My Husband Never Oversteps The Bounds Of Propriety - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Playing the Game

On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, just after the Day of Dust-Sweeping, the Su Manor welcomed a small plum-blossom viewing banquet hosted by the Second Mistress, Lady Wang, who invited the female relatives from all branches. The venue was set in the Qinmei Garden, adjacent to the second branch’s courtyard.

Following the incident with Su-luo, Lady Wang seemed to want to use this to dilute the gloom and rumors that had persisted in the manor, while also showcasing the Second Branch’s magnanimity and elegance.

When Shen Jiuyuan received the invitation, she was sketching the outline of a plum blossom on white silk with a fine ink brush. This was a method her mother had taught her to calm her mind, as well as basic training for her secret practice of drawing medicinal herb catalogs. Hearing the invitation, her brush paused slightly, and a drop of ink nearly blotted the silk.

“Young Lady, I fear this banquet from the Second Mistress is a ‘Hongmen’ banquet (a trap),” Lily said worriedly while picking out clothes for her mistress. “The Third Branch just sent pastries yesterday, and the Second Branch sets a banquet today. Who knows what intentions are hidden behind this?”

Shen Jiuyuan set down her brush and looked at the plum blossom that was nearly ruined. Her expression was calm. “Whether it is a trap or not, one can only know by going. Since it has come, let us deal with it.” She knew well that since Su-luo’s incident, she could no longer remain completely aloof. This banquet was a test, an attempt at recruitment, or perhaps the start of a new storm.

She chose a plain outfit: a lotus-root-colored padded jacket paired with a moon-white “Moonlight” skirt with orchid patterns. In her hair, she pinned a plain silver pearl hairpin and a freshly plucked green-calyx plum blossom. Elegant and transcendent, she stood out remarkably against the other female relatives who were competing in splendor.

Inside Qinmei Garden, the atmosphere was indeed clamorous with laughter. Dozens of old plum trees featured twisted branches; red blossoms like fire, white like snow, and green-calyx plums that were pure and elegant. The fragrance drifted through the air, refreshing the heart.

The warming pavilion had been prepared, the floor heating was roaring, and thick brocade curtains hung all around to block the wind. In the center stood a large bronze brazier with a fierce charcoal fire. The mistresses, grandmothers, and young ladies of each branch were all dressed in their finest, their pearls and jade making the pavilion look like a celestial paradise.

Lady Wang wore a rose-purple brocade jacket embroidered with peonies and butterflies, appearing exceptionally regal. Seeing Shen Jiuyuan arrive, she hurried to meet her affectionately, taking her hand and smiling to the crowd: “This is Jin-er’s wife. Truly, the person is more beautiful than the flowers. Her aura makes the plum blossoms in this entire garden pale in comparison.”

This remark drew the gazes of all the women, each with a different look. The Third Mistress, Lady Zhao, wearing a crimson silk skirt with a “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” pattern, let out a snort. Her voice was just loud enough for everyone around to hear:

“Second Sister-in-law, what are you saying? Plum blossoms have the character of pure integrity; how can common flowers compare? Even if Jin-er’s wife is as beautiful as jade, alas…” The Third Mistress did not finish her sentence, letting the tail end linger to invite speculation.

The unspoken part of her words was a clear jab at Shen Jiuyuan being merely a concubine-born daughter of the Shen family. Furthermore, even if she were as beautiful as jade, she was left to guard an empty room the Eldest Young Master, up to now, likely couldn’t even be bothered to lift an eyelid at her.

Following the Third Mistress’s suggestive silence, a slight murmur of sighing and whispering rippled through the crowd. Shen Jiuyuan acted as if she hadn’t heard, composedly greeting Lady Wang and the other elders and peers with impeccable grace. She was led to a seat near the window, perfectly positioned to view a white plum tree of extraordinary form.

Her mother-in-law, Lady Lin, was also there, sitting at the head of the room talking with several elder sisters-in-law. Her gaze occasionally swept over Shen Jiuyuan with a trace of imperceptible attention.

The banquet began, and delicacies were served like flowing water. Maids moved about pouring wine and serving food while the sounds of string and woodwind instruments echoed melodiously. The atmosphere seemed harmonious and lively.

After three rounds of wine, Lady Wang suggested with a smile: “Simply drinking and admiring flowers is boring. Why don’t we play a drinking game? Let the theme be the plum blossom be it a poem, a lyric, an idiom, or an allusion. Anyone who cannot follow must drink a penalty cup!”

The women cheered, as they often played such games. Shen Jiuyuan’s heart stirred; though she had read some poetry, it was not her forte, nor was she familiar with the refined play styles favored by Southern noblewomen.

Sure enough, after a few rounds, several Su young ladies especially Su Tian from the Third Branch—performed brilliantly, quoting classics and speaking with wit, earning bursts of applause. When it was Shen Jiuyuan’s turn, the scene fell instantly quiet.

A flash of mockery appeared in Su Tian’s eyes. She smiled and said, “Sister-in-law comes from the North; she must be used to armored horses and frozen rivers. I wonder if she has a different insight into these Southern plum blossoms?”

There was a hint of ridicule in her words. Su Tian smiled broadly; in her view, Shen Jiuyuan had been raised in a military household and was a concubine-born daughter, so she must be inferior to a family of Imperial Merchants in terms of poetic and ritual education.

