Chapter 98: The Chen Family
Jinchao thought for a moment and decided to change into a sky-blue Plain Silk Back Robe before going to see Gu Dezhao to discuss ancestral worship matters.
Gu Dezhao was in his study conversing with Qingxu Taoist Priest. Upon hearing that the Eldest Miss of the Gu Family had arrived, the Taoist Priest naturally excused himself. Standing at a distance under the corridor, Jinchao saw a middle-aged man in a dark blue Taoist robe emerge from the study. He was fair-skinned, tall, and lean, with a refined beard and an air of immortality, carrying a snow-white horsetail whisk in his hand. He walked unhurriedly down the path.
It was said that Qingxu Taoist Priest was over fifty, yet he appeared no older than forty. Even noblemen and officials in Yanjing who disliked Taoist philosophy associated with him, admiring his ability to preserve his youthful appearance. However, few revered him as devoutly as her father.
Jinchao entered the study to speak with her father and found him seated in an armchair, a faint smile on his face.
After discussing how many offerings of tea and food should be made during this year’s ancestral worship, Jinchao finally brought up Qingxu Taoist Priest: “...I just saw a man in Taoist robes leaving. I don’t recall meeting him before. Is he a new advisor you’ve hired?”
High-ranking officials often kept a few advisors to assist with strategy. As a fifth-rank official in Yanjing, Gu Dezhao wasn’t particularly prominent, but he still maintained two advisors to discuss court affairs with.
Gu Dezhao shook his head, feeling it inappropriate to discuss this matter with his eldest daughter. But since she had asked, and the Taoist Priest would likely be a frequent visitor in the future, he replied somewhat hesitantly, “That was Qingxu Taoist Priest from Yanqing Taoist Temple. When you were five, he even performed a ritual to bless you. Recently, I’ve been struggling with Taoist texts, so I invited him to expound on the teachings. He’ll be staying with us for a few months...”
Hearing this, Gu Jinzhao simply smiled and didn’t press further.
When the time came for ancestral worship, Jinchao busied herself directing the maids to bring out the ancestral tablets and arrange the offerings. However, her father approached her and said, “The Taoist Priest mentioned that the house has been spiritually unclean for months. He suggests performing a purification ritual first to prevent evil spirits from disturbing our ancestors.”
Gu Jinzhao felt a bit exasperated—she had already spent hours preparing. Reluctantly, she had everything cleared away to set up the ritual outside the ancestral hall. Soon after, Qingxu Taoist Priest arrived to conduct the ceremony. Keeping her distance, Jinchao watched as the priest consulted with her father, then removed the wine and food she had arranged, replacing them with a three-legged cauldron.
While the Taoist Priest performed the ritual, her father stood by observing. Finding the whole affair overly mystical and chaotic, Jinchao retreated to Paulownia Courtyard.
Gu Jinrong, who hadn’t yet left for the Yu Family’s school, was waiting for her there.
He had made several lotus lanterns and proudly showed them to Jinchao: “...Let’s float them on the lake to pray for Mother’s blessings!” His expression was cautious yet hopeful as he looked at her.
Jinchao chuckled. “These lanterns are just thin paper—they’ll fall apart as soon as they touch the water.”
She led Jinrong to the western chamber and had a maid bring bamboo strips. Together, they crafted several delicate and beautiful lotus lanterns with bamboo frames. Since they were meant for their mother’s blessings, Jinchao didn’t paint them red, leaving them pure and white like lotuses.
Holding up a finished lantern for Jinrong to see, he scratched his head and grinned. “Yours are much prettier, Eldest Sister! I didn’t know how to make them properly—Qing Xiu was the one who taught me...” He then picked up scissors, eager for Jinchao to teach him as well.Jinchao watched as he half-crouched, his clumsy movements with the scissors almost comical. Yet he was enthusiastically cutting out flower patterns, seemingly recovering gradually from their mother's passing. Half a month ago, he had turned thirteen, though still in mourning. The household hadn't even prepared a small celebration, so she made him a bowl of longevity noodles with a poached egg—that was his birthday. Their father, however, had sent two maids to his quarters.
Jinchao had deliberately gone to inspect these two maids. They were fair-skinned, plump, and delicately featured—prettier than the average servant girls, around fifteen or sixteen years old. They appeared obedient and well-behaved.
Gu Jinrong’s personal attendants had always been either elderly women or young male servants. Previously, maids had never attended to his daily needs. In prominent families, boys under fifteen were deliberately shielded from such influences, lest it sap their vitality or distract them from their studies. Yet they couldn’t remain entirely ignorant of relations between men and women, or they might fall prey to scheming maids later. Jinchao suspected this was precisely their father’s intention.
She asked him how he found the two maids in his quarters.
Gu Jinrong merely smiled. "Father sent them to serve me, but they aren’t allowed into my inner chambers or study. I hardly see them much—they seem obedient enough..."
Perhaps feeling embarrassed, he changed the subject and spoke of Gu Lan instead. "...Second Sister came to see me the day before yesterday, asking to borrow a couple of calligraphy models to practice with. I told her her handwriting was still childish and that she should start with tracing exercises suitable for young ladies. That really annoyed her."
Jinchao found this amusing. "You could tell she was angry?"
Gu Jinrong thought for a moment. "She kept smiling, but I can always tell when she’s upset. When she’s displeased, she looks down at her skirt... But since I wouldn’t lend her the models, she went to Father instead. At the time, he was questioning me about my studies. I saw him not only give her the models and tracing sheets but also teach her brush techniques. He told her that reading and writing more would help cultivate her character."
Jinchao, however, disagreed. There were plenty of well-read people with terrible morals—Ye Xian was a prime example. Their father, a Scholar of the Two Boards, had remarried less than a year after their mother’s death in their past life.
