From CEO to Concubine-Chapter 130: The Servant Girl
Birthdays were hardly anything special when you were the unwanted child of an unfavoured concubine and a female one at that. Throughout her stay in the Wu Household, being addressed as Third Young Mistress was nothing more than a mere formality, as far as Wu Roushu could tell. Her mother might have had a brief moment of glory in her youth where she’d been the pampered new favourite of the master but time withered even the loveliest of blossoms and in its place, new ones would bloom.
Who would remember the old when there was always something new and exciting to replace it?
Now, she sat in a boudoir surrounded by luxuries her mother could only dream of and it was like everything and nothing had changed. Side Concubine Wu was as much an empty title in Prince Xi’s estate, the harem in his rear court ever-expanding as a result of the empress dowager’s zealousness for a grandchild through her favourite son.
A new girl every other week; soon there would be more of them here than there were unfortunate souls in Yutao Pavilion.
Wu Roushu’s lacquered lips curled over the rim of her cup. If there were no blessings in the spring, then no matter how many vials collected its waters, they would not give birth to the joy Imperial Dowager Niangniang was anticipating.
Unless, of course, someone muddied the source.
"Young Mistress, Madam Wu has arrived," Liansuo murmured, coming over to retrieve the empty teacup from Wu Roushu’s hands.
"Oh?" Wu Roushu double-checked her reflection to confirm that she was immaculate. "Let’s not keep our dear guests waiting."
Madam Wu. Liang Hui. Here to ’celebrate’ the birth of a daughter that didn’t share her blood. The irony was not lost on Wu Roushu but it was too much to expect her father to send her real mother, the neglected second concubine, instead. Appearances had to be kept, after all; it would be unseemly for the beloved Side Concubine Wu, whose company Prince Xi still hadn’t tired of, to have such an unimpressive maternal relation. The ’Liang’ in Liang Hui’s name was a stronger crutch in the messy rear court of the fourth prince and Wu Roushu supposed she ought to thank her father for his ’thoughtfulness’.
Especially since the ’Wu’ in her name wasn’t doing particularly well at the moment. The mistresses of the prince of the first rank’s rear court weren’t kept tightly under lock and key in the sprawling courtyards of their husband’s household but this didn’t mean they were free to wander about without supervision either. Her access to the outside world and the current political situation was limited to the occasional trip outside and the less than subtle mocking from her fellow concubines, plenty of whom must have heard about the Wu Family’s fall from favour in the eyes of the emperor. It was said that despite retaining his position in court after the cheating scandal surrounding the imperial examinations, Wu Roushu’s father was no longer given important work relating to the Ministry of Rites. It was also said that her dear brother, the legitimate son and the pride and joy of the Wu Household, had been replaced in most of his duties after showing up inebriated and lovelorn.
Personally, Wu Roushu wasn’t surprised that her family was all but ruined. It was a bold and perilous thought so she would never voice it aloud, but if she were the emperor, neither Wu Shengqi nor Wu Bin was worth the effort of cultivating into confidantes.
Under the emperor’s orders, the fourth prince was still biding his time in his estate, unable to attend court until his older brother deemed his name sufficiently cleared from the taint of any potential previous misdeeds. Whether or not the emperor truly believed the fourth prince to be innocent was not a concern of Wu Roushu’s; as long as His Majesty did not wish to come across as too tyrannical, he would not easily order the execution of his brother without a good enough reason, such as clear evidence of a rebellion. As long as Liansuo and she remained safe, Wu Roushu did not care about the prospects of her husband. He could remain caged up in his estate for the rest of his miserable life if it so pleased the emperor, there was nothing to feel sorry for.
If everything went according to plan, there would be yet one more thing about Prince Xi to not feel sorry for.
No matter how favoured Wu Roushu was, at the end of the day, she was still ranked a side concubine and not the main wife of the fourth prince. Hence, she could only receive Liang Hui in one of the small side halls tucked away in a nondescript corner of the rear court but this suited their purposes just fine.
"Side Concubine Wu," Liang Hui greeted, a perfunctory smile on her face as she inclined her head towards Wu Roushu in a surprising show of politeness. She was also thinner and wanner than Wu Roushu recalled, although her bearing was as infallible as ever and she held herself with a stature that reflected her status as a legitimate daughter of an old noble clan.
"Mother," Wu Roushu replied warmly because even from a young age, she had cultivated the necessary demeanour an illegitimate child should have when addressing the main wife of their father. "This daughter has missed you and is touched that you have taken the time to visit."
"Silly child," was Liang Hui’s equally natural reply. "Ever since you’ve left, Mother has been worried about how well you’ve been and whether His Highness has been treating you well." She made a show of admiring the delicate ornaments that adorned Wu Roushu’s hair. "Rosy cheeks and an air of splendour, I am reassured that you have been well cared for and will be able to reassure your father too." At this, Liang Hui let out a nostalgic sigh. "The estate hasn’t been the same since you married His Highness, your father’s thoughts linger often on you and he has asked me to bring along some gifts to remind you of home."
It was a miracle, Wu Roushu thought, that she didn’t laugh incredulously in Liang Hui’s face. When it came to manoeuvring familial affairs, especially extended ones, shamelessness was an asset, not a flaw. It appeared that Wu Roushu still had a lot to learn from her elders.
Her father’s thoughts often lingered on her? Perhaps, but only because his sons were ineffectual tools to secure more political influence now, so he had no choice but to stoop to using other, less glamorous means.
