Even though Xu Qinyu had already made preparations for her great-grandmother's passing, her heart still skipped a beat when she heard her fourth brother say that the old lady had passed away. She felt a tightness in her chest. She was stunned for a long moment before she said, "Okay, then I'll go tell Cheng'er and the others that Mushi doesn't have many customers right now, so we won't be accepting them. I'll go to Osmanthus Alley with my fourth brother first."
Pei Weixuan nodded and waited for Yu Niang at the restaurant door.
Xu Qinyu returned to the backyard and said to everyone, "Old Madam Zhu just passed away. I need to go to Osmanthus Alley. Dongqian, there's one table of guests left up ahead. You know how to cook all the dishes they ordered. Please help me entertain them. I'm going to Osmanthus Alley first."
Dong Qian said seriously, "Okay, Master, then you go ahead. You don't have to worry about the restaurant. We are here too."
Wen was still in the restaurant at this time. When she heard that her grandmother had passed away, her eyes were red, but she still tried hard not to cry. She stood at the door and waited for Yu Niang with her son.
Everyone in Xu's Restaurant knew Old Madam Zhu. When they heard that she had just passed away, they felt sad and planned to go over and pay their respects to her.
Pei Weixuan had already sent a letter to the prefect Zhu by carrier pigeon. He raised a carrier pigeon specifically to deliver letters to the prefect Zhu.
After Yu Niang came out, Pei Weixuan drove the donkey cart and took Wen and Yu Niang to Guihua Lane.
Along the way, Wen couldn't hold back her tears.
Xu Qinyu knew that her mother-in-law was thoughtful and gentle, and the old lady's passing must have saddened Wen and Zhu the most.
After arriving at Guihua Lane, the three of them entered the yard.
The old lady was still lying in the room. She passed away in her sleep, and Zhu was guarding beside her. Before she died, the old lady suddenly felt much better. She asked Zhu to come over and gave her the box on the bedside. She smiled and said, "This is the little I have accumulated in my life. I leave it all to you, Shuniang. Your brother is an official and has his own family business. He doesn't need me to give him anything. But it's different for you, Shuniang. I owe you my whole life."
Zhu had anticipated something by then, and with red eyes, she smiled and said, "Mother, you don't owe me anything. In fact, I've been very content these years. Not only did I have Yan Niang, but I also found you and my brother."
Although she was sold as a maid and then raised as a concubine by her mistress, she had Yan Niang, and in the end, she was able to find her blood relatives, so she did not blame anyone, she was only grateful. Like Old Lady Zhu, she had no regrets in this life.
Old Lady Zhu wiped her tears and handed the box to Zhu, "Please keep that thing."
"Okay, I'll keep them all and leave them to Yanniang and Yuniang later." Zhu took the wooden box. Old Lady Zhu patted her daughter's hand and told her many things in a nagging manner. They were all things that happened when she was five years old. She was white and tender when she was born, and she didn't like to cry. She liked to laugh, and she liked to smile at her parents the most. There was also her cute appearance when she was just learning to speak and toddle.
Zhu didn't remember these things at first, but when my mother mentioned them, every bit of her childhood seemed to emerge before her eyes, painting a series of pictures in her mind, and she couldn't help but laugh along with my mother.
Old Lady Zhu talked to Zhu for almost an hour, and then called Pei Weixuan in.
In the past few days, knowing that the old lady was preparing for her funeral, Pei Weixuan did not go to the island and continued to stay in Yuanbao Town, intending to accompany his great-grandmother for a while. So he stayed with Zhu in Guihua Lane during this period.
Seeing that old lady Zhu suddenly regained her spirits that day, Pei Weixuan knew that her great-grandmother was about to pass away. She watched as her great-grandmother called her grandmother in and talked to her for a long time. She then called him in and talked to him, asking him to take good care of the women and children at home. She also said that Yu Niang was very good and asked him to treat her well. Then she called Zhu in again and said to her, "Shun Niang, I'm a little sleepy. I want to take a nap first. Can you stay with me?"
"Okay." Zhu smiled, but there were tears in her eyes.
Pei Weixuan went outside and sent a letter to Governor Zhu by carrier pigeon.
About an hour later, the sound of grandma crying was heard from the room. Pei Weixuan entered the room and saw his great-grandmother lying on the bed with a peaceful face.
…
Arriving at Guihua Lane and entering the room, Xu Qinyu saw her great-grandmother.
The old lady passed away peacefully, with a smile on her face, and her expression was very serene and kind.
