Chapter 11

In Madam Qian's courtyard, Jiyun re-washed her face and combed her hair alongside her mother, and changed into new clothes. Madam Qian's anger had not subsided, and she kept mumbling about how shameless Song Sanliang was, "I never thought that he would be such a person!"

Jiyun smiled and advised Madam Qian, "Don't be angry, it's not worth harming yourself over!"

Madam Qian scolded, "You child, you were just as furious before, and now you're acting as if it's nothing. If it weren't for our good luck this time, we would have been deceived."

How could there be so much good luck in this world?

Jiyun said, "There are still many things you haven't thought of!"

She told Madam Qian about sending Nanny Zheng to meet Madam Wang.

Madam Qian, terrified, couldn't help but slap Jiyun twice. "How could you be so bold! What if your uncle found out about your deeds, and came after you?"

Nanny Zheng, who came in carrying a bowl of cooling lotus seed and lily soup, laughed and said, "How clever our young mistress is! The Third Old Master keeps an eye on us, and we keep an eye on the Third Old Master. How could he discover it?

"Uncovering the Third Old Master today was all thanks to our young mistress."

Madam Qian nodded continuously, yet felt somewhat guilty.

These were things she should have done herself.

She asked Nanny Zheng, "How much silver did you spend to win over the people around Madam Wang? I'll reimburse you!"

Everyone's faces bore a slight smile.

Stirring the sweet soup in her gilded small bowl with a spoon, Jiyun called, "Mother," and continued, "Doesn't that mean you should trust me more? From now on, you should inform me first about anything, to prevent others from taking advantage."

Madam Qian, embarrassed, promised, "From now on, mother will consult with you before doing anything."

Jiyun smiled understandingly and simply told Madam Qian about Mr. Han and said, "Later, I even purposely checked the account books. It was clearly recorded that two bolts of silk were given as a thank you gift."

Madam Qian was stunned.

She unconsciously touched her slightly showing belly and said gloomily, "If only I could give you a brother."

Jiyun sighed internally and said to her mother, "Do you think having a brother would solve the issue?"

Madam Qian looked at her in surprise.

Jiyun measured her words, "Even if you had a brother, he would be too young to manage the properties. Given the character of my eldest uncle and third uncle, I'm afraid... if they harbored evil intentions, they might do something even worse than what is happening now."

Madam Qian immediately recalled the children who had died young or were raised improperly due to inheritance disputes controlled by uncles and brothers. Her expression hardened, and she stood up abruptly, shouting fiercely, "Would they dare?"

Jiyun, not expecting such a strong reaction from Madam Qian, hurriedly stood up to support her, saying, "Mother, I'm just being cautious. Please be careful, and don't let it affect your pregnancy."

Little did she know, Madam Qian, far from calming down, instead embraced Jiyun and said with tears, "And the three of you, if they dare touch a hair on you, I, I will fight them to the death!"

"Don't worry, we won't rush into anything!" Jiyun gently patted her mother's back, soothing her, "As long as we mother and daughter are united, no one can bully us. You see, today I flipped the table, and grandmother didn't say anything."

"Hmm!" Madam Qian's eyes lit up.

Jiyun secretly sighed with relief.

It was good that her mother was becoming alert.

Jiyun talked with her mother for a while, and seeing her mother show signs of fatigue, she used her pregnancy as a reason to persuade her mother to rest. Only then did she return to her own courtyard.

By then, it was already Shen Hour in the afternoon.

Since morning, she had only had a small bowl of buckwheat noodles and a small bowl of lotus seed and lily soup, and was starving.

Jiyun gestured towards the gauze cupboard and asked Xiang Zhan, "Have you eaten?"

"I have!" Xiang Zhan replied softly, "It was Liu Zi who brought the meal. For lunch, we had green bean pancakes and loofah egg soup, and for dinner, just like you, Mistress, we had vegetal congee."

Oh, she was now instructing her servant boy.

Jiyun entered the gauze cupboard.

The man was lying on the small cot with bent knees, slowly flipping through a picture book under his knee.

When he saw her come in, he lifted his eyelids to glance at her, then his gaze returned to the picture book.

However, Jiyun noticed that this was not the picture book he had been looking at before. It was one she had kept in the living room.

She asked Liu Zi, "Where is the original picture book?"

Liu Zi stuttered and explained for a while, meaning that the man had grown tired of it and had asked him to find another one. Not daring to let the man out of his sight, he had Xiang Zhan help randomly pick one.

Jiyun did not pursue the matter further, and after bathing and changing her clothes, she went to have dinner in the hall.

Xiang Zhan brought dinner in high spirits, and while Jiyun was eating, she stayed on the side, giggling at Jiyun "hehe."

Jiyun asked Nanny Zheng, "What's gotten into this child?"

Nanny Zheng didn't know either.

But Xiang Zhan excitedly said, "Miss, Miss, did you defeat the Third Old Master?"

Jiyun was surprised.

Xiang Zhan cheerfully continued, "The whole mansion is already abuzz. They say the Third Old Master has no shame and tried to swindle our family's silver, only to end up gifting a painting by a famous artist. Robbing the henhouse but losing the rice, serves him right!"

She also asked Jiyun, "Miss, do you think we should spread the word about Third Old Master through the streets and alleys, let everyone know what he did?"

Jiyun smiled, touched her bundled hair, and said, "That's not something you should concern yourself with. Now, go clean the dishes right away!"

Xiang Zhan smiled sheepishly and hopped away bouncing and jumping.

Nanny Zheng, influenced by Xiang Zhan, couldn't help but say, "You know, the events of today were really satisfying! Now, let's see who dares to bully us in the future!"

Jiyun merely smiled faintly and said to Nanny Zheng, "Do you think this matter is over?"

She stared in the direction of Madam Zeng's courtyard and murmured, "This is just the beginning!"

*

That night, Jiyun stayed up at her father's wake in the ancestral hall.

According to custom, the hall had to be continuously watched over day and night by devoted children or family members.

Their family had no devoted sons, so it was overseen by Madam Qian and Jiyun's sisters.

Madam Qian was pregnant, and the youngest sister was only ten, so Jiyun initially planned to have her and her older sister take the night shifts, while their mother and youngest sister took the day shifts. However, her youngest sister insisted on taking turns like her older sisters to keep the vigil for their father.

While their father was alive, he treasured each of his three daughters as if they were precious jewels. Now that he was gone, everyone wanted to contribute their part.

Jiyun didn't insist, and besides Madam Qian, the three sisters took turns watching over the night.

She knelt before her father's memorial tablet.

The red flames consumed the yellow joss paper, quickly turning it into ash.

Her tears kept falling uncontrollably.

The next morning, Jiyun's eyes were swollen like peach pits, and her vision was blurred.

Upon returning to her own courtyard and entering through the door, she saw her grandmother, Madam Zeng, accompanied by two personal nannies and attended by Nanny Zheng, sitting on a Taishi Chair under the hall's console table waiting for her.

Jiyun raised an eyebrow.

Was this the other shoe about to drop?