Chapter 4Feng Li was by nature someone who preferred peace and quiet, but he was by no means afraid of trouble. Old Woman Feng, however, had a fiery temper and had already grabbed a kitchen knife, saying, "These people deserve to die. There's no need to wait any longer—let's go confront them directly. At worst, I'll go to prison."Old Man Feng had served as a soldier in the Jing Prince's manor in his early years, but he wasn't a bold man. He tried to smooth things over: "You old woman, what are you kicking up a fuss about now?""Father, Mother, stop arguing. I have my own way of handling this." Feng Li rubbed his forehead and came to a decision within moments.Yingniang, standing nearby, was also worried. She hadn't expected that the fields her father had worked so hard to buy would now run into trouble. It seemed that wherever there were people, there was conflict—no place was truly pure.Fortunately, Feng Li said, "First, have Hu Si, the man who manages the fish pond, come over. Ask him if he knows who did it yesterday. If he does, tell him to have that person come and apologize to me right away. If they refuse to admit their fault, I'll write a complaint and take the matter to the authorities. If Hu Si proves useless, then I won't let him keep the fish pond anymore."Although as a scholar he was bound by the rule that "one who wears the scholar's robe does not set foot in the yamen"—students were not permitted to participate in litigation—he had traveled far and wide and studied at the county school, so he knew exactly which legal scribe to approach for drafting a complaint.Of course, he needed to scare them a bit first. He wasn't afraid of those people.Hu Si himself owned several dozen mu of fields and had opened a small tavern near the farmstead. But since his family had many mouths to feed, he had taken over Feng Li's fish pond. At the time, he had spoken very sweetly, saying he would take full responsibility for it. Now, however, he immediately tried to shift the blame: "Brother Feng, everyone in the village knows who poisoned it. Isn't it Lai the Elder, your family's in-law? Yesterday, he even came by my place for a look. I thought he wanted to chat with me—never expected he'd do something like this."Lai the Elder was the elder brother of Feng Li's second aunt. He lived up to his name—in Lai Village, he was a notorious bully."Are you certain it was him?" Feng Li narrowed his eyes.Hu Si said, "If it wasn't him, then who else could it be?"Feng Li looked at Hu Si and said, "I've entrusted my fish pond to you. Since you know who the culprit is, either make Lai the Elder pay compensation, or take him to court—I'll find you a legal scribe. If you can do neither, then you can forget about managing my fish pond. I'll find another tenant."Hu Si had clearly contracted the fish pond himself, yet he still wanted Feng Li to resolve the matter. Feng Li wasn't that foolish.Hu Si grumbled at length, but in the end said, "Fine, I'll count myself unlucky. I'll buy the fish fry myself."Feng Li felt not a shred of sympathy, but he added a few provoking words: "Since you're unwilling to offend him, there's nothing I can do. You'll have to make up for it yourself and keep a better watch on the pond from now on."Hu Si trudged out with sighs and groans. Yingniang thought to herself that her father truly had a way with things—making Hu Si cover the loss himself would surely sow enmity between him and Lai the Elder.If it had come to blows, Feng Li, as a scholar, would have found himself at a disadvantage.She had never imagined there was such a way to handle things. She had always believed that "every wrong has its source, every debt has its debtor," but today Feng Li had truly taught her what that meant. And also—don't meddle in others' karma. If you yourself aren't willing to pursue the matter, how can you expect someone else to stick their neck out for you?When another land dispute arose, Feng Li first opened the land registry to check, then went to inspect the fields himself. After confirming the land was recorded in the registry, he gathered a dozen or so able-bodied young men from among the tenant farmers and went together with the village head to the household claiming the dispute.The moment that family saw Feng Li arriving with so many people, carrying iron spades, they were scared out of their wits: "Feng Dalang, let's talk this through properly! What are you doing?"Feng Li sneered coldly: "The Tong family has lived here for decades, and you never said a word. Now that I've just bought the fields, suddenly you claim there's a problem."The man hastily