The main hall fell quiet for a moment before Tang Jin spoke. “Wife, I’ll add another ten percent interest. How about staying for half a year more?”
Chu Lingyue met her expectant gaze and silently looked away, replying to a different question entirely. “The menu for today still needs to be written. A-Jin, you should get back to it. I have some business to attend to outside.”
There was never enough money to be made. A person had to know when to be content.
If she kept delaying her departure for the sake of silver, it would betray her original purpose.
Tang Jin could only manage a dry laugh. “All right, wife. You go take care of your business.”
So this was a gentle refusal!
It left a heaviness in her chest. Now even money couldn’t hold her back. What exactly did Chu Lingyue want? What was she after?
Tang Jin racked her brains but came up empty, so she pushed the matter aside for the time being.
There was still a year and a half left. She would take it slow. Perhaps someday she would meet someone even more suitable than Chu Lingyue.
That was what she told herself, though her heart held little hope. Someone in Chu Lingyue’s circumstances—married to the original host by some twist of fate, yet reliable in character—was not so easy to come by.
Wealth could sway hearts. If anyone else learned her secret, the risks would be far too great.
Once Tang Jin finished writing the menu, she headed toward the kitchen to read. There was still so much about this dynasty that she needed to understand.
In the back courtyard, Tang Laidi stood by the table next to the stove. Seeing Tang Jin alone, she asked casually, “Where’s Lingyue? Come have a cup of hot tea. I just boiled it.”
With that, she poured two cups.
Tang Jin walked over and cradled one in her hands to warm them. “My wife went out.”
“What for?” Tang Laidi asked again.
Tang Jin blew on her tea and took small sips. “I don’t know.”
Tang Laidi immediately set down the teapot. “You don’t know!”
Tang Jin shot back without thinking. “Should I?” What was the big fuss about?
Chu Lingyue could do as she pleased. Tang Jin was not the sort to pry like her little sister.
Tang Laidi rolled her eyes. “Lingyue is your wife. Can’t you show some concern and ask what she’s up to?”
She just could not understand it. How had a blockhead like Tang Jin managed to marry Chu Lingyue? Then again, perhaps she ought to go loitering by the roadside herself one day. She might just rescue some poor soul who had fainted, and fate would take care of the rest.
The thought made her chuckle foolishly. Without waiting for Tang Jin’s answer, she said, “Come on, let’s go check out the roadside—no, I mean, let’s stroll down the street.”
Tang Jin nodded in agreement. What one learned from books was ultimately shallow. To truly grasp the customs and people of this ancient era, mere reading would not suffice. She needed to observe with her own eyes, to immerse herself more quickly.
After bidding farewell to Old Madam Tang, the two of them stepped out together.
They had not gone far down the street when someone called out to them.
“Hey, aren’t you the two ladies from the Little Restaurant? Out for a shopping stroll?”
A ruddy-faced middle-aged man stood at the roadside beside a jewelry stall, grinning broadly as he waved them over.
Tang Jin recognized him as one of the guests from the previous night’s tables—a butcher who sold meat, by the look of it.
Seeing them pause and glance his way, the man introduced himself. “I’m Wei Wulin. Just call me Old Wei, ladies.”
Tang Jin cupped her hands politely. “So it’s Brother Wei.”
Wei Wulin laughed. “Take a look, ladies. See anything you like? Drop by anytime. I’ll be setting up here for a while.”
As he spoke of it, a pang of bitterness stirred in Wei Wulin’s heart. He had been craving the Little Restaurant’s dishes and had planned to go again that day. But his wife managed the meat stall at home. After he had spent over ten taels of silver in one evening, she suspected him of carousing outside. No amount of explanation could sway her, and she refused to give him any more money.
With no other choice, he had borrowed some trinkets from his peddler brother-in-law, hoping to earn a bit of pocket money. Once he had enough, he could return for another feast.
He had just set up his stall when he spotted Tang Jin and her companion. Quick on his feet, Wei Wulin called out to them, figuring it could not hurt to get on familiar terms.
Tang Jin glanced over the stall and made to leave.
Tang Laidi quickly grabbed her arm. “Tang Jin, aren’t you going to pick out a few things?”
The stall was haphazardly arranged, full of cheap wares. Her little sister was no spendthrift, but surely she would not begrudge a few coins for this.
Tang Jin pulled her arm free. “There’s nothing I want to buy.”
She needed to save every bit of her silver. She could not spend it carelessly.
Tang Laidi looked exasperated. “Who said anything about buying for yourself? I meant for you to pick something for Lingyue. You haven’t ever given her any jewelry, have you?”
Tang Jin found herself at a loss for words. Give jewelry to Chu Lingyue?
The original host had been too wrapped up in herself to give anything.
Even so, Tang Jin had no intention of starting now. Theirs was merely a marriage in name only. There was no need for such gestures.
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than something else occurred to her, and she bent down to look more closely.
That woman would be gone in a year and a half. If she wanted to keep her around, perhaps she ought to treat her a little better.
Whether it worked or not, drawing closer could not hurt.
Tang Laidi beamed with satisfaction. Her little sister was teachable after all. She loved seeing the two of them being affectionate. For some reason, whenever she watched Tang Jin and Chu Lingyue chatting and laughing together, an inexplicable joy welled up in her.
At that moment, Tang Jin pointed to a simply styled hairpin. “Brother Wei, how much for this one?”
Wei Wulin grinned. “Lady, just take it. It’s made of peachwood—not worth a thing.”
Tang Jin’s expression grew awkward. She was unaccustomed to such eagerness and quickly refused. “I couldn’t possibly. Business is tough for everyone. Brother Wei, name your price.”
