen seized the opportunity of the ninth day of the lunar month, which marked the birthday of the late Elder Master Shen, to host a banquet. Attended solely by family members, she summoned both Han Yueqi and Shen Yunze, and had the wet nurse bring over their two-year-old daughter, A-杏 (A-Xing), to play and be coaxed at the table. Shen Biwei was particularly fond of A-Xing, holding her continuously and amusing her with a rattling drum.

The name A-Xing had originated when Han Yueqi experienced a bout of mild nausea during a palace banquet, and the Empress casually handed her a tribute apricot to eat. Upon returning home, they had a court physician check the pulse record, revealing the pregnancy. In such exalted noble households, children were cherished above all else, yet precisely because they were frequently difficult to raise, families refrained from giving them formal names at first, resorting instead to humble nicknames in the belief that this made them easier to rear. Naming her A-Xing also carried the implicit meaning of invoking the Empress's grace and protection.

Shen Biwei was equally willful. Anyone with eyes could see that Madam Shen intended to reconcile the young couple, yet Biwei deliberately refused to let go of A-Xing, provoking an angry glare from Shen Yunze. Instead of backing down, she taunted him: "And where is that willow-and-mist paramour of yours?"

Shen Yunze knew deep down that Yanyan’s background was less than respectable, but the more questionable she was, the more he felt compelled to defend her. A man of such soaring arrogance and pride could never admit to making a mistake. He retorted, "Yanyan has stated that she has turned over a new leaf. Since she has entered my household, she is a member of our family."

Shen Biwei was utterly astounded. "You are truly beyond belief in your stupidity."

Having scolded Shen Yunze, she turned back to coaxing A-Xing. "Our little A-Xing must take after her mother. Being too foolish simply won't do, or you'll end up being played for a fool by others."

Furious to the point of steaming at the head, Shen Yunze snapped, "Isn't the Flower-Greeting Banquet tomorrow? Why aren't you resting early instead of loitering here?"

"As if it's any of your concern," Shen Biwei scolded him back. "Go live your days with your dear Miss Yanyan, shut yourself up in the Clear Dawn Pavilion, and rot there for all I care."

Shen Yunze remained stubbornly unrepentant. "She was the one who told me to stay in the Clear Dawn Pavilion; why shouldn't I? She was the one who drove me out, so she can damn well invite me back herself."

Shen Biwei was amused to laughter by his absurdity.

"Invite you back? You're dreaming. Even if you begged on your knees to return, she might not even want you. Do you take Sister Yueqi for one of those cheap courtesans or sing-song girls who exist only to fawn upon you?" Shen Biwei clapped her hands in delight. "I was just lamenting that this year's Flower-Greeting Banquet would lack any good jokes, but it turns out you are the grandest joke of all!"

Shen Yunze was provoked to absolute rage. Having been groomed as a top imperial scholar since childhood, having started his studies at age four and read books for nearly twenty years, he found himself utterly unequipped for bickering. Though he desperately wanted to turn and leave, he could not bear to tear himself away, and thus had no choice but to stay. He waited impatiently until Madam Shen could no longer bear the sight, chased Shen Biwei away, and returned A-Xing to Han Yueqi’s arms before he finally found an opening to speak with his wife.

Reflecting upon it now, these past three years of marriage truly felt like a dream. He could hardly remember how the engagement had been finalized; by the time A-Xing was over two years old, all he retained was the memory of walking into a bridal chamber ablaze with crimson, where she sat upright on the wedding bed holding a ceremonial fan, her face flushed crimson amidst the teasing of the gathered matrons, quietly and shyly waiting for him to compose a fan-removal poem.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, they had reached the present day. When he approached her hesitatingly, she was wholly occupied with coaxing A-Xing, refusing to even lift her head.

Fortunately, A-Xing still recognized him, shaking the rattle in her little hand and calling out "Daddy" with slightly slurred baby talk.

"Yes, my dear," Shen Yunze replied happily, reaching out to take A-Xing from her arms. She ignored him entirely, forcing him to make awkward small talk. "Why is she still like this at two years old? I was already reciting poetry by the time I was two."

That remark was undoubtedly a misstep, for her expression instantly darkened.

"My lord is naturally extraordinary," she replied coldly, handing A-Xing over to Mother Han. "Take the young miss to sleep. Have the wet nurse burp her—it is bitterly cold today, and I fear she might catch a chill."

As A-Xing was carried away, she inevitably burst into tears, making the present scene all the more desolate.

Recalling Shen Biwei's previous reprimand, Shen Yunze realized that however mad her words had been, they held a grain of truth. So her banishing him to the Clear Dawn Pavilion had been an act of harboring a grievance, mingled with a test of his loyalty. Yet he had remained holed up in the Clear Dawn Pavilion for three solid days, leading her to misunderstand entirely.

