Chapter 16

After returning to Changle Hall, Shen Yuanyu pondered throughout the night. She rose early the next morning, groomed herself, and first detoured to Yanran Residence to take her legitimate younger sister, Shen Yuanshu, to Shahe Courtyard to pay respects to Madam Gu.

Although Madam Gu had exempted Shen Yuanyu from her morning and evening greetings yesterday, Shen Yuanyu had gone to Yanran Hall to visit Madam Zhou instead, leaving her grandmother sidelined. In truth, Madam Gu was quite displeased. She had originally thought that if Shen Yuanyu failed to show up at Shahe Courtyard today, she would find a fault to use as a reason to discipline her in the future.

To her surprise, Shen Yuanyu’s conduct was flawless, leaving her absolutely no opportunity to exert control.

The place for paying respects to the Old Madam was the main hall of Shahe Courtyard. When the Shen sisters arrived, the Old Madam had not yet finished preparing, so the maids in the corridor guided the two into a side hall to wait.

Before paying respects to their grandmother, they were not permitted to eat breakfast.

In the side hall, the family of the Fourth Branch had already arrived. The Fourth Master, Shen Shi, was Madam Gu’s youngest son. He had married the youngest legitimate daughter of the Xie clan from Chenjun, a family of equal social standing. The couple was deeply in love and had successively given birth to the legitimate Second Young Master and Fifth Young Miss. Because the Fourth Madam and the Second Old Madam of the West Mansion both hailed from the Xie clan of Chenjun, the Second Old Madam was technically the Fourth Madam’s aunt within the five degrees of kinship.

The First Old Madam and the Second Old Madam each managed one of the two mansions—one the East Mansion and one the West Mansion. The First Old Madam hailed from the "Four Great Wu Clans," while the Second Old Madam came from the "Four Prestigious Qiao Clans." The Qiao clans were a distinguished lineage of Central Plains nobility that had migrated east following Emperor Zhao of Jin; their family history was long and their foundation deep, naturally incomparable to local powers like the Wu clans. Thus, although the Qiao clans were not native to Jiangnan, they were considered significantly more noble than the local "Four Great Wu Clans."

The Second Old Madam, née Xie, held a higher social status than Madam Gu, but the matriarch of the Shen clan was the First Old Madam. Coupled with the First Old Madam’s narrow-mindedness and inability to tolerate others, Madam Gu could not bring herself to submit, leading to a constant rivalry between the matriarchs of the East and West Mansions.

The Fourth Madam was a niece of the Xie clan, so the First Old Madam occasionally took her frustrations out on her, being overly critical of this daughter-in-law. Furthermore, because the First Old Madam doted on her youngest son, and Fourth Master Shen Shi and Little Madam Xie were as close as one person, Madam Gu felt as though Little Madam Xie had snatched her youngest son away from her side; she found her eyesore no matter how she looked at her. Added to this was the fact that Little Madam Xie’s background was higher than hers; though Madam Gu did not say it openly, she harbored deep dislike in her heart.

Consequently, Madam Gu had successively stuffed three or four concubines into the Fourth Master’s quarters, two of whom were even distant relatives of Madam Gu. Little Madam Xie, however, came from a top-tier aristocratic family; not only was she gentle, generous, and poised in her dealings, but her skill in household politics was of a masterclass level. When her mother-in-law sent concubines, she accepted them without a word; when her husband went to a concubine's room, she never blocked him or voiced a single complaint. Over time, there was no one from the top to bottom of the East and West Mansions who did not praise Little Madam Xie for her virtue.

The concubines, emboldened by Madam Gu’s backing, caused many disturbances. Little Madam Xie endured as much as she could, until a concubine surnamed Gu was caught red-handed attempting to drug Little Madam Xie’s food to gain favor. Little Madam Xie returned to her maiden home in tears, and the Xie family arrived at the gates aggressively the very next day. Little Madam Xie laid out, one by one, the instances of the concubines' disrespect toward the primary wife and their lawlessness. Even if Madam Gu had a hundred mouths to defend herself, she could not escape the charge of indulging her kinswomen in oppressing the primary wife.

