Mo Sang – CH 289

Chapter 289. Each With Their Own Troubles

Li Sangrou first read the letters from Zou Wang and Zaohua.

She read them one by one, starting with the earliest, according to the date they were written. Some she read well and set aside, others she read well and threw directly into the fire.

After reading all the letters, seeing that it was getting dark, Li Sangrou instructed Hei Ma to put away the account books. She picked up the snoring, chubby puppy sleeping on her lap and was about to stand up when Pan Dingbang burst in from the courtyard gate, startling the puppy so much that it howled and almost fell off.

“What’s this?!” Pan Dingbang was also startled by the puppy’s cry.

“Why are your ears so long?” Li Sangrou patted the puppy, looking at Pan Dingbang with a smile.

“This is… a dog? Why did you get a dog? Why are you keeping it? You like keeping this little thing? This little thing even bared its teeth at me. This dog, you’ve made it so shiny and smooth.” Pan Dingbang first peered at the puppy and clicked his tongue.

“Pang’er, say hello to Seventh Master.” Li Sangrou lifted Pang’er and pushed him away, but Pang’er immediately pushed back with his front paws.

“Pang’er? That’s a fitting name; he’s really quite fat.” Pan Dingbang looked troubled, casually pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Li Sangrou.

“I just heard Ting-Xi came over to deliver something to Eleventh, and then I heard from Old Zuo that you were back, so I rushed over.

Sigh, you know, I have to set off again early tomorrow morning to deliver some military equipment!

You know, it is almost New Year’s, or rather, it is almost New Year’s once it is in the twelfth lunar month! During the New Year, they will not even let me rest!

Tell me, setting off tomorrow, delivering the goods, and then coming back—when will that be? The New Year will be long gone!

How can this be?!” Pan Dingbang slammed his hand on the armrest of the chair in anger.

“That’s true; did you not tell your father?” Li Sangrou said with a sympathetic look.

“I told him! I told my mother! I told my Second Sister-in-law! My father said that I am just delivering military supplies. Those soldiers fighting far from home, including the Shizi, have not come home for New Year’s, not just this year, but for countless years!

Listen to that!”

Pan Dingbang clapped his hands, startling Pang’er into snuggling tightly into Li Sangrou’s arms.

“And what about your mother? What about your Second Sister-in-law? Did you not say your Second Sister-in-law loves you the most?” Li Sangrou felt even more sympathetic.

“My Second Sister-in-law said my Second Brother has not come home for New Year’s in three years; look!” Pan Dingbang spread his hands at Li Sangrou, “Tell me, am I speechless?

My mother said that my Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law have not spent the New Year at home for over ten years, my Second Brother is away most of the time, and my Third Brother and Sister-in-law are also away. She said she feels sad seeing me alone at home for the New Year, firstly because my three brothers are not home, and secondly because it feels like I am a failure.”

Li Sangrou wanted to laugh, but quickly held it back, coughing twice forcefully. “You’ve had a tough time. What about Eleventh Master? Will he be able to come back for the New Year this year?”

“How could he come back! At least I can come and go, but he cannot! My Second Brother would never let him come back!” Pan Dingbang finished speaking and sighed.

He and Eleventh Master had never cared about being successful, but in his family and Eleventh Master’s family, everyone felt that even people like them could not be unsuccessful.

Sigh!

“It’s no fun for you to spend the New Year alone at home if Eleventh Master cannot come back. Going for a walk in Tianshui Alley or something—it is so boring alone,” Li Sangrou comforted him.

“I do not have time to walk through Tianshui Alley!

If you had not come back, I’d be overseeing the armaments leaving the warehouse and loading them onto the ship right now! The day I got this assignment to deliver the armaments, my father sent a few of his personal attendants to help me. I genuinely thought they were there to help, but they were not! They were there to watch over me!

Minister Wu will not sign off on these armaments unless I personally watch them being taken out of the warehouse and loaded onto the ship!

I only got this little bit of free time today because I heard you were back!

Sigh! It is tough!

Tell me, when will this war be over? Did they not say it would be over soon? Why has there been no movement for the past six months?” Pan Dingbang’s question was practically slapping Li Sangrou in the face.

“It will be over in another year or two; is that not fast? If it is slow, it will take eight or ten years.” Li Sangrou quickly leaned back to avoid the question.

“One or two years!” “Pan Dingbang cried out in pain, slapping his face.

“Do not linger here any longer. Go back and get ready; you have to leave first thing tomorrow morning.

I will be staying until after the Lunar New Year next year. I will throw you a welcome-back dinner when you return,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

“I need to talk to you! It is important,” Pan Dingbang sighed.

“Speak!” Li Sangrou said crisply.

“Um, could you talk to my father? My assignment is almost over,” Pan Dingbang said, leaning forward slightly and lowering his voice.

Li Sangrou almost choked, raising an eyebrow at Pan Dingbang. “Me? Talk to your father about this? Do you think it will do any good?”

“Yeah, probably not. I am just grasping at straws,” Pan Dingbang said sadly.

