Chapter 54

Chapter 54

With a thousand taels of silver now in their possession, they had a legitimate reason to purchase a house.

The Yun family's main residence had been bestowed by the emperor when Vice Minister Yun attained his official position, and property values in that district were relatively high.

Moreover, in Great Zhou, only officials were permitted to reside in houses with four or more courtyards.

Yun Zhangxie currently held no official rank, being merely a low-level scholar.

At most, he could only occupy a three-courtyard house; anything larger was beyond his station.

Fortunately, their household was small and had no need for a four-courtyard residence.

They could neither purchase a house larger than three courtyards nor one near the Yun family's main branch.

After consulting with Su Qingruo, Yun Zhangxie decided to buy a house closer to the academy, making his future commute more convenient. Most residents in this area were scholars, who valued reputation and propriety, naturally fostering a more refined atmosphere than ordinary neighborhoods.

Moving here would also spare them from harassment by local ruffians.

When house-hunting, Yun Zhangxie, Su Qingruo, and Liu Shi went together, viewing several properties before settling on one near the street.

This particular house was listed for 1,400 taels, a relatively high price for the area.

Yun Zhangxie bargained extensively, and the seller eventually conceded—primarily out of deference to Yun Zhangyu’s status.

Indeed, the capital was not as idyllic as it appeared on the surface.

The more prosperous, bustling, and populous a place, the more rigid its social stratification.

People here did not judge others by appearance; they first assessed one's status. Only if one's standing was sufficiently high did they earn the right to engage.

This left Yun Zhangxie profoundly irritated and further fueled his determination to achieve academic distinction.

Ultimately, the new house was purchased for 1,100 taels.

The initial asking price of 1,400 taels was inflated; the actual value was closer to 1,000 taels.

But that no longer mattered. Once bought, the house was for living in—as long as they were content, nothing else was important.

After purchasing the house, they did not move in immediately.

The three-courtyard residence required extensive renovations.

Over the following weeks, Liu Shi and Su Qingruo oversaw the renovations, hiring craftsmen to thoroughly refurbish the place.

Each courtyard was spacious, making the renovation process quite laborious.

By the time everything was finally in order, it was already the winter month of November.

They moved into their new home on the fifteenth day of that month.

To celebrate their housewarming, Yun Zhangyu came in person with his husband.

To Yun Zhangxie’s surprise, relatives from the second branch of the Yun family also arrived.

The second branch had previously resided in the capital as well.

But earlier that year, the second uncle—Yun Zhangxie’s second paternal uncle—had been transferred to another post, and the entire household had relocated with him.

The visitor from the second branch this time was the eldest legitimate son, Yun Zhangzi.

Yun Zhangzi held an official position—a rather undemanding sinecure outside the capital.

He had returned to the capital because Vice Minister Yun had arranged a new position for him in the city, transferring him back from his previous assignment.

There were not many male descendants in the Yun family’s "Zhang" generation, and Vice Minister Yun did not wish for them to be dispersed elsewhere.

Bringing Yun Zhangxie to the capital had been partly to look after his younger brother.

Similarly, having the eldest son of his second brother return to serve as an official was also to prevent him from hardship elsewhere.

No matter how good other places were, none could compare to the capital.

Moreover, with both Vice Minister Yun and Yun Zhangyu in the city, life here was certainly better than elsewhere.

Yun Zhangzi was now thirty years old, married with children, and had also taken a concubine.

With few male descendants in the "Zhang" generation and Yun Zhangyu, the eldest, still childless, Yun Zhangzi had taken on the responsibility of continuing the family line.

His wife had given him three children—two sons and a daughter.

His concubine had also borne two—a son and a daughter.

With five children in total, he was indeed one of the most prolific in his generation.

Perhaps due to excessive indulgence and his inherently lazy nature, Yun Zhangzi had a somewhat gloomy demeanor.

Yun Zhangxie hosted his two elder brothers in the new house, while Su Qingruo interacted with Yun Zhangzi’s wife and children, accompanied by the elder sister-in-law.

Yun Zhangzi’s wife had a rather cutting personality.

However, her sharpness was not displayed to everyone—only to Su Qingruo.

Whether she looked down on Yun Zhangxie or simply thought Su Qingruo was mute was unclear.

Whenever the elder sister-in-law, Lin Shi, was out of sight, she would purse her lips and scrutinize Su Qingruo with sharp eyes.

Su Qingruo had not expected the younger Yun family members to visit today and, lacking suitable gifts, could only offer the children some silver.

Upon seeing this, the woman murmured the word "pauper" under her breath—just loud enough for Su Qingruo to hear.

Furious, Su Qingruo’s expression immediately soured.

Over the past two years, living with Yun Zhangxie—who pampered and looked after him—his disposition had changed markedly from before.

Even his mother-in-law, Liu Shi, had never treated him harshly.

It had been so long since he’d been treated this way that he found it truly unsettling.

Lin Shi noticed Su Qingruo’s discomfort and approached to look at her sister-in-law.

