Chapter 16: The Centipede's Death (Part 1)

  Two flowers bloom, each representing one branch.

  It's said that in the distant capital, already covered in snow and ice. On this day, the head of the Rongning Manor's farm was driving his horse-drawn carriage forward when he encountered a horse-drawn carriage sent by Lin Zhiyuan to deliver New Year's goods. Coincidentally, on this cold and icy day, one of Jia Manor's carriages carrying New Year's goods had overturned, trapping over ten live deer under the carriage, blocking the way.

  The Lin family's gift was brought by Xiao Tang, the steward. As soon as he saw this situation, he ordered someone to go and help. After a conversation between the two parties, they found out that they were all going to the Jia Mansion, so they formed a partnership and traveled together.

  Xiao Tang was only twenty-three or four years old this year, and it was the age of being capable. Otherwise, Lin Zhiyuan would not have sent him to deliver gifts. After chatting with Zhuang Toutou, Xiao Tang had already inquired about the affairs of the Jia Mansion and remembered them silently, waiting to report back to Young Master when he returned.

  And it was Wang Xifeng, the second wife of Lai Shang, who had been in charge of Rongguo House for only a few years. Since receiving an urgent letter sent by her husband three days ago, Wang Xifeng had been on fire for several days. Jia Lian told Grandma and the ladies in his heart that Mr. Lin had passed away.

  He and Daiyu's cousin only found out after arriving in Yangzhou that Old Master had already let a nephew named Lin Zhiyuan inherit the family business. The letter also mentioned vaguely that Lin Zhiyuan was the son of Old Master's eldest brother, and his only close nephew.

  The masters and servants of the Jia Mansion were all shocked upon hearing this news. Originally, they had been thinking to themselves with glee about how much silver Rongguo would bring back this time and how much each of them would get. Now that they had received the news, it seemed likely that everything had been taken by that Lin Zhidaifu instead. How could they not be resentful!

  At the end of the year, the slaves in Rongning's second mansion did not dare to show their joy, fearing that they would encounter their master who was in a rage.

  Phoenix Sister's family often brought autumnal board, mouse king suite, surrounded by agate belt, wearing peach red scattered flower jacket, stone green carved silk gray mouse cloak, big red foreign velvet silver mouse skin skirt, powder light and shiny, sitting there properly, holding a small copper fire tongs to stir the ashes in the hand warmer, seemingly casual, but carefully listening to Cai Ming reciting the list of New Year's gifts. After a while, the housekeeper from the kitchen came to take the menu card, then the purchasing officer came to collect the silver for the girls' cosmetics during the New Year, or Bao Yu's maid, Zhen Shi, came to fetch new clothes for the New Year, all of which Phoenix Sister had to personally inquire about.

  Ping'er lifted the curtain and walked in. Feng Jie immediately knew she had something to report, so she waved her hand for Cai Ming to leave. "What's going on?"

  Ping'er saw that there were only the two of them left in the house, so she said: "Ma'am, just now Lin Zhi-xiao's family came to collect the silver for buying New Year's goods, I've already temporarily sent her away, but where can we get this item of silver from?"

  Wang Xifeng sighed: "First take a look at how much silver we can use from our accounts."

  Ping'er mentally calculated and thought to herself, "There's probably only about 2,000 taels of silver left."

  "Is that all?" Wang Xifeng's body suddenly straightened, she knew the silver on the account was not much, but recently busy with various things, did not think only about two thousand taels left! Ping'er seeing her mistress's face was not good, advised: "Don't worry, madam, our family's tenants should also send this year's New Year's gifts. Probably just these two days."

  "How much silver can that be? Our family has only prepared for the New Year's Eve expenses, and a thousand or so taels of silver have already been spent. This is also because Rongguo Mansion took the lead, and the ancestral worship banquet was all prepared by them. On the first day of the new year, the old ladies and madams in our house will go to the palace to pay their respects, and we can't help but prepare another thousand taels for those eunuchs. Starting from the third day, the princesses and noblewomen from various mansions will come to visit, and if the festival gifts are not generous enough, they will be looked down upon. Two thousand taels, how can it be used?! Wang Xifeng was so anxious that she was on fire, and she wished she could split the money in half to spend."

