Whеn Сhеng Lu wаs еxpеllеd frоm thе fаmily, Min Jia hаd nоt yet mаrried into thе Сhеng hоusеhоld. By thе time she did, the Nine Prosреrities Lаne brаnсh hаd аlreаdу sераratеd from the main linеаge. In thе capitаl, the servаnts were еithеr lоng-stаnding fаmilу rеtainers оr nеwly рurсhаsed оnes. Тhе old retаinеrs understоod proрriety and wоuld nоt gоssip, аnd they alsо fеlt thаt somеоnе likе Сhеng Lu, who hаd bеen drivеn out bу the Chеng familу, wаs nоt worth disсussing. Тhе nеwly purchаsed servants knew nothing аbout it, so naturаlly, Min Jiа remаinеd cоmpletely unaware of Cheng Lu's affairs. However, since the signature on the letter bore the surname "Cheng," it was possible that this person was a member of the Cheng clan. The presence of a courtesy name indicated that this individual held some scholarly achievement.
Min Jia was somewhat uncertain about why this person named Cheng Xiangqing was seeking her out. Matters within the inner courtyard of the Cheng household were overseen by Madam Yuan, while external affairs were handled by Cheng Xu. Regardless of what Cheng Xiangqing wanted from her, it seemed she could be of little help. Moreover, she had never met Cheng Xiangqing before—to her, he was an unrelated man, making the question of whether to meet him or not irrelevant.
She handed the letter to a young maid and said, "Take this to the young master for him to handle."
The maid acknowledged and left, only to return shortly after, trembling as she reported, "The young master is not in his room. He was said to have been punished by the master to kneel in the ancestral hall."
After Cheng Xu had spoken such words, anyone would have been sent to kneel in the ancestral hall.
When Old Madam Guo left, her mother-in-law had been so angry she could barely speak. Min Jia wondered if she had recovered by now. As a daughter-in-law, should she go and comfort her mother-in-law? Given her mother-in-law's temperament, she would likely swallow her pride and suffer in silence rather than let her daughter-in-law see her in such a disheveled state.
Min Jia hesitated but eventually went to Madam Yuan's quarters.
Madam Yuan was so furious that she had taken to her bed, with Cheng Jing sitting beside her, trying to console her. Upon hearing that her daughter-in-law had arrived, Madam Yuan quickly shook her head at Cheng Jing.
Cheng Jing could not help but sigh and said, "If you had married a daughter-in-law from a less prominent family, you would at least have someone by your side to talk to now!"
With such a scandal occurring in the family, Madam Yuan cared deeply about face—she could not bear to appear humiliated in front of her daughter-in-law, who was the eldest daughter of the Min family. The only option was to conceal the matter, and even if it could not be fully hidden, they would have to turn a blind eye.
Madam Yuan said unhappily, "Such daughters-in-law are a dime a dozen—what's the point? Do you think our family encounters such incidents every day?"
"When a family lives together, even the upper and lower teeth clash at times," Cheng Jing replied. "I think it would be better for you to clarify some matters with Madam Min."
Madam Yuan remained silent.
Her mind was entirely elsewhere. She kept thinking about Cheng Xu's words.
"I gave him my heart and soul—how could he accuse me like this?" Madam Yuan said, feeling as though her heart had been sliced open, and tears once again streamed down her face.
Cheng Jing frowned and said, "From now on, do not interfere in Jiashan's affairs anymore. In the past, I entrusted the child to you because I was preoccupied with matters in the capital and had no time to look after him. With no one to supervise him in the capital, I feared he might follow the ways of those idle, spoiled young men. Now that the family is reunited and living in the capital, you should focus on managing the inner household..."
Madam Yuan stared at him, her mouth agape, and after a long pause, she stammered, "You... are you blaming me too?"
Indeed, a son should not be raised solely by women.
Cheng Jing had previously believed that his wife, as the daughter of a grand secretary, would be exceptional. He and his brothers had all been raised by their mother, and he thought that even if his wife could not compare to his mother, she would still be better than most women. In earlier years, seeing how diligently she had educated and nurtured Cheng Xu, he had entrusted their son to Madam Yuan. Little did he expect that, in the end, their son would still turn out wayward.There is no woman in this world who can compare to his mother.
