Chapter 453 — Autumn Wind

Miao Anping sat down with his cousin, both of them chuckling and joking, while a young maidservant brought in tea and cakes.

His eyes followed the girl everywhere she went, until her hands began to tremble and the teacups rattled in her grasp.

Miao Zhi said sharply, displeased, "Where do you think you're looking?"

"Heh heh!" Miao Anping laughed, winking and grimacing. "This little maid belongs to my brother-in-law's household, doesn't she? She looks quite unfamiliar to me. And just look at her getup—gold and silver on her. If I hadn't run into her in your rooms, I'd have taken her for the daughter of some rich family! Little sister, you've fallen into a nest of blessings now! Not like your brother here, who never knows where his next meal is coming from and frets all day over how to make a living!"

Miao Zhi felt a surge of irritation and had to fight the urge to smash the teacup in her hand into Miao Anping's face.

Her marriage was a classic case of the donkey's dung—handsome on the surface only. Never mind Song Han's station. From the day they were married, Song Han had never once looked her in the eye, and even in the matter between husband and wife, he had never shown her the least respect. He treated her exactly as he treated Ji Hong—sometimes worse than Ji Hong. She had a faint, sinking sense that Song Han was deliberately humiliating her. Every time she thought of it, she felt utterly mortified, and yet she had no idea what to do.

But she had only just married in; there was nothing she could do but endure.

With all her heart she had looked forward to the month-long visit home, so that she might talk the matter over with her mother and decide what was to be done.

Yet who would have guessed that her father, her mother, her brothers and uncles, upon seeing her, would not first ask whether she was well, but would instead hint, in this way and that, that she was now living in comfort on the Miao family's good name, and oughtn't she to give a little back to the family?

Every last one of them had their eyes fixed on her purse!

In that moment she saw clearly, for the first time, her place in the Miao household.

When husband and wife are at odds, even the neighbors despise you.

The Miao family was content enough so long as she and Song Han appeared loving. But if they ever learned that Song Han's affection for her was nothing but a show for appearances' sake, would the Miao family still hold her in any regard?

She swallowed the words she had meant to say.

Home was no longer the place that sheltered her from wind and rain!

She hugged her shoulders with both arms and felt only a boundless loneliness and desolation—and a fear of what was to come.

On the pretext that Yuanheng's hundred-day celebration was approaching, Miao Zhi forced herself to stay only two days before returning to the Yingzhen Duke's residence.

Who would have thought her dear brother would follow her there.

What did he want?

Miao Zhi smiled coldly. "Marry a chicken and follow the chicken, marry a dog and follow the dog. Whatever blessings I have were given by the Dowager and the Second Lord. I'm nothing but a woman of the inner chambers—I can't carry a load on my shoulders or lift a thing in my hands. I merely live off whatever scraps others see fit to throw me."

That was as good as shutting the door in his face.

Miao Anping's expression turned ugly at once. "Little sister, you can't talk like that. If not for the Dowager Consort and the Dowager, who would know who you are? Burning the bridge the moment you've crossed it—don't blame us, your brothers, if we decline to speak up for you when the time comes!"

Miao Zhi was furious.

But in the end she did not dare fall out with Miao Anping.

She had never been favored by Song Han, and she had no family to back her. Before long, no one in this household would take her seriously.

Miao Zhi forced down the anger in her heart and said in a low voice, "What do you mean by that, brother? You come so rarely—why must you needle me the moment you see me, as if I were some ingrate? There's no one else here. If you have something to say, just say it straight out. Why beat around the bush and expect me to read between the lines?"

Miao Anping had come to ask a favor, so naturally he would not press her. At her words he promptly took the way out offered him. "Your brother's no good with words—surely you won't hold it against me." Then he glanced at his cousin and lowered his voice. "I didn't come for anything else. I hear Jurong County is adding two constable posts. Put in a word with the Second Lord for us—leave one of the slots to our family. Then the Miao family will have a future too, and won't have to watch our step around everyone. Who knows, we might even rise from petty clerk to proper official!"

Clerks could pass their posts down to their sons.

Miao Zhi laughed in sheer fury. "You think the Second Lord is some great lord of the Ministry of Personnel? That we can do whatever we please?"

Miao Anping said shamelessly, "The Second Lord may not have much ability, but his father the Duke of Ying can put in a word, and his brother Song Yantang can put in a word too! Even if the two of them can't, they know far more high officials and men of power than the likes of us common folk. One person asks another, one person finds another—how could it fail? You're just afraid of the trouble and don't want to help, aren't you? Don't be a fool! When your sister-in-law walks about outside, everyone addresses her as 'Lady Dou.' How illustrious her family is, I needn't remind you. You may think your own family shames you now, and you'd rather stand by with your hands folded and curry favor with the Song household, unwilling to lift a finger for your own kin. But in a few years, when the Miao family hasn't even the money to beat a silver locket for your child, I'd like to see how you keep up appearances then!"

Miao Zhi was so angry she was on the verge of tears, yet she could not deny that there was sense in what Miao Anping said.

She had no choice but to say, "I'll try to ask the Second Lord."

Only then did Miao Anping smile. He leaned back carelessly in the armchair. "We'll take our midday meal here today. Go tell the kitchen to prepare a few good dishes to go with wine—I'll have a cup or two with my brother-in-law."

How would Miao Zhi dare let Song Han come and play host? If Miao Anping noticed anything amiss, the Miao family would devour her alive!

She could not help saying, "You think everyone's as shiftless as you! The Second Lord goes to school every day—how could he drink at midday? If you want a drink, have one with our sixth cousin!"

At that, Miao Zhi's sixth cousin came over, grinning and joking. "Little auntie, I hear the Duke of Ying was once the Emperor's adopted son—whatever they have in the imperial palace, his family has. I'm not asking for much. Just bring out a few jars of that imperially bestowed wine for us to taste, and our trip to the Yingzhen Duke's residence won't have been for nothing. When folks back home ask about it, I'll have something to tell them!"

Something to brag about to the idle hangers-on in the county, more like!

Miao Zhi could not be bothered to call him out. She shot Ji Hong a look, signaling her to go arrange things in the kitchen.

A first-rate banquet was one thing, but this imperially bestowed wine—did the tea and wine stores even have such a thing?

Ji Hong ran about in a fluster and went to find Qixia.

Since Miao Zhi had entered the household, Qixia had served only in the study, and she and Miao Zhi and the others kept to their own wells and rivers—peaceably enough, without crossing paths.

Hearing what Ji Hong had come for, Qixia said, "There's nothing I can do about this either. To use imperially bestowed wine for guests, the Madam would have to give her consent. But the small kitchen over at the Osmanthus Court ought to have a private store—why don't you go and have a look there?"