Chapter 65: The Way to Control Your Husband
Yanru easily found the entrance to the Liu's preserved fruit shop after asking around. The shop was small but well-equipped. On the right side of the door was a half-worn counter, and inside were two shelves with drawers, about one person tall. In the center of the shop was a large, specially made wooden frame, divided into neatly arranged compartments of different sizes, each filled with various preserved fruits such as black plums, preserved plums, and dried peaches. The young accountant who was in charge of the shop checked the amount and wiped the small beam scale used to weigh the goods with a fine linen cloth. A slender shadow fell from the doorway onto the shelf in front of him. He sensed that there was a customer, looked up and said with a smile: "Madam, please come in. What would you like?"
"Just take a look." Yanru, with the air of an elder, entered the room with a graceful demeanor. Her possessions filled the room, leaving only enough space for one person to walk through. The rich sweetness of honey and the tart aroma of fruit blended together, a gentle sniff making her mouth water. She took only two steps before she was already slurping and smacking her lips.
When the young man heard this, he generously scooped a few plums with a wooden spoon and handed them to Yanru: "Madam, you can try them first. If you think they are delicious, then buy them."
Yanru grabbed it without hesitation and stuffed it into her mouth. The saltiness just overwhelmed the astringency of the plum, but did not steal the limelight from the sourness. She sucked on it, and the faint aroma of licorice seeped out.
Seeing her eyes sparkle, the young man said, "My lady, don't underestimate my shop because it's small. We've been running it for over ten years. These dried plums are all pickled by my parents themselves, a skill they've cultivated for over a decade. You won't be able to find them anywhere else outside of our shop."
"Hmm—indeed." Yanru said, "You can't find this flavor in the preserved fruit shops in Jinling. No wonder You Yanbao likes to go to your shop."
The young man looked suspicious, and Yanru confessed: "I am You Yanbao's sister. You Liu Xian, are you?"
Unprepared, his sister suddenly came to visit him. Liu Xianang was at a loss as to what to do. He hurriedly grabbed a piece of paper, picked up three or five expensive candied fruits, and handed them to Yanru: "Why did you come here so suddenly? Sister...try more of this, this is delicious, and this..."
He added a few more items and stuffed them full into Yanru's hands. Yanru took them all without hesitation, chewing the candied fruit while strolling through the shop, strutting through the narrow aisles like a crab: "Your place is a bit small."
Liu Xian laughed awkwardly, "This place isn't rented, it's bought by my family. We've been running it for too long, and my parents are afraid that if we move to a new shop, our regular customers won't be able to find the place, so we've never thought about renting a bigger one."
Yanru raised her eyelids. "Ah~ I don't mean anything else, I'm just curious. My family has a large embroidery shop in Jinling, and all sorts of things are displayed, taking up three or two large courtyards. So I'm quite curious, how can such a small area produce so many goods."
Liu Xian explained: "Ah~ah~Sister, you don't know, the things were all made in the courtyard where we live, not here."
"I see." Yanru smiled. "You said your family has been making preserved fruits for over ten years?"
Liu Xiang said modestly but proudly, "Yes, it can be called an ancestral craft. However, I've only made it during festivals to satisfy the cravings of relatives and friends. My sister thought it was too hard for my parents to grow vegetables, so she thought of opening a small stall to earn some money for the family. As a result, it became an important part of our family's livelihood."
"Oh~ your family is from a farming family—" Yanru dragged out the last syllable, "farmers, quite different from ours. Did Yanbao tell you? Our ancestors had high-ranking officials. She and I come from famous families, and we are descendants of members of the Privy Council!"
The ambiguous and seemingly false distinction between family backgrounds sounded intimidating. Liu Xiang didn't understand the subtlety and fell into anxiety, scratching her right fingernail with her left hand. "I know, she often said that. She also said, 'Sister, you are the fairy of some great painter? Hey, what was the painter's name? Hey..."
"Tsk, it's a goddess, not a fairy, the goddess of painting. The painter's name is Ji Mingxiu, a painter worth a thousand gold coins in the current dynasty, Ji Mingxiu." Yanru glanced at him and corrected him solemnly, thinking: What kind of vision is You Yanbao? His mind is full of food! He sent her to the capital to study, and the Imperial College is right next door. Instead of catching a student, he flirted with such an uneducated and illiterate person. He doesn't even know Ji Mingxiu. How shameless.
"Yes, yes, Ji Mingxiu." Liu Xian rubbed his hands uneasily, looked at Yanru who stood up straight, and said: "The orioles are singing on the island in the river, the beautiful lady is the ideal match for the gentleman. I know that you and Yanbao are very good, so you must cherish her. You don't know how many people want to love my little sister, and many young men want to marry Yanbao. For example, a few years ago, the young master of the Dongjing Marquis's Mansion-"
"You Yanru."
Interrupting Yanru's words with a calm, suppressed cry, Liu Xiang approached her suspiciously yet happily: "Yanbao? You're here? Your sister is free today, come and see me."
