Chapter 33: Guests (Part 2)

When we returned to Gongxian Hutong in Baodafang, the lights were already on.

The eldest grandmother, Gu, helped the eldest wife get off the carriage and whispered, "Mother, the second master and the second wife are here!"

The first wife was slightly startled: "Haven't you left yet?"

"No!" The eldest grandmother whispered, "The fourth aunt also came..."

The first wife raised her eyebrows: "What is she doing here?"

Hearty laughter could be heard coming from the main room.

Eleventh Lady was stepping on the footstool and preparing to get off the car, but she paused when she heard the laughter.

It was the laughter of the second old man...

It's curfew in Yanjing, and now it's already You. I don't know how far Huanghuafang is from here, and I can't get back in half an hour...

As she pondered, the laughter got closer and closer, and the second elder's voice could be clearly heard: "...Brother, I will invite you tomorrow at 7:00 p.m."

The elder master's voice was gentle and elegant: "Then I'll wait for you, and we'll go after we have breakfast together."

Just as he finished speaking, the figures of the eldest master and the second master appeared in front of the hanging flower gate, one inside and one outside, and everyone ran into each other.

"You're back!" The eldest master greeted the eldest wife with a smile, and the second master bowed and called her "sister-in-law".

The eldest wife knelt down and bowed to the two of them, respectfully calling them "Grandpa", and then called the second grandfather "Second Uncle".

Behind the two men came a forty-year-old woman. She had a pale complexion and a long face. She wore a fragrant satin jacket with a pattern of hundreds of butterflies and flowers, inlaid with a jade and red gold Guanyin, and a bowl-sized Western pearl and jade flower surrounded by a circle of emerald plum blossoms. The red lantern hanging on the hanging flower door illuminated her with a dazzling brilliance of pearls.

"Sister-in-law." She bowed to the first wife with a smile on her face. "Knowing that you were coming, I brought a few children to pay my respects to you. Who knew that you went to the Yongping Marquis' Mansion... and waited until now. Fortunately, I waited for you."

She is the second wife, Yu.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting." The first wife bowed to the second wife. A young woman came out from behind the second wife and called out "Aunt".

The woman seemed to be in her early twenties, tall, with fair skin, soft eyes and eyebrows, and she looked very comfortable.

"Fourth Lady!" The eldest wife greeted the woman with a smile, "I didn't expect you to come too!"

"I went back to see mother, and then I learned that you came to Yanjing. I came with you to greet you." Si Niang smiled like a spring breeze, "I heard that you went to Yongping Marquis Mansion. Is elder sister okay?"

The first wife smiled and nodded: "I'm fine! Please keep me in mind."

"That's good." Si Niang heaved a sigh of relief. "I heard that she was seriously ill, and I'm in confinement after giving birth, so it's not convenient for me to go. I've been worried!"

Seven years ago, the third wife was a concubine and married the fourth daughter to Yu Yiqing, the eldest son of Yu Naisi, the deputy minister of the Dali Temple. Who knew that Yu Naisi died of illness within two years of her marriage, and she returned to her hometown in Fuyang with her mother-in-law. The Yu family was originally a poor family. After Yu Naisi passed the imperial examination, they slowly acquired some property, which totaled only four or five hundred mu of aquatic products, a house in the city and outside the city. In addition, Yu Yiqing had many brothers and sisters, so life was a bit tight. The second wife loved her daughter very much, and every year she would set aside 500 taels of silver from her public office and have someone send it to Fuyang.

Yu Yiqing was well educated and passed the imperial examination in the fifty-ninth year of Jianwu. The next year, the new emperor ascended the throne and held an imperial examination. He hurried down to take the exam and failed. The second wife took her daughter and son-in-law to Beijing on the grounds that "there are no good teachers in Fuyang". She also used the relationship of the second old man to get her daughter into the Imperial College and rented a house near Laojuntang Hutong.

Perhaps it was because of her mother's care that Si Niang, who had been silent for a long time, gave birth to two sons in succession - the youngest son was born just last month.

"How is the child?" The eldest wife greeted her with a smile. "I had someone send you some donkey hide gelatin from Shandong a few days ago. Did you receive it? Are you used to eating it? It is the best thing for replenishing blood and energy."

"Got it!" Si Niang hurriedly thanked the eldest wife, "Thank you for your concern, auntie."

Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang took this opportunity to come forward and pay their respects to Er Niang and Si Niang.

Fourth Lady returned the gift, and Third Lady Ding brought Seventh Lady out to greet First Lady, Fifth Lady, and Eleventh Lady. It was a lively and bustling occasion.

The eldest master smiled and said, "It's awkward to stand here. How about going back to the house and having a cup of tea?"

The second wife was a little tempted, but the second old man said, "It's getting late. You and I have to go to the Liu family tomorrow. There's still a lot of time to go."

The eldest master did not keep the guest and only instructed, "Be careful on the road." He also asked Luo Zhenxing, who had been standing by with his hands hanging down, to help see the guest off. He and the eldest wife stood at the hanging flower gate and waited for the carriage of the second wife to drive away before returning to the main house.

The first wife asked, "You are going to Liuge's hometown tomorrow? Why didn't you tell me? I have something to prepare. What are you going to do at Liu's house?"

The third elder of the Luo family married the youngest daughter of Liu Gelao. After the old lady of the Luo family retired, Liu Gelao took good care of the three brothers of the Luo family. The three brothers of the Luo family also respected Liu Gelao very much. In addition to the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival, the Luo family would send a steward to congratulate Liu Gelao on his birthday or when the young master of the Liu family took a concubine.

