This version of Yu Yuan made Chen Shi find him very amusing. She teased him, saying, “You’re nodding so haphazardly—are you agreeing with your uncle or disagreeing?”
Yu Yuan, who was usually quite easygoing and generous, actually ran off in a flash upon hearing this.
Chen Shi and Yu Wen laughed heartily. After tidying up, they went to Yu Bo’s house.
Yu Tang stood dazedly under the osmanthus tree, unable to return to her senses for a long while.
In her previous life, her eldest cousin hadn’t brought up marriage so early.
Because her parents had passed away and her family had no male heir, her eldest cousin had voluntarily shouldered the responsibility for both households, observing three years of mourning for her parents.
After three years, in the eyes of the world, the Yu family had already declined. Eldest Cousin’s marriage became a source of distress for her uncle and aunt. Those with sufficient learning and upbringing scorned their family’s poverty. Those willing to marry their daughters over all had obvious flaws of one kind or another. But because of her parents’ deaths, the family’s numbers were truly sparse. Her uncle and aunt were anxious to have Eldest Cousin marry, so they formed an alliance with the Gao family, rural gentry from Heqiao Town.
Who would have known that Gao Shi, though extraordinarily beautiful, had an extremely volatile temper? After marrying in, she first clashed constantly with her uncle and aunt, then scorned Yu Yuan for not earning enough money. She would frequently refuse to let Yu Yuan near her, and finally simply moved back to her natal family.
Though Yu Yuan had a wife, it was as if he had no wife at all, let alone the grandson her uncle and aunt had always hoped for.
By the time Yu Yuan had earned money and Gao Shi returned to the Yu family, she felt Yu Yuan was too stingy with her and unwilling to help support her natal family.
No matter how much her uncle and aunt yielded, she was relentless about money matters, insisting that Yu Yuan give her control of all household property.
Under the persuasion of his uncle and aunt, Eldest Cousin gave household property to Gao Shi to manage, but their relationship dropped to freezing point.
Eldest Cousin traveled for business and was rarely home. Gao Shi stayed home calling friends over, drinking wine and playing drinking games.
The household was filled with chaos and corruption.
Eventually, Yu Yuan died unexpectedly, and Gao Shi ran off with the family’s wealth and a traveling merchant.
This was also why, after her uncle and eldest cousin passed away, her aunt’s livelihood was nearly nonexistent…
Thinking of these past events, Yu Tang sighed bitterly.
In her previous life, she had no way to help Yu Yuan, but she had always hoped Eldest Cousin could have a happy family with someone who knew when he was cold or warm, not entangled endlessly with Gao Shi. After her rebirth, she had thought she would still need to find a way to change this, but unexpectedly, Eldest Cousin’s marriage suddenly had prospects, completely unrelated to her.
Yu Tang somewhat regretted not inquiring carefully when her parents had brought up the Wei family’s cousin Miss. So when Yu Wen and Chen Shi returned from Yu Bo’s place, Yu Tang went to her parents’ room somewhat impatiently.
“What did Aunt say?” She sat in the armchair by the window in the inner room, watching Shuang Tao attend to her mother’s change of clothes. “Did the matchmaker leave?”
Chen Shi nodded with a beaming smile and said, “Of course your aunt is a thousand times, ten thousand times willing! Your uncle had already met the Wei family’s cousin Miss before, and according to the matchmaker, that cousin Miss also has fifty mu of good farmland as dowry.”
“Ah!” Yu Tang was very surprised.
Fifty mu of dowry was no small number in Jiangnan.
It seemed that cousin Miss’s family circumstances were better than the Yu family’s.
Chen Shi finished changing clothes and sat down beside Yu Tang with a smile, saying, “When the matchmaker mentioned this, your aunt and I were also shocked. At the time, your aunt was afraid of gossip and was somewhat hesitant about whether to agree to this match. It was your uncle who was decisive, saying ‘An upright person casts no crooked shadow.’ Besides, how is your elder brother not good enough for the Wei family’s cousin Miss? So the matter was settled.” Speaking to this point, Chen Shi gently touched Yu Tang’s head and said, “However, in a couple of days our two families will be meeting. Do you want to go along and see?”
