Chapter 197

Fu Tingjun broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this and quickly asked, "How is Grandmother now?"

"I don't know," Yuwei shook her head. "I was dumbfounded when I heard the news myself. I only thought of rushing back to tell you, and didn't think to ask the Grand Madame..." As she spoke, she lowered her head uneasily.

Fu Tingjun didn't blame her, instead asking, "When does Yitong's cousin return to Huayin?"

"He set off for Huayin right after seeing me," Yuwei said. "He's probably already out of the city by now."

Fu Tingjun felt somewhat disappointed.

Yuwei suggested, "Why don't we send word to Sister Yitong and ask about the Grand Madame's situation?"

"That's a good idea," Fu Tingjun said after a moment's thought. "Do the First Master and Fifth Master know about this?"

"Both masters know," Yuwei said. "The First Master rushed back to Huayin last month and hasn't returned to Jinhua yet. As for the Fifth Master, he's written to a fellow official serving as a councilor in Shaanxi, asking him to help quell the rumors."

After this incident, even if the Fu family could suppress the rumors, they would likely leave a poor impression on others. If anything else happened to the family, their century-old reputation might gradually erode. Isn't that how many families that had stood for generations met their decline?

Fu Tingjun fell silent.

Yuwei was also somewhat melancholy.

The two sat in silence.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

From outside came Youyou's pattering footsteps: "Mother, Mother, what secrets are you and Yuwei discussing?" She lifted the curtain and peered inside.

Fu Tingjun and Yuwei exchanged a glance, then broke into radiant smiles. She went over and scooped up her daughter. "Why aren't you eating properly with Mother Tong? What are you doing running over here?" She walked outside as she spoke. "Didn't Mother Tong tell you not to talk while eating or sleep while talking?"

"She did tell me," Youyou said, lowering her head and stealing glances at her mother's expression with her big, sparkling apricot eyes. "But I wanted to know what Mother was doing!" She pouted coquettishly.

Outside, Mrs. Tong stood holding a small bowl, her face flushed red, looking embarrassed as she called out, "Madam..."

Seeing this, Youyou quickly tugged at her mother's sleeve. "Mother, Mother, it's not Mother Tong's fault. I was the one who wanted to come find you..." Her face was full of anxiety.

Fu Tingjun pretended to be angry, putting on a stern expression. "You mustn't do this again. When it's time to eat, you should eat properly. Understand?"

Youyou nodded repeatedly.

Fu Tingjun smiled and set her daughter down at the kang table where the meal was laid out.

After the meal, when the two children went to take their afternoon nap, she took three sticks of incense and bowed respectfully three times before the shrine, silently praying: "Elder Sister-in-law, I hope you can be reborn soon, and in your next life have both parents, with descendants flourishing, and never again do things that harm others or yourself." She also chose a day to visit Tanzhe Temple, asking the monks there to hold a three-day prayer ceremony.

As she came out of the main hall, she unexpectedly ran into Madam Wu.

"You've come to burn incense too?" Fu Tingjun was pleasantly surprised to run into an acquaintance.

Madam Wu, however, seemed rather ill at ease—quite different from her usual warm and enthusiastic manner when meeting Fu Tingjun. She gestured to a young girl beside her—quite pretty, though with a somewhat bashful look, appearing to have just reached the age of fifteen—and said, "This is my husband's distant niece. She's come to the capital to visit relatives, and I'm bringing her to Tanzhe Temple to burn incense."

It was quite ordinary for someone to bring a relative from their hometown around the capital for sightseeing. But the young girl was quite striking, and the way she looked both ashamed and embarrassed when Madam Wu spoke made Fu Tingjun take a few extra glances at her.

"The Tanzhe Temple in the capital is magnificent in scale. Though I haven't traveled widely, I've never seen a Buddhist temple more imposing than Tanzhe Temple," she said politely to Miss Wu. "The Guanyin Bodhisattva enshrined in the rear hall is especially efficacious, and the temple's vegetarian dishes are also exceptional. You really should take your time to look around."

Miss Wu lowered her head, folded her hands at her side, and murmured an assent, her shyness tinged with a hint of cowering.

Fu Tingjun found this even more strange.

This Miss Wu appeared refined and polite—why did she respond to social niceties like a timid young bride, so hesitant and withdrawn?

What was even stranger was Madam Wu's attitude. At this point, she should have been introducing Fu Tingjun to Miss Wu, but Madam Wu showed no intention of doing so.

Every family has its own difficulties, so Fu Tingjun naturally wouldn't say anything more. She exchanged a few more pleasantries with Madam Wu and Miss Wu, smiling.

A flicker of anxiety passed through Madam Wu's eyes, as if she had something urgent on her mind.

Fu Tingjun was perceptive enough to read between the lines. Besides, Madam Wu was somewhat snobbish in her dealings with people—though Fu Tingjun didn't particularly care for her, there were plenty of people like that, and there was no need to treat them all with hostility. She smiled and took her leave of Madam Wu.

Madam Wu let out a long sigh of relief.

After all, introducing one's own relative to be someone's concubine was hardly a respectable matter.

Looking up and seeing Miss Wu gazing curiously at Fu Tingjun's retreating figure, she couldn't help saying, "That's the Mrs. Zhao who lives next door to us!" Her tone carried a warning not to say anything careless.

Miss Wu's heart jolted, and she stammered, "Is that the Mrs. Zhao who bought twelve taels of silver per bolt of cloth to make padded jackets for her daughter?"

