Chapter 154 – Disrupted Peace
Yu Tang returned in the Pei family’s carriage.
She didn’t know if it was because she was a guest in He Ming Hall, but the carriage ride was smooth and steady, arriving at Qingzhu Lane with hardly any bumps.
Entering the door, she saw Wang Si carrying firewood into the house.
She couldn’t help but voice her puzzlement, “Why are you here?”
Wang Si smiled nervously towards her, and before he had time to reply, Shuang Tao, who just came out of the kitchen, jumped in and replied, “He was idle at the country side estate and gathered a lot of firewood. Thinking that our family would be needing to buy firewood, he drove the cart into the city. Miss, come over and see, the family’s firewood storage room is piled high with them.”
Yu Tang smiled and went to take a look, before returning to her room to change her clothes and going to greet Madam Chen.
Madam Chen was discussing with Old Aunty Chen about the ancestral rites on the first day of the tenth month. As she saw Yu Tang arrive, she stopped the conversation and sent Old Aunty Chen to cook a bowl of osmanthus flower sugar water for Yu Tang.
Old Aunty Chen responded with a smile and went off.
Madam Chen took Yu Tang’s hand and made her sit beside her, asking her warmly, “Didn’t you say you’d be back soon? Why were you back so late? Grand Madam kept you for a meal?”
Yu Tang smiled and nodded, before talking about meeting Gu Xi and Mrs Shen.
Madam Chen was taken aback and asked, “Mrs Shen came? Your father was called to go out by Master Wu, I’ll ask him when he comes back to see if I should go and greet Mrs Shen.” She was also intrigued by Gu Xi and asked, “Is that girl pretty?”
“Quite pretty.” Yu Tang said matter-of-factly.
“Then did you have lunch together?”
Yu Tang shook her head, “No. Mrs Shen said she wanted to return and pack her things, so Grand Madam didn’t keep them.”
It was unlike in her case, when she said she would be heading home, Grand Madam repeatedly urged her to stay for a meal. She kept Second Madam for lunch, and also had someone fetch Fifth Miss as well so that they all could have lunch together.
Grand Madam’s treatment of Mrs. Shen was more of a perfunctory gesture.
Of course, Madam Chen did not know the difference, she assumed that it was Mrs Shen’s insistence on leaving, so she did not pry further, but only asked Yu Tang dotingly, “Are you comfortable in the Pei residence? If you’re not, just find an excuse not to go so often in the future.”
She wanted to repay the Pei family, but if it made her daughter unhappy, she would rather repay the Pei family using other means.
Yu Tang felt her mother’s love and couldn’t help but hug onto her mother’s arm, saying, “Don’t worry, Grand Madam is a very good person. I’m not uncomfortable with her.”
Moreover, after Mrs Shen and Gu Xi left, Grand Madam enquired about the Li family’s land sale in greater detail.
Judging by Grand Madam’s demeanour, what Pei Yan was not suspicious of, Grand Madam instead became wary of.
When she was leaving, Grand Madam called Hu Xing over, presumably to ask about the Li family.
According to how things played out, in the future, if she had anything to ask about, instead of looking for Pei Yan, she should look for Grand Madam instead.
Yu Tang stayed at her mother’s side, drinking the osmanthus flower sugar water while listening to her and Old Aunty Chen continue their discussion about the ancestral rites.
After Wang Si unloaded and stored the firewood, he came in to bade Madam Chen farewell as he prepared to head back into the countryside.
Madam Chen rewarded him with twenty copper coins and asked him if he wanted to return to his hometown during the New Year’s.
Wang Si felt that it would cost too much and thus he wasn’t going to go.
Therefore, Madam Chen asked him to come here to celebrate the New Year’s instead.
Wang Si was overjoyed and thanked her repeatedly before he drove off in his cart.
Madam Chen turned to Old Aunty Chen and said “He is an honest chap with resolve. Previously, when Master returned to the countryside estate, he was the one who helped with the reconciliation of accounts.”
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Yu family would start collecting rent.
