"Luo Binyun?" Ji Zhongming, who was sitting cross-legged on the kang reading Sifang Zhouyou, was quite surprised. Seeing his eldest son nod, he showed confusion: "That shouldn't be. He's the Zhizhou. Even if he came down to observe the people's conditions, he would have trusted guards accompanying him. How could he have disappeared?"
"It's said that even his guards disappeared together."
Having been questioned twice in the city earlier, and stopped once more by constables when passing through the town, Ji Cheng was still shaken: "Today those officials were all like fierce demons. Anyone whose eyes showed the slightest evasion couldn't leave."
Ji Zhongming put down his book: "Of course they're fierce. Luo Binyun is the maternal nephew of Grand Secretary Zhang. If something happened to him, not to mention Qizhou Fu, even Yangan Shengfu couldn't cover it up." Thinking of the heavy snow a few days ago, his intuition told him that if they couldn't find him soon, they wouldn't find him at all.
Now that he was home, Ji Cheng relaxed: "Shopkeeper Xu told me not to go to the county town recently unless necessary. He said the last time the Zhizhou was seen before disappearing was in our Chiling Xian."
"Then don't go." Ji Zhongming picked up the tea from the kang table and took a sip. A fifth-rank Zhizhou disappearing along with his guards was no small matter. Chiling Xian wouldn't be peaceful for a while.
Outside the door, Ji Xinran overheard the entire conversation inside the room. She had been restless for the past few days, estimating that the time was about right. Today, seeing her uncle return late and hurriedly go to find her grandfather, she knew there was news, so she brought a kettle of hot water from the kitchen and followed to the main room.
Sure enough, Luo Binyun had vanished.
She couldn't describe her feelings at that moment—there was relief, but also confusion. A few days ago, because of her interjection, she had changed the course of events. Although her mother hadn't suffered the same fate as in her previous life because of it, she was still terrified. She feared that the advantage she had gained from her memories of her past life would no longer exist.
Now that the advantage remained, she felt lost again. Looking up, she saw only this small patch of sky above her head. She was in Zaoyu Cun—how could she change her tragic fate? Even if she gave it her all, could she really change it?
Ji An came out of the east side room with the sorted thread and saw Ji Xinran standing dazedly at the door of the main room, holding a teapot. She walked over and reminded her: "The water will cool down; it won't brew good tea."
Hearing the voice, Ji Xinran immediately snapped back to attention: "Aunt, Grandfather and Uncle are talking. I wanted to wait until they finished before going in to add water."
"Is that so?" Ji An didn't probe further, freeing her right hand: "Give me the water."
Having heard what she wanted, Ji Xinran didn't insist and handed the kettle to Ji An: "Be careful."
Ji An took the kettle, lifted the curtain, and entered the main room. Her father and eldest brother had probably heard the noise outside the door, as they weren't speaking now.
"I've been helping Mother sort thread all afternoon; my eyes are sore. Father, could you give me some wolfberries? I'll add a few chrysanthemum flowers to brew tea."
Ji Cheng stepped forward to take the teapot from his younger sister's hand: "Don't ask Father for them; Father's were given by me too. I'll bring you a small clay jar later."
"Thank you, Eldest Brother." Ji An went into the inner room to find her mother and didn't ask what they had just been discussing. For Ji Xinran, who still couldn't leave Zaoyu Cun, she had only one strategy: remain still to counter movement.
The inner room was lit by an oil lamp. Ji Mengshi sat on the kang, her hair bun slightly loose. Lately, she had been thinking about certain things, unable to sleep night after night. In just a few days, her face had begun to sag. Under the dim lamplight, she looked even older. Holding a few yellowed papers in her hand, her aged eyes were empty.
Ji An knew those were the family's property deeds and land deeds. She moved to the edge of the kang, set down the thread she was holding, and asked, "Why have you taken these things out?"
Her sparse eyelashes trembled slightly. Ji Mengshi lowered her gaze, a faint light appearing in her eyes. "Come sit by me." Ever since the second son returned home and Huang Shi caused that scene, the old man had been reminiscing with her for several days in a row.
He spoke of when they had just married. Because he was studying, she, as a new bride, had served her in-laws with extreme caution and dedication, not daring to utter a single harsh word even to her elder sister-in-law. Yet even so, the elder sister-in-law would mutter and grumble every day, slamming basins and bowls.
Later, they divided the household and became masters of their own home. Though they had no one to fall back on, they felt a sense of relief in their hearts. Life was tough at first, but with the couple working together, the days weren't unbearable. When they met with the main branch of the family again, they were also amicable.
