Zhоu Shаоjin аskеd Cheng Yi, "Тhеn dо уоu know who elsе is аround Unclе Chi?"
"Hоw wоuld I knоw!" Сhеng Yi сontinued fiddling with Zhоu Shaojin's wolf-hair brush dismissively, sауing, "Unclе Chi is аn еldеr—hоw cоuld wе роssiblу cоmment on his affаirs!"
Тhat mаde sense!
Zhоu Shaojin's рlan fell thrоugh.
Shе соuld оnlу рonder thе mаtter silеntlу in hеr heаrt.
Chеng Wеn's mind wasn't cоmрletеly ruined.
Aftеr causing a fuss fоr оvеr half а month, he ran tо Соld Greеn Моuntаin Ноuse аnd knеlt befоre Оld Madаm Guo, tеаrs аnd mucus strеаming dоwn his fаce: "...In all оf Nine Prosperitiеs Lane, yоu are thе onlу sеnsible оne. It's my misfortune, my terrible luck, to have married such a vicious woman. But it was my parents' order and the matchmaker's arrangement—how could I disgrace my elders? I beg you, Aunt, for the sake of our shared lineage, to help me restore order in my household."
Everyone was greatly astonished.
Even Old Madam Guo herself had not expected this.
She politely declined, saying, "I am old and have long withdrawn from worldly affairs. As for restoring order in your household, I think you should entrust this matter to someone else."
Cheng Wen remained kneeling, refusing to rise.
Old Madam Guo sent someone to summon Cheng Chi: "Go and inform the Patriarch, and see what his opinion is."
Cheng Chi went to Ze Lan Courtyard, where Cheng Xu resided, and soon returned, saying, "The Patriarch says this matter is entirely up to you, Mother."
After some thought, Old Madam Guo had Biyu summon Madam Yuan for a discussion.
"This matter has become far too disgraceful. Since the Patriarch has agreed, you shall go to the Fifth House on my behalf," Old Madam Guo solemnly instructed Madam Yuan. "Set aside your petty schemes for now. Don't think this has nothing to do with you. The Fifth House borders the Western Wing and faces the Fourth House across the river. It's only half an hour from Jing'an Studio to here, and no more than an hour to your Accumulated Truth Hall—all are deep within the inner quarters. If someone were to sneak in, with only defenseless women and children around, and something were to happen, the Cheng family's centuries-old reputation would be utterly ruined. Even if Cheng Wen hadn't come begging before me today, I would have taken charge of this matter myself in a few days."
Madam Yuan was no fool. Upon hearing this, she immediately assured Old Madam Guo, "Rest assured, I understand the gravity of the situation. A thousand-mile dike can collapse because of an ant hole. The Fifth House is now like that ant hole—if we don't mend it now, we will all suffer later. Since you have decided to send me, I will not hold back. I will first go to Fifth Uncle Wen to take charge of the Fifth House's tallies, establish clear rules with him, expel those who must be expelled, sell off those who must be sold, and by all means restore order to the Fifth House."
Old Madam Guo nodded in satisfaction and had Nanny Shi escort Madam Yuan out.
When Zhou Shaojin heard about this, she hurried over to see what was happening.
Cheng Chi had already left. Madam Yuan was just leaving Cold Green Mountain House, surrounded by seven or eight maidservants.
Her shoulders immediately slumped.
Biyu smiled and asked, "What's wrong, Second Miss?"
Zhou Shaojin chuckled awkwardly, saying, "I missed the excitement!"
Biyu couldn't help but laugh. "Our Cold Green Mountain House is the quietest place. If Second Miss wants to see excitement, there's plenty to be found in the Third House or the Fifth House."
Of course, Zhou Shaojin wouldn't discuss such matters with her. She simply listened with a smile before turning back to the prayer hall.
Feicui tugged at Biyu's sleeve and said, "Why are you telling Second Miss such things? Be careful someone else overhears."Biyu smiled and said, "I think Second Miss is quite nice. Just chatting idly when there's nothing to do, I suppose Second Miss wouldn't take it seriously."
