How could General Lu not understand the hardships the powerful faced?
But it wasn’t only the powerful who were poor. In truth, the entire capital was poor. Even among the imperial Dongli clan, few could truly be called wealthy.
The Dongli family had originally been one of Haozhou’s great aristocratic houses. After generations of accumulation, their foundation had once been exceedingly strong. But conquering a realm and founding an empire required real silver. Years of warfare had consumed fortunes without end.
Soldiers had to be fed. Horses had to be purchased. Weapons had to be forged. Grain had to be stockpiled. Each expense was a bottomless pit that no amount of wealth could fully satisfy.
And before the Dongli armies ever entered the capital, the occupant of the Dragon Throne had changed again and again, as though the empire were trapped in an endless revolving play.
The throne remained ironclad. The Sons of Heaven flowed past like water. Each time a new emperor came to power, the palaces and treasuries were stripped bare once more.
By the time Emperor Guangqi ascended the throne, even the palace’s daily expenses required careful budgeting, never mind the treasures of previous dynasties. Everywhere there were shortages.
As Emperor Guangqi himself liked to say: “Damn it, the national treasury is so empty you could race horses in it!”
On the surface, the new dynasty looked settled. The realm seemed stable. Everything appeared to be renewing itself. But beneath the surface, things could be summed up in a single word: Poor.
Every official in the court was poor enough that his pockets rattled.
Don’t ask why. The answer was simply years of warfare and constant displacement.
Gold, silver, and portable valuables had long since been spent. Family heirlooms, antiques, paintings, and calligraphy once tucked away in chests had either been lost along the way or pawned off. Nowadays, nobody’s purse was particularly full. Wealth and status were completely out of proportion to one another.
Under such circumstances, if people discovered a fat sheep like the Nian family wandering about waiting to be fleeced, there would probably be no shortage of officials willing to protect one another and work together. Everyone would want a bite.
With that in mind, General Lu asked gravely, “What are your plans after this, Miss Nian?”
Lowering her eyes, Nian Chujiu let out a soft sigh and answered with apparent resignation: “What plans can I have? I can only take things one step at a time.”
“For now, I simply hope that General Lu will refrain from rescuing Gu Jiangzhi. Let him suffer in prison for a few more days. Once the Gu household is thrown into chaos, they will probably have no energy left to concern themselves with my family.”
General Lu knew she wasn’t telling the whole truth. Yet he felt no displeasure. Instead, he found her sense of boundaries entirely appropriate. She was guarding herself against him, just as he was observing and judging her.
Besides, they had only just met. If she immediately began pouring out every detail and begging for his help, would he necessarily be willing to help?
After a moment of silence, General Lu gently set down his teacup. Then he removed a blackwood token from his belt and held it out to her. “If you encounter an urgent matter, take this token to the Tianxiao Army headquarters and ask for me. Someone will inform me immediately.”
Nian Chujiu did not refuse. Accepting the token with both hands, she saw cloud patterns carved into its surface, along with the single character “Lu.”
She bowed respectfully. “Thank you, General.”
General Lu nodded slightly. After exchanging a few more words of polite conversation, he prepared to leave.
As he reached the doorway, however, he paused. Turning back, he said: “Miss Nian, if it’s convenient, could you pass a message on to Madam Qin for me and tell her…”
Nian Chujiu raised her eyes and waited quietly for him to continue.
But after beginning the sentence, General Lu hesitated for a long time. In the end, he slowly shook his head. “Never mind.” Then he strode away.
Nian Chujiu watched General Lu and Chen Tongzhou disappear completely from sight before handing the blackwood token to her brothers to examine. The tension in her shoulders finally eased. A faint smile appeared on her lips.
“The matter is settled. Let’s go home.”
The two carriages returned one after the other to the small courtyard the family had rented.
Before the carriages had even stopped, Qingxia, a maid who had been anxiously watching the entrance, hurried over.
Seeing her expression, Mingyue quickly climbed down first and gestured that her mistress had fallen asleep. “What happened?” she asked softly.
Anger was written all over Qingxia’s face. Tilting her head toward the main house, she grumbled, “Who else but the young aunt? She blurted out everything about our young lady being repudiated by the Gu family right in front of the Old Madam. The Old Madam nearly fainted from anger!”
Yunduo also climbed down from the carriage and rolled her eyes. “Of course it’s her. That woman never knows when to shut her mouth. A born troublemaker.”