The younger sister-in-law, Yang Shi, smiled at Lin Shi and said, "Elder sister-in-law, it’s getting late. We shouldn’t overstay. My children are quite boisterous, and with you being pregnant, I wouldn’t want them to bother you."

Lin Shi nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Madam Yang smiled, took her two children by the hand, and swayed as she walked away.

Lin Shi couldn’t help but frown at the sight of her swaying walk.

Later, when Yun Zhangyu came by, Lin Shi pulled him aside and asked quietly, “What’s the deal with the second branch’s wife? Wasn’t she supposed to be a merchant’s daughter? Why… why does she seem a bit improper?”

Yun Zhangyu replied softly, “Her birth mother was a singing-girl. She spent some time with her mother as a child and probably picked up some unsavory habits. She’s a concubine’s daughter with that kind of mother—our family originally opposed the marriage. But… well, Zhangzi took a liking to her, and in the end, she was taken as his wife.”

Over the years, after bearing two sons in succession, she grew more confident, and her true colors began to show.

Lin Shi remarked, “It seems none of your family’s marriages have been particularly prestigious.”

“Not entirely. Zhangmu’s fiancée is the trueborn daughter of the Yuanbei Song family, and the second branch’s Zhangyou also married a noblewoman.”

As for the third branch, both of Yun Zhangxie’s elder brothers also married women from prominent families.

Truth be told, it was only Yun Zhangyu, Yun Zhangzi, and Yun Zhangxie whose marriages were considered not up to expectations.

Of course, this “not up to expectations” was the elders’ opinion.

As for the three men themselves, they were perfectly happy with their choices.

Once the guests had left, Yun Zhangxie finally had some time to himself and noticed that Su Qingruo seemed upset.

He took Su Qingruo back to their room and asked gently, “What’s wrong? Did something unpleasant happen?”

Su Qingruo couldn’t speak and, in her current mood, wasn’t in the mood to write it out either.

Seeing this, Yun Zhangxie pulled her into his arms and spoke to her gently.

“If you don’t want to tell me, I’ll try to guess. Was it Madam Yang or her children who upset you?”

Su Qingruo had interacted with Lin Shi and had a good impression of her.

Lin Shi was also clever—she wouldn’t easily offend others. Even though Su Qingruo couldn’t speak, Lin Shi never looked down on her for it.

It couldn’t have been Lin Shi. The only new people Su Qingruo had met were Madam Yang and her two children.

Madam Yang had only brought her two sons today. She was a traditional woman who firmly believed in favoring sons over daughters.

She had three children but only doted on the two boys, all but ignoring her daughter.

Ironically, her husband, Yun Zhangzi, actually doted on their daughter instead.

Not that Yun Zhangzi didn’t share the typical male preference for sons—he was a product of his era, after all.

But favoring sons didn’t mean he neglected his daughter.

He treasured his trueborn daughter dearly.

In fact, at that very moment, while Yun Zhangxie was comforting Su Qingruo, Yun Zhangzi was reprimanding Madam Yang elsewhere.

“Why didn’t you bring Liang Jie’er along when visiting Zhangxie’s home today?”

Madam Yang answered carelessly, “Liang Jie’er is a girl. It’s inconvenient to bring girls out.”

Yun Zhangzi retorted, “What’s inconvenient about it? You have plenty of servants—it’s not like you’d have to take care of her yourself. And another thing—when I went to her courtyard earlier, I noticed she didn’t even have a maid serving her. Didn’t I assign her one? Did you transfer her elsewhere again?”

Madam Yang grew irritated at his endless doting on their daughter.

“She’s a girl. When she grows up and marries, she’ll have to learn to serve others. I figured it’s better to start young—”

Before she could finish, Yun Zhangzi abruptly stood up and walked out.

Fuming, Madam Yang knew he was going to see their daughter again, and for some reason, it made her sick.

Yun Zhangxie said, “If you don’t like them, we’ll just see less of them in the future.”

Su Qingruo gave a helpless sigh at this.

She lifted her gaze to Yun Zhangxie, then rested her head against his shoulder and wrote on his chest with her finger.

“No.”

They were family, after all—how could they cut off contact completely?

“It’s fine. I’m still studying and usually quite busy. Cousin Zhangzi is an official and is rarely free. I doubt he’ll bring his family over often. If they visit while I’m away, you don’t have to see them. Everyone knows you can’t speak—no one will blame you if you don’t greet them. I’ll explain it to them later.”

Su Qingruo thought Yun Zhangxie’s plan wasn’t right.

Family should keep in touch.

She’d just have to be smarter about it. If Madam Yang disdained her, she’d disdain Madam Yang right back.

Hmph. It wasn’t like Madam Yang was the only one who could put on airs.

Next time they were alone, she’d make sure to give her a taste of her own medicine too.

Seeing Su Qingruo’s mood improve slightly, Yun Zhangxie coaxed her into telling him what happened today.

When he learned how vicious Madam Yang had been, Yun Zhangxie’s eyes turned cold.

Thankfully, she was merely a woman restricted to the women's quarters. If she were a man who went out often, she’d surely cause trouble.