Li Boyong was just about to offer a few flattering words in hopes of salvaging his image in front of the distinguished guests when Madam Jia acted as though she had not even seen him. She walked straight past him and stopped in front of Weisheng He and her children.
She even crouched down and stroked the two children’s heads.
“These are the Li family’s two older children?”
Then she looked around and toward the swaddled infants in the wet nurses’ arms.
“And those two as well?”
After returning, the female guests had been taken to a side hall.
They could still hear what was happening in the mourning hall, but only faintly. If they managed to catch half of a sentence, it was only because whoever was speaking had raised their voice.
Madam Jia had no interest in the adults’ quarrel, but she could not bear to hear young children crying.
Earlier, when the children had begun to cry, the sound had already drawn her into memories of the past.
She had barely managed to restrain herself from coming over.
But the adults had continued arguing over their interests until the children started crying again. This time, their cries were weak and thin, exactly like the cries of her own two children when they had been gravely ill.
She could no longer ignore it.
Unable to remain seated, she came to the mourning hall.
She silently looked at the two older children.
Weisheng He raised her head in confusion. Their eyes met, and she found herself staring straight into the deep, overwhelming sorrow in the other woman’s gaze.
She was startled.
“Madam?”
Madam Jia quickly composed herself and sighed.
“It’s nothing. Looking at them just made me think of my own two children.”
The Lin family had always had few descendants.
She had been married into the Lin family for more than ten years before finally giving birth to a daughter. During those years, she had heard so much gossip that she did not even want to think about it anymore.
The following year, one of the household concubines gave birth to a son.
She had thought their lives would finally improve.
But both children had been weak from birth.
Their wet nurses had never stopped administering medicine from the moment they were born. After they were weaned, the children themselves had to drink medicine with every meal.
They had suffered terribly, and Madam Jia had exhausted herself caring for them.
Even so, she had still failed to keep her young son alive.
After the boy died, the breath Madam Jia had been holding inside seemed to leave her entirely.
From then on, she was plagued by serious illness.
If not for the daughter she still worried about, perhaps she would have already…
Weisheng He understood.
She’s projecting all the maternal love she still carries onto my eldest son and daughter.
Almost instinctively, Weisheng He nudged her eldest son into Madam Jia’s arms.
Madam Jia was startled back to herself and found herself staring into the child’s large, dark eyes.
Her own eyes immediately reddened.
“My eldest boy was about this age when he left us.”
Weisheng He froze.
When he left?
Her son died?
For a moment, she felt awkward and did not know what to say.
Fortunately, Madam Jia had no intention of dwelling on the past.
After holding the child for a while, she said softly, “You care about your children and refuse to remarry because of them. That speaks well of you. Don’t worry. Even if it’s only for the sake of these two children, no one will dare force you to remarry.”
Lin Hai, who had remained silent all this time, lowered his eyes.
“I understand what Madam means.”
He glanced at the child in Jia Min’s arms, grief also visible in his eyes.
“It’s rare for Madam to take such a liking to this child. Stay here with him a little longer. Once Madam Weisheng shuts herself away to observe mourning, I’m afraid you won’t have many chances to see him.”
“The Li family matter isn’t difficult. It will be settled soon.”
Jia Min nodded to him.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Master.”
Lin Hai inclined his head and turned toward the others.
“Clan Head Li, I am not a member of the Li family, so ordinarily I should not interfere in Li family affairs. However, these two Li children remind me of my own daughter. As a father, I cannot help feeling some sympathy for them, so I must say a few words to you.”
His tone was calm and gentle, but Li Boyong did not dare treat a single word lightly. He turned each sentence over repeatedly in his mind.
Cold sweat began running down his temples.
With trembling hands, he wiped it away.
“This commoner is listening.”
“Li Yanming has only just died, and his body is scarcely cold, yet you are already forcing his widow to remarry. No matter how pleasant your words may sound, once word spreads, people will only despise you behind your backs.”