"I know, that's not calling her." Yan Bao smiled and patted Liu Xian's hands, which were intertwined and scratched with each other. "Sister, come out for a moment. I've prepared your things for you."
Yanru swallowed, cleared her throat, and feigned composure and grace as she gracefully walked out. The two sisters walked, one in front and one behind, to a quiet spot away from the Chen family shop. Yanbao suddenly turned around, pulled out the pawn ticket and silver from her arms, and threw them at her sister: "You Yanru! You're such a jerk! Are you crazy?! I've only met that Shao guy a few times? Nothing happened! What nonsense are you making up? You've led a shameful life, so what right do you have to harm me!"
Yanru quickly put the money in her pocket and cursed, "You Yanbao, I worked so hard to get you a place in the capital, and now you're only looking for this kind of guy? A farmer? A fruit seller? He's got nothing but good looks! If you wanted to marry into a poor family, you should have told me earlier! Why bother bringing you here? I could have just picked someone out for you from the streets!"
"You Yanru, you're sick, seriously, you're sick." Yan Bao cursed. "What kind of guy am I looking for? And what kind of guy did you pick? I'm not like you. I look for someone with good looks, but you look for someone who looks like a Pixiu, with a big head and a big mouth but no anus, only taking in but not giving out. You don't even want to spend money on buying clothes for you—oh, no, a Pixiu is a mythical beast, and your man is a golden toad! He looks like a toad, so ugly that he can ward off evil spirits!"
The shame she had tried so hard to conceal was exposed by her younger sister. Yanru was furious and threatened to hit her. Yanbao grabbed her hand and spat, "You're afraid to scold your miserly in-laws with your mouth closed, so why are you scolding me? Instead of worrying about me, worry about your man! He's reluctant to spend money on you, and he saves all the money to have fun in brothels."
Yanru was startled: "What?"
Yanbao straightened her clothes and sneered: "Who doesn't know that Xue Jia gets the chance to drink, sleep and have fun? Don't disbelieve me, I saw him just now when I came back from the pawnshop. My good brother-in-law is in the brothel on the street ahead, drinking with two women, and looking sticky and sticky. Go, go and see. Instead of messing with me, you might as well go and see him!" Yanbao scolded happily and ran back to Chen's shop to have a good talk with her lover, leaving Yanru alone.
Yanru wasn't completely foolish. She had always known that Xue Jia wasn't content, but she had never paid any attention to him. After all, which man didn't love to spend his days drinking and having sex, and flirting with seductive women? She wasn't too lazy to get jealous. But when Yanbao mentioned this today, she started to worry:
"He goes once or twice, I don't bother to care. But the money is in this idiot's hands, he can spend it however he wants. If he takes a fancy to some seductress, he can't resist redeeming her; or like her father, secretly taking in a poor but slightly pretty girl, keeping her in some Sweet Water Street or Tangshui Lane, and then bringing her into Daiyuan to compete with her for a place; or simply writing a divorce letter and kicking her out, what will we do then?"
It felt as if hands were pulling her heart up, dangling it in mid-air. Yanru was flustered and anxious. She didn't go to see if Xue Jia was at the brothel or the dance hall, but only headed for the pawnshop—what could she do there? Could she go in and drag him out and throw him into the woodshed? The key was, she had to keep him, make sure his heart was with her. Yanru scratched her head. Xue Gu from Qiushui Academy had told her fortune that her fate was one of a bright and prosperous day, meaning she would start her fortune early and be favored by a noble person. She needed to strive hard to avoid poverty. Yanru was initially skeptical, and after following Liu Xiang, she remained skeptical for a while. Now, thinking carefully, the noble person must be Ji Mingxiu; it was also true that she had been a goddess of painting and had started her fortune early. Even though Xue Jia had lied to her, after she had taken that gamble, she had finally been able to live in a mansion with gardens, become a distinguished guest of the rich and powerful, and reach the pinnacle of her life. Everything proves that Xue Gu's words are indeed true. Won't we be poor and destitute in the future?
That's not okay?!
In this case, we should really listen to Xue Gu's advice and give it a try.
How to fight? Want a child? They'd been married for quite some time, but there was still no sign of pregnancy. Last year, Wang Xianyi forced her to drink tonics for the better part of six months. Only after seeing a doctor did she discover that it was Xue Jia's kidney deficiency. Yanru had no strong desire for children. She admitted she was a coward who couldn't handle hardship. She dreaded the pain of pregnancy, the vomiting and diarrhea of ten months, the pain of childbirth, the pain of caring for a child, and even more so, the pain of being estranged from her husband, having the child become a second self. Even though she knew having a child would make life easier for her at home, she still resisted. During those days and nights of taking tonics, Yanru often dreamed of being pregnant. She'd suddenly leap from her bed, rush into the pond, squat on the bank, and release a pile of tadpoles. The tadpoles, upon touching the water, transformed into tiny frogs, croaking at her, "Mom." She looked in the water, and she, too, became a frog, croaking. Then she woke with a start. There were no frogs in her ears, only her husband, Xue Jia.
