“Oh — forty taels?” Yun Pan considered for a moment. “I do not have that much ready silver at hand just now. Perhaps I could put something together — Aunt might wait a little.”
Peng Furen waved her hand dismissively. “What use is forty taels? You could not even buy two stone lions with that. If you have any heart for it, make it four thousand taels — enough to relieve your father’s most pressing need.”
Nanny Yao and Qin Dan beside her exchanged a glance and nearly burst out laughing.
Four thousand taels — what a sum of money. Their Madam had bought five storefronts on South Bridge Market and had not spent that much in total. And here was this Jiang family aunt, from humble origins with a husband of no great means, opening her mouth to ask for four thousand taels at once. Truly a toad yawning — what an enormous ambition!
Yun Pan had expected her to ask for around four hundred taels, and had said forty somewhat mockingly, never imagining that with one breath she would say four thousand. That did genuinely catch her off guard. But she had composure, and did not let her displeasure show on her face. She merely gave a small smile and said, “Aunt thinks too highly of me. I have only just married and have not yet established my own household. Where would I find four thousand taels to contribute to my family?”
Peng Furen had come today with her mind fully made up. Whether she asked for three thousand or four thousand, it was still asking — so she might as well round up by a thousand and ask for four thousand, and it would make no difference to Liu Shi. As long as Yun Pan was willing to hand it over, she would give Liu Shi two thousand eight hundred and keep one thousand two hundred for herself. Even if she never had dealings with the Marquis’s household again afterward, she would come out ahead. One thousand two hundred taels — by comparison with the petty favors and small gifts Liu Yanqiao had been doling out over the years, she could not have accumulated that much in another hundred years of currying favor. Regardless, she had made this trip today, and whether it succeeded was entirely down to her own abilities. Even if Liu Shi found out afterward, she could not come to confront Yun Pan and complain about it. You were the one who opened your mouth wide and asked for the full amount — why can I not also sneak in and take my share? There is no one in the world who ever found money too hot to hold. What if Yun Pan, out of feeling for the father-daughter bond, was willing to help her family? The one who would owe her a debt of gratitude in the end would still be Jiang Heng. Father and daughter were flesh and blood, written with the same surname. In the end this muddled account could not be untangled — surely Yun Pan was not going to ask her own father to pay her back?
With her goal fixed, Peng Furen began to enumerate what she calculated to be Yun Pan’s personal fortune. “When you married, didn’t both households prepare dowry for you? Add to that the betrothal gifts from the Duke’s household, the properties, promissory notes, and ready silver your mother left you — at the very least you have something in the range of eighty to a hundred thousand taels. Four thousand is nothing in comparison — what do you mean you cannot produce it?”
Yun Pan was unruffled, and remarked with a light wave of her fan, “How much I have in hand — I myself have not quite worked it out yet, and here Aunt has already calculated it all for me.”
Peng Furen was truly not a clever woman. She relied on a small knack for cunning and assumed the entire world was made of fools. Still smiling, she said, “I was only speaking loosely — all for the sake of the bond between you and your father.”
Yun Pan let out a small cold laugh. “What kind of father-daughter bond is worth four thousand taels? I just saw Father yesterday — why did he not say so to me in person?”
Peng Furen was briefly struck speechless. She collected herself and said, “Your father is a man of standing. To ask his own daughter for money to establish a residence — how could he bring himself to say such a thing?”
At that, Yun Pan simply stopped speaking. She straightened her collar in an unhurried manner, and the smile remained on her lips, but her expression had gradually gone cool.
