Chapter 21 Do you know who my wife is...?
The journey from Yong'anfang to the East Market by carriage takes nearly half an hour, a journey that is quite arduous for Wu Qiuniang, who has been bedridden for many years and has hardly ever left home.
Halfway through the journey, Yu Mingshu noticed that his mother's face was slightly pale, and there were occasional frown lines between her brows. She would adjust her posture every now and then, and occasionally massage her lower back with her right hand.
She couldn't help but ask, "The East Market is far away, why didn't Mother choose to go to the West Market?"
Wu Qiuniang didn't answer, but changed the subject, sighing, "It's such a long journey from Yong'an Ward to the East Market, and it's even longer to Wuben Ward. You and Sanlang are going back and forth every day, how will you have the energy to study when you get to the academy?"
Yu Mingshu was speechless. How did the topic come back to moving again?
"And what about all those officials who live in even more remote areas? Don't they also rush to the capital before dawn every day and return to the south of the city in the evening?"
"That's true, but if they had the means, who wouldn't want to live closer?"
"Mom, our family's financial situation isn't at the point where we can afford to buy a house in a good school district."
“If the sale of the old house, plus the money your maternal grandfather sent, isn’t enough, I’ll borrow some more from Xijing Temple…”
Yu Mingshu was horrified and quickly raised her hand to stop her: "Stop! Mother, we don't even have anyone in our family who can earn money. If we really take out a loan to buy a house, who will pay off the loan?"
Wu Qiuniang tilted her head slightly, as if she was pondering something.
Yu Mingshu had a growing sense of foreboding and said urgently, "Mother, listen to me! Overspending is not advisable. It's better to be a country person in the suburbs than a mortgage slave in the city center!"
Wu Qiuniang stared at her anxious face for a long time before sighing and clearing her mind of the jumbled thoughts.
"I'll listen to you, I don't want to think about it anymore."
Upon arriving at the East Market and entering the cloth shop, the shopkeeper's gaze swept over Wu Qiuniang for a moment before he put on a perfunctory smile and began to promote a few bolts of satin in the corner.
Yu Mingshu is a great shopping buddy. She carries things when there are things to buy, and stays by your side when there are nothing to buy, providing emotional support to her companions and playing along with the act to deal with the shopkeepers.
How to put it... this store gave her the feeling of entering a luxury store inside a large shopping mall in the CBD.
The shopkeeper praised a bolt of satin to the skies, but she only caught the string of numbers indicating the price.
Wu Qiuniang gently twirled the fabric, silently assessing the feel of the satin in her mind, clearly hesitant.
Yu Mingshu silently moved closer and tugged at her mother's sleeve with her hand hidden under the display case. Wu Qiuniang turned to look at her, their eyes met, and they immediately made an excuse to leave the cloth shop with perfect understanding.
"That material is rather rough; given the Zhu family's current status, they probably wouldn't even consider it."
"Selling ten feet of cloth for eight hundred coins? That's not how you rob people."
The two spoke almost simultaneously, but for different reasons.
Before Yu Mingshu could even think about how much her mother's budget was, Wu Qiuniang had already taken her hand and pointed to the jewelry shop on the other side.
Mingyu Pavilion—she recognized this place; it was here that she caught Yu Dan last time.
The places He Zheng took Yu Dan to were obviously beyond her family's means.
She quickly grabbed her mother's hand and took a half-step back. "Mother, how much of a gift should we return? Aren't the jewels from Mingyu Pavilion too valuable?"
Wu Qiuniang stopped helplessly and explained in a low voice, "The Zhu family has been kind to us. When we talked about our children's marriage, Madam Zhu even sent us several embroideries, all of excellent workmanship, which were obviously very valuable. The marriage has been postponed, and regardless of whether we can maintain the relationship between our two families in the future, we should not owe them a favor. If we are to return the favor, we should return something of equal value."
"How much is that embroidery worth?"
"It's hard to estimate."
Yu Mingshu rolled his eyes and said, "Value is not the same as price. How rare can things be if you can buy them in the East Market? The embroidery that the Zhu family sent was probably not bought from the market."
Wu Qiuniang was slightly taken aback. "Then what should we do?"
Yu Mingshu said, “Father has many rare ancient books in his study. It would be better to leave them in our family to enjoy in solitude. We might as well give them to the Zhu family as a favor. It just so happens that the Zhu family’s sons are all scholars, so giving them books would be in line with their tastes.”
Before Wu Qiuniang could make up her mind, a man pushing a cart suddenly appeared at the fork in the road on the right.
The man recklessly drove recklessly through the crowded street. Yu Mingshu instinctively protected her mother and was hit by the cart herself, immediately feeling a sharp pain in her calf.
Before she could even make a move, the fierce-looking middle-aged man jumped up in anger.
The man flung his hands away, scattering the loose goods from the cart all over the ground. Pointing at her, he yelled, "Can't you watch where you're going? The street is so wide, and you just happened to block the middle of it. Are you trying to get yourself killed and bring me bad luck?!"
Yu Mingshu was also getting angry. He limped forward and cursed back, "Did you eat swill this morning? What's with all this anger? You bumped into me, and I haven't even settled the score with you yet, and you're already spewing filth on me!"