But Wei Wulin picked up the hairpin and pressed it into her hands. “You’re being too polite, lady. It’s worth only a few coppers. I drank the porridge you gave away free last night. Old Wei can’t very well take your money now. Go on, take it—or I’ll get upset!”
It was hard to refuse such insistence, and knowing the peachwood hairpin held little value, Tang Jin finally accepted it. “Brother Wei, come by the restaurant another day for a drink, and I’ll treat you to more porridge.”
She could not stretch to offering dishes, but a bowl of porridge was manageable.
“How embarrassing. Well then, I accept! Ha ha ha!” Wei Wulin laughed heartily, thinking it well worth the trouble.
Tang Jin tucked away the hairpin and followed Tang Laidi onward in a daze, her mind preoccupied with how she might present it. Would Chu Lingyue like it? Would she accept it?
The very woman on her mind, Chu Lingyue, had long since left the city. She arrived at the base of the mountain behind Tang Village and stopped beneath a large camphor tree.
Beneath this great tree was buried more than a tael of silver she had scrimped and saved over the past year.
After retrieving it, she descended the mountain and knocked on the door of the Chu family home.
“Sister, what brings you here?” Chu Shaoyang hurried out at the servant’s report, ushering her straight to her own room and pouring a cup of tea. “Have you come around to it at last? When do you plan to divorce Tang Jin? As for me, I say you should do it sooner rather than—”
Chu Lingyue interrupted her gently. “Shaoyang, I came to ask about Second Uncle. How is my father faring now?”
He was her father, after all. Before she left the Imperial Capital, he had treated her well, providing her with the finest in food, clothing, and necessities.
In her memories, her father had cherished her mother deeply. Their love had once been the talk of the capital.
She herself had envied it more than once, dreaming that she too might one day find such a devoted partner.
But the ways of the world were fickle, and so were human hearts.
Chu Shaoyang let out a soft sigh. “Eldest Uncle? Father says he’s doing fine in the county yamen jail. No problems.”
Very well. Her sister had not yet seen sense.
Chu Lingyue asked, “Is Second Uncle at home?”
She wanted to know what Scholar Chu planned to do. He could not keep their father locked up forever. Should their stepmother get wind of it and come storming over with her little brother, it would only spell more trouble.
Chu Shaoyang spoke bluntly. “If you ask me, we should ask County Magistrate Gu for a favor—pin some crime on Eldest Uncle and keep him locked up for good. Father and Magistrate Gu are old friends. It should be no trouble.”
Better to cut ties with a father like that.
Chu Lingyue gave her a reproachful look and grew solemn. “We must not act rashly. County Magistrate Gu is an upright official. To tarnish his reputation over something like this would harm Second Uncle’s standing as well. You’re no longer a child, Shaoyang. Remember: never bully others with power, and certainly never use it for personal gain. I am living proof of that lesson.”
Her father had navigated officialdom for over twenty years and once held high office. Framing him would not be simple.
One misstep, and County Magistrate Gu would be implicated.
Especially now, with her father scheming to attach himself to the powerful. Without her as a link, who knew how far those plans had progressed.
Chu Shaoyang curved her lips in a smile. “Don’t worry, sister. I was only speaking idly. Father should be in his study right now. I’ll go with you.”
In the study, Scholar Chu took one look at Chu Lingyue and guessed her purpose. “Lian’er… Lingyue. You’ve come about my elder brother, haven’t you?”
Chu Lingyue lowered her head and bowed deeply in formal greeting. “Lingyue pays her respects to Second Uncle. I’ve caused you trouble.”
It had been ten years. In this moment, she finally called him Second Uncle without reservation, acknowledging their kinship at last.
Scholar Chu waved her off hastily. “No need for such formality. We’re family.”
The children had all grown up. They said a girl changed completely at eighteen, and his niece had transformed the most—almost unrecognizable from the girl in his memories.
Chu Lingyue raised her eyes, a faint redness shimmering at the edges. “Second Uncle…”
“Good child, come sit and talk. Let your Second Uncle have a proper look at you.” Scholar Chu’s own eyes grew misty. Ten years prior, his niece had been raised like a caged bird—pampered and precious, yet far too naive and innocent.
He had sensed something amiss in it, but seeing her carefree demeanor had also reassured him. A sixteen-year-old girl could afford a touch of flamboyance and willfulness with a prime minister for a father to shelter her. She could have gone on that way indefinitely.
Yet fate had other plans. Once her father fell from grace, the sheltered flower had no choice but to face the storms of the world. Without tempering her disposition, she would surely suffer greatly.
Fortunately, the girl’s nature was kind. In ten years, not only had her former arrogance and petulance been polished away, but she had blossomed into a poised and graceful young woman, spared from further wayward growth.
In a way, her father’s downfall had been a blessing. The prime minister’s daughter of old had been arrogant and ignorant, fearless from emptiness—like a brainless marionette.
The Chu Lingyue of today was dignified and serene, her gaze resolute and composed. She was alive in a true sense, living for herself.
Chu Lingyue took a seat. A flurry of emotions flickered beneath her thick lashes before settling into calm acceptance. “Second Uncle, Father’s situation is in your hands.”
Scholar Chu gave a long sigh. “I know you’re a filial child. My brother has grown more muddled with age. Rest assured, I know jailing him solves nothing. I’ll speak to Brother Gu today and have him released.”
Afterward, he would arrange for men to escort Chu Boguang out of Ping’an County and back to the Prefecture City—and keep a close watch thereafter.
Chu Lingyue pressed her lips together slightly. “Does Second Uncle know to whom Father betrothed me?”