Thus, he began without preamble, "I have thought over what you meant. I have already spoken with Yanyan; her offense against you last time was improper, and since you do not wish to see her in the estate, I will send her away. Should any such matter arise in the future, I will inform you directly and will not secretly take concubines outside. This time the fault was mine; do not hold a grudge against me any longer. You have won, and I know I was in the wrong. I will move back to the Aloeswood Pavilion right now."

He fully believed this was an exceptionally soft gesture on his part—an unprecedented concession. Surely, upon hearing this, even if she were not deeply moved, her heart would soften. Once he moved back to the Aloeswood Pavilion, a few days' time would heal the rift, and things would return to how they had been before...

Yet Han Yueqi acted as though she had heard nothing at all, standing up and addressing Mother Han: "Wait, there is still one matter I haven't instructed you on..."

***

Shen Yunze grew instantly anxious, grabbing her sleeve. "Did you hear what I just said?"

Han Yueqi merely smiled at him with utter calm. "Naturally, I heard what my lord said."

Just as Shen Yunze felt a surge of hope, he heard her add indifferently, "Yet what does that have to do with me?"

His heart sank as he finally realized where the gulf lay between the Han Yueqi before him and the image he retained in his memory.

She looked at him as if he were a matter-of-fact stranger. Those late-night vigils, the moments of shared lamplight, the tender and lingering smiles, the bird's nest soup simmering over a low flame, her blushes when he suddenly took her brush to teach her a line of poetry, and all the days and nights of the past three years—all of it now seemed like nothing more than his own illusion...

Shen Yunze’s heart tightened involuntarily, instantly giving rise to a boundless wave of anger.

"You—what do you mean by this?"

"What do I mean? Isn't my lord perfectly clear?" She continued to gaze at him with absolute composure. "Isn't this precisely what my lord desired? The Aloeswood Pavilion and the Clear Dawn Pavilion mind their own business. No matter how many concubines my lord takes or how many mistresses you keep outside, I shall simply remain the Young Mistress of the Shen family."

Shen Yunze clearly mistook this once again for an outburst of jealousy.

"I have already told you, Yanyan and I are not what you think. At the time, I thought her background pitiful, and my colleagues at the banqueting hall were egging us on. The bawd threatened to force her into prostitution, and in a moment of misplaced chivalry, I—"

"There is no need to report to me what kind of relationship exists between my lord and Yanyan. I am the Young Mistress; I do not interfere with my lord's acquisition of concubines, provided that any who are brought in submit to my management. Is this arrangement not ideal? Why is my lord still dissatisfied?" She interrupted him once more, asking with a calm demeanor.

Indeed, why should he be dissatisfied? A hollow emptiness washed over Shen Yunze, leaving him utterly speechless. Yet the serenity in her eyes ignited a sudden fury within him.

"I am dissatisfied, so what? I am moving back to the Aloeswood Pavilion. You are the Young Mistress, but I am your husband, and I have every right to return to the Aloeswood Pavilion!" he declared, clutching her wrist.

Han Yueqi smiled with open disdain.

"And what if I refuse to consent?" she retorted coldly. "What can my lord possibly do? Divorce me?"

Had she not uttered those words, Shen Yunze would never have thought of them.

That was it—the single greatest terror for any woman in this world: to be cast aside and divorced. He immediately seized upon this sole weapon, his final lifeline, and threatened, "With your vicious jealousy, casting out your husband simply because of a concubine... If you will not let me return to the Aloeswood Pavilion, I will divorce you on the spot."

Madam Shen had deliberately manufactured this private time for the young couple, dispatching Shen Biwei early and personally escorting Master Shen away. Now, only the husband and wife remained in the warm chamber, attended solely by servants. Mother Han, Mother Shen, and the others standing by turned pale at these words.

"Young Master, please do not speak such reckless nonsense..." Mother Shen hurried forward to dissuade him. "How can you let such wounding words pass your lips? Think of all the toil the Young Mistress has devoted to this household over the years—to speak thus is to break her heart!"

Mother Han's eyes grew red as well. "How can the Young Master be so devoid of conscience? When has the Young Mistress ever uttered a single word of complaint about the entire household? How can you utter such cruel words..."

Tongyun dropped directly to her knees. "It is all our fault. I beg the Young Master and Young Mistress to calm your anger."

Yet Han Yueqi merely cast a cold glance down at her. "Get up."

At a single word from her, Tongyun did not dare to offer another word of persuasion. In her eyes, there was no longer any regard for him as the Young Master. He ought to have felt enraged, but Shen Yunze could only stare fixedly into her eyes.

Her eyes seemed rimmed with red, yet perhaps they were not.

