Chapter 50 A Beautiful Afternoon: Shen Wanqing had neither the time nor the intention to concern herself with Biyun and Granny Zhou's thoughts; after all, it was a large, multi-generational family...
Shen Wanqing had neither the time nor the intention to concern herself with Biyun and Granny Zhou's thoughts. Their entire family had depended on the Hesheli family for generations, and they weren't made of paper; they all had their own schemes and ideas.
Zhou Mama was originally chosen by the First Madam as Yulang's wet nurse. In addition to a monthly salary of two taels of silver, she would also receive an extra one tael of silver per month as a food allowance for her master.
One tael of silver can be exchanged for nine hundred to one thousand coins right now, and a chicken costs only about sixty coins. Two taels of silver is enough for a family of four or five to live on for a month. In addition, there are the bonuses given by the mansion during the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and New Year, as well as the extra things that Niohuru gives to the wet nurses. Zhou Mama's income should be more than eighty taels a year.
Love is where the money is, and loyalty is the same. She came here with her maids and wet nurse, and since she hadn't given her anything, she probably wouldn't be able to give her anything in the future. It's normal that her heart is still with Niohuru.
After tidying herself up, Shen Wanqing specially picked out a pair of pink pearl earrings that she and Yulang both liked the most yesterday and put them on before getting up and walking out.
After paying her respects, Shen Wanqing told Tongjia about her upcoming inspection of the fields and shops the next day. Upon hearing that she would be going to see the banner lands with Daijia, Tongjia's attitude improved considerably.
“Our family’s land is connected to the banner’s land, and Akdun’s land is not far from ours. This time, you can go out with Daijia and listen to her talk about things under our banner. It’s also fine to accompany her to stay at her estate for a day or two.”
“I’ll do whatever Grandma says. The pears and dates are in season now, so I’ll bring back a lot of them. We can make some pear syrup to store for winter.”
"Alright, alright, you young people have so much energy for everything you do. This old woman just wants to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor."
In a few days, it will be time to heat the kang (a traditional heated brick bed). Even locals sometimes experience sore throats from the heat of the kang, let alone Shen Wanqing, who is an outsider. She was a little scared just thinking about it.
The Shen family has a secret recipe for making pear syrup, passed down for generations without ever selling it for profit. Shen Wanqing remembers how to make it but has never made it herself. Now that she is in charge of the Hesheli family, making this pear syrup is a kind of welfare benefit for the family.
The two of them had nothing to say to each other while sitting alone. Shen Wanqing sat for a while and then came out of the main courtyard. She was not surprised to run into Fu Xuan, who was waiting for her in the corridor. With the family in such a mess, Fu Xuan, who had always valued the Hesheli family very much, must be full of anger.
"I was originally on the side of the eldest son's family, as you know."
“You feel sorry for Alang and me, and I am grateful for your kindness, Aunt.”
"Stop trying to glorify yourself. I feel sorry for Ah Lang, Fang Yi, and Pusa Bao."
"My sister-in-law is all talk and no action. I was so happy when you dared to confront my second sister-in-law as soon as you walked in."
But how can you be so cold-hearted? No matter how bad the West Courtyard is, they are still family. No matter what wrong your second sister-in-law does, the contribution of the second branch in supporting the eldest branch cannot be erased.
With the West Courtyard in such a mess, you still have the mind to go out of the city to worship Buddha and admire the autumn leaves? Now you want to go out of the city to look at some farms and shops. These shops and farms are just sitting there, they won't be lost or run away, why are you in such a hurry to look at them?
Instead of wasting time, you should stay and help out in the West Wing. Don't let outsiders see you living so comfortably as the eldest mistress; it would make them feel resentful.
"In recent years, the West Courtyard has repeatedly squeezed out the East Courtyard by relying on the steward, but I have not seen anyone feel resentful. The Second Madam took public funds to lend money at exorbitant interest rates, but I have not seen anyone feel resentful. Yulang, as the eldest grandson of the eldest branch, got married, but the Second Madam still managed the affairs of the East Courtyard, but I have not seen anyone feel resentful."
