Рing'аn Inn wаs lосаted in a quiеt аllеу оff Flat Bridge Strееt, with a two-bаy-wide frоntаgе аnd а thrеe-cоurtyard layout, totаling оnly sеven оr еight guеst rоoms. Моst оf its раtrons wеre merchаnts frоm Shandоng who traded in rоasted nuts аnd seeds. Тhе соurtуаrd wаs piled high with реanuts, mеlоn sеeds, аnd pеаs, and the аrоma оf roasted gоods could bе smеllеd from аfar.
Ma Fushаn dаrеd not tаkе Zhоu Shаоjin tо Ping'аn Inn. Instеad, hе spеnt a string of сash tо bоrrоw the mаin hаll оf thе neighboring housе to question the old bеggar.
"...Although thе old mastеr was а sсholаr, he had a burly build... He loved drinking and would return dead drunk every time he went out. It was always I who helped the old master back and served him tea... He was a close friend of the Gu family's Twelfth Master. The Gu family's Twelfth Master came from a wealthy background, so how could the old master feel comfortable letting him pay every time? Occasionally, when the old master treated in return, he was short on funds. Each time, he would send me to the pawnshop, and I would haggle with the pawnshop clerks for a long time, turning dead pledges into live ones or squeezing more silver out of live pledges..." The old beggar exaggerated his contributions with great effort.
Zhou Shaojin, standing behind the central hall, felt her heart tighten upon hearing this. She whispered a few words to Shi Xiang.
Shi Xiang nodded and went out to speak with Ma Fushan.
Ma Fushan glanced at the old beggar, who was bowing low with his head to the ground, and gave a slight nod. "The Gu family you mentioned—is it the Gu family of Plum Blossom Lane?"
"Yes, yes!" The old beggar had been talking to himself for quite some time, and now that the person seated above finally responded, he excitedly raised his head.
Ma Fushan immediately snorted coldly.
The old beggar caught only a glimpse of a half-length white embroidered skirt beside the black lacquered armchair and realized there were womenfolk in the room—perhaps even a high-ranking maid from the Zhou family's Second Miss. He dared not look further and hurriedly lowered his head, pressing himself against the ground.
"Answer only what you are asked," Ma Fushan said sternly. "Don't let your tongue run wild and spout nonsense."
"Yes, yes, yes," the old beggar nodded like a pecking chick.
Ma Fushan snorted with satisfaction. "What else? Continue!"
"Ah!" The old beggar looked up in surprise, then quickly lowered his head again.
One moment he was told to answer only what he was asked, and the next he was told to continue. Should he answer only what he was asked, or should he keep talking...?
The old beggar muttered to himself inwardly, recalling that the Zhou family seemed quite interested when he mentioned the Gu family earlier. So he continued, "The marriage of the Zhuang family's eldest daughter was arranged by the Gu family's Twelfth Master as the matchmaker. She married the Cheng family's son-in-law as a second wife. Speaking of the Zhuang family's eldest daughter, she was truly virtuous. The old lady had been bedridden for over a decade, and the eldest daughter, not even as tall as a table, had to worry about the family's daily provisions. By the time she came of age, suitors had worn out the threshold. Unfortunately, the eldest daughter had been betrothed since childhood to the son of the Cheng family from Cunyi Lane..."
At this point, he stopped in terror, glancing fearfully at Ma Fushan.
Ma Fushan was utterly shocked.
This was the first time he had heard that Madam Zhuang had once been betrothed to Cheng Bai.
But having experienced many things, he did not lose his composure over this. However, thinking of Zhou Shaojin... he couldn't help but glance toward the central hall behind him.
Zhou Shaojin felt as if struck by lightning, her limbs stiff and her mind blank for a long moment.
Her mother had actually been betrothed to Cheng Lu's father!
Did her father know?
Could it be that no one in the Cheng family knew?
Her father must have known, right?
Otherwise, why would he have married off her mother's personal maid...?And there was the maternal uncle from the Zhuang family, who drove Mother to the brink of jumping into the river... What could have driven Mother to such desperation?