Yu Tang was somewhat surprised and said, “Before the Mid-Autumn Festival?”
Chen Shi nodded and smiled, saying, “Mrs. Wei’s intention is to settle this matter after the Mid-Autumn Festival.”
Why such haste?
Yu Tang thought of Yu Yuan’s marriage in her previous life—it had gone wrong precisely because it was settled too hastily. She couldn’t help saying, “Mother, shouldn’t we investigate the family? Although you’ve all met the Wei family’s cousin Miss, your positions were different then, and your understanding was different too. When taking a wife, we should still examine her according to the standards for taking a wife.”
“What you say makes sense.” Chen Shi smiled and said, “It’s getting late. You should go rest! Tomorrow your aunt and I still need to be busy with matters concerning the meeting with the Wei family.” Her tone was somewhat perfunctory—clearly she hadn’t taken Yu Tang’s words to heart.
Yu Tang was secretly anxious, hoping Wei Xiaochuan could find her soon so she could also make inquiries.
But until the two families set the date for the meeting, Wei Xiaochuan hadn’t come to find her.
She grew anxious. Occasionally, she mentioned this matter to Chen Pozi: “I wonder why the Wei family wants to settle the marriage so quickly?”
Chen Pozi obviously understood more than she did. Upon hearing this, she laughed heartily and said, “Of course the Wei family is anxious! The Wei family’s cousin Miss is three years older than our young master Yuan!”
Yu Tang was astonished.
Chen Pozi then said to her in a low voice, “The Wei family’s cousin Miss is surnamed Xiang. Her father is a major landowner in Fuyang. After her birth mother died, Old Master Xiang married the legitimate young miss of the Shen family from Hangzhou. That Mrs. Shen is said to have quite a temper and couldn’t really tolerate Miss Xiang. Miss Xiang’s father had no choice but to entrust Miss Xiang to Mrs. Wei to raise. Although Miss Xiang grew up in the Wei household, the Xiang family isn’t destitute. Mrs. Wei couldn’t decide Miss Xiang’s marriage on her own. With all the back and forth, Miss Xiang’s marriage was delayed. I figure this time, the marriage between Miss Xiang and our young master Yuan is probably Mrs. Wei acting first and reporting later, which is why she’s in such a hurry.”
Yu Tang said, “Does my mother know? Does Aunt know?”
“Even I know—how could Madam and the Great Madam not know?” Chen Pozi glanced at Yu Tang.
Just then, Shuang Tao came in from the kitchen carrying a small basket of fresh mustard greens prepared for making preserved vegetables. She interjected, “If that’s the case, why didn’t Mrs. Wei keep Miss Xiang at home?”
“That’s why I say you young girls don’t understand things!” Chen Pozi directed Shuang Tao to take the mustard greens to wash them in well water while saying, “Mrs. Wei is such an opinionated person. Why doesn’t she dare arrange a husband’s family for Miss Xiang? It’s because this major marriage matter isn’t like buying clothes or shoes where you just need to like them and find them suitable. Never mind other examples—just look at Old Master Wu next door. Back then, he and Mrs. Wu were well-matched in family status and appearance, a couple that made people envious just to look at them. But look at these years—Old Master Wu’s business has grown bigger and bigger, but the female members of his household have also multiplied.” Lowering her voice, she said, “I heard from a woman servant in Old Master Wu’s household that Old Master Wu has been in Hangzhou these days, keeping an actor. Mrs. Wu is afraid Old Master Wu will father a child, so she’s planning to feign illness at home to trick Old Master Wu into returning.”
“There’s such a thing?!” Shuang Tao’s eyes widened.
The topic had completely veered off course.
Yu Tang smiled gently.
