Song Jiyun had already observed carefully when she entered, the exterior of the mansion was unpretentious, just an ordinary spacious gate, but once inside, one would find it like a large urn that contained both Heaven and Earth, sprawling over an enormous area. Such a mansion would usually have a separate guest courtyard.
Having her stay in the inner quarters was perhaps a bit too intimate.
Yet, Steward Wang smiled and said, "This was the fourth young master’s idea."
Worried that Song Jiyun might feel uncomfortable, he added, "The house is usually empty, so having you here would also liven up the place."
Song Jiyun moved into a secluded courtyard on the east side of the inner quarters.
Passing through a black lacquered Ruyi Gate, by the corner of the wall next to the Taihu Lake stone were two vibrant cinnabar plum trees; a three-room, double-story small building with a study, a living room, and a bedroom below, and the bedrooms on the second floor. Pushing open the window, one could see a courtyard of two or three acres, with little bridges over running water, pavilions and towers, half hidden among towering ancient trees, very picturesque.
Shao Qing pointed to a black lacquered corner door obscured by a bamboo grove behind the small building: "Out of the alley, is the courtyard where Zhou Zheng and the others live. Exit the side door of the courtyard, and within an arrow’s shot distance is the Imperial College. Next to the Imperial College is the Confucian Temple. It’s a bit of a walk to Xiaguan, but there is a route from here that leads directly to Xiaguan Dock, which is very convenient for travel. If you take a carriage, it only takes a quarter of an hour. If you’re going to Nanjing’s busiest area - the Qinhuai River, that’s even closer, just a quarter of an hour away. And to handle affairs in Yingtian Prefecture, it’s only a two-quarter hour journey."
They had come to sell porcelain, and would inevitably have to deal with these places.
Song Jiyun leaned against the window frame on the second floor and pondered, "Do you know which is the largest silver house in Nanjing City? Where is it located?"
She intended to sell her porcelain for the price of jewels!
*
Far away in Jingde Town, Jiangxi, once the twelfth lunar month began, every household slaughtered pigs and sheep, and the atmosphere of the New Year thickened.
The Song Family was observing a period of mourning and should have kept things simple, but Madam Qian did not want to shortchange Yuan Yunzhong.
Not only did she have Nanny Zheng personally supervise the kitchen, preparing sausages and smoked meat, she also borrowed a chef from Old Master Yan’s family in Suzhou to make Eight-Treasure Duck, fry meatballs, make omelet dumplings, prepare osmanthus rice cake, order fried wheat gluten and tofu, soak winter bamboo shoots, and pick shepherd’s purse to prepare a table of authentic Suzhou dishes for his New Year’s Eve dinner.
While the affairs of the kiln factory were entrusted to Luo Zixing and external matters to Old Master Yan, the Song Clan also had its own issues to deal with. The students of the Song Family Clan School were to have vacations, how were next year’s school expenses to be allocated? How should the income from Jitian be distributed among the families? How to subsidize the orphans and young children within the clan? How much money should each family contribute for rituals... With numerous such matters, and Song Jiyun absent, Madam Qian, with her big belly, found it inconvenient to attend; it was Yuan Yunzhong who went in her stead.
Especially when Magistrate Jiang visited the Song Family Clan School, it was Yuan Yunzhong who accompanied him, and he managed to secure the promise that every three years, three students from the Song Family Clan School could be selected for the opportunity to study at Suzhou Crane Mountain Academy.
The Song Family Clan School suddenly became the envy of everyone in Liang County.
The clan elders of the Song Family were so moved that they personally visited the Song Family, pouring out a basketful of compliments in front of Madam Qian, praising how Song Jiyun had found a good son-in-law and how her natal family had benefited as well.
Madam Qian, seeing Yuan Yunzhong’s usual indifference towards others, did not expect that in Song Jiyun’s absence, he had taken care of everything so thoroughly, and with such capability - naturally, she came to like him even more.
Influenced by Madam Qian, Song Jiyu and Song Jixue also gained greater respect and admiration for their brother-in-law. They not only knitted a netted pouch for Yuan Yunzhong, but also personally made red lanterns and cut various patterns of paper-cuts for the windows, asking Liu Zi to take them to Yinyu Hall.
Liu Zi, upon receiving this task, called over a group of servant boys, hanging lanterns and pasting paper-cuts, climbing up and down, creating quite a lively scene.
Yuan Yunzhong, finding the yard too noisy, simply closed the window of his study and let them carry on boisterously outside.
