Shortly after dawn, Mudan had already set out for Fang Garden with Madam Feng, Yuhe, Zhen Shi, and Sun Shi (who insisted on coming to see the excitement), and several strong household servants. They were walking on the dirt road leading out of the city.
The air was filled with the fragrance of rice flowers and fresh grass. Unknown birds chirped melodiously in the fields. Occasionally, farmers passed by with their livestock, bringing a whiff of manure. The clear sound of cow bells mixed with the folk songs of farmers working in the fields created a lively rural scene.
This relaxed the mood of Zhen Shi and Sun Shi, who were used to city life. Zhen Shi, for once setting aside her discontent, playfully winked at Mudan and Sun Shi: “When I lived in the countryside with my parents, we often went out at night to sing with other girls until the moon was high. I haven’t done that for many years since getting married. I miss those times.”
Mudan smiled, “Once the garden is finished, I’ll invite my parents and siblings to stay for a while. Third Sister-in-law, if you want to go singing then, what’s stopping you? The garden is so big, you can be as lively as you want without anyone disturbing you.”
Zhen Shi said wistfully, “Even if the garden is huge and there are many people, it won’t be the same as before.”
Sun Shi glanced at her and smiled, “Third Sister-in-law is unusually sentimental today?”
Zhen Shi rolled her eyes at Sun Shi, “Can’t I reminisce a bit? I’m not like you, with nothing to do all day. You don’t have to manage the household or take care of children, and you can openly go out with Danniang, playing as you like, just coming home to eat and sleep when it’s time. You’re so free and easy. We’re all envious.”
As soon as she said this, Sun Shi’s face fell. She turned away, pressing her lips tightly together in silence. Zhen Shi, unaware she had touched a sore spot, continued complaining about her daughters not being clever enough to please others and her son not being diligent enough. She then said, “Danniang, I don’t ask for much. I just hope Huiniang and Yunniang can grow up to be as articulate and likable as their aunt. Your garden is so big – once it’s built and filled with peonies, who knows how much it will be worth or how much it will earn each year. No matter who they marry in the future, they’ll never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of their lives.”
Mudan had been interested in hearing more about Zhen Shi’s youthful experiences of singing in the countryside, wanting to ask about rural customs and learn how to get along with the villagers. But before she could speak, Zhen Shi had reverted to her old ways, speaking carelessly just to please herself, always competing over big and small matters. She had needlessly upset Sun Shi, making her deflated and irritated.
Mudan felt quite annoyed and said coolly, “No matter how good or valuable this garden is, it needs careful management. One moment of carelessness and everything could be lost. Even if I’m usually very careful, I still rely on help from my family. How could everything go smoothly with just one person? The children are still young. As long as they’re on the right track overall, they won’t go far wrong in the future. Being articulate and likable alone won’t keep wealth – what’s important is being generous and hardworking.”
Zhen Shi may or may not have understood the implications of Mudan’s words, but she recognized that Mudan was somewhat displeased with her. She wanted to explain herself, but seeing Sun Shi turn away and ignore her, and Mudan riding ahead to talk with Sun Shi, it was clear they didn’t want to engage with her. She frowned and forcefully swallowed her discontent.
The three women arrived at Fang Garden somewhat awkwardly. Because the wages were good, the food provided was excellent, and the workers were experienced ones introduced by Monk Fuyuan who wouldn’t deliberately delay the project, coupled with Fifth Brother’s ability to leverage relationships, the work was progressing very quickly. The garden now looked quite different from when Mudan had left.
Madam Feng and Yuhe couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, and a smile appeared on Mudan’s face. Seeing the bustling scene of activity, Zhen Shi forgot the earlier awkwardness on the road and clicked her tongue, saying, “I have dowry land too. One of these days I should build a garden as well.”
Sun Shi, still remembering Zhen Shi’s earlier sarcasm about her having no children and nothing to manage at home except eating idle meals, mocked her: “Is Third Sister-in-law building a garden to plant beans and mulberries?”
