Shen Mingyu suddenly choked up.
She stared at the pitch-black canopy of the bed, tugging at her fingers.
If she were to talk about the past, she had long forgotten from which moment it all began. She was an optimistic and diligent person, accustomed to casting aside the bad and remembering only the good. Looking at the matron by her pillow, she said softly, “I did farm work for several years, and later I got married and had a husband.”
“You got married?”
The Marquis’s wife was extremely startled. She suddenly thought of how many poor rural families would sell off their daughters when they came of age, and wondered what her child had endured in the hands of that wicked woman… Jiang Lan suddenly didn’t dare to think about it, nor did she dare to imagine how Yu’er had gotten through all these years.
Amidst this silent quietude, a tender warmth welled up in the young woman’s eyes. Filled with hopeful aspiration, she said, “I married Brother Pei. Brother Pei is very gentle, treats me well, and is also good-looking. And the people in the village were all very good to me.”
The Marquis’s wife knew that she was concealing a great deal, always choosing to brush past the past and look forward. Yet the more she concealed, the more Jiang Lan’s heart ached. Pressing her lips together as she gazed at her child through the hazy night, a dull, piercing pain clutched her chest. Suddenly pulling her daughter into her embrace, she murmured, “Yu’er, it was all Mother’s fault; Mother owes you. From now on, Mother will make up for everything she owes Yu’er…”
Shen Mingyu nestled in the Marquis’s wife’s arms.
The Marquis’s wife’s embrace held the fragrance of fine sandalwood, coupled with a mother’s warmth.
This embrace was different from Pei Shumin’s. What Pei Lang wore was coarse cloth; it wasn’t as soft and thick as the Marquis’s wife’s robes, but his embrace was dry and passionate, mixed with a clean soapy fragrance.
Speaking of Pei Lang, Shen Mingyu felt a complex mix of emotions.
Now that she had found her biological parents and was living so well in the Marquis’s estate, she naturally wanted to bring her husband over too.
Yet the Marquis’s wife’s words remained fresh in her memory. She still remembered the Marquis’s wife telling Helan Yan that poor people, poor people—the Marquis’s wife looked down on poor men, and she would certainly look down on Pei Lang as well.
Still, she wanted to try.
Gathering her courage, Shen Mingyu asked her mother softly, “Can I bring my husband over too? My husband doesn’t eat much, nor does he spend much money. He is frugal, smart, hardworking, and doesn’t easily make enemies with others.”
This question momentarily stumped Jiang Lan.
As for whether he’d miss that mouthful of food, the Marquis’s estate certainly didn’t lack it. Leaving aside raising one man, even raising a hundred wouldn’t be a problem as long as her daughter liked him. But with a poor man like that, who had also been her daughter’s husband, what she feared most was ulterior motives. When a person had nothing and suddenly attained wealth, their mind easily warped—especially men, who might greedily covet what didn’t belong to them.
Her Yu’er was only sixteen years old, and from the bottom of her heart, Jiang Lan could not accept her daughter marrying such a man and entrusting her entire second half of life to him. A rustic village husband like that—let alone matching her daughter, he wasn’t even qualified to match a maidservant in the Marquis’s estate.
Yet Yu’er was her newly recovered child, different from her other children. She couldn’t let Yu’er fear her as a mother, so she couldn’t speak too harshly or bluntly either.
Jiang Lan mulled it over for a good long while before stroking her daughter’s back and saying gently, “Yu’er, it’s not a matter of whether he’s missing that bite to eat. You are the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Wu’an’s estate, of noble status. Among the daughters of our family, even the concubine-born ones have fine aristocratic families to pick from. Take your second sister, for instance; the matchmakers who came to our door these past few days numbered no less than twenty, and these young lords are all outstanding figures among the noble clans.”
“Moreover, you are Mother’s true legitimate daughter, and behind us is the Grand Defender’s Estate. A rustic field laborer is simply not a match for you. Don’t you want to take a look at young men from noble families? There are plenty of them who excel in both literature and martial arts, unlike illiterate village brutes.”
Shen Mingyu hurriedly said, “Brother Pei has also read books. He is very smart and talented.”
The Marquis’s wife was slightly surprised; she hadn’t expected the man to be literate.
Still, it couldn’t change her view of him. Most likely, his studies weren’t refined. And even if he had read books, so what? High aristocratic clans were even less lacking in handsome, well-read young lords.
Sigh, her Yu’er had been drifting outside since childhood, and muddying things by getting married was one thing—at least that man got off cheap. But now that Yu’er had returned to her side, she as a mother naturally had to pick a good match for her.
The Marquis’s wife remained silent, merely gazing quietly at her daughter’s face.
Shen Mingyu also twisted her fingers, saying nothing.
She had never considered her status noble; she and Pei Lang were the exact same kind of people, both born in the countryside—how could there be any question of matching or not matching? It was just that now she had found her mother, her life had turned for the better, allowing her to eat well and dress prettily. She simply wanted to bring him over to live a good life as well.
With mother and daughter harboring their own thoughts, silence stretched within the canopy for a long time.
Watching her, Jiang Lan couldn’t hold back any longer. She could tell that her daughter still had lingering feelings for him; whenever she mentioned him, her dark eyes lit up with a faint glow.
After mulling it over through countless thoughts, Jiang Lan hardened her heart and decided to take a step back first.
“Yu’er, if you truly like him, bring him back and keep him as a kept man (wai shi) for a spell, how about that? As long as the man behaves himself, Mother isn’t one to refuse him. Once you are betrothed and married to someone else in the future, make a clean break with him and hand him a sum of silver to send him on his way.”