In the past, they had the other Yu family members to help, but now everyone was busy with many things to do. Even if they were to help, they couldn’t do much either. Tabulating the figures, calculating accounts, and keeping track of the records were either done by Yu Wen or Yu Bo. This time, when Yu Wen went back to collect rent, Wang Si handled everything, from beginning to end and did not let Yu Wen handle it personally. Yu Wen was only responsible for verifying the accounting records. When he came back, he exclaimed to his family, “You said that Wang Si couldn’t read or write, but he is actually faster than me in mental calculations, and invariably he was right in every single accounting entry.”
Yu Tang also heard about this.
She laughed and said, “Old Aunty Chen is also illiterate, but when you look at her shopping for groceries, she is the one who always strikes the best deals. Would there even be anyone else who could sneak past her shrewdness?”
Everyone laughed.
Old Aunty Chen, on the other hand, was very proud of it.
Reaching this point in the discussion, Old Aunty Chen looked pointedly towards Madam Chen.
At this, Madam Chen gently coughed twice and dismissed Yu Tang, “Go and rest, I’ll take you to see your Eldest aunt and talk about the ancestral rites later.”
After Lady Xiang became pregnant, Madam Wang spent her days happily taking care of Lady Xiang, she didn’t even go down to the lacquerware shop, and seldom came to their house for a chat.
Yu Tang knew that Old Aunty Chen wanted to speak to her mother about domestic household matters.
Many years ago, when she was little, she eavesdropped on the conversation her mother had with Old Aunty Chen. As her mother was bedridden at the time, Old aunty Chen was afraid that Yu Wen would develop a wandering eye and thus persuaded her mother to buy a concubine for her father.
This time, she only pretended to go out, but in actuality she was hiding under her mother’s windows outside to eavesdrop.
Old Aunty Chen advised her mother to promise Shuang Tao to Wang Si in marriage, saying, “Anyway, our family is going to recruit a son-in-law, and Shuang Tao has reached marriageable age. Originally, it would be best for her to be matched with Ah Cam, but Ah Cam is a bit too young, and Shuang Tao usually doesn’t talk much with him either. I think it would be better to keep Wang Si.”
Madam Chen was lost in thought.
Yu Tang ran back as fast as she could and found a chance to ask Shuang Tao, “What do you think of Wang Si?”
Shuang Tao probably misunderstood that Yu Tang was inquiring about Wang Si’s character and was considering whether or not to keep him in the family. She decided to help Wang Si out by saying a bunch of favourable things about him. However, even if her intent was different, it could still be seen that Shuang Tao had a good impression of Wang Si, but would Wang Si be comfortable in staying on?
Yu Tang pursed her lips and smiled. Later, she followed Madam Chen to her Elder uncle’s house.
Lady Xiang’s tummy was already showing a little and she was drinking chicken soup with a bitter expression. When she saw Yu Tang come, as if Yu Tang was a life-saving rope, she immediately grabbed on to her arm and instructed Xia Lian, “Quickly, go and serve a big bowl of that chicken soup to young miss.”
Xia Lian’s face showed her hesitation.
Yu Tang hurriedly piped up, “I’m not drinking! Just make me a cup of tea and bring it over.”
However, Lady Xiang urged her, “The weather is getting cold, so a bowl of chicken soup is just the thing to warm you up.”
Yu Tang said, “Hmph, I’m not going to drink it! If sister-in-law doesn’t want to drink it any more, let my elder brother help. I don’t want to be scolded by Eldest Aunt.”
“No, no, you won’t.” Lady Xiang pleaded.
Yu Tang only smiled in response before whispering to Lady Xiang about Xia Lian and Xia Pinggui.
Lady Xiang was extremely surprised and when Xia Lian was refilling the tea and snacks, she keep staring at her until she made Xia Lian wonder if she had some dirt on her face, and only then did Lady Xiang turn her attention away from Xia Lian. She whispered to Yu Tang, “I think that’s a good idea. It just so happens that your elder brother wants to expand the shop, and so, with Xia Pinggui taking care of the shop, both your elder brother and uncle will be greatly relieved.”
Yu Tang agreed that they were a good match, and mused internally that if it worked out, their family would have two wedding ceremonies the following year!
