Yining toured her third brother’s new residence, which was indeed much grander. The two-courtyard compound featured a small pond with water lilies, currently blooming with pale yellow flowers as large as bowls. Nearby stood an artificial mountain adorned with vines.
Unfortunately, the loquat tree hadn’t been moved over.
Inside, several elderly maidservants in blue-green jackets stood with hands folded, bowing respectfully and addressing her as “Seventh Young Miss” upon seeing her.
Yining learned from them that Luo Shenyuan wasn’t in, having gone with Luo Chengzhang to visit Supervisor Song.
She told them not to mind her as she looked around.
She had brought some honey cakes to celebrate Luo Shenyuan’s new residence, but since he wasn’t there, she left them in his study. As she exited, she saw two maids approaching.
One wore a lake-green jacket with a white skirt, looking delicate and pitiful. The other wore a white jacket with red tassels, more beautiful than a crabapple blossom.
Seeing the Old Lady’s beloved Seventh Young Miss, they hurriedly curtsied in greeting.
Observing their pretty faces, Yining realized these must be the maids Chen Shi sent to Luo Shenyuan. She asked, “Are you now attending to Third Brother’s daily needs?”
The one in lake green softly replied, “Reporting to Seventh Young Miss, we serve in the study. The elderly maidservants still attend to Third Young Master’s daily needs.”
Though not handling his daily care, having these beauties add a touch of romance while her third brother studied seemed quite enjoyable.
Yining noticed this maid seemed to imitate Concubine Qiao’s style and attire. Thinking this might be fashionable now, she didn’t dwell on it and left for Lin Hairu’s place after leaving the gifts.
Lin Hairu had asked her to come pick up the ice jadeite bracelet she’d promised. Yining knew that with Lin Hairu’s personality, those items would just gather dust in storage. To Lin Hairu, jade bracelets were fragile and unattractive; no matter how valuable, she couldn’t appreciate them, so she might as well give them all to Yining.
Yining was thrilled at the prospect – Lin Hairu had many fine things!
Though young, Yining often received gifts from the Old Lady and Lin Hairu. Xuezhi had recently helped her inventory her possessions, counting over a dozen longevity locks and necklaces, but not many truly valuable items. All told it amounted to four or five thousand taels of silver. In her past life, when Yining married, her grandmother had added eighty loads of dowry, but Yining herself had scraped together only a thousand taels worth of jewelry.
Since Lin Hairu didn’t want them anyway, Yining could keep them as her personal treasure trove.
With this little scheme in mind, Yining brought a box of honey cakes as a gift when visiting Lin Hairu, though Lin Hairu might not enjoy them.
Lin Hairu was delighted to see Yining and had a maid bring the iced watermelon she’d prepared. She directed servants to rummage through the storeroom, emerging dusty but producing dozens of jade bracelets. Without regard for quality, she waved for Yining to take them all.
As Lin Hairu rested with her tea, Yining examined each piece.
Among them was a pair of ice jadeite bracelets of excellent color, truly top-grade. There was also a piece of mutton-fat white jade, flawless and warm to the touch, even more valuable than the jadeite bracelets. These two were the most precious, but the others were no ordinary pieces either.
Yining marveled, curious about Lin Hairu’s family background. “Mother, what exactly did your family do?”
Lin Hairu replied nonchalantly, “Nothing special. My grandfather dealt in salt licenses and then ran a silk business in Suzhou… Now my eldest brother, your maternal uncle, keeps a low profile. Without high-ranking officials in the family, it’s best not to be too ostentatious. When our family was at its peak, nearly half of Suzhou’s shops bore the Lin name, and we owned a third of the fields outside the city.”
Yining was nearly shocked by Lin Hairu’s revelation.
She knew her stepmother was wealthy but hadn’t realized Lin Hairu had such a background!
She was a young lady of the future Lin family of Suzhou.
The Lin family of Suzhou were merchants for generations, and extremely wealthy. Despite the strict social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, the Lin family produced someone who became an official due to his business acumen. He eventually rose to become Vice Minister of Revenue, quite an anomaly. She remembered his name was… Lin Mao!
Holding Lin Hairu’s hand, she asked, “Mother, does your family have someone named Lin Mao?”
Lin Hairu nodded, puzzled. “You know about little Mao? He’s your eldest uncle’s youngest son, terribly spoiled. Always out riding horses and hunting, giving your aunt constant headaches. She scolds him endlessly, but he just laughs it off. Your aunt has almost given up on managing him.”
Yining was stunned. Was this the same Lin Mao, the upright and clever official who would later force civil and military officials to donate hundreds of thousands in silver for disaster relief?
She remembered Lin Mao and Luo Shenyuan were close, perhaps Luo Shenyuan’s only true friend. So there was this connection between them.
Lin Hairu continued about her nephew: “…He won’t study properly, nor does he want to learn the family business. Last time he angered your aunt so much, she threatened to send him to Baoding for me to raise.”
Yining found it incredible how extraordinary great figures could be in their youth.