“This is not for Madam Weisheng’s good either. What you are doing is no different from driving a knife into her heart.”
“As his wife, observing mourning for her husband is both her duty and her right.”
“Moreover, observing mourning for one’s husband has always been regarded as a virtuous act worthy of praise.”
“Our dynasty governs the realm through filial piety and has often commended widows who remain chaste. And in this case, it was not only her husband who died. Her father-in-law also passed away.”
“Observing mourning for an elder is even more consistent with the court’s rites and laws. If anything, it is your refusal to allow her to observe mourning for her father-in-law that violates those laws.”
“Marriage during the first hundred days of mourning is not unheard of, but there are many taboos and restrictions surrounding it. Even after marriage, the proper mourning observances must continue, and the marriage must not be consummated.”
“If that is the case, why rush?”
“Would the family she remarries into truly have no objection to Madam Weisheng wearing mourning clothes in their household?”
“She is not an unmarried young woman who must fear that a long mourning period will delay her youth and hurt her marriage prospects.”
“If you insist on continuing down this path, Clan Head Li, I will have no choice but to question the intentions behind your actions.”
He paused.
“Whether they are truly innocent.”
“Clan Head Li, if what happened today is reported to the imperial court, the Li family will inevitably be censured. Your businesses will also be affected.”
“If the court decides to make an example of this case, it would be entirely possible for the person who took the lead to end up in prison.”
“And for the next three generations, the Li family may be barred from sitting the imperial examinations.”
Li Boyong’s face changed dramatically.
The Li family made its living from the salt trade, which required government-issued salt permits.
Lin Hai was the Salt Censor responsible for precisely that area.
Even if no one reported the matter to the imperial court, a few casual words from Lin Hai when salt permits were distributed would be enough to destroy the Li family’s business.
And now the prospects of the younger generations were involved as well.
Li Boyong’s lips moved as though he wanted to speak, but his throat had tightened too much for any words to come out.
The mourning hall was deathly silent.
Lin Hai continued in the same mild tone.
“Even if she eventually remarries, you should wait until her emotions have settled and she has begun to recover from the grief of losing her husband. Then she can decide according to her own wishes, or according to the wishes of her parents.”
“If both her parents and parents-in-law were gone, then as head of the Li clan, it would not necessarily be inappropriate for you to make arrangements on her behalf.”
“But only Madam Weisheng’s father-in-law has died. Her parents and mother-in-law are all still alive.”
“By interfering now, are you not overstepping your proper role?”
“I have heard that while Master Li was alive, he gave the clan considerable support.”
“Eldest Young Master Li never treated his clansmen poorly either.”
“If you still remember even a fraction of the kindness father and son showed you while they were alive, you should not be doing something so absurd today.”
“If word spreads, people may begin to question the character of the entire Li family.”
No one made a sound.
Only Li Boyong’s heavy, bull-like breathing broke the silence.
The other members of the Li family had gone ashen as well. None of their earlier smugness or arrogance remained.
Jia Min loved children, but her strength could not keep up with her feelings.
Once she realized she was growing weak, she quickly took her maid’s arm and stood.
Before leaving, she kindly offered Weisheng He and her two children a few words of advice.
“I feel a special affinity with your son and daughter. If you don’t mind, I’ll often send people to visit in the future.”
“Please don’t think I’m meddling and turn them away. You’ve only just given birth, so your body is still weak, and the children are all very young.”
“If you don’t nourish yourself properly while observing mourning, I’m afraid it may harm your health and cause problems later.”
Why would I refuse?
Weisheng He had never feared the Li family openly fighting her for the estate.
She had acted first.
Long ago, she had already disposed of all the Li family businesses under her control and converted them into cash.
The clan could not take those assets from her.
What she feared was the Li family harming them in secret.
The Li family had traded salt for decades and accumulated an enormous fortune.
But Weisheng He, an adult, was not the legal heir to that wealth.
Her little children were.
I’m only holding it on their behalf.
But if I can hold it for them, why can’t the Li clansmen do the same?