Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and the weather grew colder.
In the courtyard of the Jian residence, thick layers of snow had just been cleared away. Two sparrows had landed on the offering table under the covered corridor, pecking at the rice grains. The hurried footsteps startled the birds away. Little Qingtong, accompanied by two maids carrying trays, walked along the long corridor and stopped outside the room with thick felt curtains.
“Lady, the craftsmen in the shop have made some new exquisite items. Master asked me to bring them for you to see. If you like any of them, you can keep them in your room for admiration,” Little Qingtong said.
“Come in,” came Jian Mingshu’s weary voice from inside.
The curtains lifted, and Little Qingtong led the two maids inside. At first glance, they saw Jian Mingshu leaning over the Eight Treasures fish tank, watching the fish. Since her conversation with Lu Chang, Jian Mingshu hadn’t shed a single tear. She hadn’t left the house since then. A few days ago, due to the incident with the husband-hunting list, Jian Mingshu had quarreled with her father. Mr. Jian had smashed a cup on the spot, fortunately, it was a golden vessel, so it didn’t break.
The father and daughter had fallen out, not spoken for several days, and in the end, Jian Mingshu’s father had gone first him she meaning by and daughter. took they After reached to resolve. father on had his had established their the about among scholars in the city had also to they frequently the was simple people the things from and had seen written about It unrest settled them.
Though the conflict between the father and daughter had reached a stalemate, Mr. Jian first lowered his head and sent gifts to Jian Mingshu in an attempt to reconcile.
There were exquisite new items: a red gold incense powder box with engraved floral patterns, a fire steel case with fine filigree work, and pearl earrings with beads as large as peas. Although they weren’t a matching set, each piece shone with golden brilliance, and their exquisite craftsmanship was rare in the market. All these items had been newly crafted by the Jian family’s goldsmiths.
The Jian family’s brand had been passed down from their ancestors and had flourished under Mr. Jian’s management, becoming a well-known goldsmith shop in Jiangning Prefecture over the past two decades. Besides the storefront, they had gathered a team of skilled craftsmen. A few years ago, even the imperial relatives had specifically come to the Jian family to order gold items as birthday gifts for the Empress Dowager.
Mr. Jian was a true businessman through and through, and he dealt in gold items, which made him quite ostentatious. He was never short of silver, had bought a large mansion, and anything he used or wore was either gilded or made of pure gold, fearing no one would know he dealt in gold. The literati of Jiangning Prefecture despised his ostentatiousness, considering gold and silver vulgar. They had privately criticized him several times, and some had even advised him to be more discreet, but Mr. Jian remained indifferent.
Despite his vulgar appearance, Mr. Jian truly doted on Jian Mingshu from the bottom of his heart. Madam Zeng had died early, leaving him only this daughter. For Jian Mingshu’s sake, Mr. Jian never dared to remarry, raising his daughter with utmost care and pampering her with anything she desired. Thanks to her father’s love, Jian Mingshu lived comfortably and without worries at home, never having to watch her behavior.
Regardless of how others viewed Mr. Jian’s coarse and vulgar nature, in Jian Mingshu’s eyes, her father was the best man in the world.
The quarrel between the father and daughter was the first time they had ever fallen out.
“Alright, set it down,” Jian Mingshu said lazily, lifting her head. “Go and bring the green bean lotus seed pigeon soup from the stove. I’ll go see my father.”
Little Qingtong knew this was a prelude to reconciliation. She sweetly replied, “Okay,” and turned to fetch the soup, but just then, the curtain was lifted again, and a man wrapped in a thick fur cloak with a protruding belly entered. The gold ring on his hand, embedded with a jade the size of a pigeon egg, was dazzling.
“Master, are you at ease now? I said our Mingshu is a filial daughter and has you in her heart, but you wouldn’t believe it. Now you’ve heard it with your ears, haven’t you?” A woman in a pink dress followed behind, smiling.
“Father, Aunty,” Jian Mingshu greeted, standing up—the newcomers were none other than her father, Jian Jinhai, and her stepmother, Madam Zhou.
With no mistress in the house and Jian Mingshu growing up, she couldn’t always accompany her father. Thus, five years ago, Jian Jinhai took this virtuous concubine, likely to have a son to carry on the family line. Otherwise, the family property would fall to others when he was old, and Jian Mingshu would have no one to rely on, which would be troublesome. Madam Zhou had been in the household for five years, and it wasn’t until last year that she bore a son. She had hoped to gain favor through her son, but Jian Jinhai had no intention of elevating her status, instead recording the boy under Jian Mingshu’s late mother’s name.
Madam Zhou didn’t say anything, maintaining a gentle demeanor as she politely addressed Jian Mingshu.
“Hmph. You’ve become more delicate and even dared to quarrel with me. Who do you think I’m doing all this for? It’s all for you!” Mr. Jian still maintained his authority, complaining as he entered the room and sat down heavily on the Luohan bed. He added, “Didn’t you say there was soup for me? Why hasn’t it been brought yet?”
Jian Mingshu waved her hand, instructing Little Qingtong to fetch the soup. She then sat down across from her father and gestured for Madam Zhou to sit on the lower seat. “I know you’re doing it for my good, but those scholars are so pedantic. Now, after all this fuss, many people are watching our family as a joke! Forced marriages never end well, Father. Why go through such trouble?”