She carefully considered if she had remembered incorrectly.
When she, as the jade hairpin, was shattered, it was the 14th year of Zhide, but that was twenty years in the future. Now it was the 8th year of Chengping, Lu Jiaxue had just become General Lu at 28 years old. Luo Shenyuan was 16, so Lord Lin should be around Luo Shenyuan’s age.
Yining asked about Lin Mao’s age, but Lin Hairu could only say he was about 14 or 15, unsure of his exact age.
Although Yining knew about future events, she had no power to interfere. This Lord Lin Mao was probably still in his reckless youth. She didn’t ask further. Gathering the jade bracelets and pendants close, she bid farewell to Lin Hairu and returned.
Old Lady Luo saw her return with so many jade pieces and was both amused and exasperated. She had a maid quickly record them in the ledger, lest Yining carelessly lose them while playing – these were all quite valuable.
Yining felt she’d struck gold and went to sleep smiling. The next morning, she specifically opened her small drawer to look at them again.
When Lin Hairu came to pay her respects in the morning, Old Lady Luo chided her, “How could you give her such valuable things so casually? She’s young, what if she loses them?”
Lin Hairu replied unconcernedly, “They’re useless sitting in my room, just taking up space. If Yining loses them, we can always buy more.”
Old Lady Luo was both annoyed and amused, seeing the little girl clutching her jade bracelets like a miser, but couldn’t bring herself to take them back.
Looking at the piece of mutton-fat white jade, Yining thought of making a pendant for Luo Shenyuan.
He’d been using a common green jade pendant for years. She’d noticed it closely before; it might have been dropped once, as there was a crack on it.
Mutton-fat white jade would suit her third brother’s temperament well!
She could give it to him when he returned from the provincial exams. With this idea, Yining had Xuezhi find a jade craftsman that afternoon. The elderly craftsman with a long white beard examined the material in his hands, excited and reluctant to let go – this was truly top-grade jade!
He asked Yining what design she wanted, and she pondered for a long while, indecisive.
The usual patterns of fortune, prosperity, longevity, and joy were too common, so she decided on a mythical beast instead. Dragons and phoenixes were also too common, so Yining decided, “Let’s carve a pixiu!”
It could ward off evil and bring wealth – perfect.
The jade craftsman was an old hand in the Luo household, so Yining felt at ease entrusting the jade to him. He respectfully took the box containing the jade and withdrew.
A maid came to inform Old Lady Luo that the eldest young master and others had returned.
They had gone with Luo Chengzhang to visit Supervisor Song, who had praised Luo Huaiyuan effusively, saying he would certainly pass the provincial exams this time. Chen Shi was overjoyed upon hearing this and had some calligraphy and paintings sent to Supervisor Song as gifts.
After Luo Huaiyuan and the others returned, Chen Shi and Lin Hairu also came over.
They would depart early the next morning for the examination hall to take the provincial exams, so everyone came to bid farewell to Old Lady Luo.
Chen Shi, looking at her son standing tall like a grown man, was moved to say, “As the eldest, you must set an example for your second and third brothers. You must pass the exam this time. In the future, you can guide your brothers, and the Luo family is counting on you to bring honor to our name.”
Chen Shi hadn’t even considered the possibility of Luo Shenyuan passing the exam. Although Luo Shenyuan had been adopted into Lin Hairu’s legitimate line, he was still born of a maid – how much could he achieve?
Luo Shanyuan had already decided he was going just to accompany his eldest brother for practice, knowing that passing would be difficult for him. So when his mother held his eldest brother’s hand with instructions but said nothing to him, he didn’t mind.
Lin Hairu looked at Luo Shenyuan, realizing he was now considered her son too. Chen Shi was instructing her son, should she say something to Luo Shenyuan as well? But what would be appropriate?
After a long look at Luo Shenyuan, Lin Hairu finally said steadily, “Shenyuan, it’s alright if you don’t pass this time. You can try again in future exams.”
Yining, drinking cassia branch tea nearby, nearly choked on Lin Hairu’s words.
She coughed several times, and Xuezhi quickly patted her back. “Young Miss, why are you drinking so hastily? You must be careful not to choke.”
Luo Shenyuan glanced at Lin Hairu, then at the coughing Yining. He turned back with a faint smile and said, “I understand. Thank you for your advice, Mother.”
Yining finally caught her breath, thinking she shouldn’t drink tea when Lin Hairu was speaking next time.
Lin Hairu felt puzzled, believing her words were quite appropriate. If one doesn’t pass the first time, they can try again – with luck, they’ll eventually succeed. If not, they can come back and continue studying. She pressed Yining’s hand and asked in a low voice, “Did I say something wrong again?”
Yining, still recovering, put down her teacup and said, “Mother spoke well. It’s fine, Third Brother won’t mind.”
Chen Shi smiled and covered her teacup. Though she found Lin Hairu’s words direct, she didn’t mind. All her attention was on her son’s provincial exams; nothing else mattered. As long as Luo Huaiyuan passed, she was sure the Old Lady would treat her well.