Volume One, Chapter 10: The Contest of the Radiant Brocade

Nanny Sun glanced at Qiushuang and said, “Enough, I’m here now. You should go attend to other matters.”

“Nanny Sun, you’re just going to let her go? She just disrespected me and even tried to get physical. You must discipline her strictly, or she’ll ruin the rules of the Marquis’s residence.”

“Qiushuang is the personal maid of the Young Madam. Even I, an old servant, dare not say much to her. But, Miss Tang, rest assured, I will report this matter to the Young Madam for her to handle. Miss Tang, did you come here today on some business?”

“It’s nothing major. I heard there’s a bolt of Flowing Light Brocade in the storage. I thought it would look beautiful on Yue’er, so I wanted to have a dress made for her. But it’s unfortunate that the Young Madam isn’t home. I’m counting on you, Nanny, to fetch it for me.”

Nanny Sun smiled on the surface but murmured in her heart. The Young Madam isn’t at the manor; anyone could find that out with a simple inquiry. Yet, of all times, Miss Tang shows up asking for something. If it were ordinary goods, she would have handed them over without hesitation. But Flowing Light Brocade is rare—there’s only one bolt in the entire Marquis’s estate. This is putting her in a difficult position.

“Miss Tang, technically, you are a guest here. If you need anything, I would fetch it for you immediately. However, this Flowing Light Brocade is different. It’s so precious and hard to come by these days. There’s only one bolt in the entire household, and I dare not give it to you without permission.”

Hearing the refusal, Cheng Jinxi’s face flushed slightly with embarrassment. She replied coldly, “Nanny Sun, you really know how to treat guests differently. You look down on me because I’m just a guest staying under someone else’s roof, and that’s why you refuse to give me this. If it were some other mistress, would you still make excuses?”

“Miss Tang, you jest. I would never look down on you. You are a noble guest of the Marquis’s residence. But I only hold the keys to the storage on behalf of the Young Madam. Without her instruction, I dare not give anything away. How about this: once I report to the Young Madam and she approves, I’ll immediately send the brocade to Autumn Evening Courtyard for you.”

“Yesterday, the Fifth Young Master took some things from you without issue. How come it’s useless when I ask? No wonder people say some servants have the arrogance of dogs looking down on others!”

Nanny Sun was angry inside but remained patient. “The Fifth Young Master only took some ordinary, customary items. Miss Tang, you really shouldn’t make things difficult for me.”

“Truly, this is the kind of character bred in the wild northwest. From masters to servants, all petty and unworthy of respect! You won’t even give a piece of cloth when asked. I only want to make a dress for Yue’er, yet you keep passing the buck. Do you really think everything in the Marquis’s estate belongs to your Yao Guang Pavilion? Even a servant dares to make things hard for the mistress!”

“Miss Tang, I dare not trouble you. But Yue’er is, after all, an outsider. Flowing Light Brocade is such a precious item; I really can’t decide to give it to her to make clothes.”

“How is Yue’er an outsider?! Didn’t you hear the Old Madam say she would adopt Yue’er? Yue’er will undoubtedly become a young lady of the Marquis’s residence! You, a servant, better open your eyes wide. If you mistreat the little mistress, beware of the consequences!”

Though angry, Nanny Sun maintained a calm face and said, “The rules of the Marquis’s residence are such that the housekeeper’s authority is entrusted personally by the Old Madam to the Young Madam. I am just an old servant and cannot act on the Young Madam’s behalf. Miss Tang speaks of the rules—surely you understand them. Please leave for now. After I report to the Young Madam, it won’t be too late to give it to you.”

Cheng Jinxi gave Nanny Sun a sharp glare, grabbed Yue’er’s hand, and left with a cold face, muttering curses under her breath. A pack of blind, arrogant dogs—refusing to give out a bolt of fabric! Just wait until I become a concubine of the Marquis’s residence and Yue’er becomes a young lady—then you’ll see if you dare treat us this way!

