Escape to Your Heart

Chapter 127: Relocation

Such sharp words, such troublemaking defiance—where was the dignified bearing expected of a lady from a noble family?

Master Fu the Fifth trembled with rage.

"Fine, fine, fine! This is the fine daughter Xie Shi has raised," he roared, pointing at the gate. "Get out! Get out of my sight!"

Her father's attitude sent a chill through Fu Tingyun's fingertips.

"Don't worry, I'll leave after I've seen Mother," she said, lifting the curtain to the left chamber as she spoke.

Madam Fu had emerged from this very room earlier.

It was an inner chamber—a black-lacquered canopy bed, a crimson silk cushion embroidered with floral patterns, and on the kang lay a pellet drum and a small wooden bird. It turned out to be Madam Fu's private quarters.

Shouldn’t the rooms adjacent to the main hall belong to the elders?

Fu Tingyun froze momentarily.

Madam Fu, realizing her intention, hastily rose to her feet.

Master Fu the Fifth also understood and bellowed, "What do you think you're doing?" as he moved to block Fu Tingyun.

Ignoring him, Fu Tingyun turned and dashed out of the hall, shouting loudly as she ran, "Mother! It's Quan Hui—I've come to see you!"

With a face like frost, Master Fu the Fifth chased after her. Spotting his personal attendant standing dumbfounded in the courtyard, he erupted in fury, "You fool! What are you standing there for? Drag her out at once!"

The attendant snapped to attention and rushed forward to seize Fu Tingyun, only to be intercepted by Yu Wei, who wrapped her arms around his waist. "Master Fu the Fifth, please let the young mistress see Madam! She weeps every time she thinks of her..."

Even a lowly maid dared defy him!

Enraged beyond measure, Master Fu the Fifth stormed forward in great strides and personally grabbed Fu Tingyun, who was about to lift the curtain of the neighboring room. "Get out! Get out!" he roared, yanking her forcefully toward the exit.

A cold dread settled in Fu Tingyun's heart.

Amid all this commotion, her mother remained conspicuously absent.

Did Mother not want to see her either?

No, no... If that were the case, why would Xiu Zhu's family have inquired about her when Jin Yuanbao delivered her silver bracelet?

The thought renewed her courage.

"I'll leave after seeing Mother," Fu Tingyun struggled. "You needn't say more."

"This is my house, my home," Master Fu the Fifth dragged her out with brute force. "You have no say here."

For a moment, the courtyard was a chaotic scene of shouts, sobs, curses, and cries.

Madam Fu, born into an official's family, had never witnessed such a spectacle in her life and stood stunned. It was only when her wet nurse, Dong Gu, stepped forward to steady her, fearing she might faint, that she regained her senses.

Fu Tingyun was no match for Master Fu the Fifth's strength, and Yu Wei was equally overpowered by the attendant's brawn. One after another, mistress and maid were shoved out of the Fu family's gate.

Fu Tingyun refused to give up and tried to force her way back in. "I'll leave as soon as I see Mother!"

Master Fu the Fifth, his face livid, blocked the entrance. His gaze fell on the official sedan parked in front of the neighboring residence of Zhou, the Ministry of Revenue's advising official. Zhou's sedan bearers and attendants were craning their necks to watch the scene.

It was just the hour when officials returned from their duties... How could he have forgotten?

His anger flared hotter. "If you don't mind the disgrace," he hissed, "then make as big a scene as you like."Fu Tingyun also saw it and sneered, "If you're not ashamed to live here, why should I be afraid of anything!"

"You..." Master Fu the Fifth glared at Fu Tingyun, looking as if he wished he could devour her.

Madam Fu, however, feared that their continued confrontation would only lead to an irreparable scene. She hurried forward and pulled Fu Tingyun aside, saying, "Don't be like this! After all, you're father and daughter. If things escalate like this, it will only upset Mother!"

Fu Tingyun pressed her lips together.

Master Fu the Fifth let out a cold "hmph," his imposing demeanor suddenly weakening by several degrees.

Madam Fu couldn't help but sigh in relief and whispered to Fu Tingyun, "Go back for now. We can talk about this later!"

Seeing his daughter-in-law's submissive attitude, Master Fu the Fifth's anger flared up again. He raised his voice, "Later? What later? If she has any pride, she should never set foot in my house again!"

Fu Tingyun couldn't resist retorting, but Madam Fu pinched her hard and whispered urgently, "Wait until I speak with Mother..."

Her voice was low and hurried, her eyes filled with unmistakable pleading.

Fu Tingyun fell silent. After a moment, she squeezed Madam Fu's hand, signaling her not to forget her promise, then called out, "Yu Wei! Let's go!"

Yu Wei hastily responded and rushed forward to support Fu Tingyun.

But Fu Tingyun shook her off, straightened her back, and strode toward the alley entrance without a backward glance.

Yu Wei froze, glancing between the Fu family's gate and Fu Tingyun's retreating figure before hurrying after her.

Master Fu the Fifth watched his daughter walk away, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.

The hushed murmurs of the Zhou family's servants reached his ears.

He turned resolutely and ordered Madam Fu, "Close the gate!"

Madam Fu hurriedly complied, "Yes," and personally shut the main gate.

Behind her, however, her father-in-law's gloomy voice rang out, "Don’t you dare stir up trouble in front of your mother-in-law, or don’t blame me for making Jiezhi divorce you.""

Jiezhi was her husband Fu Tinggui's courtesy name.

Madam Fu shuddered and quickly turned around, only to see her father-in-law already striding into the main hall.

※※※※※

Zheng San gasped at the sight of Fu Tingyun's swollen cheek. "What happened to you?"

"It's nothing," Fu Tingyun replied, finally showing signs of exhaustion. "I'm tired. Let's hurry back to the inn."

