Jin Chao summoned Luo Yong Ping and instructed him to prepare items for her maternal grandmother: “…We need several bolts of dignified plain silk fabric, the best from Qing Ju Pavilion. Also, several complete boxes of pine nut sticky rice candy, amber candy, and scallion candy. Additionally, prepare a golden longevity lock…” The legitimate son of her Third Cousin was about to turn one year old, so it would be perfect as a meeting gift for the child.
Luo Yong Ping agreed, and a day later the items arrived, all packed in red-lacquered pear blossom wood boxes, extremely exquisite.
However, Gu Jin Rong was reluctant to return with her and told Ji Shi: “…I still have schoolwork to finish. The teacher said I need to write an article on descriptive observation with the same viewpoint as the theory of investigating things and extending knowledge…”
Jin Chao, who was nearby, asked without looking up: “Is it the eight-legged essay format?”
Gu Jin Rong pressed his lips tightly together, then finally nodded.
Jin Chao then said: “You’re only eleven years old, and Master Zhou is already having you write eight-legged essays? Have you thoroughly read the Four Books?”
Gu Jin Rong was momentarily speechless. This was merely an excuse he had made up—he certainly couldn’t write eight-legged essays yet! He hadn’t expected Gu Jin Chao to understand these things. Seeing that Gu Jin Rong had fallen silent, Ji Shi secretly sighed.
Gu Jin Rong had no choice but to have Qing Xiu help him pack his chests, and then he followed Gu Jin Chao into another blue-curtained carriage that clattered towards the Ji family home.
The Ji family resided in San He County of Tong Zhou, quite far from Shi An. Jin Chao only brought Qing Pu and Cai Fu with her. Her father had dispatched a large group of guards and elderly female servants to accompany them. The grand procession reached the territory of Tong Zhou, where her maternal grandmother had already sent people to wait for them on the official road.
Jin Chao had sent her maternal grandmother a letter in advance saying she would return. Seeing that even her maternal grandmother’s steward had been sent here to welcome them, Jin Chao could only smile helplessly—her maternal grandmother still doted on her.
Gu Jin Rong seemed to be sulking with her and hadn’t spoken to her throughout the journey. Jin Chao couldn’t recall how she had offended this young master but thought that Gu Lan must have said quite a bit to him privately, so she didn’t bother with him. She lifted the blue spiral-patterned fine cloth curtain to look outside. Tong Zhou was the northernmost end of the Grand Canal, and along it, the Bao Di merchants were numerous and prosperous. San He County also had wide rivers flowing magnificently, with docks where shipyards were moored.
If one went to the outskirts, one could see fishing families with dried fish hanging under their eaves. Snow had accumulated, and the farmers’ thatched houses were adorned with bright red couplets. Children ran back and forth in the fields—all scenes familiar to her.
Jin Chao’s eyes grew moist. In her previous life, after marrying into the Chen family, she had never returned to San He County.
She thought of her maternal grandmother.
Unlike her mother’s gentle temperament, her maternal grandmother managed all the affairs of the Ji family.
The Ji family was known for its prosperity in Tong Zhou. Although there weren’t many family members serving as officials in the court, nor were there any high-ranking officials, the Ji family-owned merchant houses connected the commercial transport between Jiangnan and Northern Zhili, as well as numerous properties and lands across the various counties of Tong Zhou. When her maternal grandfather died suddenly from illness at a young age, her maternal grandmother became a widow but still managed the Ji family with great distinction.
Although there was a hierarchy among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, a wealthy household like the Ji family still had a significant reputation in Yan Jing, and official families were often associated with them.
In Jin Chao’s eyes, her maternal grandmother was different from ordinary elders. She disliked confining women to the inner chambers and did not require the Ji family’s women to study female virtues. She was particularly indulgent with Jin Chao. Due to her maternal grandmother’s influence, Jin Chao had always been more free than other girls in her childhood.
She could even go play in the fields accompanied by her maids, catching butterflies in the farmland.
When she returned with hands covered in mud, her maternal grandmother would sit by the lamp, trim the wick, and read books. She would smile and ask Song Mama nearby to help clean her hands, then hold her on her lap to teach her characters. For each character she recognized, she would be rewarded with a piece of mung bean cake. Jin Chao would mischievously refuse to recognize characters, preferring to stay in her maternal grandmother’s arms to tell her about what she had done that day and who had upset her.
As she talked, she would grow tired and fall asleep in her maternal grandmother’s arms.
“…Miss Cousin, Young Master Cousin, you may alight now.” The voice of the accompanying steward came from outside the carriage.
Servants brought over a footstool for Jin Chao to step down from the carriage. Gu Jin Chao looked up and saw that this was a courtyard in the inner compound of the Ji family, called Qing Bi Pavilion, planted with a garden full of rustling bamboo groves and a rockery made of Tai Hu stones. They had already passed directly through the Chui Hua Gate to the inner compound…
A pretty young woman immediately came forward, took her hand, and smiled: “Zhao-er has finally arrived. Now Grandmother will be happy.” She wore a dark red kesi padded jacket and a light red moon-patterned skirt, looking very fresh and youthful. Jin Chao then recognized her as her Third Cousin’s wife, Lady Liu.
Third Cousin had taken Lady Liu as his wife. Lady Liu was from Jiangnan, and her ancestors had produced several scholars who passed the highest imperial examinations, making them a prestigious family.
Jin Chao curtseyed and pulled Gu Jin Rong over: “This is my Third Cousin-in-law.”
Gu Jin Rong didn’t particularly want to socialize, but seeing Lady Liu’s gentle smile, he reluctantly greeted her.
