When Changwu and Yun'er returned, they found Minglan sitting perfectly composed on the soft couch, counting her belongings. Danju sat beside her, gently peeling an orange and feeding her segment by segment. Xiaotao and Lüzhi sat opposite each other, one reading aloud from the account book while the other checked items off with a brush. Outside the window, the sky was clear and the water serene, creating a splendid view.
The young couple stared in astonishment, their jaws nearly dropping. Minglan calmly reported the events: packing up, the bandits arriving, jumping into the water, the Water Transport Gang arriving, the bandits fleeing, and their return to the boat.
Concise and to the point, clear and comprehensive; Minglan felt she was increasingly embodying her elder brother Changbai's demeanor.
The young couple felt deeply apologetic and channeled their remorse into action. Understanding the gravity of the situation and that improper handling could implicate the family, they swiftly took charge. Yun'er, after all, was Kang Yima's daughter, dealt with matters decisively and without mercy, efficiently managing the servants to ensure no leaks occurred. By the time they disembarked, everything had settled peacefully.
Changbai had already received the news and was waiting at the dock with a group of household servants. The brothers greeted each other warmly. Little Changdong insisted on riding a horse, pestering his elder brother relentlessly until he finally got his way. Yun'er, struggling with her sore lower back, managed a few words before being carefully assisted by an attentive matron into a blue oilcloth carriage adorned with indigo-red wool. Minglan initially intended to follow her in but was instead guided by the matron into the carriage behind. Upon entering, she found Pinlan smiling and holding an eight-treasure fruit box, waiting for her.
Two years had passed, and Pinlan's face had grown more delicate, her figure more developed. Li Shi had been increasingly strict with her during this time, and the results were evident—her demeanor was no longer as impulsive and restless as before, showing signs of a mature young lady.
Pinlan had missed Minglan terribly. Knowing Minglan was arriving today, she had been restless all morning, anxiously pleading until her mother and sister-in-law finally agreed to let her elder brother bring her along to pick her up.
The two young friends had always been close, and upon meeting, they immediately hugged and tussled, pinching each other's cheeks and arms, laughing and playing until a matron outside coupped disapprovingly, prompting them to settle down.
"You wretched girl, I've missed you to death!" Pinlan clung to Minglan's arm, her face flushed with joy. Minglan, her hair tousled from the roughhousing, struggled to free her hands to tidy it, retorting, "Don't you curse me!"
Pinlan bared her teeth fiercely and pounced on her for another round of playful wrestling. Minglan, outmatched, surrendered with both hands raised.
"How is Da Lao Taitai?" Minglan asked urgently once the two had quieted down. Pinlan's expression darkened. "Last month, she seemed to be getting better, but as soon as the cold weather set in, she took a turn for the worse. These past few days, she's been drowsy and can't even form a complete sentence. The physician says... it might only be a matter of days."
A somber silence filled the carriage. Minglan comforted Pinlan by patting her hand for a while before asking about her own grandmother. Pinlan forced a smile. "Thanks to Second Old Madam, she often shares amusing stories from the old days, which seems to lift Grandmother's spirits. Sometimes when San Lao Taiye comes to cause trouble, Second Old Madam just sits there, and the third branch behaves."
"How do they behave?" Minglan asked with keen interest.Pinlan cleared her throat and, imitating a storyteller, slapped the table with feigned solemnity before launching into a vivid performance—
San Lao Taiye: "Dear nephew, when our late grandfather passed away, he deposited fifty thousand taels of silver with the eldest branch. It's time to divide it now."
Sheng Wei: "This matter... I haven't heard of it."
San Lao Taiye: "You brat dare deny it! How dare you disrespect your uncle? I still have our late grandfather's handwritten records!"
Old Mrs. Sheng: "Ah, yes, there was such a matter. But that year, Third Uncle withdrew the sum in advance to redeem the top courtesan from Cuixian Tower. The late Old Master Cui, who handled the transaction, should still have the records. I'll send a letter to fetch them... What? Glaring like that—do you intend to disrespect your elder sister-in-law?!"
San Lao Taiye: "..."
Old Mrs. Sheng: "To be precise, back then, Third Uncle was short of funds and even borrowed the share belonging to our second branch. I still hold your IOU, Third Uncle. Now that we're all old, it's time to discuss when you'll repay it."
San Lao Taiye: "Lovely weather today! Everyone should head home early and rest. Don’t forget to bring in the laundry after dark! Well then, we’ll be off now."
Pinlan and Minglan doubled over with laughter, clutching the table and shaking with mirth.
Truth be told, San Lao Taiye was quite a character. Though he had never amounted to much, he knew when to retreat and how to adapt to circumstances, which allowed him to avoid irrevocable conflicts with the eldest and second branches. He was content to occasionally secure some silver or enjoy minor benefits.