I'm just letting the West Courtyard handle its own problems, how is that disheartening? If anyone's feeling disheartened, Auntie, name someone, and I'd like to hear how that person has felt so disheartened.”
Previously, Shen Wanqing had always thought that Fu Xuan was just a person with a bad personality, at least she was biased towards the East Courtyard. Now it seems that she is really the same kind of person as Tongjia Shi at heart, except that her threshold for impartiality is higher than that of Tongjia Shi.
Or perhaps Fu Xuan was even more muddle-headed and heartless than Tong Jia Shi. As long as she was doing well, she never really cared about the suffering of others.
At least Lady Tongjia knew not to let her help the West Courtyard when she served water. What was Fuxuan doing? She stood by with her hands in her sleeves, pointing fingers at this and that. Deep down, she thought she was taking care of this and that, but in reality, no one thought she had done anything good.
"Second Aunt has never mistreated the old lady these past few years, and since my aunt lives with her, she has naturally never been mistreated or given the cold shoulder. We in the East Courtyard have benefited from your contribution in upholding the family tradition, and you, my aunt, have also received it. Why don't you go and help Second Aunt manage the affairs of the West Courtyard?"
"How can I, an unmarried young sister-in-law, help my sister-in-law with household affairs? You are being unreasonable." Fu Xuan didn't expect Shen Wanqing to drag her into this, and her face grew even uglier.
“That aunt insisted that I, a nephew’s wife from another branch of the family, help my uncle and aunt with household chores. Aunt, you are being so unreasonable.”
Fu Xuan is clueless, and Shen Wanqing doesn't want to get involved with her anymore. It seems that being too busy to think about her marriage lately is a good thing.
She's reasonable, but only according to her own reasoning. Sometimes her reasoning does sound quite reasonable, but you never know when it might become unreasonable.
There was no way to get along with this kind of person for long. Shen Wanqing immediately made a decision in her heart: she had to keep her distance from this aunt and treat her as an ordinary relative after she got married.
"Also, Auntie said something wrong. Yulang is a Zuo Ling (military commander), and I am the Zuo Ling's wife. Most of the people under our Zuo Ling are from the Hesheli clan. As the Zuo Ling's wife, it is my duty and obligation to patrol the banner territory and maintain the relationship between the clan and the banner people."
Auntie, don't you know how our family lives and eats? Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. This saying may seem to only concern the country and its people, but if our family members never take the people and affairs under the command of the commander to heart, why should they be convinced by Yulang?
You and I are both women, and we're both confined to the affairs of the inner quarters. But even within the inner quarters, it doesn't stop us from broadening our horizons a little. If we keep guarding this tiny patch of land, be careful that one day we won't even be able to hold onto that."
Shen Wanqing can be quite frightening when she's angry. Back when she was working on the construction site, even the most difficult construction foreman couldn't handle her, let alone Fu Xuan. Just one glance from her made her feel like a piece of useless trash.
She didn't know how to describe Shen Wanqing's look; she just felt incredibly embarrassed. Her face flushed red, and though she wanted to say something to salvage the situation, her mind went blank. She turned and left almost in a panic.
Watching Fu Xuan's retreating figure, Shen Wanqing mentally pulled up her to-do list and crossed out "try to be a good matchmaker," meaning she could temporarily put it aside. The next time this matter was brought up, it would probably depend on when the old lady was willing to send her daughter off to marry.
After leaving the main courtyard, Shen Wanqing was on her way to pay her respects to Niu Hulu in the east courtyard when she ran into Fangyi coming out of the courtyard before she even entered the gate.
"Little sister, are you here to pick me up?"
"No, Mother told me to come out and wait for my sister-in-law."
Fangyi led Shen Wanqing by the hand into the courtyard, but instead of going into Niohuru's main house, she led her into her own side room.
"Sister-in-law."
Pusa Bao was also in the room. The five-year-old boy was sitting on the narrow kang (a heated brick bed) by the window, playing with a small ox horn bow. Beside him was a tangram made of wooden boards, but Pusa Bao's tangram had fifteen wooden boards and looked quite complicated.
