Chapter 144: Face

What great face… But did it really belong to him?
As he passed through the hanging gate and entered the inner courtyard, Zhang Yue realized a most basic truth. These days, prodigies and geniuses were worthless, as were martial arts masters—only one thing truly mattered: strength. If it weren’t for his surname being Zhang, if he weren’t considered a trusted junior by Zhang Fu, if he didn’t have someone powerful guiding him in secret, no one among the nobles—from the emperor to the crown prince to the Prince of Anyang—would even glance his way. Even if Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong treated him differently, it was mostly out of respect for Du Zhen.
Only Du Zhen, who had painstakingly taught him in Kaifeng for four years, was the one who truly cared for him beyond family ties. But now that his mentor had gone to a place as dangerous as Shandong, it was difficult even to see him.
Returning to the courtyard where his family lived, he entered the east wing room and found no one in the main room. Everything was quiet, so he called out, “Qiuhen, Hupo!” After calling twice with no response, puzzled, he lifted the curtain to check the adjacent rooms—neither the study nor the bedroom had anyone in them.
Zhang Yue stepped outside through the curtain and went straight to the main room, only to find two young maids there, still not having done their hair. His parents and the two older maids, Pearl and Peony, were all gone. He then called over one of the young maids and asked, “Do you know where the master, the master’s wife, and your sisters have gone?”
“Young master, the third master was sent out by the old lady early in the morning to pay visits. Since the Duchess of Yingguo is pregnant, the master’s wife and the others went to see her. I heard from your sisters that although the Duchess’s residence is large, the old lady believes that having such a large family living there isn’t good for the Duchess’s pregnancy. Plus, since the eldest master is getting married, they need to move to our own house as soon as possible, so she called the three wives to discuss it.”
The maid spoke very quickly. Seeing Zhang Yue’s thoughtful expression, she added, “Sisters Qiuhen and Hupo were away for another reason. Word of the lady’s pregnancy somehow got out, and the Princess of Han and the Princess of Anyang sent their older mothers to visit. Naturally, the older mothers in the household took care of them. Sisters Biluo and Xiyu were worried there wouldn’t be enough people, so they invited the two sisters to help out.”

He remembered that when he first left, Lady Wang was only slightly unwell and had already sent for a doctor; at that time, there was no news of pregnancy. Yet just a few hours later, the news had already shocked two princely residences—such speed was truly astonishing. Zhang Yue frowned slightly. Though he knew that since Qiuhen Hupo was summoned by Lady Wang, nothing harmful would happen, he still decided to go there after some thought. After all, he had been absent earlier, and it was only proper to express his congratulations now.

Lady Wang was the wife of the Duke of Yingguo, so her living quarters were naturally different from those of Zhang Yue and the others in the guest rooms. The five large main rooms in the center were always used for hosting guests and were not inhabited by her. She usually stayed in the small courtyard on the east side. In the center of that courtyard were three spacious rooms, which were usually extremely quiet, not even a cough could be heard. With guests from the princely residences visiting that day, the atmosphere was even more solemn. Several maids standing in the corridor kept their heads bowed and hands at their sides, while voices could be heard coming from inside the door.

Although Zhang Yue usually entered directly, he knew it would not be appropriate to rush in now with people from the princely residences present. Fortunately, a tall maid standing by the door noticed him quickly, came forward, bowed, and said in a low voice, “Young Master Yue, please wait outside for a moment. The two ladies from the Zhao Princely Residence and the Anyang Princely Residence are both former attendants to the Empress. They are highly respected and very rule-abiding, even in the palace. If not, Sister Biluo and Sister Xiyu would not have bothered to ask you to come.”

Rules are necessary for order, and Zhang Yue understood this well. He nodded with a smile, ready to wait in the corridor. Suddenly, he noticed several unfamiliar maids over there. All of them wore light green jackets and dark green armor, looking extremely solemn and dignified, almost none of them breaking eye contact. Only one of the younger maids was bold enough to look directly at his face, her expression a mix of surprise and delight, as if she recognized him.

“Are these all people from the princely residences?” Zhang Yue asked in a low voice. The tall maid also lowered her voice and replied, “The two on the left came with Lady Zhou from the Zhao Princely Residence, and the two on the right came with Lady Li from the Anyang Princely Residence. They should all be maids from the princely residences.”

As they were talking, the door curtain moved, and Zhang Yue felt the girl behind him quickly step back. He immediately adopted a serious expression. The next moment, a middle-aged woman wearing a lapis lazuli headband and a sky-blue front-buttoned jacket stepped forward first, followed by another woman with a sapphire hairpin in her updo and dressed in a deep blue armor-like robe. Though their appearances differed, their expressions were eerily similar—strict and unfriendly—and even their voices were identical.

