Watching Yang Xu pick up the wooden basin and prepare to leave, if there were enough time, Zhang Yiyi was confident she could gradually eliminate Yang Xu's rejection and hostility.
He was just an eight-year-old child. Zhang Yiyi, who had managed to establish herself in the Zhenbian Marquis's mansion, lacked nothing in terms of cunning and methods.
However, what she lacked now was time. If an imperial censor were to impeach the Marquis in court, the Emperor might seize the opportunity to make a mountain out of a molehill and severely punish the Marquis. The Zhenbian Marquis was Zhang Yiyi's support, and she absolutely could not allow the Marquis's mansion to be in trouble.
"Xu'er." Zhang Yiyi called out choked with sobs as Yang Xu and Zhan Feiyu left. She took two steps forward, but accidentally fell with a bang onto the hard ground.
"Ah?" Da Niu and Da Hua, along with several other children, exclaimed. After eating such delicious pastries, they now watched Zhang Yiyi fall, and the children became anxious.
"Yang Xu, your mother fell," Da Niu shouted anxiously.
"Madam!" Lian'er hurried forward and helped her up. "Madam, your hand is bleeding."
Hearing the commotion behind him, Yang Xu paused. A flicker of worry flashed across his dark, tender face, but he continued to stride forward with a stern expression, moving as if pursued by demons.
Her fair, delicate palm was scraped and bleeding. Zhang Yiyi, helped up by her maid, watched Yang Xu, who had disappeared around the corner into the village in the blink of an eye. Annoyance flashed in her lowered gaze. This child was more heartless than she had imagined, truly a son of the Yang family, all so stubborn and unyielding!
Zhan Feiyu, also watching Yang Xu disappear, stopped. Well, she would wait for Yang Xu to buy the tofu.
"Little girl, your name is Xiao Yu, isn't it?" Ignoring her bloody hands, Zhang Yiyi winked at Lian'er and walked towards Zhan Feiyu.
Looking at the wild children who had been driven away by the maid, Zhang Yiyi continued, "I was presumptuous before, but I am Xu'er's mother, and I just want to make it up to him. You are a good girl, and Xu'er is a good child. If you marry Xu'er in the future, he will surely take good care of you. The Yang family allows concubines only after the age of forty without a son."
She raised her eyes and looked directly at Zhang Yiyi, who had her own difficulties. Zhan Feiyu suddenly smiled, bright and radiant like the sun in the sky. "Since the Yang family is so good, why did Madam abandon her husband and child to follow the Zhenbian Marquis, who is older than her own father? Poverty breeds strife between husband and wife. Madam, do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you."
The guards, maids, and servants of the Zhenbian Marquis's mansion all kept their eyes down and their noses to their hearts, pretending not to hear Zhan Feiyu's startling words.
What unwillingness could there be? It was merely coveting wealth and status.
Zhang Yiyi did not get angry; instead, she smiled along. "You are right, Xu'er is indeed the son of a guilty official, and his status is not worthy of you. But you have forgotten that he has me, his mother. With my help and the support of the Marquis's mansion, Xu'er's future will be beyond your imagination."
"Little girl, you are smarter than I thought, but your background is your limitation. No matter how learned and virtuous you are, if you wish to marry into an official family, you can only be a concubine, or perhaps marry a secondary son. However, there will be a嫡母 (di mu - legitimate mother) and嫡子 (di zi - legitimate son) above you. Once the family divides, the secondary son's branch will almost be driven out. If you want to rely on influence, look at which嫡母 would allow a secondary son to prosper. Therefore, marrying Xu'er is the best choice for you."
Even though the Great Qing Dynasty had open customs, the rules regarding嫡庶 (di shu - legitimate and illegitimate offspring) were still strict. The嫡子 inherited ninety percent of the family property, while the remaining庶子 (shu zi - illegitimate sons) together could only receive one tenth. Even with private subsidies from elders, it was still a drop in the bucket.
Compared to property, the biggest advantage of a嫡子 was in their connections. They received the best education from childhood, and all the family's resources were used for the嫡子's cultivation. As for the庶子, they lacked favorable timing, favorable location, and favorable human relations. To stand out was as difficult as climbing to the heavens.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" An angry voice rang out. Yang Xu, carrying half a basin of tofu, rushed over. He glanced at Zhang Yiyi, then glared at Zhan Feiyu, "Go back with me!"
Never having felt so humiliated, Yang Xu strode forward.
"Madam, I'll go ahead," Zhan Feiyu said, still holding her hand warmer and leisurely following behind Yang Xu.
Zhang Yiyi's willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed. For the first time, she found the two half-grown children more troublesome than the women in the Marquis's mansion. She could neither be gentle nor harsh, and neither coercion nor temptation seemed to work.
It was one thing that Yang Xu didn't understand human speech, but this little girl was clearly intelligent and perceptive, yet she was also obstinate. This made Zhang Yiyi's expression even more unpleasant.
