The late autumn wind swept dead leaves against the carved windows of the deliberating hall. The Marquis gripped his teacup so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand bulged, his knuckles turning white from the strain. Jiang Wan stood on the east side with her hands lowered, clutching the copy of the account books she had prepared the previous night; her cold sweat had left faint, wrinkled damp patches on the edges of the pages. Beside a pillar on the west side, Jiang Rou curled into the shadows, the sound of her shackles grinding against the stone floor as soft as a sigh.
"From this day forth, the management of all properties belonging to the Marquis's Mansion shall be vested in the legitimate daughter, Jiang Wan." The Marquis’s voice sounded like raw iron striking gold, startling the sparrows on the rafters into flight. "As for Jiang Rou—" He turned toward the huddled concubine-born daughter, "her confinement is extended to three years, her monthly allowance reduced to two taels, and she is not to step one foot outside Tingyu Pavilion without being summoned."
Madame Li let out a shriek that nearly pierced the paper of the windows: "My Lord! Rou'er is your own flesh and blood; how can you be so heartless?" She stumbled toward the desk, the golden hairpin in her hair swaying precariously. "She was merely muddle-headed for a moment! Please, for the sake of our twenty years as husband and wife..."
Chapter 86