“Just bear with it. It will not be long, only six months to a year,” Li Sangrou patted Pan Dingbang’s shoulder.

“Sigh, it is all your fault for that flag!” Pan Dingbang was so upset he almost cried. “I was so scared I could not sleep at night, and I lost so much weight. If I had not asked you for that flag and had just endured it a little longer, maybe my mother would have felt sorry for me.

Who knew! Sigh!” Pan Dingbang was filled with regret.

“Then why did you not just burn the flag?” Li Sangrou suggested enthusiastically.

“How could you be so stupid? Ah Tian already knew about that flag!

When I came back that time, I was afraid the flag would get lost, so I asked Ah Tian to make me a purse. Ah Tian said purses could easily fall off, so she sewed a strap onto your flag and made a bib.” Pan Dingbang pointed to his chest.

Li Sangrou could not help but laugh and cough at the same time, “Ah Tian is so clever.”

“I should not have told her! Now look! Sigh!” Pan Dingbang sighed.

“You should try to think positively. For example, you are still better than Eleventh Master, right?” Li Sangrou comforted Pan Dingbang with a smile.

“Sigh, that’s true…sigh…never mind, I am leaving.” Pan Dingbang stood up dejectedly, his shoulders slumped, and walked out.

Li Sangrou leaned back in her chair, watching him leave the courtyard. She stood up, smiling, handed Pang’er to Hei Ma, and the two of them, one after the other, left Shunfeng Headquarters and headed back to Chaomi Alley.

The courtyard in Chaomi Alley was brightly lit.

About ten steps from the gate, she saw Datou carrying a basin of medicinal liquid, running out and splashing it towards the gate.

“Why are you splashing this?” Li Sangrou asked, both amused and exasperated.

“I’ve boiled over ten pots. Brother Chang said to splash a few basins outside the courtyard, too. Anyway, we bought a lot of medicine; there’s still half a cart left,” Datou replied, straightening up after splashing a basin of liquid.

Li Sangrou stared speechlessly at the spilled medicine on the ground.

There was still half a cartload left!

Li Sangrou took a deep breath. She had to tell Da Chang; spilling medicine during the New Year was considered unlucky.

She did not want to smell the medicine anymore!

The smell of medicine was even stronger in the courtyard.

Da Chang, Meng Yanqing, and Dong Chao were sitting around a table, writing something.

Seeing Li Sangrou enter, the three of them simply waved in greeting before continuing their discussion and writing.

Li Sangrou walked over and peeked at them.

“This year we must have a proper New Year celebration, a grand and lively affair, to ward off bad luck and bring in good fortune,” Meng Yanqing explained, looking up.

Li Sangrou glanced at the long list written by Dong Qichang and gasped again.

It seemed the scale of Da Chang’s New Year celebrations was about to reach a new level!

………………………………

The next morning, after Li Sangrou ate breakfast, she arrived at the Shunfeng headquarters. The two buckets of spring water had already been delivered.

A young eunuch guarding the two buckets of water greeted Li Sangrou and Hei Ma as they entered, bowed, and withdrew.

Hei Ma, while watching Pang’er running around, started a fire to boil water and made tea. Li Sangrou, in the small accounting room, looked through the account books.

She had only read a few pages when a shop assistant led in an old woman.

The old woman greeted her respectfully, smiling, “This servant serves Fourth Madam. Our Fourth Madam is…”

“I remember you. Back in Yuzhang City, you were always the one who greeted me.” Li Sangrou smiled and greeted her.

“Yes.” The old woman’s eyes narrowed with a smile, and she quickly curtsied again. “Our Fourth Madam heard that the Boss has returned and sent this servant to ask for her instructions. We wonder when the Boss is free so that our Fourth Madam, along with Lady Fu, our Lady, and Ninth Lady Wei, can host a welcome dinner for her.”

“I am free today at noon or after the Laba Festival. I will be staying for a while since I am back, so there will be plenty of opportunities to meet with your Fourth Madam. No need to rush,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

“Yes, this servant will go back and ask our Fourth Madam for her instructions right away.” The old woman smiled and replied, hurrying back.

Not long after, the old woman hurried over, smiling, “Our Fourth Madam said she wished she could come and speak with the Boss right now. She said since the Boss is free this noon, then our Fourth Madam and all the ladies are free for the next while.”

“Alright, let your Fourth Madam choose a place,” Li Sangrou replied with a smile.

The old woman made another trip, and around noon, she waited at the entrance of Shunfeng, leading Li Sangrou towards Pan Tower, not far from the Shunfeng headquarters.

Li Sangrou followed the old woman into the back courtyard of Pan Tower. About ten steps from the entrance of a quiet courtyard, Fourth Madam Wu née Wei, followed by Wei Jingming, Fu Wannian, and Liu Rui, came out to greet them.

“You flatter me,” Li Sangrou quickly stopped, bowing slightly.

“You are very worthy of being the Boss.” Fourth Madam Wu née Wei and the others curtsied in return, ushering Li Sangrou into the private room.