With two separate households and no financial ties between them, who wouldn't put on a good face?
After thirty-six years of marriage, Ji Mengshi knew the old man wanted to divide the household. To be honest, she was very unwilling in her heart, but this matter was not up to her.
Ji An sat down, took the valuable papers from her mother's hands, and carefully examined them. There were two shops in the county town, both on Xizhi Jie, which had been rented out after purchase. The fertile fields, pieced together, amounted to one hundred and twelve mu, with another thirty mu of dry land. Overall, her family's conditions were comfortable enough for a modestly well-off life.
Three sons! Ji Mengshi sighed. Since the old man had that intention, she needed to think carefully about how to divide the household. She grasped her daughter's hand beside her, her fingers delicate and smooth. This child was also flesh of her flesh and deserved a share.
In truth, Ji An could understand her mother quite well. The Ji family was not a wealthy household with abundant ancestral property. Everything they had now was the result of the old couple's hard work, toiling from dawn to dusk, painstakingly accumulated. Before they could even enjoy the fruits of their labor, the children had grown up. Each had started their own families, each with their own thoughts.
Dividing the Ji household meant dividing the fruits of the old couple's labor over most of their lives. The crucial point was that once these fruits were completely divided, they might very well end up with nothing good in return.
If it were her, she too would cling unwillingly, refusing to let go until death. Returning the property and land deeds to her mother, Ji An advised, "Don't overthink it. It's better for us to take the initiative than to be passive."
Ji Mengshi was listless. Huang Shi had been hiding in her room for days, with the eldest daughter-in-law bringing food and drink back to the west wing. She truly detested that woman. The fire in her heart kept flaring up, impossible to extinguish, burning so fiercely that sores had broken out in her mouth.
Sometimes she really wanted to force the third son to divorce Huang Shi, but then she would think: what after the divorce? What would happen to the three children of the third branch? Would they have a good life if they fell into the hands of a stepmother?
Unable to touch Huang Shi, she needed to vent this pent-up frustration somehow. The old man said that over the years, their family had maintained frequent contact with the main branch west of the village precisely because they hadn't torn face back then. This was a clear message to her: if things dragged on, she and the third son would eventually become estranged because of Huang Shi.
Once estranged, forget maternal affection—even superficial cordiality would be gone.
Ji Mengshi's vision gradually blurred. Her heart felt stifled, unbearably uncomfortable. Ji An took a handkerchief and gently wiped her tears. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed shoes under the door curtain and knew her eldest brother had returned to the east wing, so she spoke without reservation.
"Mother, I say you just don't know how to enjoy life. Without dividing the family, a household of over ten people, all the food and drink expenses fall on you and Father. Although the harvest from the fields and the rent from the shops all come to you, think carefully about how much effort you've spent just to save a little. And after all that effort, who ever remembers your good deeds?"
Ji Mengshi smiled bitterly, tears streaming down faster than she could wipe them away.
"You're fifty-two this year, and Father is three years older than you. Don't just look at me and think you're still young. Next year, Xin Yun, your eldest grandson from the eldest brother's family, is getting married. How long are you and Father going to keep looking after the three brothers?"
Ji An's eyes also reddened as she hugged her mother, gently patting her back. "This time, you and Father should listen to me. Once we divide the family, we'll just sit in the main hall as the old landlords. The three brothers will send their monthly filial payments on time. You and Father have supported them for so long; now it's their turn to support you.
You've worked hard your whole life; you can't let all the benefits go to your sons and grandsons. When I grow up, I'll do the same—filial when I should be filial, and serve when I should serve."
"Wah…"
Ji Mengshi finally couldn't hold back anymore, burying her face in her daughter's shoulder and sobbing.
Outside the door, Ji Zhongming felt as if a stone were stuck in his throat. His old wife couldn't see clearly, but he wasn't so easily fooled. On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in the twenty-first year of Changping, the third son invited him, his father, to Yunkelai teahouse in town for tea. As soon as they sat down, the son first toasted him three times with tea instead of wine.
By then, he had already lost hope in this son. The third son thought his father didn't know about buying the shop in the county seat. He truly underestimated his father.
Chiling Xian was just that small—nothing could stay hidden for long. As soon as the third son bought the shop, Shopkeeper Xu from Xichen Shuzhai sent someone to tell him. Huang Shi's father worked as a shopkeeper at Xianke Shusi in town, and her second brother collected old books—all of which Shopkeeper Xu from Xichen Shuzhai knew perfectly well.
