CH 121

Chapter 121 – Leaving the house

It was not Gao Sheng’s place to voice his opinion on this matter, so he nodded in silence and asked Gu Chang, “What about the Li family?”

Gu Chang said coldly, “We have already done so much, if the Li family still remains ignorant, wouldn’t our actions be pointless?”

Gao Sheng acceded, and after helping Gu Chang settle in, he went to inquire about Pei Yan.

By the time Li Duan found out that Li Yi’s embezzlement was the result of a rumour spread by the Peng family, and that Li Yi’s potential upcoming transfer to Yungui was Gu Chang’s doing, it was already well past the Dragon Boat Festival.

As he looked up at the blue and green vines and foliage painted on the ceiling, it was as if all of his energy had been drained away from him, and he couldn’t lift even a finger.

Peng Eleventh felt that he wasn’t obedient enough and wanted to intimidate him a little, so he had people spread the word that Li Jun had returned with silver his father embezzled; whereas Gu Xi wanted to withdraw from the marriage while not letting anyone think it was her fault and for the Li family to initiate the withdrawal, so Gu Chang made his move by threatening the Li family that if they didn’t withdraw from the marriage, his father will be transferred to serve in Yungui.

Lin Jue, in contrast, was pacing around the room like a trapped beast. “We’re flanked by enemies on both sides! Ah Duan, you can’t afford to be complacent! It’s no problem to placate Peng Eleventh – doesn’t he just want us to submit to them? We’ll just lower our heads and admit it! We can do whatever he wants. The most important thing is not to let him realize that the Gu family is also targeting us, otherwise we will really become meat on the chopping block and be slaughtered as the Peng family sees fit.

“As for the Gu family, if it really comes down to it, we will have no choice but to withdraw from the marriage.

“I didn’t feel it was a good idea for aunt to get support from the Gu family in the first place. The disparity between our families’ status is too much. Furthermore, the Gu family’s second branch is dirt poor. When the Gu family was divided up, the second branch only received less than 20,000 taels of silver, and second old master doesn’t know much about domestic household affairs, so how can Lady Gu have much of a dowry?

“Moreover, the Gu family’s young lady, when you consider that she lost her birth mother at a young age, but could still make her stepmother wary of her, clearly she is not a simple person to deal with. The Gu family, after all, can only be considered academically competent. However, of the four major families in Jiangnan, Hangzhou still has three others – Shen, Lu and Qian. And if those don’t fit, there’s still the Zhang and Yang families, who rank only slightly lower in comparison.”

After saying this, he sat down on the chair next to Li Duan, crossed his legs and continued, saying “If it were me, I would find a woman who has a similar family background as mine. The woman should either have brothers who can study hard, or have loads of silver to accompany her as a dowry. We all have our own lives to live. What is the point of life if you find a wife who constantly breathes down your throat?”

Li Duan smiled bitterly.

He did not want things to be like this either.

However, unless he did so, by the time he becomes an official, given the strength of the Li family, it would not be of any use at all.

His father was the prime example of this.

If not for the fact that the Lin family had nothing to offer except wealth, would his father still remain as a fourth rank official even at his current age?

But this was not something he could say in front of Lin Jue.

His head ached. Rubbing his temples, he said, “As for marriage with the Gu family, if we are able to keep it, it would be best. I heard from someone in the Wu family that Gu Chang’s mentor, Sun Gao, is likely to be appointed as the Minister of Officials.”

The Minister of Officials was in charge of the appointment, dismissal, reward and punishment of officials who serve in the imperial court.

Lin Jue’s eyes lit up upon hearing this and exclaimed, “Really?”

“Really!” Li Duan said somewhat wearily, “A son of the Wu family who was a fellow classmate of mine, specially sent someone to inform me about it just two days ago.”

Lin Jue lowered his gaze and remained silent.

They clearly knew in their hearts that the son of the Wu family came to deliver the message only because he did not know that the Gu family intends to withdraw their marriage with the Li family, and he was trying to ingratiate himself before Li Duan.