Gifts to remind her of home? Wu Roushu had seen the modest pile of lavish boxes that the servants had assisted Liang Hui with carrying in, no doubt containing bolts of fancy fabric and other little trinkets and treats they assumed any daughter would be ecstatic over. But Wu Roushu knew that the underlying intention was to remind her whose side she was supposed to be on. That no matter who she was wedded to, no matter whose roof she had over her head, her blood flowed back to the doors of the Wu Estate.
Which was the only reason why Liang Hui was here in the first place.
Liang Hui must have caught her gaze drifting to the two figures standing at quiet attention behind the chairs because she let out a quiet laugh before taking Wu Roushu’s hand in her own and squeezing it affectionately.
"Mother remembers that when you married out, you only chose to bring Liansuo along as your accompanying bridal entourage (1) but Liansuo is so young, your father and I are worried that she would not be able to care for you adequately." At this, Liang Hui shot Liansuo a look of gentle admonishment. "Even after moving into His Highness’ estate and having other servants to help attend to Shu Er’s needs, you must not get complacent, do you hear me?"
Liansuo, without missing a beat, gave Liang Hui a solemn bow. "This servant understands her duties and will always protect her mistress."
Liang Hui’s lips flattened before she nodded with one last mistrustful glance at Liansuo. "Even though His Highness is kind to you, it’s still good to have more people from your maternal home," she said, her tone perfectly portraying a fretful mother who had just enough good upbringing not to nag her daughter when not behind closed doors. "Your father tasked me with carefully selecting two more young servants to care for your everyday needs." She tightened her grip on Wu Roushu, imperceptible to the onlooker, perhaps, but Wu Roushu felt it right through to her bone. "Does Shu Er find them satisfactory?"
Wu Roushu, who had already taken a glimpse at them both, had to fight to keep the grateful smile plastered to her face. Both servants were young indeed, the one on the left especially beautiful with her fair smooth skin and gentle features like she was made of water (2).
But the one on the right...
Wu Roushu’s heart sank. The stories about Wu Bin’s disgrace hadn’t stopped at just how he’d made ridicule of himself yearning after a servant that was now the emperor’s favourite concubine, so adored that there were even tales about the emperor’s love for him.
It went further than that. Wu Bin’s foolish obsession had led to his decision to use the stable boy, an old acquaintance of Imperial Concubine Yue, as a poor substitute.
Wu Bin was laughable. A veritable fool indeed. Which emperor—which man with power and prestige would stand to have their possessions coveted so openly by one lesser than them? It was a testament to the influence of the nobility that Wu Bin hadn’t been executed for his brazenness.
But of course, Liang Hui wouldn’t stand for her son dallying with a lowly servant. Wu Roushu had seen the means she had employed to remove Yan Yun from Wu Bin’s presence. She would never fail to be disgusted by the lengths Liang Hui would go to accomplish her means but it was naive of her to be taken aback that the timid waif Liang Hui had chosen on Wu Roushu’s behalf, the key instrument to Wu Roushu’s plot, was the stable boy she needed to get rid of.
"Mother," Wu Roushu spoke up. "This daughter thanks you for concern but is...worried..." She let out a soft, uneasy laugh, lowering her gaze onto her lap in a display of filial deference. "The servant on the left is delightful and will definitely be of use to me...but..." She hesitated before forging on with a hint of embarrassment, just enough to be appropriate for the discussion of intimate matters. "The—the other girl, this daughter is fearful that her looks would displease His Highness and he might no longer choose to visit my chambers..."
To any eavesdropper—and she didn’t doubt that there were any—her concerns would appear valid. The ’servant girl’ on the right had hunched shoulders and rough skin that had seen too much sun. If one took a good look at ’her’, one might notice that ’she’ had good-natured features and an innocent boyish charm that might appeal to certain tastes but it looked out of place in her feminine attire, which left her gawkish and inviting disdain. To be the mistress of such an ungainly creature might prompt her husband to assume that she, too, lacked in refinement.
Naturally, this was not the real reason why Wu Roushu was protesting. And really, it didn’t matter anyway because Liang Hui was not giving her an option. But this stable boy...he was barely more than a child to her. He appeared to be of an age where the poor peasants who tilled the fields would have taken a wife already but this didn’t stop her from feeling the heavy weight of dismay at his naive air. Compared to the underhanded schemes that she had come to terms with, the things she had seen and experienced for herself, this boy was like a clear sheet of parchment, unmarred by the filth that she would never be able to scrub from her skin no matter how many hot baths she soaked herself in after she lay with the fourth prince.
And no, it didn’t matter that he’d once betrayed his friend. His hand had been forced; she knew that it was easy for her to say, having not been the one placed in a perilous position by his actions, but she was wedded to a real beast and a boy who wanted to save his father’s life wasn’t of that ilk.
She needed to go ahead with this but she couldn’t. She couldn’t.
Why couldn’t it have been a stranger? Why did it have to be someone whose story she knew? That would have made it so much easier to just detach herself, to manipulate and make use of them.
At the end of the day, she was still too soft, too weak.
Whatever it was, her plans had to change.
She would keep this pitiful stable boy, if only to save him from the plight that he’d found himself in—she had every confidence that only death awaited him if she sent him back to the Wu Household and an innocent life was not a weight she was willing to bear on her conscience, at least not yet—and somehow or another, she would have to find another way to get with child.
One more mouth to feed, one more person to try and keep alive.
Prince Xi...was not someone she could count on. But the inheritance of that title and what she could do with it was worth every measure of risk.
