CH 124

Chapter 124 – Bumping into someone

Yu Yuan settled Yu Tang and Lady Xiang at the inn, and took Xia Ping Gui to the Ping An Tavern to investigate further. Yu Tang didn’t remain idle. She sent San Mu out, saying “Go and ask around about the Jiang family, the more detailed the better.” She also gave him a handful of copper coins, adding “Don’t worry about saving money, buy some fried melon seeds, sugar pea snacks or something for yourself.”

San Mu heard Ah Cam boast privately that when he ran errands for Eldest Miss, he would always have some small rewards. At the time, he was envious, not of the reward, but that Ah Cam had gained the trust of his mistress. Now that he had the chance to do the same, he was overjoyed and happily accepted. He carefully placed the coins in his pouch and left at once.

Lady Xiang looked at him and giggled, “He’s young and doesn’t have sufficient calmness and reliability. He still needs a few years more of training.”

Yu Tang smilingly complimented her sister-in-law, “With you around, how would he not develop his abilities?”

“How could I possibly be that good?” Lady Xiang blushed lightly.

The two of them teased each other for a while.

Lady Xiang then suggested going out for a walk. “We won’t go far, just have a look around.”

The inn where they were staying was also along the canal, which was bustling and lively.

Yu Tang naturally accompanied her.

Both of them removed their hairpins, changed into plain coarse clothes, put on their head coverings and left with Shuang Tao and Xia Lian.

The two of them went into a fabric store and bought two white silks, two white brocade cloths and four silk floral fabrics,. They had them delivered to the inn to be made into clothing for autumn. After leaving the fabric shop, they saw a shop selling cosmetics and powders across the street. Lady Xiang got excited and led Yu Tang over to buy some hair oils and facial creams, and to bring some back for Madam Wang and Madam Chen.

In her previous life, Yutang was a widow, so she had to dress simply and appropriately. Nowadays, she was in the bloom of youth. She was able to dress well, but she knew nothing about make-up. The most she ever did was to put on a little rouge on her lips, which was considered quite luxurious for her. However, which woman did not like dressing up and looking nice? The only reason why Yu Tang didn’t wear any make-up was because she feared doing it wrongly and getting teased for looking strange. After hearing Lady Xiang’s words, she looked at her nicely-done make-up and asked, “Sister-in-law, can you teach me how to apply make-up? I don’t know anything about it.”

Lady Xiang was taken by surprise and glanced at YuTang. She giggled as she pinched YuTang’s cheeks, saying “If even you need to wear make-up, then what about the rest of us? You don’t have to bother with make-up, just a little rouge on your lips is fine. There’s no need to put on a full face of make-up.”

As they were absorbed in conversation, they neglected to pay full attention to the people and their surroundings, and Lady Xiang suddenly bumped into another person. The person let out a dainty cry, and before Lady Xiang and Yutang could see her clearly, they were already apologising profusely. Only when they looked up did they realise that the person was a young lady of about seventeen or eighteen, wearing a relatively new embroidered cloth robe. She had a pair of beautiful almond shaped eyes and flushed peach-coloured cheeks. Although she was beautiful, her eyes darted around coquettishly and she held a box of rouge in her hand. She stood there somewhat provocatively, a flirtatious sort of beauty and her behaviour was not appropriate for a lady raised in the inner courtyards.

Yu Tang froze in her tracks.

Madam Gao!

She actually met Madam Gao here.

This was really …… a dismal turn of events!

However, why was she here?

Usually people would go to Hangzhou City for a mere shopping trip.

As Yu Tang was lost in thought, Lady Xiang anxiously spoke up, “Miss, I’m terribly sorry. Were you hit anywhere? Are you feeling alright?” She looked around and instructed Xia Lian, “Hurry and ask around if there’s a clinic around here, let’s take this young lady to the physician for a look.”

However, before Xia Lian could respond, a man arrived and held Madam Gao in his arms, saying worriedly, “What happened?”

Madam Gao’s big, watery eyes looked pitifully up at the tall, handsome-looking man in front of her and sobbed, “Brother, I’ve been hit by someone, it hurts!”

Brother?

Yu Tang looked carefully at the man whom Madam Gao called Brother, but could not recall a time when she had seen this man.

The man immediately pulled Madam Gao behind him and stated unpleasantly, “What do you want?”

When his sister was hit, shouldn’t he be asking where she was hit and how she was feeling? Why do they look like they want to stir up a fight?

Yu Tang and Lady Xiang were both a little confused. Madam Gao looked at the situation and immediately pulled the man’s sleeve, whispering, “I’m fine, it’s nothing. We’d better go back early! Lest the shopkeeper looks for you.”

Hearing this, the man’s anger subsided and he turned back to Madam Gao and said gently, “Fine, let’s go back then.” After saying that, he gave Yu Tang and Lady Xiang a fierce scowl, supported Madam Gao in his arms as they left.

Xia Lian got so angry that she stomped her foot on the ground and said, “What kind of person is that! I saw it clearly, it was obviously she who walked without paying attention and bumped into Eldest Young Mistress and Miss, and she even fell backwards, as though we had bumped into her! It’s only because Eldest Young Mistress and Miss were too nice ……”

“That’s enough.” Lady Xiang shushed her. “Everything’s fine. It’s best for us to be on the prudent side when we are in an unfamiliar place and not stir up trouble if we can avoid it. Since we are perfectly alright, let’s just take it as a misunderstanding and forget about it.”

