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Young Madam Han said, “You all sit and chat slowly, there are still some matters in the household that I need to attend to.”
Madam Huang quickly added, “My daughter-in-law mentioned yesterday that she wanted to eat sour bamboo shoots, I’ll go and have someone prepare some for her.”
The two of them, with smiles on their faces, looked a bit somber as soon as they stepped out the door.
Seeing that the other two families were no longer present, Princess Changting summoned the Second Master to sit beside her and, holding his hand, said to the others, “I have three sons, and I care for each of them deeply. Some say I’m biased, but that’s nonsense. In fact, I’ve worried the most about the second son. He never liked studying when he was young, and his father often beat him. Because of this, I’ve had many arguments with your father. Later, to arrange for him to marry that talented daughter-in-law, I went through a lot of trouble. And then there was the child who didn’t survive, and Zhanyu’s body… How many times did I cry from dusk till dawn…”
The Second Master was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes. He choked with emotion, “Your son is incapable and has caused you worry.”
The princess continued, “Some things have wronged your family, and I am aware of that. But with such a large family and business, there are always some burdens that need to be shouldered. I thought, since I have a lot of personal savings, I would give you more silver before I die, especially to Zhanyu, who doesn’t want to enter officialdom and has no additional income. I should give him more so that he can live a life of luxury. These past few days, I’ve been thinking, what if I die suddenly and they divide all that silver equally? Wouldn’t that be unfair to my Zhanyu…”
Lu Man understood that the old lady was using a carrot and stick approach, trying to appease the anger and resentment of the second family with money. The Second Madam, though proud and indifferent to money, could not ignore the future livelihood of her son.
The Princess could not distribute the family estate of the marquisate haphazardly, it had to be done according to custom. But she had full control over her personal savings and could decide how much to give to whom.
Lu Man also noticed that although the Second Madam looked somewhat haggard, her spirit was still good. If she was said to be ill, it was likely a psychological ailment, from not sleeping well at night. The old lady had a secret conversation with her in the side room earlier, and she probably promised something that eased her mind a bit. The old lady’s skill in balancing was truly masterful. Of course, in this balance, the second family’s weight was lighter, and the weight of Jiang Zhanwei, Lu Man, and their siblings was even lighter.
Princess Changting gave Jiang Zhanyu 20,000 taels of silver, 1,000 mu of farmland, and four shops. She also gave Jiang Zhanwei and Lu Man an additional 10,000 taels of silver and one shop each, and Jiang Zhanwei, Jiang Jiu, and Jiang Yue each received 5,000 taels of silver and one shop.
Lu Man did not expect that she, as a granddaughter-in-law who had already separated from the family, would receive a separate share. Together with their siblings and Lu Man and her mother, they received a total of 35,000 taels of silver and five shops. The old lady’s generosity was quite substantial. Jiang Zhanyu’s future would be even more comfortable, and the estate left by his parents after their deaths would be his alone, enough for him to spend lavishly without worry.
Princess Changting then took Lu Man’s hand and said, “I know Zhanwei has made great contributions to the family, but he is capable, and so are you. I don’t need to worry about your livelihood. That silver isn’t much, consider it my way of making up for what I owe him… After this distribution, I still have 120,000 taels of personal savings, over 2,000 mu of farmland, eight shops, and some jewelry and decorations. I’ll give the third son an additional 20,000 taels of silver privately since he has more sons and doesn’t live as well as the eldest. Apart from the jewelry and decorations, the rest will be divided equally among you three brothers. Those items brought from the palace will eventually be reclaimed by the Imperial Household Department…”
Speaking like this, as if she were entrusting her final affairs, the Second Master was both touched and saddened, weeping profusely, and the others also had reddened eyes.
After the old lady finished her distribution, she was tired and rose to return to the Crane Hall. The Second Master considerately supported his mother and escorted her back. They agreed that in the afternoon, he would give them the banknotes and have the deeds processed.
Lu Man and the Second Madam returned to the inner courtyard together. Before leaving, she reminded Jiang Zhanyu once again to take care of his health and not overexert himself while painting.
Two small sedan chairs entered the inner courtyard, one after the other. As they passed by a pavilion called Cui Linglong, Lu Man called for the sedan to stop and exchanged a few words with Xing.
Xing quickly ran ahead to the front sedan chair and told the second lady inside, “Reporting to the second lady, our third lady invites you to the Cui Linglong Pavilion. She has something important she wishes to discuss with you.”
Previously, Lu Man had admired the Second Madam and did not want to cause trouble, so she had kept some thoughts to herself. But this time, the Second Madam felt that she was the most wronged in the world, and Lu Man disagreed, feeling that they should speak openly.
The Second Madam was indeed wronged, she was forced to marry Second Master Jiang, who was a fool, and her two sons were either dead or sick, leading to an unhappy life. But it was the Second Master who insisted on marrying her, a decision made by the Princess and her father. Her son’s poor health was a result of her own excessive drinking. Her consequences were not caused by Miss Zhou or the three siblings, why should the Second Master vent his anger on Jiang Zhanwei?
Moreover, as wronged as she felt, was it more so than Miss Zhou, who lived a life of humiliation and pain in the household? Or more than the three siblings, who grew up in an environment of suppression, exclusion, and neglect?
If she hadn’t drunk excessively, her child would have been healthy and wouldn’t have brought Miss Zhou into the household to offend her. If she hadn’t been so arrogant and insisted on keeping Miss Zhou in the household, constantly reminding the Second Master of his past betrayal and showing how much she disdained Miss Zhou, then Miss Zhou, who was already married to someone else, and Jiang Zhanwei wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to secure a status for Miss Zhou…
Lu Man entered the pavilion first. The pavilion had walls, but the upper part of the walls was open with windows to facilitate the viewing of the bamboo outside and to allow air circulation.
Standing by the window, she saw that the noon sunlight was just right. Although it wasn’t very warm, the golden light dancing on the bamboo leaves gave a sense of warmth. When the wind blew, it rustled the bamboo leaves and carried a strong fragrance of greenery.
This was a place often visited by the refined Madam Lin.
The Second Madam entered, wearing a lake blue flower-sprinkled fur-lined cloak and a Zhaojun hat, looking dignified, elegant, and rich without losing her scholarly demeanor.
As soon as she entered, she said to Lu Man, “Thank you. I know that the fact that Zhanyu’s health is so good is largely due to you. I appreciate your kindness.”
Lu Man smiled and said, “You’re too kind, Second Madam. The Fifth Young Master is a gentleman, and I also hope he can be healthy and live a long life.” She then said, “The reason I invited you here is that I have two things I want to say from the heart. These words have been hidden in my heart for a long time, and I wasn’t sure if I should tell you. Today, I feel that I should.”
“Oh, what could be so difficult for Zhanwei’s wife to say?” The Second Madam was somewhat surprised.
Lu Man spoke directly, “The illnesses of the Fifth Young Master and the Second Young Master are related to you, Second Madam.”
The Second Madam’s face immediately darkened, and she said, “You’re a divine physician, but you can’t just parrot what others say. There’s no history of these illnesses in my family, and none of the women in my family, other than me, have given birth to children with such illnesses.”
This was her heart’s ailment. After giving birth to these two children, the Princess hadn’t hesitated to say that she had brought the root of the illness from her family.