Chapter 71 The Building is About to Collapse
The wooden fish "boom-boom-boom," the clepsydra "tick-tick-tick-tick," and as my arm rises and falls, a moment, an hour, a day, a month, a season, passes like a dream. Long? Closing my eyes to sleep and waking up again, I can easily take a step forward in the long river of time. Short? After sunrise, I have to wait until my hair turns gray before the moon rises. Today is no different from yesterday; everything is unbearable. The cold loneliness of Daiyuan will never end.
Yanru hadn't seen anyone or attended a banquet in a long time. She couldn't leave the cushion before the deity. If she couldn't sit there, beating the wooden fish and chanting incantations for more than two hours, she would feel anxious and panic. Of course, the most important thing was that no one had sent invitations to the couple. The only banquet they had had in months was after the Lantern Festival, when the snow in the garden melted and Mr. Shi and a few relatives gathered at Daiyuan. They had simply prepared a few beautiful dishes and set up two tables in the Jingxuan area.
Since they were family, there weren't many rules to follow. Everyone, regardless of gender, sat according to their closeness. Yanru and Xue Jia were seated at the outermost table, by the pond. While the feast wasn't as elaborate as before, the chicken, duck, and fish prepared by a renowned chef were a million times better than Xue Jia's sticky, neither sweet nor salty dishes. Yanru's appetite was aroused, and she stretched out her chopsticks, ready to engage in a fight. As the meal began, she was like a three-day-starved vulture spotting a deer carcass. With quick eyes and hands, she snatched a large, shiny, braised goose leg from a plate and stuffed it into her mouth.
Xue Jia failed to snatch the chicken wings, and seeing Yanru's great victory, he was unwilling to give up and ordered: "Give it to me."
Yanru took a big bite, the salty and sweet marinade dripping down from the corner of her mouth. She pleaded and declared her authority: "I've already taken two bites."
"Give it to me, or I'll throw out all those things in your room, and you can never ask me for money to buy incense again." Xue Jia threatened in a low voice, opening his smelly bloody mouth, waiting for Yanru to feed him.
This guy is as good as his word. Yanru was once again controlled by her husband for money, and she reluctantly stuffed the goose leg into his mouth. While serving him, it only took three or two bites for Xue Jia to devour the meat on the goose leg and shave it clean.
The old woman at the same table saw this and teased, "You two really have a deep bond. The bride took some goodies and even remembered to share them with her husband. And the husband, on the other hand, needs to be fed by his wife."
No matter who praised him or what, he was praised anyway. Xue Jia proudly showed off his thick gums and canine teeth that grew randomly like bamboo shoots in the wild. He cast a coquettish glance at Yanru and replied to the old woman: "Of course not. In the whole world, besides my own mother, my beloved wife has to be my dearest one."
Yanru felt a wave of nausea and vomit, her appetite dwindling. She scrambled through seven or eight mouthfuls of rice, shoveling a sense of fullness. After toasting everyone, she excused herself from the table, feeling unwell. She didn't return directly to the Piyou Pavilion, but instead skirted the pond and wandered to the other side of the Shangjing Pavilion to relax. To save money, Wang Xianyi had long since banned the use of lights on the sidewalks at night. Everything was quiet and dark, save for the brilliantly lit Shangjing Pavilion across the street, where drinks clinked and laughter and music drifted faintly. Though she couldn't make out the details, she could sense the joy.
Under the pale moonlight and the lights on the other bank, Yanru leaned against the railing, gazing at the water. The night wind ruffled the surface of the pond, scattering fleeting shadows. The stable buildings on the water, now teetering on the brink of collapse, seemed to be on the verge of collapse. Yanru looked at her own reflected face. It's said that seeing a beautiful woman under the light of the moon is ten times more beautiful than in the daytime. But at this moment, she only saw her face, pale and flat as the moon, her eyes filled with fatigue, devoid of any brilliance. The rippling green waters undulated her features, distorting them drastically.
