But what frustrated Ju Zi was that the old man who had summoned everyone for this meeting talked for a long time without getting to the point.
Wang Zhefu first instructed his three sons to support each other and take good care of their mother.
Then he gave them separate instructions, telling the eldest son to look after the household and pay close attention to the children’s studies. He told the second son to focus on preparing for the exams, and if he repeatedly failed, he shouldn’t be forced to continue down that path; finding another way might not be a bad thing.
Finally, he imparted his wisdom on being an official to Wang Xipu.
Old Mrs. Dong initially wanted to stop her husband, after all, he himself had performed poorly in his official duties, and all roads lead to the gutter—
But then she thought, even a negative experience is an experience, so let him impart his wisdom.
In concluding his instruction on the principles of officialdom, Wang Zhefu emphasized four words: “Guard your original intentions.”
Wang Xipu solemnly replied, “Your son will heed your teachings, Father.”
Wang Zhefu then began to instruct his grandsons.
Looking at his eldest grandson, Wang Yuan, the old man’s advice was succinct: “He’s seventeen this year; it’s time to prepare for marriage.”
Even Ju Zi understood—Wang Yuan was no longer a possibility; he suggested hurrying to have more children like Wang Yuan to raise.
Wang Xirui nodded with shame. Producing an heir was his only purpose as a son, and it was time to put that to use as soon as possible.
“The third son doesn’t come home often, so you two brothers will have to keep an eye on Wang Jie’s studies,” Wang Zhefu said to his eldest and second sons, finally fixing his gaze on his eldest son. “Afterwards, let Wang Jie study at your private school. In addition, I have asked Master Yuan to find two other tutors in Jinling City to guide him; you can take him to visit them every ten days.”
Wang Xipu knew his father was going to great lengths for his son, and quickly said to Wang Jie, “Hurry up and thank your grandfather.”
Wang Jie quickly bowed to his grandfather.
Wang Zhefu waved his hand, indicating that it wasn’t necessary, then looked at Shuyi: “Shuyi is a good child, but she’s a little too sensible…”
Shuyi was slightly taken aback, not quite understanding her grandfather’s meaning, but she never asked too many questions, simply bowing her head respectfully before giving a slight curtsy.
Finally, Wang Zhefu smiled and beckoned to his youngest son, Zhenyi.
Zhenyi approached her grandfather, who patted her head, his eyes filled with affection. “Uncle has been busy lately and hasn’t had time to check on Deqing’s studies. Has she fallen behind?”
Zhenyi tilted her head back, her bright eyes filled with childlike earnestness. “Zhenyi practices writing and arithmetic every day, without fail. If Uncle doesn’t believe me, you can test me as you please.”
“How could Uncle not believe our Deqing!” Wang Zhefu laughed, gently pinching the child’s round nose, praising her repeatedly. “With Deqing’s diligence, what can’t she achieve?”
The old man’s eyes held hope and expectation, but also a hidden worry.
But looking at the little child before him, he finally said, “Second son, from now on, you will teach Deqing his lessons. The study door must not be locked all the time anymore; the children can study whenever they want.”
Having said all this, Wang Zhefu rose from his chair, smiling, and said, “Alright, I should go out now.”
Ju Zi tilted its head in confusion: “?”
Where’s the important matter?
Where’s the important matter it had been curiously worrying about for so many days?
Ju Zi subconsciously looked at the most sentimental person in the family, the one who couldn’t hide anything—
Sure enough, Yang Jinniang had already turned her head away, wiping away tears with a handkerchief.
Zhenyi, seemingly sensing something, suddenly grabbed her grandfather’s sleeve: “Grandfather, will you be gone for a long time? When will you be back?”
Wang Zhefu: “Focus on your homework. I’ll test you later. If you answer incorrectly, you’ll get a slap on the hand.”
Zhenyi recoiled. She had never been slapped, but her eldest brother had, screaming and crying terribly.
The children’s attention was quickly diverted, and the three Wang brothers followed their grandfather outside.
The old lady sat quietly, saying to her daughters-in-law, “Go home, everyone.”
The third wife suppressed her tears: “Let’s stay with Mother a little longer…”
The daughters-in-law all gathered around the old lady, and Shuyi poured tea for her grandmother.
Zhenyi’s gaze suddenly fell on the fishing rod behind the door.
Zhenyi picked up the fishing rod and suddenly ran out.
Her father seemed to be going out for a long time; how could he not take his beloved fishing rod? He’d forgotten it, and she had to bring it to him!
A rumble of thunder rolled across the sky.
Zhenyi ran ahead, carrying the fishing rod, which was much taller than she was, with Ju Zi chasing after her.
Upon reaching the gate, Zhenyi saw two constables standing there. Her father’s hands and feet were bound with heavy, rusty chains.
Her third uncle was bowing to the constables, entrusting them with his affairs. Her eldest uncle presented a silver pouch with both hands, and her father was tearfully bidding farewell to him: “Father, please take care…”
Zhenyi was stunned. The last time she’d seen constables arrest someone like this was when her sister Jiu Ying’s house had been burgled. The thief had been trapped in the woodshed, and the Qian family’s servants had reported it to the authorities. And so, these constables had taken the thief away with these chains.
“Father isn’t a thief!”
Zhenyi shouted righteously and ran forward, only to be stopped by her father: “Zhen’er, stop your foolishness and disturbances…”
Zhenyi was on the verge of tears, repeatedly calling out, “Father, Father!”
Looking at the long fishing rod in the little child’s hand, Wang Zhefu’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears, but he still smiled at his granddaughter, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Grandfather is just going away for a while…”
After some comforting words, the old man waved lovingly to his granddaughter: “Go back, Deqing, be good.”
