Chapter 9, Alleyway Intelligence Station
The narrow alley was filled with the shouts and curses of women, and the maids beside them were even more arrogant, repeatedly emphasizing that their mistress was precious and that she was pregnant with a noble man's child.
Yu Mingshu had developed a good habit in her past life: she would give way to the elderly, the weak, the sick, the disabled, and pregnant women whenever possible, so as to avoid causing trouble for herself. No matter how the other party clamored, she would just quicken her pace and leave this place of trouble.
A group of aunties who had been watching the commotion gathered in the distance. When they saw Yu Mingshu hurrying over, Aunt Wang stepped forward and grabbed her hand: "Miss Yu, you are reasonable. This new neighbor is not easy to get along with. She gave Mrs. Li a hard time at noon. Mrs. Li is proud and arrogant and got into a conflict with her. This shrew kept bothering her! She had to pay for some medicine to prevent miscarriage before she could get away!"
Yu Mingshu still remembered that this old woman had arranged a marriage for him, and instinctively resisted getting close to her. He quietly withdrew his hand and exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Li, how could you let your wife suffer such an injustice?"
Everyone in the western part of the city knew that Madam Li was an orphan with no name or surname. She was taken in by Butcher Li when she was young and given a meal. After growing up, she married the only son of the Li family. The two were childhood sweethearts who grew up together and became husband and wife, where they were deeply in love.
After growing up, Brother Li followed in his father's footsteps and became a pig butcher. He could easily carry a pig on his back, which showed that he was a strong and burly man. Not to mention the common people in the western part of the city, even ordinary officials dared not provoke him, for fear that a commoner's anger would cause bloodshed five steps away.
That's why no one dared to believe that Madam Li would be harassed by this new pregnant woman.
One of the women, surnamed Song, finished cracking the melon seeds in her pocket, patted the crumbs off her hands, and said in a low voice, "I heard that this shrew's husband's family is high-ranking and powerful. Didn't you see who was loading and unloading the goods at noon? They were all government servants! A huge group of people blocked the house, quite a sight!"
Another woman surnamed Zhao chimed in, "That's right! Little Li is quite strong, but how could he possibly defeat so many people by himself? Especially since the other party is an official... We can't afford to offend them!"
Yu Mingshu glanced back at the former Liu family's house. The gate was made of the cheapest rotten wood, and the eaves above the gate were thatched. What kind of powerful person could have lived in such a house?
"What kind of high-ranking person would live in a place like this?"
Hearing her ask that question, the women around exchanged glances. Aunt Wang put her arm around Yu Mingshu's shoulder and told her to come closer.
Madam Zhao frowned and said seriously, "I heard it from my husband. He works at the Dali Temple, so he sees a lot of people and knows a lot of things."
Sister Song nudged her with her elbow anxiously, "Get to the point!"
Zhao Niangzi then said, "This newly moved-in lady's husband's family is indeed prominent; he is Wei Shifang, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. It's a pity, though, that she is not his legal wife."
Upon hearing this, a word instantly popped into Yu Mingshu's mind.
"A mistress?"
Zhao Niangzi clapped her hands and pointed at her, saying, "Hey! That's right!"
Luo Yan, who had been listening to her mistress for a while, couldn't help but interject, "She's just a mistress, yet she's so arrogant?"
Madam Zhao chuckled: "It's a long story. Minister Wei and you were quite loving in your early years. After marriage, you had four daughters, but you couldn't have a son. Minister Wei is fifty-six years old this year and still doesn't have a son. Not to mention the elders are anxious, he himself is also very anxious!"
Suddenly, Aunt Wang patted Zhao Niangzi on the shoulder and said, "I think that shrew's belly looks like it's carrying a boy!"
"You can tell that?" Yu Mingshu was greatly shocked, secretly marveling that Aunt Wang's eyes could replace color Doppler ultrasound.
Aunt Wang said with some pride, "The fabric she was wearing today was so thin that it clung to her belly when the wind blew. I saw it clearly."
