The next morning, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky.
Outside the window, tree shadows swayed gently, and the indoor light was somewhat dim, yet cooler than usual.
Song Jiyun washed up and stood in the hall, enjoying the breeze passing through.
Song Sanliang came looking for her.
From a distance, he shouted toward Song Jiyun, "Are you ready? Let's go early and return early, lest delays bring trouble."
But Song Jiyun didn’t move an inch and said, "Third Uncle, after you left yesterday, I remembered that when my father passed away, Wang Zhubu seemed to have come to pay his respects. So I asked Lifang to bring over Libo for me to take a look."
Song Sanliang’s expression stiffened.
"Then I called over the person who used to manage Libo in the accounts department overnight," Song Jiyun said expressionlessly. "I discovered that my father and Wang Zhubu were quite close."
"R-really?" Song Sanliang stammered.
Song Jiyun nodded and said, "Third Uncle, I think it doesn’t seem right for us to go collect the silver like this."
Song Sanliang hardly dared to breathe. "What’s wrong with it?"
Song Jiyun said worriedly, "Isn’t there a saying, 'When a person leaves, the tea turns cold'? Now that my father has passed away, his relationship with Wang Zhubu is severed. Although Wang Zhubu extorted our family this time, this might actually be an opportunity to get closer to him!"
Song Sanliang looked at Song Jiyun, thinking she had lost her mind.
Song Jiyun continued, "I asked the person who used to manage Libo. He said Wang Zhubu is honest, fair, and doesn’t care for gold, silver, or antiques, but he has a particular fondness for calligraphy and paintings. I think when you go to see Wang Zhubu this time, you should bring another painting along."
"Yes, yes, yes," Song Sanliang snapped back to reality and hurriedly said, "Do you have any good calligraphy or paintings here, dear niece? Give them to me, and I’ll take them along."
What a stroke of luck.
Song Sanliang’s gaze toward Song Jiyun even took on a hint of affection.
"If it were gold, silver, or antiques, I’d surely have plenty here. But as for calligraphy and paintings," Song Jiyun mused, "Third Aunt’s family are scholars, didn’t they bring several famous paintings from previous dynasties as part of her dowry? How about this: we temporarily borrow one from Third Aunt. You tell me how much it’s worth, and when we collect the money, I’ll have them take a little extra and give it all to you."
Song Sanliang was famously tight-fisted, and the thought of giving something away made him instinctively uneasy.
As she spoke, Song Jiyun took out a small sandalwood box inlaid with gold foil and said, "I’m doing this for the sake of our family. The Xianling is evaluated every three years—today it’s this person, tomorrow it’s that one, everyone takes turns. But Zhubo is different. He’s one of us here, a local emperor."
Song Sanliang’s heart grew hot with excitement, and he immediately said, "I was just afraid you’d think it’s expensive—none of your aunt’s dowry paintings are worth less than two thousand taels."
Song Jiyun replied, "Even if it’s expensive, the silver isn’t going to someone else, is it?"
Song Sanliang nodded vigorously.
Song Jiyun then urged Song Sanliang to send someone to fetch a painting from her third aunt while keeping her third uncle there for breakfast. "There’s no rush. If we go too early, the silver shop won’t even be open yet!"
Song Sanliang thought she made sense and stayed at Song Jiyun’s place for breakfast.
Buckwheat noodles were served with four dipping dishes and a bowl of vegetarian minced meat sauce, all gleaming red and glistening with oil.
Song Jiyun ate a small bowl of noodles with a hearty appetite.
As she put down her bowl, the painting was brought over.
Song Sanliang stared at the small sandalwood box inlaid with gold foil that she had kept on the long table in the central hall and said, "What about this seal?"
"Naturally, I'll hand it over to Third Uncle," Song Jiyun replied generously, picking up the box to pass it to Song Sanliang. However, Song Sanliang's personal servant rushed over in a hurry, panting heavily, and said, "Third Master, Wang Zhubu has sent Wang Shiye to find you. He's waiting at the side gate!"