The Madam had no interest in haggling with a relative of such low discernment. Naturally, that was Nanny Yao’s role. She stepped in from the side with a half-mocking tone. “Since it was the late Madam’s property left to the young lady, I would advise the Commissioner’s wife not to include that in her reckoning. You would not want people laughing and saying that an elder is extracting money from her niece, and at that, targeting what a departed parent left behind. What is more, the dowry our Duchess received from Shuguo Duke’s household — that has nothing to do with the Marquis’s household to begin with. As for the actual dowry contribution from her own family, it came to one thousand taels in total — barely worth mentioning. And of that one thousand, eight hundred were the original betrothal gift withheld when the engagement with Dongchang Commandery Duke’s household was broken off. The Marquis’s household itself only put in two hundred taels outright. You would not find a second Marquis’s household in the entire realm that gives a daughter only two hundred taels in dowry — if that were to get out, people would laugh until their teeth fell out. And now, on that two-hundred-tael investment, the household wants a return of twenty times over — quite extraordinary. It would seem as though all the benefits are meant to go to the Marquis’s household, and the good things too. Some people must have taken everyone else for fools — as though a young woman capable of marrying into a Duke’s household could not tally even this much, and could not manage such a great household and hold the position of Duchess.”
Peng Furen was rendered speechless by this torrent of words from Nanny Yao, utterly unprepared to find that Yun Pan had such a formidable old nanny by her side — who had materialized out of nowhere to ruin all her plans.
Full of contempt, she shifted her gaze and asked, “Is this nanny from the Duke’s household? Or did she come with our niece from Shuguo Duke’s household?”
Nanny Yao smiled with her face but not her eyes and said, “Commissioner’s wife is kind to ask. This servant is an old hand from the Grand Princess’s household. Duke Shuguo’s wife specifically designated this servant to accompany our Madam here as her personal attendant — precisely to serve as a shield. This servant has served in both households for forty years, and knows everything about the old generation and the new alike. The Commissioner’s wife need not trouble herself to tell this servant the stories of the Marquis’s household. This servant has her own full account of it in her mind.”
Peng Furen had hoped to put on the airs of a senior family member, and if Yun Pan showed any defiance, she could still deliver a couple of scolding words. She had not anticipated the appearance of this old hand of considerable standing, and now she found things considerably more troublesome.
But she was still far from willing to concede defeat. “Since ancient times, daughters contributing to their family has always been the practice. How is it that it works for everyone else, and yet at this young lady’s household it does not?”
Nanny Yao tucked her hands inside her lapels, looking as though she was prepared to take her time with this, and tilted her head to ask, “Since it is the ancient practice — this servant begs leave to ask boldly: how much has the Commissioner’s wife contributed to her own family?”
This was awkward. Ever since her marriage to Peng Sheng, Peng Furen’s money had always been tight, and with only a little farmland from her family’s ancestors and Peng Sheng’s modest salary, she had barely managed to support the whole household.
Still, she had something to say for herself. “My father and mother in Cangzhou both live with my elder brother — we sisters married far away, and even with the best intentions, the distance made it impossible.”
“Then that means the Commissioner’s wife did not follow the ancient practice herself — for otherwise, even from Cangzhou, or from the ends of the earth, one could still send rice, cooking oil, and charcoal to one’s family every year. That would not be difficult at all.” Nanny Yao said this, then smiled again. “This servant has heard that the Commissioner’s wife keeps close company with the Liu Yiniang of the Marquis’s household. No doubt that Liu Yiniang is an ambitious climber, and has latched on to the Commissioner’s wife and will not let go. The Commissioner’s wife probably came here this time at her behest, going behind the Marquis’s back to ask our Madam for money on her behalf. This is hardly a matter to be taken lightly. Our Madam was driven from her own home by that woman. Surely the Commissioner’s wife knows this?”
Peng Furen suddenly felt that today had been a mistake. She had thought Yun Pan was a young girl, and that dealing with her would surely be easier than dealing with the County Princess. Instead, she found that the servants alongside her could recite a whole lecture — which made it clear that Yun Pan’s resentment toward this family, toward Liu Shi, was vast and deep. She herself, blinded by greed, had stirred up this hornet’s nest. Now she had been left looking utterly disgraceful, and there was no way to recover.
She had no answer, and Nanny Yao’s tone shifted again, as she gave a sigh and said, “Such a vile creature, hiding in her shell and not showing her face, and yet she manipulates the Commissioner’s wife into doing her bidding — could it be that she means the Commissioner’s wife no good either, deliberately stirring up discord between the Commissioner’s wife and our Madam, and destroying the relationship between aunt and niece?”
