Chapter 85 "Suspecting I Have Inappropriate Thoughts About Her..."
Du Min walked over to Du Li with his arms crossed, and kicked his foot. "Hey, what are you doing keeping quiet? Say something!"
Du Li didn't respond, "What are you talking about? Come and drink."
"I won't drink it, it'll choke me." Du Min nudged him again. "You're not saying anything, but I'm telling you. Every time I talk to my second sister-in-law, you either have a long face or you're trying to shut me up. What? You suspect I have ulterior motives towards her?"
Du Li gritted his teeth inwardly, but his expression remained calm. He steadily picked up the wine bowl and took a sip, saying, "What kind of person do you take me for? It's true that you're selfish and unfilial, but you're not that morally corrupt. I'm your own brother, and you're my own brother. I've never had such a dark suspicion about you."
Du Min breathed a sigh of relief. He visibly relaxed and sat back down in his seat, saying, "Thank goodness you didn't have that thought. I was worried you might have such dark thoughts."
Du Li breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and asked in return, "How did you come to this assumption?"
"That's a question for you to answer. You get upset whenever I get close to my second sister-in-law, so it's no wonder I suspect something like that." Du Min stretched out his legs and asked leisurely, "Now can you tell me why you're upset?"
Du Li chuckled lightly, "You're so smart, why don't you guess?"
Du Min twirled a soybean in his hand and said, "Okay, I'll guess. First of all, it's true that you don't like me."
Du Li squinted and corrected, "Most of the time I don't have that thought."
“When I got close to my second sister-in-law and Wangzhou, you had this idea particularly strong,” Du Min said with a smile.
Du Li couldn't refute it, so he took a sip of his drink.
"I invaded your territory?" Du Min asked again.
Du Li was ashamed to admit that the truth was he couldn't hold on. He lowered his eyes and gave an evasive smile: "What do you think?"
“I know, but I’m not going to back down.” Du Min flicked the soybeans off his hand. Seeing Du Li staring straight at him, he lowered his eyes and said, “You said it yourself, I’m selfish. I don’t deny it. How can a selfish person stay away from the place where he can relax, right?”
Du Li swallowed, but he couldn't make a sound.
“Although Second Sister-in-law is your wife, she is also my Second Sister-in-law. Although Wangzhou is your son, he is also my nephew. Second Sister-in-law can speak frankly with me without worrying about mundane matters, and Wangzhou can speak frankly with me without worrying about pen, ink, paper, or inkstone.” Du Min restrained himself from saying anything harsh. “I can also speak frankly with Second Sister-in-law without hiding anything, without pretending, without scheming, and without considering her opinion of me. We can be said to complement each other. We both hope that the other will become stronger and stronger. I am not afraid that she will betray me, and she does not need to doubt that I do not wish her well. Whether you are unhappy or not, neither of us will make any concessions for you.”
“I don’t want you to back down,” Du Li said dryly.
"Then you should restrain yourself and not keep snapping at me," Du Min demanded.
Du Li looked up at him and asked, "Why do you think I snapped at you because of your second sister-in-law?"
"Isn't that right?" Du Min didn't believe it.
"No." Du Li had never been afraid of the marital relationship. He understood Meng Qing's thoughts; she wouldn't have any other feelings for Du Min. Du Min was completely open with her, his true colors laid bare. She saw right through him, knew what kind of person he was, so how could she possibly have any other thoughts?
Du Min stared at him intently.
"You were jealous of me, but did you ever think that I was jealous of you?" Du Li said with difficulty. "Just like you said, after coming to Chang'an, I could only talk about daily necessities in front of her."
"Wasn't it before you came to Chang'an?" Du Min retorted venomously.
Du Li choked.
Du Min burst into laughter.
“Before coming to Chang’an, she only talked about daily necessities like firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea,” Du Li explained.
Du Min understood, “You envy that I can talk to her about Master Chen, the Ministry of Rites, and the Fengshan ceremony of the sage.”
"Yes." Du Li picked up her wine bowl. "Want to have a drink with me?"
"Alright then." Du Min picked up the wine jar, poured himself a little wine, and clinked glasses with his brother. He swallowed the wine with a grimace, and comforted him, "You're lucky. You have a good wife, and you don't have to worry about your son's future. You only have to worry about the necessities of life, and you have everything. I have so much to worry about, but I have nothing. You envy me, but you don't know how much I envy you. I have nothing, and sometimes when I'm tired and don't want to scheme anymore, when I want to rest but don't dare to relax, I'm especially jealous of you."
“So you don’t like me either,” Du Li retorted.