Xia Lian did not dare to refute, as Lady Xiang went with Yu Tang into the rouge shop.

Yu Tang, however, was still thinking about the man and the rouge powderbox in Madam Gao’s hand.

In her previous life, Madam Gao frequently used those rouges as well.

Yu Tang took a closer look at the things sold in the shop and saw the same kind of rouge that Madam Gao was holding. She asked the shopkeeper, “How much is this rouge powder?”

The shopkeeper smiled and replied, “This is our shop’s signature, called Peach Blossoms in March, if you apply this rouge, your face will look exactly like a peach blossom ……”

Yu Tang interrupted his words and said, “How much silver for a box?”

The shopkeeper dared not prevaricate and immediately stated, “Five taels for a box.”

Yu Tang drew in a cold breath.

However, the shopkeeper chuckled, saying “Although it’s expensive, there is a good reason why it is pricey ……”

Yu Tang’s thoughts couldn’t help but drift back towards her previous life.

Madam Gao indeed had her dowry, but it wasn’t much, and Yu Yuan didn’t make much in his earlier years. At least from her perspective, Madam Gao couldn’t have been able to afford to use this kind of rouge all year round.

Yu Tong’s heart was in chaos, and she struggled to regain her spirits to do some shopping with Lady Xiang before heading back to the inn.

Yu Yuan had someone inform them that he would not be back for the evening meal, while San Mu, who had gone to the Jiang family to get more information, only came back to the inn after sunset.

Yu Tang and Lady Xiang already had their evening meal, and they met San Mu in Yu Yuan’s guest room.

He panted and gulped down half a cup of tea before telling them about the Jiang family excitedly. “I’ve made some enquiries. They live not too far from here, in Little Suhang Lane. The current head of the Jiang family is called Jiang Chao, but he is only 22 or 23 years old. When he was sixteen, his father died and he sold his father’s boat and worked with his uncle in the maritime business. After two years, he earned enough to buy a boat and started maritime business on his own, and the boat he bought was even larger than his father’s original boat. Just two months ago, he suddenly said that he wanted to organise a voyage to Sulu and sought to seek public funding. Everyone thought he was being overly ambitious, and not many people joined in, as many looked on in derision.”

Yu Tang couldn’t decide if she should laugh or cry as she replied, “I asked you to inquire about the Jiang family’s situation, so why did you find out about his business investment plans instead?”

San Mu grinned sheepishly as he went off-topic. He then rubbed his head and said, “I’ve made some enquiries about their family as well. Jiang Chao is not married or engaged. He has one sister, who is betrothed to the Yu(于) family next door since she was young and got married last year. He now lives with his widowed mother in a three-story house with seven or eight servants……”

Jiang Ling was already married?

Yu Tang was caught by surprise and asked, ” Then have you heard anyone talking about the Jiang family’s daughter?”

San Mu nodded repeatedly and said, “I’ve heard of it. They said that she was ill-fated. She was originally happily married in, but her husband grew increasingly ill, and her mother would sometimes talk to the neighbours about it, saying that she regretted letting her marry.”

Not mentioning Yu Tang, even Lady Xiang frowned when she heard this.

Yu Tang inwardly sighed.

She asked, “Then have you found out where the Jiang family’s daughter does on a regular basis?”

San Mu said, “Yes, I’ve inquired. These days, Grand Madam Jiang isn’t feeling well, so she visits her maternal family every morning and evening, and spends the rest of her time at home looking after her husband.”

Yu Tang felt that San Mu was pretty good at his job, so she praised him a little and rewarded him with a handful of copper coins, and asked Shuang Tao to bring him a plate of braised pork, a plate of sweet and sour fish and a plate of fried vegetables for dinner.

San Mu was overjoyed, thanked her repeatedly, and left to eat.

Lady Xiang asked Yu Tang worriedly, “What are you intending to?”

Yu Tang smiled, “If Brother returns and finds that the Jiang family’s business is worth doing, then I’ll meet up with the Jiang family’s daughter, after all we’re women, so we can’t go directly to find Jiang Chao.”

Lady Xiang said worriedly, “If she doesn’t leave the house, how will you meet her?”

Yu Tang laughed and said, “We are intending to join in this business seriously, so if we want to see Jiang Ling, we can just ask to see her, can’t we? Even if she doesn’t want to see me, I’ll just ask a few more times, I’m sure it’s not that difficult, right?”

Lady Xiang wanted to say that things were not as simple and easy as she thought, but when she thought about what Yu Tang said, there was a little truth in it.

She had to wait patiently for Yu Yuan to return.

Once Yu Yuan was back, he chuckled and said to Lady Xiang “My sister, she would never use more energy than what was required to get the job done. Seriously, I think her lazy method is pretty good.”  After saying this, he kissed Lady Xiang’s face, making her face turn as red as blood.

“Don’t do that, there’s still people.” She complained softly before asking Yu Yuan, “Should I call sister over now?”

“Call over!” Yu Yuan laughed, “We have things to do tomorrow as well.”

Lady Xiang personally went over and invited Yu Tang.

The three of them sat down at the round table and Yu Yuan poured tea for them, then told Yu Tang what he had seen and heard today.