Chapter 2 - The Inventory of Betrayal
By sunrise the next morning, the grand mansion was surrounded not by congratulated friends, but by fifty bailiffs and laborers wearing the emerald armbands of the Wei Merchant Guild.
Dong Lani emerged from the guest pavilion in a frantic state, wearing a silk robe she had ordered from the city's finest tailor just three days prior. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw ten heavy-set men carrying out the carved mahogany wardrobes, the velvet tapestries, and the porcelain vases from the main living quarters.
"What are you doing?!" Lani screamed, running up to one of the bailiffs. "Drop that! That vase belongs to the master of the house!"
"This vase," Xiaoi said, stepping out from behind the entry pillar with a long parchment scroll unrolling past her knees, "was part of the third carriage of Lady Wei's wedding dowry in the spring of her marriage. Item 142: Blue-and-white Ming-style double-gourd vase. Certified by the City Magistrate."
Xiaoi looked up at the laborers and nodded. "Take it."
"Mother!" my ten-year-old son, Yuan, shouted as he ran out from his bedchamber, wearing only his nightclothes because two maidservants were currently clearing out his room's embroidered silk bedding. "Why are these dirty people taking my furniture?! Tell them to stop!"
I stood in the courtyard, wearing a simple, elegant dark indigo dress, holding a ledger in my hands. I looked down at my son.
"Your father told you yesterday that he would provide you with better things, Yuan," I said calmly. "These beds, these sheets, and the carved desks you studied on were all purchased by the Wei family. Since you no longer value what I provide, I am simply taking my property back."
"Mommy, you're being evil!" my eight-year-old daughter, Mei, sobbed, running out while clinging to Dong Lani's skirt. "You're ruining our home because you're jealous of Teacher Dong!"
Dong Lani pulled Mei behind her, attempting to put on a brave, protective facade. "Lady Wei! Have you no shame? Stripping your own children’s home out of spite? Is this how a noble mother behaves?!"
"A noble mother provides for children who respect her," I replied, stepping closer until I was standing inches from Dong Lani's face. "And a maidservant does not speak when the mistress of the estate is liquidating her assets."
Before Lani could retort, Qui Song rushed into the courtyard, his hair disheveled, his eyes bloodshot from a sleepless night spent trying to contact his political allies—only to find every door in the capital slammed in his face.
"Ling! Stop this madness!" Qui Song roared, pointing a shaking finger at me. "You can't strip this house! The mansion is mine!"
"The land deed is under the Qui family name, yes," I agreed pleasantly. "You may keep the bricks and the empty rooms, Song. But everything inside it—the furniture, the art, the silver utensils, the carpets, even the coal in the cellar—was brought here by me."
I signaled to the chief steward of the Wei Guild. "Every servant whose contract was paid by the Wei family line up by the gate."
Instantly, thirty-four out of the thirty-eight servants in the mansion walked over to stand behind me. The head chef, the head stable master, the gardeners, the senior housemaids—all of them bowed their heads respectfully to me.
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Only four junior servants remained standing beside Qui Song and Dong Lani.
"From this moment on," I said, looking at the barren courtyard, "the Wei family no longer funds the staff, the food, the coal, or the utilities of this estate. Enjoy your happy family, Master Qui."
