Although he was just a merchant in a small town, he owned businesses in several prefectures and cities. He had seen the world and had naturally seen good things.
In particular, he was a tea enthusiast, and just by smelling the aroma and looking at the tea soup, he could tell that this tea was the tribute tea, Baique Tea.
Years ago, when he went to the capital, he passed by a pawnshop and saw a young eunuch trying to pawn a small jar of tea. The pawnshop clerk hesitated to accept it, but upon hearing the word "tea," he went in to inquire, opened the jar, looked at it, and then bought it.
That tiny jar of tea, containing only about an ounce, cost the young eunuch fifty taels of silver. As he paid and was about to leave, the young eunuch told him that it was tribute tea from the palace, not something he had stolen from his master. His master had given it to him as a reward for his good service, but he hadn't been willing to drink it and had hidden it away. He only brought it out this time to exchange it for some silver.
The young eunuch said that his grandparents had secretly sent him to the palace without his parents' knowledge. When his mother found out, she cried every day. So his father brought his mother, older brother, and older sister to the capital, where they made a living by running a wonton stall and washing clothes for wealthy people.
The young eunuch said that his parents were kind and honest, but they were not liked by his grandparents and suffered mistreatment in their hometown. For the sake of their son who had no roots, they left their hometown and came here, just to be closer to him and reunite for three days a year.
However, given their circumstances, they could only afford to rent someone's storage room. With these fifty taels of silver, they could buy a small courtyard outside the city.
After saying all this, Father Jiang said apologetically to Hong Xiaoduo, "Look at me, why am I rambling on to you, young lady?"
"It's alright, it's alright. I like listening to it. That little eunuch is so pitiful. Fortunately, his parents love him. Although this love cannot make up for his disabled body, it can warm his heart."
"Master Jiang, you've done a good deed." After saying this, Hong Xiaoduo couldn't help but think of the eunuchs she had seen in the palace this time, and wondered if very few of them had entered the palace voluntarily.
Upon hearing her words, Mr. Jiang shook his head and said, "That young lady has praised the wrong person. My purpose was very clear at the time. I wanted to buy that tea to satisfy my personal desires and had no intention of helping anyone."
This man was so honest; Hong Xiaoduo found Mr. Jiang even more agreeable.
"Although you bought the tea for yourself, if you didn't buy it and no one else did, he wouldn't get fifty taels of silver, and his family would still not have a place to live."
"So, Mr. Jiang really did help him," Hong Xiaoduo said with a smile.
This isn't flattery, it's the truth. Besides, Hong Xiaoduo has no need to say anything nice to please this person.
Seeing that Xiaoduo was not impatient when she talked about the little eunuch, Father Jiang really opened up without any burden.
"After hearing about that poor little eunuch's background, I thought of my own good-for-nothing son. You know, with such good family conditions, he doesn't know how lucky he is and doesn't follow the right path." Speaking of his son, Mr. Jiang couldn't help but sigh and shake his head.
Hong Xiaoduo thought for a moment and still wanted to ask: "Actually, I'm very curious. Mr. Jiang, you seem to be an upright person and strict with your children. How could he have gone astray like this?"
Is there any reason for this?
Of course, this is your private matter; if it's inconvenient for you, just pretend I didn't ask.
Mr. Jiang sighed again, took a sip of tea and put it down, saying, "He is my only son. His mother died of postpartum hemorrhage on the day he was born." Seeing Hong Xiaoduo's look of sudden realization, he quickly added, "It's not what you think, young lady. I didn't spoil him because he lost his mother at birth. He went astray when he was young, and I only started to discipline him strictly when he grew up."
From the time he could walk, he began to have bad behavior, taking pleasure in bullying the servants in the mansion. At that time, I thought he was just ignorant and didn't know what he should or shouldn't do, so I tried to reason with him.
But it was no use. He nodded to show that he understood and remembered, but afterwards he did the same thing again.
Later, I realized that this wouldn't work, so when he did something wrong, I punished him by hitting his palms and body with a ruler. It wasn't just a show; I really hit him hard.
He was beaten until his skin was swollen, and he promised not to make the same mistake again, but after a few days he was back to his old ways.
In other words, I beat him up until he was old, but so what? He's unrepentant. Sometimes I really wish I had no children. My wife risked her life to give birth to this bastard. Sigh!
After saying that, he took another sip of tea. When talking about his son, even though the tea in his hand was a rare and fine tea, he had no heart to savor it.
"It's really hard to say. So, Mr. Jiang, you didn't remarry?" Hong Xiaoduo blurted out.
It's not that she lacks compassion; the other person was so upset, yet she still wanted to gossip. It's just that the atmosphere was quite casual, without any awkwardness, so she didn't think too much about it.
"Yes, it was his wet nurse, Pang. Pang took meticulous care of him, neglecting her own son for his sake. She married a scoundrel who often beat and scolded her. I had to use money to get her a divorce agreement."
Later, out of gratitude, I asked her what she thought and simply took her as my concubine," Father Jiang frankly told him.
He wasn't guilty at all, because the woman surnamed Pang wasn't good-looking, and with his family background, it would be easy for him to find a girl to be his second wife.
After hearing all this, Hong Xiaoduo felt that something was not quite right.
After thinking for a moment, she asked again, "Madam Pang neglected her own son for the sake of your son? How old was her son at the time, and who took care of him?"
"Mrs. Pang said that her son was a month older than mine. She would not have come out to be a wet nurse, but her husband frequently got drunk and beat and scolded her. She couldn't stand it, so she entrusted the child to her parents' home to take care of him as soon as he was a month old and came out herself."
It just so happens that the steward in my household is her cousin. Upon learning of her plight, and considering that she had only given birth a month ago and my wife had passed away on the day of delivery, and that the wet nurse we had originally hired couldn't come due to unforeseen circumstances, we introduced her to us.” Father Jiang told him without much thought.
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo felt an even stronger sense of unease.
Thinking about Jiang Baicheng's appearance, there was absolutely no resemblance between him and his father. His wet nurse's husband was a scoundrel; it would be more plausible to say that Jiang Baicheng was born to that wet nurse—bad genes indeed!
"Where are Pang's biological children now?" Hong Xiaoduo hesitated for a moment before asking again.
“When she was still at her mother’s house and I took her as a concubine, I mentioned that I would bring her son into the household and treat him as my own son. But she disagreed, saying that her parents, brothers and sisters-in-law loved her son very much and that they would be sad if she took him away.”
I brought it up a few more times after that, but she refused each time for the same reason, so I never brought it up again. "Father Jiang shook his head and said.
"Has Mr. Jiang ever met Mrs. Pang's son?" Hong Xiaoduo immediately asked...
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