Chapter 69 is finished; the pretense is completely ruined: Perhaps the most fundamental reason Shen Wanqing came from another world is to change the original owner's fate. ...
Perhaps Shen Wanqing came from another world, and her most fundamental purpose was to change the original owner's fate.
Shen Wanqing couldn't say what would happen if the original owner really married into the family, but after the issue of ownership of the Hesheli family's small world came to an end, everything moved forward as if lubricated, and even the days passed faster than before.
Once the Beginning of Winter passed, most of the people imprisoned at Guangyuan Bank were released. In the end, only the few debt collectors who had actually driven people to their deaths were sentenced to immediate execution.
His Majesty, in a show of mercy, granted Guangyuanxing half a month to raise the money, regardless of what methods these business owners used—whether they sold houses and land, or even their children and themselves.
Once all the customers who wanted to exchange their silver notes at Guangyuan Bank had done so, the matter was considered closed. It sounds like a great favor—no confiscation of property, no exile—but in reality, it was far more ruthless than confiscation.
Shen Wanqing heard that in order to raise the money, the owners of Guangyuan Bank had searched every nook and cranny of their homes, and even the women in their families had brought out all their hairpins and earrings to exchange for money.
If all of these were used to raise money, then there were even more farmland, real estate, and shops. It was said that the owner of Guangyuan Trading Company owned shops in most of a hutong in the southern part of the city. The local thugs and ruffians would boast about this, claiming that everything from half a hutong to half a street to half of the capital belonged to their owner.
Now, the building has collapsed, and all the shops, houses, and fields have been sold off. It is said that when a whale falls, all things are born. At this time, there are no brothers with Guangyuanxing; instead, countless people are rushing up to devour them.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Wanyan, the granddaughter-in-law of Fuchang's family, had others act as matchmakers to buy a lot of land, and even sent someone to ask Shen Wanqing if she wanted it.
Shen Wanqing wanted it but couldn't have it. Her family was already involved in the case because of Shu Mulu. Although they were just minor figures that no one cared about, even such minor figures forced He Yi to leave for Fuzhou.
She was satisfied with Yulang's current work rhythm. She didn't want a long-distance marriage, nor did she want to leave any loose ends over such a small matter. Who knew what trouble it would cause if Yulang got involved again in the future?
With the complete closure of Guangyuan Bank, the Beile Gejue, who stood behind the major owner of Guangyuan Bank, and Shumulu Shi also received their ten thousand taels of silver.
Before the money had even warmed up, she made a big show of it by bringing her maid to the East Courtyard. In front of Niohuru, who had heard the news and came from the front, she handed over the entire ten thousand taels of silver notes to Shen Wanqing, making Niohuru, who was sitting to the side, turn green with rage.
Yu Lang knew that he would soften towards Niohuru sooner or later, but he felt that it was better to wait a little longer than sooner. So, after the argument between the mother and son, Yu Lang did not go to Niohuru's courtyard to pay his respects before going out to work for the first time. Instead, he left directly after leaving the East Courtyard.
Originally, Yu Lang's plan was that if Niohuru could send someone to ask him a question when he returned from his duty in the palace, he would then send someone to buy two pieces of jewelry and two bolts of satin to send over, and that would be the end of the matter between mother and son.
Who knew that Niohuru was not only incompetent, but also not very bright. But her shortcomings did not prevent her from being extremely stubborn. After slapping Fangyi that day, she said she would ignore her children and she really meant it.
Not to mention Yu Lang, the person she was arguing with, she even ignored Fang Yi, who was the one who was hit by her.
At first, Fangyi would go to her room every day to pay her respects, but on two out of the three times she went, she couldn't find them. When she did find them, the mother and daughter didn't say a word to each other.
No matter how much Fangyi tried to talk to her, she kept a deadpan expression and didn't say a word. After a full incense stick's time, she got up and went into the inner room, saying that she still had Buddhist scriptures to copy and told Fangyi to go back to her own room.
At first, Fangyi kept quiet, and every time she was given the cold shoulder by Niohuru, she would go back and cry. After all, she was only a little girl of ten years old, and she couldn't withstand such cold violence from her own mother. In just over ten days, she lost a lot of weight.
At first, Shen Wanqing didn't know, after all, she wasn't good at taking care of children. Every time Fangyi saw her, she was all smiles, so she thought there shouldn't be any problems.
Later, when the family was making winter clothes, Granny Peng, who was in charge of the matter, noticed something was wrong with the measurements given by the old woman who was doing needlework. She reported it to Shen Wanqing and discovered that Fangyi had become so cold to Niohuru that she had reached the point where, before Shen Wanqing could even ask her anything, the little girl burst into tears as soon as she called out Fangyi's name.
The already slender and tall girl's wrists became even more delicate, easily encircling Shen Wanqing's wrists with one hand. At that time, Shen Wanqing asked Fangyi if she wanted to move out of Niohuru's courtyard. After all, she would be ten years old after the New Year, and according to the current custom of calculating age, she could even be counted as an extra year. It was normal for an eleven-year-old girl to live alone.
