Ch. 34: Kneel

Within the room, there were not as many women as one would expect of a first-class Duke of the Empress Dowager Ning's maiden family. It could be seen that while the master of the Ning family loved beauty like any other man, he did not indulge in excess.

The two eldest were Madame Chu, the Duke of Gao's legal wife, and his first concubine, Concubine Pei of his mother's maiden family. Next was the quiet Concubine Sheng, a former maid of his study who had been lucky enough to be favored a few years prior and elevated to a concubine. And finally, there was the newest favorite, Concubine Shao, a former opera singer who had recently come out of confinement and was still preening her feathers at birthing the Duke of Gao's second illegitimate son.

They came from a myriad of different backgrounds, but their thoughts were united as they gazed at Shen Meifeng with barely veiled contempt. After all, Shen Meifeng had come from what they deemed a distant countryside and was little more than a country bumpkin. To say that the women of the Duke of Gao Mansion didn't look down on her would be a lie.

"I've heard that your food gets delivered cold from the main kitchen. If you don't mind, have your maids stop by my courtyard. I have a small kitchen they can warm your food in," Ning Caiyue continued, the smile on her face appearing warmer with each word.

"Thank you for your concern, cousin," Shen Meifeng replied in a sincere manner. "But I prefer eating food that is not too hot and my health can stand it."

The smile wavered at Meifeng's subtle jab, one that was felt by everyone in the room as Madam Chu's spirit darkened even more. Even if Madam Chu blatantly favored Ning Cailing over Ning Caiyue, it was a matter of face for someone to insult her daughter's weak health in front of her and brought back painful memories of the difficult labor. Lin Xiao felt a flash of fear watching her mistress poke at snakes without a care.

"With such a quick tongue, you sound like a talented girl. You must certainly be skilled at the four arts, perhaps calligraphy?" Madam Chu inquired.

It was clear she was trying to sound unintentional in her vein of questioning, but Madam Chu had always been a direct woman. For everyone in the room, her jab at Shen Meifeng was incredibly obvious, but none of them were in a position nor cared enough to help Meifeng speak. Concubine Pei hid her amusement behind a serene smile, long accustomed to the forcefulness of her husband's main wife. Meanwhile, Concubine Shao adjusted a hairpin on her head and pretended she'd gone deaf.

"Mother," Ning Caiyue playfully scolded. A naive person would expect her to open her mouth and defend Shen Meifeng, but the girl dug the pit even deeper. "Naturally Older Cousin has many talents. You insult her by asking like this."

To punctuate what she said and conclude the mother-daughter act, Ning Caiyue turned to Shen Meifeng and nodded helpfully, as if indicating for Shen Meifeng to speak on whatever talents she possessed. A less experienced person would tearfully stammer out that she had no talents, allowing for the full weight of humiliation to settle on her shoulders and permeate through word of mouth.

According to everything Lady Ning had taught her on the way to the Duke of Gao Manor, being a talentless girl was to make oneself the laughingstock of society and a dud in the marriage market. Shen Meifeng looked at the mother and daughter, clothed in the finest materials in the empire and enjoying the privileges few others could enjoy. She wondered how they would've fared if it were them and not herself that had woken up in a forest thousands of li away without any clothes on.

"Yo! They are tough!" System remarked.

Shen Meifeng cocked her head to the side and smiled. "I'm not a noble girl raised in the boudoir, I'm just an ordinary one who was fortunate enough to find her mother. In terms of the talent that comes from that background, I dare ask you cousin, would you be as talented as you are without your mother?"

Lin Xiao sucked in a breath as Ning Caiyue and her sickly countenance paled further. What Shen Meifeng had said could be misread by others as Meifeng cursing Ning Caiyue's mother to death.

"Preposterous!" Madam Chu thundered out from her seat of honor.

Shen Meifeng wasted no time, leaving her seat beside the shocked Ning Caiyue to kneel on the floor. Despite the tense situation, she displayed impressive resolve as her tone did not waver.

"I just moved from the countryside. Please forgive me if I misspoke, Maternal Aunt," she said with a hint of confusion, bringing out an ironclad defense of ignorance.