Yu Mingshu looked at Zhao Niangzi: "Are all the children born to the concubines in Minister Wei's household daughters?"
“Minister Wei has five concubines at home, but none of them can bear children. I heard a couple of years ago that one of them got pregnant, but she miscarried not long after.” Madam Zhao’s voice trailed off as she spoke. “I guess Minister Wei is playing this ‘keeping a mistress in a golden house’ game because he is worried about what happened before.”
The women at the alley entrance started talking amongst themselves again.
While they were chatting happily, Yu Mingshu quietly slipped away from the crowd, pulled Luo Yan, who was reluctant to leave and was waiting to hear the gossip, and went home.
Luo Yan turned back every few steps, asking, "Why aren't you listening, young lady?"
“Mother is still waiting for us at home.” Yu Mingshu glanced at her helplessly. “Besides, Sanlang will be back soon, and you haven’t prepared the dishes yet, have you?”
Remembering the chores she hadn't finished at home, Luo Yan finally gave up her desire to join in the fun and quickened her pace to go back with the girl.
…
By evening, the three members of the Yu family had finished their dinner. Wu Qiuniang learned that Chang'an Academy had given Yu Dan an ultimatum. She immediately forgot that she had just said she would no longer care about her son's studies, and once again urged Yu Dan to go back to his room to study and do his homework.
Yu Mingshu instructed his page Xia Man to light several lamps for him, lest they hurt his eyes.
When it was completely dark, Qingque hurriedly came in to report: "Madam, Miss, Dr. Zhou from Chunhuitang has arrived."
Wu Qiuniang looked at Yu Mingshu in surprise: "You invited him?"
Yu Mingshu was also confused: "No."
Wu Qiuniang hesitated for a moment, then said to Qingque, "Please come in first, don't neglect the kind doctor."
Qingque accepted the order and left. Not long after, Zhou Changchun arrived at the hall door carrying a cloak covered in mud and grass roots, but stopped outside the threshold.
"I just returned from outside the city and I'm still dirty, so I won't go in." Zhou Changchun looked at Wu Qiuniang, carefully observing her complexion. "Madam, you should be feeling better after taking the medicine. Are you still coughing today?"
Wu Qiuniang replied with a smile, "I coughed twice when I woke up this morning because my throat was dry, and that was all."
"Then I'm relieved." Zhou Changchun said with relief, "The weather has been sunny these past few days, so Madam can go out for a stroll. Getting some sunshine will be good for your health."
Wu Qiuniang readily agreed.
Yu Mingshu winked at Luo Yan and subtly pointed to the teacup with her right hand. Luo Yan immediately understood and brought her two high-quality tea cakes.
"It's really kind of you, Dr. Zhou, to come so late. Please accept this small token of our appreciation. It's suitable for refreshing the mind, calming the nerves, soothing the throat, and clearing away internal heat."
“That won’t be necessary.” Zhou Changchun pushed away the tea cake offered to him and decisively refused. “I was just passing by on my way home when I remembered my wife’s illness and decided to take a look. It’s not a trouble at all.”
"It is truly a blessing for Yong'anfang and even the entire West City to have such a meticulous and responsible doctor as you," Yu Mingshu praised, her gaze falling on the cloak in his arms that smelled of earth, and she asked with concern, "I heard from the people at the clinic today that you went out of the city to look for your wife, did you find her?"
When this matter was mentioned, Zhou Changchun's expression darkened, and he shook his head helplessly.
Yu Mingshu said, "Why don't we report it to the authorities?"
Zhou Changchun said with a wry smile, "They wouldn't care about such a trivial matter."
Yu Mingshu and Luo Yan exchanged a glance and remained silent for a moment. Zhou Changchun, feeling it was inappropriate to stay in the widow's courtyard any longer, took his leave.
After seeing the doctor off, Wu Qiuniang asked about Madam Zhou Changchun's matter. Yu Mingshu briefly recounted the story, and then noticed that her mother also frowned, looking worried.
