Since it was Li family’s eldest uncle who told Li Shi, he must want to know what exactly had happened at Jiuru Alley.
Merchants pursued profit.
Zhou Shaojin became more cautious and said, “I did hear Uncle Chi mention before that Jiuru Alley was dividing the clan. What’s wrong with that? Everyone had already divided the household long ago anyway—they were just living together. Now all three uncles are in the capital, all with sons and daughters and even grandchildren. Especially Uncle Jing—he’s entered the cabinet as a minister, yet his household doesn’t even have anyone to manage the inner affairs. But if Madam Yuan came to the capital, it would mean leaving the old madam all alone in Jinling, or having Cousin Xu and his wife stay in the hometown to serve the old madam. But Cousin Xu is still hoping to pass the next imperial examination—these next two years are crucial for him. I think the old madam and they must have considered this for a long time before making such a decision.”
Li Shi’s expression eased somewhat as she nodded repeatedly, saying, “It’s just that the first branch has three sons who are all presented scholars, with one even serving as a cabinet minister, while the second branch hasn’t produced a single presented scholar for several generations. By comparison, the clan division is even more disadvantageous for the second branch. Everyone sympathizes with the weak, so as they say, every family has its own difficulties to recite—even such an excellent family as the first branch has its helpless situations. My elder brother is also worried that if the first branch doesn’t handle this matter well, someone might seize upon it and impeach them.”
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, “Even if someone does impeach them, it’s not our concern—the uncles are all men with deep wisdom. What we can think of, they’ve surely thought of as well.”
Li Shi thought about it and realized this was indeed the case. She felt somewhat embarrassed by her own panic and said, “Second Miss, you really are knowledgeable!”
No one had ever said such a thing to her before!
Zhou Shaojin felt awkward.
Li Shi exchanged a few more words with Zhou Shaojin before taking her leave.
Zhou Shaojin saw her to the door, then returned to her room and leaned against the large kang by the window, thinking about this matter.
She wondered if there was anything she could help with.
There was also the fourth branch. Previously she had sent them a letter, and Uncle Mian had only said not to worry about this matter, that elders would handle everything, and then there had been no word since. She didn’t know how things were going.
She went to the study, ground ink, and pondered how to write this letter.
Meanwhile, Li Shi had just left the main courtyard when a young maid stopped her, saying, “Madam, Eldest Uncle is still waiting for you in the guest room. He says he has urgent business to discuss with you.”
Perhaps because Cheng Chi had previously stayed in the study, Zhou Shaojin had hinted intentionally or unintentionally to the household that Cheng Chi might stay in the study again if he had business, so Li Shi had rearranged a guest room to accommodate her brother.
She immediately went to the guest room.
Eldest Master Li was standing before a hanging painting of a fierce tiger descending the mountain, examining it carefully with furrowed brows. When he saw his sister enter, his brows furrowed even tighter as he said, “What did Second Miss say?”
Li Shi told Eldest Master Li what Zhou Shaojin had said.
Eldest Master Li’s expression didn’t improve. He said thoughtfully, “The Cheng family has their own calculations regarding the clan division at Jiuru Alley. I’m not actually worried about that. I’m worried about my business… Regardless of whether the Cheng family had divided their household before or not, they were still one family when they went out. The eldest young lady is a granddaughter of the fourth branch, but Second Miss isn’t even a granddaughter. Yet the one who’s on good terms with you is Second Miss, while the eldest young lady is difficult to deal with… I wonder if the Cheng family will still associate with Second Miss as they did before?”
Li Shi smiled and said, “Elder Brother, you’re truly confused with worry! Is clan division such a simple matter? We’re only finding out about Jiuru Alley’s division now—who knows, they might have been arguing about it for years already? Look at how the first branch treats Shaojin—they gave away such a fine residence without hesitation. You haven’t even seen how good they are to Second Miss at Chaoyang Gate! Whatever they eat, drink, or play with, there must be a share for Yuqian Alley. Even the household stewards, maids, and women mostly came from Chaoyang Gate. It’s like another Cheng family residence.”
Eldest Master Li laughed at himself and said, “I was indeed panicking—the Wine and Vinegar Bureau has already given us an order. The goods will be shipped in the next few days. I’m just afraid there might be some change and the Wine and Vinegar Bureau won’t acknowledge it. After all, I’ve only just started dealing with them. Without the Cheng family helping to facilitate things, I really feel uneasy about this business!”
Li Shi comforted her brother, saying, “I know that being an imperial merchant is worlds apart from being an ordinary merchant, but some things need not be forced. Living peacefully and contentedly is most important.”
Eldest Master Li nodded.
But Li Shi hadn’t expected that early the next morning, Zhou Shaojin would receive an urgent express letter sent six hundred li from Baoding Prefecture by Zhou Zhen. In the letter, he anxiously inquired about the Cheng family’s clan division.
Only then did Zhou Shaojin truly feel the impact of the Cheng family’s clan division.
She selected what she could tell her father and informed him.
Soon, news of the Cheng family’s affairs spread throughout the capital, especially among officials from Jiangnan.
People came to visit Xingling Alley every day.
Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help but secretly feel relieved that Old Madam Guo and Second Madam Wei had both moved to the residence at Chaoyang Gate. Otherwise, being questioned about the clan division every day would surely leave them in no good mood.
Cheng Chi suddenly came over and stayed at Yuqian Alley.
When Li Shi heard about it, she quickly sent people to the streets to buy many fresh and precious fruits to entertain Cheng Chi, and instructed Nanny Li and others to serve him well, saying, “He’s probably troubled and vexed by family matters and came here for some peace and quiet. Tell those serving in the outer courtyard to watch their mouths and not speak carelessly.”
