No matter how unwilling Gu Lan was, she couldn’t disobey Feng Shi’s wishes.
She finally silently got up from the ground, opened the door, and walked out.
Feng Shi sighed and instructed Fu Ling beside her: “…Later, send some silk fabrics to Lan’er’s quarters, increase her monthly allowance to fifteen taels, and give her my gold Fu Shou hairpins and a string of red coral bracelets.”
Fu Ling complied, and Feng Shi waved her hand, leading everyone to the eastern side room.
Gu Lan had already admitted her mistake, but Yu Ming Ying looked at her with a cold smile: “You think I’m stupid? With your status, you think you can just come out and admit your mistake whenever you want?”
Gu Lan calmly replied: “Ming Ying Sister is right, Lan’er’s status is low. But Lan’er still understands the principles. What’s done is done. I coveted your tourmaline bracelet, so I secretly took it. If I hadn’t accidentally dropped it in the lake, I wouldn’t have stepped forward to admit my mistake… Now I’ll accept whatever punishment Ming Ying Sister sees fit.”
Since she was destined to take the blame, she might as well accept it properly. Perhaps Feng Shi still had some sympathy for her.
Feng Shi had just led everyone to the outside of the eastern side room and walked in smiling, taking Yu Ming Ying’s hand and saying: “Ming Ying, this is our fault. Lan’er was just too fond of your things. I have already punished her properly. Ming Ying, you come from a distinguished family and have studied poetry and books since childhood. It’s not worth dwelling on this small matter. If you like, tomorrow go to my storehouse and choose anything you like. Your status is different from Lan’er’s, and it’s not worth being angry with her, is it? I know you’ve always been a magnanimous person…”
Yu Ming Ying glanced at Gu Lian who stood behind the Second Madam, cowering and afraid to come forward, and her lips curved into a smile. The Gu family claimed to be scholarly, but with a legitimate daughter raised like this, even if she married the son of a high official, it wouldn’t save her. Even if she married a proper Marquis’s heir, she still wouldn’t succeed!
With Feng Shi dropping the “distinguished family” title on her, she really couldn’t make a big deal of it anymore.
Nanny Wen stepped forward at this moment, bowing and saying: “Old Madam, please don’t mind. Our Third Miss has a quick temper, but she has no malice. We are also at fault in this matter, carelessly leaving things around the room, tempting others… After all, we are relatives by marriage, and it’s not good to ruin harmony over such a small matter.”
Feng Shi’s expression finally relaxed somewhat. This Nanny Wen was Third Miss Yu’s wet nurse and held a high position among the Yu family servants.
“Nanny Wen speaks thoughtfully,” Feng Shi smiled. “Let’s see how you want to punish Lan’er. I certainly won’t interfere.”
Yu Ming Ying glanced at Gu Lan.
Gu Lan kept her head down, her face still bearing traces of undried tears.
“Since I’ll be staying at the Gu residence for some time, let Lan Sister help me with my daily needs,” Yu Ming Ying said lightly. “Just helping with hair combing, making tea, and such. It won’t interfere with anything else.”
Gu Lan felt her face burning. She wanted her to act as a servant! If others saw this, how could she face anyone?
Feng Shi’s expression relaxed. Just serving tea and water, from the perspective of this Third Miss Yu, was a lenient punishment. She immediately said to Gu Lan: “Get up quickly, your Ming Ying Sister is being reasonable!”
Gu Lan stood up and bowed, but it felt like someone had slapped her face, making her head buzz.
She had no support, she wasn’t a legitimate daughter, and was bullied by these people like this! Gu Lian was friendly with her, yet willing to immediately push her out to take the blame. What a good sister indeed! Gu Lan bit her lip.
If she didn’t return today’s humiliation to Gu Lian, she wouldn’t be Gu Lan!
Yu Ming Ying didn’t express any further objections. Saying she was tired, she returned to the west wing room with Nanny Wen, reminding Gu Lan to come early tomorrow before leaving.
