Chapter 53 Part 1

If it were anyone else making this request, An Zheng would definitely refuse.

But Liu Xin was different. After all, he was Liu Yuan's old man.

No matter how bad the father-son relationship between Liu Yuan and Liu Xin was, they were still father and son. Even though An Zheng was Liu Yuan's sworn brother, he had to take a backseat. If Liu Xin's request wasn't met, and he made a fuss about it in front of outsiders, or went to complain to Liu Yuan, then Liu Yuan, who was still fighting on the front lines, would surely not be pleased. This would be a dereliction of duty on An Zheng's part.

So An Zheng was in a difficult position. After much thought, he could only report it to Madam Zhang first.

Madam Zhang invited her sister-in-law Madam Yu and mother-in-law Madam Lou to the manor, placating them with kind words. She had intended to have Madam Yu and Madam Lou persuade Liu Xin to change his mind, but as it turned out, Madam Yu and Zhao Zhang-shi started arguing.

This farce of swapping houses was instigated by Madam Yu in the first place. How could she possibly give up on her original intention so easily? She sneered at all of Madam Zhang's nice words, saying, "Ah Zhang, if it were just me here, I wouldn't mind you trying to coax me. But Mother is here now, yet you still use the same words you used on me to try and coax her? You know very well whether you have selfish motives! Now that Father and Mother are both demanding to switch houses, if you were truly filial, you would swap immediately. If it weren't for us, the Liu family, would your Zhang family be able to live in such a fine house?"

"Nonsense!" The nearby Zhao Zhang-shi jumped to her feet at once. Her own mother, Mother Zhang, wasn't much of a fighter, so she consciously jumped out to help. "When they were down and out, where were you Liu family members! When the widow and her orphans fled to the mountains to take refuge, wasn't it our Zhang family who helped them, morsel by morsel! Now that you're rich, wealthy, and enjoying life, you Liu family members just pop up! How can there be such a good thing in the world! You people..."

Curses flowed from her mouth endlessly, enough to make even the crudest village woman cover her ears.

Madam Yu and Madam Lou's faces flushed red from her scolding. Madam Yu also began to trade curses with her hands on her hips, shouting as she cursed, "A country bumpkin! Bah! If not for our Liu family, where would you be today! You're just climbing the social ladder! My husband is the King of Yu's elder brother, and my father-in-law is the King of Yu's own father. And you? What kind of creature crawled out of the woodwork?! What gives you the right to speak?!..."

Alright, Madam Yu's fighting prowess was not to be outdone. It's said that three women make a drama; now with four women gathered, the commotion was so great that all the maids and servants in the manor rushed over to watch, which also alerted Liu Zhen and the other young ones.

Completely unable to intervene, Liu Zhen stood far to the side, looking up at the sky, speechless.

Truly... how embarrassing!

It wasn't that Madam Zhang couldn't curse—her fighting ability was not bad either—but times had changed. With her current status and position, she could no longer brawl like a shrew in the street, especially in front of so many servants. If word got out, not only would she lose face, but Liu Yuan would also be ridiculed.

Of course, the current situation wasn't much better. Her sister and sister-in-law were in a screaming match, spittle flying, just short of rolling up their sleeves for a fight. Madam Lou stood to the side, chiming in from time to time, her expression filled with disgust for Madam Zhang, which made Madam Zhang's heart ache with anger.

Madam Yu and Madam Lou were naturally on the same side. She had never gotten along with Madam Zhang and, relying on her relationship with Liu Yuan, didn't hold Madam Zhang in any regard at all.

Madam Zhang, dizzy with anger, finally couldn't take it anymore. She shouted loudly, calling for maids and servants to drive them all out.

Although Madam Yu and Madam Lou were both Liu Yuan's relatives, when it came to authority, Madam Zhang's words naturally carried more weight. Ignoring the shouts and curses of Madam Yu and Madam Lou, the crowd carried them out. Seeing their sorry state, Zhao Zhang-shi even laughed arrogantly.

Madam Zhang's solution was crude and simple, but this had poked the hornet's nest.