Behind the east courtyard is a garden, and next to the garden is a small, independent courtyard. That small courtyard was originally built as a private space for the Minister Shuai Yanbao. After Shuai Yanbao passed away, that courtyard has remained empty and uninhabited ever since.
Shen Wanqing originally planned to wait until next year when she had more money to renovate the courtyard, splitting it in half with Yulang, and turning it into a place for relaxation.
Yu Lang has a dedicated room for all his various knives, and he can also have a dedicated room for his stone carving knives and mounting tools. He can spend the whole day there, whether he's in a good mood or a bad mood. Just thinking about it makes me happy.
Right now, she couldn't be bothered with being happy; she had to take care of Fangyi first. As Fangyi listened to Shen Wanqing tell her how to renovate that little courtyard, and how she could move in and live alone after the renovation was complete, she could also have two more maids, and if she wanted, she could even raise a cat or a dog. Fangyi couldn't help but throw herself into Shen Wanqing's arms and burst into tears.
Shen Wanqing was caught completely off guard and was suddenly embraced tightly, standing stiffly upright, too afraid to move. Why do they both have this habit of throwing themselves at people? No wonder they're siblings.
Despite her tears, Fangyi shook her head and refused Shen Wanqing's offer. When Shen Wanqing asked why, Fangyi said that bringing up the conflict between her mother and brother at this time would only make things more complicated.
Besides, there's her younger brother, Pusa Bao. In the past year or two, Fangyi has actually been taking care of Pusa Bao more. She knows that if she can move out, Pusa Bao definitely can't, so after thinking it over, she decided to let him stay. If her mother doesn't want to see her, she doesn't want to see her anyway. In the past, she mostly stayed in her own room anyway.
Shen Wanqing will not interfere too much with Fangyi's choice. In the end, this conflict is different from the one with the West Courtyard. Niohuru, Yulang, and Fangyi are the three blood relatives who are mother and son.
Don't be fooled by their current apparent estrangement; once time has passed and they look back, Shen Wanqing doesn't believe they won't reconcile. It's just a matter of how.
So if Fangyi says she won't move, then she won't move. However, Shen Wanqing still puts the plan to renovate the garden courtyard on the agenda.
She summoned Urgun and Granny Zhang, one of whom was in charge of household affairs and the other of the inner courtyard's accounts. After the New Year and the beginning of spring, she needed to discuss carefully how many people to hire, how long the construction would take, and how much money would be spent on repairing the courtyard. She needed them to give her a budget. Only after Shen Wanqing reviewed the budget and determined the approximate scope of the construction could she hire people to come back and do the work.
The yard will be repaired first, and it will take several months to be fully repaired, dried, and habitable. If Fangyi wants to move in then, she can. If she still doesn't want to move, then this yard will become her and Yulang's happy house.
Even so, Niohuru was still angry when she learned about it later. However, she wasn't arguing with Shen Wanqing; she was blaming Fangyi, feeling that Fangyi was her own daughter and shouldn't be siding with outsiders.
After understanding this logic, Shen Wanqing couldn't help but roll her eyes at Niohuru Shi in front of her, knowing that she was Yulang's biological mother. How could she be bullying the weak and fearing the strong? All those years of chanting Buddhist scriptures have gone to waste.
Such a person wouldn't even qualify to sit at the table, let alone be an opponent; she wouldn't even be qualified to be the Clean Altar Messenger. Therefore, when Shumulu came to return the ten thousand taels of silver, neither she nor the other paid her any serious attention.
Shen Wanqing gestured to Chunxian to brew a cup of Da Hong Pao tea for Niu Hulu. She had heard that Niu Hulu had only drunk Da Hong Pao tea that had been offered before the Buddha in recent years. Shen Wanqing did have some Da Hong Pao tea that had not been blessed before the Buddha, so she could only trouble her mother-in-law to make do with it.
Here are ten thousand taels, plus the three thousand five hundred taels mentioned earlier, and the second wife has almost made up for all the money she took from the public funds over the years. There might even be more, but in recent years, Shumulu has not only taken cash, so after offsetting all the money, the second wife has basically made a lot of effort for nothing.
Perhaps Shumulu had overcome her initial blindness to the bigger picture, and as her complexion gradually returned to normal, her mind became even sharper than before.
The purpose of this silver is not to repay the debt; it is to buy the backbone of the West Courtyard.
Shumulu and Heyi may have thick skin and strong mental power, but that doesn't mean everyone has to forgive and forget what they did before. Just because you're acting like nothing happened doesn't mean it's really over.
During this period, the maids and servants in the West Courtyard would slouch even when walking outside. Even if something happened and the West Courtyard was in the right but the other party was in the wrong, the people in the West Courtyard would mostly try to get away with it and wouldn't dare to take it seriously at all.
