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Chapter 55
Causing trouble
“Miss, Concubine Lin just went to the ceremonial room today to deliver the invitation. The arrangements for the road sacrifice were all done according to your instructions. What’s strange is that she sent two eulogies.”
“She only sent them today?”
“That must be what she intended.”
Song Wan smiled faintly, knowing that what she said yesterday would definitely provoke Lin Jiayue to take the lead.
“I’m a bit worried now. Lin Jiayue is impulsive and lacks brains. If she really takes charge of the household in the future, I wonder if it will implicate me.”
Heng Zhi pursed her lips, also a bit worried.
“Miss, should you prepare more backup plans?”
“Of course, I have.” Song Wan lazily propped her chin, unusually hesitant.
“Forget it. We’ve come this far. It would be boring to retreat now.” She picked up the colorful thread on the desk and started making a knot.
After Nanny Zhao met with Nanny Lang, she told her that her brother had gone to Shanglin Garden to find Jiang Xingjian a few days ago. The two had a fierce fight. Moreover, the censor impeached Jiang Xingjian, and her father fanned the flames behind the scenes. Thinking of this, Song Wan couldn’t help but feel happy.
Madam Bai was right. If the husband’s family is unreliable, having a capable maternal family and brothers is the real deal.
“Heng Zhi, do you think this knot should be made with dark green and snail green or indigo and dark blue?”
Heng Zhi slightly lowered her head, “I think indigo is more suitable for the eldest young master.”
Song Wan nodded, took out a roll of indigo thread from the basket, and started working on it.
It took two days to finish the knot for Song Fu. When the people from the Jinxiang Earl Mansion came to scold her, Song Wan hadn’t even gotten up yet. If it weren’t for the stewardess from the outer courtyard coming to Lan Ting Courtyard, she would have slept a bit longer.
“Young Madam, please save this old servant.”
Lv Zhu stepped forward to help Song Wan with her hair and clothes. The stewardess, seeing this, spoke anxiously, “The Jinxiang Earl Mansion sent two carts of manure early in the morning and dumped them at our mansion’s gate. The two women who came were cursing terribly, even implicating you and the Song Mansion.”
A trace of confusion flashed in Song Wan’s eyes, “Manure carts?”
“Yes.” The stewardess slapped her thigh, “Now there are many people gathered at the gate. The weather is hot, and if the sun comes up and the heat rises…”
“Enough, enough, don’t say anymore. It’s really disgusting.”
Heng Wu pinched her nose as if she could already smell the stench, “They came to curse at our gate, and you didn’t curse back? The Jinxiang Earl Mansion is really unruly, even daring to involve our madam and the Song Mansion? Can’t you find twenty women to drive them away?”
“Wait.” Song Wan spoke with doubt, “For no reason, why would the Jinxiang Earl Mansion do such a thing during the mourning period?”
“First, invite them in. I’ll ask them carefully before making a decision. As for the filth at the gate, find some servants to clean it up. Each person involved in the cleaning will be rewarded with five hundred coins.”
The stewardess quickly nodded and ran out in a hurry. After a while, she brought in two strong women dressed in mourning clothes.
As soon as they entered Lan Tingyuan, they started cursing with filthy words so harsh that even Song Wan felt she couldn’t keep her eyes open.
“Serve tea to the two mamas.”
Finally finding a moment, she interjected, “Thank you for your hard work, mamas. I wonder what caused today’s incident? There might be some misunderstanding. Why don’t we talk it out? If the Marquis’ residence is at fault, I can find an opportunity to apologize to the Jinxiang Earl Mansion.”
“Hmph, how dare the Marquis’ wife lower herself to apologize to our Jinxiang Earl Mansion?” Although the woman said this, she casually threw two pieces of paper in front of Song Wan. Heng Wu was about to react angrily but was stopped by Heng Zhi.
She had a feeling that today’s matter was related to Concubine Lin, but she didn’t know what trouble she had caused to make people come and curse and throw manure.
