Chapter 69: Qiu Yurou Discovers Su Yunting’s Worries

Qiu Yurou noticed that Su Yunting had something on his mind. She thought he was worried about his exam ranking, so she didn’t take it too seriously.

With something as big as the imperial examinations, worrying was normal. What hadn’t been normal was how calm he seemed right after returning.

At the end of the eighth month, Su Yunting went again to the prefectural city. News that he had taken first place as jieyuan (provincial champion) reached home before he did.

When Qiu Yurou received the news, she immediately had someone fetch Yunche back from the academy. By the time he returned, quicker households had already arrived at their door bearing congratulatory gifts.

While Yunche received the male guests in the outer courtyard, Qiu Yurou and her two sisters-in-law received the womenfolk.

Qiu Yurou soon realized that just as Su Yunting had said before, whether or not their families had prior dealings, people of every sort were coming one after another with gifts.

Su Yunting was not someone without foundations. Apart from the fact that his teacher had in previous years already trained several students who entered officialdom, in recent years Deputy Prefect Lu had been rising rapidly and treated him like a nephew.

Thus, everyone came to make friends, bringing gifts appropriate to their own status, all befitting Su Yunting’s new identity as a juren (provincial graduate).

This was exactly when the lessons Qiu Yurou had learned from Madam Lu about hospitality and etiquette came into use.

Where once a year’s account book and gift ledger had only taken up a few pages, they suddenly grew much thicker.

For several days the household bustled with excitement. By the time Su Yunting returned from the prefectural city, he first went back to his native village. The clan elder, upon hearing the news, immediately held a ceremony in the ancestral hall to report to the forebears.

Once Su Yunting returned to the village, not only the local gentry but also those from nearby towns came bringing gifts and congratulations.

With Su Yunting winning first place as jieyuan, the entire Sujia Village fell into joyous frenzy except for Old Man Su’s household.

Now no one mentioned reconciliation between Su Yunting and Old Man Su anymore. His very first announcement upon returning was that after the spring metropolitan exam next year, once he formally entered officialdom, he would purchase ritual lands for the clan.

If he reconciled with Old Man Su, then with such ritual lands, Old Man Su would have enormous influence.

And Old Man Su was a man who begrudged even his own grandchildren, so toward the villagers; he would surely be harsher.

When it came to their own interests, those who had once urged Su Yunting to be magnanimous no longer seemed so generous. In fact, when speaking of Old Man Su, they now hated him even more than Su Yunting did.

Although the villagers no longer pressured Su Yunting to reconcile, they still dared not openly mock Old Man Su. Whatever they might laugh at in their hearts, they wouldn’t show it outwardly. After all, he was Su Yunting’s grandfather. One could ignore him, but one could not humiliate him.

Old Man Su had failed to seize the immense fortune right before him, and now regretted so deeply it made his guts ache. In the same situation were two other families; Su Yunting’s maternal kin, and the family of Eldest Uncle Qiu.

Su Yunting’s maternal grandfather and grandmother were laughed at within their village, but on the surface others still gave them respect due to their blood relation with Su Yunting. So within their own village, they weren’t really affected.

But Eldest Uncle Qiu’s household was not so lucky. In the past two years he had still failed to pass the county (xiucai) exam, and his son had failed every round this year. Qiu Yurou had long severed ties with him, so when the villagers mocked him, they did it openly to his face.

When Old Man Qiu and his third son returned from the Sujia Village banquet, they hadn’t even entered their own gates before hearing the eldest son and his wife quarreling.

Having been influenced by his wife’s pillow talk for two years, Eldest Uncle Qiu had long believed that his repeated exam failures were all his mother’s fault.

That day, when he went out, villagers mocked him, saying he was fated to have no fortune. Even when Heaven sent him a golden son-in-law, he had stubbornly driven him away. He shouldn’t even think about further exams, such was his fate; even if he kept trying, he would never succeed.

Hearing countless jeers outside and then his mother scolding his wife when he got home, Eldest Uncle Qiu’s grievances that had built up over countless days and nights finally erupted.

When Qiu Yurou received the news that Old Man Qiu had suffered a stroke, it was already late in the evening so she could only let the messenger rest overnight and plan to return to Qianqiao Village the next morning.

Su Yunting wanted to accompany her, but Qiu Yurou stopped him.

Now that he had passed the provincial exam, she herself had risen from a xuicai’s wife to the wife of a juren. Her status was completely different. With the clan’s daughter now elevated, people only wished her position to be steady. No longer would they whisper behind her back that she had simply been lucky to marry well.

The next day, as Su Yunting was not permitted to accompany her, he could only send his younger brother Yunche to go with his wife.

When they reached Qianqiao Village, people were already waiting at the entrance. Qiu Yurou, just as before, greeted those she knew.

But now, her status was different. Anyone she greeted felt honored, their face glowing with pride.

The carriage rolled slowly forward until they reached the Qiu family house, where Third Uncle Qiu had long been waiting to welcome them.

Qiu Yurou did not rush inside. She lingered, first asking about Old Man Qiu’s condition.

Though Old Man Qiu had been angered, blaming his unworthy wife for draining the family’s blessings, hindering his eldest’s repeated exam failures, and, upon returning from the joyous Sujia Village only to find his own household in chaos by comparison; he had been struck ill by the contrast.

But what Third Uncle Qiu told her was only what everyone had seen: Eldest Uncle Qiu and his mother quarreled, and in the end it drove their father into a stroke.