Cheng Jing thought this in his heart, and his expression inevitably revealed a bit of it.
Madam Yuan’s heart turned cold. She cried, "How can you think that way? Over these years, I’ve stayed in our hometown helping you manage the household, serving my mother-in-law, raising our children—diligently and meticulously, never daring to be the slightest bit careless. Now that our child is in such a state, I am more heartbroken than anyone. Instead of comforting me, you blame me..."
Cheng Jing truly did not want to say anything more.
For so many years, precisely because he remembered his wife’s hardships, he had respected her this way, and had served as an official in the capital for so many years without even taking a concubine...
He stood up irritably and said, "You should rest well! I’ll go see Mother and also discuss Jiashan’s matter with Second Uncle." With that, without waiting for Madam* Yuan to say anything, he left the inner chamber directly.
Madam Yuan, both anxious and angry, felt a sharp pain in her chest. Breaking out in a cold sweat on her forehead, she collapsed onto the bed.
The room immediately fell into chaos.
By the time Madam Yuan’s wet nurse chased after him, Cheng Jing had long since disappeared without a trace.
※
In the outer study of Chen Li’s residence at Fucheng Gate, Cheng Lu was listening with an unsettled expression as a servant reported: "...She said that as an inner-chamber woman, it is improper for her to meet with an unrelated man. She asked you to go find their family’s eldest master if you have any matters."
The servant spoke cautiously while observing Cheng Lu’s expression.
Cheng Lu’s expression grew even more unpleasant.
Who would have thought that Cheng Xu would smoothly pass the imperial examinations all the way to becoming a Jinshi? Would he next take the exam to become a Junior Scholar Candidate and remain in the Hanlin Academy to observe governance?
He glanced at the scholar’s robe he wore—a garment only scholars could wear—and his face darkened further.
Chen Li had managed with great difficulty to restore his status as a Xiucai, so he didn’t have to change his name and take the exams again. Yet even so, the years he had lost could not be recovered—before, there was only a slight gap between him and Cheng Xu, but now it was like heaven and earth.
His current situation was entirely caused by the Cheng family!
Cheng Lu’s hands clenched tightly into fists.
The servant was so frightened his legs went weak.
Fortunately, a voice came from outside the door—the servant on duty: "Son-in-law, the steward from the Fourth Prince’s residence has come. He said that the Bathing the Buddha Festival is approaching, and subordinates presented the Fourth Prince with some incense and candles. The Fourth Prince thought the quality looked good and specifically ordered the steward to deliver some. But the master is not at home. What should we do with the gift list?"
The Fourth Prince’s residence?
The Crown Prince had died; the Second Prince, Fifth Prince, and Seventh Prince were either gone or demoted. In the court, the most capable now was the Fourth Prince.
The Emperor had also established an Imperial Grandson. Once the Emperor passed away, the Fourth Prince was sure to become a prince.
"Do as the mistress usually does," Cheng Lu said, taking a deep breath to speak in a calm tone.
As a live-in son-in-law, he had no right to handle such matters.
Unexpectedly, the servant quickly returned and respectfully said, "The mistress said that external matters like these should be decided by you, son-in-law."
Cheng Lu’s breathing eased slightly. "Then bring the person in."
The servant went to invite the visitor inside.
The steward from the Fourth Prince’s residence respectfully bowed and exchanged many polite words before presenting the gift list to Cheng Lu.
Cheng Lu did not look at it much, casually handing the list to the household steward. He stated clearly that he would personally give it to Chen Li when he returned.
The steward expressed profuse thanks before leaving.
Only then did Cheng Lu open the gift list and glance at it.
That single glance left him somewhat dumbfounded.
Among the gifts listed was actually half a catty of ambergris.That was something only the imperial family could use, more precious than gold.
He thought for a moment, then took the gift list to Madam Chen: "Should we send a return gift or something?"
