TRBDM -Chapter 46 Sense of Crisis

“No, Mother just asked me to help.” Dou Shuyao replied.

Shen Zhizhi felt an itch in her teeth from anger—on the surface it was “helping,” but in reality, it meant leaving the matter entirely in Dou Shuyao’s hands.

Before, her mother had always specifically assigned tasks to her.

A sense of crisis rose in Shen Zhizhi’s heart.

“Does my younger sister-in-law still have business here? If not, I have to get busy.” Dou Shuyao looked at her with a faint, almost teasing smile—his intent to shoo her away was clear.

The tables had turned. Back when Dou Shuyao shamelessly went to the Quyang Courtyard, Shen Zhizhi had responded in the very same way.

“You go ahead… I’ll leave first.”

Shen Zhizhi, face awkward and crestfallen, returned to Quyang Courtyard looking thoroughly dejected.

That evening, Xie Sheng came home, a puzzled expression on his face. “Why is the mansion so busy?”

Shen Zhizhi carried a haughty look, her annoyance evident. “Mother is preparing a birthday banquet for Xie Lan.”

Xie Sheng furrowed his brows. “Mother is really senile. She’s harsh and cold to her own legitimate son, yet goes out of her way for a concubine’s child. Xie Lan enjoys what belongs to our mansion, and she’s throwing him a birthday banquet on top of that. People’s hearts are unpredictable—what if he grows up ungrateful?”

Shen Zhizhi’s mind was elsewhere; she was preoccupied with other matters.

“Husband, this time Mother didn’t ask me to help.”

“That’s perfect. Busy yourself with preparations for Xie Lan’s birthday banquet, and your heart will surely feel uneasy.”

“Husband—” Shen Zhizhi urgently reminded him, “Do you know what assisting the matriarch in managing the household’s major affairs implies?”

It meant control over the future of the household.

Xie Sheng finally realized the gravity of the situation. “Mother entrusted it to whom?”

“Dou Shuyao.”

Xie Sheng’s expression turned unusually serious. “Mother wouldn’t actually want our eldest brother to inherit the title, would she?”

Shen Zhizhi pursed her lips. “Who knows? Hmph, with his character, our eldest brother would only squander the title. You, husband, are the only legitimate son of the Xie household to have earned your rank through your own merit. Giving the title to you is the only way the Xie family can continue to enjoy wealth and honor. Why does Mother get more foolish as she ages?”

A daughter-in-law speaking ill of her mother-in-law is highly disrespectful, yet Xie Sheng remained unmoved.

“Mother’s favoritism is utterly unreasonable. One moment it’s Xie Lan, the next Xie Chuan… there’s nothing concerning our second branch.”

For the first time, Xie Sheng felt anxious.

Since cutting ties with Zhang Xiuzhuan, Xie Sheng’s official career had become difficult, leaving him with no way forward.

Previously, Wei Zhaorong had helped smooth connections and spent a lot of silver, but aside from relying on Zhang Xiuzhuan, no one else paid him any mind.

All that silver went to waste, yet Xie Sheng wasn’t upset; instead, he found Wei Zhaorong stingy, not having given enough silver, and hadn’t paved the way for his career.

With his official prospects blocked, he and Shen Zhizhi naturally turned their attention to the inheritance of the title.

Originally, he was confident—after all, he was the most capable among the children of the Xie household.

But now, Xie Lan had entered Mr. Dong’s tutelage, and if he took the imperial examinations and by chance passed, Xie Sheng’s position would inevitably be compromised.

Not to mention their eldest brother, who lacked any skills, just the sudden emergence of the concubine-born Xie Lan was enough to make Xie Sheng feel threatened for the first time.

“Wife, tomorrow you should find out how Xie Lan was accepted into Mr. Dong’s tutelage.”

Xie Sheng had long assumed Mother must have bribed Mr. Dong, but now he began to suspect that Xie Lan might actually possess real talent.

Shen Zhizhi nodded in agreement.