"Madam, that little girl has a narrow vision and doesn't understand Madam's good intentions at all," Lian'er quickly said when she sensed Zhang Yiyi's anger. "Why doesn't Madam send someone to propose marriage to her family? I'm sure her elders would not dare to refuse."
Just as Lian'er thought her madam would not speak, a soft voice sounded, "No, she understands. She just doesn't like the conditions I offered."
While speaking, Zhang Yiyi had been observing. No matter what she said, the little girl's expression did not change at all, which indicated that she was not moved.
That was right. After all, she was still young and spoiled by her family. She didn't know the importance of power! She herself hadn't thought clearly back then, which was why she married Yang Shoucheng.
With this thought, Zhang Yiyi curled her lips and smiled. However, compared to Zhan Feiyu's radiant smile, Zhang Yiyi's smile was gentle and elegant, but her eyes were chillingly frightening.
"Take the Marquis's token and go to Xiangwu County. Say that this Madam lost something in a dilapidated temple, and the thief..." Zhang Yiyi didn't need to say the rest. When people from the Marquis's mansion reported to the authorities, the county magistrate, as long as he wasn't stupid, would know what to do.
...
Yang Xu walked quickly for a while before finally looking back. Seeing Zhan Feiyu far behind, he hesitated and then stood still, waiting.
After a while, seeing Zhan Feiyu finally walk over, Yang Xu, with a stern face, awkwardly apologized, "Pretend you didn't hear what she said."
As a disciple of Scholar Gu, with her background, even if the General's mansion had not fallen, he would not have been worthy of her. Moreover, the General's mansion was now burdened with the crime of colluding with the enemy and treason.
"Alright," Zhan Feiyu replied crisply. This made Yang Xu breathe a sigh of relief.
Hesitating, Yang Xu asked again, "Can you not tell my father and grandfather?"
"Yes," Zhan Feiyu agreed again.
At noon, He Nuan was still the one cooking. The delicious dishes made the Yang family's grandfather, father, and son feel that the food they had eaten in the past few years was like pig slop. How could the same dishes taste so different?
As the weather grew colder, fresh fruits were scarce. Fortunately, He Nuan had dried some fruits in the summer. When boiled in the teapot for a quarter of an hour, the air was filled with a sweet fruity aroma.
"Green ants newly brewed wine, a small red clay stove. It has become fruit tea here," Zhan Feiyu joked with a smile, then quickly added, "A'Nuan, add some more sugar. Unsweetened fruit tea has a涩味 (se wei - astringent taste)."
"I added longan and red dates." Although He Nuan was usually gentle, she wouldn't indulge Zhan Feiyu when it came to principles.
"Fine..." As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of footsteps from outside made Zhan Feiyu smile. They were quite fast.
He Nuan stirred the charcoal fire methodically before standing up. "Miss, I'll go and see."
The folk customs of Xiangwu County were fierce, so the constables who rushed into the courtyard were all tall and strong, wearing constable uniforms and carrying sabers. They looked fierce, clearly possessing more ferocity than the constables from Nanxuan Prefecture and Huaian Prefecture.
He Nuan closed the door with her backhand. Looking at the constables who were not friendly, she didn't speak and stood guard outside Zhan Feiyu's door.
In the main hall, General Yang, who had been teaching Yang Xu military strategy, and Yang Shoucheng also came out.
"You officers are trespassing on private property. May I know which of us has violated the laws of the Great Qing?" General Yang stood at the entrance of the main hall, his posture like a general on horseback. His sonorous voice, coupled with his undiminished imposing presence, was enough to deter any petty villains.
"Yang Shoucheng!" The leading constable stepped forward. The sarcastic tone made it clear that he had a grudge against the Yang family. He had been unable to take revenge before, and now that they had fallen into his hands, he naturally intended to settle both old and new scores.
Yang Shoucheng's deep voice sounded, and his resolute, square face showed no anger. "Constable Luo."
Constable Luo started as a constable at the Xiangwu County yamen at the age of eighteen. Ten years later, he became a constable. He had practiced martial arts with a martial arts master in his early years, and coupled with his naturally tall and strong physique, he was a prominent figure in Xiangwu County.
Unfortunately, Constable Luo's family had five daughters in a row. He bought two concubines, but they also gave birth to two daughters. Without a son to support him in his old age, the Luo family would have no descendants.
Finally, Constable Luo had to adopt his nephew, Luo Xiaohu. With Constable Luo as his father, Luo Xiaohu became a little overlord in Xiangwu County at the age of seven or eight. After he understood human affairs, he committed many acts of bullying men and dominating women.
The ruffians and hoodlums on the street were sworn brothers with Luo Xiaohu, and he colluded with the wastrels in the county town. Whenever trouble arose, Constable Luo would cover for them. Luo Xiaohu and his ilk had caused such a situation that no young and beautiful girls in Xiangwu County dared to go out alone.