  Ping'er knew that her grandmother had been in a bad temper lately, so she came up with an idea: "Grandma, don't worry, this money has always followed the usual practice. Every year at the end of the year, Mr. Lin's family would send 5,000 taels of silver. I think it's just because of the heavy snow that they're late this year."

  Ping'er's words made Wang Xifeng feel pleased: "I said you're a fool, and it's not wrong at all. What did our family's second master's letter say? Now that the Lin family's old lady has let her nephew take over the family business, how can she still send silver to Beijing? In previous years, it was because Lin Daiyu lived in our house that the old lady sent silver, which was a normal thing to do. But now that Lin Daiyu has returned home, whether she can even keep herself safe is uncertain, let alone give things to our family? You're really something for thinking of this."

  Since Mrs. Wang knew that Lin Daiyu would be staying in Yangzhou from now on, she was both delighted and angry in her heart. She was happy that the little vixen had finally left their precious Bao Yu, and there would be no more of that little demon's enticements; she was angry because the silver sent by Lin Ruhai over the years might have been thrown into the water, and there would be none anymore. Because of this matter, Mrs. Wang had not stopped grumbling with Wang Xifeng for several days. To say that it was just grumbling is a euphemism; in fact, Mrs. Wang was scolding Lin Ruhai for being so thoughtless even on his deathbed, and still wanting to produce some nephew. Wang Xifeng, being a younger generation, naturally did not dare to say anything in front of her elder aunt, and could only echo her words.

  However, a clever woman can't cook without rice. When Wang Xifeng told Madame Wang that they were short of silver and money, Madame Wang didn't say a word, only telling Wang Xifeng to think of a solution herself, which made Feng Jie so angry that she almost fainted.

  Wang Xifeng and Pinger were worrying about the New Year's gift when they heard Feng'er reporting from outside the curtain: "Second Madam, the carriages of the Lin family who came to give New Year's gifts have arrived."

  The two of them looked at each other, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes. Wang Xifeng hastily called in Feng'er and asked: "Where is he? Did you hear clearly? Is it someone from the Lin family? Has our second master also returned with him?"

  Feng'er didn't know that she was on her way to deliver paper and ink for Jia Lan's studies to Li Wan, but she ran into Zhou Ruijia who was hurrying to the second wife's room. As soon as Zhou Ruijia saw Feng'er, she told her that someone from the Lin family had arrived and had already gone to see Old Madame in her room, and that she herself was on her way to report back to the second wife, telling Feng'er to go back to Concubine Yu as well.

  The master and servant heard this and immediately tidied up their clothes and rushed to the old lady's place.

  At this time, Jia's mother's room had gathered a group of people, including Xing's wife, Wang's wife, Li Wan, Bao Yu and three young ladies.

  Jia Baoyu couldn't sleep day or night after learning that Daiyu wouldn't be returning to the capital, but would instead be living with her elder brother. His every waking thought was of Daiyu, and he wished he could grow wings and fly to Yangzhou. He also resented Lin's son for not calling Daiyu back, thus tearing apart their family reunion, which was truly detestable.

  Ying Chun, Tan Chun and Xi Chun also heard the news with anxiety in their hearts, not knowing whether Dai Yu could come back. The several people had lived together for two or three years, and they all had feelings for each other. Although Dai Yu was a bit spoiled and had a temper, she still treated her sisters well, so everyone hoped she could come back.

  When Wang Xifeng arrived at Grandmother Jia's house, Li Wan had already led the young ladies and their maids to hide behind the green gauze window, where they could only be vaguely seen wearing red and green clothes, with precious stones and gold ornaments.

