Then, he took out a sheet of Xuan paper, wrapped all the radish pieces in it, and threw it into the wastebasket under the table, which already contained a packet of Xuan paper.
Chapter 69 | Table of Contents
Chapter Sixty-Nine:
Wuyou tiptoed out of the side room, hiding behind a pillar and looking around. The courtyard was quiet; everyone must be asleep. (Download the complete txt file at )
Just as she was about to take a step, she heard a creaking sound. It turned out that the door to her aunt's room had opened, and her cousin Wuxia came out with two maids, followed by her aunt's trusted maid, Bailu.
They hurried to the courtyard gate. The old woman guarding the gate, who had been yawning, immediately perked up when she saw Wuxia and the others, and asked respectfully, "Young lady, where are you going?"
Bai Lu replied on behalf of Wu Xia, "Miss, you have accepted the invitation from the wife of the Heir Apparent of Pingyang."
The old woman dared not delay and immediately stepped aside to clear the doorway.
Will she be questioned even if she goes out?
But no one allowed her to go out; she sneaked out.
What should we do?
As Wuyou watched the backs of Wuxia and the other two, a plan suddenly came to mind.
She ran over, and when she saw the old woman trying to stop her, she immediately said, "I'm with my older sister. My aunt wants me to stay with her."
The old woman never expected that the second daughter, who rarely spoke and was as obedient and quiet as a wooden doll, would lie. Without asking any further questions, she quickly stepped aside again.
Wuyou hurriedly ran in the direction Wuxia and the other two had left, until she turned a corner and stopped to ask the little monk where Yuxin Courtyard was.
Yuxin Courtyard is located west of Biyun Temple, separated from Yuqing Courtyard, where the Jun family lives, by a back garden. Wuyou asked for directions several times before finally finding the right place.
Fang Rulan sat under the trellis in the courtyard with the food box in her arms, waiting. As soon as she saw her, she called out, "Wuyou, come here quickly, your mother is here."
With no one else around, Wuyou had no more worries and rushed over to hug her tightly.
Everyone said that her mother had made a terrible mistake and could no longer stay at home, but Wuyou always felt that her mother was still her mother, no matter what mistake she had made. These days, although she didn't say it, she had been thinking about her mother constantly and had never forgotten her for a single day.
"Mother, where have you gone? Why haven't you come to see me?" Wuyou asked, choking back tears.
Fang Rulan spat, "It's all because of your heartless father! He kicked me out and forbade me to see you, not even allowing letters to be sent to the Marquis's mansion. I was willing to lose all my dignity and become his concubine just to stay with him. Yet he shows no mercy whatsoever, he's utterly heartless and cruel!" Having finished her tirade, she softened her voice, "Luckily, my little Wuyou isn't like her father; she knows to miss her mother. Come, see what good things your mother brought you?"
She led Wuyou to sit down in the corridor, opened the food box, and took out several kinds of pastries.
Chestnut flour cake, pea flour cake, osmanthus cake, and goat milk rose pastry are not particularly rare, but they are all things that Wuyou loves to eat.
"Try it, your mother made it for you herself." Fang Rulan stuffed the cakes into her daughter's hands.
Wuyou had just finished lunch and was still a little full, but she didn't want to waste any of the pastries her mother had made, so she wolfed them all down.
"Look how hungry you are," Fang Rulan sighed. "Didn't our ancestors give you enough to eat? My poor little Wuyou."
“Mother, that’s not how it is. Grandmother treats me very well,” Wuyou explained.
Fang Rulan, however, did not believe it.
“Mother knows that Wuyou is sensible and doesn’t want her to worry, so she only reports good news and not bad news, right?” She hugged Wuyou in her arms. “Wuyou, you must remember that in this world, apart from the two of us, mother and daughter, who will truly care about each other, you have to be wary of everyone else.”
Wuyou inevitably had to explain that her family members weren't actually bad people.
However, Fang Rulan seemed to disagree, saying only, "Wuyou did the right thing. You should be careful what you say outside, after all, walls have ears."