Not only were the Grand Matriarch and Grand Patriarch furious, but even the Fourth Master blamed his own mother—he and Little Madam Xie had been perfectly in love; it wasn't that she was infertile, as she had given him his legitimate eldest son and daughter. His mother’s interference had driven a wedge between them.

Madam Gu was caught in the middle, disgraced both inside and out.

Finally, under pressure from various sides, Madam Gu was forced to sell off all the concubines, including the two kinswomen, to remote regions. After this incident, Little Madam Xie and the Fourth Master reconciled as before. Little Madam Xie even personally purchased several concubines of clean background for the Fourth Master. Not long after, the Fourth Master had a concubine-born daughter, the Sixth Young Miss, Shen Yuanzhi. From then on, the Fourth Master held Little Madam Xie in even greater respect. Although there were many beautiful concubines in his quarters, he rarely stayed in their rooms throughout the year; for the most part, they were merely decorations.

The struggle between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law ended in a complete victory for Little Madam Xie. Madam Gu also received a stern warning from the Grand Patriarch and never dared to arbitrarily stuff people into her son's quarters again.

These details flowed through Shen Yuanyu’s mind one by one as she stepped forward: "Your niece pays her respects to Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt!"

The Shen, Xie, and Wang families were all famous for producing handsome men; almost every male of the Shen family was a beauty. The Fourth Master, in his thirties, wore wide-sleeved robes and a seven-leaf crown. With a face like fine jade and clear, bright eyes, he possessed a refined and gentle temperament that naturally inspired goodwill in anyone who saw him.

Little Madam Xie looked like a typical lady of a great household. She wore a purple, wide-sleeved, round-collared Xiang silk skirt, and her jet-black hair was adorned with a golden phoenix hairpin. Her features were as beautiful as a painting, and due to her excellent upkeep, she looked only about twenty-five or twenty-six. Her dignified and tranquil air made it impossible to underestimate her.

Shen Shi and Little Madam Xie were also observing this legitimate daughter of the First Branch who had just returned from the manor. Seeing her appropriate attire, poised movements, and impeccable etiquette, they both thought to themselves that after a year apart, the girl had truly matured.

Shen Shi nodded very coldly. In the struggle for succession between the eldest and second sons, Shen Shi—having been born of the same mother as the Second Master—naturally stood on the Second Master's side. Thus, he was always indifferent toward the people of the First Branch.

Little Madam Xie, however, smiled very warmly. "Rise, rise! We are all family; there is no need for such formal formalities. I heard it was cold at the manor this year, and you caught a chill as soon as you arrived home. Have you taken medicine? Are you feeling better?" Her speech was unhurried and her voice gentle; she was neither so enthusiastic as to cause embarrassment nor so cold as to cause offense. In short, it was perfectly measured.

*As expected of a daughter raised by a top-tier aristocratic family,* Shen Yuanyu praised her inwardly. She replied to Little Madam Xie’s questions with neither humility nor arrogance: "I have taken the medicine and broken a sweat; I am much better, though I still feel a bit dizzy."

After a few exchanges of pleasantries, the young masters and misses of the Fourth Branch came forward to greet Shen Yuanyu. Shen Yuanyu smiled and addressed the dashing Second Young Master at the front as "Second Brother." Although the relationship between the Second Branch and the First Branch had always been distant, the Second Young Master, Shen Mi, was very much in sync with the Eldest Master, Shen Yun. Consequently, Shen Mi felt a certain fondness for Yuanyu and smiled, calling her "Third Younger Sister."

Immediately following, the Fifth Young Miss, Shen Yuanyi, and the Sixth Young Miss, Shen Yuanzhi, also stepped forward to greet Yuanyu. The Fifth Young Miss was the legitimate daughter of the Fourth Branch; although Madam Gu disliked daughters-in-law of high birth, she doted heavily on this biological granddaughter. However, the Fifth Young Miss was not as arrogant and domineering as the Fourth Young Miss, possessing instead the calm and elegant temperament of Little Madam Xie. Her beauty was naturally striking as well; compared to Shen Yuanyu, she was like the spring orchid to the autumn chrysanthemum, each excelling in her own way.

