Тhе Liао fаmily of Zhеnjiаng wаs а рrominent and distinguishеd сlan not оnly in Zhenjiаng but thrоughоut thе Jiаngnаn region. Нowever, with the changеs оf dynаsties, thе Liао fаmily hаd bесоmе somеwhat overshаdоwed сomparеd to the Сheng familу оf Ninе Рrоsреrities Lanе in Jinling аnd the Gu fаmilу оf Hаining Cоuntу in Hangzhоu Рrefеcture. Nevеrtheless, when Оld Маdam Guо receivеd thе invitаtion frоm thе Liао fаmilу, she still rесeivеd Mаdam Fang, thе wife оf thе Liаo fаmilу hеаd, with great formаlity.
Madam Fang wаs a daughter оf the Fang fаmily оf Shuсheng аnd a distant cousin of Madam Yuan. The two had only heard of each other in their youth, but after marrying—one in Zhenjiang and the other in Jinling—their lives diverged. One’s husband remained a mere provincial scholar, while the other’s husband enjoyed a flourishing official career. Naturally, their relationship grew distant over time. Madam Fang had even asked Cheng Jing to act as a matchmaker for her eldest son, Liao Shaotang, which eventually led to the marriage alliance between the Zhou and Liao families.
Accompanying Madam Fang was Nanny Zhong, who followed respectfully behind her. When Nanny Zhong caught sight of Zhou Shaojin from the corner of her eye, she could not conceal her astonishment.
Madam Fang, likely around forty years old, was slender, fair-skinned, with delicate features and an elegant demeanor. Well-preserved, she appeared to be in her thirties. Noticing Nanny Zhong’s unusual expression, she shot her a cold glance, swiftly glanced at Zhou Shaojin, and then stepped forward with a smile to greet Old Madam Guo.
Old Madam Guo had Nanny Lu assist her up and instructed Biyu to bring a seat. After Madam Fang expressed her thanks and sat down, and the maids had served tea and refreshments, Old Madam Guo gestured toward Zhou Shaojin and said, “This is the Second Young Miss of our household. Speaking of which, she is related to you—she is the younger sister of your eldest son’s wife.”
Madam Fang was greatly surprised, finally understanding why the usually astute and composed Nanny Zhong had shown such emotion.
She had never been satisfied with the match Cheng Jing had arranged for her eldest son. Originally, she had hoped to secure a marriage with Cheng Sheng, the daughter of the Second Master of the main branch. To her surprise, Cheng Jing had not even considered this possibility and instead presented the eldest daughter of the Zhou family to her.
At the time, she had wanted to refuse. However, her brother-in-law had just been promoted to Left Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and her husband had been deceived into purchasing an expensive counterfeit painting after trusting a friend. Had she not swiftly found a way to conceal the matter, her husband would have become the laughingstock of both the Liao family and Zhenjiang—how could a scholarly scion of an esteemed family fail to recognize authentic artifacts and be swindled? What kind of scholar would that make him?
She urgently needed something to impress the Liao family. Cheng Chi’s offer to act as matchmaker for her eldest son became the lifeline she could grasp at the time. Though she hesitated greatly, her husband readily agreed. Left with no choice, she could only arrange for a matchmaker to propose the marriage.
However, as her eldest son grew increasingly outstanding, her dissatisfaction with this daughter-in-law intensified. She had even felt a sense of relief when her mother-in-law’s passing delayed her son’s wedding.
This was also why she paid such close attention to Zhou Chujin. She needed a reason to convince herself that her choice at the time had not been wrong.
Now, seeing Zhou Shaojin standing beside Old Madam Guo, her heart suddenly grew calm.
It was said that the eldest daughter of the Zhou family was even more favored by the Cheng family than the second daughter. The fact that Old Madam Guo had taken the second daughter with her on a pilgrimage to Mount Putuo spoke volumes about the status of the eldest daughter in the Cheng household.When Zhou Shaojin stepped forward to pay her respects, Madam Fang's smile involuntarily became more genuine. She took off the gold hairpin adorned with dangling ornaments from her bun and presented it to Zhou Shaojin as a meeting gift. "I didn't know the Second Young Miss was accompanying the Old Madam—that was my oversight. Please accept this for now. I came in a hurry, so it's rather modest. When you visit my home, I'll make up for it with a proper meeting gift."