Seeing Fangyi lead Shen Wanqing in, the child shifted his position, reluctant to leave the little bow in his hand, and didn't get off the kang. He sat on the kang, cupped his hands, and called out "Sister-in-law." The chubby little boy's stern face and the way he imitated adults' greetings looked just like those New Year picture dolls.
“My mother went into the Buddhist hall and won’t come out in the morning. She told me that if you come, sister-in-law, I will bring you here to sit for a while.”
"Then it would be better to have you take the Bodhisattva directly to my place. We're all family, why are we being so polite? The day before yesterday, the village sent over a lot of river delicacies, and we had hot pot together at noon. There was also a basket of crabs that was supposed to be sent over, but your brother said that Mother doesn't eat fish or crabs, so we didn't send them over."
Knowing full well that Yulang was on duty today, and knowing that he would definitely come to pay his respects after seeing Yulang off, he still deliberately chose this time to enter the Buddhist hall. If this wasn't intentional, what was?
But it doesn't matter, her mother-in-law isn't very capable. When she failed to wrest control of the household from Shumulu, she put on an air of detachment, as if she were the only one in the world who was virtuous and everyone else was just greedy.
Now that I've taken back control of the household, instead of handing it over to her, she's putting on this act again, as if she's the most aloof and magnanimous, too lazy to compete with her, the daughter-in-law, and that's why she's taking the initiative to back down.
Having the will but not the means will only lead to a life where one never even gets to eat hot shit. Shen Wanqing didn't care what message she was trying to convey with this behavior. Since she was so sincere in her worship of Buddha, then she should just keep being sincere, and it would be best if she could remain so faithful to the end.
Fangyi sat to the side, carefully observing her sister-in-law's expression. She knew her mother was doing this on purpose, but she couldn't stop Niohuru, so she could only hope that Shen Wanqing wouldn't get angry. After all, Shen Wanqing was so powerful; she didn't think her mother could outmaneuver her.
“Sister-in-law just said we’re family, why are you being so polite? I like to eat fish, and Pusa Bao likes to eat crab, so we’ll both go with you in a bit.”
After observing for a while and not seeing any signs that Shen Wanqing was angry again, Fangyi finally relaxed and took the initiative to suggest going to the East Courtyard with Shen Wanqing.
Fangyi's birthday is only two days apart from Yulang's. Yulang will turn eighteen on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month after the Lunar New Year, and Fangyi will turn ten. At eleven years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning), a girl is considered quite grown up in these days, and she speaks fluently like an adult.
Only the lingering baby fat on her face, combined with her earnest and mature demeanor, made her look even more like a child who hadn't grown up.
Sing the song of whichever mountain you're on. Fangyi was four years old when Erhe died. A four-year-old child can remember things. Life in the East Courtyard hasn't been good these past few years. It's a helpless but necessary thing for a girl in her teens to pretend to be an adult.
There wasn't much to do in Fangyi's boudoir, so Shen Wanqing quickly took the two children back to the East Courtyard.
"You guys do what you want, except don't touch your older brother's sharpened knives. I'll just look at the account books in the study. If you need anything, just call me and I'll hear you, okay?"
Shen Wanqing asked Chunxian and Qiuwen to move the account books to the small study in the east wing. Fangyi and Pusabao were siblings who grew up together, and they both had wet nurses watching over them. It was better to let them play by themselves than to have her, as their sister-in-law, pretend to be enthusiastic and polite to accompany them.
This family isn't like the Xiyuan and Fuxuan families, who only pay attention to each other when they're happy and turn their backs on each other when they're unhappy. They are Yulang's blood relatives, and as long as they don't become mortal enemies in the future, she, as the eldest sister-in-law, will have to get along with them for a long time to come.
Just like Erhe and Heyi, why did the two brothers always have a good relationship when Erhe was alive, and they never quarreled even when they separated their families? Why did Heyi change his attitude as soon as Erhe died? It wasn't that he had been pretending to be kind all along, but that the strongest bond connecting the two families had broken.
Erhe was her own brother, and with his death, her sister-in-law and nephew naturally became distant. The orphan and widow were pitiful, but that pity would quickly fade over time. Since there was no longer any affection, they were capable of anything.