"Everyone knows that Dr. Zhou and his wife have a deep affection for each other. It's really hard on him; even after something like this happened, he still thinks about his patients."
The mother and daughter sat in silence for a while. After a while, Wu Qiuniang felt tired and instructed Yu Mingshu to keep an eye on Sanlang's homework before preparing to go back to her room to rest.
Yu Mingshu accepted the order and went to the west courtyard. The courtyard was brightly lit, and Xia Man had indeed listened to her and lit several more lamps. However, she had only reached the courtyard gate when she heard Yu Dan's excited voice.
His tone was so lively and cheerful that it was obvious he wasn't studying.
"What's going on now?"
Yu Mingshu pushed open the door and happened to see Yu Dan hurriedly hiding a scroll. He looked at her with feigned composure, but his eyes were full of guilt.
"Nothing, I was studying. Sister, what brings you here?" Yu Dan winked at Xia Man, and his hand, hidden in the darkness, quickly stuffed the storybook into his sleeve.
Xia Man silently stepped back, intending to leave the house, but was stopped by Yu Mingshu.
"Take it out."
"What?" Xia Man pretended to be stupid.
"Take out what's in your right sleeve." Yu Mingshu's tone became much sterner, adopting the same intimidating demeanor he had when he was doing his internship at a middle school in his previous life.
Xia Man had never seen her young lady so dignified before. She timidly glanced back at Yu Dan before handing over the storybook. Upon closer inspection, the scroll began with the four characters "Ancient and Modern Strange Cases" written in large characters.
Yu Mingshu skimmed through the text and found it to be an ancient version of a detective novel. The narrative style was rather rudimentary, with little artistic embellishment, and it resembled a true record, which made it even more captivating and immersive, even leading readers to believe it to be real.
Where did the book come from?
"He Er found it in a bookstore, and he lent it to me to read for two days after he finished reading it."
"That He Erlang!" Yu Mingshu cursed angrily, "He knows you'll be expelled from the academy if you fail the big exam, yet he still uses these miscellaneous books to delay your studies!"
Yu Dan hurriedly grabbed her sleeve and pleaded, "Sister, I begged him to lend me the book, and it was my own fault for not wanting to read it. You can't blame He Er."
Yu Mingshu recalled his previous impression of He Zheng. He was not a bad person, just simply ignorant and incompetent.
She couldn't learn to be a domineering patriarch who interferes with her children's friendships, and she couldn't bring herself to tell her younger brother not to associate with He Er. She was depressed for a while before she said sternly, "I'll keep the book for now and return it to He Erlang another day."
Yu Dan wailed.
Yu Mingshu raised her voice to suppress his howling: "Stop yelling! I'm asking you, what did you learn in school today?"
Yu Dan choked, his voice suddenly weakening: "Today I learned, uh, I learned the Book of Rites... that month, what chapter, I think it was about the whole spring."
"The 'Monthly Ordinances' refer to the months from the first month of spring to the last month of spring?"
"Yes, yes! This is the one!"
Yu Mingshu pulled him away, sat him down at the table, pulled out the scroll that was padded with straw ropes, wood blocks and other debris at the bottom, shook off the crumbs, and then found the "Monthly Ordinances" chapter.
"What homework did the teacher assign?"
Yu Dan lowered his head and murmured, "Homework? I'll memorize whatever I've learned so far."
Yu Mingshu asked coldly, "Then have you memorized it?"
Yu Dan said listlessly, "Tomorrow is a day off, can't I just take a day off?"
Yu Mingshu closed the book, her gaze sharpening as she looked at him: "So when are you planning to memorize it?"
“He Er invited me to go hunting outside the city tomorrow, and I won’t be back until evening…” Yu Dan’s voice grew weaker and weaker. “Tomorrow night, I will definitely memorize it tomorrow night.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Yu Mingshu smacked him on the forehead with the book in his hand.
"If you can memorize it all in one night, pigs can fly. You'll memorize it tonight, and I'll memorize it with you. You're not going to sleep until you've memorized the first and second solar terms of spring!"
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