The Trials of a Matriarch

People say the heir’s wife has four virtues: she stays firmly in charge of the household and never gets jealous; she even helps her mother-in-law take concubines. She handles disputes among the concubines and stands up for them when they’re wronged. But what should a man do when the wife he went to such trouble to marry isn’t jealous at all, and lets his own mother fill his chambers with women? Mo Xuan says: Pretend to be ill! Pretend to be seriously ill! When you’re on the verge of death, where would you find the energy to deal with anyone else? And so, Mo Xuan wins.