As the old man waved, the chains rattled.
The wind rustled the leaves, and Zhenyi’s tears flowed freely.
Looking at the white-haired old man, Ju Zi couldn’t help but feel tears welling up too. Without Old Wang, who would fish for it?
Wang Yuan, Shuyi, Chun’er, and Yang Jinniang also chased after him one after another. Surrounded and persuaded, Zhenyi was eventually appeased and no longer insisted on keeping her grandfather. The most willful thing she could do was ask him for a pinky promise: “Father will definitely come back.”
The old man smiled, bent down, and raised his hand, bound by heavy iron chains, to earnestly pinky promise with her small, soft hand.
Wang Zhefu was quickly led onto the prison cart, the two guards being relatively polite.
The prison cart receded into the distance, the misty rain drifting by.
Zhenyi suddenly remembered that a few days earlier, her grandfather had taught her to recite the Qingming Festival poem: “[A drizzling rain falls on the Qingming Festival, the travelers on the road are heartbroken…].”
She asked: “Father, what does ‘heartbroken’ mean?”
Now, young Zhenyi, clutching her fishing rod, stood in the rain and mist, watching her family members silently weeping as they saw her off, and only then did she vaguely understand the meaning of the poem.
For days, the rain continued, and the Wang family was shrouded in silence.
After the weather cleared, Orange (橘子) spent her days working from dawn till dusk, plotting a major event.
Orange was convinced that Wang Zhefu had deceived Zhenyi. Once he was on that prison cart, he couldn’t possibly return; he was destined for execution—that’s how it was portrayed on television!
Fortunately, the television program offered a better way to survive—a masked prison break.
Orange had already scouted the execution ground in Jinling City.
But a prison break was far beyond what a single cat could accomplish; it needed accomplices.
Late at night, by the river behind the Wang family’s residence, one after another, cats of various colors emerged from the bushes.
They had all eaten Wang Zhefu’s fish. Orange issued a call to arms—her benefactor was in trouble; help was needed.
The black and white cat arrived too. Always a law-abiding and law-abiding judge, it declared: Wang Zhefu is a good man; he’s been framed!
More and more cats were mobilized, and a prison break plan was brewing.
But halfway through, a cat from outside the city reported that someone had personally witnessed Wang Zhefu being escorted out of Jinling City that very day.
It turned out he wasn’t going to be beheaded in Jinling City, but exiled to the northern border.
It was too late to chase after him now.
The once-proud Orange suddenly slumped, but also breathed a sigh of relief; at least Old Wang wouldn’t lose his head.
Orange didn’t dare slump for too long, after all, it still had Zhenyi to care for and comfort.
Zhenyi was quite easy on Orange; she didn’t cry or panic, and began to go to the study to practice calligraphy and reading as usual every day.
Zhenyi had heard her eldest uncle teach her elder brother that only through studying could one find a way out.
Zhenyi had also heard her grandfather say that the answers others couldn’t give were all in books. Books contained all the truths of the world, and among them, the “complete truth” lay in mathematics and arithmetic.
Zhenyi wanted a way out; she wanted answers. She wanted to know why her father had been arrested and how to bring him home sooner.
So she studied diligently, even more so than before.
In Ju Zi’s eyes, she was simply a little girl born with a natural talent for studying.
Spring turned to autumn, and the jujube tree outside Jifang Study ripened. Ju Zi climbed the tree, knocking down green and red jujubes one by one. Zhenyi and Chun’er looked up, holding up their clothes to catch them below.
That autumn, the Wang family finally received good news: Yang Jinniang was pregnant.
Everyone was happy, and Zhenyi was no exception. She began preparing to be a good and responsible older sister, a process that excited her greatly.
As Yang Jinniang’s belly grew larger, Zhenyi learned to care for her mother like the adults, helping her down the stone steps and blowing on her scalding soup to cool it down.
The following year, on Qingming Festival, one evening after washing up, Zhenyi and Ju Zi lay together on the bed, opening the book “The Seventy-Two Pentads of the Lunar Calendar,” pausing on the page about the Qingming Festival, reading it carefully.
Another Qingming Festival arrived. Her father had been gone for a full year, and there was still no news.
Zhenyi rested her hand on the book, her chin on her hand, quieting down with longing.
Ju Zi pressed her ear back, suddenly becoming alert as if she had heard something.
A moment later, Zhao Mama cried out urgently, “Madam is about to give birth! Chun’er, quick, go to Huangjia Lane and fetch a midwife!”
“Yes!” Chun’er, in the courtyard, hurriedly put down the wooden basin, quickly wiping the water from her hands on her dress as she ran. Without even unrolling her rolled-up sleeves, she dashed outside.
Ju Zi and Zhen Yi also ran out of the house.
Soon, the First Madam and the Third Madam arrived. The First Madam carried Zhen Yi out, while the Third Madam went into the delivery room to help. Lu Mama comforted Wang Xichen, “Second Master, don’t worry, a woman’s second pregnancy is usually easier! At the latest, within an hour, Second Madam will surely give our Wang family a little prince, even more handsome and intelligent than Second Miss!”
However, an hour later, Yang Jinniang still hadn’t given birth smoothly.
Lu Mama stopped offering auspicious words and also went into the delivery room to assist.
Another hour passed, and the sounds of panic from the women in the delivery room grew increasingly louder.
Another hour passed. In the opposite room, Zhenyi, held in the arms of the First Madam and sitting on the bed, her eyes wide open and wide awake, no longer heard her mother’s desperate cries. Only then did she dare to ask, “Aunt, is Mother alright?”
The First Madam’s expression was not good. She gently told Zhenyi, “Wait in bed, don’t go anywhere,” and then hurriedly went to the delivery room as well.