JiaoCang_Chapter 1

Lingquan Town was a famous porcelain production site in the Great Yan Dynasty, with merchants from all over coming to purchase goods daily. The prices of local houses and land deeds had risen sharply, but this still couldn’t deter outsiders from settling here to make a living.

In the spring breeze of February, when the grass grew and orioles sang, another horse-drawn carriage traveled along the stone-paved road of Lingquan Town’s North Street. In the neighborhood, idle women gathered for needlework all craned their necks to look, curious about what kind of family was moving into the long-vacant blue-tiled house on North Street.

The carriage stopped in front of the somewhat old-fashioned gate. A thin, dark-faced elderly woman unloaded a small plum blossom stool from the back of the carriage, then reached into the curtain to help out a woman who appeared to be in the prime of her youth, about eighteen, wearing a light smoky-colored silk robe. For some reason, the woman was holding a bamboo walking stick used for mountain climbing, and with the elderly woman’s support, she slowly got off the carriage.

After descending, the woman naturally surveyed the surrounding streets, allowing people to see her eyebrows and eyes as beautiful as distant mountains shrouded in mist. This sight made onlookers inwardly exclaim: Goodness! How could there be such a breathtakingly beautiful woman in this world?

Lingquan Town, located in Jiangnan, had long been known for producing beautiful women. However, this woman’s charm was different from the gentle beauty typical of Jiangnan water towns. She was slender-waisted, long-legged, tall, and strikingly beautiful, especially with her jet-black hair bun accentuating her bright eyes and eyebrows. However, judging by the style of her hair bun, she should already be married.

While the beauty was indeed stunning, she gave off an unapproachable aura. People felt that such exquisite beauty should be kept in a deep palace under the sun, in jade halls and golden chambers. How could she end up in such a commonplace?

After watching for a long time, when the woman led two elderly servants and the carriage driver into the courtyard, Yin Pozi, who had been peeking, still unsatisfied, couldn’t help but whisper to the women sitting nearby, “My goodness, I’ve lived for so long and this is the first time I’ve seen someone so beautiful. I wonder what her husband does for a living to be able to marry such a beauty!”

Zhang’s wife scornfully chimed in, “What else could he do? Out of ten outsiders who come here to buy houses, nine are porcelain merchants. Ordinary craftsmen can’t afford a whole house on this street.”

Hearing this, someone with a quick mind immediately narrowed their eyes and exclaimed, “If her husband is a merchant, he’s short-sighted. After making some money, he doesn’t know his limits and dares to marry such a beautiful wife. If he often travels for business, leaving such a beautiful young woman at home alone, with these low walls and short doors, how can he keep her… contained!”

Her words carried implications. North Street of Lingquan had many merchant households, where men often traveled far and wide for business. These merchants mostly liked to take former courtesans as concubines, so those who settled here for business often brought women who were not their principal wives.

In these households, it was not uncommon for women who had supposedly reformed to become restless and cunning. So, when eyes met over the wall and doors opened at night for secret meetings with local playboys, such incidents occurred frequently.

This goings-on hidden under the cover of the night could hardly escape the eyes of the neighborhood’s long-tongued old women. During the day, they would gather to do needlework and exchange gossip, sharing stories about private affairs and ambiguous relationships from the neighboring houses.

Over time, these old women’s eyes grew increasingly discerning in judging people! As for the beautiful new arrival today, there was no telling what her background might be. By the looks of it, she seemed to be the type to cause trouble and attract men. It remained to be seen which fickle young master in Lingquan Town would be able to knock on the back door of this blue-tiled house on North Street…

At once, these local women began to sigh and criticize how the families of outside merchants were corrupting the atmosphere of North Street. They then started to boast about their chastity, congratulating themselves on how their husbands had wisely chosen virtuous wives like themselves. The conversation grew animated.

Let’s leave aside the gossiping women at the neighborhood entrance and turn our attention back to the newly renovated blue-tiled courtyard house. After entering the gate, the beautiful woman had been frowning in hesitation.

It seemed that only the outer wall and the weathered main gate had not been renovated. Once inside the courtyard, everything was exquisite – from the small pond and flower beds to the sandalwood furniture.

Liu Miantang couldn’t help but look up and survey the blue-tiled house with its private small courtyard once more. She frowned slightly and hesitantly said, “Didn’t my husband suffer significant losses in his business, forcing us to move away from the capital? How could he afford to buy such a nice house here? He…”

Before Miantang could finish her sentence, the dark-faced elderly woman standing beside her abruptly interrupted, speaking somewhat harshly, “The master comes from generations of wealth. Even a lean camel is larger than a horse. He can still afford a small house like this. Madam, you’re overthinking it.”

Miantang didn’t respond, only lightly stroking her walking stick with her slender fingers.

This Li Mama had spoken to her confrontationally several times already. She didn’t know how she had managed the household before her illness, but she felt that she probably wouldn’t have tolerated this behavior.

