Chapter 343 Illness

Chapter 343: Illness

"Since your aunt hasn't returned, it's not proper for you, a lad like you, to stay home alone. Either I send you to your sister-in-law's in the county town, or you stay with your aunt for a while longer," Meng Wan suggested, leaning against the doorframe.

He naturally knew where his aunt by marriage was. Greed had clouded her judgment, and she'd gone to testify in court on Song Tingzhou's behalf. After the coup, she was held in the Ministry of Justice prison with the other officials connected to Prince Lian. Song Tingzhou wouldn't help her just because she was family—she'd be exiled at the very least.

Meng Wan didn't explain this. Yu Ge'er, seeing his mother hadn't returned and no elder at home, was thrown into a panic. He still didn't know his mother was locked in the Ministry of Justice prison. Thinking of his father and brother's troubles, he couldn't help spilling everything to Meng Wan.

It turned out that after Song Tingzhou became a high official and the family had money, his father couldn't help bragging to everyone. After Grandmother Chang's death, the couple had to move to the county town to live with their son to keep up appearances, but they'd occasionally take turns visiting the county.

The county town was more prosperous than the town. With money in hand, Uncle Chang was willing to spend—hanging around brothels and theaters to listen to storytelling and watch plays. Just listening wasn't enough; he'd brag to anyone about his nephew being a high official in the capital, soaking up everyone's flattery and attention.

The performers at the playhouse would praise him to his face, but seeing that he only ever paid the entry fee and never tipped a single coin, they eventually decided he was all talk. Still, those in lowly trades made their living by reading people, so they kept flattering him to his face, just without much warmth.

Not just the performers—the regular patrons at the theater all knew Uncle Chang as the blowhard who could talk a big game. They'd mock him behind his back. One day, he overheard them, harsh words were exchanged, and a fight broke out. Uncle Chang, alone, got beaten up and limped home.

Back home, he showed his son his injuries and griped. His son naturally wouldn't stand for it—he took Uncle Chang to get even. Both sides fought again, and in the tussle, a middle-aged man who was a chronic drunkard got shoved down, cracking his head on a sharp rock. He was dead on the spot.

Both parties were scared half to death—this happened right in front of everyone. Uncle Chang's son initially tried to buy the family off, but the dead man's son wouldn't accept it. His family had both status and money, and insisted on going to the authorities.

When the county constables came to arrest him, Uncle Chang finally got scared. He quickly blurted out that his nephew was a big shot in the capital. When the Guyang County magistrate heard this, he actually investigated and found it to be true. Unable to decide what to do, he wrote a letter and gave it to Aunt Chang, to gauge Song Tingzhou's reaction.

After Yu Ge'er finished telling the whole story, he braced himself for a scolding from Meng Wan, but Meng Wan's expression didn't change.

"The law doesn't make exceptions for family. Whatever crimes they've committed, they must face the punishment. Even your cousin is no exception—we won't shield anyone. His official robes are meant to uphold justice, not to protect relatives. In a couple of days, once I'm free, I'll send you to your sister-in-law's in the county town."

Meng Wan wasn't about to take Yu Ge'er's word for it—he needed to see for himself. The magistrate of Guyang County had indeed sent a letter to Song Tingzhou. Whatever his intentions, he'd been unlucky enough to get tangled up in this mess, and he was bound to lose his post. The question was whether the new magistrate had started yet, and how the case would be judged.

Meng Wan had no plans to bail out the Chang family, but he wanted to see the matter settled properly, and then warn the entire Song clan. That was his primary purpose in returning this time.

Big families had all sorts of tangled connections—you never knew who was connected to whom. But if one person fell, the whole clan could go down with them.

Meng Wan and Song Tingzhou had thought about this back in Lingnan and planned ahead, which was how they'd been able to work with the Crown Prince. But what if someone really went looking for trouble and brought Song Tingzhou down with them?

They needed to find a way to keep the Song family's relatives on a tight leash.

Yu Ge'er couldn't make heads or tails of Meng Wan's deep talk. He finally woke up from the illusion that his father and brother would be fine, panic flooding his eyes.

For a second, he even felt a flash of resentment—Song Tingzhou was so powerful, why wouldn't he lift a finger for his own uncle? The next second, he mentally kicked himself. His cousin-in-law had been good to him; he couldn't be so ungrateful.

After all, they were his family. Yu Ge'er had had it easy his whole life, his biggest worry was getting married. It had never crossed his mind that his father might actually die. Naturally, he couldn't hold back his tears and sobbed the whole way back to the Song house with Meng Wan.

Meng Wan figured it was time to let Chang Jinhua know the truth, so he didn't stop him.

Sure enough, when they got back and Chang Jinhua saw that the cloth Meng Wan had taken that morning was brought back, and Yu Ge'er was crying with swollen eyes, her heart sank. "What's the matter? Wan Ge'er, is it your grandmother..."