Zhu's eyes were very red and swollen, and it looked like she had been crying for a long time.
Wen also went over and knelt in front of the bed.
Not long after, Governor Zhu also came in at full speed. His face was pale. When he entered the house, he saw that my mother had a peaceful face. Even though he knew that my mother had no regrets in her heart and that she had recovered and lived for more than a year because of the care of the Pei family, he still couldn't help but feel sad and tears rolled down his eyes.
It would take at least an hour for Zhu and other descendants of the Zhu family to come here by carriage.
During this hour, Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu washed the old lady's body and changed her clothes. Mrs. Zhu, Mrs. Wen, Xu Qinyu and other descendants of the Pei family, including Sister Ning, Sister Yan and Brother Feng, also returned and knelt in front of the old lady to observe mourning.
Now the blood relationship between the Zhu and Pei families cannot be made public, so the Zhu family can only observe mourning for the old mother in this way. When other descendants of the Zhu family come, they will transport the old mother back to Raozhou City. After the funeral, they will also transport the old mother's coffin to the Zhu family's hometown and bury her with the old father.
According to the laws of the Dasheng Dynasty, officials did not need to observe mourning for their deceased parents for three years. During these three years, they were not allowed to eat meat or fish, wore vegetarian clothes every day, and were not allowed to attend banquets or drink alcohol. They did not need to resign from their official positions to observe mourning for three years at the graves.
Therefore, Prefect Zhu did not have to return to his hometown to observe mourning for the next three years.
Xu Qinyu and the others knelt in front of the old lady for an hour. Only when Zhu and other descendants of the Zhu family arrived did the Pei family stand up.
The other descendants of the Zhu family saw that the eyes of Zhu, Wen and the Pei family were red, and they did not think much about it for a moment. They just thought that their grandmother and great-grandmother had stayed in Yuanbao Town for more than a year, and the Pei family took care of her, so they naturally had some feelings for each other, so they were sad when the old lady passed away.
The descendants of Zhu family came and entered the house to mourn, and there was another round of crying. These descendants of Zhu Taishou were actually filial, and they were really sad when their elders passed away.
Governor Zhu spoke a few words to Zhu and Pei Weixuan, then carried the old lady into the carriage and set off back to Raozhou City.
The coffin for the old lady had already been prepared in Raozhou City.
They are going back to Raozhou City to hold the funeral.
Seeing the Zhu family leave, Zhu was relatively okay.
Mrs. Zhu and Old Lady Zhu didn't care about these rules after death. They had enjoyed family happiness for more than a year during their lifetime and no longer had any regrets. In the future, she would be able to secretly go to pay homage to her father and mother who were buried together. So, apart from being sad, Mrs. Zhu's other emotions were relatively calm at the moment.
It was already midnight when the Zhu family left. Everyone packed up the yard where Old Lady Zhu had lived for more than a year and returned to the house in Laixi Lane.
Xu Qinyu felt a little bored all the way.
Birth, old age, sickness and death are the norm in the world, but apart from birth, old age, sickness and death, there are three that people in the world are unwilling to accept easily.
She was an ordinary person and could not withstand the shock of seeing her relatives and friends pass away, so she was naturally very depressed.
Back at Laixi Lane, Pei Weixuan saw that Yu Niang was sad, but he didn't know how to comfort her.
He should have been sad about his great-grandmother's death, but he was calm, neither sad nor happy. He just did everything he was supposed to do.
It was Yu Niang who patted him and said, "Don't be sad, Fourth Brother. Great-grandmother's funeral is a happy one, it's a good thing. Fourth Brother, go back to your room and sleep early."
Pei Weixuan hesitated, nodded and said, "Yuniang, you should go back to your room and rest as soon as possible."
Xu Qinyu was not sad for a few days, because as she said, her great-grandmother's death was a happy one, which was something worth being happy about.
At the end of her life, with her children and grandchildren being filial and by her side, and with no serious illness, she passed away peacefully in her sleep. What's so sad about that? She also hopes to die like this in the future!
So Xu Qinyu quickly came to her senses, her attitude improved, and she started to get busy with Xu Ji's affairs again.
As the weather gradually warmed up, Xu Ji added three dishes made with ham.
One dish is pickled pork with preserved vegetables, one is stir-fried ham with vegetables, and the other is steamed ham slices.
Sure enough, the new food was also very popular.
But even these new foods were in limited supply each day, because there wasn't much ham. She asked Madam Lu's caravan to bring ten hams to the capital, and she had to keep thirty for herself to eat raw next year. She ate two during the New Year, so there were only more than fifty left, so the supply had to be limited.
