ATLAS TRANSLATES

Dou Zhao watched Madam Ji’s every move.

When she first entered the Marquis Manor, she had often given such cold treatment to the Wei family’s managers.

How could Yuzhen, a mere maid who rose to position by chance, handle such a situation?

Left idle on the side, listening to the sneers of Madam Ji’s maids and seeing the cold looks from her servants, Yuzhen decided to find Tuo Niang.

But Tuo Niang wasn’t there!

Seeing that the maid in green clothing living next to Tuo Niang looked kind-hearted, she asked, “Sister, do you know where Fourth Miss’s Suxin went?”

The maid was putting on earrings in front of a mirror and replied, “Yuzhen and Manager Wang went to Zhending Prefecture.”

Yuzhen was stunned.

The maid put away her mirror, walked over with a smile, and said, “Are you new here? I don’t recognize you. Manager Wang is our madam’s personal manager. Our madam isn’t used to North Zhili’s food, so the Old Madam of the Ji family often has their shops send things over. Manager Wang is going to the prefecture to get things for madam. Since madam saw that Fourth Miss really likes Seventh Miss’s dolls, and Suxin is Fourth Miss’s favorite, she would know Fourth Miss’s preferences, so she was sent along with Manager Wang to pick something from Ji family’s shop in the prefecture. She should be back tomorrow afternoon.”

Yuzhen’s eyes turned red with jealousy.

The Ji family’s shop in Zhending Prefecture even sold Western items. Daqing’s wife had been there once and spent over twenty taels of silver on a small gilt rouge box with a Western beauty painted on it. She treasured it like a precious thing, only taking it out to show off during New Year. She said if she ever became wealthy, she would definitely go shopping there properly again.

Suxin actually got to browse the Ji family’s shop accompanied by the Sixth Madam’s personal manager. The shop clerks would surely treat her with great respect for Sixth Madam’s sake. That was so many times more impressive than Daqing’s wife.

How did she get such good luck?

What made her better than herself? She was just good at sticking close to Fourth Miss…

As Yuzhen thought about this, a light bulb went off in her head.

Right. If even a simpleton like Suxin could win Fourth Miss’s favor, with her own cleverness, wouldn’t Fourth Miss be easy to win over?

Thinking this, she thanked the maid, left her bundle in Tuo Niang’s room, washed her face with water she drew herself, and hurried to the main room.

Madam Ji was standing with Dou Zhao under a tree’s shade, directing a young maid to pick garden balsam flowers: “…Crush them in a small bowl, add some alum, leave it overnight, and tomorrow we can dye our Shou Gu’s fingernails.” As she spoke,

She held Dou Zhao’s baby-fat hand, white and tender. Her skin seemed delicate as silk, her small fingernails exquisite and refined. When she spread her palm, little dimples appeared on the back of her hand, making Madam Ji’s heart melt.

Yuzhen quickly came forward to bow to Madam Ji and Dou Zhao: “Sixth Madam, Fourth Miss!”

“Oh, you’re here.” Madam Ji’s tone was gentle, completely different from her previous coldness. Yuzhen felt overwhelmed by this favor and quickly responded “Yes,” trying to please them: “I saw Suxin wasn’t in the room and thought Fourth Miss needed someone, so I put down my bundle and hurried over.”

Madam Ji nodded.

Dou Zhao smiled at her.

Yuzhen’s anxious heart finally settled.

Everyone said the Sixth Madam of East Manor was kind-hearted. Earlier she must have encountered something unpleasant just when I happened to run into her.

A young maid brought over a crystal cup filled with garden balsam flowers: “Sixth Madam, is this alright?”

Madam Ji showed hesitation, seeming unsure.

Yuzhen immediately said eagerly: “Sixth Madam, when our madam was here before, I often helped pick garden balsam flowers.” While speaking, she sorted through the flowers in the crystal cup, “Look, this one is too young…”

“It seems you do have some eye for this.” Madam Ji praised her with a smile.

Yuzhen was overjoyed.

After selecting the flowers, Madam Ji took Dou Zhao back inside.

Yuzhen hurriedly followed.

Third Aunt came over: “Sixth Sister-in-law, you’re busy!”

She greeted Madam Ji from the doorway but didn’t enter.

Madam Ji glanced at Dou Zhao, hesitated for a moment, then instructed the young maid: “Take Fourth Miss to her room.” Then she adjusted her hair and walked toward Third Aunt with a smile.

Dou Zhao entered the room with the young maid and Yuzhen.

The young maid put the crystal cup on the kang table and smiled at Dou Zhao who stood by the kang: “Fourth Miss, I’ll go get the alum jar. Please stay right here.” She then asked Yuzhen, “Sister, please watch Fourth Miss.”

“Don’t worry, I’m here!” Yuzhen said with a full smile.

The young maid ran to the back suite.

Yuzhen crouched down to talk to Dou Zhao: “Fourth Miss, would you like to go on the swing? If you let Suxin come back, I’ll take you on the swing, and we can play string games and throw sandbags every day, okay?”

Dou Zhao couldn’t be bothered to respond.