Zhou Shaojin’s mind buzzed with noise. It took an unknown length of time before the feeling returned to her hands and feet.
She wrote a few words and had Shi Xiang pass them to Ma Fushan.
Ma Fushan took the note and glanced at it. He said, "What you mentioned, we already know. But since you brought it up, I’m curious—since Madam Zhuang was betrothed to the Cheng family from a young age, how did she end up marrying the Cheng family’s son-in-law?"
"This... I’m not clear about that..." the old beggar stammered.
Ma Fushan sneered, "You claim to have served Old Master Zhuang, yet when asked about the Zhuang family’s affairs, you say you don’t know. It seems to me you’re not here to seek refuge with the Zhou family but to swindle them out of silver. Men!" he shouted, "Take the master’s name card to the Jinling Prefecture Office and say someone is falsely claiming official connections. Ask Magistrate Shen Qingyun to issue an arrest warrant and detain this person!"
"No, no!" The old beggar jumped up in fright, threw himself forward, and clung to Ma Fushan’s leg, pleading, "Steward, I truly haven’t lied. Some of the older neighbors know about this matter. But the Cheng family treats people generously, and since Elder Bai has already passed away from illness, and the young master of the Cheng family is a scholarly sort who doesn’t like to gossip about others..."
"You still dare to talk nonsense!" Ma Fushan kicked the beggar to the ground. "The Cheng family treats people generously, so does that mean Old Master Zhuang was a tyrant? When the wind blows down the wutong tree, people will naturally talk. Even if the Cheng family is generous, can they stop others from speaking? It seems you’ve grown tired of living... Hurry, men! Drag him out!"
"Steward, I’ll talk, I’ll talk," the old beggar scrambled forward and clung to Madam Ma Fushan’s leg. "It’s not that the Cheng family is generous—it’s that I was bewitched and spoke nonsense..."
"You still won’t tell the truth!" Seeing this approach wasn’t working, Ma Fushan said, "Let me be frank with you. This time, the Second Young Lady only sent a maid along. If you behave honestly, once the Second Young Lady’s reward silver comes, I’ll naturally help you. But if you dare to be dishonest in front of me, I’ll report to the Second Young Lady immediately and say you’re a swindler..."
The old beggar had come for the silver in the first place, and upon hearing this, his mind immediately started working.
This Steward Ma wanted to share the silver with him... Then what should or shouldn’t be said was no longer his concern. As Steward Ma said, he would naturally help him when the time came...
He felt he understood Ma Fushan’s intentions.
"Steward, I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything!" he fawned with a smile. "That year, the Zhuang family’s house collapsed under the snow, but Old Master Zhuang had already made plans with the Gu family’s Twelfth Master to go west. Where would the silver come from for repairs? Thinking of the old and young in the family, Old Master Zhuang settled the old madam and the eldest young lady in the old madam’s dowry house...
"It was just a lane away from the Cheng family. If anything happened, the Cheng family could lend a hand or two.""At first, everything was fine. The Cheng family's madam often came to visit Miss Zhuang and the elderly lady, and when Master Cheng Bai had free time, he would send servants over to ask if there was anything needed. But as time went on, things started to go awry..." He paused briefly before continuing, "Miss Zhuang was truly beautiful, like a palace consort or a fairy from the heavens. Anyone who saw her couldn't help but be captivated.
"Master Cheng Bai was fine before he saw Miss Zhuang, but after meeting her, he lost six of his seven souls, and the one remaining was restless. He stopped studying, and as soon as he opened his eyes each day, he would rush to the Zhuang household. He took on every little matter from the Zhuang family, no matter how trivial. To avoid suspicion, whenever neighbors asked, he would only say it was for the bedridden aunt's family.
"At that time, the Zhuang family kept a tight household and didn't interact with other families besides the Chengs. The neighbors didn't suspect anything.
