Chapter 722

Chapter 729: Distant News (Part 1)

"Eldest Brother knows," the Eleventh Miss sighed. "Some of this was actually told to me by Eldest Brother, who asked me to advise Fifth Sister. I’ve tried to gently probe Fifth Sister about it, but she just says that Zhuotao has served Xin Geer since he was little, and Xin Geer can’t do without her for now. She’s already past marriageable age and it’s hard to marry her off. Since she’s not often in Dengzhou, she let Fifth Sister’s husband take Zhuotao as his concubine. As for Zhao Sheng, she says there’s no suitable candidate, and since Zhao Sheng came from our household, we know his background. Rather than hiring someone else, it’s better to hire Zhao Sheng."

"How could Fifth Sister do such a thing?" Twelve Miss interjected before she could finish. "We’re family—what’s there to hide? How can we help her if she’s like this?" She paused, sounding somewhat helpless. "But Fifth Sister has always been very concerned about saving face, even back at home. And we’re just her younger sisters..."

"Exactly," Eleven Miss said. "I had no choice but to report her words exactly to Eldest Brother. Eldest Brother also felt there was nothing he could do, saying that even in a lawsuit you need the victim to come forward. Without a victim, how can we overstep our bounds?"

The two sisters fell into silence.

"Enough, let’s not talk about this anymore!" Eleven Miss said. "Even an impartial official finds it hard to settle family disputes. Fifth Sister is about to have a daughter-in-law—she has her own plans and arrangements for how to live her life. Since you’re rarely here, stay for supper before you go back."

Twelve Miss let out a long sigh, temporarily putting the matter aside.

"How is Yingniang?" she asked with a smile. "I haven’t seen her since Zhuang Geer’s first birthday!"

"She’s doing well," Eleven Miss said, smiling as she asked Cold Fragrance to invite Yingniang over to join them. "Zhuang Geer is walking now and runs around everywhere. She follows him all day, not daring to blink. Yesterday she even held my arm and said she misses Fourth Sister-in-law and wants to take good care of me. It shows that once a woman becomes a mother, she truly understands a mother’s hardships and challenges."

Twelve Miss nodded with a smile.

Yingniang arrived.

"Why didn’t you bring Zhuang Geer over?" Perhaps because she spent her childhood in the Green Bamboo Pavilion in Yuyao, Twelve Miss loved lively gatherings. The Wang family had many aunts, and she enjoyed helping with whatever issues the mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law had. Everyone liked her, and their home was often filled with visitors. To her, having just three people for a meal felt rather quiet. "It’s been a while since I’ve seen him."

"He can’t sit still now," Yingniang complained, though her eyes were full of tender warmth. "Even during meals, his wet-nurse has to chase him to feed him. That’s why I didn’t bring him."

"There are no outsiders here—why bother with such formalities?" Twelve Miss said with a laugh. "Every child grows up like this." Then she teased, "I didn’t ask you here just to see you—I wanted to see our Zhuang Geer!"

Yingniang giggled and sent a maid to fetch Zhuang Geer. The several of them played with the child, and time flew by until afternoon. Twelve Miss, concerned about Wang Ze at home, headed back.

After the Ghost Festival, Eleven Miss came to deliver Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to Twelve Miss. The two pulled each other aside for some private talk.

"I’ve found out the details," she whispered. "They say that when Fifth Sister’s husband was first in his post, Fifth Sister had to stay in Yanjing to look after the children, so she thought about buying someone to serve him. But the ones with good backgrounds were too expensive, and the cheaper ones hadn’t been properly trained. She was afraid they’d cause trouble after joining the household. After thinking it over, Fifth Sister remembered Zhuotao, who was already older and still unmarried. She figured that since Fifth Sister’s husband had never shown any interest in Zhuotao despite seeing her all these years, she might as well let him take her as his concubine." Here, she showed a bitter expression. "Who would have thought that this very Zhuotao, after following Fifth Sister’s husband, would win his favor? Fifth Sister didn’t go to Dengzhou, and Fifth Sister’s husband didn’t urge her to come as he used to. He even brought Zhao Sheng to Dengzhou to serve as his tax and grain clerk.