Now that Yulang is around, and Shen Wanqing doesn't want to become a widow without her husband, she needs to quickly build a good relationship with the two children. The first key to truly building a good relationship is: don't be a stranger.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. My brother doesn't care whether I touch his knife or not. How can you be more talkative than him?" Sure enough, upon hearing Shen Wanqing's words, Fangyi quickly urged her to go to the study to do her own thing. "Even if you're blessed, don't worry. He's still too young to even draw his sword."
"Alright, you're in charge of watching him today anyway." Shen Wanqing stopped arguing and turned to walk towards the east wing, only giving Ningxiang a look to indicate that she should watch the two children.
No matter how casually you speak, you can't really be casual. Let alone if someone bumps into you or even coughs a couple of times, Niohuru will take it seriously and argue with you about it.
Since waking up in the bridal sedan chair, Shen Wanqing felt this was the most comfortable day she had ever had. She had regained control of the finances that had held her back the most, and the West Courtyard had remained peaceful these past few days, though she didn't know how He Yi had negotiated with Shen Hongshi at the Shen family.
The main courtyard was also quiet. It was unclear whether Niohuru had come out of the Buddhist hall or not. Yulang should still be on duty in front of the Crown Prince, and it was unknown when his shift would end.
Fangyi and Pusabao had lunch in the east courtyard and then each took a nap on either side of the west wing. Now that they're awake, one of them is learning embroidery from Xueyan, while the other, seeing that his sister isn't going back, also refuses to go back. He took a book from his own place and left. I wonder what a five-year-old could possibly understand.
As the sun set, Shen Wanqing stretched, closed the ledger, and told the maid waiting outside that dinner was ready. Shen Wanqing wasn't really good at financial matters; previously, the company's accounts were prepared by the finance department and handed over to her. Now that she was handling it herself, the progress was too slow.
The dinner menu was quite good; it was obvious that the kitchen was trying to please their new housekeeper. In addition to the usual dishes, there was a roast goose, a large bowl of braised eel, steamed pork with rice flour, and taro and radish soup.
The first two heavy-cooked dishes were prepared for Shen Wanqing, while the last two light-cooked dishes were prepared for Fangyi and Pusabao. Shen Wanqing was used to this kind of thing. Pusabao was still young and would eat anything good that came his way; he was a big eater.
Only Fangyi seemed very happy; she knew that everyone in the manor was trying to please her. The little girl, who usually ate only half a bowl of rice at most in the evening, ate a full bowl today. The wet nurse next to her saw this and wouldn't let her eat any more, so she ladled out another half bowl of taro soup before she reluctantly put down her bowl.
"Sister-in-law, can you take me with you when you go to inspect the fields tomorrow?"
"Sure, does Mother know about this?"
After holding it in for most of the day, Fangyi finally said what she wanted to say. Shen Wanqing had been guessing all afternoon, but she never expected that Fangyi would say this after pestering her all day.
"It was my mother who sent me."
Her mood was fine until Shen Wanqing asked if Niohuru knew about it, and the little girl immediately blushed.
"My mother said I'm all grown up now, and in a few years I'll have to participate in the imperial concubine selection. If I don't pass, I'll have to get married, and no matter what, I'll have to learn how to manage a household. She also said that you, sister-in-law, are a capable person, and that I should go out with you to learn properly so that in the future..."
“Mother is right. You should learn from me. When there are many things to do at home and outside, I will need your help.”
Before Fangyi could finish speaking with a blush and her head down, Shen Wanqing took over the words that Fangyi had stammered out at the end.
This Niohuru woman is spineless. She refuses to fight for it and can't compete with me, so she pushes her daughter forward. Is she thinking of giving Fangyi to me so that Fangyi can share her management power in a couple of years? What is this if not insane?
The young girl had no choice but to listen to her mother and, gritting her teeth, went to her sister-in-law and demanded money without any real consent.
Shen Wanqing sighed and patted her head twice. It's good that the little girl knows this is wrong and is embarrassed. It's just bringing one more person, it's not a big deal. If you push the person back, won't such a young girl lose face?
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