"Misspoke?" Madam Chu chuckled dangerously, her tone growing quieter in a way that was not favorable to Shen Meifeng.

Concubine Pei's eyes narrowed from where she sat. Of everyone in the hall, she was the most similar to Old Madam Ning in terms of shrewdness, although she was not nearly as cutthroat as the matriarch of the Ning clan. She could recognize the provocation and cleverness wrapped in this supposedly ignorant country girl's words. Not to mention, Shen Meifeng's bearing was not one of someone who had spent much of her life working hard in the fields. Nor was it reminiscent of a girl raised in the boudoir, cleverness wrapped in a layer of petulance and arrogance.

No, what Shen Meifeng most reminded her of was a concubine. Specifically, Concubine Shao who had stolen away the few nights the Duke had spent with herself and their young daughter by claiming to be ill from her pregnancy. The comparison made her feel a hint of hostility toward the kneeling girl, who right at that moment looked up and made eye contact with her as if she knew what she were thinking right at that moment.

Meifeng did know Concubine Pei's thoughts, in a way. Kneeling on the carpeted rug with a demure expression, she was even closer to the women in the hall and could smell the hostility and curiosity that floated off them like an expensive perfume.

She smiled inwardly to herself. Housebroken women were indeed a fascinating breed. Rather than keen and wail like the matron at the brothel had, they used their words, pedigree, and wealth as weapons.

"Greetings, Master," the two maids posted at the front of the room said in sync.

If Lin Xiao weren't so frightened, she would've been amused by the shift that went through the room at the mention of the patriarch of the Ning clan and one of the most powerful men in the government.

The concubines who'd gleefully watched as Shen Meifeng was about to get roasted over the open fire put away their fangs and smoothed down their already smooth hair. Concubine Shao preened like a peacock, her simpering smile taking on even more of an arrogant edge. As for Madam Chu, his wife, she simply leaned back in her seat while internally fretting at Shen Meifeng who was still kneeling on the floor. But it was too late to say anything as the Duke of Gao swept into the room.

"Greetings, Master," everyone within the room said, displaying prime etiquette with their knees all bent to a certain angle.

"All rise," he said generously. Shen Meifeng, who had done her greeting from the ground, took the opportunity to look at Ning Cailing's father as he looked at her as well. Tall and well-groomed were her first impressions, his erudite air shielded much of the calculating sharpness underneath his appearance. He was his mother's son, of that there was no doubt, bearing great resemblance to his sister, Lady Ning.

In the meanwhile, the Duke of Gao, Ning Buwei, took his first look at his only full sibling's child. There was very little resemblance if any and the years had made her father's face blurry in his mind. Walking into the room, he could pick up the faint gunpowder leftover in the air and felt faint displeasure that his wife had been so quick to force his niece to kneel. Although he did not want his sister to return, if word got out that he was forcing his niece to kneel to his wife within the first week of her return, the imperial censors would have impeachments on the emperor's desk by the next morning.

"Quickly stand so I can see you," Master Ning said, taking on the image of a kind elder and indirectly slapping his wife's face in a subtle way that wouldn't embarrass her too much. "You look very much like my younger sister."

"Thank you, Uncle," Shen Meifeng said sweetly, happy to play along with the act.

With her uncle in the room, it would be poor etiquette for Shen Meifeng to remain for too long so after a few pleasantries, she politely excused herself and walked back to her courtyard with Lin Xiao.

"Master Ning, he is very kind," Lin Xiao marveled.

Shen Meifeng let out a discreet smile. "Is that what you think?"

"Is he not?" Lin Xiao asked, instantly understanding what Shen Meifeng was insinuating.

"His wife made me kneel yet he made no acknowledgment or apology of it. This shows that I am not considered important enough to warrant such respect. Second, he further invigorated Madam Chu's dislike of myself by telling me to stand. This took away Madam Chu's face in front of everyone. Tomorrow, she will count this against me."

"That... that is not good, Young Miss," Lin Xiao anxiously gushed.

"On the contrary, this is exactly the way I would like it," Shen Meifeng mused, pleased with the interesting characters she had happened to meet that morning. Chaos bred opportunity.