“I heard it from my mother,” Cheng Sheng didn’t hide anything. “My mother heard it from Elder Aunt. But Elder Aunt didn’t say much in detail, so my mother doesn’t know the specifics either. She’s just somewhat worried. Uncle Chi returned, and Fourth Aunt invited us for a meal. Uncle Chi was also promoted—logically Uncle Wen should have come too. But today not only did Uncle Wen not come, Cousin Nuo and Lady Wu didn’t come either… I’m a bit worried—the Li family of Lujiang, the Fang family of Shucheng, the Gu family of Haining… their families don’t have such matters!”

This was truly too shameful!

Not only Zhou Shaojin, but even Min Jia’s face turned red.

“It’s a long story.” Min Jia raised her eyes to glance at Old Madam Guo, who was listening to the opera with great relish while accompanied by Lady Qiu. In a low voice, she recounted the course of events. “…No matter what, it’s wrong for Cousin Nuo to be keeping a woman outside. My father-in-law’s intention was to have the family come forward to talk with that woman—either let her enter the household or make a clean break. If it involves money matters and Uncle Wen’s resources aren’t enough, our side would provide it. In any case, we can’t let others laugh at the Cheng family.

“But Cousin Nuo swore that things were completely innocent between him and that Miss Kang the Sixth, that there was no relationship at all, and it was all Lady Wu’s imagination.

“So my mother personally went to find that Miss Kang the Sixth.

“It turned out that what Lady Wu said was completely wrong.

“That residence belongs to Miss Kang the Sixth herself. The shop at the West Straight Gate and the trading company in Hui County also all belong to Miss Kang the Sixth. That cousin of hers is merely her most capable chief manager.”

“What?” Both Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Sheng were dumbfounded.

Min Jia smiled bitterly. “Lady Wu didn’t clarify anything and just caused trouble blindly.

“It’s true that Miss Kang the Sixth lost her parents early and was raised by her grandmother. But she has a good uncle. After her father passed away, he kept managing the ancestral property. When Miss Kang the Sixth turned fourteen, he handed over her father’s entire share to her. He also taught her hand-in-hand how to do business. Fearing she would be mistreated if she married into another family, he decided to have her take in a son-in-law instead.

“Didn’t Lady Wu borrow silver from Miss Kang the Sixth’s silk shop before? Later Lady Wu kept dragging it out. Originally Miss Kang the Sixth didn’t care much about those few hundred taels of silver, but Lady Wu judged others by herself. After returning the silver, she borrowed again. When others asked about it, not only was there no word of thanks, she also coveted the interest money from their family, planning to repay the debt when it was due, then borrow it back again after a few days to use.

“No one is stupider than anyone else!

“Moreover, Miss Kang the Sixth is the head of her household. How could she feel comfortable hearing such words? After she returned the silver, she was unwilling to lend to her again.

“It would have been fine if she had just let it go.

“But human hearts are never satisfied, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. She used Cousin Nuo at home as a raft, wanting Cousin Nuo to go borrow.

“Cousin Nuo is an honest person. Not knowing would be one thing, but knowing about it, how could he have the face to borrow? And having heard the neighbors’ words, his face burned hot. He immediately took twelve gift boxes to the Kang family to apologize.

“It just so happened that Miss Kang the Sixth was home. Seeing Cousin Nuo’s sincerity, she let the matter drop.

“During their meeting, they exchanged a few words. Learning that Cousin Nuo’s tea shop business wasn’t doing well, and it just so happened that the Kang family had also been in the tea business before—only they later focused mainly on selling silk. The chief manager who used to handle the tea business had passed away from illness, and they were busy on both sides and somewhat overwhelmed, so she introduced a few merchants she still had dealings with to Cousin Nuo.

“This kind of person—you can assign him tasks to do and he’s fine, but how could he handle negotiating business? Even though they introduced the merchants to him, he couldn’t close the deals.