Shen Jiuyuan set down her honeyed fruit and looked up. Her beautiful eyes swept across the crowd before landing on the white plum tree outside. She said slowly:

“Regarding poems and lyrics, I am indeed only roughly acquainted. But speaking of Southern plum blossoms, although they lack the icy, vast flavor of the North, they possess an unyielding Southern character. This falling white plum before us reminds me of an old story my mother told me when I was young.”

“Oh? What old story? Can Jin-er’s wife tell us?” Lady Wang asked with interest.

Shen Jiuyuan gave a faint smile, her expression as calm as mountain lakes. She spoke with a composed and elegant air:

“I heard that in a previous dynasty, there was a famous physician who, during a time when heavy snow blocked the mountains, used the stamens of white plum blossoms combined with common medicinal herbs to cure countless refugees suffering from a seasonal plague. A physician has a benevolent heart, and all things can be used as medicine.

Looking at the winter plums in this garden, they are not only for refined appreciation but can also save lives. I believe such virtue is perhaps more worthy of remembrance than mere romance and scenery.”

Her voice was soft, yet every word fell like a pearl on a plate. This lofty sentiment was so refined that no one dared to show the slightest disrespect.

By avoiding the poetry she wasn’t skilled in and pivoting to medical theory and benevolence, she responded to Su Tian’s provocation, subtly pointed out her own medical knowledge once more, and raised the topic to a much higher level of sophistication.

The pavilion was silent for a moment. Lady Wang was the first to clap and laugh: “Well said! ‘A physician has a benevolent heart.’ Jin-er’s wife has extraordinary insight and a kind heart; no wonder she could save Su-luo from danger that day.”

Lady Lin’s brow relaxed imperceptibly by a fraction, appearing satisfied with this response. Su Tian’s face looked awkward; her expression shifted several times before she sneered coldly: “Sister-in-law is truly silver-tongued. As expected of a military bloodline, her insights are quite… rugged.”

Su Tian’s words were extremely impolite, and the word “rugged” was quite improper. Because she was still young, the others merely smiled. Shen Jiuyuan acted as if she hadn’t heard and did not respond.

Just then, a small maid serving drinks perhaps due to nerves or a slippery floor shook her hand and splashed half a pot of warm wine. It happened to land on the skirt of a lady from a branch family sitting nearby. The lady cried out and stood up.

“You sightless thing!” Lady Wang’s face darkened as she scolded the maid. The maid turned pale with fear, thudding to her knees and kowtowing repeatedly.

Shen Jiuyuan was close by. Seeing the wine mark on the lady’s skirt and witnessing the maid’s terrified eyes, she felt a sudden impulse. She rose and walked over, her voice gentle: “Go to the side and rest for a moment; I will see if there is a remedy.” She glanced at the stain and said to the lady:

“Sister, do not be alarmed. Use a dry cloth to absorb it first. I have a bottle of self-made stain remover; we might give it a try.”

Shen Jiuyuan took a thumb-sized porcelain bottle from her sleeve and poured out some transparent liquid, signaling the lady to rub it in. The woman tried it half-doubtingly, and sure enough, the wine stain faded significantly.

This small interlude resolved an awkward moment, yet it deepened the clouds of doubt in Shen Jiuyuan’s heart. She had seen clearly: before the maid stumbled, her eyes had darted in terror toward a matron standing behind the Third Mistress, Lady Zhao. And the direction of the wine splash if she had been sitting just a bit further over, she would have been the one soaked.

Was it an accident, or did someone want her to be humiliated in front of everyone? The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it became.

After this incident, the rest of the plum-blossom banquet was relatively harmonious. Perhaps because Shen Jiuyuan had become more guarded, she acted with extreme caution. Or perhaps it was because she held the status of the Eldest Young Grandmother and Su Jin was at the core of the family’s power, so no one dared to confront her directly.

It was around the Hour of the Pig (9 PM – 11 PM) when the banquet finally ended.

Back at Yuanlan Pavilion, Shen Jiuyuan dismissed her attendants and sat alone under the lamp. She took the cloth bundle from the bottom of her vanity case. Inside was the fan pendant. As she held it, the cold sensation traveled through her hand, and the rouge mark on it was particularly striking.

Su-luo falling into the water, the fan pendant, the suspected “accident” at the banquet these fragments were piecing together into a mystery that set her mind racing. She remembered her mother’s journal mentioning that in the inner chambers of noble houses, the struggles are endless; sometimes an act seems directed at a specific person, but it actually involves larger conflicts of interest behind the scenes.

There was now a new Eldest Young Grandmother in the manor. Even if the marriage was in name only and Su Jin was not pleased to see her, had her sudden entry as a “variable” unintentionally touched someone’s interests?

Outside, the night was deep, and the fragrance of winter plums stubbornly filtered through the window. Shen Jiuyuan gripped the fan pendant tightly. She thought about how entering this hundred-member Su family alone and seeking a place for herself was truly no easy task.

But since she had come, she would find peace. She could not go back to the Shen family, nor did she want to. Here in the Su Manor, it was worth her effort to forge a new world.

She roughly set a game board for herself, planning her moves in secret, step by step.

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