Though they had lived together for nearly two years, Fu Tingyun and Zhao Ling always carried an air of mystery. Zheng San, who often moved in martial circles, had noticed some clues. But Fu Tingyun and Zhao Ling had treated his family with genuine kindness. Despite having old acquaintances in both Xi'an and the capital, out of respect for the couple, he had never pried into their backgrounds. Instead, he had distanced himself from those former friends, intentionally or not.

He didn’t press further. After Yu Wei helped Fu Tingyun into the carriage, he climbed onto the driver's seat and silently guided the carriage out of Four Happiness Alley.

Inside the carriage, Yu Wei gently dabbed Fu Tingyun's cheek with a handkerchief. "Miss, are you... are you alright?" she added softly, "Master didn’t mean it..."

Fu Tingyun winced in pain and turned her face away with a hiss. "Don’t make excuses for him."

"Miss..." Yu Wei quickly withdrew her hand. "No matter what, he’s still your father. You shouldn’t defy him like this..."

Fu Tingyun remained silent, her brows furrowed in stern resolve.

Yu Wei couldn’t help but sigh softly.Upon returning to the inn, Master Lu happened to be coming in from outside as well. When he saw Fu Tingyun's face, he was utterly astonished: "What happened here?" His expression quickly turned angry. "Miss Fu, there's no need for you to swallow your grievances to keep the peace. I just went with two stewards from the Duke of Fu's residence to the Shuntian Prefecture to handle the property transfer documents. We even invited several officials from Shuntian Prefecture for drinks and only just finished..."

In the capital, what was Shuntian Prefecture worth?

Fu Tingyun smiled faintly, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Zheng San's worried expression, which warmed her heart.

"It's a family matter—not something Shuntian Prefecture can help with," she said gratefully to Master Lu. "Please don't worry, I'll resolve this myself." She added with a smile, "If I truly can't handle it, you can always ask the Shuntian officials for help later."

Master Lu couldn't press further and could only instruct Zheng San to quickly fetch a physician. He then accompanied Fu Tingyun back to her room and handed over the completed documents one by one: "The house is quite large. Even if it's just a temporary stay, without regular upkeep, it will quickly fall into disrepair. I took the liberty of asking the neighboring households' stewards to recommend a couple of cleaning women to come by periodically. This way, we can save on labor costs while also giving Zheng Sanniang some extra hands."

"You've thought of everything."

As they discussed, considering they had already purchased the house, staying at the inn longer would only incur more expenses. They borrowed an almanac from the innkeeper and settled on the 14th day of the second month for the move. Master Lu hurried to invite a Taoist priest to assess the feng shui and a Buddhist monk to bless the household gods. Zheng San found craftsmen to repaint the walls and tend to the garden, while Zheng Sanniang busied herself cleaning the house and washing the pots and pans. A Sen ran back and forth—sometimes relaying messages from Master Lu to Fu Tingyun, sometimes fetching silver from Fu Tingyun for Zheng San, and other times helping Zheng Sanniang look after Linchun. Everyone was kept busy, but by the 14th day of the second month, everything was finally ready. After setting off two strings of firecrackers, they officially moved in.

Almost immediately, someone sent a servant woman to offer congratulations: "We're from the household of Master Wu across the street. Our mistress sent me to congratulate..." She hesitated, seeing Fu Tingyun dressed as an unmarried woman yet clearly the head of the household, unsure how to address her.

Fu Tingyun smiled. "My surname is Fu."

The woman was quick-witted and immediately addressed her as "Miss Fu," adding, "Our master is a Presented Scholar from the 17th year of the Xiping era and currently serves as Vice Minister in the Ministry of Rites. He's from Zhoushan in Zhejiang. May I ask where Miss Fu is from? What brings you to the capital?" She was subtly probing for information.

"We came from Xi'an Prefecture," Fu Tingyun replied vaguely. "We're here to visit relatives, but staying at an inn was too expensive, so we bought this house." She then instructed Zheng Sanniang to prepare four gifts for the woman to take back. "Please convey my thanks to your mistress. Once we're settled, I'll invite her over for a simple meal." She also rewarded the woman with a pair of four-fen silver sycees.

When the woman returned and reported to her mistress, she said, "If she were a merchant, Miss Fu carries herself with such grace—no trace of vulgarity. It doesn't seem likely. If she were from an official family, first, we've never heard of such a household, and second, she was evasive—it doesn't fit. Buying a house in Shi Family Alley also rules out her being someone's kept mistress..."Madam Wu was troubled over what gift to give for Madam Shi Wenbin's fiftieth birthday celebration. Upon hearing this, she said dismissively, "As long as our courtesy is observed, that's enough. You can pay more attention next time. If you find out which family's relatives they are, it won't be too late to report to me then."

The maidservant smiled in acknowledgment and withdrew.

Meanwhile, Fu Tingyun received continuous congratulations from her neighbors. Master Lu suggested choosing an auspicious day to invite the neighboring ladies for a simple gathering, but Fu Tingyun objected: "As a lone woman, it's not appropriate for me to host guests. Even if Ninth Master were to come, with neighbors who are either vice ministers or junior ministers, they might not be willing to socialize. Let's just forget it—we'll be returning to Zhangye after summer anyway."

Master Lu didn't insist further.

Yet Fu Tingyun's thoughts lingered on Four Happiness Alley, murmuring to herself, "I promised to send word to Mother, so why hasn't there been any news yet..."

※

Because of a high fever, I went to the hospital for a check-up this morning, got an injection at noon, and slept in the afternoon, so the update is a bit late—apologies... O(∩_∩)O~

PS: Thank you all for your concern. I'll follow the doctor's orders and recover quickly.

(End of Chapter)