#KuroVeraWrites

[kuroverawrites]

Chapter One - Household Collateral

Jiang Ming Yue woke to drunken cursing from the courtyard, too loud for how late it was but, as usual, his father did not care who he woke. A drunkard of a man, whose success came from connections and not merit, fortune in marriage furthered him more than any effort he put in. He continued this lucky trend by not pursuing personal merit and instead, like many of those given riches without difficulty, saw no issue in drinking and gambling it away, more nights spent among flower girls than his own family. If not for the tight hold the Official Wife held over the household finances, Ming Yue was quite sure that they would have been destitute years ago and even then, he expects it to happen soon.

The cracking of stone hitting wood startled him into getting out of bed and moving to the side room. It would not be the first time his father had come and destroyed things in his room and he didn’t want to be around for it. His shoulder had only scarred over recently and throbbed on cold days.

“You useless brat, come out here before I come in there.” The door rattled but thankfully was jammed shut. Thankfully before the door was forced open someone interrupted.

“Husband. We only repaired that building last week, how about you come spend time with Mistress Qiu, she hasn’t seen you in more than a week.” The voice was winter cold, an undercurrent of venom tainting the otherwise sweet voice. Ming Yue moved to look through the open courtyard window.

Lady Jiang, Zhou Wen Ling, the first daughter of a high-ranking judge was crafted from sword-steel and as cold as the dead of winter. Her face was carved from ice and he couldn’t remember ever seeing her smile. But with a husband like this, he wasn’t surprised.

“Hah, what need to I have of a woman beyond her years. Her makeup cannot hide it nor can her body.” The words slurred, which made them even more appalling. Mistress Qiu was his father’s new concubine, only together for a year before he grew bored. She turned 25 last week.

“You-“ Gravel moving and cursing interrupted her and the sound of retching carried across the sudden silence. Two sharp claps summoned the household maids.

“Carry him to his room and clean him up. Then wash down the pathways, I don’t want to see anything in the morning.” The contrast of two small girls, petite in size, dragging a man in his 50s to hid bed covered in his own mess made him cringe, but the dark look Lady Jiang gave him before going inside brought winter early to his room.

As the 3rd son and the child of a lower concubine, he was just another mouth to feed and a strain on household resources. His sister, a year younger, at least could be married off or given as a maid, but as a son, there was no way of getting rid of him easily. So, they just hid him from the world, never mentioned, rarely visited.

A life of living indoors and a lack of exercise made him paler and more delicate than his sister, thinner than bamboo and appearing lofty when wearing light layers. If he worked in the flower district, he would have been very popular. Often, he wondered if his sister was more manly than him, especially as he watches her climb back over the house wall and drop noiselessly into the garden. He rose to set a teapot of water upon the table with two cups and waited for padded feet to climb through the window and drop a cotton bag on the table.

“The night market was beautiful brother, lanterns and food everywhere. I brought back some to share. There’s grass jelly and tanghulu, and even pumpkin pancakes.” She unpacked each as she spoke, pushing them towards Ming Yue.

“Did you save any money or did you eat everything I gave you?” A smile accompanied the criticism, light-hearted and well worn. “I brought you food, that should be enough. You’ll fade into the morning mist at this rate and then who can I complain to. Our elder brothers are busy studying and our older sister is getting married. The baby is a baby and boring.” “The baby is eight years old now.” “But he’s looked after by Old Han and she hates us, can’t play when she’s watching.“ She frowned as she pushed one of the pumpkin pancakes into his mouth. “Eat, you're too thin. What would mother say.”

Pumpkin cakes were delicious, especially while still warm. He gestured for her to take one. “She’d say that you’ve lost all your ladylike charms and are going to die unmarried.” “That’s because you stole them all, if you wore some of my dresses no-one would be able to tell us apart. They would even think that I was the brother.” “Hah.” He shook his head and asked, “Anything else interesting happen while you were out?”

“Right! One of the new buildings collapsed before it was complete, something about building standards not being followed. It killed three of the workers and took out the restaurant wall next to it. There was angry gossip everywhere. Some were even thinking about petitioning the magistrate court to enforce charges on the guilty party.” The words contained an unpleasant prediction.

“Do you know which one it was? Father came back completely drunk and unhappy.” “It should be the one near the market so it probably is father’s building. Which means he’s going to have to pay for damages. Brother, we can’t afford to pay that.” The pastries in front of him no longer looked as tasty, the sugar sticking to his teeth.

The family budget was getting worse each year, from a reasonably wealthy family to one mending clothes by hand and rationing weekly food. The house heads spending was one problem, the other is the numerous concubines that keep being brought into the family. And keep dying. Ming Yue can think of seven off the top of his head, his mother being one of them. Li Mei Xing was a maid of his grandmother that his father took a liking to but as she grew older she was pushed into the furthest house in the estate and abandoned, growing colder and wearier until she died when he was 12 years old. That same year his father brought home two separate women and moved Ming Yue and Yu Hua into their mother's old house and gave their rooms to the new concubines.

There were three living concubines, three dead and one returned to her family in disgrace for sleeping with one of the guards. Ming Yue approved, it was a good plan to leave the household alive and sane. The other two that died, one drunk poison on their wedding night, and the other was beaten in a drunken rage that left her permanently damaged. Both came from lower-class families and as such their deaths were easily paid for and covered up.

The fact that all his children were alive was a surprise, six in total and none willingly living at the estate. His two oldest brothers were studying and attending schooling, very rarely returning to their mother. His older sister was lucky to find a match and will be leaving within the week, along with her personal funds already given.

“No we can’t, so he’s probably going to have to sell things.” “But Brother, there’s nothing left of value. Madam Jiang already struggles to make enough.” True that there was nothing left of the household items but that was not the only thing possible to be sold.

“There’s always your service. Or mine.”