Following the direction of Yuniang's finger, everyone looked and happened to see Lady He at the head of a group, arriving in full force.
Lady He had changed into a different set of clothes—a light crimson open-front thin silk jacket paired with a pea-green long skirt, a pale blue sweat cloth tucked at her waist. Her black hair was coiled into a high bun, adorned with a silver mountain-shaped crown, and even her face was decorated with floral makeup.
It was the proper attire for going out to receive guests.
And Yuniang found Lady He's appearance in this outfit deeply familiar.
Aside from the change to spring-and-summer clothing and the addition of a sweat cloth in a style she had never seen before, the look, the attire—it was entirely no different from the day she had formally taken Lady He as her master.
Yuniang suddenly recalled that when she had first become a disciple, after signing the apprenticeship contract, Lady He had explained to her and Fusheng the rules of the sect and the etiquette for completing one's training and taking leave of the master…
Looking at the people behind Lady He—some from the guild, some from the authorities—Yuniang's face grew paler and paler.
For the first time, she envied her mother-in-law's sheer ignorance, which allowed her to remain fearless; and for the first time, she hated her own good memory, which made her face turn white over such a small matter, her hands trembling beyond her control.
"Ha! I hadn't even gone looking for you yet, and here you come on your own! Why bring so many people? Bullying honest folk with numbers, are you?!"
Granny Zhang's skill at making flatbread had been learned from her late husband. In her household, before Yuniang had formally apprenticed in cooking, no one had ever properly taken a master or learned a craft.
Moreover, Granny Zhang cared little for Yuniang herself—only for how much Yuniang could bring back.
So she had never bothered to understand the proper formalities of a master-disciple relationship bound by contract.
She thought that if Yuniang no longer wanted to learn from Lady He, a simple word would suffice. She even felt that since Yuniang had torn her clothes and ruined her face while at Lady He's place, she had every right to go argue and demand compensation.
So, without a trace of fear, she was instead excited to see Lady He arriving with a crowd of people.
And when she spotted what appeared to be officials among them, her joy only grew—it saved her the trouble of sending someone to summon the authorities! She wouldn't even need to threaten to report this to the officials; she could just grab the officer's leg and cry directly!
It never once crossed her mind why Lady He would bring officials with her.
"Yuniang, hurry up and let the officer see your miserable state, so the wise magistrate can judge fairly for our honest, law-abiding family!"
Granny Zhang shoved Yuniang forward, her words full of urgency.
Even before Lady He had arrived, Yuniang's face had already turned pale.
Now, with Lady He standing right before her—a handsome face devoid of expression, eyes cold and intimidating—Yuniang had long since shrunk like a quail, tucking her head in and wanting to retreat.
But she hadn't expected Granny Zhang to shove her out so abruptly. Caught off guard, she stumbled forward, coming within a hair's breadth of pressing against Lady He.
Hastily steadying herself, Yuniang lowered her head and cast a sidelong glance at Granny Zhang, her heart full of complaints.
Go up there? Why don't you go up there?
Others might not know the truth behind her injury, but didn't her mother-in-law know perfectly well?
She had already told her—the injury was sustained from pushing Fusheng out of the way, and Fusheng seemed to have already sensed something.
Even if she had to find someone to hold responsible for this injury, she should have gone to pester the Zhu family next door!
Why cause trouble for Lady He?
Yuniang had a belly full of words, churning round and round like cart wheels, completely forgetting that when Granny Zhang had been cursing Lady He with a string of abuse, she hadn't uttered a single word in rebuttal.
Lady He merely pressed her lips into a faint sneer, staring coldly at Yuniang and Granny Zhang without saying a word.
Qingnu, however, stepped forward and spat at Granny Zhang.
"By all that's righteous! People like you can still call yourselves decent, honest folk? Back then, one of you spun sweet words and the other played the pitiful victim, tricking my master into softening her heart. When she took on a new junior apprentice, she took you in as a disciple on the side. The contract was signed, the skills were taught, and then you harbored wicked intentions of your own. You fell and ruined yourself, and when you wanted to leave, you wouldn't even follow the rules—worse, you tried to smear my master's name! By the Heavenly Grandmother! There's no such vicious wretch in this world!"
Only after the words were spoken did Lady He raise her head and pull Qingnu back, lightly scolding her with "Mind your manners."
But anyone with eyes could see that Qingnu was Lady He's deliberately unleashed mouthpiece, and the one being cursed was none other than the shameless Granny Zhang.
Granny Zhang was stupid, but she could still recognize an insult when she heard one, and she immediately took offense.
Yet her words always came a step too slow.
Lady He turned and bowed with utmost respect, her voice ringing with force.
"Master, your disciple failed to judge character and took in such an undisciplined apprentice. Now she leaves her master without even basic courtesy, spouting filthy nonsense, and has put you, fellow colleagues, and the officials to the trouble of making this trip. Today I, He Yunsu, expel her from my door, and I ask all of you to bear witness."
The person Lady He bowed to was Guild Leader Song, the head of the Cooks' Guild of Wenzhou Prefecture—and her master.
In her forties, she was dressed with extreme neatness and efficiency. She had a very kind face, but her commanding presence was evident at a glance.
In her youth, she had been the finest cook in Wenzhou Prefecture. Now at the age of enjoying her grandchildren, having trained several accomplished disciples and risen to guild leader, she no longer took banquet commissions.
Except for banquets hosted by the officials of Wenzhou city and a few wealthy gentry families, she only managed a single restaurant.
She valued rules above all.