Zhen Shi, angered by the implication that she lacked refinement, glared at Sun Shi: “Yes, I know how to plant beans and mulberries. What do you know how to do?”
Sun Shi also lost her temper, but this time she didn’t back down and retorted. The two went back and forth, thoroughly enjoying their argument. Mudan was annoyed by their bickering and didn’t want to mediate between them anymore. She instructed Atao, who had come to greet them, to lead the two women into a room for tea and fruit. Without Madam Chen’s restraining presence, they could argue to their heart’s content and get it out of their systems. She went to speak with Fifth Brother.
Fifth Brother was directing people to build a low wall around the most fertile twenty-mu plot in a corner of the garden, as Mudan had previously instructed, to serve as a nursery in the future. Seeing Mudan approach, he smiled and said, “Danniang, you’re here! See, I didn’t make the nursery too small, did I?”
Mudan smiled, “No, it’s fine. We probably won’t be able to fill it for the next couple of years, but it’s good to have it just in case.” She had originally thought that since the nursery was very important and the garden was so large, making management and surveillance difficult, it would be best to connect the nursery to her living area for easy monitoring.
At first, Monk Fuyuan hadn’t said anything, but when she mentioned building a wall to enclose it, he said it would disrupt the overall layout of the garden and with a sweep of his brush, placed the nursery in this corner. She had been troubled for a long time, thinking that this location was indeed quiet and the soil fertile, and finally agreed to his arrangement. If she had known that this decision would nearly bring her disaster one day in the future, she would never have agreed.
But that was a matter for later. At present, even when facing setbacks, Mudan is still full of fighting spirit and has beautiful aspirations for a better future. She found every part of this land that belonged to her pleasing to the eye. The low wall was almost finished, and she walked around it contentedly, asking Fifth Brother if anyone had come to cause trouble in the past two days. She then happily recounted her visits to several downstream households in the city.
Yuhe, quick-tongued as always, added details about how those people had given them a hard time and how Mudan had handled it. Fifth Brother nodded approvingly and smiled, “A man’s worth is known after three days’ observation. At this rate, Danniang will soon not need her brothers’ help and might even be able to bring in business for us.”
Mudan laughed, “How could my brothers need me to bring in business? As soon as I mention the He family’s spice shop, people recognize it. If you hadn’t made our family’s shop so successful, even if I talked until my lips were sore, people wouldn’t pay attention to me.”
Fifth Brother smiled, “Alright, let’s stop flattering each other and talk about important matters. Following the letter you sent, I had Hu Dalang invite the village head and the heads of about twenty households who had helped with the river renovation for a meal. I lied and said that when we bought the houses and land, they only told us the river was built by them and included in the sale, but there was no proof. I said if we wanted to sell in the future, we might be affected by issues with the river.”
At this point, Fifth Brother smiled proudly, “Guess what? We prepared plenty of food and wine, and they were in high spirits after eating and drinking, still not knowing what this was all about. As soon as I mentioned it, many people said they knew about this matter, and then they urged the village head to help certify that the river originally belonged to us and we could do whatever we wanted with it, which was perfectly justified.
The village head agreed readily, saying we should come to them if we needed anything. Many people asked if the garden was still hiring workers. Thinking of our fellow villagers, especially for digging and carrying soil which doesn’t require much skill, I chose several dozen strong men and selected some quick-handed women to help in the kitchen. With local people here, if anything unexpected happens, they’ll work hard to protect our estate’s interests, if only for their wages.”
Mudan smiled, “No wonder the work is progressing so quickly. So that’s the reason. Fifth Brother, you’ve thought of everything. With you guarding here, I have no worries. However, I think we should handle the matter of asking them to testify more carefully to prevent future troubles.” Over the past two days, she had studied the property deeds for Fang Garden several times. While the ownership of the part of the river on her land belonged to her, there was no clear statement about who owned the upstream and downstream sections of the river. This was a situation where money had been paid but no formal procedures had been followed, creating a small but not insignificant loophole that needed to be addressed as soon as possible.
