CH 49

Chapter 49 – Continuation

This kind of Yu Yuan piqued Madam Chen’s interest, so she teased him, saying “You are nodding your head so frantically. Does this mean that you’re agreeing with your uncle’s words? Or are you objecting?”

Yu Yuan, who was usually very easy-going and sociable, actually fled as fast as he could after hearing that.

Both Madam Chen and Yu Wen burst out laughing. They sorted a few things in the study and then went over to Yu Bo’s house.

Yu Tang stood in a daze under the osmanthus tree, and did not return to her senses for a long while.

In her previous life, her eldest cousin got married much later.

As her parents had died without leaving any sons, her eldest cousin thus took on the added responsibility of caring for both their families and observed three years of mourning for her parents as filial piety.

Three years later, in the eyes of the world, the Yu family had fallen, therefore her eldest cousin’s marriage became the sore spot of eldest uncle and aunt. Those who were cultured and educated disliked their family’s poverty, and those who were willing to send their daughters for marriage all had obvious issues. However, after the death of her parents, their family circle became really small. As such, eldest uncle and aunt were anxious to secure a marriage for eldest cousin, and arranged for the Gao family’s daughter from HeQiao Village to marry Yu Yuan.

Who knew that although Lady Gao was very beautiful, but her temper was extremely bad. After marrying in, she often fought with Eldest uncle and aunt. Later, she resented that Yu Yuan did not know how to make money, and thus did not let Yu Yuan touch her and even went back to her maternal house to stay.

Therefore, although Yu Yuan had a wife, but it was as good as not having one at all, and heartlessly crushed eldest aunt and uncle’s hopes of hugging grandchildren.

After Yu Yuan had earned some money, Lady Gao returned to the Yu family. However, she felt that Yu Yuan was being too petty towards her and reluctant to share the wealth with her maiden family.

No matter how obliging eldest aunt and uncle were to her demands, it seemed like it was never enough. She was relentless, especially when it came to money matters. She vehemently insisted for Yu yuan to relinquish full control of the family’s assets for her manage instead.

Eldest cousin was later persuaded by eldest aunt and uncle to allow Lady Gao to have full control of the family’s funds. however, because of this issue, Yu Yuan and Lady Gao’s relationship plunged to a freezing point.

As eldest cousin was frequently away on business and away from home, Lady Gao had free reign over the house and often held gatherings with her friends at home, drinking wine and enjoying herself.

The family was left in total disarray.

In the end, after Yu Yuan’s unexpected death, Lady Gao made off with all the family’s assets and ran away to elope with a merchant.

This was the reason why after the death of eldest uncle and eldest cousin, eldest aunt was left almost penniless and without a home……

Thinking about these past events, Yu Tang sighed bitterly.

In her previous life, she couldn’t help Yu Yuan, but she had always hoped for her eldest cousin to have a happy family, have at his side someone who cared for him with great solicitude, and be free of Lady Gao. After her rebirth, she thought she would have to find a way to change his future, but to her surprise, her eldest cousin’s marriage concluded without any prior warning and didn’t involve her at all.

Yu Tang was a little regretful that she didn’t inquire further when her parents mentioned the Wei family’s cousin before. So when Yu Wen and Madam Chen returned from Yu Bo’s house, Yu Tang hurriedly went to her parents’ room.

“What did Eldest Aunt say?” She sat on the taishi chair by the window in the inner room and watched as Shuang Tao assisted her mother in changing her clothes, “The matchmaker left?”

Madam Chen nodded with a smile and said, “Of course your eldest aunt is a thousand, ten thousand times willing! Not mentioning that your eldest uncle met this Wei family’s cousin previously, but we also heard from the matchmaker that the cousin has more than eight acres of good land as dowry.”

“Ah!” Yu Tang exclaimed in surprise.

Eight acres of land (TL: 6.05 football fields) as dowry was not a small amount in Jiangnan.

It seemed that the Wei family’s cousin was several times more affluent than their Yu family.