Upon entering the house, Li Sangrou first bowed and thanked the four women, including Fourth Madam Wu née Wei, saying, “Ah Ying is doing well in Yangzhou, thank you all very much.”

“You flatter me! It is an honor for us that the Boss entrusted Ah Ying to us,” Fourth Madam Wu née Wei always said cheerfully.

“The Boss has lost a lot of weight,” Fu Wan-niang observed Li Sangrou closely.

Not only had the Boss lost weight, but her complexion also seemed poor.

“I’ve been traveling too much this past year; I am a bit tired,” Li Sangrou explained with a smile. “I plan to rest for a month or two after this trip back.”

“The Boss has indeed worked extremely hard these past two years,” Fourth Madam Wu née Wei remarked with emotion.

She had heard from Prime Minister Wu that the Boss’s itinerary over the past two years had been extremely arduous.

“Enough with the formalities; have them bring out whatever good food you have so I can have a good rest,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

Liu Rui quickly went out before Fourth Madam Wu née Wei to give the order.

The tea and wine server quickly brought over cold and hot dishes, which the maids and servants accepted and arranged on the table.

Li Sangrou and Lady Wei, along with the others, ate slowly, talking about Ah Ying and what had happened since they last met.

When the topic turned to returning to Jianle City, the elders all said they had worked hard and should rest for a month or two. Wei Jingming glanced at Lady Wei, seemingly wanting to say something, but then swallowed her words.

Li Sangrou looked away from Wei Jingming and then at Lady Wei.

Lady Wei, however, did not notice Wei Jingming’s glance. She was slightly frowning, deep in thought.

“There’s something.” Lady Wei hesitated for a moment, then gave a wry smile.

Wei Jingming lowered his eyes.

“In Yuzhang City, that poet Yu Cui—does the Boss still remember her?” Lady Wei’s words were somewhat hesitant and difficult to articulate.

“Yes,” Li Sangrou nodded.

“That day, after returning home, I could not bear it any longer, so I sent someone back again. I spent one hundred and thirty taels of silver to buy Yu Cui and her son and had them settled in Jianle City.”

Lady Wei paused, as if considering what to say next.

Li Sangrou picked up her tea and sipped it, waiting for her to continue.

“I had someone rent her a small courtyard, very small, paid a year’s rent, and left her ten taels of silver, enough for them to live on for a year. I thought that would be enough, and I would definitely return in less than a year.

We returned early in the tenth month, and the day after we arrived, I sent someone to check on her.”

Lady Wei paused again, and after a moment, continued, “She was not in that small courtyard. People were guarding it, and when someone asked, they led them to a two-courtyard house across the street. She…”

Fourth Madam Wu née Wei sighed, “I had people inquire carefully for several days.

She settled down for less than half a month, and then she got involved with a man surnamed Qin, Qin Guodong.

Qin Guodong is a merchant, shrewd and extremely resourceful. His servant said that Qin Guodong happened to see our steward going back and forth settling Yu Cui, and he developed feelings for her. After the steward left, Qin Guodong watched for half a month, then found an opportunity to bump into Yu Cui once, and after only two days, they were already together.

When I sent someone to check on her, she was already pregnant, and her pregnancy was showing.

After I sent someone to check on her, Qin Guodong tried to take advantage of the situation.” Fourth Madam Wu née Wei sighed.

“That man surnamed Qin lives in Xianhe Town outside Jianle City, and he has a wife and children,” Wei Jingming added.

Li Sangrou sipped her tea, remaining silent.

“Tell me, how could she do this? She had a place to live and money, so how could…” Fourth Madam Wu clenched her fist and slammed it on the table.

“It’s extremely difficult for a woman to live alone, even if she has a place to live and does not worry about food and clothing.” Li Sangrou was silent for a moment, then looked at Lady Wei and said, “You’ve all been surrounded by servants since you were little, never having managed daily life. You have your hardships, but you do not know the hardship of even a simple meal.

Carrying a child on your back, buying a few jin of vegetables, meat, and rice, and carrying it all the way home is already very tiring. It is even harder when it is windy and rainy.

Besides all that, being alone means dealing with gossip, disdainful looks, men’s inappropriate stares, and the insults and malice from neighbors.

And then there’s the fear and helplessness when you are sick in a storm, when your child is ill, or when you yourself fall ill. You have to endure all of this alone; it is incredibly difficult.

It’s only natural for Yu Cui to want to find someone to rely on when she cannot manage alone.” Li Sangrou spoke slowly, each word distinct.

“Did the Boss see all this and then leave?” Fu Wannian asked softly.

“Yes, most women are like that; their suffering always stems from marrying the wrong person.” Li Sangrou’s expression was indifferent.

“I should not have interfered. Qin Guodong has a wife and children; this is not helping her.” Fourth Madam Wu née Wei sighed, her voice heavy with resentment.

“No matter what, her life is much better than before. At least she has enough to eat, and at least no one beats her anymore.

As for the future, if things go well, that’s for the best. If not, it is just a small favor for you to lend a hand.” Li Sangrou smiled slightly.

Fourth Madam Wu née Wei sighed deeply, her voice heavy with resentment.