Four Seasons Brocade – CH 066

Chapter 66 ☆、

Lady Cui kept talking, not letting the Old Madam interrupt. “It was Mother who said she was a good girl and told Third Master to take her in, but who knew… who knew… since it’s like this and Second Brother-in-law likes her, why did we not just give her to him in the first place? Why slap Third Master like this? Now, the Third Master is not here. If people find out Second Brother-in-law took advantage of the situation to take his brother’s concubine, I, I… who knows how Third Master will blame me when he comes back, sob sob sob.” Before the Old Madam and Second Madam could even really talk to Lady Cui, Lady Cui was already complaining.

Lady Cui’s words left the Old Madam and Second Madam speechless, unable to spit it out or swallow it down. They had truly shot themselves in the foot.

Lady Cui cried for a while, then her body gave out, and she fainted. The Old Madam and Second Madam were even more helpless.

Over there, Second Madam was yelling that she wanted to beat Concubine Wang to death.

Meanwhile, Ah Wu gave Zi-Yan a few instructions.

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That evening, Zi-Yan secretly slipped into the woodshed and handed Concubine Wang her usual valuables. “Concubine,” she said, “the Second Madam is going to kill you. You’d better run away quickly.”

“Where…where can I go?” Concubine Wang was terrified.

“Once you leave the mansion, marry any man you can find. Just never appear before the Second Madam again, or she will kill you. Poor thing, you were forced by the Second Master, unable to resist, and now that vicious woman is going to beat you to death. This bundle contains five taels of silver from the Sixth Young Lady. Take it and go find someone who can protect you.”

Concubine Wang was incredibly grateful that the Sixth Young Lady still cared for her at this time. Zi-Yan’s last words were a wake-up call. Who could protect Concubine Wang? Naturally, it was the First Master.

Concubine Wang quietly slipped out of the woodshed. She had her own secret code to contact the First Master. Luckily, they were deeply in love, and Concubine Wang insisted that the Second Master had forced her. The Eldest Master knew all too well what kind of person the Second Master was. Not only had Concubine Wang suffered at his hands, but even the maids in the Old Madam’s quarters had fallen victim to him.

Anyway, Concubine Wang was not a virgin. The Eldest Master did not value her chastity; what he liked was her deep-seated womanly charm and seductiveness.

For a time, Concubine Wang managed to persuade the Eldest Master to find her another place to live, where she comfortably became his kept woman.

As for the Second Madam, she could not find out who had dared to release Concubine Wang, and eventually, the matter was left unresolved. She knew her husband’s character and probably believed Concubine Wang had been forced, but she just could not swallow her anger. Since Concubine Wang had escaped, she did not pursue the matter further.

Thus, the Third Madam had gained a runaway concubine. Ah Wu had her servant go to the yamen to file a complaint, putting Concubine Wang’s case on file. However, the Duke of Anguo was a fallen nobleman, and the prefect of the capital had no interest in the matter of his family losing a concubine. He merely recorded it but made no effort to investigate.

After Zi-Yan helped Ah Wu accomplish this, Ah Wu indeed kept her word, persuading Lady Cui to return Zi-Yan’s indenture, allowing her to leave the mansion and marry freely, and even giving her an extra five taels of silver as a dowry.

Zi-Yan thanked her and left happily, never to be mentioned again.

After Zi-Yan left, Ah Wu was short a second-class maid. The First Madam, who managed the household, naturally ignored her, and Lady Cui was ill, so although she wanted to, she was unable to arrange for a new maid. Ah Wu, now finding Zi-Shan easier to manage, promoted her to second class and also brought in a young maid originally named Qian’er to serve her. Because she thought Qian’er was quite good, she changed her name to Zi-Zhui.

The Third Madam’s household was usually quiet, and the courtyard was sparsely populated. With Lady Cui ill, Ah Wu came to keep her company every day, telling her jokes or reading a few passages from a book. Lady Cui’s illness fluctuated without improvement, but thankfully, it did not worsen either. Ah Wu knew it was a psychological problem; unless Third Master Rong returned safely, Lady Cui probably would not recover.

As for the needlework shop, before Third Master Rong left, his wet nurse, Old Nanny Peng, would come in every quarter to submit the accounts under the guise of visiting Lady Cui. This time, because Lady Cui was ill and unable to get up, Ah Wu volunteered to listen to Old Nanny Peng’s account submissions.

Actually, it was not a proper account submission; it was just reporting the numbers. Old Nanny Peng herself was not very literate; she only helped out at the shop to prevent the embroiderers from smuggling money. Her son, an honest and simple man, was in charge of the accounts.

Even so, Lady Cui’s shop still brought in fifty or sixty taels of silver a quarter, a very good income. At the end of the year, business was better during the New Year, and the total income could reach around two hundred taels.

Ah Wu glanced at the account book brought by the wet nurse; it was simple and clear, with no errors or omissions.

Seeing Ah Wu frown, the wet nurse’s heart tightened. “Is there anything you need, Miss?” she asked.

Ah Wu quickly relaxed her brow and smiled. “No, I will have to trouble you and Uncle He with the shop’s affairs.” Uncle He was the wet nurse’s only son, named Zhong Guihe.

“No trouble at all,” the wet nurse quickly waved her hand, looking as if she could not accept the burden.

After a few words, Ah Wu knew that the wet nurse was an honest person. Such people were reliable, but lacked great ability, and Ah Wu’s mind was currently preoccupied with money.