Meng Wan pursed his lips. "Mother, don't be too upset. Grandmother was advanced in years—she lived a long life."

When Chang Jinhua heard this, her head spun as if she'd been hit by a bell. The room spun around her, and she was overcome with grief, barely able to stay on her feet.

"Mother! What's wrong? Sit down quickly." Meng Wan's face changed as he rushed to help Chang Jinhua onto the kang.

Chang Jinhua wasn't the type to wear her heart on her sleeve. She'd been tough for so long—apart from when Song Tingzhou was in danger in Heshan County and when Meng Wan was giving birth, this was the first time she'd let herself fall apart like this, sobbing so hard she couldn't raise her head from Meng Wan's arms.

Meng Wan's eyes ached with sympathy, and a few tears slipped from his own eyes. "Mother, I went to see Grandmother's residence. My sister-in-law looked after her well—she didn't suffer."

Chang Jinhua was filled with regret. "I'm a terrible daughter. I never came back to see her all these years, and I couldn't even be there when she passed!"

Funerals were a huge deal back then. Dying without kids or grandkids to smash the basin and carry the mourning gear was a laughingstock, and a daughter skipping her parent's funeral was even worse—people would talk and curse your name.

This was for the maternal grandparents. If his paternal grandparents died and Song Tingzhou didn't come back for the mourning period, he'd be severely punished. Hiding a death on purpose could even get him stripped of his post.

So Meng Wan figured part of the reason everyone lived with their grandparents was to make funerals easier.

As a daughter, Chang Jinhua was hit hard by grief—she couldn't even touch her dinner that night.

Grave visits were always done early, never after dark—nobody burned paper offerings after dark. The next morning, Meng Wan had Yu Ge'er take the lead. He, Chang Jinhua, and A Yan went to the grandmother's grave to mound up fresh dirt, burn spirit money, kowtow, and lay out offerings of fruit, steamed buns, and roast chicken.

Chang Jinhua broke down sobbing at her mother's grave again and came home sick.

Meng Wan was beside himself. He first rushed to town to get a doctor, then, worried the town doctor couldn't be trusted, told the maids to take good care of Chang Jinhua before rushing off to Guyang County—sooner than he'd planned.

Chi Yu drove the carriage, and Zhifan rode inside with Meng Wan. Yu Ge'er sat huddled in the corner, not saying a word. Over the past two days, because of Chang Jinhua's illness, Meng Wan had been taking his frustration out on Yu Ge'er, shooting him nothing but cold looks.

Nothing was more important than Chang Jinhua's health. Chi Yu drove like the wind, making it to Guyang County in two days. Meng Wan immediately tracked down the county's best doctor and paid a hefty sum to get him to come to Sanquan Village for a house call.

In the dead of night, with plenty of silver thrown around, the doctor's husband didn't show the slightest impatience. Within fifteen minutes, he'd packed the doctor's bags and sent them off with a smile.

Meanwhile, Meng Wan dropped Yu Ge'er off at his brother's place, ignoring the hesitant look on his sister-in-law's face. He said he'd be back in the county in a couple of days, then grabbed a quick nap at an inn before waiting at the city gate bright and early. As soon as the gates opened, he set off back to Sanquan Village with the doctor.

Chang Jinhua's illness was mostly grief, plus some old-age complaints—nothing too serious. Meng Wan was relieved but kept the doctor around for two extra days, saying he had to go back to Guyang County and would take the doctor home then.

Three days later, Chang Jinhua was much better. Still sad, but she'd finally gotten her strength back.

"Mother, I'll take the doctor back to the county tomorrow morning. I might pick up some supplies for the canteen and the clan school kids—I'll be back in a week or so. Don't worry too much while I'm gone—Tong'er and A Yan still need you," Meng Wan told Chang Jinhua.

When she heard they were back, Aunt Song from the sixth branch came home from town too, along with Zhang Xiaoyu's family, all sitting in the room with Chang Jinhua.

Chang Jinhua leaned against the head of the kang, a band around her forehead, looking a bit under the weather. She felt guilty that Meng Wan had gone all the way to the county to find a doctor for her and hadn't gotten any real rest since coming back. "Why not let Songshan take the doctor home? Why do you have to go yourself?"

Meng Wan smiled, trying to put her at ease: "I haven't been to Guyang County in ages, and I'm getting bored of the village. I'll wander around the county. I heard there's a well-known fur shop there—I'll pick up some good pelts for coats and cloaks when we get back to Shengjing."

Hearing that, Chang Jinhua felt a lot better. She couldn't stand seeing Meng Wan run himself ragged for her, but if he was going for fun, that was okay.

