Yuan Shi’s face turned slightly green, and she couldn’t help but grumble inwardly. This Qiu Shi always played deaf and dumb when something came up—she had no sense of responsibility at all. Fortunately her temperament was weak; otherwise, life would truly be unlivable. Then thinking of how she had gone to the Min family to inquire about the seventh branch of the Min family forming a marriage alliance with Grand Secretary Qu, and how the Min family’s First Madam had said with a face full of helplessness something about how since the matter didn’t work out, it wasn’t good to make a fuss about it everywhere—her hands involuntarily clenched into fists.
When it came down to it, the Cheng family’s population was still too sparse. Even if they wanted to form marriage alliances with other prestigious families, they didn’t have the people for it.
If only Fourth Uncle had married Fang Xuan back then.
Thinking of this, her headache grew worse.
According to what the Min family’s First Madam said, Fang Xuan was about to become engaged to Min Jianxing’s younger brother Min Jianyan, and Min Jianyan was the younger brother of the Min family’s eldest daughter. In other words, Fang Xuan would become Cheng Xu’s junior maternal uncle’s wife. Yet Fang Xuan’s mother—Second Madam Fang—blamed everything that happened before entirely on her. The several times she had called, she had been turned away at the door.
How could they maintain family relations like this?
Zhou Shaojin, however, was reading Cheng Chi’s letter with complete delight.
Cheng Chi hadn’t concealed from her what happened in Jining. Instead, he spent a great deal of space explaining the whole sequence of events to her. But with Cheng Chi narrating it unhurriedly in the letter, not only did Zhou Shaojin not worry or feel afraid, she actually burst out laughing.
Chun Wan was just bringing in tea. Seeing this, she smiled and tried to curry favor, saying, “What did Fourth Master write in the letter? You’re so happy reading it!”
Zhou Shaojin carefully folded the letter and placed it in a carved rosewood box at the head of the bed, smiling as she said, “Fourth Master said that the Grand Canal Administrator’s Office has a clerk who was in charge of distributing grain to the river workers this time. But this person likes to drink. After Fourth Master took over the Grand Canal Administrator’s Office affairs, he once had him report the surplus grain in the storage. He must have just been drinking, because he casually reported a number. Who knew Fourth Master would immediately have Huai Shan supervise him in taking inventory? As a result, when they counted, it was nearly five dan of grain short of what he had said. The man was scared out of his wits and immediately slipped Huai Shan five taels of silver, begging Huai Shan to be lenient and let him immediately go find a way to buy five dan of grain. Huai Shan wanted to see what trick he was playing, so he let him go procure the grain, then casually flipped through the account books in the granary…” Getting to this point, Zhou Shaojin suddenly stopped, her eyes bright and shining as she asked Chun Wan, “Guess what happened?”
That joy was plainly leaping across her face.
Chun Wan wasn’t blind!
She smiled with pursed lips and went along with her words, saying, “What happened?”
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, “It turned out he had over-reported by five dan of grain!”
Chun Wan was stunned, then also burst out laughing, saying, “So what happened in the end?”
“Later that person actually did manage to gather five dan of grain and bring it over. Huai Shan didn’t say anything, just watched to see what he would do. Who knew that even after Fourth Master had completely settled the Jining affairs, those five dan of grain were still sitting in the storage.” Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, “Later when Huai Shan inquired, he learned that this person was actually a son from Jining’s wealthiest family. He desperately wanted to be an official, but he wasn’t scholar material, so he spent a fortune to obtain a clerk position from someone else. But then he didn’t take the job seriously—he just wore his official robes and strutted around the streets all day, as if afraid people wouldn’t know who he was. His actual duties were a complete mess. Even his accounts were being handled by a steward from his family. Because the steward who helped manage his accounts fell ill, when Fourth Master suddenly called him in for questioning and Huai Shan directly supervised him going to the granary, that’s when he was exposed.”