None of that mattered anymore, for the next moment she burst into laughter, as though Shen Yunze had told an absurd joke.

"Divorce me? Would my lord care to hear the sheer foolishness of what you are saying?"

Standing beneath the lamps of the warm chamber, clad in heavy brocade that framed her peerless beauty, her hair adorned with pearls and kingfisher feathers, her appearance that of a delicate and exquisite aristocratic maiden, the light in her eyes was nonetheless so piercing that none dared meet her gaze.

"Shen Yunze, you listen well to this. I, Han Yueqi, was not simply picked up or casually married by you; I was formally invited into this family by your parents through the three matchmakers, six rites, and an eight-bearer bridal sedan. The Grand Tutor of Qin presided over our wedding, Her Majesty the Empress bestowed gifts, and the plaque inscribed by His Majesty reading 'Harmonious as Zither and Lute' still hangs above the entrance of the Aloeswood Pavilion to this day. The elders of your entire Shen clan have accepted my bows; my name was formally reported to your ancestors and entered into your lineage book. Setting aside the fact that I have not committed a single one of the seven grounds for divorce, even if I had, on the strength of your solitary word alone, do you dare to touch me?"

"My mother-in-law relies upon me to manage the household, and my father-in-law has entrusted the inner quarters to me. My father is the Junior Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and even now he holds three memorials from your academic peers impeaching you. My mother is a lady of high patent rank, able to file a formal grievance before the Empress at any moment. Do you truly believe your standing as a top imperial scholar is unshakeably secure? When the Censorate rises to tear you to pieces, let us see if you still have the courage!"

Shen Yunze stood frozen, struck dumb not by her overbearing arrogance, but by the absolute clarity of her logic, which sounded as though she had rehearsed and weighed it countless times in the dead of night.

Han Yueqi evidently misconstrued his reaction as something else entirely. Otherwise, she would not have broken into a cold laugh.

"You wish to divorce me? Look around you first. Half the provisions on this banquet table come from the agricultural estates in my dowry; every servant in this vicinity was brought from my maternal home. How could this entire Shen estate function without me? Does it rely on your household management, or upon the dust-covered courtesans you flirt with at banquets?"

"You still wish to return to the Aloeswood Pavilion? Is there a single item within the Aloeswood Pavilion that did not originate from my dowry? You have soiled yourself—do you imagine you can soil my quarters as well?" she informed Shen Yunze with utter contempt. "I don't mind telling you, you will never set foot in the Aloeswood Pavilion again as long as you live. Yet even so, I remain the Young Mistress of the Shen family, and in time, I shall be its matriarch. Every concubine you take must bow and pay respects to me, addressing me as Madam; every patent rank bestowed upon you by His Majesty in the future will fall upon my head. All children born of your concubines will be raised under my name and call me mother! The outer quarters belong to you, and the inner quarters belong to me. As long as I, Han Yueqi, draw breath for a single day, the Young Mistress of the Shen family shall remain none other than myself. As for whom you favor, with whom you sleep, or whom you choose to keep—that has long since ceased to concern me. If you wish for peace, we shall live in mutual harmony; but should the word 'divorce' ever cross your lips again, I do not mind having the Master and Madam listen in, to see whether the bricks of the study are harder, or my lord's knees!"

Her declaration stunned not only Shen Yunze, but left Mother Han and Mother Shen staring in blank dismay. Naturally, a woman as meticulous as she would deliberately voice such words before Mother Shen, intending precisely for her to carry the message.

The Shen family had dealt far too leniently with Shen Yunze over the Spring-Greeting Banquet incident, a grievance the Han family had long harbored. Thus, when Shen Yunze blurted out talk of divorce today, Han Yueqi caught him squarely in a trap. If this matter were carried before Master and Madam Shen, the one to face severe reprimand would undeniably be Shen Yunze.

"Acting the young gentleman of a noble house, yet bullying his own wife over a courtesan from the pleasure quarters, and actually having the audacity to demand a divorce! Go kneel in the study and reflect upon yourself at once!"

Such a lecture was bound to follow.

Therefore, Han Yueqi showed not a shred of fear as she directly pulled her wrist from Shen Yunze's grasp and walked away with calm composure.

"Yueqi," Shen Yunze called out involuntarily, his expression tinged with a near-helpless disorientation.

He was not panicked by Han Yueqi's harsh words—he knew the truth in them, but Han Yueqi did not know what else he kept hidden.

Yet, as she herself had said, none of that mattered anymore. What difference did it make? The outcome was already fixed.

With a retinue of maids and serving women, she departed from the warm chamber, exactly as she had previously led her servants through the wreckage wrought by Shen Yunze's "Miss Yanyan" at the Spring-Greeting Banquet.

She did not look back, not even once.