Chapter 7: New Home

Life at the Dongyang Marquis Mansion had indeed just begun, but in only a single day, Zhuang Li had completely transformed the interior of her room.

It wasn't a drastic change, just a rearrangement of the furnishings.

Chunyue walked in holding a green-glazed lotus incense burner and asked Zhuang Li, who was standing before the writing desk, "Young Mistress, does this look alright to you?"

Zhuang Li was arranging a brush rest. She looked over at the sound of the voice and nodded. "It’s fine, that’s exactly what I wanted."

Chunyue placed the lotus burner on the desk and looked around the room. A bamboo flute now hung on the wall, paper was spread out on the table, and several celadon dishes of varying sizes, a wooden box, and a green jade brush rest were neatly arranged.

Two maids were busy in the inner chamber, replacing the original curtains with plain gauze and hanging a sachet embroidered with colorful butterflies outside the bed canopy.

When Zhuang Li first arrived, she had brought only a single bundle. Aside from two changes of clothes, it contained nothing but trivial items: the flute, the dishes, the sachet, and the box.

Though simple, once these small items were laid out in the room, they immediately imbued the space with the presence of its owner.

Chunyue knew that familiar, everyday objects could soothe the anxiety of being in an unfamiliar place. No matter how calm she appeared on the outside, Zhuang Li was, after all, a young woman in her teens. Having suddenly entered the Dongyang Marquis Mansion, how could she not be uneasy?

"Does the mansion keep lotus flowers?" Zhuang Li asked. After setting down the brush rest, she scanned the room again, her gaze landing on the flower stand by the window.

A pot of orchids sat on the stand.

*Already bossing people around so soon?* Xueliu, who had just walked in from outside, said with a smile, "We do. There is a garden in the mansion with a pond where we keep lotus flowers."

Zhuang Li nodded. "Go and get me a lotus flower to put in a vase."

"Young Mistress, the lotus flowers haven't bloomed yet," Xueliu reminded her.

Zhuang Li replied, "It doesn't matter. A lotus bud will do."

*A poor orphan girl, what does she know about beauty? Whatever.* Xueliu walked out to instruct the young maids, who soon returned with a lotus bud.

Meanwhile, Chunyue moved the orchids away and brought back a vase. It was an earthenware pot that looked quite unremarkable.

However, this earthenware pot matched the style of the dishes and the incense burner Zhuang Li had set out. Looking at Chunyue, Zhuang Li couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, you’ve been very thoughtful."

Chunyue smiled shyly; it was a maid's duty, so she didn't deserve thanks. She arranged the lotus flower in the vase.

Zhuang Li picked up a brush and wrote a few lines on the paper, then called Xueliu in. "These are my dietary preferences. Take this to the kitchen and have them follow it. If there is anything they cannot do or find unsuitable, tell them to let me know so I can make adjustments."

Xueliu glanced at it and praised with a smile, "The Young Mistress has beautiful handwriting."

*She knows how to praise, which means she understands calligraphy.* Zhuang Li smiled but said nothing.

"The Young Mistress's taste is very light," Xueliu continued. "If we are missing ingredients, we can just go find them. If the main kitchen can't make it, we'll just ask them; there's no need for the Young Mistress to make adjustments."

Zhuang Li smiled. "I meant adjusting the cook."

Xueliu choked, fell silent, curtsied, and retreated.

Watching Xueliu head toward the kitchen, Chunyue walked out and whispered to the other two maids, Chunhong and Chunxiang, "You two should be more careful. I don't think the new Young Mistress is someone to be trifled with." She gestured toward the direction Xueliu had left. "Don't be like her."

Chunhong and Chunxiang nodded. "Don't worry, sister, we certainly won't be lacking in discretion."

...

...

Zhuang Li didn't care about the maids' petty thoughts. Once the room was arranged, she told the others not to disturb her and began to burn incense and practice calligraphy.

She opened the wooden box on the desk. It didn't look large, but it could be pulled out into two layers: one containing silver utensils and the other filled with colorful spices.

Zhou Jingyun had asked her to come to his home. Since she had agreed, she knew what she would have to face. If she were to wallow in self-pity because the Marchioness disliked or slighted her, she would be failing Zhou Jingyun’s intentions; if she were to feel timid or inferior because of her background, she would be failing herself.

Zhuang Li picked up a silver spoon, scooped a bit of purple powder, and placed it on a dish on the desk. She then added various spices. As the wisps of white smoke rose from the Boshan burner, there was no scent in the room at all.