The restaurant's fermented bean paste, pickled vegetables, fermented bean curd and preserved eggs were almost used up, so Xu Qinyu hurriedly pickled another batch.
The bean paste contains dogwood, so the taste is not authentic. Xu Qinyu is eager for the peppers on her fourth brother's side to be grown on a large scale and sold to the outside world, so that she can eat authentic Sichuan cuisine, bean paste and other spicy dishes.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Pei Weixuan told his family that the caravan was about to set off, so it was time for him to go out too.
In fact, the workshop for making colored glaze on the island was still missing the last important step. He needed to go back to supervise. Once the workshop was built, they could start making colored glaze.
Pei Weixuan left on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Needless to say, Xu Qinyu prepared another big bag of food for him. This time, it was braised pig's trotters. Xu Ji also had a dish of braised pig's trotters, so she added more sauce and asked Fourth Brother to take it with him on the road.
Pei Weixuan ate one of these braised pig's trotters himself and took the rest back to the island.
The children on the island couldn't help but cheer when they saw him, "Brother Pei is back!"
"Brother Pei is back with some delicious food."
Pei Weixuan was stunned and felt helpless.
After the people left, Xu Qinyu suddenly remembered that she seemed to be planning to discuss the divorce with her fourth brother with his wife and Wen after the New Year. After all, they were forced to get married. After the divorce papers were signed, she and her fourth brother could treat each other as siblings, or she could recognize Wen as her godmother. But even so, she did not plan to stay in the Pei family any longer. She planned to buy a house outside and move out on her own.
This is also for the sake of Fourth Brother's future marriage.
The two are not related by blood. Even if they recognize each other as brother and sister, they are still not related by blood. No girl can accept that her husband has an adopted sister living in his home.
So once things are settled, she will definitely move out, and will only visit me as a relative during festivals and holidays.
Now that Fourth Brother has gone out again, there is no time to tell him.
Forget it, let’s wait until Fourth Brother comes back.
…
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Yue Weimin finally returned from Raozhou City.
After returning to Dong's house, he was still absent-minded and did not notice anything unusual about Dong.
Dong looked at her husband in front of her, her heart felt cold and her face was also cold.
Yue Weimin didn't notice his wife's abnormality, and just asked, "Where's Qian'er? It's almost the end of the evening hour, why hasn't he come back yet? The owner of Xu's restaurant is almost treating him like a mule, saying he's teaching him how to cook, but he never cooks a few dishes he learned from Xu's restaurant for us to taste. I don't know if the young cook is really teaching him or just fooling us. When Qian'er comes back, let him go to the small kitchen and I'll test him to see how well he's learned from Xu's restaurant."
After he finished speaking, he saw that Dong didn't say anything. He looked up and saw his wife looking at him strangely.
"Madam?" Yue Weimin was a little surprised. He didn't think much about it for a moment, wondering if his family had already known about his situation outside.
"Well, let's wait until Brother Qian comes back." Dong's tone was also indifferent.
Yue Weimin nodded without saying anything else and lay down on the chaise longue to take a rest.
Dong suddenly said, "You just came back. Do you want to go see Xi Ge'er? He misses you too."
Yue Weimin muttered, "What's so good about this? Brother Xi is already so old. I'm so tired even though I just came back. Let me rest for a while."
Dong sneered. As expected, he didn't even truly love Xi Ge'er, who had the same surname as him. He felt that Xi Ge'er also had her blood. As long as he was contaminated with her blood, he would not be able to forget the fact that he was married into the Dong family, which made him feel inferior. He only loved the child that Liu Niang gave birth to for him.
Dong said calmly, "Since you are so exhausted, don't go back to pay respects to the elders next New Year. Or, have your son and daughter go with you. Your two sons are grown up and can help you a lot."
"No, no." Yue Weimin's body stiffened. "The journey is long, especially for Sister Yu. She has been spoiled since she was a child. How can she bear this hardship?"
Dong stopped talking and just sneered again.
Not long after, Dong Qian came back from Xu's and saw Yue Weimin. He felt very complicated.
When Yue Weimin saw his eldest son, he said, "Brother Qian is back. Let's go to the small kitchen now and cook two of the dishes that Xu Dongjia taught you. Let Dad know if she's really teaching you. We're your family and we won't cheat you. If that cook from Xu Ji is just looking for labor and doesn't teach you well, Dad won't let her off."