"Fifth Sister couldn’t back down, so she went to Dengzhou around the New Year and demanded that Fifth Sister’s husband dismiss Zhao Sheng. But Fifth Sister’s husband said that Zhao Sheng had been doing well at the Luo family—if it weren’t to help him, why would he have come to Dengzhou? Now that he’d finally helped him establish a footing in Dengzhou, how could he just dismiss him? He also said that since Zhao Sheng was from the Luo family after all, he was better than hiring an outsider.

"Fifth Sister had no choice but to stay there for a while, hoping to find some fault with Zhao Sheng. Instead of finding anything on Zhao Sheng, Zhao Sheng found fault with her!"

Eleven Miss’s expression turned serious. "Where did you hear all this?"

"I was very worried about Fifth Sister, so I wrote a letter back to Yuyao," Twelve Miss said. "It was Sister-in-Law who told me!"

It seemed ninety percent likely to be true.

Eleven Miss pondered. "What do you mean, Zhao Sheng found fault with Fifth Sister?"

Twelve Miss’s expression darkened. "Someone gave Fifth Sister a thousand taels of silver, asking her to help with a lawsuit. Fifth Sister put in a word with the judicial clerk, and the matter was settled. Somehow, Zhao Sheng found out and told Fifth Sister’s husband. Fifth Sister’s husband pointed at Fifth Sister and told her to get out... Fifth Sister, unable to save face, brought up how their mother had funded Fifth Sister’s husband’s studies back in the day. She also said that if it weren’t for the marquis, he wouldn’t have been able to buy a house in Yanjing... Fifth Sister’s husband turned purple with rage and slapped himself twice right then and there. After that, he never spoke another word to Fifth Sister.

"The servants saw how the wind was blowing. Fifth Sister had no one to talk to, whether coming or going. She simply couldn’t stay in Dengzhou any longer, so she brought Xin Geer and Na Jie'er back."

Eleven Miss’s expression grew increasingly grave. "In the past, did Fifth Sister also do things like accepting money to help with lawsuits?"

Twelve Miss nodded. "Sister-in-Law said that when Zhao Sheng became Fifth Sister’s husband’s tax and grain clerk, she wrote to question Fifth Sister’s husband about it. But Fifth Sister’s husband said that the previous tax and grain clerk had encouraged Fifth Sister to exchange high-quality government land for newly reclaimed low-quality private land and then profit from selling the land... Sister-in-Law wrote to ask Fifth Sister, and Fifth Sister said that the magistrate next door did the same thing—so how could it be such a terrible crime when she did it? She also said, who wouldn’t want to be an honest official like Eldest Brother, but you need the family wealth to support it. Fifth Sister’s husband’s family not only didn’t subsidize them, but they had to send money home every year. Fifth Sister’s husband’s annual salary converted to silver was only forty-five taels of silver. With a large household to support, was it enough for food or drink? If she didn’t do this, how could they make ends meet? She also said that Sister-in-Law managed a household too—if others didn’t understand, surely Sister-in-Law knew the hardships involved? That left Sister-in-Law speechless, and she never brought it up again."

"No wonder she doesn’t go to Dengzhou!" Eleven Miss murmured. "It’s not that she doesn’t want to go—it’s that she has no place to stand there anymore... She’s really bringing suffering upon herself by insisting on saving face. All these years, everyone thought she didn’t go to Dengzhou because she feared hardship."