When Luo Xiaohu was eighteen, Constable Luo found him the only daughter of the owner of a shop in the north and south of the county town. But who would have thought that Luo Xiaohu would harass the Baozi Xishi in an alley, and Yang Shoucheng happened to encounter it.
It was also Luo Xiaohu's bad luck. Although Yang Shoucheng beat him, he did not use excessive force. Who knew that when Luo Xiaohu got up, he somehow fell and knocked himself unconscious.
After dark, the weather in December was so cold that water turned to ice. No one knew that there was a person lying in the alley. The Luo family thought Luo Xiaohu was out carousing with his friends and sleeping outside.
When Luo Xiaohu was found the next day and sent to the doctor, he was fine, but his reproductive organs had been crippled.
Constable Luo initially thought that Yang Shoucheng had crippled Luo Xiaohu's reproductive organs, but Luo Xiaohu told the truth after he woke up. Yang Shoucheng had not used excessive force, so it must have been someone who passed by the alley after Luo Xiaohu fainted and had a grudge against Luo Xiaohu, who then crippled Luo Xiaohu.
Since the culprit could not be found, Constable Luo and Luo Xiaohu naturally shifted their anger to Yang Shoucheng. If he hadn't struck Luo Xiaohu first, none of the subsequent events would have happened.
Constable Luo first brought constables to arrest him, but Luo Xiaohu had harassed Baozi Xishi first, and Yang Shoucheng had acted righteously, so there was no fault. More importantly, the Yang family had the protection of the Lone Fishing Old Man. Although he was a strange old man, he was a great scholar whom even the prefect had to curry favor with.
Since they could not take revenge openly, Constable Luo had to resort to underhanded tactics. However, the Yang family, grandfather, father, and son, were not to be trifled with. Even Yang Xu had the ability to protect himself. The thugs sent by Constable Luo were all severely beaten.
Later, Constable Luo even spent a large sum of money to hire experts from the prefectural city, but they still returned defeated. Moreover, two of them were crippled by the Yang family. The other party extorted five hundred taels of silver from Constable Luo, which not only prevented the Luo family from taking revenge but also emptied half of their family's wealth. In the end, this revenge had to be put aside.
"As the saying goes, a gentleman's revenge is never too late. Yang Shoucheng, you never thought you would fall into my hands one day, did you?" Constable Luo squeezed the words out from between his teeth, his malice undisguised. "If you kneel and beg for mercy, perhaps I can be lenient and leave you Yang family with a single descendant!"
Although a tiger fallen in the plains is bullied by dogs, the Yang family, even as children of a guilty official, still had comrades in the army and Scholar Gu in the court. For a mere constable in Xiangwu County to try to bully the Yang family, grandfather, father, and son, was simply wishful thinking.
"Since Constable Luo has brought people to our door, may I know what crime my son and I have committed?" General Yang asked loudly, understanding in his heart that Zhang Yiyi would not give up.
As the weather turned cold, the villagers of Shitou Village, apart from gathering firewood on the mountain or setting traps, hoping to catch a rabbit for a meal, no one left their homes. The Yang father and son were the same; they rarely came to the village throughout the year, let alone to Xiangwu County. It was difficult for them to commit any offense.
The Yang father and son were indeed tough, but unfortunately, this time they had kicked a steel plate! Constable Luo grinned sinisterly. "A noble person reported to the yamen that in a dilapidated temple thirty li outside the county town, some petty thieves stole one thousand taels of silver notes and a hairpin inlaid with gold threads. After my investigation, these petty thieves are far away but near at hand. I suspect that you Yang family, grandfather, father, and son, are in cahoots with the thieves!"
He Nuan and He Sheng, who had spent a night in the dilapidated temple to escape the rain, exchanged glances. The excuse was so clumsy that they didn't bother to expose it.
"Search them! Anyone who dares to obstruct the yamen from handling the case will be arrested immediately!" Constable Luo roared, throwing the shackles from his subordinates to the ground with a clang, the threat implicit.
Outside the courtyard, villagers who had heard the news had already gathered. They did not interact much with the Yang family on a daily basis, but after several years of living together, they knew the character of the Yang family, grandfather, father, and son. To call them thieves was simply a fabricated charge.
"Dad?" The sixteen or seventeen-year-old young man looked anxiously at the constables who were about to make a move. Regarding Luo Xiaohu's incident last year, everyone in Xiangwu County town and the surrounding villages applauded and were grateful to Yang Shoucheng for teaching the bully a lesson, otherwise, their sisters would not dare to go out.
"Let's see first," the village head replied, his expression solemn. Constable Luo was using his position for personal revenge, but this was clearly a premeditated move. "Xiao San, you ride to the county town."
A young man in his twenties nodded, quietly withdrew, and then quickly ran into the village, intending to get a horse from the village head's house and immediately go to the county town to pass on the news. The Yang father and son also had backing.