“It’s just a little bit. After all, you’re my second brother, and you’re sincere towards me. I can control myself.” Du Min pinched his little finger to measure. “I’ve used up all my remaining conscience to control myself.”
Du Li scoffed, "You're too greedy. It's just that you don't have it for a while, and you're already jealous."
"What's the difference between what you're saying and telling me I'll become a high-ranking official sooner or later? If it's not in my destiny, I won't get it even if I risk my life." Du Min shook his head. "You only see the aroma of stewed meat and don't know how much firewood and seasoning I have to use. Alas, the rich don't understand the hardships and struggles of the poor."
"Let's think of a way to solve this," Du Li said tentatively.
"Don't even think about it." Du Min retorted crisply, his expression instantly changing: "I said I can control my greed, so I won't leave this family. If you're unhappy, deal with it yourself. If you can't, you can beat yourself up to vent your anger, but don't bother us."
"Who's 'you'? It's 'us' and 'you'." Du Li thought to herself, secretly hating his despicable nature. "You're shameless."
"Come on, without me, your wife wouldn't be this person." Du Min became arrogant again. "I came first, then you had this family. You're the one who's shameless for trying to kick me out."
"You're shameless."
"You're shameless."
The two brothers glared at each other, and Du Li said smugly, "You'll be kicked out sooner or later. I don't believe you can stay in my house forever."
"What do you mean 'your home'? This is my home!" Du Min slapped his thigh in anger, and attacked without thinking, "You really only care about these mundane things like firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. As long as I, Du Min, am still in officialdom, this home will never be without me."
Du Li's face tightened. He couldn't refute it; Du Min was right, and that was what bothered him. In his own home, in front of his wife and children, Du Min would suppress him for the rest of his life. Sometimes he suspected that Du Min was deliberately ostracizing him. He would talk about officialdom in front of Meng Qing, discussing things that Du Min couldn't get a word in edgewise, forcing him to leave like a lowly farmhand.
“You’re so annoying,” Du Li said, adding, “You have no sense of propriety.”
Du Min remained unmoved. He was a little dizzy and propped his head up, saying, "We've already talked it out. Figure it out yourself. Don't ruin the atmosphere at home because of you."
"Okay," Du Li agreed, since Du Min would be gone in about six months anyway.
Du Min got up and sat back on the bed. He spread out the blankets and lay down, saying, "Take the wine jar with you when you leave. The smell gives me a headache."
Du Li got up, picked up the wine jar and bowl, and left. He forced himself to go to the kitchen to wash off the smell of alcohol. He returned to the bedroom and quietly pushed open the door, letting in some light. He noticed that the oil lamp was still burning, and the mother and child on the bed were already asleep.
Du Li stood at the door for a while, leaning against the door panel. He looked at his spot on the side of the bed, at the mother and son sleeping at opposite ends of the bed. He patted his face and muttered to himself, "Like the third son, I'm becoming more and more greedy."
“Close the door, there’s a breeze,” Meng Qing said with her eyes closed.
Du Li jolted awake. He closed the door, walked to the bedside, and sat down. "Did I wake you up?"
"You're still awake." Meng Qing opened her eyes, her gaze clear. "What did you talk about with Lao San?"
"Don't ask me anything. Don't you always stay out of other people's conflicts?" Du Li didn't want to say.
Meng Qing choked, "You're someone else too?"
"The third one is someone else."
Meng Qing remained silent.
Du Li took off his clothes and lay down, but then sat up again. He leaned on the foot of the bed and whispered, "Wang Zhou, your goose friend has laid two eggs."
Meng Qing kicked him, "What's wrong with you?"
Du Li grabbed her foot with his other hand, stared at Wang Zhou for a few seconds, and made sure that the brat was really asleep.
“He told me in the yard this afternoon that he saw you kissing me on the lips. I don’t know which night he was pretending to be asleep.” Du Li raised her hand, held her foot and kissed it, and said, “It’s time to give Wangzhou a separate room. If he’s scared sleeping alone, we can put him with Lao San. Didn’t he say he’s part of our family? If we’re family, we have to help take care of the kids to sleep.”
Meng Qing pulled her foot away and tucked it back into the blanket. "What did the third brother just tell you?"
"You're trying to find out again!" Du Li was still wary of her.
"Fine, don't talk about it then, go to sleep." Meng Qing closed her eyes in anger.
Du Li got out of bed, blew out the oil lamp, and groped his way back to bed. He turned to his side, yawned, closed his eyes, and remained silent.
Meng Qing reached out and pinched him, "Third brother is a bit tactless..."
"Shh, go to sleep." Du Li grabbed her hand. "We weren't talking about you, it has nothing to do with you."
