Chapter Five: Stepmother

May, the beginning of summer.

After a spring of nourishment, the once dried-up Yi River was again brimming with water, its gentle ripples shimmering under the sun.

Hedong County was situated on the eastern bank of the Yi River, named for its location. The county town was small; before the drought, it boasted over a thousand households. By the administrative standards of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was a lower-tier county.

However, after three years of drought, the people either fled or perished, and now only five or six hundred households remained within the city. With the population sharply reduced, trouble erupted last winter. The magistrate fled upon hearing news of unrest, the remaining assistant was killed by the rioters, and the government granary was pillaged.

The county office was burned, leaving only broken walls and ruins. The city wall and moat were in shambles as well.

It wasn’t until this spring that an army clad in silver armor arrived in Hedong County, repairing the walls, calming the people, and barely preventing the county from falling into the hands of lawless bandits.

Last month, General Yang, who controlled Yizhou, sent a new magistrate—a young lord from the illustrious Wang family, renowned among the elite.

“No wonder he’s from the Wang clan. When their procession entered the county office, the lead carriage was inside while the last was still at the city gates.”

“Two or three hundred retainers, all helmeted and armored, exuding power. It’s no wonder the bandits never dared touch the Wang stronghold, even knowing there was grain stored.”

“And those servants and maids, dressed in fine silks, are more dignified than the ladies of our county’s gentry.”

“…But the most dazzling of all is the Wang family’s young lord, handsome and noble, like an immortal descended to earth.”

From the moment Magistrate Wang Lin and his family arrived in Hedong County, they became the talk of the town, both inside and out. People discussed their wealth, envied the elegance of their servants, and secretly paid close attention to the magistrate’s every move.

For example, before even reaching the county office, the Wang family had already sent ahead boxes of copper coins and carts of grain to recruit craftsmen and farmers.

They spent their own money to rebuild the dilapidated county office.

Additionally, the Wang family expanded the street behind the office—

According to Great Zhou’s official protocol, offices had a front for administration and a rear courtyard for the magistrate and his family’s residence.

There was also an unwritten rule: officials do not repair their offices. After all, the office is permanent, but the officials are transient.

With terms lasting three years, officials and their families were only temporary residents, so there was little reason to spend personal funds on repairs.

Yet this time, Hedong’s office was different!

First, the building had been burned to ruins and was uninhabitable without repairs.

Second, the Wang clan was a noble family, meticulous in all things. Even their meals followed the principle of “no detail neglected,” let alone their daily residence.

Furthermore, Wang Lin had brought a considerable household. Even before taking office, he and his mother, Lady Xie, had divided the family at the Wang stronghold, sending off the unruly branches, leaving only the three legitimate lines. These, including masters and servants, numbered over a hundred.

The rear courtyard was a modest two-chambered house—too cramped for Lady Xie herself, let alone the other masters.

Expansion was imperative!

The entire rear courtyard, along with the adjacent street, was enclosed.

Even so, when the Wang family arrived and began allocating residences, space was still lacking.

Moreover, Wang Lin was about to remarry.

He was the head of the Wang family; the wife he brought home would become the household’s mistress, and her quarters could not be too humble.

His new bride was not from a minor family, but from the famed Cui clan of the northern frontier.

The Cui clan, though not as venerable as the Wang family, having only risen to prominence in the past century, possessed advantages the Wang family lacked—

The Cui clan was not purely Han; over the last century, they frequently married into northern tribes.

They produced several empresses and consorts.

The most famous was Empress Yuan De, the late emperor’s principal wife. Both she and her son, Crown Prince Ai, had passed away, but the current emperor was her grandson.

Because of this connection, the Cui clan became one of the foremost kin families in the capital, their power second only to the Grand Steward.

Last year, during the Gui-Mao rebellion, the Grand Steward poisoned the emperor, and the Cui clan suffered a severe blow.

However, Empress Yuan De’s mother’s family was only one branch of the Cui clan. The clan had many other members, who married into various noble families.

The Cui woman Wang Lin was about to marry had an aunt who married into the Helou family, one of the eight great clans of the northern frontier.

The commander of the army stationed in Hedong was also from the Helou family—or rather, the Lou family, as the late emperor had encouraged Hanization and the Helou family changed their surname to Lou.

“Lou Jin, whose father is General Lou Yan, once stationed at the Six Garrisons alongside the Yang family.”