In her previous life, she had found Chen Pozi’s loose tongue annoying—she liked to prattle on about everything. Hearing her chatter again after her rebirth, she only felt warmth.
Moreover, whether it was Chen Pozi, Shuang Tao, or A’Tiao, everyone in this household treated the Yu family as their own. Chen Pozi and Shuang Tao later followed her into the Li family, and A’Tiao stayed by Yu Yuan’s side. After Yu Yuan was gone, he went to work as a junior manager at a shop, married a wife, had a son, and though life wasn’t very prosperous, he remembered to visit Aunt and to pay respects at Yu Yuan’s grave…
Yu Tang’s eyes grew moist.
Chen Shi’s voice rang out in the back courtyard: “What are you all doing? Didn’t I tell you to go buy two osmanthus chickens? I need to take them to your aunt’s place to entertain the matchmaker.”
Chen Pozi jumped up in a panic, pulling at the apron on her body to wipe her hands, saying hurriedly, “I’ll go right now, I’ll go right now!”
Yu Tang laughed heartily.
Chen Shi looked at her with a frown and said, “You shouldn’t laugh either. How is the handkerchief I asked you to embroider coming along? When your sister-in-law enters the family, you as the younger sister-in-law—surely you won’t fail to embroider even one handkerchief for her?”
Yu Tang also fled in a fluster.
She met Wei Xiaochuan the day before Yu Yuan and Miss Xiang were to meet.
Wei Xiaochuan was carrying his school basket, leaning dejectedly against the courtyard wall at her family’s back gate. Seeing her come out, he greeted her listlessly: “You’re here?”
Yu Tang looked at him as if looking at her own younger brother and quickly said, “What’s wrong with you? Were you bullied at the county school?”
“No!” His lips were pressed tightly together—clearly his mood was very bad. “Master Shen is at the county school. Who would dare bully me?”
“Then what is this…”
“I’ve already investigated.” His gaze was somewhat gloomy. “That night, someone saw my second brother walking on our family’s field ridge with two tall, sturdy men. They thought they were my second brother’s friends and didn’t pay attention. But in the town not far from our home, two hired ruffians disappeared. According to what people say, these two were both tall and sturdy, and they disappeared the day after my second brother died. The rest… I didn’t dare investigate further…”
Was he dejected because he didn’t dare investigate further?
Yu Tang embraced him and gently patted his back.
Wei Xiaochuan struggled once but didn’t break free. His body gradually became soft.
“Tell me, why are those people so evil?” His voice was somewhat choked. “If they just wanted to ruin a marriage, there are plenty of ways. Why did they have to take a life?”
Yu Tang thought of that *Pine Stream Fishing in Seclusion* painting and said sadly, “Some people measure a gentleman’s heart with a petty person’s yardstick. When they show greed before enormous wealth, they assume everyone else will do the same.”
Wei Xiaochuan didn’t make a sound but snuggled closer to her.
“Elder Sister,” he suddenly changed how he addressed Yu Tang. “What should we do?”
With their abilities, if they continued investigating, they would only implicate their clan members.
Yu Tang said coldly, “Meet change with constancy.”
Wei Xiaochuan didn’t understand and looked up at her.
Yu Tang consoled him in a low voice: “They won’t just let this go, but to avoid arousing suspicion, they definitely won’t do the same thing twice. This time, I’ll just wait for them to come to my door.”
Regarding the map, she didn’t want the Wei family involved, so she didn’t plan to let Wei Xiaochuan know.
Wei Xiaochuan said, “Elder Sister, what can I help you with?”
She didn’t need Wei Xiaochuan to help her with anything, but Wei Xiaochuan was precocious and perceptive. If she didn’t find something for him to do, she feared he might inadvertently stumble into the scheme she was setting up, causing the Wei family to suspect Wei Xiaoshan’s death.
“Help me keep an eye on Li Jun.” Yu Tang decided to find something for him to do. “If this matter is related to the Li family, there will definitely be movement on Li Jun’s end.”