Sheng Wei was shrewd; harmony bred wealth in business, so he never quarreled with elders. How much longer could San Lao Taiye live? Once he passed, Sheng Wei, as the eldest son of the eldest branch and clan leader, would essentially hold sway over the clan. If the third branch remained incompetent and continued causing chaos, the eldest branch would not be so accommodating.
After traveling for over an hour, the carriage neared the town. Changsong halted the procession at the village entrance for a brief rest. Coachmen watered the horses and inspected the wheels, while maids attended to the ladies, assisting them with washing and relieving themselves. Once Minglan and Pinlan were done, they were hurried back into the carriage. No sooner had they boarded than Pinlan eagerly pressed against the window, lifting the curtain slightly to peer out. Minglan asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"
"Earlier, when we got off, I spotted an old acquaintance... Ah, there they are, there they are! Come quick, look!" Pinlan waved frantically behind her. Puzzled, Minglan leaned over to look. Following Pinlan’s pointing finger, she saw a group of people standing under a large locust tree at the village entrance. Minglan let out a soft gasp.
—It was indeed an old acquaintance.
A disheveled Sun Zhigao crouched on the ground, hugging his head and trembling, his long gown stained with dirt. Beside him stood a tall, sturdy woman gripping a large club. Sun’s mother stood nearby, pointing and shrieking, "Where did this shrew come from? So tyrannical! How dare you beat your husband just for having a drink outside? Look how you’ve battered my son!"
The woman retorted loudly, "I’m beating him precisely for that!" Her expression remained unruffled.
Furious, Sun’s mother lunged at the woman to strike her, but the woman sidestepped nimbly. Sun’s mother crashed heavily to the ground, landing flat on her back. The woman burst into laughter. Sun’s mother, opting to remain sprawled on the ground, screamed, "You wretched widow! Since marrying into our family, you’ve done nothing but vex your mother-in-law and beat your husband! What kind of wife behaves like this? How dare you stand by and watch your mother-in-law fall?!"The widow threw down the stick and laughed carelessly, "Mother-in-law, I was a widow before, but now I've married your son. If you keep calling me 'widow' all day long, aren't you cursing your own son?"
The villagers gathered around burst into laughter, pointing and whispering.
The widow, with her broad face and protruding front teeth, looked quite formidable. In front of all the villagers, she declared loudly, "Although I remarried as a widow, I brought a full dowry when I married into this family. The house we live in, the fields we farm—which of these didn't come from me? It's fine if you, Mother-in-law, just sit around doing nothing, but at least keep an eye on your son! He's a scholar—he should either study hard to earn an official rank or open a private school to make some money. Instead, he runs around all day, sometimes drinking and carousing, other times bringing a bunch of good-for-nothing friends here to feast and make a mess. If I don't keep him in check, he'll end up selling the house and land! Are you planning to wait until my dowry is squandered before finding him another wife?"
The villagers all knew about the Sun family's affairs and laughed heartily upon hearing this. Some troublemakers even made sarcastic remarks. Seeing that no one was on her side, Old Madam Sun lay on the ground, wailing and screaming, "Everyone, listen to this! Since when does a daughter-in-law speak like this? A daughter-in-law should serve her mother-in-law and try to please her. How can she be so disobedient?! She even makes me work, doing this and that, exhausting me to death. I don't want to live anymore, I don't..."
A few elderly men and uncles in the village couldn't stand it and interjected jokingly, "If the daughter-in-law is so fierce, why not just divorce her? How can she treat her mother-in-law like this?"
The widow's face darkened, and she glared at them fiercely, shrieking, "This is already my second marriage. If anyone makes my life difficult, I'll go die at their house—set a fire or hang myself! No one will have it easy!"
The men immediately fell silent. The widow turned to Old Madam Sun and taunted her loudly, "Mother-in-law, do you still think you're some wealthy old madam? The whole family lives off just over ten acres of land. Which old woman in this village doesn't help with some work? I only asked you to watch the chickens and ducks in the backyard—no heavy lifting, no bending over—and you call that exhausting! If you want a good life, you shouldn't have divorced your previous daughter-in-law, Shulan, who was like a god of wealth! Since you had the nerve to divorce her, how can you shamelessly hope she'll come back? Don't embarrass yourself!"