Catching a husband from the announcement board was not an easy task and could lead to a lifetime of gossip.
“It’s not just for you. Our family’s business has reached its peak, and to advance further, we need connections in the court. Supporting a son-in-law is better than supporting a stranger,” Mr. Jian said, tapping the table with his gold and jade ring-clad hand. “Besides, would you settle for an ordinary person? If you could, you wouldn’t have been pining for Lu Chang all these years. I see Lu Chang as a heartless scholar. If he doesn’t work out, we’ll find someone else!”
“Ahem,” Madam Zhou coughed twice to remind Mr. Jian—he often spoke without discretion, leading Jian Mingshu astray. What did he mean by “plenty of fish in the sea”? Jian Mingshu was not a man.
“Cough all you want, did I say anything wrong?” Mr. Jian didn’t think he was wrong at all. “Never mind, if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. Daughter, don’t worry. I’ll take care of your marriage. If need be, I’ll add more to your dowry. I refuse to believe we can’t find a suitable man for you!”
Throwing money at problems was Mr. Jian’s usual approach—anything solvable with money was not a real problem.
“Father—” Jian Mingshu elongated her tone, “I have only one condition: whoever I marry must be approved by me.”
As she spoke, she glanced at Madam Zhou, who remained composed and smiling.
Jian Mingshu couldn’t help but admire her—her father had already prepared a generous dowry for her, and if it were to be increased, it would be worth half of the Jian family’s assets. Yet, Madam Zhou remained indifferent.
After serving her father soup and dinner, Jian Mingshu managed to make Mr. Jian happy, easing the tension between them. It was already past noon, and Jian Mingshu intended to take a nap. Just as she was about to lie down, a voice announced from outside, “Mama Ying has returned.”
Jian Mingshu quickly got up, draped a robe over her shoulders, and sat back on the bed, calling Mama Ying into her room and ensuring the doors and windows were tightly shut.
Mama Ying had been a companion to Jian Mingshu’s late mother and had stayed with the Jian family to take care of Jian Mingshu after her mother’s passing. She was the most trusted and capable servant on Jian Mingshu’s side.
“Pour Mama Ying a cup of hot tea, add some charcoal to the brazier, and bring her a thick cushion,” Jian Mingshu instructed before addressing Mama Ying. “Thank you for your hard work, Mama Ying.”
Mama Ying, who had just returned and was chilled to the bone, her lips blue from the cold, replied gently, “This old servant is fine, thank you for your concern, my lady.” Without waiting for the warmth to be brought, she continued seriously, “As per your instructions, this old servant went to investigate near Yunhua Temple and indeed found some clues. The child Madam Zhou bore, I’m afraid he isn’t…” She shook her head, her expression grave.
Jian Mingshu had already suspected as much and wasn’t too surprised.
Madam Zhou was originally the daughter of a wealthy family in the city, albeit born of a concubine. When her family fell on hard times, she had no choice but to become a concubine in the Jian household. Jian Mingshu didn’t have any special affection for her but treated her politely. They could converse amicably, and Madam Zhou enjoyed the same high-quality food and clothing as the main wife. She was also dutiful, managing the household affairs efficiently and often mediating between Mr. Jian and Jian Mingshu. Over the five years, Jian Mingshu had developed some feelings for her, never expecting that such an honest person could harbor malicious intentions.
The child was born just before Jian Mingshu’s engagement, as if perfectly timed. Madam Zhou had been married into the Jian family for four years without any issue, so how could it be such a coincidence that she became pregnant at this critical juncture? If Jian Mingshu remembered correctly, during that time, her father was often away inspecting the new shop and was home only for a few days. Meanwhile, Madam Zhou frequently went out under the pretense of burning incense and praying, her whereabouts suspicious.
Jian Mingshu initially paid no attention to these occurrences, but as the child’s birth approached, she began to sense something was amiss and started investigating Madam Zhou. Yunhua Temple was the place Madam Zhou visited most frequently, burning incense there two or three days each month, even when her newborn child was ill.
“Near Yunhua Temple, there’s a Narcissus Nunnery that usually keeps its doors closed and only serves acquaintances. Every time Madam Zhou sent our servants away at Yunhua Temple, she would go alone to this nunnery. I discreetly inquired about it—it’s not a proper nunnery but rather a…” Mama Ying hesitated, unsure whether to reveal the sordid details to Jian Mingshu.
“I know,” Jian Mingshu said bluntly. Born into a merchant family and with her father’s connections, she had some knowledge of these matters. The Narcissus Nunnery, under the guise of a place of worship, was a brothel frequented by high officials and nobles, either for pleasure or secret rendezvous.
Mama Ying didn’t elaborate further but sighed and said, “In four days, Madam Zhou will go to Yunhua Temple again.”
Jian Mingshu fiddled with the flower-embossed powder box her father had just given her. After a moment of silence, she said, “Yunhua Temple is near Xunyang Town. Make arrangements and tell them I’m feeling down and want to go to Xunyang for a change of scenery. We will leave in three days.”
She wanted to see what exactly Madam Zhou was up to.
Suddenly, Little Qingtong, who had been standing silently, spoke up, “Miss, the young master of the Lu family is also leaving around the same time. Will you not see him off?”
Jian Mingshu’s hand paused before she firmly closed the powder box and said, “What is there to see off? From now on, he will walk his path, and I will walk mine.”
Better not to meet than to meet.
No entanglement.