Chapter 198: Good Deeds

As soon as May arrives in Kyoto, the weather becomes cool in the morning and evening, and hot in the afternoon.

Mrs. Cai smiled as she escorted the wife of the Marquis of Changxing to the carriage. She then wiped her sweaty forehead with a handkerchief and turned to her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Ding, "Let's go back to the mansion too!"

She stopped smiling, and looked a little tired.

Mrs. Ding hurried forward to help her mother-in-law, and said considerately, "The weather is so hot, and the wife of the Marquis of Changxing wants to hold a ritual for the old marquis who has passed away. I just happened to meet you and asked you which master in Wanming Temple is good at reciting scriptures, so you came with me. Our family has no contact with the Marquis of Changxing family, so why do you have to treat them so politely?" As she said this, she took the round fan from the maid and fanned Mrs. Cai vigorously, "Mother, you are old too. Baoshan has told me many times to take good care of you. If there is anything, just tell me directly."

Baoshan is Cai Bi's eldest son.

Ding glanced at the maids and old women who were surrounding her.

The maids and old women all dispersed tactfully.

Mrs. Cai then said, "We should be prepared for everything. We don't have any contact now, do you dare to say that we won't have any contact in the future? I accompanied the lady to Wanming Temple this time, so we have contact, right? Don't be so short-sighted!" Then she lowered her voice and said, "Marquis Changxing acted recklessly while in office, and I don't know how many people impeached him, but he remained unmoved. How can ordinary people do this? There are only benefits and no harm in making friends with people from the Shi family. The predecessors planted trees, and the descendants enjoy the shade. I am doing this for your own good." She added, "Do you still remember Mr. Lin Guanlan, the president of the Hanlin Academy, who used to have close contacts with our family? Lord Lin passed away three years ago, and his grandson "My son committed a crime in Jiangnan. As a result, a letter from the Lin family was sent to Tao Zeyu, the governor of Jiangnan. Not only was the young master of the Lin family fined, but he also returned to Kyoto with a gift of 1,000 taels of silver from Tao Zeyu. Why do you think that was? It was because Tao Zeyu had just been selected as a scholar-official. Old Mrs. Tao came to live in Kyoto with her son. She spoke Kyoto dialect with a Fujian accent and was looked down upon. Mrs. Lin once spoke a few words for her." Then she reminded Mrs. Ding, "You have to remember that helping others is helping yourself. Even if you can't help others, you must never offend others. I brought you here today to make a good relationship between you and the Changxing Marquis family."

"I've remembered what mother said!" Mrs. Ding nodded repeatedly, personally moved the footstool against the carriage, and helped Mrs. Cai get on the carriage.

Just as Mrs. Cai stepped one foot onto the footstool, someone in a carriage parked nearby suddenly reached out and opened the curtain. A lady wearing pearls and emeralds stuck her head out and said with a smile, "Mrs. Cai? Are you Mrs. Cai?"

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law turned around.

Mrs. Ding was confused and couldn't remember where she had seen this woman. However, Mrs. Cai thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Is it the Seventh Madam of the Dou family? I was wondering, how could I not remember her when she is so beautiful?" After saying that, she retracted her feet and stood beside the carriage.

It is indeed very snobbish.

Wang Yingxue complained inwardly.

If the person who said hello was Mrs. Five, she would have come running over happily, right?

Wang Yingxue put aside the unhappiness in her heart, got off the carriage with a smile, went forward to greet Mrs. Cai and her mother-in-law, and exchanged a few words of greeting. Seeing that the atmosphere was very good, Wang Yingxue took Mrs. Cai's arm affectionately.

Mrs. Cai and Mrs. Ding were both a little surprised, but Wang Yingxue said with a smile: "Mrs. Cai, it's better to meet by chance than to be invited. I had been planning to visit you at your house these days, but I didn't expect to meet you here. I won't be polite - I want to ask you for help with something..." She motioned for her to talk to the side.

Ding had seen this kind of thing many times, so she smiled and retreated to the side with the maids and old women.

Wang Yingxue invited Mrs. Cai to sit in her carriage.

Mrs. Cai thought about it, then smiled and got into the carriage with Wang Yingxue.

Ding waited outside for about an hour, during which time she occasionally heard faint cries coming from the carriage.

Mrs. Cai's personal nanny asked Mrs. Ding with some concern, "Is everything okay?"

Mrs. Ding smiled and said, "Even if there is something wrong, the Dou family still has the Fifth Madam, so it's not our turn to step in!" Then she guessed, "Maybe she has been wronged and wants to ask the Fifth Madam to help her, but it's not easy to tell the Fifth Madam directly, so she wants mother to help pass on the message!"

The nanny thought about it and felt that what Mrs. Ding said made sense. She relaxed her expression and stood there leisurely waiting.

About a quarter of an hour later, Mrs. Cai got off Wang Yingxue's carriage. Wang Yingxue wanted to see her off, but Mrs. Cai stopped her and said, "Seventh Madam, please go back first. I will give you a reply after I think about this matter carefully."

Wang Yingxue hurriedly said, "Thank you, Mrs. Cai!" Her eyes were red and swollen, and her expression was sad.

Mrs. Ding thought, "I don't know what Mrs. Seven wants to talk to my mother-in-law about," and went forward to hit Mrs. Cai.

Mrs. Cai's face was tense and looked a little solemn.

As soon as she got on the carriage, she told the coachman: "Go back quickly!"

Mrs. Ding was startled and asked anxiously, "Mom, what happened?"

Mrs. Cai seemed not to have heard what she said. She looked dazed and crumpled the handkerchief in her hands, then unfolded it, and then crumpled it again.