"Yes!" Madam Chen wanted to conceive a child but had no success so far. She had invited imperial physicians to regulate her health and spent all day focused on those few doses of medicine. Hearing his question, she replied indifferently, "Father's rule is that no matter what others send our family, we either decline it or return half its value as a gift."
Cheng Lu hesitated: "But Fourth Prince's residence sent gifts worth no less than four thousand taels of silver... Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"
Madam Chen smiled: "It's not just Fourth Prince sending gifts to our family! Except for gifts from His Highness the Crown Prince, our family has never returned full-value gifts!"
The Crown Prince?
For the first time, Cheng Lu felt so keenly the power of the senior eunuchs!
He fell silent for a moment.
Madam Chen thought she had hurt his pride by interrupting him. She quickly smiled and said, "But there's no hurry about the return gift. We can wait until Father decides on the appropriate return. After all, we don't understand these external matters."
Cheng Lu nodded.
When Chen Li returned, Cheng Lu handed him the gift list.
Unexpectedly, Chen Li glanced at it dismissively and instructed the steward: "Just prepare a return gift worth two thousand taels of silver."
Cheng Lu hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.
Chen Li still liked this son-in-law very much. After all, he was a descendant of the Cheng family from Nine Prosperities Lane in Jinling.
Seeing Cheng Lu's expression, Chen Li smiled and asked: "Does my son-in-law feel there's something inappropriate?"
Cheng Lu thought for a moment and said: "To be frank with you, father-in-law, I believe we should befriend Fourth Prince at this time!"
Truly a scion of an aristocratic family—even after being expelled, he still possessed such vision and breadth of mind.
Chen Li asked kindly: "What makes you say that?"
Cheng Lu lowered his voice: "Father-in-law has served His Majesty his entire life. When His Majesty passes away, arrangements will naturally be made for you. But looking at close attendants throughout history, they're either assigned to guard imperial tombs or sent out of the palace to retire honorably. Yet who hasn't offended some petty person while serving? These petty people cause trouble that most troubles those attendants who have left the forbidden palace. Now the Imperial Grandson is only ten years old, while his imperial uncles are all in their prime. Things like contracting smallpox or catching the plague—which aren't difficult hurdles? I think father-in-law should keep more options open. While we needn't curry favor with Fourth Prince, we also shouldn't offend him."
Chen Li looked at Cheng Lu with deeper meaning in his gaze and smiled: "I didn't expect you to be so concerned with court affairs!"
"Who wouldn't be concerned with court affairs?" Cheng Lu said solemnly. "When the Son of Heaven is angered, millions may die. We may not seek promotion and wealth, but we must avoid bringing disaster upon our families!"
Chen Li laughed: "His Majesty hasn't been feeling well these days. Originally, I shouldn't have left the palace. But I was worried you young couples wouldn't manage household affairs properly, so I came out to check. Since you've said this, I'll leave this matter to you. If Fourth Prince's people ask, just say I haven't returned home."
If successful, he would naturally benefit. If unsuccessful, he could mediate.
Cheng Lu was overjoyed.
In officialdom, it's not about starting late—it's about having no one at court to promote you, sitting on a cold bench for ten or twenty years with no one paying attention.
As long as he could board Fourth Prince's ship, both Cheng Xu and Cheng Chi could only watch from the sidelines.
Cheng Lu sneered inwardly.Pondering the implications of Chen Li's words earlier, after seeing him off, he discussed with Madam Chen and drafted a return gift for the Fourth Prince's residence.
Upon receiving the return gift, the Fourth Prince immediately summoned his trusted advisor. "What do you think Eunuch Liu means by this?" he asked.
The advisor smiled and carefully examined the gift list. "It seems he wants to have a foot in both camps," he replied.
The Fourth Prince smiled faintly, a flicker of excitement flashing in his eyes.
If there were nothing to fear, why change?
Clearly, that old scoundrel Chen Li also believed he would become emperor!
※
Dear readers, happy weekend!
Today's update.
※ (To be continued ~^~)
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