Chapter 158: Trouble
Gu Dezhao's carriage departed from the Gu residence, heading toward Elm Tree Alley where the Director of Granary Affairs lived. The snow had piled several inches thick, and the road was covered in a layer of ice, making the journey extremely difficult. When they finally arrived at Elm Tree Alley, they found the black-lacquered main gate of the Sun family—occupying nearly half the alley—tightly shut. The two red silk lanterns hanging from the ornamental brackets swayed ceaselessly in the northern wind. As Gu Dezhao stepped down from the carriage, he noticed that the snow on the stone steps at the entrance hadn't even been cleared.
He personally stepped forward and knocked using the brass ring held in the mouth of the qilin door knocker.
After a long while, the door creaked open. A wrinkled old man peeked out, eyeing Gu Dezhao with cautious suspicion. Only after noting that Gu Dezhao wore a velvet Straight Robe and a silk outer garment did his tone soften slightly as he asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Gu Dezhao frowned and inquired, "Is your master, Sun Shitao, at home?"
The old man immediately grew impatient. "He's not here. The master went out and hasn't returned. Don't bother asking!"
He moved to shut the door at once, but Li Guanshi, who had accompanied Gu Dezhao, blocked it and said, "...This is the Ministry of Revenue's Vice Director Gu, here on official business to see your master. Didn't he claim to be bedridden? Take this name card and report back to him that Vice Director Gu has come." He handed the old man a name card and casually slipped him a tael of silver.
The old man accepted the silver but returned the name card, his tone much more polite now. "This old man can't read a single character, so I wouldn't know what this says. But since you're an official, I'll speak out of turn—our master hasn't been back for several days now, and that's the truth. I saw him leave with my own eyes and never saw him return... The madam and concubines in the household don't seem worried either. They just told us to keep the gates closed and carry on as usual."
Gu Dezhao found the man utterly baffling. Instead of welcoming him in upon learning his identity, the old man stubbornly remained at the door, braving the cold wind. That aside, even if he was illiterate, surely someone in the household could read. What was the harm in calling someone out to verify the name card? Sun Shitao had claimed to be ill for days—how could he not be home?
If he wasn't at home, where else could he be?
"Go and summon someone in charge to speak with me," Gu Dezhao instructed the old man.
But the old man lowered his voice. "I only opened the door for you because I wasn't following orders. How could I dare call for a steward?... I can see you're no ordinary official, so you'd best leave quickly!" With that, he swiftly shut the door, ignoring Gu Dezhao's repeated knocking.
Li Guanshi said, "Master, this is truly unusual. Even if Director Sun isn't here, why does the household seem so strange? It's as if they're terrified of letting us in... What do you think we should do?"
Gu Dezhao exhaled lightly. "We have no grounds to force our way in. Sun Shitao might have gone to the yamen. Let's head into the city to check..." Li Guanshi acknowledged the order and was about to instruct the coachman when Gu Dezhao changed his mind. "Never mind. Even if he's not at home, he wouldn't be at the yamen either. Let's go to the granary at Songling Lane in Daxing—he's been making frequent inspections there recently..."
Songling Lane wasn't far from Elm Tree Alley, located near the border between Daxing and Shi'an.
The carriage promptly turned toward Songling Lane.
Meanwhile, after finishing her conversation with her father, Gu Jinchao returned to her quarters. After some thought, she took down a copy of Annotations on Su Dongpo's Works from the Curio Cabinet and carefully smoothed out the note before placing it inside. This was not something to be handled carelessly.She practiced calligraphy in the study for a while before Madam Feng summoned her. It turned out her elder cousin Gu Jinhua had arrived with her sister-in-law from the Yu family—the third young miss of the Cangzhou Yu family, who was to serve as the sponsor for Gu Lian’s hair-pinning ceremony. Jinchao was asked to go and greet them.
Jinchao changed into a jacket and headed to the eastern courtyard.
Gu Jinhua had given birth to the Yu family’s first legitimate grandson in autumn, securing an esteemed position in the household. Otherwise, it would have been uncertain whether the Yu family would have agreed to send their third young miss as the sponsor.
Gu Jinhua wore a rose-purple jacket with gold-woven patterns and a lake-blue horse-face skirt. Her hair was adorned with a pair of gold hairpins inlaid with ruby-red gemstones the size of fingernails, making her appear radiant. Seeing Gu Jinchao arrive, she smiled and pulled her to sit on the embroidered stool beside her, saying, “...Counting the days, it’s been a year since I last saw Lan Er.”
Madam Feng was overjoyed to see her eldest granddaughter return and was uncharacteristically amiable to everyone. She had the maids serve an abundance of tea and snacks, adding, “Chaojie is back with us now. If you wish to see her, just visit more often!”
Madam Feng beckoned Gu Jinchao over and introduced her with a smile to a young lady beside her, “...This is your elder cousin’s younger sister, slightly older than you. You may call her Cousin Jinchao, just like Lian Jie’er does.” Then she turned to Gu Jinchao and said, “...This is your elder cousin’s sister-in-law, Ming Ying.”
Yu Ming Ying wore a brocade jacket in a misty red hue and a white drawn-thread skirt. Her fair complexion and delicate features gave her a refined beauty. A string of translucent yellow tourmaline beads adorned her wrist—clearly an expensive piece. She nodded at Jinchao with a faint smile but refrained from any overly familiar remarks.