Peng Furen’s face cycled through shades of green and white. Clearly there was no hope of getting the money. But at least she had to pick up whatever was left of her dignity from the floor. So she said by way of excuse, “Liu Shi and I have no real closeness. She is only your father’s concubine — why would I lower myself to keep company with her? I was only troubled on your father’s behalf and said one extra word — if you are not willing to help, I am hardly going to hold a knife to your throat.”
Yun Pan heard her turning it around and pointing the blame elsewhere, and could not help speaking up, her expression cool. “My father is a man I know well. He would sooner sell his shops and estates than come to me and ask for money like this. Aunt really did speak one extra word this time. My thinking is the same as Nanny Yao’s — it was Liu Shi who said something in your ear, and Aunt rushed here to act as her go-between. In fact, Aunt does not realize: Liu Shi is setting a trap for you, and trying to harm you.”
Peng Furen was rather dumbfounded. Her mind was simply not complicated enough — as soon as things took too many turns, she lost her sense of direction. She stared blankly at Yun Pan and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
Yun Pan looked away toward the sunlit courtyard outside. The wind sent the bamboo leaves whispering, and the light through them fell in shifting patterns on the ground below. She stared at those swaying pools of light, creased her brow slightly, and said, “What household have I married into, Aunt should be well aware. My husband holds a first-rank Dukedom. If I may ask — what rank is Uncle-in-law? I expect Liu Shi must have promised Aunt certain benefits. Aunt need not rush to deny it — people die in pursuit of riches, as birds die in pursuit of food, and there is nothing strange about it. But if Aunt were to offend the Duke’s household for the sake of a little money, it would be a very bad trade. Does Aunt not think of Uncle-in-law’s future career? Or of Wei Feng’s and Wei Han’s prospects, and the marriage prospects of Jade Leaf and Golden Wave? Are all of these worth less than some ready cash in hand? I am only a junior member of the family and should not be speaking out of turn to an elder, but looking at Aunt, I fear your vision is too narrow. What manner of person is Liu Shi? Is she worthy of Aunt’s serious regard? And there is another thing — a woman’s dignity is earned by herself. It is not propped up by her family. The Marquis’s household is in the state it is in now, and if I were relying on my family’s standing for dignity, I would never have married into the Duke’s household.”
Her expression was cold and her manner entirely changed from before. For reasons she could not explain, Peng Furen found herself actually afraid.
Speaking of being too narrow-sighted — she felt the shame of it deeply. It was true that for money she would do almost anything, but was that not also a matter of being driven by necessity? If she were like these women, becoming a Marchioness or a Duchess, who in their right mind would go running about extracting money from others?
As for Peng Sheng’s career and the futures of those several children, these two points did genuinely unsettle her. She had thought only of the money and had not planned nearly as carefully as this.
From her seat above, Yun Pan smiled again, and softened her tone to coax a confession from her. “Aunt, Liu Shi must have planned what to do if she fails to get the money, yes? What did she instruct you to do? We are the closest of kin — you must not keep anything from me, Aunt.”
Peng Furen had entirely lost her footing by now. She stammered for a long moment, and finally made up her mind about what mattered more. With Liu Shi already as good as ruined, she might as well throw all the dirty water onto her. She was already thoroughly despised in Yun Pan’s eyes — a little more would not make much difference.
So she said awkwardly, “You should not blame Aunt for coming to pass these messages along — it truly was out of concern for your father. I thought that no matter how Liu Shi carries on, she is acting for the Jiang family, and so I listened to her and came. But to say she gave me money for it — that absolutely did not happen. For me to go after my own niece’s private savings, what sort of person would that make me!” And she gave an uncomfortable laugh. “She did say some foolish things when she came to find me that day. She said that if you refused, she would go to Weiguo Duke instead…”
This time not only Yun Pan but even the maids standing in attendance were startled. They thought to themselves: that Liu Shi truly is rotten to the marrow.
“So she plans to make me unable to stay in my husband’s household,” said Yun Pan with a cold laugh. “How painstaking of her to scheme so. I may as well tell Aunt plainly: four thousand taels will not destroy the bond between me and my husband — it will only ensure that my father can never hold his head up before his son-in-law for the rest of his life. I thought Liu Shi was bent entirely on scheming against me. I never imagined she would drag Father down into it too. A creature like that — if she is still left to hold the helm of the Jiang family, by the time Father settles in the capital, I am afraid he will have completely lost face before anyone.”
