Free Web NovelChapter 141: Chapter 65: Giving Silver
The First Madam saw it was getting late and announced their departure.
Song Yunzhao’s current rank was not yet high enough to host them for a meal, so she had Nanny Yu personally see them out.
On the road back, Mrs. Cai wore a thunderous expression. Song Qinghan hadn’t dared to utter a single word the entire time, but now she could finally no longer hold it in, viciously cursing, "Smug little upstart!"
The First Madam, walking ahead, glanced back, and Song Qinghan immediately fell silent. She had kept her voice very low; the First Madam wouldn’t have heard her.
It was Song Yexi, however, who shot her a knowing half-smile, prompting Song Qinghan to press her lips together tightly.
After leaving the palace and boarding their carriages, the First Madam finally breathed a small sigh of relief. She and Song Yexi were in one carriage, Mrs. Cai and Song Qinghan were in another, and Song Jinxuan and Xie Linlang shared the third.
The moment she was settled in the carriage, Song Yexi said with a laugh, "That was incredibly satisfying."
The First Madam stroked the box in her hands before slowly opening it. Inside lay a forehead band inlaid with a ruby. She often suffered from headaches in the winter, and this was a thoughtful gift. The palace embroideresses’ craftsmanship was indeed superb; the band was made with exquisite care. The ruby was a pure, rich color, polished until it was clear and brilliant.
The First Madam was overjoyed. This gift made her far happier than any gold or silver could have. It was a sign that Yun Zhao truly thought of her as family.
Song Yexi leaned over for a look and gasped. "Yun Zhao is so thoughtful," she remarked.
The First Madam nodded slightly. "She’s a grateful child. It’s a pity her own mother is not blessed enough to appreciate it."
"She has only herself to blame," Song Yexi snorted. She then opened her own box and let out a gasp.
Hearing the sound, the First Madam looked over. "What is it?"
"Mother, look!" Song Yexi handed the box over.
The First Madam saw a dragonfly hairpin of red gold and gems nestled inside. The pin was crafted with delicate gold filigree, its wings were set with rubies, and its antennae were tipped with tiny pearls. On the back were carved the words "Palace Made."
"Put it away safely," the First Madam said quietly.
Song Yexi nodded, a faint smile touching her eyes. "When I left the palace last time, Yun Zhao told me my best days were still ahead of me. She was right." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
The First Madam patted her daughter’s hand. "Don’t show it off when we get back."
Song Yexi quickly nodded.
The atmosphere in the other carriage, however, was grim. Staring at the single silver hairpin in the box, Mrs. Cai wished she could faint on the spot.
Song Qinghan’s expression was just as grim. Her box held a jade ring, and the jade was of poor quality. It was a trinket her maternal grandmother had given her to play with one year when she and her mother had visited. After returning to the Capital City, she had deliberately flaunted it in front of Song Yunzhao, and had even picked out the one with the worst color to give her as a "gift."
Now, Song Yunzhao was returning the silver hairpin from her mother and the jade ring from her. Both mother and daughter knew exactly what this gesture meant.
Neither of them wanted to speak. Their faces were somber, and the pressure in their chests was so heavy it was almost hard to breathe.
However heavy Mrs. Cai and her daughter’s hearts were, Song Yunzhao’s was twice as light.
She could just imagine the priceless looks on their faces when they opened their boxes. Years ago, Mrs. Cai had commissioned an entire set of gold jewelry for Song Qinghan, but had fobbed her off with a single silver hairpin.
To this day, she could still recall the impatient, disgusted look on Mrs. Cai’s face and the triumphant smirk on Song Qinghan’s.
After tolerating their slights for so many years, she had long wanted to throw these two things right back in their faces. Today, she finally had.
Seeing her mistress looking so happy, Xiangxue recalled what she had said before. She hadn’t realized Her Ladyship had endured so much injustice at home, and for a moment, she felt indignant on her mistress’s behalf. But these were the Song Family’s private matters; a servant like her didn’t dare comment.
’To think her own mother treated her worse than an aunt by marriage.’
"Your Ladyship, would you like to rest for a bit?" Xiangxue asked caringly.
Song Yunzhao was far too excited to lie down. She looked at Xiangxue and asked, "Consort Qin had a family visit today as well, correct?"
Xiangxue nodded. "Yes."
Song Yunzhao nodded slightly. She and Qin Xiyue were both Noble Consorts. That wily old fox Meng Jiuchang surely didn’t want to offend Qin Xiyue, so he had scheduled their family visits for the same day.
She didn’t mind, however. As for whether the story’s protagonist minded, well, that was none of her business.
Sending Xiangxue off to attend to her own duties, she finally opened the box from Xie Linlang. She counted two thousand taels in silver notes. The denominations were all small—ten, fifty, and one hundred taels—clearly meant for convenient use and exchange within the palace.
Beneath the money was a letter from Xie Linlang. Song Yunzhao chuckled as she read. Linlang wrote that her first script, *Golden Jade Hairpin*, had become an instant hit, making a huge splash thanks to the "real-life drama" surrounding it. Her pen name, Bu Guike, was now famous. Xie Jinshu was a real prodigy, immediately releasing her second script, *The Mandarin Duck Pendant*. The love story of Zhou Sijiong and Liu Peilan had sparked a heated debate. Some said Liu Peilan was too fierce and that women should be gentle and obedient. Others found it thrilling that Liu Peilan had bravely kicked a scumbag to the curb for the sake of love.
Precisely because of this controversy, *The Mandarin Duck Pendant* had also become a sensation. Xie Linlang wrote that business at the Xie family’s Yuquan Building was booming, with patrons coming every day to hear the storytellers. *Golden Jade Hairpin* and *The Mandarin Duck Pendant* were the most requested titles.
Lastly, Xie Linlang said that Song Yunzhao should accept the silver with a clear conscience, as the Yuquan Building had earned much more because of her two scripts. She ended by saying she eagerly awaited Song Yunzhao’s next masterpiece.
Song Yunzhao was thrilled. ’I’m no literary genius,’ she thought. ’I’m just standing on the shoulders of giants. I’ve seen more and read more, so I know how to create points of conflict to pique an audience’s interest.’
Still, to be this successful was beyond her wildest dreams, and she felt absolutely smug about it.
The Xie family was truly decent. They had paid her one hundred taels for the first script, which was already a high price. Now they were giving her this much more. She knew it was partly because the Xie family was worried she didn’t have enough silver to manage in the palace.
The monthly allowances for palace concubines were fixed. If one wanted to eat and dress well, relying solely on that stipend was impossible.
A palace concubine had three main sources of income: her monthly allowance, rewards from the Emperor, and support from her family.
The last time she’d returned from attending to the Emperor, he had sent a box of assorted jewelry over the very next day. Otherwise, how could she have been so generous with her gifts today? A Noble Consort’s official stipend wasn’t small, but the jewelry that went with her formal robes couldn’t be touched. Her other pieces were limited in number and had to be rotated. Otherwise, she, a Noble Consort, would look embarrassingly poor and become a laughingstock.
She hadn’t expected the Emperor to send a reward, and it had arrived just in time to solve her predicament.
’It really pays to latch on to a powerful backer,’ she thought.
’I have to figure out how to keep fleecing the Emperor to build my own fortune. A pauper like me can’t be expected to spend my own money, now can I?’
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