It's no wonder that he was anxious. He had originally planned to divorce Dong at the end of last year, but he didn't expect his son to go to Xu's. He was also thinking about Xu's recipes and formulas, so he delayed it. Now he just wanted to get the recipes of Xu's several flavor-enhancing seasonings as soon as possible. It didn't matter if he didn't get the recipes of those recipes, as long as he got a few flavor-enhancing seasonings. He felt that the deliciousness of Xu's food had a lot to do with the seasonings. Once he got the recipes for a few seasonings, he could divorce Dong. He didn't want to wait any longer, and wait until Qian Ge'er left Xu's two years later to get the recipes. It was too long. He just wanted to take Liu Niang and his children to the capital as soon as possible and start a new life.
After staying in Yuanbao Town and Donglaiju for a day, he remembered that he was a son-in-law of the Dong family, which was full of humiliation.
Dong Qian's expression was complicated. He asked, "Father, how could you treat me and Mother like this?"
Yue Weimin looked bewildered. "Brother Qian, what are you talking about? I just asked you to learn from the young cook at Xu's..."
Even at this time, he was still thinking about his master's formula. Dong Qian laughed bitterly and interrupted Yue Weimin, "Father, mother and I already know about your concubine in Raozhou City. And the child named Ji Ge'er, your bloodline with Liu Niang, is almost thirteen years old. Why would you do such a thing?"
Yue Weimin's face changed drastically. He sat up from the chaise longue and stared at Dong Qian. He didn't expect that his wife and son already knew about him and Liu Niang.
He gritted his teeth and said, "When did you know?"
Dong Qian turned his face away and said, "Just before the New Year, someone I know ran into you in Raozhou City."
Yue Weimin sneered and turned to look at the Dong family. "Since you all know, I won't hide it anymore. Over the years, I've devoted myself to Donglaiju and your Dong family. But how do you treat me? You have to check the accounts every month, and even Donglaiju's monthly profits are in your hands. Without me, Donglaiju would have collapsed long ago. Dong Yonglan, do you really think you don't owe me?"
Dong said coldly, "Without you, my father would have found another son-in-law for me, and let him inherit our Dong family's recipes and Donglaiju. You would still be just a poor boy from the countryside who followed my father to learn the craft. Yue Weimin, you are mistaken. It is our Dong family who has treated you with all our kindness and righteousness. Even Xi Ge'er took your last name. It is you who betrayed me and your own family."
Yue Weimin stared at his wife and eldest son, and suddenly sneered, "Forget it, since that's the case, we're tired of each other, so let's get a divorce. I know Donglaiju is your Dong family's property, and I can't take it away. You give me 50,000 taels of silver. I want to split the silver I earned for the Dong family over the years in half. After giving me 50,000 taels of silver, we'll get a divorce. I'll take Liu Niang and Ji Ge'er away from Yuanbao Town and go to the capital, and Donglaiju will still be yours. Donglaiju also has other chefs now, so even after I leave, Donglaiju can still operate as usual, and you won't lose anything."
Hearing this, Dong suddenly smiled. She looked at Yue Weimin with some pity, "You mean, you've done something wrong to me, and you still want to take 50,000 taels of silver from me, take your mistress and bastard away to start a new life in the capital?"
"Dong Yonglan! How can you talk like that!" Yue Weimin was furious.
It was also the first time he knew that his wife had such a sharp tongue.
Dong Yonglan used to be very gentle and took good care of him. To be honest, Dong Yonglan was a good person, but he felt that marrying into the family was a great shame. If Dong Yonglan really loved him, she should not have let him marry into the family. She should have persuaded Dong's father to pass on the cooking skills to him and let him marry Dong in a normal way.
Dong said, "Yue Weimin, it's very simple for you to take your mistress and bastard away to the capital. Just return the money you've embezzled from Donglaiju over the years. I know the Donglaiju account books you gave me all these years are fake. The profits that are missing half are real. Return these profits to me, or you will never meet your mistress and bastard again."
Yue Weimin angrily asked, "Why, do you still want to imprison Liu Niang and Ji Ge'er?"
Dong Yonglan smiled strangely, "You guessed wrong, I won't care about her. If you don't return these profits, don't even think about leaving the Dong family!"
When Dong said this, she immediately shouted, "Someone, come in."
Immediately, several old women and servants rushed in and tied up Yue Weimin.
These are all servants of the Dong family, and they also listen to Dong's words.