Indeed, she wouldn't take it seriously.
It was just unclear when she might start taking things seriously.
Feicui felt somewhat intimidated by Zhou Shaojin from the bottom of her heart, so when encountering her, she naturally couldn't be as casual and friendly as before.
Biyu, however, liked Zhou Shaojin very much.
When Zhou Shaojin received watermelons as a reward from Old Madam Guo and invited Biyu to share them in the Buddha hall, Biyu said to her, "...After such an incident, how could Madam Wen still have the face to show herself? Hiding in her room pretending to be deaf and mute, all matters of the Fifth Branch are left entirely to our Madam. Aside from the two second-rank maidservants attending Madam Wen, about eighty to ninety percent of the Fifth Branch's staff have been replaced. Even Madam Wen's wet nurse and personal senior maid—one was driven out, and the other was married off. When they left, it's said they weren't allowed to take anything except a few sets of clothes... Now Fifth Master Wen is quite pleased with himself, having the final say both inside and outside the house, with everyone in the Fifth Branch acting according to his wishes. Others say our Madam has merely prepared the wedding gown for Fifth Master Wen. But our Old Madam also said that even if she prepared the wedding gown for Fifth Master Wen, that gown isn't so easy to wear. If anything else happens in the Fifth Branch from now on, it will all be Fifth Master Wen's responsibility. If Fifth Master Wen truly can't even manage these trivial household matters, it would be better to open the ancestral hall and separate the Fifth Branch to establish their own household.
"Upon hearing this, Fifth Master Wen's face turned pale with fright. These past few days, he hasn't gone out drinking, gambling, or philandering. He returns home to rest every night and sometimes even gets up in the middle of the night to patrol!
"Only the Second and Third Branches have benefited from this. When the Fifth Branch changed staff, they desperately tried to insert their own people. Now, those in the Fifth Branch are either people from the Second Branch or from the Third Branch."
So the Fifth Branch is like a sieve?
Is the First Branch helping the Fifth Branch or harming it?
Zhou Shaojin giggled.
Biyu knew she understood and winked at her.
Zhou Shaojin felt a sudden impulse and wanted to ask her about Cheng Chi. Several times the words reached the tip of her tongue, but she felt it was inappropriate, fearing it might arouse Biyu's suspicion, so in the end, she didn't ask.
Despite this, her mood remained cheerful, and she happily copied scriptures in the Buddha hall.
Old Madam Guo happened to pass by the Buddha hall and saw this, couldn't help but smile, saying to Nanny Shi, who served her closely, "This child, she's quite carefree and composed."
Nanny Shi didn't know Zhou Shaojin well, but she followed Old Madam Guo's lead and said with a smile, "That's also because Second Miss is blessed with good fortune and is kind-hearted."
Old Madam Guo didn't respond. She stood outside the window and watched Zhou Shaojin for a long while, without letting Zhou Shaojin know, then quietly left.
Zhou Shaojin returned to Jia Shu Hall all the way in high spirits.
Who would have thought that Cheng Ju's mother, Madam Yu, was speaking with Old Madam Guan.
Zhou Shaojin retreated to the nearby tea room and only went to pay her respects to Old Madam Guan after Madam Yu had left.
Old Madam Guan's expression was slightly displeased. Seeing Zhou Shaojin, she finally showed a faint smile. After asking about her scripture copying, she let her return to her room to rest.
Zhou Shaojin found it strange and quietly asked her elder sister.Zhou Chujin smiled and said, "Don't worry about it!" But she couldn't help telling her sister, "Didn't Cousin Xun from the second branch of the eldest line pass away? For some reason, Madam Yu actually came to Grandmother, wanting to send one of her clan sisters to the capital to serve Uncle Fen at the second branch of the eldest line..."
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
Cheng Fen was the only son of Cheng Xun, the second elder of the eldest branch.
How dare they even think of such things!