Peng Furen could only murmur in compliance. The sweat had soaked through to her undergarments.
Heaven only knew, this one trip today had felt like standing trial at court. She had been left so thoroughly ill at ease that she truly wished she had never set foot inside Weiguo Duke’s gates.
Still, if she were to speak her true thoughts, there was a part of her that privately resented Yun Pan too. High-minded words at every turn, and in the end still not willing to part with a single hair! Sitting on all that personal fortune and not using a coin of it to help her own family — yet her father could not even afford to set up a household, and she could bring herself to watch and do nothing.
Nanny Yao watched her face go through one expression after another and guessed exactly the kind of thoughts she was harboring. Intending to pass the message along to Liu Shi, she said with a cold smile, “Banking on the three children she has borne, acting like a proper person — she must have set her sights on the fact that the young lady is a junior and cannot very well sell her off. That is why she dares to stir up such trouble. The Marquis is a sentimental man too — but if one day he sees clearly and calls in the slave-broker to take her away, she could beat the drum and cry injustice all she liked and it would be useless. After all, her base origin is what she was born with!”
Sure enough, the fan in Peng Furen’s hand was moving at furious speed. Yun Pan gave her a cool sideways look and said, “Aunt need not be in such a rush either. If Father truly falls short in setting up the household, I will naturally not stand by and do nothing — but I would have to see Father in person first, ask the amount clearly, and not have people call out figures in the air and fill the gaps for others. Aunt has been here for some time now, and it is nearly the hour to serve the midday meal. Please stay and eat before you go home.” As she spoke she was about to call over the maids to start making preparations.
Peng Furen quickly stood up. “That is not necessary — the old and young at home cannot manage a moment without me. I came today to see how you are getting on. Now that I know you are well in every way, that is all I needed.”
“Very well, then I will not insist you stay.” Yun Pan said with a pleasant smile. “Aunt need not worry about me — this is, after all, a noble household, and there are limits to how badly things could go. Aunt had better take good care of your own affairs and look after your own health.” She turned and called, “Qin Dan — please see Aunt out of the estate.”
Qin Dan acknowledged the instruction, inclined forward slightly, and said, “Commissioner’s wife, this way please.”
Peng Furen kept saying yes, yes, and took her leave with something of the air of a person fleeing a disaster, following Qin Dan away in haste.
Nanny Yao watched her retreating figure, and when she was far enough away gave a small contemptuous sound. “She came with three or five taels of silver as a calling card, and with four thousand taels in mind — to think she had the nerve to even open her mouth!”
Yun Pan rubbed her forehead. “In my heart I knew she came with an ulterior purpose, but I kept thinking — what if, just maybe, she truly bore some goodwill as a blood relation and wished me well? And yet — still the same useless woman as ever.”
Still, it felt rather good to have let out what had been bottled up inside. Living like a muddle-headed sparrow, she still found the leisure to concern herself with other people’s business — no wonder she and Liu Shi got along so well.
Nanny Yao said, “The rest can be set aside — but that business about going to the Duke, that truly gave me a fright. Of all the black-hearted, rotten-souled creatures in the world — not a shred of good intention. Madam and the Duke have only just married. If it had truly come to a scene before the Duke over this, the Duke is too gentle-natured to make an issue of it with them, but Madam would have lost face, and been tainted to some degree by their schemes.”
Yun Pan sighed. Encountering relatives like these, there was truly nothing to be said. It really was time to put a definitive end to the matter of Liu Shi. She had been holding the reins of the Marquis’s household for over a year now — it was time for her to rest that ambition.
The sun was now high in the sky and the midday meal hour had arrived. A maid came in carrying a silver basin. Lu Tan presented a face cloth to attend to her as she washed her hands, and when everything was ready, two maidservants carried in the food table.
Yun Pan was still turning over the matter of the Kaiguo Marquis’s household in her mind. She picked up her white jade chopsticks, then suddenly remembered something, and asked, “What came of the person I asked you to inquire about last time?”