Wu Qiuniang, watching from the side, was terrified. She quickly pulled her aside and whispered, "Forget it, forget it, don't provoke him..."
The man's lewd gaze lingered on the mother and daughter for a few moments before he finally chuckled.
"What a shrewish young woman! Do you know who I am? Do you know who my wife is?"
I've seen people compete based on their fathers' connections, but this is the first time I've seen someone compete based on their wife's connections.
Yu Mingshu was not fooled at all. How noble could a middle-aged man with a stubble beard, wearing coarse clothes and short twill, pushing a cart to transport goods in the East Market be?
She's actually a model 21st-century youth who deeply respects working people and advocates for equality for all. But the other person practically pissed on her; she couldn't very well repay kindness with ingratitude, could she?
She said with a hint of sarcasm, "Is your wife the supervisor of the East Market? Did your wife build this road?"
The man chuckled, thumping his chest loudly, and said with great pride, "My wife! She's the cook in the Duke of England's mansion!"
Yu Mingshu couldn't help but roll her eyes, and was about to say something sarcastic when suddenly everything went dark.
A strong, tall figure stood between her and the unreasonable man, blocking her view.
"You mere cook, not even the Duke of England's biological mother, how dare you bark so arrogantly on the streets of the East Market?"
Upon hearing the voice, Yu Mingshu's eyes lit up. "He Erlang? When did you arrive?"
He Zheng waved his fan, glanced back at her with a half-smile, and said, "I've been at the Zhaofu Teahouse next door."
Whether it was her imagination or not, this person seemed to be taking credit.
Yu Mingshu was stunned for a moment before she remembered that He Zheng said he had been there the whole time, so did that mean he had heard her cursing?
My apologies, my image as an elegant scholar is now ruined.
Upon hearing the name "He Erlang," the fierce-looking man in front of them, along with the surrounding crowd, all changed their expressions.
Who in Chang'an City hasn't heard of the formidable reputation of He Zheng, the Second Prince?
This is the devil who punched the Duke of Ying's heir and kicked the Xie family's young master! Even if he causes a huge disaster, the Empress and the Crown Prince will plead for him. Ordinary people can't afford to offend him!
The man, who had been arrogant before, suddenly knelt down in front of He Zheng, trembling as he uttered phrases like "not recognizing Mount Tai" and "a magnanimous person."
He's another spineless sycophant who fawns over the powerful and looks down on the weak; he's utterly boring.
He Zheng looked at him coldly and uttered a single word: "Get lost."
The man abandoned the goods and turned to run away.
Yu Mingshu hurriedly shouted, "Stop!"
The man indeed stopped abruptly, swallowed hard, and dared not run away any longer. He turned around and cautiously looked at He Zheng for a signal.
He Zheng turned around and met her gaze, then immediately realized what she meant and said to the man, "You hit someone, aren't you going to pay any medical expenses?"
The man dared not haggle. With trembling hands, he tried to unfasten the money pouch at his waist. His hands were shaking so badly that he almost unzipped his pants. After finally managing to untie the money pouch, he threw it to He Zheng from a distance and then ran away without looking back.
He Zheng weighed the money bag in his hand, glanced at the surrounding crowd, and said, "Have you seen enough?"
The crowd immediately scattered like birds and beasts.
Yu Mingshu clicked his tongue in amazement: "No wonder some people say that He Erlang's reputation can stop children from crying at night."
"The person who spread this rumor probably has a grudge against me." He Zheng said, turning around, then suddenly paused, realizing there was someone else beside her.
He coughed lightly and bowed to the stunned Wu Qiuniang. Not knowing how to address her, he didn't say anything.
Yu Mingshu introduced, "Mother, this is Sanlang's good brother at the academy, He Erlang from the Anyuan Marquis's Mansion."
Wu Qiuniang looked at He Zheng with a complicated expression.
I heard that Yu Dan's repeated truancy was instigated by this person.
No parent can be nice to a spoiled brat who's leading their child astray, but this brat just came to Ming Shu's rescue...
Fortunately, He Zheng didn't care what others thought of him. He looked away and pointed at Yu Mingshu's calf, asking, "Is the injury serious? Can you walk?"
Yu Mingshu belatedly felt a slight pain, looked down at his feet, and tried to straighten his knees. When he stood up, he applied 30% of the pressure to his calves, which seemed to make the pain less.
She moved a couple more steps within a small area, and when she felt no obvious pain in her legs, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's not serious, you can walk."
He Zheng was still a little worried, and said with a frown, "There's a clinic up ahead, let me help you over there to take a look."
He naturally reached out to take Yu Mingshu's arm, and Yu Mingshu naturally raised her arm and offered it. Neither of them realized that they were on the street, where men and women should not touch each other.
"Cough cough."
Wu Qiuniang coughed twice, finally unable to contain herself, which successfully made the two people in front of her realize that her actions were inappropriate and they withdrew their outstretched hands as if they had been electrocuted.
He Zheng quickly changed his mind: "I'll go with you to take a look."
A note from the author:
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