Chun Wan took the peeled apple, placed it in a delicate small bowl, and handed it to Zhou Shaojin, smiling as she said, “Someone like that—Fourth Master should expel him from the office!”
Zhou Shaojin used a ginkgo leaf silver fork to spear the apple in the bowl, smiling as she said, “That’s why Fourth Master is so capable—not only did he not expel the man, he even sent him to serve as a courier station master at the courier station. When the Grand Canal Administrator’s Office had this incident, officials from the Ministry of Works, Ministry of Personnel, Censorate, Court of Judicial Review, and eunuchs from the Twenty-Four Yamen came in wave after wave. Even Fourth Master was frantically busy, yet that clerk was like a fish in water, smooth and adaptable on all sides. Not only did he entertain everyone comfortably, he also arranged everyone’s accommodations properly—not a single person complained to Fourth Master about him.”
Chun Wan’s eyes widened.
A courier station was just the court’s inn. When staying at an inn, there should be a first-come-first-served rule, right? Even though you arrived early and moved into the main north-facing rooms, and I arrived late and could only stay in the side rooms, I’m a Third Rank official and you’re just a lowly Sixth Rank—when I, a Fourth Rank official, arrive, shouldn’t you, a Sixth Rank, give way… The Sixth Rank official would have thoughts too. Even though you’re a Fourth Rank official, you’re a prefect, while I work at the Court of Judicial Review. Do you have authority over me? I arrived first, so I stayed first. Why should I move for you!
Wouldn’t that cause a commotion?
Not to mention anything else, being able to smooth over these relationships—that was truly remarkable!
Zhou Shaojin laughed and said, “Isn’t Fourth Master amazing!”
Chun Wan nodded repeatedly.
Zhou Shaojin’s smile deepened as she said, “Fourth Master complained in the letter, saying Yang Shoushan had burrowed into money matters. He said Yang saw that the clerk’s family was wealthy, and thinking that the clerk had spent so much silver to obtain the clerk position, he assigned him to the granary, preparing to let him slowly recoup the silver he’d spent.
“But the man didn’t care about the silver at all—he just wanted to show off. So Fourth Master reassigned him to the courier station. The man was incredibly grateful and even said Fourth Master was his Bole.
“Fourth Master wrote angrily in the letter, saying that if he could fancy someone like that, even if he were Bole, he’d probably be a third-rate Bole. Being appreciated by such a person was worse than not being appreciated at all!”
Thinking of the subtle noble bearing that Cheng Chi unconsciously displayed in his usual gestures, Chun Wan couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Zhou Shaojin’s mood, which had been somewhat gloomy earlier, suddenly became as clear and bright as a cloudless sky.
Smiling, she placed a thumb-sized turquoise stone that had fallen from the envelope in her palm and asked Chun Wan, “Isn’t it beautiful? Fourth Master brought it for me!”
The stone had no regular shape, as if it had been broken off from somewhere, but its color was exceptionally beautiful—emerald green like fresh grass, making one’s eyes feel comfortable just looking at it.
“Beautiful!” Chun Wan said sincerely. “I’ve never seen such a beautiful turquoise stone.”
Zhou Shaojin said, “What do you think if I have it set into a hairpin?”
When Cheng Chi returned, she would dress up for him to see.
Chun Wan praised the idea repeatedly.
Zhou Shaojin told her to inform Qin Ziyou to find someone from a silver shop to help set the stone for her.
Qiu Shi came in, looked at it, and also praised it lavishly, praising Cheng Chi’s attentiveness and consideration before telling Zhou Shaojin, “Mother wants you to come over. She says that although Fourth Uncle isn’t home, since you’re here, you can represent the small third household. While Big Brother and Second Brother are both here, tomorrow she’ll invite Second Uncle and Grand Secretary Wu from the Hanlin Academy to come and divide the household!”