Forget it, take your time, there's no need to rush children. Every mother loves her child, and You Yanru's way of loving her child is to not let it be born easily - even for the sake of her status in the Xue Mansion, she still doesn't want to.
So how can I quickly, steadily, and securely capture Xue Jia without having to bear a child, and prevent him from being seduced? Yanru suddenly had an idea: "Xue Gu, there are fortune tellers. Since fortune tellers can tell me my fortune, why not go find another fortune teller and ask them for some advice?"
She got excited, turned two corners, and chose a small stall that was crowded with fortune tellers. She forced her way to the front, taking the position of the peasant woman at the front. She said to the Taoist priest with a goatee, "Master, is there any way to make a man stay with me and not be seduced by a foxy woman?"
"Of course there is, but the method is somewhat harmful to the body. Usually—" The fortune-teller frowned, rubbing his thumb with his left index finger. Yanru understood the hint and felt sorry for the silver she had exchanged for clothes in her pocket, which had not yet warmed up. She gritted her teeth and showed a piece of silver: "Is it enough?"
"Enough, enough, enough." The Taoist wanted to weigh the silver, but Yanru put her hand into her bosom and said, "Think of a way for me first. If it works, I'll give you the silver."
All she had to do was pay. The Taoist priest told her, "Tonight, take the hair and nails of your husband and you, and bring them here tomorrow. I'll go back and perform a ritual for you. Two days later, come back here and I'll give you the talisman paper. Go back and put it in the boudoir you and your husband share."
Yanru had no choice but to agree. Following the Taoist's instructions, she gently washed and combed Xue Jia's hair that night, and then cut the nails on his hands and feet, all twenty in total. She carefully wrapped the paper and the two of them together, along with their birth dates. The next day, under the pretext of looking for Yanbao, she left Dai Garden, dodged Xue Jia, and quietly gave it to the Taoist. After patiently waiting for another three or two days, she finally got what she wanted: the talisman paper figurine.
"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child. I spent most of the silver I pawned my clothes to get such a good thing. If I can really make that fool Xue stop having a second wife and concubines and let me sit firmly on the position of the eldest lady of the Xue family, then the money I spent will be worth it!" Yanru muttered to herself, pressing the talisman paper under the couple's bed, praying to the Jade Emperor and the Three Pure Ones Taoist priests to have mercy and lock him up by her side, to be her husband only, and never let him raise any foxes or chicken spirits outside, let alone give birth to any little toads or frogs.
It really worked. Ever since the talisman paper was brought back to Dai Garden, Xue Jia seemed to have behaved much better. He was too lazy to go to the city, and would stay in Dai Garden to prepare food for Yanru to taste. If he went to the city, he would always take Yanru with him, not even going to the pawnshop, but staying at the Xue Mansion to accompany Wang Xianyi. He seemed to be truly washing his hands and putting away his clothes, behaving in a proper manner, and being a good husband and son who walked in step and acted in a disciplined manner.
Yanru was delighted, feeling that the Taoist priest was very accomplished and the formation he cast was quite effective. She thought that she really had the skills to control her husband - the skills of a Jianghu sorcerer, and the way to control her husband - the way of Taoism. She could not help but believe more and more in the matters of gods and Buddhas. She rummaged through her boxes and cabinets, and scraped together several taels of silver, which she respectfully handed to the Taoist priest. She asked for a lot of talismans, sachets, and small statues to stabilize her marriage, strengthen the relationship between husband and wife, enhance her fortune and blessings, and avoid harm from villains. She put them under the bed, next to the dressing table, and on the long table.
Xue Jia saw it all, but turned a blind eye, pretending to be clueless and letting her do whatever she wanted, only complaining secretly:
Damn it, I've been going to brothels too often lately. That day, I was hugging Hongying and Luqiao downstairs and ran into my mother. She was furious, withheld a lot of money, and forced Long'er to keep a close eye on me. As a result, I haven't been able to go out and play in ages. If I had known earlier, I should have woken up later from my nap that day, played with Hongying and Luqiao more, and come downstairs even later so my mother wouldn't see me. That way, I could have spent more money. Otherwise, I wouldn't be like this now, either stuck in Daiyuan or staying at my mansion in the city, watching You Yanru muttering and praying to the gods. It's so annoying.
[Random Thoughts]: It's perfectly acceptable for people to have faith in their lives, and all psychological and spiritual needs should be respected. But I still want to open "Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right" and read Marx's words to Yanru: If a person seeks a superhuman being in the imaginary reality of heaven, and finds only a reflection of himself, he no longer wants to find his true reality where he is seeking, where he should be seeking, but instead seeks only his own illusion, the inhuman.
After finishing reading, I will go and knock the wooden fish for 30 seconds.
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