Mrs. Ding knew that her mother-in-law had encountered a big problem, so she didn't dare to breathe and just sat quietly by the side.

The carriage sped along and soon returned to Zhima Hutong where the Cai family lived.

Mrs. Cai just sat in the car without moving.

The maid outside waited for a long time but saw no one getting off the car. She lifted the curtain and was about to speak, but was stopped outside by a look from Mrs. Ding.

As the sun gradually set in the west, a cool breeze blew through the alley, but the carriage was unbearably hot. Mrs. Ding felt that her vest was soaked with sweat, so she picked up a round fan to help Mrs. Cai fan herself, and she also took the opportunity to cool down. Suddenly, Mrs. Cai came to her senses and whispered to her, "Tell me, if we have a chance to earn 12,000 taels of silver, should we do it or not?"

Ding was horrified and said, "I'm afraid the risk is not small, right?"

Mrs. Cai nodded, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.

Mrs. Ding didn't care about the heat and moved over to sit next to Mrs. Cai, whispering, "Is it related to the Dou family's affairs?"

Mrs. Cai and Mrs. Ding whispered a few words.

Ding was so frightened that her face turned pale, and the round fan in her hand fell to the ground with a "bang". The maid following the carriage outside hurriedly lifted the curtain and asked anxiously "What's the matter?" But she was scolded by Ding and retreated.

"Mom, what do you think?" Mrs. Ding's voice was a little trembling, "I'm afraid there will be a rift with Huaishu Hutong later!"

"I think so too," said Mrs. Cai. "Although I can fool them, I can't escape the reputation of being negligent after such a big incident. The people in Huaishu Hutong may not say anything, but they will definitely be suspicious in their hearts. What's more, your sister is still in their house... After all I think about it, this matter is not easy to handle!"

What my mother-in-law said was "it's not easy to do" instead of "it can't be done".

Mrs. Ding immediately saw through Mrs. Cai's thoughts.

He was thinking about the 12,000 taels of silver, but he didn't want to offend the people in Huaishu Hutong.

She groaned and said, "How about we just pretend nothing happened?"

"Stupid!" Mrs. Cai scolded, "Since she has said it, and promised me that the Wang family owes me a favor, she has already made up her mind. If we can't get it done here, she will definitely think of other ways and will never give up. Whether it succeeds or not, it will cause a big uproar. We knew about it in advance, but we didn't even tell Huaishu Hutong. What do you think the people in the Dou family will think?"

"So what do you mean?" Mrs. Ding vaguely understood her mother-in-law's plan.

Mrs. Cai whispered, "I think we should talk to the Dou family about this. We'll take the 10,000 taels of silver. When the time comes, we'll hand it over to the Fifth Madam and say that we were forced to do so. If we don't take it, we'll have no way to explain it... The Fifth Madam is a straightforward person. The Seventh Madam has already paid 10,000 taels of silver. She can't just say nothing, right? We'll be good people and make money legitimately. As for the Seventh Madam, since the Fifth Madam knows about it, there's no reason for her to hand us over to confront the Seventh Madam. The Fifth Madam won't let the Seventh Madam do whatever she wants. We'll just listen to the Fifth Madam's arrangements."

Mrs. Ding quickly flattered, "Old people are always wise! I was panicked when I heard about this. I didn't expect that mother would come up with an idea so quickly..."

"Okay, okay," Mrs. Cai said, "let's go to Huaishu Hutong now." But he couldn't help but smile because of his daughter-in-law's words.

However, Mrs. Ding said, "Mother, it's such a big matter, do you want to discuss it with father first? Besides, Ren'er's birthday is in a few days. I think it's better to wait a few days instead of going now. The Seventh Madam of the Dou Family must not be a simple character to be able to do such a thing." The implication was that she was afraid that Wang Yingxue had sent people to pay attention to their family's movements.

"You make sense." Mrs. Cai patted her daughter-in-law's hand with satisfaction. "However, it's better not to let your father know about this. If there are any changes, we can say that your father didn't know. We have a way out." Then, she got off the carriage with the help of Mrs. Ding.

The people Wang Yingxue sent to keep an eye on the Cai family came back for several days to report that there was no movement. Mrs. Cai then sent her daughter-in-law Ding to take away the 12,000 taels of silver. Only then did Wang Yingxue feel relieved and began to make arrangements for the old woman at the stove, her trusted maid, and her daughter-in-law.

Dou Shiying was kept in the palace for two consecutive days and had no idea what was going on at home.

On the birthday of Dou Shishu's eldest grandson Dou Qiren, Mrs. Cai dressed up and went to Huaicun Hutong.

After eating the longevity noodles and accepting the gift from Ren Ge'er, Mrs. Cai took Mrs. Wu to her inner room to talk.

The Fifth Madam looked at the unmarked banknotes of ten thousand taels on the table and was shocked and anxious. It took her a while to come to her senses. She was so angry that veins popped out on her forehead. She wanted to curse, but she was afraid that Mrs. Cai would laugh at her, so she held it back. She even thanked Mrs. Cai with tears in her eyes: "If it weren't for your in-laws, our Dou family would have become the laughing stock of the whole capital! Even I, as your aunt, am afraid that I can't escape the blame. You really saved our whole family!"

Where is the honor of being an old lady in the pavilion?

The Fifth Madam wished she could spit in Wang Yingxue's face.

Since Mrs. Cai has done a good deed, she will naturally follow through to the end so that others will be truly grateful from the bottom of their hearts.

She hurriedly shook the Fifth Madam's hand and consoled her, "Every family has its share of troubles. Fortunately, no one else knows about this, and we are a family, so please tell me if I can help you in any way."