Chapter 7

Though Wei Jing had lost his title over the waterway transport scandal and become a laughingstock, when he heard I was pregnant, he curbed his debauchery somewhat and often came to my room to ask after me.

His face was sallow, his steps unsteady. After saying only a few words, he would yawn again and again.

He looked less like the aloof, handsome young lord of old than an empty shell drained dry by wine and women.

When Liu Yingying heard I was pregnant, she panicked like an ant on a hot pan.

She drank bowl after bowl of fertility medicine and spent every night trying every trick she knew to keep Wei Jing with her.

But Wei Jing was now all bluster and no substance. He could barely be bothered to look at her.

Liu was so furious she flung open her jewelry chest. Gold hairpins and jeweled ornaments scattered across the floor.

Unwilling to give up, she secretly conspired with a street doctor who sold medicine, scheming to conceive by another man.

She thought she had hidden everything perfectly. She had no idea I had long since ordered people to watch her every move.

A month later, the doctor was beaten to death with clubs, and his body was dumped in a mass grave.

Liu Yingying, meanwhile, rubbed her still-flat belly and came to pay her respects with a broad smile.

“Thanks to Madam’s blessing, I have good news too. The marquis will have many heirs. Madam deserves much of the credit.”

I set down the account book and glanced at her, my voice mild.

“Since you’re pregnant, rest and take care of yourself. Tomorrow I’ll have Autumn bring you some medicine to protect the pregnancy.”

She grew even more pleased with herself, unaware that my eyes had already turned cold.

Wanting to give birth on the same day as me, Liu secretly took medicine to induce labor.

She also colluded with a midwife and had calming incense lit in my birthing room. Then she ordered her trusted wet nurse to switch the two babies.

She believed she had deceived everyone. She had no idea I had already arranged for people to keep a close watch on the birthing rooms.

My son was named Wei Jin. Liu Yingying’s child was called Wei Jie.

Under my management, the Wei household gradually recovered. Its stores were full, and the servants were all in their proper places. Even the Wei matriarch had to praise me.

“Mingzhu truly knows how to manage a household. She’s just like your mother was.”

Liu Yingying’s eyes grew red with rage, and her resentment deepened.

Then she discovered that a man often visited my room.

Wei Jing was all bluster and no strength. Liu was certain I couldn’t bear a lonely bed either, and she rejoiced, thinking she had finally found leverage against me.

One day, under the pretext of attending a banquet, she led a group of matrons and maids in a menacing charge into my courtyard.

She shouted loudly, “Someone saw a lover sneak into Madam’s room! Please don’t blame me. I’m only doing this for the marquis’s reputation—I have no choice but to investigate!”

When the door was shoved open, everyone saw a man dressed like a groom, bare-chested and leaning over me.

“So it’s true!” Liu Yingying pointed at me and cursed. “You’re the principal wife, yet you have no shame! You dare carry on with a groom in broad daylight!”

She hurried to send for Wei Jing, determined to expose my “adultery.”

But when she stepped forward and grabbed the groom’s clothes, a slap landed across her face with enough force to turn her head.

Everyone gasped.

When they looked again, the man in the groom’s clothes was struggling to his feet—and it was Wei Jing!

His face was ashen. Fury burned in his eyes as he glared at Liu Yingying.

“You wretched woman! How dare you barge into the principal wife’s courtyard and slander her?”

Liu’s legs gave way, and she fell to her knees, trembling.

“M-Marquis… I… I didn’t know it was you…”

Wei Jing was furious. He slapped her again, leaving one side of her face swollen.

“You miserable fool! I changed my clothes, and you dare behave so insolently?”

In truth, Wei Jing had long since become impotent and weak.

So I deliberately played the gentle, seductive wife and coaxed him.

“Perhaps you’ve been overworked lately, my lord. Why not try something a little different?”

Under my careful guidance, he put on a groom’s rough, cropped clothes. He even let down his hair, transforming himself into the disheveled image of a porter from the marketplace.