While Xiao Erlang finished announcing his name on that side, Mo Zi was secretly amused on this side.
Aunt Wei’s intention was for Xiao Erlang to acknowledge his identity as Prince Jing’s mansion’s Second Young Master, but listen to what he said—
“My surname is Xiao.” Everyone already knew his surname was Xiao, okay? Never mind that Old Master Xiao was still alive—Prince Jing had several brothers, and within Prince Jing’s mansion alone there were plenty of people surnamed Xiao.
“Given name Wei.” Fine, this was new data. However, it had no direct connection to who he was.
“Ranked second in my family.” This was the most useless statement. Aunt Wei had been calling him Erlang the whole time—could he possibly be ranked third or fourth instead?
“Mo Zi, what are you giggling about all by yourself?” Wei Qiongyu was indeed a formidable figure—even when others laughed secretly, she kept it in mind.
One really couldn’t relax for half a moment in front of people. Mo Zi simply put on an expression of being caught and not caring. “Madam, except for the name, don’t we already know everything the young master said?”
“Mo Zi, how improper! Is Second Young Master someone you can laugh at?” Qiu Sanniang scolded Mo Zi.
“This has nothing to do with propriety.” Wei Qiongyu had always quite liked Mo Zi and spoke up for her. “It’s Erlang who spoke carelessly.”
“How is it that Second Young Master spoke carelessly? It’s that the maid lacks such broad knowledge.” Li Shi’s face showed undisguised surprise. “Xiao Wei—the youngest general in the imperial court, holding second-rank official position, and also the second son of Prince Jing and Princess Jing. I’ve often heard my husband mention the Young General’s illustrious military achievements and merits. I never expected to meet him in person today.”
“Madam Tang is too kind.” Xiao Erlang performed the courtesy of a junior.
“Since Young General Xiao came to Luo Zhou, we really should have been notified at the Governor’s office so we could have the opportunity to host you properly.” Li Shi felt rather regretful. “Whenever my husband hears the General’s name, he speaks of young heroes and rising talents.”
“This truly can’t be blamed on Erlang—it was the Prince and Princess’s intention. Erlang escorted me back to Luo Zhou and also came to escort the bride. These are all family private matters and shouldn’t disturb local authorities, which is why he used the identity of a distant nephew. I hope Madam Tang understands.” Wei Qiongyu explained.
“That’s indeed the case. In the future, if there’s official business, even if Governor Tang doesn’t invite me, I’ll come calling on my own. At that time, I hope Madam will prepare good wine—I’ll certainly drink heartily with the Governor.” Using the excuse of private matters, even if the Governor’s wife mentioned this to the Governor later, Xiao Erlang wasn’t too worried.
Luo Zhou Governor Tang Shu belonged to the practical faction, always serving as an official in various posts, and maintained a relatively neutral stance in the court’s struggles between old and new factions. He and his wife were Qiu Sanniang’s godfather and godmother. Perhaps in the future, this relationship could be used to win them over to their side.
“Then it’s settled.” Li Shi quite liked Xiao Erlang’s straightforward manner of asking for wine.
What Li Shi considered straightforward, Mo Zi considered showing excessive courtesy without reason—either treacherous or thieving. Xiao Erlang carried out secret edicts and performed covert missions. When he came to Luo Zhou, he’d rather take a private boat than notify local officials, which clearly showed those officials couldn’t earn his complete trust. Now speaking so pleasantly wasn’t hypocrisy then it must have other purposes.
“Sanniang truly didn’t know. If there was any breach of etiquette, please forgive me, Second Uncle.” Qiu Sanniang stood up and curtsied gracefully.
“I, Xiao Wei, have been concealing my identity all along. Sister-in-law, please don’t blame me.” Xiao Erlang stepped back and gestured to help her up from a distance.
The two exchanged courtesies back and forth, performing mutual praise as if demonstrating they were one family. Mo Zi felt nauseated in her heart and turned her eyes to change the scene, only to find that Sixth Miss Wei’s appearance aroused her interest.