Nanny Yao said, “Oh — does Madam mean the younger sister of General Jin Zhizhen, of the Loyal and Martial rank?”
Yun Pan nodded.
As for this general’s younger sister — Yun Pan had once seen her at the banquet held by the Chief Minister’s wife. They had not spoken at length, but at a glance she had struck Yun Pan as a person of very forthright character. Given that she was born into a military household and had a brother who held the rank of senior fourth-rank general, her life should by rights have gone smoothly. But unfortunately, she had been through a divorce several years prior, and it was only because she was a close friend of the Chief Minister’s wife that she had attended the Han family banquet. Though the woman carried herself with great composure and ease, there had been those who spoke behind her back. Yun Pan, sitting behind a screen at the time, had overheard several fine ladies mocking her: “She ought to rein in that temper of hers — keep on being this bold and outspoken, and she will be bold all the way into the grave.” From that moment Yun Pan had kept the woman in mind, and it was only after her own marriage that she had brought up the matter with Nanny Yao.
She was not well acquainted with the woman, but she was curious — and simply listening to what others said of her reputation was not much to go on. A careful inquiry into her background was needed to form a real impression.
Nanny Yao said, “This servant has a close acquaintance who works in the Jin household, and is very familiar with the family’s affairs. That general’s younger sister is named Jin Shengyu. She is exactly thirty years of age this year. Shortly before the New Year, having no son, she fell into conflict with her mother-in-law, and her husband being utterly devoted to his mother’s every word, she eventually divorced and left. After the divorce, with nowhere to go, she was taken back into the general’s household. Jin Er Niang had once been very sociable, but hampered by her status as a divorced woman, she was no longer well received when she went out — and so she has now largely stopped going out, focusing entirely on attending to her parents at home.”
“It sounds like Jin Er Niang is a woman of spirit,” said Yun Pan, and then she asked, “And what of her character?”
Nanny Yao replied, “From the words of my acquaintance, she does not seem to be a sharp or unkind person. With the servants she is strict, but does not set out to make anyone’s life difficult. It is only that living in her family’s household year after year is not a lasting solution — and from what I hear, there is some friction between her and the General’s wife. That is hardly surprising: a daughter who has married out has come back to live at home, and it is inevitable that she ends up finding fault with her brother and sister-in-law in front of the parents, which has displeased the General’s wife.”
Yun Pan gave a sound of acknowledgment. “Divorced and back at home — one can tolerate it for half a year, perhaps a year, but the longer it goes on, the more teeth and tongue will end up knocking into each other… Has anyone come to propose a match in all these years?”
Nanny Yao replied, “Her age is at an awkward point. Officials in court who need a second wife can always find someone in their twenties — they would never seek out this match. As for those of a more suitable age who genuinely wish to marry — the old general and his wife are very particular about family background and social standing, and so one way or another it has always come to a standstill, and the years have dragged on and her age has kept creeping up.”
Yun Pan inclined her head. With her own conclusions now taking shape in her mind, she said no more, lowered her eyes, and ate her meal in quiet thought.
When the meal was done and the maids had cleared away the food table, she dabbed her mouth. Hui Cun appeared from outside, bringing with her the two younger cousins Jing Cun and Shu Cun. They were like a walnut that they wanted to crack open and crumble to pieces, each wanting to consult her about something. Yun Pan could do nothing but gather her patience and manage them for the better part of the afternoon, until she finally sent them away around the Hour of the Monkey.
She had just been about to rest when word came from the gate: the Duke had returned. Before long, she could see Chang Song and Bi Xie half-carrying and half-supporting him as they swayed and stumbled along the wooden corridor toward her.
She hurried forward with the maids and maidservants to take over, and asked Bi Xie what had happened.
Bi Xie replied, “Those men offered their congratulations to the Duke and insisted on making him drink quite a lot. The Duke could not very well refuse, and he has had too much.”
The man who had drunk too much swayed against her in a muddled state, calling her “Madam” and “my dear” in one confused breath. Then he buried his face in the curve of her neck, grabbed hold of the front of her robe and gave it a little shake, and said with a smile, “I am truly so happy today.”