Meng Wan had everything sorted at home, and had originally planned to bring A Yan and Tong'er to the county for fun too. But early the next morning, Old Master Fang, the head of the Fang family, showed up in person to get Tong'er.

Meng Wan smacked his forehead. He'd been so worried about Chang Jinhua mourning her mother that he'd almost forgotten Tong'er's grandfather lived in town too, and hadn't thought to let the Fang family know. Old Master Fang had probably heard about Chang Jinhua's illness and, not wanting to bother her, waited a few days before coming to get his grandson.

He didn't come empty-handed either—knowing the Song family wouldn't take gold or jewelry, he brought baskets of mountain goods: hazelnuts and walnuts saved from winter.

A Yan had grown up playing with Tong'er and didn't think twice about going with him to the Fang house for a few days. Songshan and Songqiao went along to keep an eye on them.

"That Rong Ge'er kid has no sense of stability, always running around. Ahem... is that Ge fellow still a low-ranking soldier in Lingnan?" Old Master Fang didn't think much of Ge Quan, always feeling he'd led his son astray. He coughed lightly into his fist, looking embarrassed.

"Brother Ge is now working for the Crown Prince in the capital city. Shengjing is a lot closer to Changping than Lingnan—I'm sure once they're done with their business in the capital, they'll come see you." Since they were all family, Meng Wan took the chance to set the record straight about Ge Quan. Once the Crown Prince took the throne, Ge Quan would definitely have a high position, and Old Master Fang would be reaping the benefits of his son-in-law's good fortune down the line.

"The... the Crown Prince?" Old Master Fang was, sure enough, shocked.

Meng Wan didn't let on too much, just gave him some vague answers. Old Master Fang left in a daze, taking Tong'er and A Yan back home with him.

After seeing them off, Meng Wan was about to head to the county. As he turned to get on the carriage, he noticed the young lad from the next courtyard hiding behind the big tree by the gate, secretly wiping his eyes as he watched the Fang family's carriage drive off.

"Hey, kid?" Meng Wan called out, his expression soft.

The lad seemed a bit slow on the uptake. Meng Wan had to call out two more times before the lad realized he was being spoken to.

"Are you... talking to me?" He shyly stayed behind the tree, only poking his head out after a long pause to point at himself.

Meng Wan chuckled. "Yeah, is your mother's name Xiaomei?"

The lad nodded, then shook his head, "I think so."

Meng Wan patted his head, "I saw you when you were little. Don't be sad, A Yan will be back in a couple of days."

"A Yan... who is that?" the lad said blankly.

Meng Wan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "You played with him for days and you don't even know his name?"

Two patches of red bloomed on the lad's cheeks, "No, I don't."

Xiaomei was busy in the yard and must have overheard Meng Wan talking with her son. She came out and greeted him a bit awkwardly, "Wan Geer, you're back. How is Auntie Chang? I wanted to visit, but I heard you telling others not to come, afraid of disturbing her rest, so I didn't go over."

Song Tingzhou's standing in the village was beyond question now. When word spread that Chang Jinhua was ill, so many members of the Song clan came by that Meng Wan couldn't keep count. He wasn't afraid to ruffle some feathers; except for Aunt Song Liu's family and Zhang Xiaoyu's family, he turned everyone else away.

As neighbors, the Tian family should have stopped by, but Xiaomei had heard Meng Wan's words from home and felt that her family wasn't that close to Meng Wan's anyway, and now couldn't presume to be, so she didn't approach.

"Thank you for your concern. She's already out of danger, no need to visit. My mother doesn't like the house being all hustle and bustle. How are Uncle Tian and Aunt Tian doing?" Meng Wan hadn't seen Xiaomei in a long time and felt no particular emotion, only noticing that she wasn't as lively and talkative as she was in her youth, and her speech had matured.

Over the years, everyone had changed.

"My mother-in-law passed away four years ago, and my father-in-law left last year too." Xiaomei had been drying mushrooms in the yard, dressed in a gray coarse cloth outfit for work. Now she seemed very uneasy, her hand instinctively rising to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, but halfway up she realized the patches on her clothes were too mismatched and obvious, so she lowered it and covered it with her hand instead.

Meng Wan thought that was good. The old couple weren't kind-hearted people; without them, Xiaomei and her husband could live more comfortably. Otherwise, if she had given birth to a boy, she might have suffered abuse from Aunt Tian. He complimented, "You've raised your son well. He's fair and clean, and looks like you."

A genuine smile spread across Xiaomei's face, "Yes, everyone says that. Xing Geer is just a bit slow, not very clever." As she spoke, her smile began to fade.

Meng Wan could see that the boy's mind wasn't quite sharp, but he wasn't foolish either. In Xiaomei's household, there was only the sound of Xing Geer's voice. Women were more likely to conceive than male carriers, but over the years, it seemed Xing Geer was their only child.