Yingtao knew that today would be the first time her mistress and the General formally appeared before everyone in the Duke’s Mansion. That is why it was an occasion that required great care, no less important than the tea ceremony held on the second day after a wedding.
After considering Shang Ji’s attire, she carefully selected a willow-dyed horse-faced skirt, paired with a brocade-patterned double-breasted jacket for her mistress. This ensemble gave her an air of gentle elegance.
Du Jingyi took one look and nodded approvingly.
Once dressed in this , the effect was remarkable.
The colors complemented her complexion perfectly. Du Jingyi, already fair and delicate, now looked even more radiant.
“Young Madam, let me style your hair in a Chaoyun bun and add a few jade-green hairpins,” suggested Lizhu.
Lizhu was highly skilled and well-versed in fashionable hairstyles.
Du Jingyi was beautiful by nature, but after this careful dressing, her beauty seemed to reach new heights.
When everything was ready, Du Jingyi gave her instructions.
“Go fetch the General.”
“Yes, Madam.”
Before leaving, Du Jingyi paused in thought. She returned to her jewelry box, opened it, and carefully chose four or five gold bracelets of decent weight and workmanship for her visit.
Though hollowed and incised with patterns, they still felt heavy in her hands.
Puzzled, Lizhu asked, “Young Madam, why are you carrying so many gold bracelets?”
Du Jingyi’s lips curved faintly. “Have you forgotten those leeches from the Third and Fifth branches?”
Lizhu suddenly understood. Life in the mansion had been so comfortable that she had almost forgotten such things. The Duke’s Mansion was indeed vast and powerful, but it housed both loyal and upright members—and shameless parasites.
Decades earlier, the cruelty of the previous dynasties emperor had driven the people into suffering and rebellion. The current emperor was only the second ruler of the Daxing Dynasty, having reigned for just a few decades.
Thus, many of the nobles in Sui’an City were rough men who had risen from humble beginnings.
The late Duke of the Shang family had been one such man.
He and the founding Emperor Kaizong had come from the same village. When Kaizong raised his banner to rebel, Shang had joined—not for glory, but simply to fill his belly. Who would have thought he would end up stoking the fire at the right hearth?
He became a celebrated founding minister of the new dynasty and was granted the title of Duke along with a grand mansion. Naturally, once the elder brother rose to prominence, his younger siblings reaped the benefits as well.
The Shang family had originally been a large household with three sons and two daughters. Except for his second sister , who had married and settled in Changzhou, all the others brought their families to live with Duke Shang in the capital.
Among them, Shang’s Siniang fared the best. At her brother’s urging, she had married into the Xu family of their home village. Later, she and her husband moved to Sui’an City, hoping for protection yet determined to stand on their own. With Duke Shang’s help, they acquired over a hundred acres of land outside the city. Being diligent themselves and raising steady, honest children, their household thrived over the years.
But her second and third brothers were useless in everything they attempted. They became burdens on Duke Shang and eventually entrenched themselves within the mansion, refusing to leave.
Even after the Duke’s passing, when his estate had been divided, the Third and Fifth branches shamelessly clung to the eldest branch, lingering in the mansion for decades.
To this day, the two branches still crowded into the North Garden, refusing to move out even though they now had great-grandchildren.
While the old masters of the Third and Fifth Houses still lived, they managed to scrape some benefit. Once those men passed, however, their descendants would have no claim to remain in the Duke’s Mansion.
Du Jingyi recalled a family dinner the previous year. The people from those two branches had “borrowed” plenty of fine jewelry from her, with no sign of returning it.
If she failed to act with foresight now, she would only have herself to blame.
As the saying goes: jade may be priceless, but gold holds value.
So Gold bracelets were the perfect way to appease them.
“In that case, let me find a few brocade boxes to hold them,” she said.
“Yes, Madam.”replied Yingtao.
The brocade boxes were large and weighty, heavy enough in the hands to seem more valuable than they were. They would serve perfectly to deceive the greedy eyes of the Third and Fifth branches.
When all preparations were complete, Du Jingyi brought Yingtao and Lizhu to wait outside the Xitang Courtyard.
Before long, Shang Ji appeared, followed by Luo Yuan, stepping out of the study.
In front of Xitang Courtyard stood two Podocarpus trees—Golden Money Pines—that Du Jingyi had purchased at great expense. They were her treasured symbols of fortune, and she tended to them with care.
But Shang Ji knew little of such things. To him, they simply looked unusual.
Soon his gaze fell on Du Jingyi.
Compared to when he had seen her yesterday or even that morning, her appearance now was strikingly refined.
Yet years of military campaigns had taught him to conceal his emotions, so he betrayed nothing.
“Great General, you have arrived.”
“Mm. Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
The couple walked side by side along the stone path toward Yunjin Courtyard.
The familiar scenery looked different to Du Jingyi today.
The Duke’s Mansion was vast, but it lacked refinement.
There were no elegant pavilions with flowing waters like those of Jiangnan, nor were there ornate roofs or carved railings. Its rough origins as a military household were plain to see for even a child.
It could not even compare to the elegance of Xitang Courtyard, which Du Jingyi had painstakingly designed herself.
As Shang Ji and Du Jingyi walked together, curious servants paused to peek at them.
Feeling their prying gazes, Shang Ji frowned slightly.
But Du Jingyi walked with perfect composure, back straight, refusing to yield even a trace of inferiority.
This Duke’s Mansion truly was peculiar.
Such a large household, with hundreds of servants, yet the rules were lax. How could the servants be allowed to freely gawk at their masters?
It was said that when the Duke’s first wife, Shang Ji’s mother Lady Gu, was alive, the household rules had been strict. But ever since Madam Wei, a former concubine, had risen to power as the second wife, discipline had slackened.
The contrast was evident when comparing Steward He and Nanny Dou of Xitang Courtyard to the rest of the mansion.
Du Jingyi felt this keenly during her stay.
After passing through a garden, the pair reached the heart of the rear courtyard. Above the entrance hung a plaque inscribed with three powerful characters: Yunjin Courtyard.
Shang Ji looked up at it, his expression complex, tinged with reluctance and distaste.
Seeing this, Du Jingyi remained silent.
After a pause, his face returned to its usual cold indifference.
“Let’s go in,” he said firmly.
“Very well.” replied she.