The former was Cheng Xun’s younger brother, the latter Cheng Xun’s good friend. Among the three daughters-in-law—whether Yuan Shi, Qiu Shi, or Zhou Shaojin—none had family in the capital! As for Yuan Weichang, whom Yuan Shi had always relied upon, he and Yuan Shi were only paternal cousins. Also, because Yuan Weichang was the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Old Madam Guo didn’t want to elevate the Yuan family, so she wouldn’t have her daughters-in-law’s natal families come to preside over the household division.
“So soon!” Zhou Shaojin was surprised.
She had thought they would wait until Cheng Chi returned.
Qiu Shi said, “With such a major incident in Jining Prefecture, who knows when Fourth Uncle will be able to return!”
But next February, Cheng Xu would be getting married. If they waited until then to divide the household, they would have the Min family added. Old Madam Guo didn’t want to delay any longer.
All three households had no objections to this division method.
Old Madam Guo had Qin Ziyou write up the household division documents accordingly. Once Wu Xiuzao and He Mianzhi came to affix their seals, they could report it to the government office.
Cheng Wei said, “Then I’ll find a place to move out these next couple of days!”
“No need to be so hasty.” The two families had lived together for over ten years, and now that they were going their separate ways, Cheng Jing was quite sentimental, saying, “Wait until after New Year to move!”
He was the eldest, so in the future everyone would certainly have to go to his place for New Year.
Cheng Wei smiled and said, “Xinglin Alley was already a bit cramped. Once I move out, you can properly prepare Mother’s living quarters earlier.”
That was true!
Cheng Jing said no more.
Both families returned to Xinglin Alley.
One household thought about how for so many years the two families had been crowded together, and now that they were moving out, the house would finally be spacious. Yuan Shi felt her mood had become much lighter. The other household thought about how for so many years the two families had been crowded together, and now that they were moving out, they would finally have their own home. Their mood became elated.
The next day, everyone smoothly signed the documents. Zhou Shaojin instructed the kitchen to prepare a banquet. Cheng Jing hosted his uncle and Grand Secretary Wu for a meal, then saw off Grand Secretary Wu.
Old Madam Guo kept Cheng Xun to discuss New Year matters: “…If the palace bestows a New Year’s Eve feast this year, we’ll eat first. When you return to worship the ancestors, go to the palace early the next morning to pay respects to His Majesty, the Empress, and the Empress Dowager. If the palace doesn’t prepare a New Year’s Eve feast this year, then we’ll celebrate on our own.”
Cheng Shao smiled and nodded, then brought up Cheng Chi’s affairs: “…A few days ago His Majesty summoned me to the palace to play chess and specifically asked about Zichuan, asking if he was my nephew. He also asked about eldest brother. His tone seemed to have a very good impression of Zichuan. I’ve already written a letter to Zichuan telling him to plan carefully and seize this opportunity.”
Among so many officials, to have the Emperor remember one’s name was no simple matter.
“Thank you for your concern, Uncle!” Old Madam Guo gratefully expressed her thanks. As soon as Cheng Xun left, Old Madam Guo couldn’t wait to write a letter to Cheng Chi.
A letter came from the Earl of Pengcheng’s household, asking if they could meet at Xizhimen at the hour of chen the next day, so they could enter the palace together to pay respects to the Empress.
The Cheng family’s small third household lived in the eastern city. Meeting at Xizhimen meant they would have to wake up very early. But when entering the palace, outer-court noblewomen like Old Madam Guo could only enter through the southwest gate.
Zhou Shaojin and Old Madam Guo retired early. The next day before dawn, they began dressing and grooming, not daring to drink water. After hastily eating a few dough cakes, they went to Xizhimen.
Before her daughter married into the imperial family, the Countess of Pengcheng had been nothing more than a country old woman. Even though these years she had enjoyed wealth and comfort, the hard rural life had still left deep traces on her. Even wearing a bright red kesi robe with full sleeves and dove-egg-sized emerald earrings, she still looked like a country old woman.