"Yes!" Madam Wu replied casually, then lowered her voice to instruct her, "After we offer incense at the Great Buddha Hall, we must hurry over to the Guanyin Hall. Madam Yu should be arriving soon—she's a straightforward person and doesn't like dawdling. When you meet Madam Yu, be gracious. Whatever she asks you, answer truthfully. If she gives you something, decline once, and if she insists, accept it with thanks. Don't keep going back and forth with refusals—it makes you look petty..."

Miss Wu quickly composed herself and acknowledged each instruction.

Seeing her obedience, Madam Wu nodded with satisfaction, smoothed her hair at the temples, and led her toward the Great Buddha Hall.

So that was Mrs. Zhao!

Miss Wu felt somewhat dazed.

She really is beautiful!

Standing tall and speaking with Madam Wu, her smile was like the sun—bright, dazzling, radiant... Someone like her, born into wealth and privilege, married to a distinguished husband, blessed with children, and free from want—she probably never knew what it meant to be lowly, humble, forbearing, or aggrieved in her entire life.

At this thought, Miss Wu couldn't help but look back.

She saw Mrs. Zhao stopped on the white marble steps outside the hall by a woman carrying a bamboo basket and wearing a headscarf, peddling sundry goods.

The married maid beside Mrs. Zhao stepped forward with displeasure, looking as if she meant to scold the woman, but Mrs. Zhao smilingly pressed the maid's shoulder and chatted amiably with the peddler instead. The peddler hastily pulled a pair of tiger-head shoes from her basket. Mrs. Zhao took them, examined them with interest, and exchanged a few more words with the woman. The peddler's face showed gratitude, and she took out a few children's trinkets from her basket. Mrs. Zhao quietly instructed one of the older maidservants beside her, and a younger maid stepped forward to take the items from the peddler's hands, while the older maid smiled and pulled a few pieces of loose silver from her embroidered purse and offered them over.

The peddler was momentarily taken aback, then waved her hands repeatedly.

Mrs. Zhao said a few more words.

The peddler once again showed gratitude, accepted the silver, and curtsied to Mrs. Zhao again and again.

Mrs. Zhao smiled at the woman, then turned and descended the steps, surrounded by her maids and attendants.

For some reason, Miss Wu let out a long breath, just like Madam Wu had.

Someone gently nudged her shoulder and called out, "Young Miss."

She quickly turned around.

The senior maidservant Madam Wu had assigned to attend her was glaring at her. "Madam is calling you! What are you gawking at?" Then she lowered her voice, "If you carry on like this, anyone can tell you're straight from the countryside. At least try to restrain yourself." Her tone was thoroughly displeased.

For no reason at all, the image of Mrs. Zhao smiling as she spoke with the peddler surfaced in Miss Wu's mind...

She swallowed the bitterness in her heart, gave the maidservant a weak smile, and hurried into the Great Buddha Hall.

...

Seeing that the path ahead sloped downward, Zheng Sanniang supported Fu Tingjun and grumbled, "What's gotten into Madam Wu? Usually she's all warmth and affection when she sees us, but this time she looked like she couldn't wait to see us gone. Could it really be what Old Woman Huang said—that Lord Wu is being promoted to Minister of Rites?"

The Minister of Rites was one of the Six Ministries, typically concurrently held by a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat.

Fu Tingjun laughed. "If that were so, given Madam Wu's temperament, she'd be just as warm to us as ever—she's always been a smooth operator in her dealings, never offending a soul."

"That's true!" Zheng Sanniang chuckled.

Fu Tingjun then smiled and asked, "So Old Woman Huang came to see you again? What was it about this time?"

Old Woman Huang was a rough servant in the household of Lord Li on Bensi Hutong. When Fu Tingjun had first moved to Shijia Hutong and was short on funds, she had temporarily hired people to clean the courtyard. The steward of Madam Wu's household had recommended two servants from the Li family to work for Fu Tingjun, and Old Woman Huang was one of them. Perhaps because they were the first people she'd come to know upon arriving in the capital, and both women were honest and dependable, Zheng Sanniang had always maintained a good relationship with them.

Zheng Sanniang smiled sheepishly. "She said there's a temple fair at Baiyun Temple in a few days and asked if I wanted to go."

"Go if you'd like!" Fu Tingjun said with a smile. "Just make sure everything at home is in order first."

Her mistress's leniency was a mark of honor. A hint of pride showed in Zheng Sanniang's eyes and brows as she laughed. "I already told her no—with the New Year just around the corner, we've got a whole household to manage. Not like her—Madam Li is back in her hometown, Lord Li is at his post, so a few catties of meat and she's set for the holiday. I've got too much on my plate to go wandering about!"

Yuwei and the others all laughed at that.

Up ahead, they encountered a noble lady surrounded by maidservants and matrons.

The two women met each other's eyes and both came to a stop.

"Mrs. Zhao!" Madam Yu called out to Fu Tingjun, her heart a jumble of mixed emotions as she greeted her.

Fu Tingjun had met Madam Yu before, but this was the first time Madam Yu had seen her in the capital. Yet Madam Yu's expression showed neither shock nor astonishment—only surprise and an unreadable look.

It seemed Madam Yu was already well aware of her situation.

Thinking of what Yu Jingxiu had done to her, Fu Tingjun curled her lips in disdain, gave a curt "Madam Yu," and brushed past her.

Madam Yu was taken aback, turning around to call out, "Mrs. Zhao!"

Fu Tingjun did not respond, walking away with an air of indifference.

She couldn't yet be certain what role Madam Yu had played in the scheme to frame her, and she had maintained basic courtesy upon meeting—that was more than enough. As for what the future held, time would reveal many things, and she would deal with them when the time came.

With these thoughts, she made her way home.