“Lou Jin’s mother is a woman of the Cui clan—”

Thus, Wang Lin's future wife and Lou Jin were cousins.

With Wang Lin appointed as magistrate, Lou Jin commanding troops in Hedong, and a marital bond between their families, it was a formidable alliance.

Wang Lin no longer feared bandits or the interference of uncouth military men in local affairs.

He was therefore extremely pleased with his new wife from the Cui clan, and to secure the marriage, the Wang family demonstrated utmost sincerity.

First, Lady Xie relinquished the newly expanded main central courtyard for the Cui bride’s new chambers.

Second, the child from Wang Lin’s first marriage was sent ahead to Lady Xie.

Third, the Wang family presented a dowry of a hundred pounds of gold and a hundred volumes of ancient books.

Gold, though valuable, was within reach for lesser families. But ancient books were a true rarity.

These were treasures collected over centuries, coveted not only by royalty and noble clans but by other gentry as well.

The Wang family offered a full hundred volumes, proof of their esteem for the new bride.

…

On the eighth day of May, an auspicious day for marriage.

The day before, the Cui family sent the bridal dowry.

While the Wang family had deep roots, the Cui family was fabulously wealthy—money was no object.

Over a hundred sedan chairs of dowry flowed into the county office, filling the main courtyard to the brim.

This did not even include the furniture and decorations arranged in advance.

The Cui family’s ten-mile bridal procession dazzled the people of Hedong County.

Countless onlookers envied and discussed the spectacle, which continued until the wedding ceremony at dusk.

The Great Zhou followed ancient custom, holding weddings at sunset, hence the term “Dusky Rite.”

Wang Lin, dressed in bright red wedding robes, rode his horse at the head of the bridal party, grandly proceeding to the inn outside the city.

The Cui clan did not reside in Yizhou; after the families agreed to the marriage, the bride was escorted to Yizhou by her kin.

Hedong County was too small for a proper guesthouse, so the Cui bridal party stayed at the inn.

Next to the inn was Lou Jin’s army camp, and there was a broad river nearby—both safe and convenient.

By the time Wang Lin arrived, the sun was already sinking in the west.

Following ancient rites, he faced each challenge in turn.

As a member of the noble clan, he was versed in the Six Arts of the gentleman—poetry, calligraphy, and literature came effortlessly to him.

No matter the tests set by the bride’s side—archery, poetry, or others—he handled them with ease.

…Perhaps his experience played a part.

It wasn’t his first time as a groom; Wang Lin was composed and confident.

One by one, he overcame the hurdles and finally received his bride. The Cui lady wore a green wedding gown, holding a round fan, and boarded the bridal ox cart.

“Second Lady, put down your fan and rest a while.”

The Cui lady’s maid, Jade, sat beside her in the ox cart, drew down the curtains, and the cart began to move.

Jade glanced around, saw no one was paying attention, and quietly urged her mistress.

The Cui lady complied, not objecting.

She was tired from holding the fan aloft for so long.

“Did you see the groom? How was he? Is he as handsome and dignified as the portrait?”

The Cui lady, only seventeen, came from a good family and was willing to marry a widower mainly because she liked handsome men.

“Second Lady, the groom is indeed very handsome, and his bearing is extraordinary!”

“Of course he is! He’s a true son of the Wang clan of Langya!” That was her second reason for agreeing to be a stepwife.

“…,” Jade fell silent.

No matter how fine Wang Lin was, he was still remarried.

Not to mention, the Wang family had a legitimate daughter from the first wife.

Mistress and maid had been together for over a decade, thoroughly familiar with one another.

The Cui lady glanced at Jade and knew what she was thinking. “Hmph, just a little girl of five or six—what trouble could she possibly cause?”

“Besides, her mother… Hmph, with such a disgraceful background, Wang Lin probably wants nothing more than to sever ties.”

To put it bluntly, Wang Lin’s first wife was a blemish on his record.

As for Wang Heng, she was both his blood daughter and the product of that ‘blemish.’

The Cui lady dared wager that Wang Lin, whenever he saw his daughter, would recall his past “humiliation.”

He would certainly not favor the child.

In the rear courtyard, bereft of her mother, and with a father who showed her no affection, Wang Heng would be entirely subject to the will of her stepmother, to be molded and managed as she pleased.