Fifth Brother was a man who valued his word, so he naturally believed that the farmers and village head would stand by what they had said publicly. Hearing Mudan speak this way, although he didn’t quite agree, he still asked, “What do you plan to do?”
Mudan said seriously, “Although I might be thinking too seriously about this, I believe that verbal agreements are not enough. We asked them to testify, and they spoke the truth, which is reasonable. But we can’t guarantee that someone won’t cause trouble, by using money or power to force people to lie. That would not only be disadvantageous to us but also put others in a difficult position. So, I think we should write a document about the river’s origin and ask them to put their fingerprints on it as confirmation. Only by confirming the ownership of the river can we prevent others from causing trouble over it. This will not only help us get through the construction period safely but also protect us in the future.”
Fifth Brother thought for a moment and said, “You have a point. If that’s the case, let’s do it quickly.” The brother and sister quickly returned to the room, one grinding ink and the other holding the brush. After discussing, they quickly wrote out a document stating that the river was originally brought in by the previous Zhou family at their own expense, and all the land it passed through had been paid for. They didn’t mention that Mudan had complete rights over the river. They then wrote down the names of the villagers who had come yesterday, planning to ask them to confirm with their fingerprints one by one. They then took two jars of wine and half a lamb from the kitchen, preparing to go ask for the village head’s help.
Sun Shi and Zhen Shi had argued until their mouths were dry and they had no more energy to continue. They sat idly, staring at each other, watching Fifth Brother and Mudan running in and out busily. They decided to join in and asked where the siblings were going. Hearing they were going to find the village head, both women expressed their willingness to go along. Mudan didn’t have the patience to entertain them, so she asked Zhen Shi to help oversee the construction site and Sun Shi to watch over the kitchen, thus sending them away.
After leaving Fang Garden, Fifth Brother pretended to wipe sweat and said, “Aren’t your Third Sister-in-law and Sixth Sister-in-law usually on good terms? Why are they arguing like this today? You didn’t try to mediate – if they blame you later for watching the show and not intervening, what will you do?”
Mudan smiled, “Their friendship was in the past. Now they both have confidence and don’t need to ally with or please anyone, so naturally, they’re not afraid of each other. At home, with Mother keeping them in check, they wouldn’t dare to argue loudly even if they were upset. Today, let’s consider it their day off to vent. Let them argue as they like. You’ll see, they’ll be fine again when we get home.” This was the biggest change among the women in the family after Madam Chen had allocated the property – there was less ganging up and underhanded behavior, but more individual confrontations.
Fifth Brother just shook his head, “You women have such strange tempers. You argue with or without reason. Fortunately, your Fifth Sister-in-law doesn’t like to argue, otherwise, I’d be annoyed to death by her.”
Mudan looked at him with a half-smile, “Would you be annoyed with Fifth Sister-in-law? I’ll tell her when we get back.”
Fifth Brother laughed and scolded, “What kind of sister are you? Hoping for your brother and sister-in-law to argue. If you dare, see if I don’t teach you a lesson.”
Mudan laughed, “If you dare to teach me a lesson, see if I don’t go to our parents and sisters-in-law for justice. I’ll say you won’t let me tell the truth to my sister-in-law.”
Fifth Brother shook his head and sighed, “You’ve been spoiled. Your courage is growing.”
The brother and sister chatted and laughed as they found the village head’s house. They presented their gifts with both hands. The village head’s surname was Xiao, given the name Hui, a man in his fifties whose family was not wealthy and also farmed. Ordinary families rarely ate meat, so he was very happy to see the wine and meat. Thinking they had come to pay respects as new landowners, which no other estate owner in the area had done before, he felt satisfied both in face and in substance and was extremely warm towards Fifth Brother and Mudan.