"You are too kind, Madam," Zhou Shaojin replied gently. "As a junior, I should have paid you a visit first. However, I must attend to my elders and cannot move about freely. I had planned to visit you in a few days once Old Madam had some free time, but you came first. I am truly ashamed—how could I possibly accept your meeting gift? Please allow me to formally visit you someday, and then you may bestow a gift upon me."
For her sister's sake, she tried her best to appear respectful and obedient.
Seeing her dignified yet compliant demeanor, Madam Fang was indeed very pleased and felt even more anticipation toward Zhou Chujin. She smiled and said, "When an elder gives a gift, one must not refuse. Please take it. When the time comes for a formal visit, there will naturally be a formal gift for the occasion."
Zhou Shaojin thanked her with a smile and accepted Madam Fang's gift.
In truth, both of them understood perfectly well that Zhou Shaojin's mention of visiting Madam Fang was merely polite talk—what unmarried sister-in-law would visit her sister's future mother-in-law? As for the so-called formal visit, that would refer to when Zhou Chujin married into the Liao family and Zhou Shaojin went to visit her sister.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Madam Fang began chatting with Old Madam Guo.
She spoke mostly of past events, much like the wife of Zhenjiang's Assistant Prefect Chen Shuming who had visited earlier—likely because she had a favor to ask.
Zhou Shaojin took the opportunity to leave the cabin.
Yet she remained deeply concerned about the Liao family's affairs.
After all, the Liao family was her sister's future marital home. If anything happened to them, her sister would suffer as well.
In her previous life, she hadn't known whether anything had occurred in the Liao family. She only knew that her sister had married into the Liao family smoothly, dispelling rumors that there might be complications in the marriage.
She pleaded with Biyu, "Please keep an ear out for me—I hope it's not bad news."
Biyu understood Zhou Shaojin's feelings well. She blinked at her and said, "Don't worry, today it's Zhenzhu on duty. Both of us will keep an eye out."
Since using the remedy taught by Cheng Chi, not only had Zhenzhu recovered, but she no longer suffered from seasickness. Zhou Shaojin had even learned the method from Biyu.
Zhou Shaojin smiled and thanked her.
Nanny Zhong from Madam Fang's entourage emerged from the cabin with a smile.
Though slightly surprised to see Zhou Shaojin, she greeted her warmly. "Second Young Miss, why are you standing here? The wind over the lake is much colder than in the city—be careful not to catch a chill."
Zhou Shaojin felt deeply moved.
In her previous life, neither Madam Fang nor Nanny Zhong had shown her anything more than lukewarm courtesy. When had they ever been so warm toward her?
She smiled and replied, "It's nothing—I just had a few words to say to Biyu."
Biyu gave a slight nod and politely said to Nanny Zhong, "There's hot tea in the side tea room. Would you like to rest there and have a cup?""Thank you, Miss Biyu," Nanny Zhong quickly replied with a smile. "We only received the news yesterday. Fearing that Old Madam might depart for Jinling City in the next couple of days, our Madam Fang pushed aside all her affairs, determined to come and pay her respects to Old Madam. Since household matters have yet to be arranged, we likely won’t be able to stay long. If Old Madam agrees to visit our residence tomorrow, our Madam Fang will need to return to prepare the banquet, which means we’ll be even less inclined to linger here. I’d better wait here."
Biyu did not press her further. She called a young maid to attend to Nanny Zhong while she herself took the teapot into the inner chamber to refill tea for Old Madam Guo and Madam Fang.
Zhou Shaojin exchanged a few pleasantries with Nanny Zhong before rising to return to her room.
Just then, Lang Yue came running over, holding a small jar.
"Second Cousin, Second Cousin," he said, presenting the jar to Zhou Shaojin as if offering a treasure. "This is water from the Zhongling Spring. Fourth Master and Lord Shen just drew it from the river. This is for you."
Zhou Shaojin was overjoyed.