Yue Weimin was of medium height and build. He resisted fiercely as several people swarmed over him. He watched helplessly as he was tied up by the servants. He was so angry that he almost fainted. "Dong Yonglan, how dare you! Just let me go. At worst, I won't take the 50,000 taels of silver. As for your claim that I embezzled Donglaiju's profits, that's not the case. The accounts I gave you are all true."
Dong said, "You've lied to me for over a decade, so why should I be afraid? You can't leave the Dong family unless you return all this money. If the account book you gave me is real, where did you get the money to support your mistress and bastard all these years?"
She actually didn't need these tens of thousands of taels of silver, but since Yue Weimin dared to do such a thing, she would not let him have an easy time. If he wanted to leave, he had to return everything he had taken from the Dong family over the years.
Yue Weimin was speechless and stared at Dong.
Dong waved her hand and asked the servants to take the man to the wing room and lock him up under guard. No one except her was allowed to open the door of the wing room on weekdays.
Dong Qian would be lying if he said he didn't feel sad when he saw his father being dragged out. After the servants dragged the man out, he could still hear Yue Weimin's curses from outside.
"Mom, this will be known to Brother Xi and Sister Yu." Dong Qian was a little worried.
Dong said, "It's okay. This matter itself cannot be concealed. If they know, then they know."
I didn't tell Xi Ge'er before because I was afraid that he would side with his father and run to Raozhou City to inform Yue Weimin in a moment of confusion.
Dong Qian hesitated for a moment and asked again, "Mom, do you really want Dad to return half of the profit?" He thought that it would be better to resolve this matter as soon as possible. His parents would divorce, and he would see if he was willing to take the people there to the capital or somewhere else, so that the two sides would have no relationship.
Dong said: "Of course..."
She seems weak, but she is not really weak and gullible. Otherwise, she would have been coaxed by Yue Weimin over the years and transferred the deeds of Donglaiju to him.
She said, "Ten years ago, your father has been coaxing me into transferring the deed to Donglaiju and some of the other shops I own to him. What do you think he's going to do with these things? Is he going to leave them to you or to the other side?"
So Yue Weimin didn't think about Qian Ge'er, Xi Ge'er and Yu Jie'er at all. He just wanted to make the Dong family's property completely his, and then leave it to Liu Niang and the children over there.
Dong Qian then stopped talking.
Dong Shi really locked Yue Weiming up.
But Yue Weimin is a living person who can shout and scream, so Xi Ge'er and Yu Jie'er definitely can't hide it.
The two naturally came to ask Dong, and Dong told them the truth, including the fact that Yue Weimin wanted to take away the Dong family's property, and the fact that she tricked Dong Qian into learning the recipes and seasoning formulas from Xu Ji, without hiding it from the two children.
Yu Jie'er was fine. After hearing what her mother said, she also cried a lot, but she understood her mother and let her mother handle the matter.
Xi Ge'er didn't believe it at all and demanded that his father be released. He went to ask in person.
Of course, Dong wouldn't let him ask. If he asked at this time, Yue Weimin would only coax Xi Ge'er.
Dong also sent people to Raozhou City to find out clearly that Yue Weimin did not buy them a lot of property in Raozhou City, just a two-story house. It was obvious that he had no plans to stay in Raozhou City in the future.
He had previously defrauded the Dong family of their property, probably intending to take it, sell it, and then go to the capital.
Moreover, the woman and the child always wear gold and silver jewelry, silk and satin when they go out, and eat delicious delicacies. The monthly expenses for food and drink alone start at at least two hundred taels of silver, not to mention the jewelry and clothes bought for Liu Niang. It can be seen that they really treat it as a treasure.
The story couldn't be concealed, and word spread throughout Yuanbao Town, shocking everyone. Some felt Yue Weimin had gone too far, marrying into the Dong family and still having a mistress and a child. Furthermore, the Dong family had already given their youngest son his last name, yet he still wasn't satisfied. Others thought the Dong family had gone too far, and that a divorce would be better, amicable, rather than a scene of such embarrassment.
Xu Qinyu also heard about this. She knew that Dong had locked Yue Weimin up and forced him to return the profits he had made from Donglaiju. She still admired Dong very much. This was how it should be. Why should they let this scumbag take even a single cent?
Xu Qinyu also guessed that Yue Weimin would not be able to bear it and would compromise within a few days.
She guessed right. Within ten days, Yue Weimin compromised and was willing to return all the profits from Donglaiju that he had previously embezzled.
Because he realized that the Dong family was serious about this. If he didn't hand over the money, the Dong family would really dare to lock him up for life.
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