Old Madam Sun thought of the good life she had when Shulan was around and felt a lump in her throat.The widow turned to the surrounding crowd and continued, "Uncles, aunties, elders, you may not know this, but my mother-in-law is the most muddle-headed person. Previously, my husband married an exceptionally good wife who brought with her a dowry of silver, houses, land, and servants. That wife served tea at midnight, massaged legs in the dead of night—she practically treated my mother-in-law like the Queen Mother of the West! Yet, to everyone's surprise, my mother-in-law still disliked her, bullying her all day long until she finally drove her away! Such a good daughter-in-law, and she didn’t appreciate her. Instead, she favored a prostitute from a filthy place, who sweet-talked her with a few words and was treated like a biological daughter! Later, not only did that slut cheat on my husband, but she also gave birth to a bastard. In the end, she ran off with her lover, taking all the money! I say, Mother-in-law, why haven’t you learned your lesson? Since ancient times, good medicine tastes bitter, and honest advice grates on the ears. If you dislike me so much, are you planning to find another sweet-talking prostitute for a daughter-in-law?"
Though the widow was rough and tall, her tongue was sharp. Her words sent the villagers into roaring laughter, with some women nearly splitting their sides. No one stepped forward to help Madam Sun anymore. Trembling with rage, Madam Sun threw herself at Sun Zhigao, pounding his chest while wailing, "You just stand there and watch your mother being bullied by your wife without doing a thing! I gave birth to you for nothing!"
Summoning his courage, Sun Zhigao pointed at the widow and declared, "Filial piety is the foundation of all virtues! How dare you upset your mother-in-law like this? How dare you talk back to her? I wasn’t afraid to divorce such a well-bred woman before—do you think I’d hesitate to divorce you?"
Madam Sun, emboldened, chimed in, "Yes! Divorce her! We’ll find someone better!"
The widow let out three loud laughs, her face turning cold as she shouted, "Find someone better? Stop daydreaming! Back when you and your son were bankrupt and homeless, if I hadn’t married into this family, you would have starved and frozen! Your son is sterile! All he does all day is recite a couple of pretentious poems and fool around. Do you really think you’re some legendary handsome scholar? If I hadn’t been a widow remarrying, who would have wanted you? You can’t even father a son—we had to adopt one from the clan. I don’t even know if I can rely on you for the rest of my life! If you want to divorce me, fine! But remember, I had it clearly written in the contract before the elders and village chief: the house and the land—I’m taking them all back!"
Sun Zhigao’s face flushed crimson with shame and fury. Seeing the villagers snickering and casting strange looks at them, Madam Sun felt both humiliated and angry. She snapped, "You shameless woman! How can you speak of such things in public?"
The widow lifted her chin defiantly. "None of your son’s previous concubines could bear children. The only one who managed to give birth was that prostitute, and the child was a bastard! Besides, that former wife of his remarried and has been giving birth to sons one after another! Let’s make things clear right now, with everyone as witnesses, so you can’t later use ‘failure to bear children’ as an excuse to divorce me. I won’t stand for it!"
As the story goes, Shulan seemed determined to wash away her past humiliation. After remarrying, she unleashed her potential—ding, ding, ding, ding—giving birth to two sets of twins in two years: three sons and a daughter. Now, while she was in confinement after childbirth, her husband’s family, once a small and dwindling clan, had flourished into a thriving, populous household. Her parents-in-law, who had initially been somewhat displeased with her status as a remarried woman, now beamed with joy whenever they laid eyes on their daughter-in-law.Sun's mother was so enraged that she picked up a large stick from the ground and swung it forcefully at the widow. The widow sidestepped, grabbed Sun's mother, shoved her aside, snatched the stick, and began beating Sun Zhigao repeatedly while shouting, "You good-for-nothing! How dare you go out drinking and whoring, squandering money recklessly, befriending all sorts of scoundrels, instead of staying properly at home!"
Sun Zhigao yelped in pain, hopping around to dodge the blows. The widow, fierce and unstoppable, twisted his ear as she continued hitting and cursing. Sun's mother scrambled up to rescue her son but was shoved back, and the three immediately tumbled into a chaotic brawl. The surrounding villagers watched with glee, thoroughly amused.
Minglan observed Sun Zhigao's disheveled and dazed state, a far cry from the arrogant, proud scholar he once was. Seeing Sun's mother in coarse clothing reminded Minglan of how she had once sat in the main hall of the Sheng family, adorned with gold hairpins and jade ornaments, draped in fine silks, sneering at Shulan in front of Li Shi. Truly, the past was like smoke, too painful to recall.
Soon, the carriage was ready to depart. Changsong, aware that the Sun mother and son were causing a scene ahead, feared they might pester them again and took a detour. Pinlan leaned against the window, watching reluctantly until the scene faded from view before letting the curtain fall. She turned back, settled into her seat, leisurely picked up a teacup, took a sip, and exhaled deeply.
Minglan, noticing her gloating expression, teased with a smile, "Feeling satisfied now?"
Pinlan shook her head contentedly, her face radiant with relief. "It's like a cure for pain and illness, promising longevity."
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