"It was a temporary decision." The elder frowned slightly, looking a little upset. "Master Liu had a dispute with Master Chen over the tea tax, and in a fit of anger he proposed to retire. Who would have thought that the emperor would actually agree..."

"What?" The first wife was shocked. "How could this happen?"

"We'll leave Beijing the day after tomorrow." The eldest master's expression darkened. "We heard it from the third brother. The second brother heard that you were coming and was going to invite the third brother to come to our house for a gathering. Who knew that this would happen? The third brother and his wife hurried to the Liu family!"

The eldest wife was full of emotions and waved her hands irritably at Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang: "You have been tired all day, go down and rest!"

Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang bowed and replied "yes". When they stood up, the eldest master and the eldest mistress had already entered the main room, but their voices could still be heard faintly.

"How's Yuanniang?"

"It's OK." The first wife's voice was tense. "It's OK. I have something to tell you..."

The noise gradually faded away, and silence returned to the yard.

Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang returned to the back room one after another.

Early the next morning, the eldest master invited the second master to have breakfast, and then the two of them went to Liu's house together.

When Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang went to pay their respects to the First Lady, the First Lady was a little absent-minded. Even the arrival of Brother Hui did not make her really happy. Instead, she asked the wet nurse to carry him away, leaving the First Lady alone to talk.

After the two of them went out, Wu Niang looked at Shiyi Niang with a smile and said, "Come to think of it, we sisters haven't sat together for a long time. Since we are free today, come to my room for some tea!" She was no longer as cold and disdainful as before.

Eleventh Lady was slightly surprised.

As long as Wu Niang fails to achieve her goal, she will never be able to reconcile with herself.

Such gentleness and friendliness, I'm afraid there is a purpose!

But no matter what her purpose is, if I ignore her, Wu Niang might think that I am declaring war on her?

Eleventh Lady pondered and smiled calmly: "Okay! It's been a long time since we sat together and drank tea!"

Wu Niang nodded slightly, looking very satisfied with Shiyi Niang, and then took her to her residence.

It was obvious that the grandmother had put a lot of thought into accommodating them. Not only were the furnishings in the east and west rooms the same, even the small items like teacups and chair cushions were exactly the same, indistinguishable from one another.

The two of them sat down on the big kang by the window. Ziwei served tea. Wu Niang smiled and said to Shiyi Niang, "I want to have a private chat with you." After saying that, she sent Ziwei and the others away.

Eleventh Lady also smiled and sent Amber and the others away.

When they were the only two people left in the room, Wu Niang sighed and looked at Shiyi Niang apologetically: "My dear sister, I misunderstood you, so I always dislike you... Please don't annoy me."

Eleventh Lady was very surprised.

Being so humble, it seems like Wu Niang is determined to get it?

She looked uneasy: "Sister, please stop talking like that. I must have done something wrong, so you misunderstood me." Then, she looked at Wu Niang with wide eyes, "Sister, what on earth am I..."

"It's all my fault." Wu Niang looked very guilty. "You don't know, mother chose you and me to come to Yanjing to visit elder sister, but it was because elder sister was married and elder brother was far away in Yanjing, so she had no children. She wanted to find two daughters who were to her liking to accompany her on the way, to talk and laugh and relieve her boredom." She showed anger on her face. "Who would have known that this matter would fall into the eyes of those who had ulterior motives, and it would be said that my brother was in poor health and my sister wanted to choose one of my concubines to be my concubine..."

Eleventh Lady matched her in surprise: "Is there such a thing? How come I have never heard of it?"

"Those people took advantage of my young age and didn't bother to say it in front of me." Wu Niang turned her eyes away, "but they came to my room to talk about it." She paused and said, "To tell you the truth, the people who said it were the first and second aunts."

Eleventh Lady looked at Fifth Lady in surprise.

She can really break it!

However, the first and second aunts were instigating this, so maybe they really said this.

Wu Niang was very satisfied when she saw Shiyi Niang's expression. She smiled and said, "Not only that. She also said that mother took the two of us so that the eldest sister could choose one. So, when you came to my room to ask about my eldest sister when you were sick that day, I was very angry!"

"Sister!" Eleventh Lady looked at Fifth Lady with some fear, "Sister, do you think I was thinking... I really didn't know there was such a thing... I was just bored on the boat, so I just chatted with you." As she spoke, she showed a self-blaming expression again, "If I had known this, I should have explained it clearly to you. I would have prevented you from misunderstanding me!"

"No, no, no." Wu Niang said hurriedly, "To be honest, this matter is all my fault. I didn't explain it clearly to my sister, so..." She lowered her head, her face flushed, and she looked shy, "Mother once told me about this matter... She said that my sister was not in good health, and she was worried that no one would take care of my brother if she left, so she wanted to find someone among her sisters to help take care of my brother. She said that there were only me and Shi Niang in the family who were of the right age... You also know that Shi Niang is not liked by mother. She also asked me if I was willing... I was a girl who had not yet married, how could I answer... So, when mother asked me to go to Yanjing, I refused to go... Mother tried to persuade me, but I said, if I went alone, everyone would know... Mother asked me to come to Yanjing with you..."

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

Wu Niang has already resorted to all means to get Yuan Niang's position...

With the character of the first wife, even if such a thing really happened, she would never tell it. Moreover, Yuanniang is not dead yet!

No matter how rational one is, one will still have a glimmer of hope for the person one loves the most, believing that she will definitely recover, and will never resort to those precautionary measures...