However, when he heard their purpose, he wasn’t as forthcoming as he had been when drinking and eating meat the other day. He didn’t even pour them a cup of water, just frowned and kept turning the document over and over, afraid that his signature might cause some trouble he shouldn’t invite.
Fifth Brother and Mudan patiently sat nearby, smiling as they waited for him to finish reading. When he finally did, he said, “What’s already been said won’t change. What’s yours is yours, so why go to this trouble?” He tried to return the document to Mudan.
Seeing his reluctance, Mudan became nervous. She quickly stood up, bowed to him, and tried to make her smile as sincerely as possible: “Uncle Xiao, you know that this estate is mine. After I marry, I’ll have to rely on it to make a living, and I might need to sell it someday. I’m not writing this to block the river or anything, and I absolutely won’t let the downstream households go without water because of me. I just want to be prepared for special situations. For example, I’ve drawn water all over my estate. If someone upstream cuts off my water, what can I do as a woman? The garden would be ruined. I’ve put all my dowry into this estate, so I’m not at ease.”
Village Head Xiao smiled, “Young lady, don’t worry. No one will do such a thing, and if it happened, we would naturally testify for you.”
It wasn’t that no one would do such a thing; someone was already eyeing this river. Mudan sighed, “I’m not worried now, but I’m afraid it might be hard to find people to testify in the distant future. Look, this document only states that the Zhou family paid for the river’s construction in full, it doesn’t say anything else, right? I just want you to confirm that this happened. I visited the owners of the estates downstream yesterday, and they were all very reasonable. But I’m just afraid that if the ownership changes in the future, things might become unclear.”
Although she spoke reasonably, Village Head Xiao still wouldn’t commit. He glanced at her, then at Fifth Brother, then at the wine and meat they had brought. Mudan was so anxious she could hardly sit still. She knew the village head’s cooperation was a crucial step – they needed him to lead the way in finding the farmers, as people would be more willing to give their fingerprints with him taking the lead. What could they do if he didn’t sign?
As Village Head Xiao refused to sign the document, Mudan and Fifth Brother stubbornly refused to leave. Having accepted their gifts, Xiao didn’t want to return them but also couldn’t bring himself to drive them away. The three sat facing each other, motionless. Just as they were stuck in this awkward situation with forced smiles, a woman’s loud voice came from the courtyard: “Whose dead dog is this, coming here smelling something?” There was a dull thud, followed by a strange yelp from a dog outside the window, then a few weak howls that gradually faded away.
Then a woman in her thirties, wearing coarse cloth clothes, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, walked in clapping her hands. Her gaze swept over Fifth Brother and Mudan, then fell on the two jars of wine and half a lamb. She said in a loud voice, “Oh my, such distinguished guests, and not even a cup of water offered. How negligent. That dog’s nose is sharp, it did smell the meat.”
Village Head Xiao frowned, looking very displeased, but ultimately didn’t say anything. Mudan, wanting to build a relationship with his family, stood up with a smile and said, “And this sister is…?”
Before Xiao could speak, the woman had already deftly brought two cups of water in coarse porcelain cups: “Look how sweet-tongued you are. My surname is Zhou, people call me Eighth Sister Zhou. Young lady, just call me Eighth Sister Zhou. I’ve been working in your estate’s kitchen these past two days. The wages are paid daily, the food is good, and your family is very fair. You’re not the typical rich exploiters, which is very good.”
Mudan was somewhat surprised by this evaluation. She then noticed a faint scent of incense from Eighth Sister Zhou and saw that her hands were very clean and that the cups, though old, were extremely clean. She took a sip and found a hint of honey flavor, which made her quite curious about Eighth Sister Zhou.
Seeing Mudan drink the water, Eighth Sister Zhou smiled with satisfaction. Without explaining her status, she reached for the paper in front of Village Head Xiao, glanced at it briefly, and said, “It’s not a big deal. You already said it in front of everyone the other day, so what’s wrong with giving her this testimony today?”
