Chapter 81 Four Major Events
Ruan Bi remained outwardly calm, but her mind was far from at peace; in fact, it was a whirlwind of thoughts. Although she had hoped the conflict between Granny Liu and Luo Shan would escalate so she could completely bring Liu under her control, it had come too quickly. She wasn't ready, nor did she currently have the power to keep Liu by her side. What should she do? Should she go with the flow and deepen the conflict, causing them to fall apart, or should she try to smooth things over by taking a more subtle approach?
As Luo's sister-in-law watched her leave, she gave a polite but not overly humble bow, saying, "Good afternoon, Fourth Miss and Fifth Miss." Her expression wasn't exactly respectful; rather, it carried a hint of provocation. She was the head maid of Luo Shan's household, and Luo Shan was the second steward. She was in charge of supplies, and all the concubines and maids fawned over her to avoid any mischief or misappropriation of funds. Therefore, she was used to being arrogant and only recognized the eldest son, the eldest young master, and the second young lady as her masters. Although the fifth young lady had recently gained favor with the old man, she didn't take her seriously. Not only that, she was also thinking of giving her a subtle rebuke to vent her anger on behalf of the second young lady. She hadn't had an excuse before, but this time, after being soundly beaten by Liu's grandson, she felt sorry for the fifth young lady and decided to kill her, both to vent her anger and to diminish the fifth young lady's prestige—a double benefit.
From her elevated position, Ruan Bi naturally took in every subtle detail of Luo Dasao's expression and made her decision. She beckoned with her finger, and Luo Dasao, puzzled, stepped forward. Suddenly, Ruan Bi kicked out with lightning speed. Caught off guard, Luo Dasao was struck squarely in the chest, felt a sharp pain in her heart, her heart went numb, and she collapsed to the ground, tumbling down the steps.
This sudden turn of events startled everyone, who stared at Ruan Bi in awe. But she turned and walked into the house, casually instructing me to bring up lunch, as if she were merely stepping on an ant. Her demeanor was serene, as if she had simply crushed an ant, and a sense of unease immediately filled the eyes of the others.
Hanxing, Juzi, and Xiuzhi snapped out of their daze and rushed forward to lift the curtain for her.
As soon as I stepped inside, the commotion outside vanished.
There stood Granny Liu, holding the hand of a seven or eight-year-old boy. Her eyes were slightly red, and there were tear tracks at the corners of her eyes. Half of the boy's face was swollen, his lips were cracked, and there was a wound on his forehead. He looked timid. When he saw Ruan Bi looking at him, he simply hid behind Granny Liu, only showing half of his small face.
Granny Liu nudged Dong-ge'er, urging him to greet the young lady.
Dong-ge'er hid behind her, shaking his head repeatedly, refusing to come out. Granny Liu had no choice but to give up, looking apologetically at Ruan Bi and saying, "Please don't be offended, Miss; my Dong-ge'er is simply unsophisticated."
Ruan Bi nodded slightly, no.
Seeing that she seemed lost in thought, Granny Liu's heart sank, and she dared not utter a sound.
After pondering for a while, Ruan Bi made up her mind and said to Xiuzhi, "Find some medicinal wine to help Dongge'er rub his wounds. Liu Mama, come with me into the inner room."
Upon entering the inner room, Granny Liu knelt down with a thud, stammering, "Miss, I'm so sorry... It wasn't me who instigated Dong-ge'er. I kept advising him to endure it... He only acted because he could no longer bear it. I... had nowhere else to go, so I had to hide in your room, Miss. I didn't expect her to come here and hurl insults at me."
"Mom, don't blame yourself. I saw that Dong-ge'er also had injuries. It must have been just kids being naughty and getting into a little fight. It wasn't a big deal, but Sister-in-law Luo made a scene and turned it into a big deal." After a pause, Ruan Bi asked, "Now that things have come to this, Mom, what are your plans?"
Granny Liu hesitated for a long time before saying, "I'm afraid we can't continue like this... I can only go back to my hometown in Haozhou. There are two dilapidated houses there. I'll go and do some washing and sewing for others, and do odd jobs. I should be able to survive." Thinking of her lack of skills and her grandson being a minor, she feared that the days ahead would be extremely difficult, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Ruan Bi pondered silently for a moment, then called Xiuzhi in. "Xiuzhi, you mentioned last time that you had an empty west wing room in your house that you wanted to rent out. Have you found a tenant yet?"
Xiuzhi shook her head and said they hadn't found it yet. Later, my mother thought about it and figured that since they were going to... redeem me next year anyway, they decided to leave it empty.
"Then rent it to me first, how about that?"
Xiuzhi looked at her in surprise and said, "If the young lady wants to rent it, it's just a matter of a word. But is the young lady going to rent it to do something?"
"Give it to Granny Liu."
Granny Liu looked up at her without daring to look up.
“Granny Liu, although you have only been by my side for a short time, you have been very organized and tactful in handling affairs, which is truly rare. I am also reluctant to part with you. However, today’s events happened so suddenly that I couldn’t think of a way to protect you at the moment… After you leave the manor, you can stay at Xiuzhi’s house for now. I will give you money every month to live on. Just take good care of Dong’er. After a while, I will think of another way to settle you down. How about that?”
Granny Liu snapped out of her daze, overjoyed, and prostrated herself on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, young lady! Thank you, young lady! I will remember your great kindness for the rest of my life."
Ruan Bi gestured for Xiuzhi to help her up, saying, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you."