Zhongling Spring, also known as Nanling Spring, was located within the surging river waters outside Jinshan Temple. Blocked by Shipai Mountain and Gu Mountain, the river’s flow twisted and turned, dividing into three branches: southern, central, and northern. The spring lay beneath one of these bends, hence the name "Zhongling Spring." Because it was situated southwest of Jinshan, it was also called "Nanling Spring." It was said that the river was deep and swift, making it difficult to draw water. To fetch the spring water, one had to lower a lidded copper bottle into the spring at noon, then quickly open the lid to draw the genuine spring water.
Zhou Shaojin had read about it in books. When Madam Gao accompanied them on a visit to Jinshan Temple, she had even carefully observed the river beside the temple. But since Old Madam Guo and the others hadn’t mentioned fetching water from the river, how could she bring it up?
Yet, to her surprise, Cheng Chi had actually drawn water from Zhongling Spring.
How precious this water must be!
Zhou Shaojin could hardly believe it and asked Lang Yue, "This is for me?"
Lang Yue nodded repeatedly, his face beaming with pride and shared honor. "How could such a thing stump our Fourth Master? Fourth Master and Old Mr. Song drew a whole bucket of it. You take this—I still have to help Qing Feng carry water!"
Regardless of whose idea it was, Zhou Shaojin was deeply grateful.
She hurriedly took the small jar.
Lang Yue scampered off in a flash.
Zhou Shaojin watched his retreating figure and couldn’t help but shake her head with a smile, so she didn’t notice the flicker in Nanny Zhong’s eyes as she remarked with a smile, "That was... the young attendant by Fourth Master’s side?"
"Yes," Zhou Shaojin replied with a smile. "Fourth Master follows the Daoist path, so both of his young attendants wear Daoist robes."
She felt the need to explain on Cheng Chi’s behalf.
Since the Liao family intended to form a marriage alliance with the Cheng family, they naturally had some understanding of the Cheng family’s circumstances. Nanny Zhong had long heard that the Fourth Master of the Cheng family’s main branch was eccentric but a veritable god of wealth. Not only was he difficult for outsiders to approach, but even members of the Cheng family rarely had the chance to curry favor with him.
She smiled and said, "It seems Second Cousin gets along quite well with the people around Fourth Master." Her tone inadvertently carried a hint of probing.
Zhou Shaojin had long known that the Liao family was somewhat snobbish, but she took no offense and replied with a smile, "We’re all traveling on the same boat—how could we not get along?"
"That’s true," Nanny Zhong said with a smile, though she didn’t believe a word of it.
As for the matter of the Zhongling Spring water, others might not know, but as a native of Zhenjiang, she understood it all too well.Fetching water from the river, not to mention hiring boats and people, even the copper bottle for drawing the spring water had to be specially made. In all of Zhenjiang, only one person knew how to make it, and he usually charged ten taels of silver for one bottle. Once out on the river, all you could see was the rolling river water. Without someone who knew where the spring was, even if the copper bottle was thrown into the river, it wouldn’t draw the true Zhongling Spring water. In all of Zhenjiang, only three people knew how to draw the water, and hiring them for one trip also cost ten taels of silver. Calculated this way, that small jar of spring water the little Daoist boy gave to Zhou Shaojin was worth twenty taels of silver.
When the little Daoist boy spoke to Zhou Shaojin, he clearly showed a hint of respect.
This showed just how favored the Zhou family’s second young lady was in the Cheng household!
As soon as Madam Fang disembarked, Nanny Zhong told her about this.
Madam Fang remained silent for a long while before saying thoughtfully, “You should have asked the Zhou family’s second young lady for some Zhongling Spring water. We could have taken it for the Old Ancestor to taste, and let those shallow-eyed Liao family people know—don’t think that just because the Zhou sisters are staying with the Cheng family, they’re like timid little daughters-in-law.”
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Sisters, today is New Year’s Eve. In another hour and a half, it will be the New Year. I wish you all a happy family and all the best in the coming year!
PS: I’ve had a lot going on these past two days. Sometimes, when it’s time to post, I don’t have time to proofread, so I upload the draft first. Usually, if you refresh after two or three hours, the typos will have been corrected.
o(n_n)o~
Sorry for any inconvenience!
※ (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to...)
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