Chapter 15
In the Chunming Courtyard, He Fangting had only just risen and was eating breakfast attended by her maids.
As for the argument the Jiang family had last night, informants had already quietly reported every detail to her. She treated it as an appetizer.
Wensi tofu, premium pigeon eggs, rouge-colored goose breast, crystal shrimp, crispy roast squab, pan-fried dumplings stuffed with minced pork and mushrooms, seven-treasure soup, candied date cakes, lotus-seed and lily pastries, rose yam cakes, jade-green japonica rice porridge, silver-thread rolls, secret nourishing soup, and many more delicacies filled the entire table.
It was enough not only for her alone—even ten more people could have eaten their fill.
Yet Nurse Kong still felt it was insufficient, as though the princess consort she had raised had somehow been wronged.
Seeing He Fangting merely sample a few bites before putting down her ivory chopsticks, Nurse Kong could not help grumbling, “I think they simply aren’t putting their hearts into it. Over and over, it’s still the same dishes. No creativity at all.”
He Fangting was long accustomed to her complaints and said nothing.
Just as she was about to order the dishes cleared away, a young maid announced loudly from outside, “Master has arrived!”
Jiang Zhixiu walked quickly. Before the maid had even finished speaking, he had already entered the room.
The first thing he saw was the table full of exquisite dishes. Converted into silver, the meal probably cost over ten taels.
And this was only an ordinary light breakfast. Add lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts, and they were spending more than a hundred taels a day just on food!
Yet the Jiang family currently had only one hundred and three taels left in their accounts.
Compared side by side, the disparity was miserable beyond words.
Subconsciously, he recalled what his father had said before—that He Fangting had fostered extravagance within the household.
And perhaps they truly had not wronged her.
There was an old saying: it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to return from luxury to frugality. Once such habits formed, changing them back was no easy matter.
But he never considered that before marrying him, He Fangting had always lived this way. Why should she suddenly tighten her belt simply because she married into the Jiang family? Moreover, this portion of the expenses was paid from her own funds and not a single coin came from the Jiangs.
Seeing him stare silently at the dishes, He Fangting assumed he wished to eat and said, “If Husband hasn’t had breakfast yet, why not make do with some here?”
Jiang Zhixiu glanced around at the maids, servants, and Nurse Kong in the room, then frowned.
“Leave us.”
No one moved. All eyes turned toward He Fangting.
Only after she gave a slight nod did Nurse Kong lead the servants out with bows.
Seeing their subtle reactions, Jiang Zhixiu felt another surge of anger.
He was He Fangting’s husband, yet these people showed him no respect whatsoever. They had never regarded him as the head of the household. In their hearts there was only He Fangting, not him.
If even the servants were like this, then their mistress herself probably looked down on him as well.
But what exactly was she so proud of?
Her mother, the Princess Fuzhuang, and the old Marquis and Marchioness He who had doted on her were already dead. Her father, He Ziming, though still alive, was distant from her. He had remarried, fathered new children, and long since cast aside this eldest daughter.
The current Marquis of Changning was her uncle, but he spent years stationed in the southwest. They had met only a few times. If they passed each other on the street, they might not even recognize one another.
Though the Emperor was her maternal uncle, because of the matter concerning Princess Fuzhuang, he treated her with cold dislike.
The rest of the imperial clan followed the Emperor’s attitude and did not regard her as family either.
The only person she could rely on was him, Jiang Zhixiu!
Yet she did not take him seriously at all. Truly outrageous!
Jiang Zhixiu remained silent, and He Fangting did not press him. She simply sipped almond sheep’s milk tea. Her fingers, wrapped around a crimson floral porcelain cup, were pale as white jade and flawless.
Jiang Zhixiu still remembered how those hands had felt in his own grasp. The resentment filling his chest suddenly transformed into exhaustion.
He sat down heavily and sighed.
“As you wished, I now understand your contributions and see your hardships. I won’t treat you unfairly in the future. Take back the household management. This family still needs you to run it.”
He Fangting replied calmly, “I have already made myself very clear. I have no intention of taking charge of the household again. Please choose someone more capable and virtuous.”
Somewhat irritated, Jiang Zhixiu said, “Fangting, stop making trouble.”
The Emperor, recognizing his achievements in disaster relief and his long absence from home, had granted him five days of leave. Only two remained before he had to return to court. If the household was not set in order, how could he focus on official affairs?
Looking utterly unconcerned, He Fangting slowly said, “Husband misunderstands. I am not making trouble. These years of managing the household have been unsatisfactory and exhausting. I wish to take this opportunity to reflect.”
Jiang Zhixiu said coldly, “You’re doing this on purpose!”
Reflect?
She was deliberately throwing the household into chaos, deliberately proving how important she was, deliberately manipulating him.
He Fangting replied innocently, “If Husband insists on thinking that way, there’s nothing I can do.”
Of course she was doing it on purpose.
Marrying Jiang Zhixiu had been a carefully planned match arranged by her grandfather and grandmother. But she herself had also chosen him willingly and sincerely wished to be a good wife of the Jiang family. Therefore, she often did things without speaking of them, believing that saying too much would damage affection.
Her grandmother had once told her that harmony between husband and wife depended on sincerity. She must never rely on her noble birth to act superior or overbearing toward her husband. Sometimes, showing weakness was even necessary.
She had thought those words reasonable and followed her grandmother’s teachings.
But because she never said anything, they truly believed they owed her nothing.
If Jiang Zhixiu had not married her, how could the Jiang family possibly have established itself in the capital? How could Jiang Zhixiu have maintained his reputation for incorruptibility and earned the Emperor’s favor?
Other officials had to worry endlessly over household matters. Jiang Zhixiu did not. All he needed to do was focus on being an official.
One could say she had fulfilled every duty expected of a virtuous wife and mother, ensuring that Jiang Zhixiu had no worries behind him.
Among the top scholars of his examination year—the zhuangyuan, bangyan, and tanhua—none had risen through the ranks as quickly as he had, nor attained an office as high.
What, did he think all of this was solely the result of his own efforts, with nothing to do with her?
Ridiculous.
In terms of talent and practical ability, those three were all superior to him. The only thing he surpassed them in was marrying her as his wife.
She did not need Jiang Zhixiu to be endlessly grateful. She only required the most basic respect.
Yet he had publicly used Xie Meiying to slap her in the face.
Then let him see for himself what the Jiang family would become without He Fangting.