“Miss Kang the Sixth thought the merchants had looked down on Cousin Nuo because of his young age. Thinking that she had brought this matter about, she couldn’t just let Cousin Nuo leave in such defeat. So she invited those merchants again in her own name, reluctantly did a bit of business with them, though it only earned them tea money.

“Miss Kang the Sixth felt bad about it, so she introduced another merchant to Cousin Nuo. She also told Cousin Nuo what clothes to wear, what to say, how to respond when it came to price and tea quality, and what to do when discussing poetry and romance. Cousin Nuo did as she said, and this business deal was successfully concluded.

“Cousin Nuo was immensely grateful. Whenever there was anything, he would invite the teahouse manager to go consult Miss Kang the Sixth.

“Miss Kang the Sixth had received care from her manager cousin before. This time coming to the capital, firstly she came to check on the shop here, and secondly to visit her cousin’s wife who was about to give birth. Originally having nothing much to do, she helped Cousin Nuo come up with a few ideas.

“Their family had originally established a foothold in the capital by going through Qu Yuan’s connections. Now that Qu Yuan had fallen from power, their family’s business wasn’t as smooth as before either. Miss Kang the Sixth tried several connections in the capital but none worked out, so she was thinking of wrapping up operations in the capital and renting the shop to others to do business.

“When word got out, some people had designs on their shop.

“Seeing this, Cousin Nuo gave Miss Kang the Sixth the calling card from my father-in-law that Uncle Wen had, telling her that when someone came to cause trouble at the shop again, she should take this calling card to see the Prefect of Shuntian.

“Miss Kang the Sixth didn’t know before about Cousin Nuo’s relationship with the Cheng family and my family.

“Upon learning that Uncle Wen was related to our family, she said that my father-in-law’s calling card was probably hard to obtain, and it would be too wasteful to use it like this. Better to save it for a life-or-death situation. She didn’t accept it.

“So Cousin Nuo personally went to Shuntian Prefecture, and that’s how he smoothed over this matter.

“The Prefect of Shuntian couldn’t work for nothing, right? So he had his wife hint at it to my mother indirectly.

“My mother is also one to believe one-sided stories—whatever Lady Wu says, she does.

“Hearing that Miss Kang the Sixth had my father-in-law’s calling card, she broke out in cold sweat and quickly sent a steward to inquire. That’s how the trip to West Straight Gate came about!

“That Miss Kang the Sixth is indeed innocent with Cousin Nuo!”

Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Sheng both breathed a sigh of relief, and their expressions relaxed.

Cheng Sheng even bowed toward the west, saying, “As long as the misunderstanding is cleared up, that’s good. From now on, just live a good life together. Who hasn’t come through their younger years?”

Zhou Shaojin nodded in agreement.

Min Jia smiled helplessly. “But Cousin Nuo feels he wronged Miss Kang the Sixth and insists on divorcing his wife.” She then told Cheng Sheng and Zhou Shaojin about how Wu Baozhang had gotten Miss Kang the Sixth thrown into prison. “Then Miss Kang the Sixth also became angry, saying that if Cousin Nuo had been a bit weaker, a bit more afraid of trouble, a bit later in going, wouldn’t she have died in prison? Lady Wu said she was a mistress, right? Well then, she wouldn’t disappoint Lady Wu’s good intentions and would become Cousin Nuo’s mistress. She also said that as this mistress, she wouldn’t take a single coin from Cousin Nuo, but would instead give Cousin Wen eight hundred taels of silver annually for his retirement…”

“What?!” Cheng Sheng and Zhou Shaojin were shocked once again.

Zhou Shaojin said, “Isn’t Miss Kang the Sixth being ridiculous? If word of this gets out, how can she conduct herself in the future? Killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of one’s own.”

Min Jia couldn’t help but glance at Zhou Shaojin and said, “Exactly! My mother-in-law also advised Miss Kang the Sixth this way. But Miss Kang the Sixth had made up her mind and even called Cousin Nuo over.”