Feng Shi sent everyone else away, keeping Gu Lan and Gu Jin Chao to talk.
Gu Jin Chao first spoke with Feng Shi. In today’s incident, all faults lay with Gu Lian; she and Gu Lan were implicated for no reason. Thinking of how resolute Gu Jin Chao had been earlier, Feng Shi still felt uneasy and persuaded her for quite a while.
Gu Jin Chao finally relented: “Grandmother, you don’t need to say more. Chao’er understands your difficulties.”
Feng Shi sighed, “Lian’er is incompetent. It’s hard on you and Lan’er. Grandmother has let you down… If there’s anything you want or wish to do, tell Grandmother. Whatever you want, Grandmother will find it for you.”
Gu Jin Chao shook her head and said softly: “I don’t have anything special in mind… just that I saw a nice fabric pattern at Yuzhao Workshop last time, but it was a bit expensive, so I didn’t dare buy it. Now I do want it… If Grandmother agrees, I’d like to visit Yuzhao Workshop after Lian’er’s coming-of-age ceremony.”
Feng Shi wasn’t keen on women going out, but considering what had just happened, she relented.
When Gu Jin Chao came out, she saw Gu Lan standing in the night, engulfed by thick shadows.
Gu Lan also looked at her, and after a long while, softly asked: “Did you enjoy watching me being humiliated… You’re a legitimate daughter, I’m a concubine’s daughter. I could never catch up to you in this lifetime no matter how hard I try. If you want to laugh, go ahead and laugh…”
But Gu Jin Chao ignored Gu Lan completely, taking Qing Pu and Cai Fu straight back to Yanxiu Hall. She didn’t want to talk to Gu Lan, nor did she need to.
The next day was Gu Lian’s coming-of-age ceremony, which was lively and peaceful.
Gu Jin Chao noticed that the Second Master Gu only made a brief appearance and then disappeared. Her father spent the whole day in his study, discussing with his advisors.
In the end, Madam Yao performed the hairpin ceremony for Gu Lian.
Gu Jin Chao had also been busy all day for Gu Lian’s coming-of-age ceremony. When she woke up the next morning, it was already mid-morning. Gu Jin Chao was helped into her winter jacket by Cai Fu and quietly said to Qing Pu: “…You should have woken me earlier.”
Qing Pu helped her pull back the intertwined branch pattern ice-silk bed curtains, scooping with a silver peony spoon and smiled: “…You haven’t slept well these past few days. I lit some calming incense for you, hoping you’d sleep a bit longer.”
She indeed hadn’t slept much these past few days.
Jin Chao saw Cai Fu take out a goose-yellow winter jacket with four happiness and good fortune patterns. After thinking for a moment, she had her change to a white jacket with a light purple bamboo leaf pattern and paired it with a deep indigo-blue Xiang skirt. She combed her hair into a neat bun, using a string of white jade hairpins of various sizes as decoration.
Xu Mama went to the east wing early in the morning to get a token and returned. After noon, Jin Chao, accompanied only by Qing Pu and Cai Fu, went to the front courtyard. Feng Shi assigned four guards to follow her. After leaving the Gu family gate, the carriage slowly headed toward Dezhong Ward.
Luo Yong Ping had already prepared a carriage at the back door of the Su Hang Silk Shop. After Jin Chao boarded, she instructed him: “…I’ll be gone for half an hour. If those guards come looking, have Cai Fu change into clothes similar to mine and sit inside.”
Luo Yong Ping agreed: “Don’t worry, this servant will keep watch. Nothing will go wrong.”
Gu Jin Chao took only Qing Pu aboard the carriage. The driver cracked his whip, and the carriage quickly headed toward Lanxi Ward.
Lanxi Ward wasn’t as prosperous as Dezhong Ward or Yuzhao Ward; it was just a clean small market paved with bluestone, without many people coming and going. To the left was the official road leading to Wanping, and ahead was the outer city of the capital. The driver stopped the carriage outside a small shop selling mutton and hot wine, gave the shopkeeper a silver ingot worth two taels, and told him not to let any more customers in afterward. The shopkeeper repeatedly agreed. These two taels equaled nearly half a month’s income for him.