  Lady Wang wore a sheepskin jacket with a jade button, sitting upright on the couch, with four young maidservants standing on either side of her, each holding a fly whisk or a spittoon. There were also five or six elderly matrons standing in attendance beside them. Mrs. Xing and Mrs. Wang sat in chairs on either side, while Baoyu stood behind his mother. Wang Xifeng hastily paid her respects and took up a position behind her mother-in-law.

  Mrs. Jia saw that almost everyone had arrived in the house and ordered Lin Zixiao's family to bring in the young man.

  Xiao Tang entered the house and paid his respects to the Jia family. The people of the Jia household took a close look at him, who was only around twenty years old, yet full of vigor and energy. Old Lady Jia thought to herself: even if they searched high and low among all the servants in both Rongguo and Ningguo households, they might not be able to find someone as capable as this one; he didn't look like a servant at all, but rather like a master.

  "Little Tang Xin has paid respects to his ancestors and greets all the ladies and gentlemen."

  Lady Wang smiled and accepted the courtesy, then politely asked someone to take a seat. But Tang Rong pushed back for a while and refused to sit down, just standing there. Lady Wang didn't mind either. She smiled and said: "Tang Rong is quite good-looking, I don't know what position he holds beside our son-in-law? Looking at past years, it seems that the one who came to pay New Year's respects wasn't this Tang Rong?"

  Xiao Tang sneered in his heart, thinking that even though his own son-in-law was gone, he could still laugh and care about such trivial matters. It's no wonder the young master said that the people of Jia Mansion were all cold-blooded, only knowing their own interests and being good at playing tricks.

  Although he thought so, his face didn't show it: "The little one wasn't following Master Lin, but only serving our young master. Now, I've received the young master's orders to come and deliver the New Year's gift to the young master's sister." After speaking, he took out the gift list and handed it over, and the maid beside Grandmother Jia hurried forward to receive it.

  Lady Wang glanced at the gift list, and tears welled up in her eyes. "My poor Yu'er! Your mother is gone, your father has passed away. Now I, an old woman with white hair, have to send off a young person with black hair. Heaven is really unfair!"

  The old lady cried, and the people in the house all started to wipe away tears, each one crying as if they had lost their own mother. But Little Tang's steward saw clearly that these people were all just pretending, passing a handkerchief around and not one of them truly crying. Hmph!

  At this time, Wang Xifeng naturally came forward to persuade the old lady, so as not to let everyone show their true colors in front of outsiders. Lady Jia actually shed a few tears, and Yuanyang hastily used a wet handkerchief to wipe her face clean, while also taking the opportunity to give Tang Zhen a stern look.

  "My second grandson has already received a letter saying that our family's uncle is going to pass on the family business to his own nephew, but isn't that your family's young master?"

  Tang Xin replied: "Reporting back to our ancestors, it is indeed the young master of our family."

  Mrs. Jia said, "My son-in-law is also a muddle-headed fool. He didn't even discuss this important matter of inheritance with us, and instead shocked me, an old woman. When did the Lin family ever have a eldest son born out of wedlock? Hmph, they've been hiding it from us for so long!"

  Tan Xing heard this and didn't like it, but since Old Lady Jia was after all the young lady's elder, he couldn't argue back, so he could only speak in a harmonious tone: "The masters' affairs are not for us servants to comment on, but it is true that Young Master Lin is from the eldest branch of the Lin family, as recorded in our family genealogy." Tan Xing saw that Old Lady Jia's expression was still unpleasant, so he quickly changed the subject: "Just after the old master passed away, the young master said that rituals must not be neglected, and sent me to deliver New Year's gifts. There is also a silver note of 5,000 taels, which is the young lady's filial piety towards her ancestors." Tan Xing deliberately didn't mention their family's young master, only saying it was the young lady's intention, fearing that they would in the future really treat their young master as their junior, and when they arrived in Beijing, they would recklessly order him around. Hum, no way.

  P.S: I'm posting this a bit late today, ^_^, went out for a trip and saw that my ranking has entered the top 20 of the newcomer weekly potential chart, I'm so happy~~~ If you have spare votes, please vote for me! Xie He thanks everyone here~~~