“Silence! Where did you learn such vulgar street talk?!” Madam Ji was startled by her daughter’s words and blushed crimson with embarrassment at such crude language, hardly able to face Madam Yang.
“Second Madam’s anger is justified. Dear in-law, please don’t scold her. This situation is indeed our Yang family causing trouble for the Ji family.” Madam Yang showed no anger, though deep sorrow gathered in her brow. “Third Young Master’s feelings for Second Miss run deep. When he left home, he didn’t even leave a letter behind.”
But he had quietly left behind the inheritance properties allocated to him in the master’s will. It was clear he never intended to return to the Yang family. Thinking of the eighteen years she had spent raising him, showing him even more affection than her own two sons, Madam Yang’s eyes reddened as she turned away and covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
She was nearly sixty years old now and had lived as a widow for twenty years. How could the master not have considered her feelings? Even on his deathbed, he had stabbed her in the heart. She couldn’t help but seize those properties. She knew Concubine Liu had been harboring thoughts of death. In a moment of selfish impulse, she hadn’t stopped her when Concubine Liu misinterpreted her words and hanged herself. Her heart had grown bitter, and she became impatient with the Third Young Master. But she had never intended to drive him away. Things had already come to this pass. Now she could only focus on the present. The eldest son was the family’s pillar. With the position of family head and the brocade business seized by the second and third branches, what would become of the entire household?
Marrying Ji Yingying would make her a Yang family daughter-in-law, who would dedicate herself to helping the Yang family’s brocade production. As for the Third Young Master… with his feelings for Ji Yingying, he would surely return home one day.
Madam Yang was determined to make this marriage happen no matter what. Wiping her tears, she said softly, “Though Third Young Master isn’t home now, once he has a wife, he will return eventually. The Yang family needs a Second Miss now. My dear in-law, I’m begging you.”
This was an admission that Yang Jingyuan wasn’t at the Yang residence. Yet Madam Yang still proposed to have her daughter marry within the hundred days of mourning.
A bridal sedan chair would arrive, but without a groom to welcome her. Before the deceased master’s spirit tablet, who would perform the heaven and earth bows with Ji Yingying? This was too much of an insult! Madam Ji was shocked and furious, her vision swimming. Gasping for breath, she struggled to say, “Madam Yang, what do you mean by this?”
“Mother, don’t be angry, don’t get upset.” Ji Yingying hurriedly stepped forward to rub her mother’s chest, helping her catch her breath. Granny Li quickly brought water, helping Madam Ji take slow sips.
How could it be good to agitate her mother into illness? Ji Yingying forcefully suppressed her temper and said to Madam Yang with restrained anger, “Madam Yang, my mother’s health is poor. Please take your leave.”
She couldn’t leave. Since Madam Ji cared so much for her daughter, and Ji Yingying refused to marry into the Yang family under these circumstances, she wasn’t afraid of being labeled as someone exploiting past kindness. Madam Yang spoke slowly, “Dear in-law, do you remember how the Yang and Ji families first became connected through marriage?”
Back then, the White King Shengfengze of Nanzhao had forced the Ji family to hand over their dyeing secrets. The Zhao family had held onto their debt notes and wouldn’t release their daughter. A fire in the Huanhua Dyeing House’s warehouse had destroyed all the dyes bought on credit. The Yang family had sent a thousand taels of gold as betrothal gifts, resolving the Ji family’s crisis. Because the Third Young Master truly loved her daughter, she had agreed to the marriage.
Of course, Madam Ji remembered. Her voice trembling, she said, “Madam Yang, what do you mean by this? Are you forcing me to marry off my daughter?”
[Continued in the same artifact due to length…]
“Dear in-law, I too have a daughter, I too am a mother. My Second Miss married far away in Chang’an, into Imperial Weaver Chen’s family. Don’t you think I wished to keep my daughter by my side? She married for the sake of the Yang family’s brocade business. I don’t know if I’ll ever see my Second Miss again in this lifetime.” Madam Yang choked up, “Every family has its difficulties. The Yang family is in trouble now. The eldest son barely survived and we don’t know when he’ll recover. The second son only handles routine matters and can’t sustain the brocade business. The legitimate grandson is still young. If the Yang family can’t reclaim the Brocade Crown this year, the eldest son won’t be able to keep his position as family head. The first branch’s properties will also be seized by others. How could I face the master in the underworld?”