Gu Jinchao sat on the embroidered stool beside Madam Feng, sipping tea in silence.
Meanwhile, Second Madam watched her eldest daughter with pride. Compared to Gu Lian, Gu Jinhua had truly been a source of comfort for her.
Gu Lian, seated on the arhat bed, clung to Gu Jinhua’s arm and said, “I thought you’d bring my little nephew along!”
Gu Jinhua chuckled, “He’s only a few months old, and the weather is too cold for travel... If you want to see him, why not come stay with me in Cangzhou for a while after the hair-pinning ceremony? Your elder sister will take good care of you.” She affectionately pinched Gu Lian’s nose.
Second Madam laughed, “She can’t go with you! After the ceremony, she’ll be learning household management from me. In a few months, she’ll likely be married into the Yao family...”
Gu Jinhua’s eyes brightened as she whispered to Gu Lian, “Is it true? Has the wedding date been set?”
Madam Feng beamed with pride, “Not so soon! The Yao family takes this marriage very seriously. Everything must be prepared properly—the wedding won’t happen until after Lian Jie’er’s hair-pinning ceremony.”
This match was a matter of great prestige, and Madam Feng loved boasting about it.
The most important audience for these words was Yu Ming Ying.
Yu Ming Ying had accompanied Gu Jinhua to the Gu residence but remained aloof, quietly sipping tea. She privately looked down on Gu Lian. Though Madam Feng sensed her indifference, she couldn’t voice any displeasure—after all, Yu Ming Ying was her eldest daughter’s sister-in-law. If she returned to the Yu family and complained to the matriarch about Gu Jinhua’s treatment here, it would spell trouble for her.
Out of the corner of her eye, Gu Jinchao caught the faint smirk curling at Yu Ming Ying’s lips.Yu Mingying raised her head and said indifferently, "Yao Ge Lao has four sons. The eldest passed the imperial examination last year and was promoted to Imperial Academy Bachelor, entering the Hanlin Academy. The other three haven’t achieved much in their scholarly pursuits yet. If Sister Lian marries into the Yao family, she’ll have quite a wait ahead of her!"
Gu Lian’s marriage prospects had always been met with flattery, so she had never heard such sharp words before. She immediately glared at Yu Mingying and retorted indignantly, "They’re all sons of Yao Ge Lao, descendants of a prestigious family—how could they be lacking? What kind of talk is this, Sister Mingying?"
Yu Mingying, however, curled her lip. In the Yu family, she was the youngest legitimate daughter and the most doted upon. She had only come to the Gu family out of respect for her elder sister-in-law, who had always treated her well. She disliked Gu Lian’s spoiled and unruly demeanor.
"Sister Lian is overthinking it. I was just speaking offhand," she said to Gu Jinhua. "Elder Sister-in-law, you know I speak my mind!"
Madam Feng’s expression darkened, barely suppressing her anger.
She had never seen anyone dare to mock her precious granddaughter in front of her, let alone insult the Yao family as well. Wasn’t this tantamount to mocking her?
Gu Jinhua quickly smiled and said, "Indeed, indeed. Sister Lian, don’t take it to heart. Sister Ying is just someone who says whatever comes to mind."
Madam Feng lowered her eyes to contain her fury. Gu Jinhua still had to serve as the eldest daughter-in-law in the Yu family. If Yu Mingying secretly made trouble for her, things wouldn’t go well.
This Yu Mingying had a strong personality. Everyone Gu Lian had encountered before had yielded to her—now she was bound to suffer. Gu Jinzhao thought to herself, sipping her tea indifferently. This was not the time to provoke Madam Feng.
Just then, a young maid’s voice came from behind the curtain: "...Tai Furen, Third Master has sent someone to fetch the young mistress."
Her father was looking for her? It must be about the Director of Granary Affairs’ illness. Jinzhao glanced at Madam Feng.
Madam Feng nodded dismissively. "...Since your father is calling for you, you may go ahead."
Jinzhao curtsied and withdrew, only to see Gu Dezhao standing in the courtyard, snow dusting his shoulders, his face pale.
Her father had come to the eastern courtyard but hadn’t even had time to pay respects to his grandmother?
Gu Jinzhao’s heart tightened as she hurried forward. "Father, is something urgent the matter?"
Gu Dezhao didn’t know how to begin. His lips parted, his voice strained and urgent: "Chaojie, fetch Cao Ziheng immediately... the granary in Daxing... the granary is in trouble!"
He had originally intended to go to the granary in Songling Lane to find Sun Shitao. But upon entering, he found it completely deserted. A sense of foreboding gripped him. When he and Li Guanshi opened a sack of grain, the burlap bag that should have been filled with millet was instead stuffed with chaff!
This batch of grain was supposed to be shipped to Shanxi for disaster relief. If the workers came to move the grain in a few days and found the weight mismatched, the discrepancy would be discovered immediately. By then, he wouldn’t be able to escape responsibility—even if it didn’t cost him his head, dismissal and exile would be unavoidable!
Gu Dezhao checked over a dozen sacks—all filled with chaff. His back was drenched in cold sweat. If anything went wrong with this relief grain... a single misstep could cost him his life!
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