Jin Chao almost sighed, releasing Gu Jin Rong’s sleeve and ignoring him. She linked arms with Lady Liu, walking and talking: “For Third Cousin-in-law to personally come and receive us… I calculate that Chun-er is almost one year old now. Has he grown plump? Will he be having his first birthday ceremony soon?”
Lady Liu had married into the family just two years ago and gave birth to a legitimate son within a year, showing her good fortune. She smiled and patted Gu Jin Chao’s hand: “It’s no trouble. If your maternal grandmother wasn’t busy preparing your courtyard, she would have come personally. You’ve arrived at a good time—Chun-er will be one year old in two days. He’s grown quite plump now and is very active.”
Jin Chao said: “It’s good for boys to be active!” Then she asked, “Is maternal grandmother preparing a courtyard for me?”
Lady Liu nodded: “Your former residence, Qi Dong Pan, has been prepared since Grandmother heard you were coming a few days ago. She also had gardeners bring four-season begonias from the greenhouse, making it a riot of color and extremely beautiful. I was just about to take you to see Qi Dong Pan…”
Jin Chao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. These four-season begonias couldn’t withstand the cold; once removed from the greenhouse, they would freeze in just a few days.
Qi Dong Pan was close to her maternal grandmother’s residence, with the two courtyards connected by a corridor, separated only by a small lake. She had lived in Qi Dong Pan since she was five years old, but often stayed in her maternal grandmother’s courtyard, reluctant to return. Walking to the outside of the courtyard, she found that the locust tree she had planted as a child was still there.
After shedding its leaves, the locust tree stood with slender branches crisscrossing like copper and iron.
Several young maids with their hair just beginning to be styled stood at the entrance, curtseying to them. Walking into Qi Dong Pan, the courtyard was bustling with activity. A large group of people surrounded a person wearing a sandalwood-colored plain silk padded jacket, while a woman in a bright red gold-patterned brocade robe supported her arm.
Jin Chao’s eyes moistened.
Her maternal grandmother’s voice was calm: “Don’t place flower pots along the winding corridor; Zhao-er likes to stand there to watch the lake water…”
“Grandmother, Zhao-er has arrived,” the eldest cousin-in-law called with a smile.
Her maternal grandmother turned around, still as Jin Chao remembered—a proper face that looked quite serious, even giving an impression of strictness. Jin Chao seemed to recall that rainy Qing Ming Festival when she knelt alone at her maternal grandmother’s grave, crying as the ashes of the ceremonial paper money floated all around.
Her maternal grandmother’s maiden family was the Wu family of Yangzhou, whose ancestors had served as Salt Distribution Commissioners for several generations, bringing prosperity to the region.
“Zhao-er!” Her maternal grandmother walked toward her with a smile, her steps even quickening, “It’s been almost half a year since I’ve seen you, and you’ve grown taller again…” She touched Jin Chao’s hair and noticed her reddened eyes and silence. She asked with a smile, “What’s this? Has my Zhao-er become dumbfounded at the sight of her maternal grandmother? Are you tired from the journey?”
The same words her mother would say.
Gu Jin Chao took a breath and answered her maternal grandmother with a smile: “I just missed you so much!”
Gu Jin Rong stood behind her, also paying respects to Ji Wu Shi. Ji Wu Shi nodded repeatedly as she looked at him: “Rong-er has grown so quickly! You look like your father and your temperament has become more steady than before.” Ji Wu Shi said with a smile, “When you were little, you would cry in fright every time you saw me…”
Gu Jin Rong smiled faintly; of course, he didn’t remember these things.
Ji Wu Shi then called that woman over—in her thirties, with a radiant smile, she took Gu Jin Chao’s hand: “Our Zhao-er has grown more and more beautiful!” It was her Eldest Uncle’s wife, the wife of her mother’s only legitimate brother, whose maiden family was the renowned tea merchant family, the An Xiang Song family.
Ji Wu Shi was over sixty this year, but her health was still good, and she walked steadily. Anyone meeting her for the first time would certainly think she was a very strict person, but in reality, her maternal grandmother was extremely loving toward children. Jin Chao held her hand—in her early years when she had just begun managing the Ji family, her maternal grandmother personally attended to everything, even going down to the fields, making her hands very rough, but this gave Jin Chao a particular sense of security.
Ji Wu Shi instructed the steward beside her to prepare dishes that Jin Chao loved: “…Steam the four-gilled bass that Second Master brought back from Suzhou last time and take yellow sprouts from the cellar to make vinegar-tossed yellow sprouts. Also prepare braised rabbit head, winter bamboo shoots with ham, grilled clams, roasted venison…” She lowered her head in thought, then added, “And add a bowl of snow lotus stewed with squab.”
Jin Chao quickly held her hand: “Maternal Grandmother, that’s too much!” Just the four-gilled bass alone was troublesome enough.
Ji Wu Shi smiled: “You rarely visit! These are all things you enjoy eating.” She then turned to ask Jin Rong, “I don’t know what our Rong-er likes to eat. Your sister likes steamed four-gilled bass, and Second Uncle always brings some back whenever he goes to Suzhou.”
Gu Jin Rong said: “I don’t have any particular preferences…” But in his heart, he felt a slight movement—he also liked bass…
Ji Wu Shi took Jin Chao to see Qi Dong Pan first. It was still arranged as when she had lived there before, only with more celadon vases added, filled with many wintersweet blossoms. The courtyard was also planted with begonias, clusters of light red flowers contrasting with the accumulated snow, strikingly beautiful. In the inner room, a black lacquered beauty couch had been added, with blue brocade cloud-patterned cushions, adorned with gold thread tassels.
Jin Chao looked at these things in silence. She recalled that later, someone once asked her if she hated her maternal grandmother.
If her maternal grandmother hadn’t raised her with such indulgence, without considering her future, how would she have become the person she later became?