As for the Sixth Young Miss, Shen Yuanzhi, her concubine mother's indenture was held by her legitimate mother, Little Madam Xie; she did not have a powerful patron like the White Concubine. Because she had been raised by a concubine, she was somewhat timid and lacked presence.

Just as the group finished their greetings and Shen Yuanyu had just sat down, she heard the voice of a young maid reporting from outside: "The Second Master has arrived! The Princess of Huyang has arrived!"

Everyone had no choice but to stand up again. This was the first time Shen Yuanyu would see the Second Master and the Princess of Huyang, so she focused her gaze toward the entrance.

The Second Master’s family walked in, surrounded by a large crowd of maidservants. The Princess of Huyang walked almost side-by-side with the Second Master into the side hall, unlike Little Madam Xie, who always remained a step behind her husband regardless of the circumstances; this was a testament to the Princess's arrogance.

The Princess of Huyang was an imposing noblewoman. She was beautiful, dressed luxuriously, with long eyebrows that reached her temples and a pair of sharp phoenix eyes. Her jet-black hair was styled in a high bun, adorned with eight pairs of colorful cloud hairpins. A phoenix-holding-a-pearl dangling hairpin, inlaid with eastern pearls and rubies, hung from her hair, its three tassels tinkling with every movement. Those eastern pearls were items only members of the imperial clan could wear, signifying her noble status. Her face was filled with undisguised arrogance and haughtiness. Like mother, like daughter; with just one look, Shen Yuanyu understood why the Fourth Young Miss, Yuanzhen, was so domineering.

The Second Master, Shen Hui, wore a gold hair crown and the most fashionable "Immortal-Gazing Robe" of Jiankang. With his wide, fluttering sleeves and transcendent aura, he looked even younger than the Fourth Master, Shen Shi—a true handsome man.

The illegitimate eldest daughter of the Second Branch, Shen Yuanxiu, had married to Xuzhou two years ago, and the Eldest Young Master, Shen Xuan, was serving as a county magistrate in Tu County near Jiankang. Aside from them, the remaining children had all arrived. The large family was surrounded by attendants; counting the households of the East Mansion, only the First Branch had not arrived as a collective.

The Second Master, the Fourth Master, the Second Young Master, and the Fourth Young Master—when these men of the Shen family stood together, it immediately created a sense of being surrounded by exquisite jade and fine treasures. The "Family of Handsome Men" truly lived up to its reputation.

The group inevitably engaged in another round of greetings, making the side hall quite boisterous. Shen Yuanyu pulled her sister forward to greet the Princess of Huyang: "Your niece pays her respects to Second Aunt! Long live the Princess!"

The Princess of Huyang’s long phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, her sharp gaze scanning Shen Yuanyu's body, yet she did not tell the two sisters to rise for a long time. Shen Yuanyu sneered inwardly, maintaining her crouching position without moving. Gradually, the clamor in the room died down, and everyone's attention, whether intentional or not, converged on them.

Only then did the Princess of Huyang say, "Rise!"

Shen Yuanshu had always been very afraid of this Second Aunt and could not help but wipe away a cold sweat.

The Princess of Huyang said to Shen Yuanyu, "In the past, you were senseless, and it was the Old Madam's mercy and grace that allowed you to temporarily return to the ancestral home. You must not be as arrogant and lawless as before, showing no respect for your elders." She scolded her mercilessly right in front of the Fourth Branch.

Shen Yuanyu lowered her head slightly, her hands hanging at her sides in a very respectful posture, yet her voice was neither humble nor arrogant: "Second Aunt's lecture is noted! Your niece was senseless in the past, just as my father and mother used to lecture me in the same manner."

The implication was: *My parents are still alive; even if they scold me, it is not your place as an aunt from a different branch to do so.*