“Listen to me, the third brother is a bit tactless, but he doesn’t have any inappropriate thoughts about me. If he had such thoughts, I would have avoided him long ago,” Meng Qing said.
"Stop talking. Aren't you disgusted by saying such things?" Du Li regretted it. He couldn't control his emotions. He wasn't just making Du Min unhappy; he was slapping his wife in the face, forcing her to explain her relationship with her brother-in-law. This was an insult to her.
"I'm sorry, it was my fault, please don't say anything more." He hugged her and apologized.
“If you like me, you should understand that a man can’t be honest with a woman he likes. He will pretend to be strong and hide his weaknesses, and show off like a rooster.” Meng Qing continued, “The third brother’s behavior is a bit like Meng Chun’s and a bit like Wang Zhou’s. He is vying for my attention, but Meng Chun and Wang Zhou are related to me by blood, while he is not, so he feels threatened, which leads him to overdo it.”
"I know, stop talking." Du Li clenched his hands, revealing his ugly side. "It was my jealousy that got the better of me. I was jealous of him, jealous of how smug he was in front of you without any sense of propriety."
Meng Qing remained silent.
“You don’t need to comfort me. I can figure things out myself and solve my problems.” Du Li said anxiously, “Really, I understand my problem. It’s entirely my own fault. It’s because I was too greedy and incompetent. Give me some time, and I will adjust.”
“I don’t look down on you, and I’m not going to be an official. After leaving Du Min, our lives won’t have so many twists and turns. I don’t need your unique insights into officialdom,” Meng Qing stated her position.
"I know, I know, so it's my own fault." Du Li cupped her head and kissed her twice, then pretended to be fierce and said, "Close your eyes and go to sleep, don't talk."
Meng Qing spat and wiped her mouth. "You kissed my feet and didn't even wash your mouth. How disgusting."
Du Li: "..."
Wang Zhou suddenly murmured something in his sleep, and the two of them froze. After waiting for a while and seeing that he did not move, the couple breathed a sigh of relief and dared not speak again.
Night fell silent, and everyone inside the house and the geese in the yard fell asleep.
He was woken up by the loud squawking of geese. Du Min cursed and went out to scoop up food to feed the geese. When he turned around, he saw Du Li also opening the door and coming out. He stared at him.
"What are you looking at? Don't you recognize me?" Du Li said irritably.
“Oh, let me see how jealous people can get out of control,” Du Min said provocatively, shaking his leg.
Du Li glanced into the house, closed the door, and ran after Du Min.
The two brothers had a fight early in the morning, and they both felt much better afterward.
Du Min went barefoot to pick up his shoes, saying, "What a waste of money. Drinking is nothing compared to the thrill of fighting."
Du Li was also refreshed. He straightened his clothes and instructed, "Go open the gate and sweep up the goose droppings in the yard. I'll make breakfast."
Du Min had no complaints about working. Seeing two goose eggs in the nest, he shouted, "The goose laid an egg!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Zhou couldn't stay still any longer. He immediately grabbed the bedpost, slid down, and put on his shoes. "Third Uncle, I'll pick up the eggs. Don't move."
Meng Qing found it too noisy, so she covered her ears.
Wang Zhou opened the door and ran out, then ran back in a little while later to get his coat and trousers to wear.
Du Li came out to fetch water and saw Du Min squatting on the ground helping Wang Zhou straighten his clothes with a look of disgust. He took the opportunity to ask, "Wang Zhou, your third uncle will be gone in three or four months and won't be back until the year after next. You won't see him for more than a year. Do you want to move in and sleep with him for a few days?"
“Okay.” Wang Zhou nodded.
"Did I agree? You're so kind." Du Min helped him roll up his trouser leg and asked with disdain, "You won't wet the bed anymore, right?"
Wang Zhou shook his head.
"Does he kick people while he's sleeping?" Du Min asked again.
Wang Zhou shook his head again.
Do you snore?
Do you grind your teeth?
Does your fart smell bad?
"I'm not sleeping with you anymore," Wang Zhou said angrily.
"Fine, you can sleep with me then, I won't mind." Du Min dropped all pretenses.
But Wangzhou was already angry and refused to sleep with him.
When Wang Zhou was finally moved there, it was during the first heavy snowfall in Chang'an. Du Li, on the grounds that Du Min would freeze to death if he stayed in bed alone, forced him to move there.
Winter had arrived in Chang'an, and the emperor's entourage had returned to the city. Civil and military officials had also gathered in Chang'an to prepare for the Fengshan ceremony.