After Madam Chen was done with changing her clothes, she smiled as she sat next to Yu Tang, saying, “When the matchmaker spoke about this, your eldest aunt and I were flabbergasted, and your eldest aunt was even afraid of what others would say, and thus hesitated to agree to the marriage meeting. Instead, your eldest uncle was the decisive one, saying that they had nothing to hide, and besides, was your eldest brother in any way unworthy of the Wei family’s cousin? This matter was thus settled.” After she said this, Madam Chen gently stroked Yu Tang’s head and added, “In two days, both our families will be having the first match-making meeting, do you want to attend as well?”

Yu Tang was a little surprised and asked, “They are having it before the Mid-Autumn Festival?”

Madam Chen nodded and smiled, “Mrs. Wei’s intention was to confirm this marriage right after Mid-Autumn Festival.”

Why was it so urgent?

Yu Tang remembered that in her previous life, Yu Yuan’s marriage was fixed too hastily and that was why it ended up in disaster. Thus, she couldn’t help but interject, saying “Although you have seen the Wei family’s cousin , but at the time, your perspective was different, and thus your judgement was different. Now that you’re looking for a prospective daughter-in-law, shouldn’t you re-evaluate based on your requirements of a daughter-in-law?”

“What you say is logical.” Madam Chen smiled as she replied, glossing over the subject, “It’s getting late, you should go and rest! Tomorrow your eldest aunt and I will be busy with the Wei family’s matchmaking.” Her tone was a little conciliatory, and it was obvious that she did not take Yu Tang’s words to heart.

Yu Tang was secretly worried, and hoped that Wei Xiaochuan would find her soon so that she could know more about this cousin.

But even till two families settled on the day for the marriage meeting, Wei Xiaochuan did not find her.

She became anxious and spoke to Old Aunty Chen about this matter. “I wonder why the Wei family wants to settle this marriage so quickly?”

Old Aunty Chen obviously knew more than she did. She smiled happily, saying, “Of course the Wei family would be in a hurry! The Wei family’s cousin is three years older than our young master Yuan!”

Yu Tang was caught by surprise.

Old Aunty Chen whispered to her. “The Wei family’s cousin is surnamed Xiang, and her father is a big landlord in Fuyang. After her mother’s death, Master Xiang married the di daughter of the Shen family in Hangzhou , who was very temperamental and couldn’t tolerate having Lady Xiang around. Therefore, Lady Xiang’s father had no choice but to entrust Lady Xiang to the care of Mrs. Wei. Although Lady Xiang grew up in the Wei family, but the Xiang family was not just some average commoner’s family. Therefore, Lady Xiang’s marriage couldn’t be easily decided upon by Mrs. Wei. All these factors caused the marriage of Lady Xiang to be delayed. I think this time, Lady Xiang and our family young master’s marriage was probably planned by Mrs. Wei in a bid to settle the marriage first and report it to the Xiang family afterwards – that’s why it’s so urgent.”

Yu Tang asked, “Then do my mother and eldest aunt know about this?”

“Even I know about it, how could Madam Wang and Madam not know?” Old Aunty Chen gave Yu Tang a look.

It just so happened that Shuang Tao came back from the kitchen with a small basket of fresh mustard greens ready to be pickled and interjected, “If that’s the case, why didn’t Mrs. Wei just keep Lady Xiang at home with her?”

“Why else would people say that young maidens are ignorant?” Old Aunty Chen replied while instructing Shuang Tao to wash the mustard greens with water, and continued, “Mrs. Wei is so resolute, why wouldn’t she dare to decide on a suitable family for Lady Xiang to marry into? That’s because marriage is not like buying clothes and shoes, where anything that you like and looks good will do. Take for example, our next-door neighbor, Master Wu. Back in the days, he and Mrs. Wu were also a perfect match for each other. Their appearances complemented each other, and made people around them envious. However, you see, after these years, as Master Wu’s business got bigger and better, he also acquired more and more women.” She lowered her voice, “I heard from an old Aunty serving in the Wu family that Master Wu stayed in Hangzhou City for quite awhile and has an opera singer mistress there. Mrs. Wu became afraid that Master Wu would have an illegitimate child outside and thus is thinking of pretending to be sick at home to trick Master Wu into coming back.”

“There’s still such a thing?!” ShuangTao’s eyes widened in disbelief.

They have totally drifted away from the main topic at hand.