"If this had happened in a noble family, it might have been a good match. But unfortunately, both the Cheng and Zhuang families were of humble origins... especially the Zhuang family. After Old Master Zhuang left for several years, they relied entirely on pawning items to get by. Master Cheng Bai, originally naive and inexperienced, became a regular at the pawnshop over the years. All matters inside and outside the Zhuang household fell on Master Cheng Bai's shoulders. For this, he even delayed his imperial examination by a year!
"Old Madam Cheng saw all this and grew displeased. She repeatedly tried to persuade Master Cheng Bai, but his words went in one ear and out the other... Old Madam Cheng had no choice but to plead with Miss Zhuang. Miss Zhuang also tried to persuade him, but not only did he refuse to listen, he saw it as an opportunity, frequently trying to strike up conversations with her, leaving Miss Zhuang in an awkward position... Old Madam Cheng grew even more displeased, saying Miss Zhuang couldn't control Master Cheng Bai, that she was spoiled and incapable of managing household affairs.
"Miss Zhuang had no way to voice her grievances and simply stopped seeing Master Cheng Bai.
"Because of this, an incident even occurred."
Zhou Shaojin and Ma Fushan couldn't help but lean in to listen.
"Master Cheng Bai had a classmate surnamed Wang, who was as close to him as brothers. Once, when Master Cheng Bai was truly distressed, he confided in this Wang fellow. Wang gave him the idea to climb over the Zhuang family's back wall.
"Master Cheng Bai... actually listened to Wang's advice and went to climb the Zhuang family's back wall.
"This Wang fellow then caught sight of Miss Zhuang... and wrote many improper poems for her, infuriating Miss Zhuang so much that she summoned Master Cheng Bai and scolded him harshly.
"Master Cheng Bai did stop associating with that Wang fellow, but Old Madam Cheng developed a lingering concern. After hearing from some nun that Miss Zhuang was a fox spirit reincarnated who would bring chaos to the family... and with Wang refusing to give up, seeing no way to approach Miss Zhuang, he set a trap, luring Master Cheng Bai into gambling and visiting brothels.
"Master Cheng Bai didn't go to brothels. But with gambling... he started off winning. He would secretly use his winnings to support the Zhuang family. Over time, when the trap was sprung, how could he keep winning? He inevitably started stealing things from home to sell.""Once, he even stole a gold hairpin from Miss Zhuang's person... Another time, after losing money at gambling and having no way out, he actually demanded that Miss Zhuang personally prepare a banquet to apologize to those people... Although the matter was eventually settled with silver, Miss Zhuang's attitude toward Master Cheng Bai changed somewhat... Previously, she would still speak a few words with Master Cheng Bai in front of the old lady, but afterward, she never met with Master Cheng Bai again.
"Later, when Old Master Zhuang returned and learned of these incidents, he sighed, saying 'beauty brings disaster.' He told Old Master Cheng that if Master Cheng Bai could pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, the two families would still proceed with the marriage alliance. However, if Master Cheng Bai remained without an official title after a few years, the engagement would be called off.
"Master Cheng Bai, of course, was unwilling to break off the engagement.
"For those years, he secluded himself and studied diligently.
"Old Master Zhuang kept his daughter at home, waiting for Master Cheng Bai to achieve scholarly honors.
"However, by the time Miss Zhuang turned twenty, Master Cheng Bai still held no official title.
"Old Master Zhuang, seeing his health decline like the setting sun and fearing he might not live to see his daughter married, proposed to the Cheng family to dissolve the engagement.
"At first, Miss Zhuang disagreed. But after Old Master Zhuang spoke with her, she eventually consented.
"Old Master Zhuang sold ancestral property, gathered five hundred taels of silver, and sent it to the Cheng family.
"Since the Cheng family had previously agreed with Old Master Zhuang, they said nothing and quickly dissolved the engagement with the Zhuang family. They then arranged a marriage with the daughter of Scholar Dong from the west side of the city.
"Old Master Zhuang moved to Plum Blossom Lane to live.
"Later on, Miss Zhuang married Master Zhou, the son-in-law of the Cheng family."
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There is a meeting in the afternoon, so the update is estimated to be around midnight... Apologies, apologies!
※ (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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