Zheng Sirui had been missing for over half a year. Officials had searched the riverbanks at the base of the cliff for months, only to find a single, half-red, half-white, curved stone. She must have drifted down the mountain to a shameful destination, transformed into a handful of dirt in the loess.
Yanru rubbed her eyes. After staring at the shimmering golden waves for too long, she felt a little dizzy. She looked up at the sky, then down at the ground. Suddenly, it felt as if heaven and earth, everything within her reach, were all submerged in the koi pond, mere reflections in the mirror, unable to withstand the slightest touch of a finger.
The plum blossoms faded, snow fell to welcome spring, and the new year arrived. The spring examinations began as scheduled, and students, both male and female, were eager to take action, vowing to achieve fame and success, to ride on horseback and admire the flowers of Chang'an in a single day. Mr. Shi brought three or four important figures to Daiyuan for tea. Not long after, the imperial examination results were announced, with some winning and others failing. A month later, the emperor issued a decree to appoint new officials, and the Ministry of Revenue added another female official, the new woman who took Zheng Sirui's former position in the Ministry of Works.
With Pei Lan's intervention, Yan Bao has separated from Liu Xian, a dried fruit seller. Her marriage is still unsettled, but she has finished her studies and is planning to go back to Jinling to hang out for a while before making any plans. While her sister is still in the capital, Yan Ru secretly asks Yan Bao to go out and inquire without the knowledge of Shan Juan and Xue Jia. Yan Bao comes back and tells her that they haven't been able to find their daughter for several months. Zheng Xiucai and his wife have dismissed everyone in the Zheng Mansion, leaving only the doorman to look after the courtyard - the courtyard was awarded by the court and cannot be sold at will. They have returned to Jinling and taken a few sets of clothes, saying that they are going back to build a tomb for Zheng Si Rui so that their daughter can be worshipped and have a good journey to the underworld.
After hearing this, Yanru knocked the wooden fish a few more times and said thankfully: "It's all over. Her life is completely over. It's great. I can finally feel at ease again." From then on, Yanru was focused and no longer had nightmares. She just lived a life of drunkenness and dreaming in the incense, waiting for the Xue family to rise again with the Shi family, so that she, the new bride, could also have a share of the pie.
Until one day, Yanru and Xue Jia were sitting on a stone bench under a tree in the Piyou Pavilion, leisurely enjoying their breakfast in the breeze. Suddenly, Wang Xianyi rushed to Dai Garden and ordered someone to open the storage room in the Piyou Pavilion. He took out a pile of account books, tore them up, and threw them into the brazier.
Xue Jia scratched his head, confused: "Mom, what are you doing for no reason?"
Wang Xianyi cried out, "It's fine? It can't go on like this! The sky is falling!"
Yanru shuddered, her chopsticks falling to the ground, and she hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, mother-in-law?"
Upon hearing the question, Wang Xianyi realized that her daughter-in-law, who was more cunning than her hair, was beside her. She forced a smile and fooled the other person away, pulling her son to the distant corridor to whisper. Xue Jia's face also changed drastically, and he looked at his mother in horror.
What on earth was going on?! Yanru, clueless about cause and effect, was even more terrified than Xue Jia. Her heart and lungs felt as if their tendons had been severed, their flesh and bones torn apart, hanging high above her head. All the blood in her body was rushing towards Tianling.
Unable to drink the porridge, Yanru stood up from the stool and looked for Long'er like a headless fly. For months, the two of them prayed to the gods, burned incense and worshipped Buddha together, and exchanged scriptures. Unconsciously, the relationship between the two was even closer than that between Xue Jia and others. The servants were ordered by Wang Xianyi to clean up Zhufang Courtyard. A group of people were busy in the wing where Mr. Shi used to entertain guests. They were in a mess, but there was order in the chaos. They carefully checked every inch of the corner. Long'er stood by the desk and threw all the papers with words on them into the charcoal brazier. Yanru took two steps at a time, pulled him over and asked, "What happened today? Why is there such a big commotion in the garden? What happened? They are hiding it from me."