If news of the two families’ marriage annulment got out, not only would Li Duan be made a laughing stock, but the Li family would also be discarded.

After some time had passed, he remarked ruefully, “Then what is your plan?”

Li Duan answered, “My mother is still unaware of this, so please look after her for me while I go to Hangzhou in the coming few days to meet Lady Gu!”

To break the marriage arrangement or not.

He first had to find out why Lady Gu was so determined to withdraw from the marriage.

Was the Yu family’s case really that important? Besides, there were valid reasons for him to act that way.

Lin Jue chuckled as he replied, “Indeed, it’s you who is well-read and thus quick-witted. Women are attracted to handsome men, so rather than finding Gu Chang, it might be best to approach Lady Gu instead.”

In any case, Li Duan was really good-looking and which lady wouldn’t appreciate a handsome man? It was Gu Xi’s decision to withdraw from the marriage. If she changed her mind and wanted to marry Li Duan again, no one in the Gu family would stop her.

Hearing Lin Jue’s crude comments, Li Duan frowned.

Lin Jue assumed that Li Duan was worried about going to the Gu family and laughed, “I think you’re doing the right thing. If you plan to go, you should hurry. I don’t think there’s even a need to choose an auspicious day, you can leave for the Gu residence tomorrow and find a way to meet Lady Gu. Once you have Lady Gu wrapped around your finger, what else can the Gu family say?”

This plan, although salacious, had a high degree of feasibility.

Li Duan inwardly decided that he need to find a way to see Gu Xi, but merely remarked, “I will decide what to do.”

Lin Jue was worried about his stubborn nature and urged him, saying “General Han Xin was able to endure the hardships of his times and achieve great feats. You ought to emulate him!”

This also depends on what one learns!

Li Duan cursed in his heart, thinking that Lin Jue was a piece of dog meat that could not be served at the main table.

He fixed a date to go to Hangzhou, meanwhile Yu Tang and Yu Yuan finally managed to find an excuse to take Lady Xiang to Suzhou.

Lady Xiang had never travelled so far in her life.

She considered herself to be a very lucky woman, having travelled from Fuyang to Lin’an, seeing more of the world than the average woman confined to the inner courtyards would. Never did she imagine that she would get the chance to visit Suzhou.

Sitting in the chartered boat, she still felt as though she was dreaming.

She opened a packet of shredded candies and gave a piece to Yu Tang, whispering, “Try it. My father bought them from the capital for me when I got married.”

The small black wooden boat had a coarse blue cloth screen that separated it into two, with one side sitting Yu Yuan, Xia Ping Gui, San Mu and two other store helpers, and the other side sitting Yu Tang, Lady Xiang, Shuang Tao and Lady Xiang’s personal maid.

The Yu family’s store needed to stock up on some lacquer paint, so Yu Yuan suggested bringing Yu Tang and Lady Xiang along so that they could also have some exposure to the family’s business.

Yu Bo refused, thinking that having the women travel together with the men would be an inconvenience. It was Yu Tang who convinced Yu Wen and got him to persuade Yu Bo so that they could make the trip to Suzhou as well.

Yu Tang was so excited about this trip that she didn’t sleep well for the past few days. After getting on the boat and staying on it for an hour, she started to get drowsy after the initial novelty wore off.

Yu Tang stifled a yawn and popped the candy in her mouth, but instead of relieving her drowsiness, she only grew sleepier. She leaned on Lady Xiang’s shoulder, her eyelids closing as if they weighed a thousand gold bars, and vaguely mumbling, “Sister-in-law, I’ll just nap for a while.”

Lady Xiang watched her nestle into her shoulder like a little child, and could not help but purse her lips in a smile.