Jin Chao fingered the note given by the Third Master Chen and softly instructed the driver: “You go stop his carriage later, invite the Third Master for mutton soup, and give him this. Understand clearly?”
When Third Master Chen saw the note, he should be able to guess that someone from the Gu family wanted to meet him.
If he was unwilling to help or didn’t want to be involved, he wouldn’t agree to come.
The driver Luo Yong Ping found was extremely clever and repeatedly agreed. He took the note and tucked it into the sleeve of his brown cotton jacket, then sat on the stone platform outside the shop to wait.
As people gradually left the small shop, Jin Chao finally descended from the carriage and entered. Inside, the windows were open, with four clean wooden tables set up, bowls and chopsticks on the tables, along with a dish of sesame oil. Jin Chao sat by the window and had the shopkeeper bring a pot of hot tea.
A blue-curtained carriage traveled on the bluestone road.
“Wang Xuan Fan is too difficult…” Jiang Yan said softly.
Chen Yan Yun sat in the carriage, rubbing his brow with closed eyes.
Since the Shanxi disaster relief funds were under the Ministry of Revenue’s control, he would naturally make the decisions. Wang Xuan Fan, a Minister of Works, had interfered with the Ministry of Revenue’s disaster relief funds under the pretext of building dikes and dredging waterways, saying he wanted to borrow them first. There were already old ministers dissatisfied with the suppression of disaster relief funds, and with Wang Xuan Fan causing trouble like this, the Ministry of Revenue would inevitably be embarrassed. But although Wang Xuan Fan’s move was blatant, it played right into Zhang Ju Lian’s hands.
Chen Yan Yun didn’t speak. After a while, he opened his eyes and asked Jiang Yan: “Has Secretary Gu submitted any memorials?”
Jiang Yan was stunned for a moment: “You mean Secretary Gu from the Storage Department?” A mere secretary, how had he caught Chen’s attention? Jiang Yi considered carefully before saying: “This official hasn’t seen any memorials from Secretary Gu. Does this person have something important… otherwise I can go back and check?”
The granaries would open on the twenty-fourth. If he didn’t submit a memorial soon, he might not even keep his life.
Chen Yan Yun smiled: “Never mind.”
He shouldn’t be involved in the first place.
They couldn’t back down from Wang Xuan Fan’s matters either. Otherwise, with Wang Xuan Fan’s merit in punishing Yuan Zhong Ru, Zhang Ju Lian would also look at him differently. Chen Yan Yun fingered the string of agarwood beads on his left hand and instructed Jiang Yan: “…The Ministry of Works should have special treasury funds allocated for dredging waterways. He doesn’t even submit a memorial but wants to use the Ministry of Revenue’s funds. We need to help him. To find Secretary Luo from the Ministry of Works’ Sichuan Division to submit a memorial. Isn’t he crying poverty? Spread the news about how he diverted official funds last month to purchase a thousand acres of good land. No need to formally impeach him; it’s best to let Zhang’s nephew at the Censorate hear about it…”
Zhang Ju Lian hated official corruption the most. Wang Xuan Fan had secretly bought this thousand acres of land in Xianghe, fearing the matter would get out.
Jiang Yan agreed.
Chen Yan Yun closed his eyes again to rest, but the carriage suddenly stopped.
Jiang Yan lost his balance and immediately lifted the curtain to ask Hu Rong: “Why did you stop the carriage? The Third Master is resting…”
Hu Rong was also annoyed.
He was driving two blue-black horses and moving fast when suddenly a short man in a yellow-brown cotton jacket blocked his way. If he hadn’t pulled the reins quickly, this person would have lost his life.
Hu Rong immediately cursed: “Are you looking to die?! The road is so wide, yet you rush right in front of us. If I were more ruthless, I would have run you over, believe it or not!”