Handing the two pieces of paper to Song Wan, Song Wan quickly glanced at them, and her face turned red.
These were the eulogies written by Lin Jiayue and herself, which Lin Jiayue had slipped into the three invitations sent to the ceremonial room and delivered to the Jinxiang Earl Mansion.
Not only was her handwriting ugly, but the deceased’s title and name were completely wrong, and there was a huge mistake. No wonder the other party came to confront them. If her residence had been humiliated like this, she would also come to demand an explanation.
Song Wan was extremely embarrassed, her cheeks burning as if they were about to catch fire.
“This eulogy was not added to the offerings by my order, and the Marquis’ residence had no intention of insulting anyone.”
Folding the thin paper and putting it away, Song Wan looked full of guilt, “I will definitely give the Jinxiang Earl Mansion an explanation for this matter. Please report back to the Earl and wait for two days.”
Seeing the genuine remorse on Song Wan’s face, the two women exchanged glances and left while cursing.
After they left, Song Wan sat on the couch, slightly flustered.
“Miss, what exactly did Concubine Lin write that made the Jinxiang Earl Mansion so angry?”
Song Wan touched her cheeks to cool them down a bit, then opened the eulogy written by Lin Jiayue and showed it to Heng Zhi. “This… doesn’t follow the proper format for writing eulogies. Not only is the format wrong, but the deceased’s name is also completely incorrect. The eldest daughter-in-law of the Jinxiang Earl is named Lu Wan, and her husband is a fifth-rank judicial officer.”
“The wife of a fifth-rank official is titled ‘Yiren,’ but to honor the deceased and increase their dignity, the funeral rites would elevate her status by one rank, making her a fourth-rank ‘Gongren.'”
“Whether it’s the spirit tablet or the offerings in front of the spirit, the correct way to write it should be ‘Gongren Lu of the Chengmen family,’ but Lin Jiayue wrote the deceased’s name as ‘Lu Gongren’ throughout the entire eulogy…”
Song Wan glanced at the paper filled with phrases like ‘Oh, how sorrowful’ and ‘tears streaming down the cheeks,’ as well as ‘dear friend Lu Gongren,’ and felt her eyelids twitching.
That day, she had deliberately provoked Lin Jiayue, wanting her to take the lead in the mourning arrangements. She had set several small traps in the eulogy and the road sacrifice invitation. If someone understood the rules, they would know the deeper meaning, but if they didn’t, it would cause some embarrassment.
Song Wan’s intention was to make Lin Jiayue think she had caught some small mistakes and report them to Jiang Xingjian, so she could use the excuse of being humiliated to completely push away the responsibility of managing the household.
But what Song Wan never expected was that Lin Jiayue, not understanding anything, would dare to write the eulogy just because she was provoked by a comment about her low status and lack of qualifications to participate in the affairs of other households. She even boldly sent it directly to the Jinxiang Earl Mansion.
“What’s even worse…”
Heng Wu exclaimed, “There’s something worse?”
Song Wan grimaced, “Here, it seems she copied my eulogy and changed the phrase ‘descendant of an official family’ to ‘descendant of a eunuch’…”
“Ah…”
Heng Zhi slapped her forehead and wailed, “Miss, if I remember correctly, the Jinxiang Earl Mansion has been in decline for a long time. To find a way out, a few years ago, a direct grandson of the family became the godson of Eunuch Duan from the Eastern Depot… right?”
“Yes.” Song Wan covered her eyes and murmured, “So, in the eyes of the Jinxiang Earl Mansion, we deliberately humiliated and provoked them during the funeral.”
“Respect for the deceased is paramount. Even if there is deep enmity between the two families, we wouldn’t go to such extremes…”
Heng Wu muttered, “Even I know not to hit someone in the face or expose their shortcomings when cursing. The Jinxiang Earl Mansion must hate us to death now, and it will likely lead to a never-ending feud in the future.”
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