"How does a sister-in-law dare to bypass the lady of the house, shamelessly occupy the mistress's quarters, and even seize her dowry? Truly, you are in need of a lesson!"
With that, Mammy Liu raised a hand to signal the servant girls behind her. "Twenty slaps each. Teach them how to address their superiors properly!"
She couldn't bear even one slap, let alone twenty. Besides, her daughter had such a delicate, flower-like face; twenty slaps would surely ruin her beauty. A wise person doesn't fight when the odds are against them, and for now, it was better to play it soft.
Wan Niang hurriedly turned to Xiao Shuning for help. "Sister-in-law, I was only joking with you just now. You must not take it to heart. If Yuan'er likes these things, just keep them—we don't want them anymore."
Xiao Shuning looked up at Mu Jinyuan, her face showing hesitation; she did not want to stir up trouble. However, before they arrived, Mu Jinyuan had repeatedly warned her not to intervene, no matter what happened.
"Mammy Liu, forget it. Consider it a favor to my mother this time. Don't hit them. I expect my aunt and sister have learned their lesson and will study the proper etiquette henceforth." Mu Jinyuan knew that if the matter escalated too far, it might be difficult to resolve. Her father and grandmother were both partial to Wan Niang’s side; it was best to dampen their arrogance for now—there would be plenty of time in the future.
"Yes, yes! From now on, I will surely study the rules and never dare to be insolent before my sister-in-law again," Wan Niang said, squeezing out a fawning smile.
"See that you do. I will be watching you." Mammy Liu withdrew the stern look from her eyes and began ordering the inventory of the items.
"If there is nothing else, go where you belong," Mu Jinyuan said, supporting her mother as they walked into the house.
But Mu Jinxia refused to budge, clutching a pair of jade pillows tightly. "These are mine! By what right do you stop me from taking them?"
Mu Jinyuan paused at these words, her gaze freezing as she looked at Mu Jinxia. Mu Jinxia couldn't help but tremble, suddenly recalling the sight of Mu Jinyuan driving a knife into Chunxing’s chest the other day. Still, unwilling to let such valuables benefit Mu Jinyuan, she stiffened her neck and argued with a false sense of righteousness, "We live here, so the things in this courtyard should be ours!"
Mu Jinyuan was so angry she laughed. "Every single item in this room has been cataloged, from the smallest bracelet and hairpin to the beds and wooden cabinets. Since Sister Xia claims these things are yours, I shall have no choice but to invite the local authorities to inspect them. If even one item from the dowry list is missing, it will be considered theft."
"According to the laws of our dynasty, thieves are to be punished with one hundred strokes of the rod. For major thefts, the punishment is the removal of both hands and exile to Lingnan."
"The jade pillows in your hands were a tribute from Xialiang State; they were a gift from the Empress Dowager to my mother for her dowry. Their value cannot be measured in mere gold or silver."
Mu Jinxia was stunned. She only wanted to take the pillows she was used to sleeping on—how did this involve the authorities and theft? And the Empress Dowager, no less...
Seeing that things were going poorly, Wan Niang forcefully snatched the jade pillows from Mu Jinxia’s hands and handed them to Mu Jinyuan. "We are all family. Jinxia was only joking with you. To involve the authorities over a pair of pillows would only make us a laughingstock to outsiders."
Mu Jinyuan gestured with her eyes, and Mother Yu immediately stepped forward to take the jade pillows.
"My sister may be joking, but every word I say is no joke," Mu Jinyuan said, stepping forward to pull the gold-inlaid jade sparrow hairpin from Wan Niang’s head, yanking out several strands of hair in the process. "I advise you both: do not harbor delusions about taking what does not belong to you. Once the inventory is complete, if anything is missing, you will bear the consequences."
Wan Niang’s scalp stung from the pull, and she was filled with suppressed rage, but seeing Mu Jinyuan's demeanor, she knew she was serious. For years, Xiao Shuning had been suppressed by Old Madame Mu; although she was the mistress of the house, the Old Madame made all the decisions. Most of Xiao Shuning's dowry had been contributed to the Mu family coffers, and whenever Wan Niang hinted she wanted something, the Xiao woman would willingly hand it over. Mu Jinyuan had never confronted her so directly before.
She must think that because people from the State Protector Estate had arrived, she finally had someone to back her up, emboldening her to act like the mistress of the house. She hadn't dared to say a word herself, instead letting her daughter take the lead—probably thinking that since she was to marry into the Yongning Marquis Estate anyway, she had nothing to fear from offending them.
But they were thinking too simply. A daughter born to a "broken shoe" (an unchaste woman) dreamed of being the Heir's Wife? For now, she would endure it. Once Mu Bingwen returned, she would have her own ways to make Mu Jinyuan hand those things over to her. *Hmph!*
Wan Niang shot a cold glare at Xiao Shuning and dragged the unwilling Mu Jinxia away, empty-handed.
Back in the familiar Zhuqing Courtyard, Xiao Shuning felt as though she were in a dream. "Yuan'er, was it too much to drive Wan Niang and the others out? I thought you were just talking about changing courtyards..."
"Mother, you only need to answer me one question: are you happy?" Mu Jinyuan gripped Xiao Shuning’s hands tightly, her gaze intense.
Xiao Shuning did not go against her own heart and nodded. Since marrying into the Mu family, she had felt as if a heavy stone were pressing down on her heart. She had to watch the Old Madame's moods, care for her sister-in-law who had been cast aside by her husband, and fear that one wrong word would upset her. She had gradually grown accustomed to being subservient, wanting only for everyone to be happy, while long ago forgetting her own feelings.
"Mother, as long as you are happy, that is all that matters. In the future, do not care about the feelings of the others in the Mu family. You owe none of them anything," Mu Jinyuan said, her voice calm yet powerful.
"The young miss is right. Madam, you have always been too kind to them. We should be strong. Why should a sister-in-law who was cast out by her husband be allowed to ride roughshod over you?" Mother Yu, seeing Wan Niang and the others chased away in such a sorry state, stood a little straighter. She had endured this for far too long!
"Mother Yu, Yuan'er is young and inevitably impulsive. Why do you also disregard the gravity of the situation? After all, your master showed me kindness. Had I not committed such a grave error years ago, I would not have had the face to live on in this world," Xiao Shuning said, her face, which had just begun to show a smile, turning heavy again.
Mother Yu wanted to say more but sighed. A woman's lack of chastity was a great sin; she found it difficult to hold her head high before the Mu family.
"Mother, Father married you because he did not care about your past. Moreover, these past years, as Father’s official position has risen, he has received no small amount of support from the State Protector Estate, and much of your dowry has subsidized this house. Yet Grandmother and the others punish you at the slightest provocation. It is they who have failed you, not the other way around. You need not lower your head before them," Mu Jinyuan gently explained.
In her previous life, she had often seen her mother weeping in silence. At that time, she, too, had been constrained by the lessons of female virtue she had been taught since childhood, even wondering if her mother’s lack of chastity was the reason the grandmother could not like her either. She always wore a smiling face for Mu Jinxia, but for her, there were only reprimands. The phrase she heard most often was, "You must never be as shameless as your mother."