Chapter 10
After the rain, the green stone road was wet and slippery.
As soon as Song Jiyun stepped into her grandmother Madam Zeng’s courtyard,
she heard her Third Aunt, Madam Li, crying shrilly: “Mother-in-law, you must save our master!
“Registrar Wang is ruthless, heartless, and wields complete power over Liang County. Even the newly arrived magistrate has to give him three points of respect. Our master has offended him; what will we do in the future?”
Song Jiyun curled her lips, ignored the maid at the door, and lifted the curtain to stride in directly.
In the center of the hall, Song Sanliang lay on a door plank covered with an autumn-yellow silk quilt, groaning in pain.
Madam Zeng sat on the luohan couch in the middle of the hall, her eyes closed, her face like water, as she fiddled with a string of eighteen sandalwood beads in her hand.
To her left sat Madam Li, sobbing softly. On her right sat Madam Qian, looking flustered and at a loss, with a bright-eyed, fair-skinned young girl standing behind her.
It was her cousin, Song Tao.
Everyone in the room turned to look when they heard the noise.
With a cry of “Oh my!” Song Jiyun hurried to Song Sanliang’s side and exclaimed,
“How did it end up like this? Isn’t there supposed to be a difference between a real beating and a mock beating at the government office? Could it be that Third Uncle didn’t spend enough silver?”
The room fell silent.
Madam Qian glanced awkwardly at Madam Li, then hurriedly rose and pulled Song Jiyun aside, asking, “Why are you here?”
She neither blamed her for not greeting Madam Zeng first nor for her sharp tongue, clearly showing her protective nature.
Madam Li was displeased.
But Song Jiyun acted as if she didn’t notice, raising her voice to say,
“Didn’t Third Uncle say he would go to the silver vault with me this morning to withdraw 10,000 taels for Registrar Wang? After Registrar Wang summoned Third Uncle, I went to the silver vault as agreed.
“But I waited there all morning and didn’t see Third Uncle, so I had no choice but to return.”
She then looked at Madam Li with a mixture of guilt and worry, asking,
“Third Aunt, was Third Uncle beaten because he didn’t deliver the silver on time? Can he still get up? Is it still possible to send the silver over now?”
“This…” Madam Li’s expression turned awkward.
At that moment, Madam Zheng burst in, yelling frantically, “Old Madam, Young Miss, something terrible has happened!”
Madam Zeng was forced to open her eyes.
Song Jiyun’s face darkened as she said, “Shouting like this in Grandmother’s presence—do you have no manners?”
Madam Zheng hastily apologized and, wiping the sweat from her brow, said in a panic,
“There’s word going around outside that Third Master was using Registrar Wang’s name to swindle others out of 10,000 taels and was beaten with thirty strokes before being sent back!”
“What?!” Song Jiyun widened her eyes in shock, looking at both Song Sanliang and Madam Li.
Madam Li, either out of anger or shame, turned red, stepped forward, and raised her hand to slap Madam Zheng.
But Song Jiyun pulled Madam Zheng aside, dodging the slap. “Third Aunt, we should talk things out. Hitting people isn’t right!”
Madam Li scolded, “She’s spouting nonsense!”
Madam Zheng, feeling wronged, replied, “I’m not spouting nonsense. Everyone outside is saying it with vivid details, even describing what Registrar Wang asked Third Master about in full.”
She glanced cautiously at Madam Zeng and muttered, “Third Master was swindling using our family’s 10,000 taels!”
“What?!”
Madam Qian was stunned, staring in disbelief.
Song Jiyun was equally shocked. “Third Uncle, how could you do this?
“I’m your own niece!”
Song Sanliang played dead.
Madam Li was furious, shouting, “It’s not true! Lies! If I hear you slandering my husband again, don’t blame me for being rude!”
Ignoring her, Song Jiyun looked at Song Sanliang with a pained expression and said,
“Third Uncle, if you needed silver, you could have just asked me.
“10,000 taels isn’t even that much money.
“As the younger generation, we could’ve cut back on jewelry or clothes to save it for you.
“Why did you have to deceive us? And worse, use Registrar Wang’s name to deceive us?
“How are we supposed to hold our heads high as the younger generation after this?”
Her words hit the mark.
Madam Li, humiliated and enraged, retorted, “How dare you speak like this? Is this how a junior should talk? What a disrespectful brat!”
Madam Qian, trembling with anger, stood up to shield her daughter, saying to Madam Li,
“Third Sister-in-law, did my daughter say anything wrong? You’re bullying us—a widow and her children—and you think you’re in the right?”
Madam Li, unafraid of her soft-spoken sister-in-law, shot back, “That’s what you get for not bearing sons!”
With a loud crash, Song Jiyun overturned the table and said sharply,
“Even when my father was alive, he never said such a thing. What, now that he’s gone, you think you can take over our household?”
Caught off guard, Song Tao, who had been silently standing nearby, turned pale and stumbled back two steps before steadying herself.
Madam Qian burst into tears.
Madam Li, unwilling to back down, glared and seemed ready to argue further when Madam Zeng slammed her hand on the table and shouted,
“Enough! What are you all trying to do? Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves? I’m not dead yet!”
The room fell silent.
Madam Zeng wearily said to Madam Qian and her daughters, “You all should go back. Whatever it is, let’s wait until Second Master is sent to the mountain.”
Madam Qian nodded tearfully.
But Song Jiyun fixed her gaze on Madam Zeng for a moment.
Her dark eyes seemed to reflect everything, like a mirror that saw all and understood all.
Madam Zeng’s expression changed slightly.
Song Tao, pale-faced, stepped forward to bow to Madam Zeng and said, “Grandmother, I’ll see Second Aunt off.”
Madam Zeng replied with a faint “Mm.”
With Song Tao and Song Jiyun flanking her, Madam Qian left the courtyard, accompanied by Madam Zheng and the others.
“Don’t take Grandmother’s words to heart, Second Aunt and Cousin Jiyun,” Song Tao said softly, trying to console them.
“As juniors, it’s not our place to hold grudges against her.”
Having borne three daughters, Madam Qian was especially close to her nieces.
She even comforted Song Tao, saying, “Good child, did we scare you? Your cousin has a bad temper; please be patient with her.”
Song Tao smiled at Song Jiyun and said, “You two go ahead. I need to stay here for a bit.”
She glanced meaningfully back at Madam Zeng’s house.
Her demeanor was lively and cheerful.
Song Jiyun raised an eyebrow.
This cousin of hers was quite different from before.
***
In Madam Zeng’s room, Madam Li was crying bitterly.
“I told him this wasn’t reliable, but he insisted it would be fine. Now look, he’s been beaten, not to mention my dowry painting has been lost as well. And we’ve become a laughingstock for the younger generation. I don’t even know how to deal with Registrar Wang now.”
“It’s that wretched girl Song Jiyun!” Song Sanliang, who had been lying on the door plank silently, suddenly raised his head and shouted as if waking from a dream,
“She’s the one who went to report this to Lord Wang!”
Madam Li and Madam Zeng both froze in shock and said, “What did you just say?”
Gritting his teeth, Song Sanliang recounted the entire series of events, adding, “Other than her, no one else knew about this.”
Madam Zeng fiddled with her prayer beads in deep thought.
Madam Li, on the other hand, exploded in anger, cursing,
“So young, yet so vicious. What’s going to happen when she grows up? It’s bad enough that she’s a girl—if she were a boy, how would us elders even survive?”
But Song Sanliang’s face lit up with joy as he called out, “Mother!” and hastily added,
“Yes, marry her off! Once she’s married, the second branch will be like a dragon without a head!”
—
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