Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

Rumors now claimed that Qinghe had been divorced for failing in her duties as a wife, and that adopting her was merely a way to conceal some disgrace. Others said Shen Qinghe was using her adoptive mother’s influence to force her way into the capital’s noblewomen’s circles. The stories spread from teahouses to banquets, told as though the speakers had witnessed everything themselves.

The steward was so furious he slammed the table and asked whether I wanted him to send people out to set the record straight at once.

“No need to rush. Catching a few gossips won’t silence the person behind them.”

I ordered my people to keep tracing the source of the rumors, and gave Qinghe the old grain-distribution ledger we had obtained from the He family.

“Have you heard the filth being spread outside?”

Qinghe examined every page of the ledger, her expression calm.

“Xiao Chengli has only enough skill left to smear a woman from behind the inner walls. He can’t stir up much trouble.”

She circled three discrepancies in red ink. As I watched her bend over the desk to examine the accounts, I did not urge her to come out and defend herself.

She had already discovered that a He household retainer was spreading the rumors, and knew that the He family feared nothing more than a renewed inquiry into the Tongzhou relief-grain ledgers. She did not need a few empty words of denial. She meant to make the rumor-mongers face their own shady accounts and silence themselves.

“Mother, don’t worry. The He family is hosting a banquet tomorrow. Since Director He accepted Xiao Chengli’s calling card, I ought to send them an appropriate return gift.”

She had no intention of arguing with the rumors. If she forced the person behind them to confront his own crooked books, the rumors would die on their own.

6

The next day, the He family’s inner pavilion was laden with fruit. Most of the guests were noblewomen from the Right Chancellor’s faction. Madam He deliberately seated Qinghe at the very end, while the women nearby scrutinized her. One lady covered her mouth with a smile.

“Miss Shen has quite the reputation these days, but respectable families like ours have always valued a woman’s virtue.”

Another immediately chimed in, her gaze landing on Qinghe.

“Best not let filth of unknown origin stain the Grand Princess’s name.”

A few quiet laughs rippled through the banquet. Everyone waited for Qinghe to lose her composure. She steadied her teacup and slowly brushed away the floating foam.

“Madam He is right. The more respectable a family is, the more it should value virtue.”

Madam He thought Qinghe was backing down, and a smile began to form. But Qinghe had already risen, walked straight to the host’s seat, and laid a page from the ledger on the table.

“Since we are speaking of virtue, there is something I would like to ask Madam He. Last year, when disaster struck Tongzhou, the court allocated one hundred thousand shi of grain for relief.”

She raised her eyes and looked directly at Madam He.

“Then why are thirty thousand shi inexplicably missing from Tongzhou’s private granary ledger?”

Madam He’s face paled at once. The teacup in her hand struck the edge of the table.

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“Please don’t be hasty, Madam. The thirty thousand shi were collected in Tongzhou by your household’s Second Master He. That grain was sold to a rice shop in the eastern part of the city for seventy thousand taels of silver. Forty thousand taels went into your private storehouse; the rest was used to buy two residences in Jiangnan for Director He’s favored woman.”

Qinghe produced two stamped receipts, one corresponding to the date the grain was collected and the other to the date the silver was received.

The pavilion fell utterly silent. Those who had just mocked her lowered their heads. Madam He’s lips had gone white; she could not offer a single rebuttal.

Qinghe pushed the final ledger page in front of her.

“Madam, shall I present this ledger to the Grand Princess and then take it to the Emperor for a thorough accounting?”

Madam He hurriedly pressed her hand over the page, her knuckles trembling. Qinghe withdrew her hand and looked around the banquet table.

“Keep your husband’s mouth in check—and the rabid dogs under his command, too.”

She paused at the doorway and left the He family with one last remark.

“The Shen family does not start trouble, but we have never been afraid of it.”

The news reached the front courtyard and left Academy Director He shocked and furious. He did not dare confront the Shen family, so he had Xiao Chengli dragged out of the reception room. Xiao Chengli’s calling card of introduction had become a death warrant: He household servants cursed and kicked him as they drove him out the main gate.

Director He declared that from then on, anyone who recommended Xiao Chengli would be an enemy of the He family. Qinghe had kept a copy of the evidence, and the Grand Princess could receive the same proof at any time, so Madam He did not dare destroy the ledger on the spot.

She could only suppress the banquet scandal for now, then force her husband to deal with the rumor-monger. Xiao Chengli had meant to use the He family to take revenge, never imagining that he himself would bring the He family’s weakness straight to Qinghe.

7

In the ramshackle house north of the city, a cold wind swept dry leaves through the broken window. Cui’er wrapped herself in a thin blanket and watched Xiao Chengli enter, a bruise at his temple.

“Did you go begging officials again today, my lord? Or did they throw you out once more?”

Xiao Chengli slammed the door shut and said nothing.

“Why won’t you answer?”

She stroked her slightly rounded belly, unable to hold back her resentment any longer.

“This house is drafty on every side. I told you last night we needed another thick quilt. You said we had no money. Are we supposed to sit here and freeze to death? The child in my belly is the Xiao family’s only heir!”

Xiao Chengli stared at her. Anger flashed in his eyes, then he forced it down. It was true that he had no money, and the child in her belly was all he had left to bargain with. The day before, he had met Lord Feng, the capital’s patrolling censor, at a tavern.

Lord Feng wielded considerable influence and was notorious in the capital for his lust.

When he heard that Cui’er had once been a brothel woman and was now pregnant, he had made his intentions clear through hints.

If Xiao Chengli knew how to please him, a vacant post in Jiangnan could be his.