Madam Ji’s anger gradually dissipated. There were reasons behind this, how could she blame Madam Yang for compromising her daughter? A droplet of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring. The Yang family’s marriage proposal back then was partly for Third Young Master’s love, but also for her daughter’s dyeing skills. When two families are joined by marriage, they should help each other. Yingying could help the Yang family with brocade weaving without having to marry right away…
At the mention of property, Ji Yingying remembered Yang Jingyuan’s coarse cotton clothes and his words. He said he would never return to the Yang family. Said he would give her a home in the future. He had asked her if she would regret it if she couldn’t become the Third Young Mistress of the Yang family.
Ji Yingying blurted out, “Third Young Master left without taking a single coin, all because of the Yang family’s properties, right? Whether your family can keep its properties has nothing to do with me! I want to marry Yang Jingyuan, not your Yang family.”
“How dare you! Marriage is decided by parents. Get out!” Madam Ji, who had been contemplating the situation, was angered by these unreasonable words and pointed to the door, ordering Ji Yingying to leave.
“Mother! I promised Third Young Master I would wait for him to return and marry me!” Ji Yingying knew her mother’s soft heart too well—after a few more gentle words from Madam Yang, she would agree. It was Madam Yang who had driven Concubine Liu to death and forced Yang Jingyuan to flee. How could she face Yang Jingyuan if she became the Third Young Mistress of the Yang family?
Madam Ji slapped the armrest of her chair and shouted, “Granny Li, take her out!”
“I won’t marry no matter what!” Ji Yingying’s eyes reddened as she turned and ran out.
“It’s my fault. Third Young Master left home because of me!” Madam Yang beat her chest, Ji Yingying’s words stirring up her regret.
“Madam Ji! It was all this old servant’s fault!” Granny Chen fell to her knees before Madam Ji, tears streaming down her face. “Young Master Three misunderstood my mistress. It was this old servant’s fault, worried that Young Master Three would blame the mistress for Concubine Liu’s death and harm her. That’s why I had evil thoughts. This old servant refuses to die now, just to live long enough to see Young Master Three and explain everything!”
Madam Ji understood the workings of the inner courtyard all too well. She couldn’t help but think of her own legitimate mother and half-sister, sighing deeply.
Seeing Madam Ji’s expression soften, Madam Yang continued, “Madam Ji, though I’m not Third Young Master’s birth mother, I raised him for eighteen years. From childhood, Third Young Master lived in silk and jade, never experiencing any hardship. That child is stubborn. If I don’t give him a way to come down from his high horse, he’ll never return home. I’m just an old woman, how many years do I have left? Please agree to let Second Miss marry into the Yang family. For her sake, Third Young Master will return home.” After speaking, she stood and bowed.
Madam Ji hurriedly rose to support Madam Yang. Holding those hands spotted with age marks, Madam Ji’s heart grew bitter and sour. If it was just about having her daughter help with the Yang family’s brocade weaving, there was indeed no need for her to marry into the Yang family now. Madam Yang truly wanted to reconcile with Yang Jingyuan and have him return home. But… it was too unfair to Yingying.
“Dear in-law, please return for now. My Second Miss has a fierce temperament and doesn’t quite understand things. She’s still quite childish. Let me persuade her, and I’ll send a reply to the Yang family, alright?”
Though she hadn’t agreed outright, Madam Yang was already relieved. She hurriedly said, “I will treat her as my daughter.”
A mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship could never be like mother and daughter. Madam Yang felt guilty and would treat her better, that was all. Madam Ji just smiled and personally saw Madam Yang out to her carriage.
Returning to the inner courtyard, she had Granny Li support her as she went to Ji Yingying’s small courtyard.