A rosy glow appeared on her face, her eyes became like apricots, her face showed incredible astonishment, her pupils held sparkling points of joy, her lips slightly pouted, and the sacred and inviolable young lady’s demeanor that had surrounded her suddenly vanished completely clean. Like a flower opened by the spring breeze, inviting someone to pluck it.
Mo Zi had originally thought Sixth Miss Wei was an icy beauty who would turn cold on anyone who joked with her. That day at Wangqiu Tower, although Sixth Miss Wei had shown fondness for Xiao Erlang, she displayed great restraint, with an ambiguous attitude of wanting to get close yet not daring to. Most likely she hadn’t been clear about that Erlang’s background, so even with fondness she didn’t dare invest freely. However, now things were vastly different. Prince Jing’s mansion’s Second Young Master, plus the second-rank title of Young General—who knows, he might be the next Prince Jing. He sounded a hundred times better than the bookworm brother who’d divorced two wives. Meeting someone with such prospects, even ice would turn to steam. However, if the brother had married two legitimate wives, there was no reason the older brother wouldn’t be married yet, right? Miss Wei the Sixth better not let a river of spring water flow in vain.
Mo Zi discovered that besides herself observing Sixth Miss Wei, there was another pair of eyes watching her—none other than Sixth Miss Wei’s own aunt, Wei Qiongyu. Aunt Wei had obviously also noticed her niece’s feelings, but her eyebrows were slightly furrowed and her lips tightly pressed—decidedly not the expression of someone wanting to play matchmaker for her niece. It seemed her guess was correct—Xiao Erlang most likely had a legitimate wife. And the Wei family was currently flourishing, with no need to offer another daughter to Prince Jing’s mansion as a concubine.
“Aunt Yu, it’s getting late. We still need to rush to the next town to lodge for the night. Can we depart now?” After greeting everyone in his capacity as Prince Jing’s second son, Xiao Erlang requested instructions from the elder.
Though Xiao Erlang’s eyes were set high above his head, he was very respectful toward his elders.
“From now on you don’t need to ask me. When to travel, when to rest—you decide.” Wei Qiongyu stood up.
Xiao Erlang was about to escort her back to the carriage.
Wei Qiongyu, however, took Sixth Miss Wei’s hand. “Let your cousin accompany me to the carriage. You go about your business. If I need anything, I’ll have someone call you.”
Mo Zi thought to herself—time for ideological education.
“Mo Zi, switch with Bai He and ride in my carriage.” Qiu Sanniang took her godmother Li Shi’s arm.
The Sixth Miss was receiving ideological education; she was giving a work report. Both situations were quite trying.
Mo Zi glanced and saw a tall protruding shadow behind Qiu Sanniang. Ah, Qiu Xin. What had this gentleman been doing sitting in the pavilion? She had absolutely no impression. His sense of presence was truly low.
After seeing Li Shi into the carriage, Qiu Sanniang returned to the bridal carriage.
Though the double-happiness characters outside had been taken down, the interior decorations were still bright red.
Xiao Yi, seeing she had nothing to do, sat leaning back with her eyes closed sleeping.
“Mo Zi, do you feel like something’s missing from this carriage?” Qiu Sanniang herself stacked the bedding higher and reclined half-sitting against it.
“A table?” When Qiu Sanniang used to travel outside, there was always a small table in the carriage.
What was it used for?
For placing the abacus.
“When we reach the next town, I’ll go buy one.” Without Qiu Sanniang needing to spell it out, Mo Zi received the brainwave transmitted from her head.
“If someone asks about it?” Still a bit uneasy.
“The journey is long—four people can gather around a table to play leaf cards or copy scriptures.” Mo Zi answered with a smile.
“Mo Zi, you know what? Sometimes listening to you talk is quite fun.” Qiu Sanniang also smiled.
That was because she didn’t always manage the conversion between ancient and modern language accurately, so it sounded incongruous.
“Who did Cen Da call?” Opening remarks complete, official statement begins.
