Chapter Twenty-Four: The Punishment of Lady Jin

Before marrying Xue Yang, Lady Jin was also someone who spent money like water. But now, with her source of income cut off by her parents, and having to raise children too—everywhere she turned, it was about money. She wanted to act as if she didn’t care about wealth, but she simply didn’t have the means.

“Mother, I only just returned. I thought I’d help Xiaoba tidy up her things,” Lady Jin said guiltily.

Madam Xue glanced around the room, then sneered, “Or am I falsely accusing you? You’ve done a fine job tidying, haven’t you?”

Indeed, it would have been better if she hadn’t touched a thing.

Lady Jin’s eyes darted nervously, her expression growing ever more uneasy.

Madam Xue pressed on, “Since you were helping Xiaoba tidy her room, that’s all the better. Today I sent Nanny Jiang to bring Xiaoba four bolts of cloth. Now, Xiaoba has returned two to me. Where are the other two? What happened to them?”

Lady Jin looked at Xue Fanzhi in surprise. So the girl had returned the cloth—no wonder she couldn’t find them. Now she understood what Xue Fanzhi had meant by saying she didn’t have them; she’d returned them, so naturally, they were gone.

Of course, she also understood why Xue Fanzhi had returned the cloth. Wasn’t it just to embarrass her?

Lady Jin shot Xue Fanzhi a venomous glare, wishing she could pry open the girl’s head and see what she was thinking—how could she set a trap for her own mother?

Madam Xue urged from the front, “Well? Speak!”

No matter how dissatisfied Lady Jin was with Xue Fanzhi, she dared not cause a scene in front of the old lady. After all, she was only a second wife, not a true mother-in-law by blood, and the daughter of a merchant to boot. She was always at a disadvantage, and so she feared Madam Xue deeply.

She didn’t dare conceal what she’d done, yet she was too embarrassed to admit she’d taken her daughter’s things. With mounting anxiety, she hurriedly explained what had happened to the cloth.

“Xiaoba gave me two bolts, but they were snatched away by Huiniang.”

Xue Fanzhi’s expression remained unmoved as she stood respectfully at Madam Xue’s side, making no move to expose Lady Jin.

As a daughter, she could not point fingers—was she supposed to declare loudly that her mother had taken her cloth, rather than it being a gift? If word got out, those with eyes would know her parents were unkind, but some troublemakers might even accuse her of trying to deceive her elders for their possessions.

And even if everyone believed her mother was unkind, what good would that do her? She was, after all, Lady Jin’s own child.

Still, she trusted that with the old lady present, there would be justice.

Madam Xue had come fully aware of the situation, otherwise she would not have pressured her granddaughter to return the gifts.

Seeing Lady Jin lie, Madam Xue immediately flung the bamboo scroll she held at her. Lady Jin dared not dodge, and it struck her squarely on the shoulder, making her stumble.

With all the servants in the room watching, Lady Jin steadied herself, tears streaming down her face as she looked at Madam Xue, too aggrieved to speak.

Madam Xue pointed at her. “I’m not dead yet! You dare snatch away gifts I give to my granddaughter? Do you think I don’t exist? If you have no regard for this old woman, then leave the Xue family at once—get out!”

Though she didn’t say outright that Lady Jin had lied, it was clear to anyone with sense that Lady Jin had taken Xue Fanzhi’s cloth, and the old lady was scolding her for it.

Such a storm of anger terrified Lady Jin.

Her greatest fear was to be driven out of the Xue family, separated from Xue Yang. She fell to her knees, weeping. “Mother, please calm your anger. I may not have great achievements in this family, but I have endured many hardships. You can’t send me away—how would I survive?”

However unworthy Lady Jin might be, she had given birth to two sons and two daughters, all of whom were nearly grown and ready for marriage. No matter what mistakes she made, she was unlikely to be cast out; Madam Xue was merely frightening her.

But Madam Xue was truly impatient with Lady Jin’s pettiness.

She scolded, “If there’s a next time, I won’t just say a few words. No matter how many children you’ve had, or who your family is, such a base woman has no place in the Xue family!”

Lady Jin cast a resentful glance at Xue Fanzhi, but Xue Fanzhi made no plea on her behalf. Lady Jin dared not argue with the old lady, and so she kowtowed in thanks, promising never to make the same mistake again.

Madam Xue knew that mere threats would never teach Lady Jin a lasting lesson.

She instructed, “You are to tidy Xiaoba’s room immediately, making it exactly as it was before, and in the time it takes for one meal, it must be restored. And another thing—you claim Xiaoba gave you two bolts of cloth? As a daughter, it is her duty to honor her mother, but as a mother, you should be even more loving to your children.”

“If she gives you two bolts, then you must reward her with four, and of equal value, so that your maternal affection is truly made evident!”

In other words, not only would she have to return the cloth, she’d need to add two more bolts as well—and of the same value, no less. It was clear that what Madam Xue had given to Xue Fanzhi was no ordinary cloth; each bolt was worth white gold. It would take Lady Jin’s entire savings to match that, and she had only eight bolts left, which she’d been planning to use to make clothes for Yueniang.

Lady Jin was utterly unwilling. Madam Xue’s tone was mild, but her gaze was full of warning: “If you fail, I have plenty of ways to deal with you.”

Madam Xue had married into the Xue family at fifteen, once the chief daughter-in-law, and when Xue Old Master’s gambling nearly ruined the family, it was she who turned things around, ensuring her descendants would never starve. One could only imagine how formidable she was.

As for her “means,” the main branch of the family had many concubines, and to this day those women and their children remained unfailingly respectful to the old lady—not out of deference to Xue Yang, but out of fear of her. The old lady’s power in her youth had clearly been formidable.

Lady Jin dared not test the old lady’s resolve. Though it pained her deeply, she did not dare refuse.

“I understand. I’ll see to it at once!”

Tidying the room was out of the question for now—with the old lady present and so many servants around, her reputation would be ruined if word spread. So Lady Jin planned to fetch the cloth first.

As she turned to leave, a thought struck her. “Mother, how can it be right that a lowly concubine like Huiniang dares to steal from me, and even injured me? Is this to be let go just like that?”

The conflict between Huiniang and Lady Jin was something Madam Xue found exasperating as well.

Huiniang resembled He Shi, the divorced wife, and so Xue Yang greatly favored her.

In the inner chambers, victory seldom went to the more capable or virtuous woman, but to the one the master cherished most.

Thus, despite five or six years of struggle, Lady Jin had gained nothing, for Xue Yang favored Huiniang and neglected her.

In another family, this would be easily settled. Lady Jin was the wife—even as a second wife, she outranked a concubine; no one would let a concubine overshadow the wife, for the charge of favoring a concubine at the expense of a wife would ruin Xue Yang.

Yet, when Lady Jin suffered, she dared not complain. Even if someone stood up for her, she would cover for Xue Yang, insisting he had not mistreated her.

If she wouldn’t stand up for herself, how could others help her?

Madam Xue could, as a senior, discipline the household, but she was not Lady Jin’s true mother-in-law. Xue Yang, though raised by her, was always polite but not close, knowing he had a living birth mother. Why should she risk antagonizing him?

Still, matters could not be allowed to deteriorate further. If such confusion between wife and concubine continued, how could the sons and daughters of the Xue family ever hope to marry in the future?