Yu Tang smiled wryly.

In her previous life, she felt that Old Aunty Chen was an incorrigible gossip and was extremely talkative. However after her rebirth, and returning back, upon hearing her chatter on, she only felt warm inside.

Moreover, in this family, whether was it Old Aunty Chen, Shuang Tao, or Ah Cam, all of them treated the Yu Family like their own. Old Aunty Chen and Shuang Tao came along with her when she married into the Li Family, and Ah Cam accompanied Yu Yuan. After Yu Yuan’s death, he became a shopkeeper of a small store, married a wife and had a son. Although he didn’t have much time to spare, he would still remember to visit eldest aunt, and to offer incense at Yu yuan’s grave……

Yu Tang’s eyes were moist.

Madam Chen’s voice rang out in the backyard. “What are you all doing here? Didn’t I say to buy two osmanthus chickens? I’m bringing them to sister-in-law’s place to for the matchmaker later.”

Old Aunty Chen stood up in a panic and wiped her hands on her apron and said, “I’m going, I’m going!”

Yu Tang broke out in laughter.

Madam Chen looked at her and frowned, “Don’t you laugh, how’s your progress with the handkerchiefs you were told to embroider? When your sister-in-law enters our house, will you, as the sister-in-law, not even have an embroidered handkerchief for her?”

Yu Tang also quickly made her escape.

Just before the day Yu Yuan and Lady Xiang were to meet, Yu Tang finally saw Wei Xiaochuan.

Wei Xiaochuan leaned against the courtyard wall near her house’s back door. When he saw her, he greeted her depressedly, “You’re here?”

Yu Tang thought of him as her own little brother and thus asked concernedly, “What’s wrong with you? Did you get bullied at school?”

“No!” His mouth was pursed tightly, and it was obvious that he wasn’t in a good mood, “There is Teacher Shen in school, so who would dare bully me.”

“Then you……”

“I have investigated.” He interrupted her words with a gloomy gaze, “That night, someone saw my second brother and two tall, burly men walking along my family’s fields. As they thought they were my second brother’s friends, they didn’t pay attention to them. However, in a village not too far from our house, two men suddenly disappeared as well. According to reports, both men were tall and strong, and went missing the day after my second brother’s death. As for the rest, I did not dare to check further……”

Was his bad mood a result of being upset at himself for lacking the courage to investigate further?

Yu Tang drew him into her arms and gently patted his back.

Wei Xiaochuan struggled a bit, but didn’t manage to break free of her embrace. His body gradually lost resistance and he allowed her to hold him.

“Why are these people so evil?” He trembled as he continued, “There are so many ways to break apart a marriage agreement, why must they resort to taking a person’s life?”

Yutang thought of the Pine Creek Fishing Hidden painting and said consolingly, “Some people with wicked hearts just assume that everyone will be as despicable as them. In front of immense wealth and fortune they themselves are greedy and insatiable, and thus expect everyone to be the same.”

Wei Xiaochuan didn’t reply her, but snuggled closer.

“Sister,” he suddenly changed the way he addressed Yu Tang, “what should we do?”

With their current ability, any further investigation would only cause problems for their families.

Yu Tang smiled coldly as she replied, “Prepare in advance for ever-changing developments and take account of the implications of change.”

Wei Xiaochuan did not understand and looked up at her.

Yu Tang lowered her voice and reassured him. “They won’t just give up like this. However, in order to keep people from getting suspicious, they definitely won’t use this a second time. This time, I’ll wait for them to come to me.”

Regarding the matter of the nautical chart, she did not want the Wei family to get involved, so she didn’t let Wei Xiaochuan know of her plans.

Wei Xiaochuan asked, “Sister, what can I do to help you?”

She didn’t need Wei Xiaochuan to help her with anything at all, but Wei Xiaochuan was mature and clever, so if she didn’t find something for him to do, she was afraid that he would inadvertently stumble into the trap she laid and cause the Wei family members to be suspicious of Wei Xiaoshan’s death.

“You can keep an eye on Li Jun for me.” Yu Tang decided to find something for him to do, “If this matter is related to the Li family, there would definitely be some movement on Li Jun’s side.”