When both her and her mother returned home, they met Yu Wen at the door.
The weather was really cold and he was freezing his feet off. Madam Chen asked concernedly, ”Where have you been? Didn’t you hire a carriage to send you back?”
Yu Wen only sighed, “Didn’t I go to arrange the ancestral rites? Master Wu had me order a pig for the occasion. I ended up meeting Mr Shen on the way. He was drinking at a small roadside stall. I saw that his expression wasn’t quite right, but Master Wu insisted on going forward to greet Mr Shen. As a result, we were both kept in the restaurant drinking with him. You are aware of my low alcohol tolerance, so I didn’t dare to drink much. Master Wu is a good drinker, even if he drank a thousand cups he wouldn’t get drunk. The two of them drank equally hard, and I was pouring wine for them at the side. When the two were almost done drinking, Master Wu was supported by his attendant back home, but I still had to send Mr. Shen back to the local school. I met Xiaochuan in the local school, and I heard from one of the teachers, Xiaochuan is studying very hard, and he is likely to pass the scholar examination with no issue. If this really happens, the Wei family can be considered to have made a turnaround.”
Wei family has many sons and plenty of land, but things were still challenging, as they were paying too much in taxes. Madam Chen nodded her head in agreement and asked, “Is Mr Shen drinking all alone in a small tavern?” Saying that, she also glanced at Yu Tang, as if asking Yu Tang “Isn’t Mrs Shen here?”.
Yu Tang also pricked up her ears to listen.
Yu Wen obviously did not know about this and replied, “He said he was in a bad mood. He didn’t teach today’s class, and asked another teacher to cover for him. Speaking of which, Mr Shen is really quite pitiful. When I sent him back home, the house was cold and quiet, with only just one clueless little serving boy having a nap. I had him help make a cup of herbal tea to sober him up, but he didn’t even know how to do it. It’s a pity that Mr Shen is so well educated and yet fallen to such a state!”
This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with how much education one has, does it?
Yu Tang mulled it over in her mind.
Madam Chen obviously thought of it too. She frowned and said, “I heard Ah Tang say that Mrs Shen came. Didn’t Mrs Shen leave someone to attend to Mr Shen?”
Yu Wen was taken aback and said, “Mrs Shen came? When did that happen? How come Mr Shen didn’t mention a word about it?”
Madam Chen hesitantly answered, “I was thinking of discussing with you whether or not I should go and pay my respects to Mrs Shen, but after hearing you say this, I don’t know what I should do.”
Yu Wen pondered, “I’ll go and ask around first.”
Madam Chen agreed.
After two days, Yu Wen came to discuss Mrs Shen’s matter with Madam Chen, and Yu Tang listened from the side.
“Based on societal norms, as Mrs Shen rarely comes to visit, and we have benefited from Mr Shen’s kindness, even if we can’t invite Mrs Shen to our home, we should still pay Mrs Shen a visit.” He said with great difficulty, “But I heard from Shen Fang that Mr Shen and Mrs Shen have been at odds ever since they got married, and as a result, the two of them only have one son. Mrs Shen came to Lin’an, but she also stayed at Grand Madam’s Pei residence, and Mr Shen, did not disclose a word of this to the people around him.”
Whether or not to go and pay a visit to Mrs Shen became a very difficult question.
In her previous life, Yu Tang didn’t hear much about Mr Shen’s affairs, and thus it wasn’t easy to make a decision. After thinking for a while, she suggested, “Why don’t we just pretend we don’t know about this. At that time, Grand Madam didn’t introduce my exact family and status, and Mr Shen didn’t disclose a word either, so it’s better not to stir up any trouble.”
Yu Wen thought about it and felt that Yu Tang’s solution was workable and remarked, “Anyway, our family has no dealings with the Shen family’s inner circle, so it makes sense that we didn’t know that Mrs Shen came.”
This matter was considered over at Yu Wen’s place, but it aroused Madam Chen’s interest, so she sneaked over to Master Wu’s house and asked Mrs Wu if she knew that Mrs Shen came to Lin’an.
Happy friday~~
xkurohana 