When Qingnu had come to seek her out today, she had been at the restaurant teaching her daughter-in-law to carve radish flowers. After hearing the story, her anger could not be contained. She had only hastily tidied herself before rushing to Lady He's home.
Before the arrival, Lady He had already poured out her grievances to her with tears, and had introduced Fusheng to her.
Having seen Fusheng's clear, upright gaze and Yinxing's simple, obedient demeanor, and now looking at Yuniang's cowering, shifty-eyed appearance, Guild Leader Song instinctively took a dislike to her.
"One can tell at a glance she doesn't know the rules. It's better to make this formal and proper."
Before coming, Guild Leader Song had actually thought her disciple's approach was somewhat excessive. Now, she felt it was just right.
Looking at Granny Zhang and Yuniang, Guild Leader Song could guess that if this weren't done formally, once today's matter was settled, these two grandmother and granddaughter would use Lady He's name as a banner to do who knows what great mischief.
With Guild Leader Song having spoken, the others who had come along—even Madam Qian, a fellow senior disciple who had long-standing friction with Lady He—all nodded in agreement.
Everyone present, even the neighbors who had gathered to watch the commotion, could see there was something more to this. They sensed that Granny Zhang must have violated some taboo of the Cooks' Guild, which was why Lady He had gone to such lengths to announce her "expulsion."
But Granny Zhang remained as oblivious and fearless as ever.
Seeing Lady He speaking words she couldn't understand, her every gesture and expression seeming pretentious, she grabbed Yuniang and stepped forward to argue.
Yang Tieniang and Meisheng had only just returned and hadn't figured out what was going on.
They had intended to go ask Cao Sanqiao and Hu Xiangdi, who were standing by their own doorstep cracking melon seeds and watching the commotion, but before they could make a move, Fusheng came over to them holding Yinxing's hand.
The two of them had been told by Qingnu to stand to the side, lest their small stature get them hurt.
Since they were wearing new clothes, they glanced at their own short, squat figures and obediently complied.
"Sanniang, what's going on? Granny's words have me completely lost."
Granny Zhang's speech was all over the place, and they hadn't understood a word.
Hu Xiangdi and Cao Sanqiao were too fond of literary embellishment, and their accounts were far too watered down.
With Fusheng being so straightforward, Yang Tieniang wouldn't go listen to her daughters-in-law's storytelling—she went straight to ask her granddaughter.
Meisheng was equally curious.
Fusheng could only tell the truth plainly, without any subjective coloring—how Yuniang had fallen, how Sister Qingnu had escorted her back only to return furious, how Master He had made her decision… all explained clearly.
Yang Tieniang's mouth twitched.
She had thought Yuniang had suffered some great injustice and Granny Zhang had grown some real backbone!
There she was, showing off with the two slap marks on her face.
Served her right!
"What! Why can't our Yuniang join the cooks' guild? Why won't the guild register our Yuniang? Why can't she say she's Lady He's disciple? Even if we're not learning anymore, how can they be so overbearing! Didn't our Yuniang get taught by her?!"
Granny Zhang's voice was as shrill as a siren.
Guild Leader Song was presiding over the ceremony on behalf of his disciple Lady He to expel Yuniang, announcing in full the Zhang family's misconduct—how they had quit their apprenticeship without respect, and what Yuniang was forbidden from doing after her expulsion.
The moment his words fell, Yuniang's tears came out, and Granny Zhang started shouting.
If not for the two officials and the old scribe being present, she would have been hopping mad and ready to throw hands.
"This has always been the guild's rule. Not just the cooks' guild—every trade and profession has such regulations." Guild Leader Song said expressionlessly, glancing at the old scribe.
The old scribe stroked his fine beard, nodding with rhythmic approval.
No matter how arrogant Granny Zhang was, she still feared the authorities.
When Lady He had been speaking earlier, she had casually interrupted and even tugged at the official's sleeve to cry and plead, earning herself a warning with the beating stick. She didn't dare repeat that mistake now.
Her face twisted with bitterness, and she was filled with regret—
Had she known this would happen, she shouldn't have argued with that Qingnu!
It was all that damned He Qingnu's fault!
Now that the guild leader had issued such a ban, if she couldn't immediately find Yuniang a better path, wouldn't she have no choice but to take Yuniang to sell flatbreads?
Her and her daughter-in-law Liu Sisao's flatbread-making skills were both mediocre, and Yuniang had only learned knife skills at Lady He's place…
Not to mention they wouldn't be able to earn more money.
If the folks of Sweetwater Lane saw this, wouldn't they laugh at her!
Her eyes darted around slyly as Granny Zhang began scheming again.
But before she could scheme out anything concrete, the old scribe serving as witness saw that she had stopped talking and assumed she had settled down, so he began making his concluding remarks.
"In that case, this old man shall bear witness and write out this contract. Zhang Yuniang, having shown disrespect to her master by leaving, and her grandmother having used foul language to insult the master's household, is hereby expelled. From this day forward, she shall not conduct herself in the marketplace as a disciple of Lady He, the kitchen mistress; she shall not use Lady He's name to stir up trouble; and she shall not spread rumors or cause strife with foul language. Should she violate any of these terms, the Wen Prefecture Kitchen Mistresses' Guild and the authorities shall pursue the matter, with punishment ranging from five strokes of the cane for minor offenses to twenty strokes for serious ones."
As the words fell, the old scribe finished writing the contract and handed it to the bailiff standing nearby.
The bailiff wasted no words—he grabbed the hands of Granny Zhang and Yuniang, pressed their thumbprints onto the document, and then handed it to Lady He to affix her seal.
Granny Zhang collapsed to the ground in a heap.
Regret… oh, the regret…