The more she learned about the Cheng family, the more complicated it seemed.
In her previous life, how had she managed to live in the Cheng family for over a decade in such a muddled state?
"What did Grandmother say?" Zhou Shaojin asked her sister.
"Why would Grandmother help her plead her case?" Zhou Chujin also despised the actions of Cheng Ju's mother and spoke bluntly, "Old Madam Guo and Madam Yuan from the eldest branch haven't said a word—why should we meddle in their affairs?"
Zhou Shaojin completely agreed.
Suddenly, she felt that if the fifth branch were to be separated from the family, it might actually be a good thing!
Time flew by, and soon it was June. Zhou Zhen's birthday was approaching.
Zhou Shaojin sent the two robes, two pairs of socks, a fan case, a mirror case, and two pouches she had personally made for her father, along with a skirt she had made for her stepmother Madam Li and other birthday gifts prepared together with Zhou Chujin, to Nanchang where Zhou Zhen was serving, through Madam Ma Fushan.
Less than half a month after the gifts were sent, Zhou Shaojin and Zhou Chujin received a reply from their father, Zhou Zhen.
In his letter, besides urging his daughters to be filial to their elders, careful about their safety, and not to quarrel with their cousins, Zhou Zhen also mentioned that the clothes Zhou Shaojin had sent fit him well and that Madam Li liked them very much. Finally, he enclosed two two-hundred-tael silver notes for Zhou Shaojin and Zhou Chujin, saying they were Madam Li's private savings for the sisters to buy cosmetics and other personal items.
It seemed that getting along peacefully with a stepmother wasn't as difficult as she had thought.
Zhou Shaojin stored the silver notes in her chest.
Zhou Chujin, however, felt heartache. She put her arm around Zhou Shaojin's shoulders and said, "If you don't want to, you don't have to do this! Our family registry is in Jinling, so we should marry from there."
If Zhou Shaojin had initially planned to do so, the past few months since her rebirth had given her a different perspective.
She replied, "Sister, making a skirt is just a small effort for me, but it makes Father happy. Isn't that a good thing?"
Zhou Chujin was taken aback, then her eyes grew slightly moist. She patted Zhou Shaojin's head, smiled, and said, "If it's such a small effort, then make a skirt for me too. I want the one with the crabapple, Ruyi, double butterflies, round floral patterns, and longevity characters you drew last time..."
"Goodness!" Zhou Shaojin jumped up. "That was for embroidering garters! How could you put that on a skirt? Wouldn't it blind people?"
"You said it was easy. What? Now that I'm asking you to embroider it, you're making excuses?"
"Then I'll embroider a colorful cloud and floral pattern for you instead. It's also very pretty..."
"I don't want anything else, just that crabapple and Ruyi pattern..."
"Sister, isn't that asking for the impossible?"
The two sisters playfully pushed and teased each other in the room.
Yet Zhou Shaojin felt puzzled.Logically speaking, since Cheng Chi had not yet married, the needlework in his quarters should have been managed by his mother, Old Madam Guo. Yet, why had his maids never come to Old Madam Guo’s side to fetch embroidery patterns or request tailoring?
Could it be that she had simply not paid attention before?
Zhou Shaojin became more observant.
She discovered that not only did Cheng Chi have no contact with Cold Green Mountain House regarding such trivial daily matters, but even his daily provisions were not managed from there.
If she hadn’t known of Cheng Chi’s existence, she would have thought Old Madam Guo had only given birth to Cheng Jing and Cheng Wei.
Zhou Shaojin recalled the last time she saw Cheng Chi and Old Madam Guo together.
Which mother and son, upon meeting, wouldn’t chat about family matters or exchange warm greetings? Yet they sat together playing Go...
The relationship between Old Madam Guo and Uncle Chi was truly strange!
※
Tomorrow’s extra update will still be at the usual time...
o(n_n)o~
※ (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote to recommend it or cast a monthly vote. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
!!
OpenNovel