She didn’t sleep well yesterday either. Firstly, she was worried about causing trouble for Yu Yuan, and secondly, she was afraid of displeasing Yu Tang by failing to look after her properly – although she’s only been married into the Yu family for less than three months, she could clearly see that not only does her uncle’s family cherish her dearly, but her in-laws and husband dote on her as well. Therefore, she did not want to offend Yu Tang over trivial matters and compromise her relationship with her parents-in-law and her husband. Moreover, Yutang was a very nice person and her husband doted on her and took her along with him wherever he went. This made Lady Xiang, who had envied her stepmother since she was a child, determined to capture her husband’s heart no matter what and to spend her life together with him as harmoniously as they were doing right now.

This made her all the more patient and gentle with Yutang.

However, as she watched Yu Tang sleep, she couldn’t help but feel drowsy too.

“Xia Lian.” Lady Xiang quietly instructed her maid, “I’ll also rest for a while. If there’s any movement on the eldest young master’s side, you must remember to wake me up. “

Xia Lian had grown up with Lady Xiang, and she knew Lady Xiang’s thoughts all too well. In the past, she feared that Lady Xiang would marry into a wealthy family as the main wife, and that she would be forced to become a concubine. Now that Lady Xiang had married into the Yu family, she was overjoyed – a family like the Yu’s would not want to have any concubines as it would only mean extra mouths to feed, and usually the maids accompanying the wife would either marry the store’s most reliable worker or store manager. Whatever the case may be, she felt that if she was ever to experience that day, she would truly be blessed and not have lived her life in vain.

When Lady Xiang was determined to have and hold on to Yu Yuan’s heart, she was more dedicated than anyone else.

She nodded at once. She carefully placed a pillow on her shoulder for Lady Xiang to rest her head on, and also took a light blanket and handed it to Shuang Tao, gesturing for her to place over Lady Xiang and Yu Tang.

Shuang Tao suddenly felt that all her years working as a maid were in vain.

Never had she shown this kind of meticulous care or taken such initiative in looking after Yu Tang.

Usually, she just did as Yutang or Madam Chen instructed, and would occasionally hide in the kitchen and slack off.

If there was no comparison, there wouldn’t be a difference. Hopefully, her young mistress wouldn’t view her as being too useless in the future.

Shuang Tao carefully covered Yu Tang and Lady Xiang with the blanket, but she was feeling a little anxious in her heart.

There was a direct river route connecting Hangzhou City to Suzhou, which was very convenient. Furthermore, it was downstream and took no more than 14-16 hours to get there. Hence, many people would take the overnight boat, where they would board in the evening, sleep for the night, and arrive the next morning. Once they finished their business in Suzhou, they would return to Hangzhou on the night boat. It was a great way to save money on accommodation, without causing delays in their work.

Yu Tang and the others did the same by taking a boat to Hangzhou and then transferring from Hangzhou to Suzhou overnight.

However, they would be staying in Suzhou for two nights before returning.

According to Yu Yuan, they had to visit the lacquerware shops in Suzhou.

The goods produced in Su Zhou were widely used by the nobles in the imperial palace. This might be the reason why although Hangzhou was closer to the Ningbo seaport, but there were more people in Suzhou in the maritime trading business.

After a long day and night’s boat ride, Yu Tang and Lady Xiang looked like wilted and shrivelled green string beans.

Yu Yuan, the older brother who forgot his sister once he had a wife, was the first to help Lady Xiang, and was deeply concerned once he saw her pale and listless expression. “I’ll hire a sedan chair, so you and my sister can head to the inn and rest, while I’ll go with Ping Gui to buy a few things before accompanying you out for a stroll.”

Lady Xiang was helpless against her naïve husband. She feared that she might make her husband upset if she pushed him away, but at the same time, she was worried that such overt displays of affection would make her sister-in-law feel uncomfortable. She could only give Yu Yuan a look and say, ” I’m not tired. You should help our sister. I’m alright.”

Only then did Yu Yuan realize Yu Tang was there as well. He replied with a non-committal “Oh”, but did not let go of Lady Xiang. He only glanced at Yu Tang, who was walking behind Lady Xiang, and said, “Are you alright? Do you need any help?”

TL: … Can I smack this idiot of an older brother? XD