Jiang Lan would have been better off not saying that; the moment she did, Shen Mingyu was frightened half to death.
A kept man? How could Pei Lang possibly agree to be someone’s kept man?
She knew Pei Lang’s temperament far too well. Even if you killed him, he would never submit to such humiliation. And as for “making a clean break”—if those words were ever spoken out loud, Pei Lang would probably get rid of her first. He would never tolerate anyone betraying him and playing him in the palm of their hand.
Shen Mingyu shook her head repeatedly; this trick was definitely a dead end.
The Marquis’s wife would certainly never allow it, especially with the hurdle of Helan Yan’s situation already standing there.
However, she had only wanted to bring Pei Lang over to live a good life. Since he couldn’t be brought over, she could only let it go—as for that man Pei Lang, she still didn’t understand what was going on in his mind. Their days hadn’t been well off to begin with, yet he had secretly saved money to buy Zhou Wan a bracelet. And Zhou Wan’s family background meant she was hardly lacking in bracelets.
Recalling this now, Shen Mingyu didn’t even want to bother with him anymore.
Still, Pei Lang had been too good to her; she still needed to repay his kindness.
Thinking it over carefully, Shen Mingyu probed with cautious care: “Mother, can we send a sum of money to my husband instead? His life has been too bitter, and I want to let him live well too.”
Upon hearing this, the Marquis’s wife’s eyes lit up instantly. As long as she wasn’t asking to marry him, what was wrong with that? Money was the easiest problem to solve.
Thinking of this, Jiang Lan felt a wave of emotion. How could her two daughters, born of the same mother, differ to such an extreme? Her Yan’er plunged headfirst into romantic love, completely disregarding status and background—where did she get even a fraction of her own bearing back then?
Yet Yu’er was so grounded, knowing that what was gripped firmly in one’s own hands was truly reliable, and not throwing her life away over so-called romantic love. She truly was deserving of being her biological daughter, squeezed out of the same womb; they were so much alike.
Thinking along these lines, Jiang Lan wondered if she had spoiled Helan Yan too rotten over the years, raising her to be completely ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. The mere thought that her Yu’er had suffered endless hardship because of her and her birth mother left a bitter taste in her mouth, a suppressed, simmering rage with nowhere to vent.
Jiang Lan could only temporarily push down the full boiling pot of her emotions, looking at Shen Mingyu as she stroked her cheek: “Yu’er, Mother will send someone to deliver money tomorrow. How much do you want to send?”
How much should she send? Shen Mingyu genuinely had to ponder this.
Presently, Pei Lang’s business was picking up, and he could earn twenty taels a year. The money she sent had to ensure Pei Lang could live free from worry over food and clothing for the rest of his life. Supposing Pei Lang lived to be eighty years old… that came out to over a thousand taels! And in case he married a new wife later, had children, and those children had grandchildren of their own, creating a full house of descendants, she should add up to two thousand taels, letting his descendants live good lives too, as repayment of her gratitude.
Still… Shen Mingyu’s little mind spun rapidly. The Marquis’s estate wasn’t short on money anyway; she might as well tack a bit more on for Pei Lang—three thousand taels!
Three thousand taels was more than enough. If Pei Lang knew the painstaking thought behind her actions, he would surely be grateful.
“Then let’s send three thousand taels? Is that feasible, Mother?” Shen Mingyu asked tentatively.
“Silly child, why wouldn’t it be feasible?” Jiang Lan actually felt the sum was too small; mere three thousand taels was loose change for the Marquis’s estate.
However, she didn’t want to give this man too many silver notes either. A poor man suddenly getting rich might squander it on debauchery or gamble it away in gambling dens; if he accumulated massive gambling debts down the line and remembered his daughter as a cash cow, using Yu’er’s name to threaten and spread rumors everywhere, that wouldn’t do.
Thus, after thinking it over, aside from the three thousand taels, Jiang Lan added three title deeds for properties in Jinling and ten commercial storefronts to be sent over together, serving as repayment for taking care of her daughter. If the man didn’t want to stay in the small county of Pingyang anymore, he could head to Jinling to carve out a living and run a proper business.
The next day, Shen Mingyu wrote a letter to Pei Shumin and placed it inside the silver chest.
The ones dispatched to deliver the items were guards of the Marquis’s estate. Aside from what was sent to Pei Shumin, she also packed a thousand taels for Qiuniang, and three hundred taels each for Auntie Zhao, Uncle Zhao, and the rest of the villagers who had helped her.
On the day the guards arrived in Baiyun Village, the entire village was thrown into a massive commotion.
They were all people who had grown up in the countryside. Even when occasionally making a trip to Pingyang County to go to the market, they never got to see government officials.
Who would have thought that today, they would actually witness such a grand spectacle—those guards were imposing and spirited, clad in silver armor and riding robust, muscular warhorses. They were tall and built, speaking in unfamiliar capital accents, and even Village Bailiff Zhou’s household was startled out, with the female relatives linking arms and coming out in twos and threes to watch.
The villagers held awe and timidity toward official soldiers, especially since those men wielded iron halberds in their hands. Daring not to approach, they could only stand a bit further away, discussing in animated whispers the chests being moved out by that group of officers.
At that moment, Pei Shumin was splitting firewood at home.
“A-Min! Come quick, come quick! The village is handing out money!”
Pei Shumin stopped the firewood in his hands and looked expressionlessly toward Tiezheng. Tiezheng was holding Huige’er and shouting at him, looking terribly hurried, “It’s your Mingyu! She came back to distribute money! Oh wait, no, no—it’s her family’s soldiers who came to distribute money! You’ve got a share too, hurry up!”