Although Qiu Yurou no longer had dealings with Eldest Uncle Qiu, he was still an elder. So she did not voice his faults, only sighed softly.

All she said concerned the treatment, “Whatever the physician prescribes, let us follow. As for the expenses, I will pay.”

Third Uncle Qiu quickly refused, “You are a married daughter. There is no reason for a married daughter to bear the cost of her grandfather’s illness!”

The people nearby also echoed that this was against reason.

Just then, the clan head arrived.

The Qiu clan head was of the same generation as Old Man Qiu. After coming, he too said that Qiu Yurou should not pay for Old Man Qiu’s treatment.

Qiu Yurou said, “Clan head grandfather, you know as well, Su Yunting placed first as jieyuan. At home, let me speak without fear of others’ envy: with my husband ranked as jieyuan, the daughters of our family are no longer like other daughters. Grandfather is ill; others may not be obliged, but I certainly am.”

The villagers’ persuasion was sincere. After all, there was no tradition of a married daughter paying for her natal family’s elder’s care, much less a granddaughter.

But these words of Qiu Yurou; they were words everyone wanted to hear.

Qiu Yurou added, “Everyone says it’s difficult to deal with government officials. Now, our village’s son-in-law has taken first place as jieyuan. Next year, when he passes the metropolitan exam as gongshi, he will enter officialdom. As long as I remain in the Su family, local officials will not dare to easily bully our village.”

At this, those gathered grew excited. Every family hoped for prosperous relatives who would still remember old ties, perhaps even lend a helping hand.

At that moment, Qiu Yurou had already transformed from Old Man Qiu’s granddaughter into the revered esteemed lady of the entire village.

With the clan head present and the proper courtesies exchanged, it was now time to enter.

In the Qiu family’s house, who in the village didn’t know what kind of days Qiu Yurou had once lived here? Even if some had forgotten, with Su Yunting’s success in the exams, the tale of her being a substitute bride was brought up again. Now, everyone knew.

And now, Qiu Yurou was no longer merely Old Man Qiu’s granddaughter. So the crowd followed her inside.

Following Third Uncle, Qiu Yurou entered the main hall. There she saw Old Man Qiu lying on the bed, unable to walk, his mouth already twisted from paralysis.

Qiu Yurou spoke a few polite, face-saving words in a calm tone.

Inside the room, only Old Lady Zhou attended him. It was unclear whether Eldest Uncle Qiu had withdrawn deliberately, or if he had simply not been at his father’s side at all.

To Old Lady Zhou, Qiu Yurou offered only the most perfunctory greeting. As for Eldest Uncle Qiu’s whereabouts, she did not inquire.

After seeing that Old Man Qiu could no longer move about, Qiu Yurou went to the outer room. Before the clan head and the villagers, she directly took out twenty taels of silver, placed them before Third Uncle, and said, “This silver is for grandfather’s treatment. It will stay with Third Uncle. From now on, you will be in charge of the costs of his medicine and physician’s visits.”

A man fit to be clan head was most skilled at reading human affairs. After Qiu Yurou spoke, he said, “When the family divided, your grandfather chose to stay with the eldest. His share of the property also went to the eldest. Now that he is ill, the third has not shirked, and has still been living with the eldest.”

These words, of course, followed Qiu Yurou’s intention. But Qiu Yurou did not respond, after all, she was a married daughter, and it was improper for her to interfere too much in her natal family’s affairs.

Though she said nothing, the clan head’s words did not fall flat. The surrounding villagers all echoed them, and Third Uncle naturally agreed as well.

From the doorway of the inner room, Old Lady Zhou looked at the granddaughter she had once tormented at will. Though seated in a lower place, the entire room now centered around her, everyone praising and deferring to her!

Old Lady Zhou felt a suffocating breath stuck in her chest, unable to swallow it down. But in front of the clan head, she dared not let it out.

In just two short days, Old Lady Zhou had suddenly aged greatly. The eldest son she had always favored had grown cold toward her over the past two years. The eldest granddaughter she had spoiled from childhood had last year married forty miles away, into a poor household unable to afford a bride, only accepted because they didn’t mind her bad reputation.

She had never expected that outoff the three granddaughters; The one she had always thought a jinx now lived the best. The third son’s daughter had also married into town. And only the granddaughter she once favored most had ended up with the worst marriage of all.

But her resentment and incomprehension was something noone cared about.

Qiu Yurou sat for a little longer, then, citing the busy household and the many visitors she could not neglect, took her leave.

Third Uncle did not try to keep her. He said directly, “Your own household matters are more important. Go quickly. Father’s illness requires slow recovery, and there are people here to attend him. Su Yunting needs you to manage affairs at home during this time. Take good care of yourself; if there’s nothing urgent, don’t trouble yourself to come again.”

Qiu Yurou answered, “Yes.”

Escorted by the crowd to the gate, just before boarding the carriage she called the clan head aside and instructed him, “As long as I remain in the Su family, I will never allow others to bully our clan. But clan head grandfather must admonish the clansmen; absolutely none may commit acts of oppression or abuse.”

The clan head quickly promised, “Yurou, rest assured. With me watching over the clan, if anyone dares misbehave outside, I will be the first not to permit it!”

With the clan head’s assurance, Qiu Yurou felt at ease. She mounted the carriage and bid farewell to this place she had once longed desperately to escape.

From now on, she would rarely return here. Yet in her heart, there was not the slightest trace of sorrow.