Twelve Miss also sighed in agreement, then said, "After Fifth Sister returned to Yanjing, Fifth Sister’s husband sent someone to deliver two thousand taels of silver to her every year. At first, Fifth Sister thought this was fine—out of sight, out of mind. She focused wholeheartedly on raising the children in Yanjing. Once Xin Geer gained an official title, she would have something to rely on. By budgeting carefully, they could even save some silver each year. But as time passed, Fifth Sister grew uncomfortable with the arrangement. She figured that if Fifth Sister’s husband could send her two thousand taels every year, then Zhuotao, who was with him in Dengzhou as a concubine, must be living in luxury. So she went to Dengzhou again."

Eleven Miss leaned forward eagerly. "What happened?" Twelve Miss let out a long sigh. "Zhuotao hardly ever went out. At home, she wore simple, homespun clothing—spinning, weaving, growing vegetables, raising chickens, like a farm woman. She served Fifth Sister’s husband attentively, more devoted than a proper wife. Everyone in Dengzhou praised Fifth Sister’s husband for his strict household discipline. It’s said that Huang You agreed to the marriage alliance partly because he admired Fifth Sister’s husband’s well-ordered household."

Eleven Miss was left speechless for a moment before asking, "Then how did Fifth Miss manage to call Zhuotao back?"

Twelve Miss lowered her voice and said, "I heard that Zhuotao miscarried last spring. Fifth Miss feared that if things continued this way, her husband would only have eyes for Zhuotao. Using the excuse of letting Zhuotao recuperate, she called her back and sent a fair-complexioned young maid to Dengzhou instead. This year, she used the excuse that Shengge’s wedding was approaching and she couldn’t handle everything alone, so she kept Zhuotao at home."

"Did Fifth Miss’s husband send anyone to ask for Zhuotao back?" Eleven Miss thought for a moment and asked Twelve Miss.

"No!" Twelve Miss also looked puzzled. "That’s why Fifth Miss plans to stay in Dengzhou until after the New Year this time. First, to take the new daughter-in-law to visit the wealthy gentry families in Dengzhou, and second, to see if the new servant by her husband’s side is truly dutiful."

She probably also wanted to show Zhuotao that even without her, Qian Ming would get along perfectly well!

After seeing Twelve Miss off, Eleven Miss wrote a letter to Luo Zhenxing, asking about Qian Ming’s reputation in official circles. Then she busied herself with the Mid-Autumn Festival preparations and getting Xu Siyu ready for the imperial examination in the eighth lunar month.

Xu Siyu was even more nervous than the first time he took the exam.

The elder madam, despite her advanced age, even asked Second Wife and Eleven Miss to accompany her to the temple to pray to the Bodhisattva and make a vow.

When Xu Sijian found out, he teased Xu Siyu, "If I were you, I’d just take the exam casually—no need to be so serious. After all, we’re now the Empress Dowager’s nephews and the Emperor’s cousins. At the very least, getting a position as a fourth-rank commandant shouldn’t be too difficult, right? Even if Second Brother passes the imperial examination, he’ll start as a deputy seventh-rank official. It would take at least ten years to reach fourth rank in a ministry. If he’s assigned to a provincial post, an assistant administrator is only deputy fourth-rank—that would take twenty years at least..."

"Stop talking nonsense!" The elder madam picked up the round fan beside her and smacked Xu Sijian hard on the head.

Xu Sijian clutched his head and darted away like a scared mouse.

Everyone burst into laughter.

"It’s not the same," Xu Siyu said with a smile. "A hereditary appointment may seem fast, but it’s actually hard to get promoted later. Although the imperial examination path is slower, it’s steady and solid, step by step." His gaze toward Xu Sijian, however, held gratitude, knowing that Xu Sijian was trying to cheer him up. Still, with all the commotion, he did feel much more relaxed.

By the day of the exam, he was actually the most relaxed.

When he received the exam paper, he found that one of the questions shared similarities with an essay he had written recently. His confidence grew, and he wrote a flowery/ornate response.

After three days, when he emerged and saw Xu Siqin, Xu Sijian, Xu Sizhun, and Xu Sijie there to pick him up, he couldn’t help but break into a beaming smile.