When the chaos and turmoil between the elder and younger Fan Shi of the Marquis Jinxiang’s residence reached Song Chuyi’s ears, she was holding the roster of the Cui clan, memorizing it person by person—a century-old prestigious clan with such a large population and complex relationships was truly not something that could be sorted out overnight. She had worked hard for several days and had only memorized about thirty to forty percent. Every day she was dazzled by these things.
Cui Huaying also had to return to Jinzhong to prepare for her wedding. It had long been decided that she would depart for Jinzhong together with Song Chuyi and her siblings. Seeing this, she often teased her: “You’re so clever about other matters, yet being asked to look at a few rosters has you in such difficulty…”
Cui Huayi didn’t take the opportunity to kick her while she was down and mock her. Instead, she pulled Xiang Mingzi aside to whisper about the matter of the Bodhisattva’s manifestation at Huangjue Temple the next day: “Nanny sewed me a rice pouch with copper coins sewn on it, saying it absolutely must be worn on my person that day. And I’m not allowed to stand on tiptoe to look at the Bodhisattva, lest I face it directly and offend the Bodhisattva…” She spoke with helpless sighs, shaking her head in an old-fashioned way: “Then what’s the point of going? I had originally thought that since I heard there are many boy attendants carrying colorful flags at the front, I could go grab one to look at. But Nanny said this is absolutely forbidden. I heard that in the past, that Ninth Miss of Duke Chengguo’s household offended the Bodhisattva by snatching a colorful flag, and later…”
Xiang Mingzi hurriedly covered her mouth. Seeing her face full of regret and boredom, she couldn’t help but laugh and comfort her: “It’s not that boring. Huangjue Temple’s vegetarian feast and pastries are famously delicious and exquisite. Moreover, we can also learn from the brothers and gather around the brazier to brew tea. We can collect snow water from the plum grove behind Huangjue Temple to boil tea, then roast a few sweet potatoes. Wouldn’t that also be a source of pleasure?”
Even Cui Huaying’s eyes lit up at these words. She leaned over to join in: “This idea is good. Last time the roasted sweet potatoes that Second Brother Ye brought back for us truly had a unique flavor. I heard that on the day of the Bodhisattva’s manifestation, after the fireworks are set off in the evening, there’s also setting off Kongming lanterns in groups. It becomes incredibly lively at night… The Bodhisattva’s manifestation happens once every three years, and it coincides with the Ninth Princess’s happy occasion, so it’s certain to be even grander than in the past.”
Qing Ying listened with a smile to their chattering discussion, then gently gave Song Chuyi a meaningful look. Song Chuyi followed her around the flower rack to the outside and asked softly: “There’s movement?”
“The movement is quite significant.” Qing Ying couldn’t help but laugh softly as she spoke: “That old woman picked up from Xingyang—I’ve already inquired clearly with the escort agency. The person wasn’t picked up from the Fan clan, but was picked up by Little Fan Shi from Huzhou, which is still two to three hundred li away from Xingyang. According to what the escort agency people said, she’s a former servant of Little Fan Shi. Judging by her age, she should be Little Fan Shi’s wet nurse or a steward nanny.”
The relationship between Little Fan Shi and the Fan clan was clearly not very good. Song Chuyi had already discovered clues from their pitiful few contacts over the years. But why hadn’t Little Fan Shi’s close attendant come to the capital as part of her dowry, but instead went to Huzhou?
As if knowing Song Chuyi’s question, Qing Ying continued to tell her: “I also heard that back then when this nanny was escorted back to Huzhou for Little Fan Shi, it was also this escort agency.”
So, what kind of extraordinary event had occurred back then that made Little Fan Shi willing to send away even her right-hand person, preferring to send her back to her hometown?
“Miss, this Nanny Zhang is probably quite a figure.” Qing Ying recalled Zhou Weizhao’s words and told Song Chuyi frankly with some puzzlement: “Qing Zhuo from His Highness the Grand Prince’s side told me that Consort Fan Liangdi and Prince Dongping seemed to have had a dispute over this Nanny Zhang. For the sake of this mama, Consort Fan Liangdi even made a special trip to the Marquis Jinxiang’s residence.”
If there was nothing going on in between, First Madam Fan at this time would probably watch coldly from the sidelines, watching Little Fan Shi immersed in grief and pain unable to extricate herself. This kind of person, selfish to the extreme, had always taken pleasure in others’ pain.
The discord between the elder and younger Fan Shi now appeared to be an ironclad fact. But First Madam Fan had everything in her hands, while Little Fan Shi in comparison was still a bit too weak. Song Chuyi thought for a moment, then instructed Qing Ying: “Have people continue watching. Try to see if we can bribe someone close to Little Fan Shi and ask about the reason. Or, bribing someone close to Han Yueheng would work the same.”
With what happened to Han Zhi, even though Prince Dongping still dispatched Chief Clerk Qian Ying to go help, the Marquis Jinxiang’s residence had lost its male master to take charge, so chaos was inevitable. At this time, inquiring about information—as long as it was done carefully—there was no fear of being discovered.
If Little Fan Shi truly was a soft persimmon that would shatter with one squeeze, then they couldn’t help but place more hope in Han Zhi.
Qing Ying acknowledged with a yes, then told her about Old Madam Xiang: “Old Madam Xiang was thrown out by Third Madam Chen that very day. She made a scene at our door for a while, but how could those lads at the gate be easy to bully? In one breath they chased her out two or three li. She said something about wanting to crash to death at our door… She didn’t even touch our family’s stone lions.”
Nanny Xu, while sprinkling a handful of lily-scented incense into the censer, also laughed: “After Old Madam Xiang was driven out, I heard she went looking for the Chen family again. But how would Third Madam Chen dare to see her again? She couldn’t get near the Chen family’s door either. Coming all the way to the capital from thousands of li away, dreaming of relying on Miss Mingzi to get an enormous dowry—now she probably doesn’t even have the silver to return home. This is what she deserves. I’ve never seen a grandmother who joins with outsiders to scheme against her own granddaughter. The Zhao family simply doesn’t acknowledge this marriage connection. Once it spread, all of Miss Mingzi’s face was ruined by her.”
No matter how much Old Madam Chen protected her own, no matter how much she disliked the Song family, encountering such a matter she was still in the wrong. If she didn’t show some attitude, she would certainly become the subject of criticism. It seemed Third Madam Chen’s days wouldn’t be easy either.
This also showed that the Chen family was not only not as impregnable as it appeared from the outside, but even had many hidden troubles—Third Madam Chen handled this matter so improperly. Whether she truly did it to covet Xiang Mingzi’s dowry or was instigated by someone else behind the scenes, at the very least it showed she was someone who could do anything for silver.
And this, sometimes, was already enough.
Song Chuyi handed the roster in her hands to Qing Ying. While walking back, she instructed her: “Outside the city, Ma Changjiang and the others still cannot relax. Inside the city, also dispatch people to keep close watch on the movements at the Marquis Jinxiang’s residence. Before we leave, let’s send the Chen family a great gift.”
First Madam Fan not only had a subtle relationship with Little Fan Shi of the Marquis Jinxiang’s residence, but now because of Little Fan Shi, a rift was gradually opening between her and her son Prince Dongping. She herself was in the midst of the situation and couldn’t see clearly, but Old Madam Chen was no fool—recently because Zhang Tianshi was burning memorials to heaven and inquiring about the mandate of heaven for Emperor Jianzhang, Zhou Weizhao had evidently become popular and powerful again.