Zheng Quan saw this and brought a large stack of white wax paper, asking him to write couplets – since Song Youliang had passed away this year, according to custom, the New Year couplets for the Song Family were to be written on white paper.
Who knew, upon opening the door to the study, that Yuan Yunzhong was indulging in the several Alum-Red Snow Scene Hexagonal Boxes that Song Jiyun had given him.
Stupa-shaped, stele-shaped, arch-shaped... The porcelain pieces, the size of a wine cup, had been arranged into various configurations.
Zheng Quan was puzzled.
Yuan Yunzhong looked up, his dark eyes firmly fixed on him: "Is something the matter?"
Inexplicably, Zheng Quan felt a sense of displeasure at having been disturbed.
"No, nothing," Zheng Quan hurriedly responded, "It’s just that the couplets being sold outside are all red, and I was hoping you could help write a few."
Yuan Yunzhong nodded and motioned for Zheng Quan to place the paper on the large desk.
As Zheng Quan turned around, he caught sight of the water territory map pinned to the screen.
Little red circles had been drawn all the way to Nanjing City, with several little plum blossoms drawn beside it. Some were colored in and some were not, resembling the Ninety-Nine Cold Dispelling Chart.
He couldn’t help but count the colored petals of the plum blossoms – there were a total of fourteen.
"Has the young miss been in Nanjing for nearly half a month already?" he set down the wax papers and exclaimed, "I wonder how the young miss is doing now?"
Yuan Yunzhong pursed his lips, his gaze following Zheng Quan’s to the red petals of the plum blossoms on the screen.
On the way, news had been coming back, but upon reaching Nanjing City, there had been no further messages.
He suddenly felt somewhat anxious and discomposed.
He instructed Zheng Quan, "Go and turn the camellia on the steps in a different direction."
Was it to let the flower bask in the sun?
But it was gloomy outside, as if it were about to snow.
Zheng Quan scratched his head, thinking that he was here to take care of Yuan Yunzhong in place of Shao Qing. Since Shao Qing always obeyed Yuan`s directions, he himself should do the same, not to go against his wishes over such a trivial matter.
He went and changed the direction of the camellia.
Only then did Zheng Quan notice that the flower pot was a square purple clay pot, with characters inscribed on some sides and flowers drawn on others.
Whether or not the flower had changed direction was clear at a glance, leaving no room for confusion.
This thought flashed through his mind and was quickly cast aside.
During his time serving at Yinyu Hall, most of the servant boys were purchased later, but Shao Qing’s rules were well taught, and he had never seen anyone disobey Yuan Yunzhong’s commands.
He was thinking too much.
Zheng Quan dusted off his hands and returned to the study.
Yuan Yunzhong asked him to help cut paper, "How many Spring Festival couplets are you planning to write? Cut as many. Decide where you’re going to paste them and cut to that size."
The size of the couplets for the main gate and the inner gate would definitely be different.
Zheng Quan had never really paid attention to this before.
He said, "I’ll go check and then come right back!"
Yuan Yunzhong nodded.
After a while, a skinny servant boy who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old tiptoed into the room, bowed respectfully to him, and said with downcast eyes, "Does the young master have any orders?"
"Has there been any message from Shao Qing?" he asked.
The servant boy replied, "Not yet."
Yuan Yunzhong sneered, "This is the monkey returning to its mountain, too lost in its play to know east from west!"
The servant boy dared not make a sound.
Yuan Yunzhong said, "Go, tell your Ten-Thousand Households that Shao Qing’s allowance is to be docked."
"Isn’t that a bit much?!" The servant boy looked up in shock, gazing at a rather young-looking face with a pair of shrewd eyes.
Unable to resist pleading for Shao Qing, he said, "Sir, you may not know this, but we of the Imperial Guard don’t have much of a salary, and we depend entirely on our allowance for our daily lives. Moreover, it’s only issued every six months."
With Yuan Yunzhong’s order, Shao Qing’s half-year allowance was gone.
It wouldn’t just be Shao Qing tightening his belt to get by, but rather tightening it around his neck.
He wanted to change Yuan Yunzhong’s mind and continued, "Nanjing is a thousand miles away, and even if the palace were to make inquiries, there is a month’s grace period. It’s only been fourteen days without a reply from Shao Qing; surely this isn’t such a great crime?"
Yuan Yunzhong glanced at the servant boy.
The servant boy immediately shut his mouth, bowed his head, mumbling an acknowledgment, and withdrew.
However, Yuan Yunzhong’s mood had grown even more irritable.
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