Long Er had eyes on the back of his head. He looked around and then pulled Yan Ru to a corner of the backyard and said, "My wife has been inside the whole time. She didn't know that something big happened outside."
Yan Ru's sun trembled: "What? What's the big deal?"
Long'er said, "The daughter of Liu Zhangling, the Imperial Censor of Yongzhou, is called Liu... Liu Yuyang! Liu Yuyang, she was the top scorer in this year's Yongzhou women's imperial examination. Half a month ago, Liu Yuyang suddenly went crazy. While the Minister of Personnel was on vacation in Yongzhou, she publicly accused his father of corruption and bribery, misappropriating 400,000 silver coins allocated by the court. The silver wasn't enough to repair the Yongzhou dam, which led to the floods of the past few years."
Yanru said, "Just tell me the important things! What does the flood in Yongzhou two or three years ago, or the corruption of officials in Yongzhou, have to do with us?"
Long'er's voice gradually became quieter. "After the flood in Yongzhou, the imperial court allocated funds for relief, including salt and rice, as well as stone and wood for post-disaster repairs. They were all purchased from Master Shi... And... And, those gentlemen that Master Shi was close to, and that Supervisory Censor Liu, are said to have studied together... Now, the emperor has ordered a thorough investigation, and we have to count every last ounce of dirt in those gentlemen's homes. I estimate that it will be over in a few days..."
The words "Yongzhou", "flood" and "money" popped into my ears, stirring up a layer of hair in my throat.
On a dark night of thunder and lightning and torrential rain, before Xue Jia threw Zheng Sirui off the cliff, Yanru heard these scattered, unstructured words from his lips. Even without knowing the details, she could infer their unfathomable depth.
Yanru twisted her stiff joints, turned around and ran back to the Piyou Pavilion, rolled into the side room, threw herself on the bed, and fished out the few remaining private savings from the bottom of the box. Under the silver was a neatly folded piece of paper. Yanru opened it and glanced at the words on it:
"The person who signed the divorce letter, Xue Jia, is a native of the capital. Through a matchmaker, he was betrothed to Youshi from Baimali, Jinling, as his wife. However, since we married, I have discovered numerous faults, which fall under the seven grounds for divorce. Due to our marital love, I cannot bear to speak openly about this. I am willing to return her to my family and allow her to remarry. There is no objection, and the divorce letter is true.
"This is recorded on my palm on the 23rd day of the ninth month of the Renyin year."
The smartest thing he did in his life was to keep the divorce letter from last time and hide it in a place where no one knew.
The deadline on the paper still showed last year, and there was no signature on the end. After reciting the words on it three or four times in her mind, Yanru made up her mind, found a box of her reddest lipstick, hid it in her wide sleeves along with the divorce letter, and walked out of the ear room.
Wang Xianyi was still in the side room, Xue Jia clinging to her side, watching in a daze as his mother directed the maids to throw things away. A servant rushed in, sweat pouring down his face like tears, and breathlessly said, "Madam... Madam, this is bad! A group of people, and, and soldiers, are coming to the door!"
Wang Xianyi gasped, then said, "Don't bother packing! Throw everything in the yard and burn it immediately! Quick!" She then stumbled out with the servants. As soon as she left, Xue Jia took on a ferocious expression, yelling at the maids to hurry up. He himself stood by the coffee table in the side room, hands on his hips, pouting, motionless.
Yanru slipped into the wing room through the side door. Xue Jia was so focused on the maid burning paper in the courtyard that he didn't notice anyone behind him. When the maid left with the brazier, Yanru seized the opportunity, pulled out the divorce letter, held it firmly in her left hand, dug out some lip balm, and applied it to the letter. She took three or four deep breaths, gathering all her strength, gritted her teeth, and rushed to Xue Jia's side. Taking him by surprise, she grabbed his palm with lightning speed, smeared the lip balm on his right thumb, and pressed it hard against the signature of the divorce letter.