As a father, he could accept his son's dullness with equanimity, but he couldn't tolerate his son scheming against the parents who had painstakingly supported him for years. The third son said buying the shop for business was for long-term planning. He agreed with that—the Imperial Examination indeed required enormous expenses—but what about other intentions?
The eldest and second sons were self-sufficient; aside from food and clothing from the common fund, they covered their own expenses, except for their children's education. The third son aspired to the Imperial Examination. Although he wasn't self-sufficient, he had the Xiucai academic merit, and his income was certainly no less than that of the eldest and second sons. Yet he never mentioned it, spending from the common fund as a matter of course.
After making the Fubang in the Shandong Sheng Xiangshi, he had made a name for himself. Buying a shop for business was ostensibly for the Imperial Examination, but secretly, it might well have been paving the way to break away from the Ji family. Break away—how?
For the past two years, Ji Zhongming had been watching, pondering two questions. First, was Huang Shi's temperament truly like this? Second, did the third son genuinely enjoy Huang Shi's constant sorrowful weeping, or was he deliberately indulging her?
It wasn't that he, as a father, liked to think ill of his son. It was just that in the fourteen years since Huang Shi married into the Ji family, she had both feared his old wife and yet never changed her "nature," repeatedly provoking his wife's anger. And each time, the third son would shield Huang Shi. One could say his actions were indirectly making his mother dislike Huang Shi even more.
What was his intention? What good did family discord bring him?
Ji Zhongming narrowed his eyes. If the family had been divided earlier, he and his old wife would have been better off sooner. But before that, he had to resolve the doubts in his heart. After the New Year, he would have his old wife send Huang Shi to the county seat with the third son to care for him at the Xianxue. He wanted to see if Huang Shi's habit of "frowning and shedding tears" regardless of the occasion could actually be cured.
In the inner room, Ji Mengshi cried for a while, feeling much more at ease: "My girl is right, why should I toil for them my whole life?" It was better to separate; out of sight, out of mind. Perhaps she could even worry less and live a few more years with the old man.
Seeing this, Ji An felt relieved: "Those who don’t manage a household don’t know its trivialities. Once they take charge, they’ll understand and realize how much effort you’ve poured into this family."
"Right, they should handle their own troubles now. Let’s see if they can buy fine cotton cloth for two hundred wen a bolt, keep meat on the table regularly, and still have leftovers year after year?"
Having come to terms with it, Ji Mengshi regained her appetite. Just as Zhushi was making minced pork noodles for Ji Cheng in the kitchen, she also had a large bowl. After eating, she washed up and went into the room to start counting the silver.
"Aside from my and the old man’s private savings, the account holds five hundred twenty-six taels of silver and thirty taels of gold. Three sons, two shops—ah, they’re all debt collectors. Looks like we still need to buy another shop." As she spoke, she casually took a hundred-tael silver note and placed it into the private savings box.
Ji Zhongming shuffled in wearing cotton shoes and overheard these words. Walking to the kang, he picked up a silver ingot and weighed it in his hand. Having taught at the town’s private school for over twenty years, he wasn’t just a teacher. Some of his students came from merchant families, and he would occasionally invest a share.
"Two shops are enough. The third son has a shop."
"What?" Ji Mengshi was stunned.
Since she had taken Ya’er’s advice to heart, Ji Zhongming decided not to hide it any longer. In a few words, he explained the matter of the third son buying a shop. Before she could fully grasp it, he continued: "I’ve thought it over. The eldest and second sons will each get one shop, and each of the three brothers will receive twenty mu of fertile land. For silver, the eldest and second sons will get sixty taels each, and the third son one hundred taels.
As for the houses, the ones they currently live in will belong to them. If anyone doesn’t want to stay here and wishes to move out, we’ll give them ten taels of silver, and the house will revert to us.
After dividing these among them, the family will be left with only fifty-two mu of fertile land and thirty mu of dry land. I’m thinking, if we come across good land, we should buy another fifty mu to add to it, as a dowry for Ya’er.
After the division, we won’t ask for much in filial payments—just nine taels of silver per year, averaging three taels per family. As for grain, we have land and won’t lack it, so they don’t need to provide that. For now, since we’re both in good health, we’ll live with Ya’er. When we’re no longer capable, we’ll stay with the eldest son’s family."
Having said all this in one breath, Ji Zhongming quickly crawled to the far side of the kang and lay flat. Just as he closed his eyes, he heard his wife angrily curse, "What a heartless, ungrateful wretch! All these years I’ve raised him for nothing. Has he eaten shit? How dare he hide this from me!"