With Liu Yuan away, Liu Xin and his son Liu Chi had nowhere to complain. So they came up with a plan. Whenever someone visited them, the father and son would cry to the guest about Madam Zhang's lack of filial piety, saying she mistreated her elderly father-in-law, favored her own family, allowed her sister to offend her mother-in-law with insolent words, and often tried to stir up trouble between Liu Xin and Liu Yuan. They claimed she was utterly unworthy of being the King of Yu's principal wife, and so on.

After many such tearful complaints, over time, rumors naturally began to spread.

When these rumors reached Madam Zhang's ears, she was nearly angered to death.

In her fury, she wanted to invite all the ladies of the city's prominent families, then summon Madam Lou and Madam Yu for a confrontation, vowing to make them take back their words in front of everyone and thus clear her name.

When Liu Zhen heard about this, she had no choice but to step in and stop Madam Zhang.

She directly asked Madam Zhang, "Mother, do you really think this will restore your reputation?"

Whenever Madam Zhang thought about how the reputation and status she had worked so hard to build were being ruined by these people, she couldn't help but tremble with anger. She couldn't eat or sleep, and soon she became haggard, her already not-so-beautiful appearance looking even older.

Liu Jin sat beside her considerately, patting the back of her hand to comfort her. Madam Zhang couldn't help but pull him into her arms, saying through her tears, "My son, it's all because your mother is useless. I've dragged you all down!"

Liu Jin felt heartbroken by her words and couldn't help but say in a tearful voice, "Mother, Mother!"

The mother and son hugged and cried together.

Then Liu Zhuang also started crying.

The scene was sorrowful and moving, but Liu Zhen... couldn't help but twitch her face.

Liu Wan, however, wasn't crying. She said menacingly, "Those vixens are always stirring up trouble. If it weren't for them, none of this would have happened! Mother, you just wait. I'll take people to the Liu residence and cause a scene there too!"

She and her sister Liu Zhuang had completely different personalities. As they grew older, the difference became more and more obvious. Now that Liu Yuan's status was extraordinary, she was the center of attention among her playmates of the same age. Over time, Liu Wan developed a flamboyant and fearless personality.

As soon as she finished speaking, she started to walk out. Liu Zhen shouted, "Stop right there!"

With Liu Yuan away from home for long periods, if there was anyone in the King of Yu's manor who could control Liu Wan, it was definitely not Madam Zhang, but only Liu Zhen.

No matter how reluctant Liu Wan was, she had to slow her steps and turn back. "Elder Sister, do you also want to help outsiders bully Mother?"

Liu Zhen's face turned cold. "You go and cause a scene, what result will that achieve? Grandmother and Aunt were born in the marketplace; cursing and making a scene come naturally to them. Can you out-curse them? Or would you rather be like them, ruin your reputation with cursing, and be happy when no one dares to marry you in the future?"

Madam Zhang also said, "Ah Wan, listen to your elder sister. Don't act foolishly!"

Although she said this, Madam Zhang's heart was far from calm. She now finally understood the meaning of the phrase "the kind get bullied." Even though she was now the Princess of Yu, in the eyes of the Liu family, she still had no status in their household.

Madam Zhang remembered something else Madam Lou had said that day.

At the time, the other party had said with a look of contempt, "Ah Zhang, don't think your position is so secure. Throughout all of Xiang Town, who doesn't know you come from a lowly merchant family? Ah Yuan is now the noble King of Yu; he should have long had a noble lady worthy of him to help manage his household. If not for the fact that you bore him a son and two daughters, how could he have tolerated you until now? If you don't do better, you'll have no choice but to yield your position! In the whole vast Hengshan Commandery, you think we can't find a daughter from a prominent family, with both talent and beauty, who knows her place, to be the mistress of this King of Yu's manor?"

This hit precisely upon Madam Zhang's deepest anxiety, piercing her through and through.

On the other side, Liu Wan pouted, still unwilling to give up. "Are we just going to let them act like this? Is there no one who can handle them?!"

"Say no more!" Madam Zhang wiped her tears and gritted her teeth. "I have my own plan!"

Since weakness only led to being bullied, she had to learn to be tough. Madam Zhang was unwilling to always ask her eldest daughter for advice; that would only make her, the mistress of the house, seem too incompetent. From Xiang Town to Yangdi, and from Yangdi to Zhu County, in all this time, she had managed the King of Yu's manor competently. She refused to believe she couldn't handle these few petty people.