Xue Jia was suddenly hit. When he reacted, he leaned against the table and saw the divorce letter clearly. In an instant, he turned into an angry toad that had been pecked on the butt by a snake. He opened his mouth and roared, "You Yanru! What are you doing?!"
Yanru didn't have the energy or mind to retort, and all her strength was pressed down on his palm, pressing down on the divorce letter.
Just half a fingernail is enough to press it, and she will be safe after just half a fingernail.
Xue Jia pushed away desperately, but Yanru's grip loosened slightly, allowing his arm to slip half an inch. As he struggled, Yanru threw the divorce papers on the table and grabbed his arms with both hands, her nails piercing through them, drawing four or five bloody lines. Xue Jia's pain weakened him, and Yanru seized the opportunity to subdue his hands again, clamping her right hand by the base of the palm and pressing the divorce papers against him.
Yanru, who used to act so fragile, now possessed the strength to move a mountain. Xue Jia, seemingly a burly man, was actually suffering from kidney deficiency. He could only hold Yanru back. He tried to pull his hands free, then spat in her face with a foul-smelling tongue: "You Yanru, you're afraid that something bad will happen to my family and you're trying to distance yourself from it, right? I won't let you do that!"
Yanru took advantage of the situation and bit his shoulder hard, causing Xue Jia to howl in pain like a monkey. Yanru cursed, "Bah! You're just giving me a few bites of food, and you're just saying it nicely! Last time something happened to your family, you used me as a shield! If your family wants to die, die on your own!"
Xue Jia twisted around, swung him hard, and Yanru fell backward. "You wish!" Xue Jia sneered as he struggled to free himself, grabbing the divorce papers and attempting to tear them up. Yanru responded in kind, leaping up and kicking Xue Jia in the knee, sending him sprawling to the ground. Yanru then kicked him in the stomach, pressing her entire body against Xue Jia, subduing him. She tore off the divorce papers, slamming them to the ground, and then forced Xue Jia's finger to sign them.
Xue Jia grimaced in pain, but still struggled.
Yanru scolded: "You ugly bastard, sign your name on me! Divorce me now!"
Xue Jia fought stubbornly, raising his hands upwards: "Even if I die, I will take you, You Yanru, with me!"
As the two men remained locked in a stalemate, they could hear no steady, intimidating footsteps outside. As more than twenty soldiers quickly surrounded the Piyou Pavilion, the muscular major general leaped from the gate, leaped into the wing, and pointed his official sword at the necks of the man and woman fighting. "Stop!"
The divorce letter still could not be stamped with Xue Jia's signature.
However, Xue Jia and Yan Ru no longer dwelled on this. Their four eyes, nearly popping out of their sockets, stared intently at the female official standing behind the major general. She was dressed in a crimson robe, adorned with brocade ribbons, jade pendants, and bracelets, and wearing white silk stockings and black leather shoes. A scar had grown on her beautiful face, resembling an ugly python, shrunk to the length of an index finger, stretching from the corner of her left eye to her forehead.
Yanru felt a layer of hair suddenly appear on her back, as someone shaved it off with a knife. Icy saliva oozed from her lips and tongue, and her mouth was so bitter that she couldn't utter a word.
Xue Jia had lived for over twenty years, but for the first time in his life, he was so frightened that he nearly fainted. He pointed at the female official and said, "You...you...are you a human or a ghost?!"
Seeing the ugliness of such an ugly man, the Major General was disgusted and used his foot to pry his hands away for Zheng Sirui: "Zheng Langzhong, the Minister of Justice, who was personally appointed by the emperor, is here, and you dare to be so presumptuous and disrespectful? Shackle him? Shackle him."
[Random Thoughts]: Liu Yuyang, the one who reveals the secret, is an important character in another of my novels. By connecting the two stories in the "Suichao Universe," I mean to show the integrity and backbone of the Sui Dynasty women officials as much as possible (I'm at a loss for words, but I'll get it, sisters).
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