Granny Liu bit her lip, tears streaming down her face, unable to speak, only nodding vigorously. After a while, she pulled out a handkerchief to carefully wipe away her tears, called Dong-ge in, and had him kowtow to Ruan Bi several times before she withdrew.
Xiuzhi was deeply moved. She took out a handkerchief to wipe her eyes and said, "Girl, you're so kind to us."
Ruan Bi smiled and said, "I'm starving, please bring the food up quickly."
She did indeed admire Liu Mama's impeccable manners, but that was only one reason. Another reason was to leave her a way out. At the Jade Void Temple, she had studied the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty and learned that women were not qualified to establish households. However, Liu Mama was a ready-made widow with a house in her hometown; in case she needed a way out in the future, she could use her. Although Prince Jin repeatedly emphasized that he could protect her, Ruan Bi still didn't have the courage to completely entrust her fate to him, so she subconsciously prepared a way out. Later events proved that without this escape route, she almost had nowhere to go.
Later, the matter came to a conclusion.
Luo Shan wrote a letter of divorce. Granny Liu, who had been working for him out of gratitude, naturally could no longer continue. That evening, she left the Ruan residence with Dong Ge'er. As for Fifth Miss kicking Luo's sister-in-law in the chest, to everyone's surprise, the master merely sent someone to reprimand her—fighting and killing was not the behavior of a lady of a respectable family—and that was the end of it. The servants gossiped, finally concluding: never mess with Fifth Miss.
This incident only caused a stir in the mansion for a day before everyone's attention was drawn to several major events that were happening in the capital.
The first incident was the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Shen during the morning court session. It is said that it was just dawn, and there were few pedestrians on the street. Prime Minister Shen left the Prime Minister's residence in a sedan chair. As soon as he arrived at the Vermilion Bird Gate, an assassin descended from above, with sword shadows flying everywhere. Just as his head was about to fall, an arrow flew away—it turned out that Prince Jin was passing by with a group of guards.
Less than a month after Elder Shen's assassination, Prime Minister Shen was also assassinated. The Emperor was furious, berate the Prefect of Kaifeng, and ordered him to solve the case within a month. The Prefect was terrified and submitted his resignation upon returning home. The Emperor then specially allocated thirty Imperial Guards to escort Prime Minister Shen, but he politely declined, citing the example of Li Weigong of the Tang Dynasty and his words: "In a place of great importance, the nation's dignity is self-evident; in times of crisis, why bother with military preparedness?" He also expressed his willingness to sacrifice his life to restore order to the court. Such generosity and righteousness, such unwavering integrity, earned him praise from both the court and the public, who said that having such a wise prime minister was a blessing for the Great Zhou Dynasty and a boon to the nation. The Emperor also deeply agreed, bestowing upon him three rewards in one day: money, treasures, antiques, paintings, beautiful women, and fine horses, cartload after cartload, from the palace to his residence. He further promoted him to Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, a position of unparalleled prestige.
The second incident involved a minor official in the Han King's palace who submitted a memorial accusing the king of privately making dragon robes with the intention of rebellion. However, it was quickly discovered that the official, harboring resentment after being reprimanded by the king, had fabricated the accusation. The emperor decreed that the official be executed by being cut in half at the waist in the marketplace, and that any further false accusations would be dealt with in the same manner. Furthermore, the emperor personally visited the Han King's palace, drinking and making merry with him to demonstrate the brotherly affection between uncle and nephew, despite their past animosity.
The third event was that the Emperor finally issued an edict, removing General Zhao from his position as Commander of the Northwest Army and replacing him with the Right General. He was also granted the title of Duke of Lu and Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. The people of the capital were very envious, feeling that the Zhao family had once again gained power and wealth. It seemed having a daughter wasn't so bad; if she became Empress, everyone in the family would rise to prominence. However, strangely, although it was the Zhao family that received the promotions and titles, a large number of officials from the capital went to the Marquis of Yanping's residence to submit invitations and gifts.
The fourth incident, compared to the first three, seems less serious, but it is something that the common people and merchants are happy to see.
The story tells of a group of dissolute young men who were strolling in the maple forest near the Red Leaf Nunnery when they suddenly saw a girl of about fourteen or fifteen years old emerge from the nunnery and hurriedly board an ordinary blue-curtained carriage. Though it was only a fleeting glimpse, her graceful figure and exquisite features left a deep impression on the young men, making them infatuated. They mounted their horses and followed the carriage all the way to the Ruan family mansion in western Beijing, where they inquired with the gatekeeper and learned that she was the fourth daughter of the Ruan family. One of the young men returned home and fell ill with lovesickness, spending his days drunk and muttering, "One glance could topple a city, a second glance could topple a nation. How could one not know the power of beauty? Such a beauty is hard to find again." Another lamented that he regretted not meeting her before he was married.
Based on this story, the storyteller in the teahouse composed "The Tale of Encountering a Fairy in the Maple Forest," portraying a tender love story between a human and a fairy, a tale of life and death, told with such poignant beauty that listeners were moved to tears. The name of Miss Ruan Si spread far and wide, even reaching the ears of the emperor. While preoccupied with the assassination attempt on Chen Xiang and the Prince of Han's unauthorized production of the imperial robe, he pondered deeply, feeling as if he had heard someone mention Miss Ruan Si before.
As for who those纨绔子弟 (sons of wealthy families who had met Miss Ruan Si) were, some said they were Minister Du's, others said they were Pan Shunmei from the Marquis of Dongping's mansion, and still others said they were Gu Xiaobai from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion...
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