Song Sanliang was stunned.
When he looked back at Song Jiyun, she had already placed the box back on the long table in the central hall and said, "Then hurry, Third Uncle! If you're late and Wang Zhubu gets angry, what if he sends someone to seal our main gate? I'll take the seal to the silver workshop, and we can meet there."
With that, she called out loudly for Nanny Zheng, saying, "Quick, quick, prepare a sedan chair for me. I'll follow Third Uncle to the silver workshop."
Song Sanliang had initially been somewhat uneasy, but hearing her words and with the servant urging him repeatedly, he hurriedly followed the servant away.
The hall fell silent.
"Idiot!" A man's sneer came from the Shachu.
Song Jiyun raised an eyebrow, walked over to the Shachu, and said word by word, "What should we have for lunch?"
When Nanny Zheng returned after delivering the message, she saw their Eldest Miss leisurely flipping through the account books and instructing her, "Go and tell the steward in the outer courtyard that with the hot weather, the ice in the mourning hall must not run out. We need to prepare even more."
Nanny Zheng asked, "What about Third Master over there…"
Song Jiyun said, "As an unmarried young lady, how can I run around everywhere with Third Uncle?"
Nanny Zheng was both amused and exasperated, so she simply continued discussing the funeral arrangements with her: "When I returned last night, I overheard a few night-watch servants at the back gate whispering. They said that when Mr. Han came the day before yesterday to deliver the portrait of the Master, aside from the agreed-upon payment, a well-mannered household should also give a bolt of mourning silk and a bolt of yellow silk as a token of gratitude.
"But Eldest Master accepted the portrait and didn’t mention a word about the gifts.
"Mr. Han is a scholar, a painter at the Yuyaochang, and couldn’t bring himself to say anything crude. He was so angry his face turned red and was about to leave without even sitting down.
"If Miss Tao hadn’t found out and sent someone after him, we would have completely offended Mr. Han. We can’t let Eldest Master handle family matters so recklessly anymore."
Song Jiyun found this somewhat strange.
Her father had long since divided the family property with her eldest uncle and third uncle, and there was no strict ranking among their siblings.
"Miss Tao" was how their family referred to her eldest uncle’s third daughter, Song Tao.
Song Tao was only three months older than her but was a typical well-bred young lady from a prominent family.
She usually smiled without showing her teeth, sat with her knees covered, and never ventured beyond the inner gates.
Unless it was during festivals, the cousins hardly ever saw each other.
Why would she involve herself in such matters?
Nanny Zheng said, "It was just a coincidence that day. She went to pay respects to the Master and happened to run into it."
Song Jiyun didn’t dwell on it.
When her father was alive, he had been very kind to all his nieces.
She had originally planned to go to the mourning hall to burn incense for her father, but now she needed to quickly sort out these trivial matters first.
Busy and bustling, noon arrived in the blink of an eye.
The rain had stopped.
Although maids occasionally fanned her, Song Jiyun still felt sticky and uncomfortable. Just as she was about to go take a bath, a wave of panicked commotion and shouts erupted from outside.
Nanny Zheng, recalling Third Master's lies, feared the situation might change and couldn't help but turn pale with alarm.
Song Jiyun remained calm, patting her hand reassuringly before calling a young maid to go and check.
After quite some time, the maid finally ran back, her face ashen as she reported, "Eldest Miss, Third Master was given thirty strokes by Wang Zhubu and sent back covered in blood. Third Madam is wailing and crying, carrying him to the old lady's quarters." She added, "Second Madam has also been alerted and has gone to the old lady's side."
Song Jiyun nodded, dismissed the maid, and said coldly, "Only thirty strokes—that's far too light. I wonder if he's learned his lesson?"
She stood up and said to Nanny Zheng, "Come, it's time for us to make our appearance."
She looked out and saw only a tall, straight-backed figure.