Work Text:
1. Justification
She almost loses composure over the marriage decree, almost crows to her shu siblings that she was not a waste of resources, that her dowry and training and pedigree would help the family reach even greater heights. She remains awed, as a maiden in the boudoir should be. For the first time, she kneels ahead of her family, the focus of the decree. As she accepts, she allows herself a moment of spiteful joy. Then she applies herself to the teachings of her future mother-in-law. She dreams of an estate of her very own to manage as she sees fit.
2: Duty
Her husband catches a breath after they lie together, a man introduced to flower maidens and fair beauties alike to assure no woman could turn his head, yet his lungs catch when she is folding the handkerchief before sleeping. She turns to him, solicitous and entreating and only wanting the best for her new husband. The account books and keys are hers already, and will always be hers. Thus she sleeps, toes curled in joy the only deviation from perfect sleeping posture, and prays for the eldest son, a successor to her Prince Yu Estate before the year is out.
3: Promotion
She keeps quiet during the Chiyan case. Her grandmother’s sister was the mother of General Lin, but the closer relatives were not surveyed closely in fear of the royal links being scrutinised too closely, her husband tells her, the scent of poison wine thick around him. She comforts him, as they cautiously stoke their mutual hopes of something bigger than a prince’s estate for their son, careful of those who might listen even now. She sleeps and dreams of the noble ranks of women paying respect to her and not belittling her in favour of her other, more talented half-brothers.
4: Security
Her mother in law wants power, but she also wants affection, and Princess Yu knows to give what her husband cannot. Prince Yu is who the Empress schemes with, and Princess Yu knows she is not meant for that. But for the last decade, Princess Yu is who the Empress unburdens herself to, worried for her son, worried for her prospects, worried about the newly-titled Crown Prince. Princess Consort Yu and the Empress are close, as mother and daughter. She sleeps, maids bestowed by the Empress watching over her, and dreams of an Empress and Empress Dowager of one mind.
5: Sisterhood
Qin Banruo smiles and smiles and schemes with her mother-in-law and husband, and Princess Yu can not help but feel relief. She is not a schemer, and her want for power comes from business and slow management of an estate to prosperity and servants to loyalty. Let her husband and his eventual concubine scheme their way to the Eastern Palace, she will ensure the commoners speak of the generosity of the Prince Yu Estate through charitable works. She sleeps, and dreams of a Noble Consort at her side to help her rule the harem’s intrigues while she rules the palace.
+1: Demotion and a New Beginning
The carriage takes her far away from the capital. Away from her life’s work, now in ruins. A new road opens up in front of her and Princess Yu- the mother, no, the woman, looks into uncertainty. She has been a girl struggling to keep her dowry from being spent on her brother’s studies, then she was married. She did everything right, ruled her estate correctly, but now has nothing at all, except her child and the promise of her own small estate elsewhere. She has cried enough. She is wide awake now, and the future is bright with possibility.