After Qingxu Taoist Priest completed the rituals, everyone proceeded to pay respects to their ancestors. Gu Lan was chatting and laughing with her maids nearby. When she saw Jinchao and Gu Jinrong approaching, she asked Jinrong, "...I saw you making a lotus lantern earlier. Did you finish it?"
Gu Jinrong snorted and said nothing.
Gu Lan’s expression dimmed, and she smiled apologetically. "It was my fault for mentioning the lantern."
Their father, having just placed the offerings, overheard this and noticed Jinrong ignoring Gu Lan. He sighed. "Jinrong, Lan Er is still your sister." Even if he didn’t like her, he ought to maintain appearances. Sibling discord was hardly a good look.
With Madam Ji gone, Gu Jinrong now kept only to Chaojie’s company. Gu Yi and Gu Xi had never been on speaking terms with Lan Er. Now that Concubine Song had gone mad, Gu Lan had no one left to talk to. Their father often saw her standing alone.Gu Dezhao recalled how Gu Lan had come to him the previous day, asking for some copybooks to practice her calligraphy and requesting his guidance on brush techniques. She had stayed with him for a long time. Only when he inquired did she hesitantly say, "Nowadays, I can only talk to the maids. With Concubine Song in such a state, I truly feel distressed in my heart..."
No matter how many mistakes she had made, she was still his daughter. Treating her so harshly did seem somewhat cruel. The way Gu Lan had turned out was partly his fault—he shouldn't have let her grow up under Concubine Song's care, or she wouldn’t have been raised this way.
Gu Jinzhao stood by without saying a word.
After the Ghost Festival, a letter arrived from the Villa in Xianghe, reporting that over ten acres of fruit trees had all suffered root rot. The steward there, surnamed Liu, rambled on without proposing any concrete plan. He mentioned that planting peaches might be good, but diseases were too rampant, making it dependent on the weather. Planting jujube trees was also an option, but he worried they wouldn’t fetch a good price. In the end, he couldn’t settle on any decision. Jinzhao knew even less about farming matters and thought of consulting her grandmother, but the latter was in mourning and couldn’t leave the house.
Mama Xu advised her, "...If you must go out during mourning, take the ash bowl from before the Bodhisattva’s altar with you. Offer incense daily, and return within seven days."
Jinzhao thought this was the only way. Since her mother’s seventh-week memorial had already passed, the restrictions weren’t as strict. Besides, she had many things to discuss with her grandmother that couldn’t be conveyed clearly in just a couple of letters.
After sending a letter to her grandmother, the maids helped pack her luggage. Jinzhao informed Gu Dezhao and set off for Tongzhou on the third day.
Her grandmother, having received the letter, personally waited for her at the Chuihua Gate and led her by the hand to the eastern courtyard.
"...I was just thinking of writing to you when Mama Song told me you were coming. I’ve been looking forward to your arrival all day," Ji Wu Shi said with a gentle smile. "Your fourth cousin Ji Can is engaged to the Second Miss of the Chen Family in Wanping. Tomorrow, we’re hosting a banquet to thank the matchmaker. It’s a pity you’re in mourning and can’t attend. The matchmaker is the wife of the Grand Secretary Xu, a very kind woman..."
The Chen Family of Wanping! Jinzhao was astonished. How could she have forgotten? Ji Can was marrying the illegitimate daughter of Second Master Chen!
In her past life, she hadn’t interacted much with her cousins. Three months after the engagement, Second Miss Chen Xuan married into the Ji family, coinciding with the formal engagement between Chen Xuanqing and Yu Wanxue. At the time, Jinzhao was still in mourning and didn’t even attend the wedding banquet.
No matter what, she always ended up entangled with the Chen family. Jinzhao smiled wryly.
She pushed the thought aside and instead discussed Concubine Song with her grandmother.
After listening, Ji Wu Shi pondered for a long time. "...Song Miaohua has a strong will. If you say she’s gone mad just like that, I wouldn’t believe it. But if she can keep up the act, that’s her skill. You needn’t bother with her." She held Jinzhao’s hand and sighed. "Our Chaojie used to seem cold on the outside but warm at heart. Now, you’ve learned to be resolute."
Jinzhao teased her, "Does Grandmother disapprove of me now?"
Ji Wu Shi stroked her hair and laughed. "You take after me the most. If I disapproved of you, wouldn’t I be disapproving of myself?"
After chatting for a while, Third Sister-in-law Liu Shi, hearing of Jinzhao’s arrival, came to pay respects to Ji Wu Shi, carrying her child.Chun Ge'er was now almost two years old and extremely active. The moment he entered Ji Wu Shi's room, he wriggled free from his mother's grasp and toddled unsteadily into Ji Wu Shi's arms, calling out in a clear voice, "Great-grandmother!" Liu Shi turned pale with fright and scolded him, "Chun Ge'er, slow down! Be careful not to hurt your great-grandmother!"
Ji Wu Shi said, "It's alright. He hasn't visited me in several days."
She picked up Ji An Chun and, pointing at Gu Jinzhao, asked him with a smile, "Quick, look! Do you still remember your Aunt Jinzhao?"
Chun Ge'er tilted his head to look at her. Jinzhao observed the child—a little figure as delicate as jade carving—and smiled at him. Chun Ge'er's large, dark eyes studied her for a long while before he turned and clung to Ji Wu Shi's neck without saying a word. Liu Shi grew even more anxious, fearing this might upset Ji Wu Shi.
Fortunately, Chun Ge'er spoke up again, "Mother told me about Aunt Jinzhao, who gave me the silver hairpin! Chun Ge'er remembers!"
Liu Shi finally let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this—her constant reminders to Chun Ge'er had not been in vain.
P.S.:
These chapters were so tough to write; it took me forever to get them done.
OpenNovel