After talking to herself for a while without any response from Dou Zhao, Yuzhen felt quite bored. Having stood for a long time earlier and now crouching, her legs were weak when she tried to stand. She steadied herself on the kang table, which tilted and “bang” fell onto the kang. The crystal cup rolled off and fell to the ground with a “crack,” shattering into several pieces, scattering garden balsam petals everywhere.

She was stunned.

“What happened?” The young maid, hearing the commotion, rushed in carrying a small cloisonné jar. Seeing the broken crystal cup, her face turned pale, “How did this happen?”

The maids standing in the corridor also rushed in.

Everyone’s eyes fell on Yuzhen.

“It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me!” Yuzhen instinctively denied, her peripheral vision catching sight of Dou Zhao standing nearby. She suddenly grabbed onto this like a lifeline, “It was Fourth Miss… yes, Fourth Miss knocked it over…”

Madam Ji’s face turned ashen as she instructed Cailan: “Go invite Yu Mama from West Manor to come over.”

The servants in the room didn’t dare make a sound. Seeing Wang Mama’s gesture, they all breathed sighs of relief and filed out one after another.

Only then did Madam Ji let her anger show: “This Yuzhen is despicable!”

She had first suppressed then encouraged Yuzhen, wanting her to make mistakes in her pride so she would have an excuse to teach her a lesson. Who knew Yuzhen would do something so despicable before she could even act.

“No wonder Suxin fought with her,” Wang Mama sighed, but still tried to counsel Madam Ji. “It’s good we discovered this early, otherwise who knows how much more Fourth Miss would have suffered in secret!”

Remembering Dou Zhao’s soft little hands, Madam Ji’s eyes reddened slightly as she asked softly: “Where is Shou Gu?”

“Caishu and Cailan are with Fourth Miss picking garden balsam flowers in the courtyard!” Wang Mama smiled, “She’s having great fun.”

A hint of a smile appeared in Madam Ji’s eyes as she pondered: “What do you think about raising Shou Gu in my quarters?”

Wang Mama’s eyelid twitched as she asked: “Is that what Third Madam came to discuss with you?”

Madam Ji remained silent for a moment before giving a slight nod.

Wang Mama drew in a sharp breath and said: “Can we not get involved in this matter…”

When Cailan went over, Yu Mama was in a state of distress.

Qixia Court was in chaos, the Zhu family had come demanding to break off the engagement, the Pang family was throwing their weight around ordering people about, and both the Old Master and Seventh Master were nowhere to be found. She was just a servant – which of these matters could she decide?

The managers all tried to avoid or push off responsibility, pushing her to the front. Yet she carried Seventh Master’s trust and couldn’t avoid it even if she wanted to. She had to steel herself to step forward, placating everyone, and somehow managed to prevent any major incidents. Just when the Old Master finally returned to the manor, the Sixth Madam of East Manor sent someone to summon her.

She could refuse others’ calls, but with Fourth Miss now in the East Manor’s sixth household, she couldn’t delay even a moment when Sixth Madam called.

She rubbed her forehead and asked the reporting maid: “Did they say what it was about?”

The young maid shook her head: “Just said for you to come quickly.”

Yu Mama had no choice but to give Mrs. Huo some instructions before heading to East Manor with two young maids.

Wang Mama received her.

Instead of taking her directly to the main room, Wang Mama invited her to sit in a side room.

“Elder Sister,” she held Yu Mama’s hand and said, “I know you’ve been incredibly busy these days. If it weren’t urgent, our madam wouldn’t have called for you.” She told Yu Mama about Yuzhen’s situation, “…Breaking something would at most earn a scolding from our madam, but she tried to frame Fourth Miss – you can see how arrogant she’s become. If it weren’t for considering the former madam’s reputation, our madam would have dealt with her right then…”

Before Yu Mama could finish listening, her head began to buzz.

She knew something would go wrong!

The manor’s maids and servants saw that Daqing’s wife didn’t take Fourth Miss seriously and followed her example, becoming arrogant themselves. Especially shallow ones like Yuzhen who had completely lost their senses.

At the root, this was all trouble caused by her son.

But grown children can’t be controlled by their mothers.

She managed internal affairs while her son managed external affairs. By the time she learned of some things, they were already done. She had scolded her son several times – at first he just listened, but later he started talking back: “We are the former madam’s people. No matter who becomes Seventh Master’s second wife, they won’t keep us around. We might as well secure a backup plan for ourselves now.”

She knew her son had a point, but having served the Zhao and Dou families all her life, where else could she go?

Her son said: “Don’t worry, I won’t touch Fourth Miss’s things. I’m just using the Zhao and Dou names and Fourth Miss’s money to do some business. Once we’ve accumulated some capital and reputation, you can use your age as an excuse, and we’ll ask the new madam for the favor of letting us return home. That new madam would probably be so happy she’d laugh, how could she stop us?”

Now that Sixth Madam was displeased with her, this matter wouldn’t be so simple anymore.

Yu Mama anxiously grabbed Wang Mama’s hand: “Every finger is a different length. When I press down one problem, another pops up. My head is spinning – please tell me what I should do!”

“Sister, you’ve been serving the masters for so long, think carefully and you’ll know what to do,” Although she said this, Wang Mama smiled and said, “I’ve seen many maids like Yuzhen. She’s troublesome and keeping her around will only cause problems.” Then she took her to see Madam Ji.