“What did Cousin Nuo (Nephew Nuo) say?” Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Sheng asked in unison.

“Cousin Nuo refused no matter what.” Min Jia said, “Perhaps this is an ill-fated relationship. If Cousin Nuo had agreed, Miss Kang the Sixth, seeing that Cousin Nuo was such a person without his own opinions, might have regretted it. When Mother went to persuade her, she could have given her a way out. But Cousin Nuo’s neck was as stiff as if nine oxen were pulling it—good words and bad words were all exhausted, but he just wouldn’t agree.”

“Isn’t that quite good?” Zhou Shaojin said. “These sad matters will be forgotten over time. After a while, won’t it all be fine?”

“I’m afraid Cousin Nuo doesn’t think so.” Min Jia sighed. “He says if he has to continue living with Lady Wu, he’d rather die.”

Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Sheng looked at each other.

That evening, Zhou Shaojin told this matter to Old Madam Guo. “Mother, do you think Brother Nuo will divorce Wu Baozhang?”

Both families were respectable. If they truly couldn’t continue living together, they couldn’t possibly just have Cheng Nuo divorce Wu Baozhang outright. They would at least need to give Wu Baozhang some face-saving cover and say it was a mutual separation.

Old Madam Guo listened and made an “oh” sound, then said with interest, “That Miss Kang the Sixth is quite formidable. How old is she?”

“They say she’s twenty-four. Because she gives some silver to the officials every year, they just turn a blind eye.” Zhou Shaojin said.

Hearing this, Old Madam Guo said with a smile, “I was originally afraid that Miss Kang the Sixth would suffer in prison. Now it seems I worried unnecessarily. At twenty-four she still hasn’t married, yet she can manage such a large family business left by her father. She must be quite an extraordinary person. Let’s not interfere in this matter. Whether Cheng Nuo wants to continue living with Wu Baozhang or divorce and remarry someone else, let’s not get involved.”

Zhou Shaojin smiled and agreed with an “mm.” After serving Old Madam Guo to bed, she ran right into Cheng Chi, who had been waiting in the hall for quite some time.

“Mother is asleep!” Zhou Shaojin said to him quietly. “Keep your voice down.”

So Cheng Chi didn’t go pay his respects to Old Madam Guo. Carrying the already fast asleep Yun Ge’er wrapped up tightly, he returned to their room.

Yun Ge’er hadn’t made a sound from start to finish.

Cheng Chi placed him on the bed, and he was still sleeping.

His pink little face was rosy red as if painted with rouge. His slender little hand curled with an orchid finger gesture against his cheek. He slept soundly, adorable beyond measure.

Cheng Chi watched with a smile floating in his eyes. As if afraid of waking Yun Ge’er, he sat by the bed looking at Yun Ge’er and said quietly to Zhou Shaojin, “He really wore himself out today. No matter what, he won’t wake up now.”

The room full of children chattering like a flock of sparrows made one’s head ache, yet Yun Ge’er kept his eyes open, unwilling to sleep. And he couldn’t be held horizontally—his head had to be propped up with an arm so he could see the children playing and making noise. Otherwise, he would cry desperately.

The wet nurse had no choice but to hold him up so he could watch. Only when his upper and lower eyelids were fighting each other and he really couldn’t hold on anymore did he finally close his eyes and fall asleep.

Once asleep, no matter what, he couldn’t be awakened.

After Zhou Shaojin instructed a young maid to bring water for the couple to wash and change clothes, she sat down next to them. Smiling, she lovingly touched her son’s hair and said, “I wonder whose temperament he takes after—such a big temper!”

“It’s definitely not me!” Cheng Chi said with a laugh. “And even less you. Maybe as Mother says, he takes after his grandfather.”

Since babies with delicate features all looked somewhat similar, Zhou Shaojin couldn’t tell who Yun Ge’er resembled. Hearing this, she couldn’t help but smile and ask, “Do you look like your father-in-law?”