The white smoke was thin, swaying and continuous, winding around the pillars, brushing past the screens, and lightly sniffing the lotus bud in the vase.

Zhuang Li put away the wooden box, lowered her eyes slightly, and pressed her brush heavily onto the paper.

"In the Northern Darkness, there is a fish, and its name is Kun. The Kun is so huge, I do not know how many thousands of miles it spans; it transforms into a bird, and its name is Peng..."

As her characters appeared one by one on the paper, the white smoke in the Boshan burner became ethereal, and the room seemed to be covered in a hazy, indistinct veil.

...

...

Chunhong, standing in the corridor outside the door, suddenly twitched her nose.

"Do you smell a fragrance?" she asked in a low voice.

Chunxiang said, "Chunyue found an incense burner for the Young Mistress; she must be burning incense."

Chunyue, however, had turned to look behind her, her expression dazed. "Look, the lotus has bloomed."

*A lotus?*

Earlier, the Young Mistress had asked for a lotus to be picked. They had secretly grumbled that she was too tacky for wanting a lotus bud instead of the precious orchids.

Chunhong and Chunxiang also turned their heads. Through the window, they saw the lotus bud on the flower stand slowly and tremblingly unfurling its tender, pink-and-white petals.

...

...

Concubine Mei stood in the hall, unable to stop herself from looking around.

It had only been two or three days, yet the room felt unfamiliar to her.

"The Young Mistress is truly a scholar," she said. "The whole room is filled with the scent of ink."

Concubine Mei looked at the flower stand and continued to praise.

"I never knew a lotus bud could look so beautiful in a vase without blooming. I only ever thought they were pretty once they opened."

Xueliu, standing to the side, knew she was just spouting empty flattery. *What’s so beautiful about a lotus bud? It’s not even as good as a withered lotus.* But...

Xueliu’s eyes were slightly unfocused as she recalled the day she returned from the kitchen, when Chunyue and the others insisted they had seen the lotus bloom.

When she went to check, the lotus was clearly still a bud.

The three of them had even said, in a daze, that it had closed up again.

*They were talking nonsense!*

How could a lotus bloom in this season? And even if it did, how could it possibly close up again?

She could only conclude that they were so nervous about the arrival of the new Young Mistress that their eyes had played tricks on them.

While she was lost in thought, footsteps sounded, and Zhuang Li walked out from the inner chamber.

Concubine Mei hurriedly curtsied and greeted her, then secretly sized up Zhuang Li’s attire. She was wearing a pale green dress with her hair in a high bun, adorned with no jewelry save for tiny, grain-sized pearls in her ears. Although the fabric of her dress was of good quality, she still looked as plain and simple as when she had first arrived.

*Women still need jewelry to look radiant.*

However, while the sewing room could provide clothes and shoes, all the jewelry was in the hands of the Marchioness. If she didn't give any to her daughter-in-law, the girl would have nothing and would have to remain bare.

Concubine Mei’s thoughts turned, and she said, "Having a small kitchen is truly convenient. I even asked for a bowl of egg custard in the middle of the night last night. In the past, I would have been too embarrassed to trouble the main kitchen."

Zhuang Li said, "But you must not exceed the quota. If you do, you will have to make up the cost yourself."

*She’s really acting like the mistress of the house.* Concubine Mei smiled ingratiatingly. "Don't worry, Young Mistress, this servant would never dare to break the rules."

Zhuang Li nodded, sat down, and took the tea Chunyue offered. "As long as it is within the quota, you don't need to be restrained about what you want to eat."

Concubine Mei acknowledged this.

Zhuang Li set down her tea. "You may go eat now. I also need to go to the Marchioness's side."

Although the Marchioness of Dongyang did not require her to pay her respects every morning and evening, she still had to visit every few days.

Just as she finished speaking, Hongxing, a maid from the Marchioness's side, walked in.

"Young Mistress," she said with a curtsy, "the Marchioness is going out today, so you don't need to come over."

"Where is the Marchioness going?" Xueliu asked curiously.

*Is that something a maid should ask?* Zhuang Li glanced at her.

Hongxing also looked at Xueliu, paused for a moment, and said, "The Marchioness is going to the Ding'an Earl's Mansion."

The air in the hall seemed to stagnate.

Seeing that no one was speaking, Concubine Mei forced a smile. "The Marchioness often goes out to socialize. The weather today is neither cold nor hot..."

Xueliu interrupted Concubine Mei, her voice trembling. "Is the Marchioness going to apologize to the Ding'an Earl's family?"