Hearing this, Village Head Xiao glared at Eighth Sister Zhou, his sparse mustache bristling. Eighth Sister Zhou tilted her chin and stared back with wide eyes, not backing down at all. Xiao gradually yielded and said, “Fine, seeing that you’re honest people, I don’t think you’ll harm me. If you use this to cause trouble and harm me, I’ll have to fight you to the end.”
Eighth Sister Zhou immediately changed to a smiling face. She went to the corner of the room to fetch a worn brush, a small piece of ink, a broken inkstone, and a broken bowl. She poured some water into it, rolled up her sleeves, and began to grind the ink, gesturing for Xiao to sign and seal the document. Xiao sighed helplessly, lowered his head, and wrote crookedly that the matter was true, then signed his name.
Mudan and Fifth Brother were both somewhat surprised by this. They had initially guessed that these two might be father-in-law and daughter-in-law, with Zhou being the daughter-in-law in charge of household finances, which explained her boldness. But now, seeing how they addressed each other as “you” and “I,” and glared at each other, they didn’t seem like father-in-law and daughter-in-law, but more like a married couple. However, the age difference between them was quite significant.
Eighth Sister Zhou, seeing that Xiao had finished writing, patted his hand satisfactorily and handed the document to Mudan: “See if anything is missing?”
Mudan sheepishly took a small box of cinnabar from Yuhe and passed it over. Eighth Sister Zhou chuckled and gestured for Xiao to press his fingerprint. Xiao grumblingly did so, then glared at Eighth Sister Zhou again, grabbed a bamboo hat, and said to Fifth Brother and Mudan with a stern face, “Come on, I’ll take you to find the people.”
Mudan was overjoyed and quickly bowed to thank Eighth Sister Zhou. Zhou waved her hand and smiled, “It’s fine, I understand why you want to do this.” Before she finished speaking, Xiao looked at her suspiciously. Mudan felt both nervous and embarrassed – Zhou’s generosity made it seem like she was taking advantage of the unsuspecting Xiao.
However, Eighth Sister Zhou laughed heartily, “This is better, it saves trouble later on. Alright, we women don’t have it easy. Go quickly.” From her tone, it seemed she knew everything.
Mudan’s face reddened slightly. She smiled gratefully at Eighth Sister Zhou, then turned to follow Fifth Brother and Village Head Xiao out.
After everyone left, Eighth Sister Zhou efficiently hid the wine under the bed and hung the lamb in a basket down the well to keep it cool. Just as she finished tidying up, someone arrived with two packages of pastries and a packet of tea, asking arrogantly to see Village Head Xiao on business. Eighth Sister Zhou glanced at the visitor, recognizing him as someone from Prince Ning’s estate. She warmly invited him to sit and drink water while waiting, saying she would go find Xiao. However, once out the door, she didn’t go look for Xiao at all but went straight back to work in Fang Garden’s main kitchen. The visitor, never imagining that Zhou would leave him unattended, patiently sat waiting in Xiao’s house.
As it was the busy farming season, most people were working in the fields. Fifth Brother, Mudan, and the others had to trudge through the scorching sun along the field ridges for a long time, sweating profusely, before finally completing their task. Mudan carefully folded the document now bearing over twenty red fingerprints and hid it in her bosom. She gratefully invited Village Head Xiao to eat at the estate, but he frowned and said, “I won’t go. Eating and taking gifts, even righteous matters become unrighteous. Now that you have this document, don’t use it to cause trouble.”
Mudan agreed repeatedly, seeing him off with a smile. She excitedly grabbed Fifth Brother’s hand and laughed. With this document, although she still couldn’t fully control the river, she at least had legitimate grounds and wouldn’t have to fear others’ criticism.
While she was rejoicing here, Village Head Xiao was in a state of distress back at his home.