The maids had all grown up with Nian Chujiu. Their parents, brothers, and sisters largely worked in Nian family shops and estates. Their livelihoods and fortunes were tied completely to the Nian family.
Long ago, they had come to view the family’s prosperity and decline as their own.
After the brothers disembarked and Nian Chujiu woke up, they quickly reported the matter to them.
Everyone immediately hurried toward the Old Madam’s courtyard.
As they stepped through the gate, they heard a woman’s voice at a moderate volume: “If you ask me, there’s nothing wrong with becoming a concubine.”
The moment Nian Chujiu entered, she heard her mother, Yin Ying, curse fiercely: “Nian Xiuzhu! Shut your filthy mouth! If you’re so fond of being a concubine, go be one yourself!”
This Nian Xiuzhu was Nian Chujiu’s paternal aunt. Years ago, she really had caused a scandal by insisting on becoming someone’s concubine.
Back then, Yin Ying had opposed it because she feared Nian Xiuzhu would disgrace the Nian family name. Only then could she proudly say: “The daughters of the Nian family do not become concubines.”
Later, Yin Ying contributed fifty thousand taels to her dowry, allowing her sister-in-law to marry off with great pomp and dignity.
Thanks to that generous dowry, Nian Xiuzhu enjoyed considerable status in her husband’s household, and she and her husband were deeply devoted to each other. Even after being scolded, she didn’t dare retort in front of her husband, “Then you shouldn’t have stopped me back then!”
Grievance written across her face, she tugged at her brand-new silk dress, glanced at the Old Madam, and muttered, “Mother, was I wrong? At a time like this, who still cares about empty pride? That’s the Marquis Zhongyong’s household! Even if it’s as a concubine, she’d still be a concubine in a marquis’s residence. That’s already a great honor for the family!”
The moment Yin Ying heard this, her temper flared again.
Fortunately, though old, the Old Madam was skilled at putting out fires. All the while, she fingered her prayer beads to calm herself. When she finally spoke, her voice carried the gentle steadiness of someone who had weathered a lifetime of hardships.
The commotion in the room instantly subsided.
“Xiuzhu,” she said softly, “the daughters of our Nian family are indeed precious. I bore six sons, but only three survived. And among all my children, I had only you as a daughter. That is why your brothers and sisters-in-law have always cherished you and yielded to you in everything.”
Nian Xiuzhu’s face flushed bright red. “Mother, that’s not what I meant…”
The Old Madam waved a hand. Her clouded eyes slowly swept across the room full of children and grandchildren before finally resting on Nian Chujiu.
A trace of affection softened her gaze. “And now, in your generation, every branch of the family hoped for daughters, yet in the end we received only one precious girl, our Jiaojiao.”
Nian Chujiu suddenly felt her throat tighten. A burning ache rushed into her eyes. These were the people she had been willing to stake her life on protecting.
The Old Madam beckoned. “Jiaojiao, come here to Grandmother.”
Nian Chujiu stepped forward, greeted her grandmother and the elders of each branch, then obediently nestled into the Old Madam’s embrace.
She said softly, “Grandmother, I’m fine.”
The Old Madam gently stroked her hair. “Jiaojiao has suffered a great grievance. Grandmother knows.”
Many people filled the room, divided among the family’s five branches.
One branch was the Nian family’s main line, headed by the Old Madam herself.
The Old Madam had been the only daughter of the previous generation of the Nian family. By now, most of the family’s principal businesses were in her hands and those of her direct descendants.
Two other branches remained: distant collateral lines that had helped support the Old Madam in her early years. Having long benefited from her generosity, they later joined the Nian family tree. These two branches were quite prosperous, each numbering thirty or forty members. Most were stationed throughout the country managing the Nian family’s commercial affairs and trade connections. Of those who had accompanied the main branch to the capital this time, each branch had sent roughly seven or eight people.
The fourth branch was the family of Nian Xiuzhu’s husband, the Liang clan. Including both masters and servants, they numbered eight people in total.
A fifth branch also existed, though its circumstances were somewhat unusual.
The Old Madam’s husband, Li Chunshan, had been a scholar who married into the Nian family as a live-in son-in-law. As a result, a line of descendants bearing the surname Li had also become part of the clan. Although they were not Nians by blood and carried a different surname, Li Chunshan’s position ensured them a place within the family. The Li descendants lived, studied, and learned the family business alongside the Nian children. Seven of them had come along on this journey as well.