The next day, with nothing pressing, Shen Zhizhi wandered around the mansion.

“Accidentally” arriving at Lan Courtyard, she casually called over a maid and, pretending not to care, asked, “Has Third Young Master gone to Mr. Dong’s residence yet?”

“Reporting to Second Madam: he has gone. Third Master gets up on time every day—never late or lazy,” the maid said, her words betraying unmistakable admiration and pride.

“Once he enters Mr. Dong’s household, he must understand the rules,” Second Madam remarked.

The maid hurried to defend him: “Third Master was the same in Master Shen’s private school. He studied his lessons until midnight every day—so diligent.”

“So Third Younger Brother is that studious,” Shen Zhizhi mused. “I suppose he relied entirely on his own ability to become a disciple of Mr. Dong.”

“Yes, indeed,” the maid replied with a smile. “Mr. Dong agreed to give Third Master a one-month trial. During that month, he barely slept two hours a day. But effort never fails: Third Master passed Mr. Dong’s assessment smoothly.”

Xie Lan had none of the airs of a young master; he was gentle and generous toward the servants.

The maids and servants of the Lan Courtyard had all been transferred from other households. At first, everyone was reluctant, but now each of them felt lucky—meeting such a good master was a blessing accumulated over eight lifetimes.

Shen Zhizhi frowned. She had long heard how difficult Mr. Dong’s assessments were. Even her husband hadn’t passed at the time.

Xie Lan had never attended a private school in his childhood. They had always assumed he was barely literate.

No matter how hard he worked for a month, it seemed impossible to make up for over ten years of gap.

“I remember Third Younger Brother never attended a private school before. How did he pass Mr. Dong’s assessment?”

“He always loved reading as a child,” the maid began, but realizing her mistake, she quickly corrected herself: “Second Young Master taught him to write, but Third Master was diligent himself. Whenever he had free time, he would read in his room.”

The marquis’s residence did not lack books. Though Xie Lan’s status was low, he had free access to the old Marquis’s study.

Living in the rear courtyard with nothing to do, and with the older brothers unwilling to play with him, and the servants busy with their tasks during the day, Xie Lan had only books for company.

The knowledge he accumulated over the years eventually exploded at the right moment.

Xie Lan was a genius, but genius was only part of his ability—his true weapon was diligence and persistence.

The words Shen Zhizhi extracted from the maid were few, but enough to shock her.

In the past, Xie Sheng’s only rival had been Xie Chuan. But now, it seemed that even an untested Xie Lan could be far more formidable.

Shen Zhizhi walked out of the Lan Courtyard, her mind heavy, passing many busy servants along the way.

Every corner of the residence had been freshly decorated, all with the best quality, clearly reflecting their mother’s favor toward Xie Lan.

Shen Zhizhi found it irritating and quickly returned to the Quyang Courtyard.

Elsewhere, Xie Chuan had just learned that Xie Lan had been accepted as a disciple by Mr. Dong, and he looked at Dou Shuyao in disbelief.

“Xie Lan really has that ability? Or did Mother secretly bribe him in?”

“Bribe?” Dou Shuyao rolled her eyes. “If it were that easy, why didn’t you get in?”

Dou Shuyao spoke cuttingly, but the oblivious Xie Chuan didn’t get the hint: “What do you mean? Second Brother didn’t get in either.”

“So now you still think Xie Lan has no ability and only succeeded because of Mother’s gifts?”

Xie Chuan closed his mouth.

After a while, he said, somewhat aggrieved: “Mother favors Xie Lan so much, even planning his birthday banquet. My birthday’s just a meal together with everyone—why the difference?”

“Come on, you celebrate your birthday every year. This is Third Younger Brother’s first birthday in over ten years—of course it has to be grand.”

“Heh, I think Mother treats him like her own son, even more than me.”

Dou Shuyao didn’t respond.

She could roughly guess Mother’s intention: using the birthday banquet as an excuse to formally present Xie Lan in front of everyone.

The marquis’s residence… a change of power was coming.