When the two women saw Zhang Yue standing in the corridor, they were slightly taken aback. Just then, Bi Luo Xi Yu and two other maids came out to see him. Xi Yu quickly explained, “Mother Zhou, Mother Li, this is Young Master Yue, who came to Beijing first to assist our lord.”

Zhang Yue had already met the two ladies from the British duke’s household before and knew well that such high-ranking servants could not be underestimated, especially since they had been close to the former Empress Xu and were respected maids in the palace. He stepped forward and greeted them as Mother Zhou and Mother Li, thinking they might not recognize him. To his surprise, both of them smiled slightly.

Mother Zhou nodded first—she must not smile often, as her smile seemed frozen on her stern face. “I’ve heard about the Third Young Master from our lord before. Indeed, he’s handsome and very composed.”

“He’s really good, no wonder our young lord has praised him several times.”

Mother Li waved her hand, and the two maids following her hurried over. Despite their quick steps, one of them kept her skirt almost motionless, with hardly any sound from the bells on her belt; the other moved more hastily, only slowing down after a few clear chimes. Seeing this, Mother Li frowned tightly, as if the maid owed her a hundred or eighty taels of silver.

“Cui Mo, it’s not just a day or two since you joined the palace. How can you still be so disrespectful?” she snapped. Then she turned to Zhang Yue and said, “The Third Young Master probably doesn’t recognize her? Previously, you and Miss Meng the Fourth brought a woman named Kang to the palace to introduce her family. Out of pity for their mother and daughter, our lord took them in and paid eight thousand taels to free them from punishment, allowing them to become part of the palace staff. Now the whole family works here and no longer lacks food or shelter.”

Learning that it was the same girl from back then, Zhang Yue was quite surprised. After all, the graceful young woman before him, though dressed simply as an ordinary maid and still appearing somewhat shy, bore little resemblance to the scrawny girl of old. The only similarity was that she still dared not look up at him, keeping her eyes lowered as she clutched the hem of her dress.

Despite his doubts, he still had to say, “Prince Anyang truly has a kind heart.”

“The young prince said that since the third young master and Miss Meng from the Meng family, who knew each other at all, could still offer help out of kindness, then since they are relatives of Mother Liu, they should naturally lend a hand as well. The young prince also said that that family of three owes the third young master a great debt, and when they have time in the future, they should come to pay their old benefactor a visit.”

As Mother Li and Mother Zhou bid farewell with the maid, and Xi Yu and the others hurried to see them off, Zhang Yue stood there, feeling confused and unable to figure things out. His encounter with that family of three was merely coincidental, and after Meng Min kindly helped them, that was all. Why go to such lengths? Eight thousand guan in cash equaled eight hundred taels of silver, a small amount for a prince’s household. But even if it was a trivial sum, Prince Anyang wasn’t someone who gave things away freely—there must be some other reason behind taking in that family of three.

“You really have a high opinion of yourself, young master!”

Hearing this low mutter, Zhang Yue immediately turned around and saw Qiu Hen standing there with one hand on her chest. He raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, “What’s wrong with you?”

“You already met those two mothers just now. Isn’t this asking something you already know?” Compared to Amber’s growing silence, Qiu Hen was now more outspoken, speaking freely in front of Zhang Yue. “Those two ‘gods’ were even heavier than the Duchess of Yingguo, with eyes like knives, as if they wanted to pierce holes through you at any moment. When the duchess praised me and Amber, I’m sure they were sneering inside their hearts, while showing us those gloomy looks from the outside.”

Though Qiu Hen exaggerated, Zhang Yue agreed to some extent. Still, he glared at her irritably before lifting the curtain to enter the inner room. Although Xi Yu and Bi Luo went to see them off with the two older women, two maids remained in the room. Lady Wang was sitting on the kang in the west corner, lost in thought. When she saw him enter, she nodded smilingly.

“Auntie, I learned the news late today and only came to congratulate you now. I truly feel guilty!”

“There’s no need to feel guilty. Perhaps it’s you and your son who brought this good fortune.”

Although she was quite tired from receiving those two highly formal royal mothers just now, the thought that she was indeed pregnant lifted Lady Wang’s spirits. After exchanging a few words with Zhang Yue, she wore a thoughtful expression.
“I heard everything you said outside just now. Although Prince Anyang has a fairly good reputation among the royal family, it’s hard to understand why he would do such good deeds for no reason. It’s fine if you were kind before, but in the future, it’s better to stay away from that family. After all, having received such favors from Prince Anyang, they must have signed some kind of binding agreement long ago. Once you enter a royal household, it’s as deep as the sea—but I guess the royal family’s gates are countless times deeper than those of any ducal or marquisial household. All those past relationships mean nothing. Remember, in the eyes of these royals, the prestige of our Duke’s household counts for nothing at all.”