They were just waiting for Third Master Rong to return so they could help him secure an official post outside the capital, which would require money. If he could not get a post outside the capital, they would have to consider dividing the family property and acquiring new assets, which would also cost money. The two older brothers were getting older and needed money to find wives, and Lady Cui’s illness also required funds. Actually, all these worries should have been Lady Cui’s responsibility, but she was a lucky woman; someone always seemed to have thought of everything for her.

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Ah Wu inquired about the shop’s situation. It seemed the shop had built a good reputation. Lady Cui’s embroidery was indeed unique, and even though the shop was not located on the most bustling main street, business was quite good. In the capital, the north was considered aristocratic, and the west affluent; shops located in these areas could command the highest prices. The east and south were mostly populated by peddlers, so goods were sold more cheaply. Lady Cui’s shop was located on East Street.

Currently, the third branch of the family had no other profitable assets, and Lady Cui had no permanent property, so Ah Wu could only focus on the shop. But in her previous life, she was not obsessed with money and knew absolutely nothing about business, which caused her some trouble. However, having lived for several decades, she knew a thing or two about making money, but she lacked anyone to help her.

After seeing off Old Nanny Peng, Ah Wu frowned, pondering a solution, and then she remembered someone.

Liu Jingniang.

Liu Jingniang was a woman of misfortune. Her family was originally wealthy in the capital, but she only cared for her elderly father and younger brother. At eighteen, she married into the Jiang family, a wealthy merchant family in Ganzhou. She thought she would finally enjoy the life of a young mistress, and indeed she did for a few years. The couple lived harmoniously, and she gave birth to a son. But then disaster struck. The Jiang family was implicated in a major court case, taking the blame for the then-governor. In the end, the governor was executed, and the Jiang family was wiped out.

Liu Jingniang fled back to the capital with her son, hoping to seek refuge with her father. However, her younger brother had died young, and her father had passed away soon after, leaving her family scattered and destitute, with nowhere to go.

If it were not for Princess Fuhui and Ah Wu, Liu Jingniang and her son, penniless and ill, would likely have already met their demise. In her previous life, Princess Kangning had saved many people, and whenever she encountered someone in distress, she would always find a way to help them. This was to accumulate merit, and the Imperial Princess strongly supported this, especially because Ah Wu was frail and sickly. She wanted to create good karma to prolong Ah Wu’s life.

Liu Jingniang was one of the many people Ah Wu had helped. Initially, she and her son were placed on the estate that Ah Wu would bring as part of her dowry. However, Ah Wu never married, and Liu Jingniang’s family was forgotten. Later, Liu Jingniang, for the sake of her son, begged Ah Wu to send him to work in the shop. This was when her family’s abilities became apparent.

Both she and her son had a talent for business. Liu Jingniang, having spent several years with her husband, had gained considerable experience and learned many business skills. As the eldest daughter who could support the family, she was in no way inferior to the men in her endeavors. Her son was, in fact, her teaching.

However, Ah Wu did not fully utilize Liu Jingniang and her son’s business talent, because Ah Wu did not care about such things. When the master did not care, those below dared not be too bold.

Even so, Liu Jingniang and her son showed something different. Their shop on the same street consistently earned 30% more profit than other shops each year. This was the result of Liu Jingniang suppressing her efforts to avoid envy.

The reason Ah Wu still remembered Liu Jingniang was that after the Princess’s misfortune, everyone scattered, except for Liu Jingniang and her son, who were grateful and constantly helped the Princess, even spending money to pave the way for her.

However, although Ah Wu remembered Liu Jingniang, her memory of how she saved Liu Jingniang and her son was somewhat vague. After much thought, she finally understood in a dream one night, waking up abruptly in the middle of the night.

Ah Wu thought that it would be good to have someone as loyal and capable as Liu Jingniang at her service. She could not let her and her son go to waste again in this life. In her previous life, when Ah Wu awoke, Liu Jingniang was already a wandering soul, unable to do anything.

Thinking this way, Ah Wu felt that being kind to others was always a good thing. Sometimes, even if you did not repay someone in the past life, they would always be yours in the next. See, what Ah Wu could not understand, she found in her dream.

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Furthermore, in her previous life, Ah Wu’s rescue of Liu Jingniang and her son occurred on the day of the Da Ci Temple fair, the 15th day of the fourth month on the twenty-fifth year of the Longqing reign. Today was the 10th day of the fourth month of this year.

The next day, Ah Wu shamelessly went to the main house, begging the First Madam for permission to go to Da Ci Temple to burn incense and pray for Lady Cui’s well-being.

The First Madam initially refused, saying that it was a temple fair, and there would be many people and things to do, fearing that Ah Wu would be crowded outside. Fortunately, the events of the Lantern Festival had been kept secret by all the families. When Ah Wu returned home that day, Third Master Rong carried her, saying only that she had caught a chill outside, and dared not mention that she had been abducted. Otherwise, if the First Madam had known, she would have had an even stronger excuse today.

Ah Wu looked pitifully at Fifth Young Lady Rong. In this respect, Fifth Young Lady Rong was not as ruthless as her mother. She understood why Third Master Rong had been sent on a diplomatic mission abroad, and felt guilty towards both Ah Wu and Lady Cui. The First Madam, however, seemed determined to eliminate them completely.

“Madam, let Sixth Sister go. Just send more guards and servants with her. Third Aunt’s illness has not improved despite taking medicine; perhaps praying to the Bodhisattva will help,” Fifth Young Lady Rong advised.

The First Madam smiled and agreed. Since her own daughter had pleaded, she could not refuse. Besides, she was not confident she could get rid of those two wicked children from the Third Branch; keeping them alive would give Lady Cui leverage.