To Be A Virtuous Wife novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: The Old Yuwei's Diary

Morning came with a tray of plain congee and a note from the Dowager's court.

Yuwei read it over her bowl.

It said, in a lovely hand, that the Prince and Princess were to take their meals together from now on.

It added that a physician would call, to see whether the house might soon expect good news.

"She thinks we're at it already," Dongmei whispered, scarlet to the ears.

"That was the point."

"Mistress!"

"The bed creaked, Dongmei. That is all that happened."

The prince had left before dawn, with a nod to her and a small, tight look around his mouth that she chose not to examine.

She ate her congee.

She could still feel the warmth of his back under her palm.

"I need you to be honest with me," she said. "About the old me. Did she keep a diary?"

Dongmei dropped the teapot lid.

It spun on the floor and settled.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because she hid a contract in a chest, and a note on the back of a list."

"So?"

"Someone that careful writes things down."

Dongmei went to the door, opened it, looked up and down the corridor, and closed it.

She locked it.

She crossed to the sewing basket in the corner, lifted out a layer of folded cloth, and slid a thin finger into the lining.

She pulled out a small book in a blue silk cover, no larger than a man's hand.

"I wasn't sure I should give it to you," she said. "The old mistress told me, if anything happened, to keep it until someone asked."

"Someone asked."

"Not the way she meant. She meant the prince."

"Did she trust him?"

"She was afraid of him. She was afraid of everyone."

Dongmei turned the book over and over.

"But she wrote about him a lot. The last page, especially."

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