Wuyou wanted to explain further, but then she thought that the rest time was only an hour, and the time she spent with her mother was so short, so she shouldn't argue about these things. Anyway, she knew in her heart how her family treated her.
So she changed her question and asked, "Mother, where have you been this past year? Have you been well?"
The two questions seemed to touch a nerve with Fang Rulan, causing her to burst into tears, which no amount of persuasion from Wuyou could change.
Fang Rulan cried for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. She managed to stop the tears, but sobs continued, and she complained, "This past year has been...it's been an inhuman experience. Your uncles used to fawn over us. I meant well, even though we're thousands of miles apart, I still had your father use the Marquis's influence to find them good jobs. But these people are just as heartless as your father! When I fell on hard times and went to them for help, they..." Hearing that I'd been kicked out of the Marquis's mansion, they started making excuses for me. If they wouldn't take me in, they wouldn't take me in, so why make up such ridiculous excuses? "Our house is too small, we don't have enough room, we have many children and expenses, we don't have any spare money, and my cousins are in a compromising situation, we don't want to cause any misunderstandings." Hmph, ungrateful and treacherous, that's exactly what they are. Wuyou, you must remember this: if they ever come to you asking you to help find husbands for your cousins or jobs for your cousins, ignore them completely. Remember how they treated your mother and me, and help me get my revenge.”
Back at home, Fang Rulan almost never talked to Wuyou about such mundane family matters. Wuyou had never heard such harsh words before and didn't know how to react. She just listened to her continue.
"I had no choice but to rent a manor in the suburbs. The rent was cheap there, and I pawned several of my belongings, which made me quite well-off that year. But as the saying goes, 'sitting idle and eating one's savings' and now I have nothing left," Fang Rulan sighed. "Your father rushed me away in a hurry, and I didn't take anything with me. Wuyou, do you know that all those clothes and jewelry in my room are still there?"
Wuyou was still young and didn't care much about clothes and jewelry. She didn't care about her own clothes and jewelry, let alone other people's. She frowned and thought for a long time before she finally blurted out a sentence: "Grandmother said that everything Mother left behind would be given to me. She opened a small storeroom for me in Fuyouju and said that if I didn't need it for a while, I could put it there and use it as my dowry in the future."
If it wasn't taken by the other concubines, things would be much easier to handle.
Fang Rulan breathed a sigh of relief, gently patted her chest, and calmly considered how to say the next thing.
“Wuyou, you are only seven years old this year. You will have to wait at least ten or eight years to get married. But it’s different for your mother. She has no money. Not only will she not be able to afford food, but she will also be kicked out by the landlord and sleep on the streets like a beggar. Isn’t that miserable?”
She put it simply, and even though Wuyou had never seen a beggar before, she understood that having no food or shelter was a particularly pitiful thing, so she nodded in agreement without hesitation.
Fang Rulan added, "So, in order to prevent Mother from suffering so much, you have to help Mother bring those jewelry out."
"Oh." Wuyou agreed readily. Those jewelry pieces originally belonged to her mother, so it was only natural to return them to her.
However, most girls are sensitive and carefree, so Wuyou inevitably felt that her mother's purpose in coming today was not because she missed her, but because of the jewelry.
Her mood soured as a result, and it remained so until she parted ways with Fang Rulan and walked alone on her way back to Yuqing Courtyard.
Biyun Temple has ten courtyards for pilgrims to stay overnight, five on the east and five on the west, arranged on both sides of the back garden. The Yuxin Courtyard chosen by Fang Rulan is the one on the west side that is furthest from the mountain gate.
Wuyou lowered her head and walked listlessly past the nearest courtyard to the south of Yuxin Courtyard.
Actually, even if her mother came for the jewelry, so what? She got to eat the pastries her mother made, saw her mother, and learned where she lived. These were all things to be happy about.
With this thought, her mood improved, and Wuyou smiled as she raised her head, her steps becoming lighter.