waved his hands: "It wasn't me who said it—it was Xinchun and Uncle Long from the village.""Today we're going to get this settled clearly. Village head, have them come over as well. I'd like to see who dares to question a contract that has passed through the official courts! You people stay in the village all your lives and rarely even go to town. You don't know that I study at the county school and am acquainted with no small number of officials. Whoever makes things difficult for me even for a moment, I'll make their life difficult for a lifetime." Feng Li bluffed boldly.Sometimes, when dealing with cunning and slippery characters, you have to talk big. Otherwise, these people will walk all over you.Soon Xinchun and Uncle Long arrived, stammering and hedging. Feng Li immediately compared the land registries on both sides—the field that the man claimed was disputed wasn't even in his registry at all.Feng Li forced him to apologize, issued a stern warning, and then treated the young men who had accompanied him to a round of drinks. That settled the matter and boosted his own reputation as well.The sound of drinking and shouting could be heard from the courtyard. Old Man Feng joined in the drinking, while Old Woman Feng and Mrs. Jiang kept bringing out dishes—ten large bowls laid out on the table, quite a feast.Yingniang thought to herself that it was no wonder her father had managed to build up such a household by the age of thirty, with no background to speak of. Truly remarkable! Her grandfather was too fond of keeping the peace, her grandmother too impulsive, and her mother was young and inexperienced in the ways of the world. Everything was handled by her father himself, one thing at a time.After this matter was settled, spring planting began, and everything returned to its proper course.At night, Feng Li set down the book in his hand and gazed at his charming wife, naturally feeling a stir of desire. Mrs. Jiang had always deeply admired her husband, and the two enjoyed their intimate union.But poor Yingniang suffered for it. When she woke in the morning, she said, "Mother, I want to go stay next door."Mrs. Jiang paid it no mind: "A little one like you can't live alone. If you need to pee at night, Mother can still hold you."Feng Li also disagreed with this idea, but he chuckled, "Chan'er, why don't we have someone make a small bed and place it here? When our daughter grows up, she can live in the embroidery tower."Mrs. Jiang then asked where the embroidery tower would be built, and upon hearing that Feng Li had such plans, she was delighted: "Husband, you think so far ahead. I could never have thought of that.""Don't flatter me. Once Feng Yu's marriage is settled, I still need to go to the county school. You should also study hard at managing the household." Feng Li patted his wife on the shoulder.That morning, Yingniang ate sugar cakes—hard on the outside shell, with the brown sugar inside nearly spilling out. The warm brown sugar had a sweet, rich flavor, and it was especially delicious.Mrs. Jiang was washing clothes by the well and said, "Yingniang, tomorrow I'll buy you salt cakes to eat. Those are made with lard, even tastier."Yingniang hurried over, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed Mrs. Jiang on the cheek: "Mother is the best."Her days were simple—breakfast in the morning, helping Mrs. Jiang with chores, and then the mother and daughter would spend time together doing needlework, singing, and playing.One day, after Mrs. Jiang had hung up the laundry, she heard a bustling commotion of voices outside. She took Yingniang to the front to look and saw a group of men and women approaching.Yingniang was startled as well. In her daily life, even though Mrs. Jiang and Feng Li owned silk garments, they rarely wore them, mostly dressing in cotton. But the young woman before her was different—she wore a square-collared jacket in orange-red silk embroidered with cut flower branches, paired with a sky-blue pleated skirt below. Her hair was styled in a silver-wire bun adorned with hairpins, giving her the look of a wealthy lady.Old Woman Feng introduced her: "Daughter-in-law, this is your uncle's family. This is Cang'er's wife."Yingniang realized this must be the wealthy daughter that Second Uncle Cang had married. Then she looked at Second Aunt Mrs. Lai, who wore a purple jacket with a red skirt, both made of plain cloth, and the combination looked rather odd.What a stark contrast between this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law—one strange and peculiar, the other utterly refined and proper.

Yingniang