After bidding farewell to Qin, Chu Yao returned to the Marquis’s estate. Upon entering Yao Guang Pavilion, Nanny Sun came to report.

“Young Madam, Miss Tang came this afternoon. She wants the bolt of Flowing Light Brocade to make clothes for Yue’er.”

“Very well.”

“But…” Nanny Sun hesitated, “There is only one bolt of Flowing Light Brocade in the storage. It is precious. Isn’t it a pity to use it to make clothes for a child from outside?”

“Don’t concern yourself with others. If she wants it, give it to her,” Chu Yao replied nonchalantly.

“But the Second Miss has long had her eye on this bolt and has asked the Old Madam for it.”

“Did the Old Madam promise her?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“Then that settles it. Let Miss Tang come and collect it.”

“Yes.”

As Chu Yao expected, no sooner had Cheng Jinxi taken the fabric than the Second Miss, Cheng Yi, stormed into Autumn Evening Courtyard. When Chu Yao arrived, she saw Cheng Yi standing in the courtyard, shouting at the door.

“I’m truly astonished. You leech off our Marquis’s residence, eating and living for free all day long. But you’re never satisfied! You treat some wild child picked up from outside like a treasure! Do you think I don’t know the truth? You say the Old Madam took in an orphan, but it was you who found the child and forced her onto the Old Madam! Using the excuse of a ‘gift from Buddha’—I think you’re just unlucky, unable to bear your own children. You pick up any stray cat or dog and treat them like treasures. And she deserves to wear Flowing Light Brocade? She’s only four years old. Even if she grows into a young lady, she’s a nobody, an unwanted child! And now you want to force her on my second brother and sister-in-law as their adopted child, making her a young lady of the Marquis’s residence? Dream on!”

Frightened, Yue’er hid behind Cheng Jinxi, peeking out with wide eyes.

When Cheng Jinxi had just taken the shimmering brocade, she was smug. She thought, as long as she asked, Chu Yao would hand it over. Chu Yao was the Young Madam of the Marquis’s residence, but all she did was hold the keys and ledgers. Her surname was Cheng, and she had the Old Madam’s favor because of Yue’er. Would Chu Yao dare refuse?

But she hadn’t anticipated that simply for wanting the Flowing Light Brocade, she would suffer such humiliation from the brainless Cheng Yi.

She trembled with anger at Cheng Yi’s malicious words. Seeing Cheng Yi so merciless, she glared back and said, “Second Sister, you’re a proud young lady of the Marquis’s residence, yet you slander with words like ‘bastard’ and ‘wild child.’ Do you lack manners? Yue’er’s background is pitiful, and she’s dearly loved. Not only do I like her, but the Old Madam does too. I wanted a bolt of fabric to make her clothes—what’s wrong with that? How does it concern you?”

“This Flowing Light Brocade is so rare, don’t you know? You want to give it to some wild child? I’ve told the Old Madam many times, but she hasn’t agreed to give it to me. Why can’t I, the Second Miss of the Marquis’s residence, have it, but that wild child can?”

Chu Yao stood at the courtyard gate, enjoying the spectacle without a hint of reluctance—only regretting she hadn’t brought sunflower seeds to snack on.

Nanny Sun rubbed her hands anxiously. “Young Madam, what shall we do? Won’t you intervene?”

“They’re all surnamed Cheng, all young masters and misses of the Marquis’s residence, not servants. Why should I, an outsider, intervene?”

“But if the Old Madam finds out, won’t she blame you?”

“The Old Madam doesn’t interfere when they quarrel and fight for no reason, so why would she interfere with me?” Chu Yao sneered.

In her previous life, she had formally acknowledged Yue’er early on. As the legitimate eldest daughter of the Marquis’s residence, Yue’er lived a life of luxury thereafter, and no one dared to challenge her because there was no conflict of interest. Cheng Jinxi and Cheng Yi had always maintained a good relationship.