On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Vice Minister of Rites led the Minister of Rites to visit the school. When they left, the Vice Minister told Du Min, "Lord Chen has been transferred by the Ministry of Personnel to Runzhou to serve as the Registrar of Households. He will be going to take up his post after the first month of the lunar calendar."
The officials from the Ministry of Rites have all returned. Du Min wanted to keep a low profile these days and hadn't been to the Ministry of Rites for almost ten days. He had been staying at home helping to make Buddhist paper offerings and hadn't heard any news about it.
"Thank you for the reminder, Lord Xie. I will go to Lord Chen's house immediately to see if there is anything I can do to help," Du Min said.
"He left the Ministry of Rites today," Vice Minister Zheng reminded him again.
Du Min immediately rushed to the Ministry of Rites. As a student who had been mentored by Chen Canjun, he could not remain silent just because his mentor had been demoted.
The Registrar of Households was an official under the governor of a prefecture, in charge of the household registration and taxes of the prefecture. He was a seventh-rank official, and for Chen Yuanwai, the job was both demanding and lowly. He had been transferred for five days, and for those five days he had been frowning.
Du Min arrived at the former duty room of Chen Canjun. There were no guard dogs outside. He knocked on the door and went in only after receiving a response.
"Lord Chen, I've come to help you pack your things," Du Min said, standing at the door.
When Chen Canjun saw it was him, he gritted his teeth and said stiffly, "I don't need it, you can leave."
Du Min pretended not to hear and walked over to Zhao Xingwu to help move the books from the shelf.
"Didn't you hear me tell you to leave?" Chen Canjun shouted angrily.
“My lord, don’t let outsiders laugh at us.” Du Min glanced outside and explained, “It was Vice Minister Zheng who sent me. He probably wanted to save you some face and didn’t want to see you leave the Ministry of Rites alone with only a servant.”
Military Advisor Chen scoffed, saying it was like a weasel paying respects to a chicken; his departure from the Ministry of Rites wasn't at the behest of Vice Minister Zheng.
"He probably wants you to come and laugh at me, right? The Ministry of Rites' credit has been taken away, he hates me to death, why would he give me any face?" he mocked.
Du Min twitched the corner of his mouth. He had caused such a big mess, yet he still had a seventh-rank official position. In his opinion, it was already because Vice Minister Zheng had shown leniency. He probably understood that even without Chen Mingzhang, the Director of the Imperial Household Department would have found other excuses to get involved.
Half an incense stick later, Du Min helped pack all the personal belongings in the duty room into wooden boxes, and he lent a hand to help Zhao Xingwu carry them out.
Chen Mingzhang stood in the room and looked around. After waiting for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, no colleagues came to see him off. He went out to take a look and saw that there were only servants outside each duty room.
Runzhou is only two days away from Suzhou. He never imagined that he would come to Chang'an full of ambition last year, only to return to Jiangnan in disgrace this year.
The donkey cart from the Chen residence was outside. After the wooden crates were loaded onto the cart, Du Min looked towards the Ministry of Rites, but no one came out. He turned to Zhao Xingwu and asked, "Are you also going to Runzhou with the magistrate?"
"yes."
"Where is Steward Chen? Did he return to Wu County or also go to Runzhou?"
"Let's go to Runzhou." Zhao Xingwu suspected that Lord Chen would not let his clansmen in Wu County know about his demotion, so naturally he would not allow Steward Chen and his family to return to Wu County.
When Lord Chen came out, Du Min stopped talking. After Lord Chen got into the donkey cart, Du Min, who had come uninvited, got into the donkey cart on his own.
Lord Chen glanced at him a few times but did not urge him to get off the carriage.
The donkey cart braved the cold wind and arrived at the Chen residence in Chongrenfang. Du Min got off the cart and asked, "Sir, when are you setting off for Runzhou? I've come to see you off."
Lord Chen didn't want him to come and make a fool of himself. He wanted to firmly refuse, but he couldn't bear to give up this relationship. After the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, the emperor would definitely promote simple burials. If Du Min was lucky enough to survive the suppression of aristocratic families, he could probably reach Lord Chen's position in eight or ten years.
"I will leave after the Lantern Festival, on the eighteenth of the first month," Lord Chen said. "Come over then, and I will introduce you to my two senior brothers. They will remain in Chang'an afterward, so you can come to them if you encounter any difficulties."
"Two senior brothers? Who are they? What are their names? Where do they work?" Du Min asked deliberately.
Lord Chen's lips tightened, and he said, "You've met my two sons."
Du Min gave a faint "Oh".
Lord Chen was so angry that his heart ached. That brat was despicable.
"Sir, it's getting windy, let's go inside," Zhao Xingwu said cautiously.