However, the severe illness had not only weakened her body but also burned away most of her memories. Many things she couldn’t remember clearly anymore. She only remembered that her name was Liu Miantang, that she was the youngest daughter of the once-prominent Liu family from Peishan, that she had lost her mother at the age of ten, and that she had a brother five years her senior. Because the Liu family had squandered their wealth for generations and were now impoverished, her father had arranged a profitable marriage for her, marrying her off to the Cui family of merchants in the capital, receiving an enormous bride price.

She distinctly remembered how unwilling and resentful she had been when she got married, feeling as if her father had sold her. Now, though she was far from home, she couldn’t recall anything about her married life. Those memories seemed to be wrapped in layers of dense cocoons, hidden away somewhere unknown.

Fortunately, her husband had a good temperament and hadn’t rejected her despite her panic attacks when she first regained consciousness. Instead, he had sought treatment from physicians, never skimping on expensive ginseng and other precious herbs. He had spent more than half of the family fortune to pull her back from the brink of death.

But her prolonged illness had consumed a great deal of money, and after a year, the family’s wealth was much diminished compared to before. Her husband, who was away on a long journey, had sent a message through someone, saying that their shop in the capital had been handed over to others to settle debts, and the family business had now moved to Jiangnan. She needed to pack her belongings and settle in Lingquan Town.

In the year since her illness and memory loss, Miantang had had enough time to stabilize her confused emotions following her amnesia. She had heard from her husband that the Liu family had been implicated in the Daishan Academy case three years ago. Her father had been convicted and executed, while her brother had been wrongfully imprisoned and exiled to Lingnan.

Upon hearing this terrible news, she didn’t feel particularly surprised in her heart. The decay of the Liu family had shown signs even before she was married. Although her father had neglected and ignored her, he had indulged and spoiled her brother, buying official positions with money, which had planted the seeds of disaster for the Liu family.

Although it had happened three years ago, for her, who had lost memories of these years, it was still a heavy blow. After hearing about her father’s tragic death and her brother’s fate, she was so distraught that she couldn’t eat for several days.

Later, it was her husband who forcibly held her chin and made her drink half a bowl of soup, then said coldly, “This happened long ago. You’ve only lost your memory and are grieving again. What’s done is done. How can the living follow the dead? Even the families of those students who were killed by your Liu family’s father and son didn’t seek death. Are you starving yourself to atone for your father’s sins?”

These words were as sharp as a knife, leaving her unable to defend herself, but they also acted like a sudden enlightenment, pulling her out of her uncontrollable grief.

The once-prominent Liu family no longer existed. The living still had to go on living.

Her husband was not good with words and usually didn’t say much to her, but he was a reliable man. He hadn’t despised her even though her maiden family had fallen into such a sorry state.

Since this was the case, she couldn’t use her illness as an excuse to burden her husband and distract him. Especially after hearing from Li Mama that her husband had suffered significant financial losses due to neglecting the business while caring for her during her illness, Liu Miantang felt even more guilty and ashamed. She was determined to be a good helper to him, allowing her husband to focus on the business without worrying about losing all their assets.

Now, she had finally settled in Lingquan Town, and this would be her home from now on. However, this Li Mama seemed to always treat her unkindly, as if she had wronged her husband in some way.

Although the old servant was difficult, Liu Miantang didn’t confront her. The Cui family was not as well-off as before, and those who were willing to stay were loyal old servants. As a newcomer, she didn’t want to put on airs as the mistress and rebuke Li Mama, which might discourage the other servants. But she would have to find a way to address this indirectly later. If all else failed, she could assign Li Mama to work at her husband’s shop.

Thinking of this, her mood lightened. Perhaps the future days would be like the spring breeze of Lingquan in February – after the lingering chill, endless warmth would follow.

Although Liu Miantang had just arrived, her trunks and clothes had been sent over earlier. However, the clothes and bedding had been carelessly tossed into the wardrobe without any order.

Liu Miantang called for Li Mama to come and organize the trunk, but Li Mama’s voice came from the small kitchen nearby: “The master will be here soon, and this servant must prepare the wine and dishes first. The clothes can wait until tomorrow to be sorted!”

Li Mama had spoken sharply again, but her words were reasonable. They couldn’t let the husband come home to an empty table.

Liu Miantang had only two servants with her: Li Mama and a mute woman who did the heavy work. Now both servants were in the kitchen chopping firewood and cooking, so she had to take care of things in the room herself.

After her illness, her legs couldn’t stand for long periods, so she simply moved a chair to sit by the window and began folding the clothes one by one.

These clothes had all been washed so many times they looked old. Most of them were made from fabric her husband had ordered for her a year ago. Since then, no new clothes have been added.

But now that her husband’s business was struggling, having clothes to wear was enough. She wasn’t picky about these things.

However… all the clothes in this trunk were hers, without a single piece belonging to her husband, Cui Jiu.

Could it be that her husband’s luggage hadn’t been moved over yet? Liu Miantang couldn’t help but wonder.

As she was lost in thought, the sound of a carriage crushing the stone slabs came from the front of the house, followed by the noise of the gate opening.

Liu Miantang, sitting by the window, leaned out to look. Soon, she saw a tall man walk around the screen wall in front of the house and stride in.