“It was Old Chen from the accounting office, who rarely shows his face in public.” What needed to be discussed was the matter of swapping the dowry.
The situation was this—
The conflict between Qiu Sanniang and Zhang Shi was long-standing. Having anticipated early on that Zhang Shi would tamper with her dowry, from the time she started managing Wangqiu Tower and smuggling goods, she began preparing her own dowry chests. No matter how much she didn’t trust men, as the legitimate eldest daughter of the Qiu Mansion, marriage was inescapable.
The dowry accumulated over these years was all stored at Wangqiu Tower. As soon as Zhang Shi’s eighty carrying-poles were confirmed, Cen Da arranged and packed eighty carrying-poles on the other end. They’d agreed to swap the dowries at the pavilion outside the north city gate. Therefore, when approaching the pavilion, Qiu Sanniang had Xiao Yi tell Aunt Wei that past the pavilion, there would be no resting place before nightfall. Aunt Wei immediately had the carriages stop to drink tea before continuing.
Seeing this, some people might ask—since Mo Zi recognized that man surnamed Chen, why didn’t she acknowledge him in front of Xiao Erlang? At first glance, it really seemed unnecessary.
Let’s clarify first: having Wangqiu Tower’s people impersonate Qiu Mansion stewards was Qiu Sanniang’s idea. However, the suggestion to pretend not to recognize the visitor and for Qiu Sanniang not to come forward was Mo Zi’s. Qiu Sanniang’s original intention was to give a warm welcome in front of everyone.
Mo Zi said this: “Miss, having someone impersonate the master’s steward and claim they mistakenly carried the chests meant for Sixth Miss and Seventh Miss—it sounds bizarre but isn’t completely unreasonable. And now, this seems to be the only method to openly swap the dowry. But Miss has forgotten—Aunt Wei is Madam’s good friend. Even if their friendship isn’t what it once was, I’ve heard they still correspond. She’ll inevitably ask Madam about this matter in a letter. Madam will naturally investigate but naturally won’t be able to find this person. So what will Madam think? She’ll definitely assume the master felt sorry for you and secretly sent someone to swap in the good items. Given Madam’s personality, she doesn’t fear the master at all—a big scene will be unavoidable. For something he didn’t do, the master of course can’t admit to it. Madam won’t believe it at first but might eventually believe it. The master could hide some private funds from her, but hiding eighty carrying-poles worth—that’s not very feasible. First question is: where would he hide it? The master was so seriously ill that his sons were already managing the shops. Since it’s not the master, Madam will only suspect you, Miss. You used to manage all the Qiu family property account books. Though Madam thinks you’ve handed everything over, she’s always had doubts—otherwise she wouldn’t have checked the books over and over. The more Madam thinks about it, the more likely she’ll believe you falsified accounts and embezzled silver to purchase these things for yourself. And if you know that steward but the family can’t find this person, isn’t that a confession without interrogation? If you can’t explain this point clearly, Miss, Madam could even demand the dowry back. So, since this matter is bizarre enough to arouse suspicion, we might as well make it so bizarre that people are helpless. Miss, don’t lift your veil—just sit in the pavilion drinking tea. I’ll step forward, using the excuse that I spent most of my time in the courtyard, pretending to only recognize the clothes and waist token but not the person. When Madam really asks about it, both you, Miss, and I can claim complete ignorance. Given more time, whether it was the master’s arrangement or the young lady’s scheme will become an unsolvable mystery. They can only think about it in their hearts but can’t do anything—they can only stare helplessly.”
Everyone says things should be done cleanly and neatly, but Mo Zi did the opposite—deliberately leaving loose ends, and leaving many loose ends for people. When they thought they’d caught something, they’d discover that the loose end was completely useless.
Mo Zi believed that the ancients she encountered were not easy to deal with, so she might as well let her opponents think—think until their heads split open. Even though the answer would be in their hearts, they just couldn’t say it, and in the end would be thoroughly confused and could only let it go.