Lord Chen followed the steps down, saying, "The wind is picking up, and it looks like it's going to snow again. You should hurry back."
Du Min agreed. He turned and walked away. As he left Chongrenfang, he burst into laughter. "Master Chen, Military Advisor Chen, it would have been so much better if you had known this sooner!"
On his way home, Du Min bought a jar of Sanlejiang (a type of liquor) from a Western Region merchant's tavern and a pot of bubbling braised mutton from a restaurant, then walked back through the fluttering snow.
"Second sister-in-law, second brother, don't cook! I've bought wine and meat. Come and drink and eat!" Du Min called out as soon as he entered the door.
Meng Qing and Du Li hadn't prepared dinner yet; the couple was still mounting Buddhist verses on paper oxen. Meng Qing's eyes were sore from staring at the words on the paper, and her fingertips were red from the cold.
Du Min pushed open the door and came in, saying, "Don't bother, let's eat first and celebrate."
"Wait a minute, let's put this up first," Meng Qing said without looking up.
After a short while, Meng Qing and Du Li stretched their necks and went outside. To prevent any accidents, the charcoal brazier was also taken out.
"Where's Wangzhou? Is he still in bed?" Du Min asked.
“It’s cold, it’s better for him to stay in bed.” Du Li grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed her hands together, then said, “I’ll go call him.”
Wang Zhou sat on the bed with the blanket over his head, folding paper and playing. Du Li lifted the blanket and saw a bed full of paper balls. He thought to himself that it was such a waste of things, but he held back and didn't say anything. In this kind of weather, Wang Zhou couldn't go out, so it was good for him to have something to pass the time.
"Your third uncle bought some meat, let's go eat." Du Li put a sheepskin coat and shoes on him, then tucked him under her arm and led him away.
Du Min had already poured the wine. After Du Li and Wang Zhou sat down, he raised his bowl and said, "Master Chen has been demoted to Military Advisor Chen and exiled to Runzhou. He has become a seventh-rank official. He can no longer suppress us. Let's have a drink to celebrate."
Meng Qing raised his hand to support him, and Du Li also raised his bowl. The three of them tilted their heads back and took a sip. The next moment, they were so cold that they all grabbed their chopsticks and ate the mutton.
“He might have an even better life in Runzhou,” Meng Qing said. “There are too many officials in the capital. He’s just a sixth-rank official and doesn’t amount to much. But in Runzhou, he’ll be a seventh-rank official, which is pretty good, right? Even a county magistrate is only a seventh-rank official, and he’ll have plenty of people fawning over him. Like us.”
“He won’t be able to keep this up for long,” Du Min said.
Meng Qing looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
Du Min smiled but didn't say anything. "Come on, let's drink and eat. We'll talk about the future later."
"Alright then." Meng Qing didn't press further.
"Second Brother," Du Min called out, raising his bowl.
Du Li responded and then picked up his bowl, placing a few pieces of meat on Wang Zhou's plate.
The three-layered wine was not intoxicating. After eating and drinking their fill and feeling warm, the family of four returned to the front yard, lit oil lamps, and continued working.
Three paper cows, three paper pigs, and three paper sheep—a common craft that Meng Qing could complete by herself in a month. However, because the paper was changed to be filled with Buddhist scriptures, it took the three of them two months to finish.
All the paper offerings were completed by the end of the first month. After Minister Zheng inspected them, he came with several subordinates and a group of laborers to move the paper offerings away on the second day of the second month.
The Fengshan ceremony has twenty-one sacrifices, each with a set of three sacrificial animals. There are also seven spare sets, for a total of twenty-eight sets. The pigs, cattle and sheep are carried in eighty-four loads. The first load has already left Chang Le Fang, but the last load has not yet been carried.
The Imperial Household Supervisor arrived, mounted on his horse, watching the long, winding procession. He could imagine how spectacular it would be when it burned. He thought to himself that if he died, having so many offerings wouldn't be a loss of face; he could even accept a paper effigy.
Residents from several nearby neighborhoods came out of their homes to watch, and a commotion arose in the crowd when they saw the last batch of offerings being carried out.
Minister Zheng followed last as he walked out. He looked at the bronze Buddhist paper ox behind the hall. The dark amber animal hide was covered with scriptures, and it looked sacred even from a distance.
The Imperial Household Supervisor, standing at the entrance of the neighborhood, also saw the sacrificial offerings covered in writing. He read the words aloud and suddenly realized they were scriptures. His heart tightened, and he spurred his horse to Minister Zheng, shouting, "You, Minister Zheng, trying to eat alone again!"
Vice Minister Zheng smiled smugly, his hands behind his back.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com