Jiang Baichuan's throat churned as he caught a glimpse of two figures in the corner of the west wall. Jiang Songyi leaned against the blue brick wall, fanning herself with a round fan, the raccoon cat embroidered on the silk screen catching butterflies as she moved. Jiang Qingmo clutched a handkerchief, hesitant to speak, the pearl-like hairpins swirling in the wind.
"Aunt!" Jiang Qingmo suddenly raised his voice, "It's the owner of the West Street pawnshop who's been talking too much!"
Mrs. Xu raised her hand to stop the conversation and tapped her son's chest with her cane: "Speak!"
Cold sweat soaked through his underwear. Jiang Baichuan looked at his mother's frosted temples and suddenly fell to his knees. "Son, you bastard!" He banged his forehead heavily on the bluestone slab. "From now on, I swear to quit gambling. If I do it again!"
"What if I do it again?" Jiang Songyi folded up his folding fan, the ribs of which crackled against his palm. "Chop off your fingers? Jump into the moat? Or tear down the beams of the mansion and sell them for firewood?"
Xu suddenly coughed, and her Buddhist beads clattered to the floor. Jiang Baichuan rushed to pick them up, but the cane pressed against his throat. His mother's hands were as cold as ice, but her voice was sharper than an ice pick: "Someone! Bring me a chopping board!"
"Mom!" Jiang Baichuan was so shocked that he hugged her legs. "My son has really come to his senses this time! You see, I didn't even run away after I came out of the gambling house. This is the first time in all these years that I have to stand and get beaten!"
Jiang Qingmo came running over, holding up her skirt: "Aunt, calm down! It must be my second cousin!"
"What's the meaning?" Jiang Songyi fanned her cousin away. "Last month, he stole the jade screen that my mother had brought as a dowry, saying he was going to reform and start a business. Last month, he pawned his father's battle robe and swore he would open an escort agency. Now that he's lost his restaurant that was making hundreds of taels a day, he's thinking of making a comeback through business?"
Xu staggered, and the maids hurried to support her. Jiang Baichuan crawled half a step on his knees and suddenly caught a glimpse of the half-written prescription sticking out of his mother's sleeve—his migraine had worsened again.
"My son is willing to sign a contract to sell himself!" He grabbed the cane and stabbed it against his chest. "Go to the docks to carry heavy bags, go to the mines to quarry stones, and earn enough 6,000 taels to redeem the Zhenxiu Pavilion!"
"Six thousand taels?" Jiang Songyi sneered, "By the time you earn enough money, the Treasure Pavilion will have been reduced to rubble by the casino. I have just asked the accountant to take the cash to redeem the pawnshop. From now on -"
She deliberately dragged out her tone, and looked at Jiang Baichuan with pupils shrinking suddenly: "The restaurant belongs to me."
In the dusk, the crisp sound of a pawn ticket tearing could be heard. Xu suddenly swung her cane, the sound of it breaking through the wind startling birds from their nests under the eaves. Jiang Baichuan closed his eyes, but what he expected wasn't excruciating pain; the cane's tip rested just three inches from his shoulder.
"Go to the ancestral hall and kneel down." Xu panted and threw away the cane. "When you have copied Zhu Xi's Family Instructions a hundred times, you can come out."
Jiang Qingmo supported his aunt as they walked toward the main hall, turning back to wink at Jiang Songyi. The scarlet-clad girl, however, turned and headed toward the east courtyard, her belt jingling against the metal clatter of her belt. As she passed Jiang Baichuan, her round fan fluttered as she whispered, "Don't forget, you still owe me a birthday present for your eighth birthday."
Jiang Baichuan stared at the ants in the cracks of the blue bricks, suddenly remembering his sister's coming-of-age ceremony. He'd drunkenly traded the pearl headpiece she'd saved for three years for a pair of loaded dice. The candlelight in the ancestral hall flickered, and the Jiang family ancestral tablets on the altar were faintly visible through the smoke. The newly lacquered sandalwood tablet on the far right bore the inscription, "Late Father Jiang Gong."
"Dad!" He grabbed the offering fruit and threw it into the air, "Why didn't you beat me to death back then?"
After the third drum beat, the ancestral hall door creaked open. Jiang Qingmo slipped in, carrying a lunch box. Seeing the mess of paper balls scattered across the floor, he sighed softly and set out two plates of snacks. "Second cousin, have some!"
"Take it away!" Jiang Baichuan waved his sleeve and swept the porcelain plate away. "I don't deserve it!"
Broken porcelain splashed onto Jiang Qingmo's embroidered shoes, and her eyes suddenly turned red. "Do you think Sister Songyi really wants the Zhenxiu Pavilion? She pawned her own coral tree this morning! Those guys in the casino said they'll chop off your fingers if you don't get the cash before sunset!"
The candles crackled, their flames flaking. Jiang Baichuan stared blankly at the egg yolk pastry crumbs splattered across "The Family Instructions of Zhu Xi." Suddenly, he grabbed the inkstone and smashed it against his hand. Jiang Qingmo screamed and rushed over to stop it, his ink splattering all over the wall, resembling the bloodstains on his father's battle robe.
Jiang Songyi was leaning against the sycamore tree outside the ancestral hall when the footsteps of the night watchman approached. Listening to the commotion inside, she folded the redeemed land deed into a paper boat, let go, and watched it float into the lotus pond.
The moonlight reflected on the water suddenly shattered into silver flakes, and someone leaped down from the roof tiles. A young man in black tossed over a heavy cloth bag containing six lead-filled dice. "This is the evidence the young lady requested."
"Thank you for your hard work, Guard Lin." Jiang Songyi weighed the dice. "Send these to the Second Young Master tomorrow and tell him!" She looked at the figure emerging through the ancestral hall window paper. "Just say it's a farewell gift from the casino owner."
…
As the sun set, the leaves of the sycamore trees in the courtyard of the Yongding Marquis's mansion rustled. Jiang Dinglian had just stepped through the hanging flower gate when he saw Xu chasing her son around the yard, a kitchen knife in hand. Her hair, adorned with gold and jade, was askew, and her embroidered shoes were stained with mud.
"Madam, what's going on?" He picked up the teacup on the stone table and moistened his throat. "The last time I saw you this angry was because Bai Chuan burned the master's beard."
Xu pointed the tip of her knife at Jiang Baichuan, who was slumped on the ground. "Ask your good son! He lost all eight shops and only has the Delicacy Pavilion left. Now he has even staked his life on the casino!"
Jiang Baichuan was about to argue when he saw his father lift his foot. He instinctively leaned back, but his belt got caught and he fell flat on his face. Ants scurried out from the cracks in the brickwork, looking just like the silver ingots he had lost.
"Remove an arm or a leg?" Jiang Dinglian pressed one knee against his son's back and raised an eyebrow at his wife. "I learned the art of breaking bones when I was fighting bandits. It's a good time to practice it."
[Chopping off the head is the cleanest.]
Jiang Baichuan listened to his sister's heartfelt words, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up: "Dad! I really regret it!"
Xu threw the kitchen knife onto the stone table with a clang, then took the handkerchief Jiang Songyi handed her and wiped her sweat. "You'll have to deal with this evil creature you gave birth to yourself!" The scent of honeysuckle on the handkerchief softened her expression. "Songyi is so thoughtful."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