After all, the second wife of the West Courtyard had embezzled so much public money first, and most of the conflicts in their lives were related to money. Regardless of whether you were right or wrong, even if they couldn't win the argument, they could still say something.
It's all because your second wife embezzled public funds, otherwise how could we be so frugal now? If you think this is wrong, go back to the west courtyard and talk to your master. Make up for the money you owe the public funds, and you'll have everything you need in the house.
Now that the money has been replenished, Shumulu not only feels more confident, but also feels much more at ease.
She had come out of the West Courtyard on sheer willpower, but now that willpower was slowly dissipating, she was increasingly worried about the days to come, wondering how difficult it would be for her to raise her two sons alone in the capital.
Five days later, He Yi will be leaving the capital to take up his post. No matter how unkind this second master is, the difference between having him or not in the West Courtyard is still huge.
Now that we've made up for the 10,000 taels of silver, at least for the next year, the servants in the household will be more polite to the West Courtyard. After that, the matter between Guangyuan Bank and the West Courtyard should gradually fade away. No one will remember one thing forever; life always moves on.
Shen Wanqing accepted the silver, and Shu Mulu got up and returned to the west courtyard after sitting for a short while. This time, the second madam walked a little slower than usual. She carefully observed every servant and maid who bowed to her on the way, and only breathed a long sigh of relief when she returned to the west courtyard.
Five days passed in the blink of an eye. On the day of departure, Tongjia did not see him off. He Yi came to the main courtyard to kowtow to Tongjia. The Second Master, who always wore a refined mask, showed a rare look of confusion and reluctance at this moment.
"Mother, I can come back to report once every three years while serving in another post. Please wait for me to come back."
Lady Tongjia is getting old. She used to come to pay her respects every day without realizing it. Now that she is about to go on a long trip, when she looks at her mother He Yi, she thinks of the old days when her father was still alive, when she was the elegant and dignified wife of a high-ranking official.
Over the years, even though he saw the old lady in front of him every day, he always felt that Tongjia was still that noblewoman. Only now, as he was about to travel far away, did he realize that his mother had grown old.
“You don’t need to worry about things at home, Lang’er and his wife are fine. I, this old woman, will take care of things in the west courtyard. No matter what other things your wife may not be good for, she has never had any feelings for you or the two children. Now that you’re out here, no one can control you, so you have to keep your heart safe yourself.”
“You’ve suffered so much these past years. I know what you’ve been thinking. If your father and elder brother hadn’t passed away so early, you would have been pursuing what you wanted long ago. It’s your mother who has delayed your future.”
No matter how unpleasant the subsequent conflict between the two branches of the family became, Madam Tongjia still remembered the goodness of her second son. If she hadn't spoken up, He Yi would never have returned, whether he wanted to or not. Looking back now, she realized that the root of everything was her own greed.
"Mother, let's not talk about this, let's not talk about this between mother and son." He Yi knelt in front of Tong Jia Shi and shed tears. He wanted to say something, but he could only choke on his sobs and couldn't say anything.
The footsteps outside urged He Yi to leave. It gets very cold in the capital after the start of winter. It's not the damp and chilly kind that Shen Wanqing is familiar with, but the kind of cold that makes you not want to go out or work, and you wish you could stay indoors with a hot water bottle all day. So this is what it feels like to hibernate.
The journey from the capital to Fuzhou is thousands of miles. To depart at this time, one must first leave the city and go to Tongzhou, then board a boat and travel along the Grand Canal to Hangzhou. Once in Hangzhou, one must transfer to the land route and follow the official road all the way to Pucheng.
There were official roads to travel on and boats to take, but the route depended on the weather. Once you reached Pucheng, you would board a boat and head towards Fuzhou; only then could you say you were traveling downstream.
Even though the weather wouldn't be as cold as in the capital as they went further south, according to the bodyguards escorting He Yi to Fuzhou, the best-case scenario was that they wouldn't arrive in Fuzhou until the twelfth lunar month. If they encountered snow or other unforeseen circumstances on the way, they might very well have to spend the New Year on the road.
The departure couldn't be delayed, so even though Tongjia was reluctant, she waved her hand and let her son go. This scene made all the women in the room cry, but Shen Wanqing couldn't cry anymore, so she could only rub her eyes until they were red with her handkerchief.
Since Yu Lang wasn't on duty, his eldest nephew had to take Tu Nan with him to Tongzhou Wharf. He had been waiting at the gatehouse for a while, but no one came, so he had to come to the main courtyard to urge them.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw his great-grandmother rubbing her eyes vigorously, so he immediately turned around and went out again. He was afraid that if he was slow to leave, he would burst out laughing again, and the old lady would beat him to death.
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This was a truly awful Monday! Even though I had a long holiday, it felt like I didn't get any rest at all. [crying emoji]
There's a red envelope giveaway for comments on this chapter, so have a good Monday everyone!
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