A few days ago, Eldest Master Li had learned that in this division at Jiuru Alley, the first branch had kept the sacrificial lands and genealogy but paid out a large sum of silver to compensate the second branch, and were now greatly weakened.
Li Shi thought of the exquisite scenery she had seen when visiting Jiuru Alley before and couldn’t help sighing deeply.
The family had indeed divided!
In the future, it would probably be difficult to ever see Jiuru Alley’s beautiful scenery again.
Because Zhou Shaojin had grown up in the Cheng family, everyone treated her as a Cheng family daughter. Her sister had also married into the Liao family of Zhenjiang, another prominent Jiangnan family, as the eldest grandson’s wife, so naturally she knew more than Li Shi and Eldest Master Li.
Speaking of it, Yuan Shi was also quite formidable.
Once enlightened by her eldest maternal uncle and his advisors, she immediately understood.
The first and second branches had already divided the household before. Although they hadn’t registered it with the authorities or anything, they had signed documents. Because they were one of Jinling’s top families, those who signed as witnesses on the documents included maternal uncles from various branches as well as officials who were serving as Jinling’s parent officials at the time. The genealogy, according to customary practice, wasn’t written in the documents as to whom it belonged, but the sacrificial lands were clearly stated as belonging to the first branch. If the second branch wouldn’t give up the genealogy, fine—the first branch hadn’t separated out yet, Yuan Shi was still the matriarch of the Jiuru Alley Cheng family, responsible for preparing what was needed for family sacrifices, and the Dragon Boat Festival was precisely the time to worship ancestors. Yuan Shi had people guard the ancestral hall and not only made a scene when the second branch came to worship, but also found people to discuss selling the Cheng family’s sacrificial lands and moving the graves of Lord Zhi, the old master, and others to the capital.
Cheng Xu was furious but had no recourse.
He couldn’t very well sue the first branch, could he? And forget about lawsuits—he couldn’t even speak of it publicly.
If he did, the Cheng family would become the laughingstock of Jiangnan!
Whether they won or lost the lawsuit, the reputation of the Jiuru Alley Cheng family would be finished.
Once a family lost its reputation, how could it maintain its standing in the world!
Moreover, Cheng Shi still needed to study and enter officialdom.
He could only blame himself for not thinking so deeply when they divided the household.
Or perhaps in his subconscious, he never thought the second branch could fall so low as to need to manipulate the first branch to get through their difficulties.
This was perhaps what they meant by human calculations falling short of heaven’s plans!
Having the genealogy was now useless to him.
If the first branch separated out and established a separate household, logically they should trace back three generations before the first ancestor. Lord Zhi happened to be their branch’s great-great-grandfather. What he could use now was only Lord Zhi’s reputation. But once they gave up the ancestral genealogy, it would be their second branch being divided out, and they would truly have no connection at all to Lord Zhi.
In the end, it was still because the second branch had no descendants capable of supporting the family’s standing.
After careful consideration, Cheng Xu finally traded the genealogy for an official position of the fourth rank for Cheng Shi—the first branch promised that as long as Cheng Shi could pass the imperial examination, they would spare no effort to promote him to a fourth-rank official position. As for after that, the first branch didn’t have the ability to continue promoting Cheng Shi. For officials above the fourth rank, even if Cheng Jing had entered the cabinet, he couldn’t guarantee he could definitely achieve it. What happened afterward would depend on Cheng Shi’s own fortune.
The three million taels of silver was reduced to one million two hundred thousand taels.
The Seven Stars Hall was something that couldn’t see the light of day.
Based on Cheng Xu’s understanding of Seven Stars Hall, in earlier years most of its profits had gone to the second branch. The first branch had only been in control since Cheng Chi took over recently. One million two hundred thousand taels was about all the first branch could produce. Any more, and the first branch couldn’t pay it—it would only drive them to take desperate measures, break the pot and fall out with the second branch, not giving a single tael of silver…
Yuan Shi was naturally very satisfied with this result.
Whether Cheng Shi could pass the imperial examination was still uncertain. Even if he entered officialdom and became a fourth-rank official, as long as Cheng Xu acted according to her plan, he could suppress Cheng Shi so he couldn’t breathe. She still held evidence of Cheng Shi framing Cheng Xu—there were plenty of ways to keep him stuck at the fourth rank until retirement. To jump out and oppose now would be too foolish.
Secondly, that one million two hundred thousand taels of silver all came from Cheng Chi. She hadn’t lost a single penny, and had even gained a good reputation because she planned to sell her dowry to contribute…
She felt that in this matter of clan division, she was the true winner.
Cheng Chi lay on the bed groaning, grabbed the small hand of Zhou Shaojin who had come to comfort him, and had her rub his chest: “This really was working hard only to have a pipe dream. One million two hundred thousand taels of silver… Just thinking about it makes my heart ache! If another one or two ships from the Thirteen Factories capsize, I think I’d better sell the place at Chaoyang Gate and just live here instead… Fortunately good deeds are rewarded—I originally planned to send some things for safekeeping, but I never expected that with one million two hundred thousand taels, Yuan Shi could talk so easily without her back hurting, just giving it away…”
Zhou Shaojin was flustered at first, but after Cheng Chi mentioned “one million two hundred thousand taels of silver” twice, she gradually relaxed.
Even if this one million two hundred thousand taels meant the first branch would never again have their former wealth, was Uncle Chi—who wore fine cloth robes but needed to cover them with a sable fur vest—someone who cared about such things?
That he spoke this way—who knew what act he was putting on or what trick he was playing!