Madam Zhang thought to herself, "You know how to cry to others to ruin my reputation, don't you? Well, can't I cry too? Not only will I cry, I'll cry with skill and effect." And so, Madam Zhang conveniently fell "gravely ill."

Once the news of the Princess of Yu's grave illness spread, visitors naturally came one after another.

Madam Zhang "forced" herself to prop up her "sickly body" and met with the visitors one by one. In her words, she couldn't help but reveal that the cause of her illness was related to the Liu family members. She also took the opportunity to recount, one by one, all the ways the Liu family had mistreated Liu Yuan back in Xiang Town, thoroughly blackening their name.

In this way, everyone naturally came to know that there was such deep resentment between Liu Yuan and his father and brother. No wonder Liu Yuan had moved his father and elder brother to a place far from the King of Yu's manor. It turned out he wanted them out of sight, out of mind.

Madam Zhang's goal was achieved. The King of Yu's manor and the Liu family had completely torn off all pretenses of cordiality. Madam Lou and Madam Yu tried to come to the manor several times to argue with Madam Zhang, but they were directly blocked by the manor's staff. Madam Zhang refused to see them at all. Liu Xin and Liu Chi were so angry they were hopping mad.

However, Madam Zhang didn't get off easy either. Not only did this affair make her a laughingstock to uninvolved onlookers, but Liu Xin even wrote a letter directly to Liu Yuan, describing how his wife was unfilial and unworthy. He said it would be better to divorce such a wife, as keeping her would only bring shame to him and the Liu family, and so on.

Liu Yuan was fighting a war on the front lines, while his family in the rear was also "fighting a war." In this battle, Madam Zhang against the Liu family, the result could be described in four words: both sides were wounded.

The rules in the King of Yu's manor were quite strict, so no one dared to openly discuss these outside rumors. However, private gossip was unavoidable. With an informant like Ah Jin, Liu Zhen naturally knew the ins and outs of the whole affair like the back of her hand.

To be honest, it wasn't that Madam Zhang's method of retaliation was wrong—it was giving them a taste of their own medicine. It was just a case of "killing a thousand enemies but losing eight hundred of your own men." The effect was hardly ideal. Now the whole of Zhu County knew about the grudge between Liu Yuan and his father and brother. She could already imagine how colorful her own father's expression would be when he heard this news at the front.

Ah Jin and Gui Xiang were wholeheartedly devoted to Liu Zhen. They asked worriedly, "Young Mistress, will this matter damage your reputation?"

Liu Zhen shook her head. "This matter has little to do with me. If we're talking about losing face, the entire Liu family will lose face. As long as Father is the King of Yu, others won't dare to comment recklessly."

It would be impossible to say there was no impact at all. Those families who valued reputation and were unwilling to curry favor with the rich and powerful would surely be deterred by the Liu family's messy affairs. However, Liu Nan was already engaged, and she and her younger siblings were still young, so it was too early to worry about such things.

She was used to chatting idly with her maids in private, so Ah Jin asked, "Young Mistress, do you think the Mistress handled this matter improperly?"

Liu Zhen shook her head. "It's not my place to comment on whether it was proper or not. But if it were me, I wouldn't have done it this way."

If it had been her, she would have swallowed her anger for the moment. Then, she would have found a way to spread rumors, hinting that Madam Yu's daughter had poor character and that no one in Xiang Town was willing to marry her. Liu Shu was Madam Yu's weak spot. Given how much she valued Liu Shu, she certainly wouldn't be able to stand such slander and would naturally come begging for forgiveness. At that point, wouldn't Madam Zhang be able to do whatever she wanted with her?

As for Liu Xin and Liu Chi, they would be even easier to handle. One just had to attack their greatest fear. Their current wealth and status were all tied to Liu Yuan, yet they coveted official positions. So, one could bestow upon them some land and houses, but give them no work to do, simply raising them like country squires. Sooner or later, this would render them useless. The same method could be used on her cousin, Liu Cheng.

However, such a method was rather unscrupulous. Besides, Liu Shu and Liu Cheng had no grudge against her, so if Madam Zhang didn't ask, Liu Zhen was unwilling to offer the plan on her own initiative.

Ah Jin didn't catch her underlying meaning and asked curiously, "Then what would you do, Young Mistress?"

Liu Zhen smiled, said nothing, and continued to write, her head lowered.