Married to a Villainous Minister - Chapter 88

Widow Liu was truly heartless. Ever since Meng Yujiao came to the Yu family with Yu Huangqi, she hadn’t once come to visit or even inquire about her.

“You don’t know, she once tried to sneak into Silang’s bed and was severely beaten by your Third Uncle. She barely survived. After that, it was like she became a different person. Several life-threatening illnesses were cured in her hands, just took her prescriptions and the patients recovered,” Madam Zhang chattered on, telling Yu Gancao about how miraculous Yujiao’s medicine was, how she had saved Zhou Huai and the Second Master of the Mu family.

Yu Gancao was amazed. “Her medical skills are that good? It’s just a shame she’s a woman. The world is full of prejudice against women. If she were a man, she might become a renowned physician.”

“She’s definitely capable. She’s only treated a few patients and already earned dozens of taels of silver. Your grandfather even agreed to give her half the consultation fees,” Madam Zhang sighed. “She’s got more than ten taels on hand right now! If she’d be willing to take it out, your little brother could buy a letter of recommendation for the autumn exam at the county school.”

Yu Gancao already knew her mother was faking illness and making a fuss with her grandparents just to get her younger brother Zhizhou into the county school. Although she hadn’t interacted with Yujiao much, she had a strange feeling about her, something unexplainable, like Yujiao didn’t quite belong in their small mountain village.

“Mother, Grandfather and Grandmother have always been tightfisted. All the money the different branches earn ends up in their hands. Except for Third Uncle and Third Aunt, how could the rest of us afford anything?” 

“If Wu-di’s wife managed to get half the consultation fees from Grandfather, she clearly isn’t someone to take lightly. You shouldn’t expect her to pay for my little brother’s schooling. It’s best not to offend her.” 

Yu Gancao thought it over, worried her mother might actually do something unreasonable, which would strain the relationship with the second branch.

Madam Zhang nodded. “I understand. Your sister-in-law’s words made sense. Third Branch’s Yu Jinshu and Yu Jinyan both went to the county school using communal funds. Now it’s our Zhizhou’s turn, why should we be the only branch paying ourselves? If anyone should pay, it should be the communal fund. We can’t keep letting Third Branch benefit from everything.”

Yu Gancao tried to persuade her, “Still, you can’t just refuse to work in the fields over this. There’s so much wheat, Second Aunt could work herself to death and still not finish.”

“I know your Second Aunt can’t finish it all. That’s why I’m trying to pressure your grandfather into letting the communal fund pay. If it does, our First Branch won’t owe a thing. Later, when Meng Yujiao collects consultation fees, she can just keep that money herself. In the end, it’s still her earnings being used.” Madam Zhang had it all figured out.

At that moment, Li Hanqiu walked in from outside. Yu Gancao was about to say something, but Madam Zhang quickly urged, “You and Hanqiu can sleep in Zhizhou’s room tonight. Go get some rest.”

Thanks to Yu Qiaoshan’s help, all the wheat in the courtyard had been threshed and hulled. Madam Song had stacked the straw to the side and returned indoors to rest.

Inside the room, Yu Fuling was still sewing a wedding outfit. She yawned, tired, put down her needle and thread, and placed the basket beside the bed. Seeing Yujiao still reading, she asked, “When are you going to sleep?”

Yu Jiao lifted her head from the book and glanced out the window. She wasn’t used to not having a clock around here and could never tell what time it was.

“What time is it?” she asked, rubbing her eyes and turning to Yu Fuling.

Yu Fuling lay down and burrowed into the covers. “It’s already hai-shi.”

Yu Jiao mentally converted the time, it was around 10 p.m. She closed her book and carefully placed it on the wooden cabinet by the bed, then got up to shut the window and go to sleep.

When she reached the window, she glanced up at the night sky. Just as she was about to close it, her hand paused. In a low voice, she said, “It’s going to rain tomorrow.”

Yu Fuling, who had just closed her eyes and was dozing off, suddenly sat up, wide-eyed. “What did you say?”

Still looking at the night sky, Yujiao repeated slowly, “It will rain tomorrow.”

“You said it’s going to rain tomorrow?” Yu Fuling asked again.

Yu Jiao nodded. Without hesitation, Yu Fuling got out of bed, quickly dressed, and headed outside.

Madam Song had just finished washing up and was about to lie down when she saw Yu Fuling coming out. Thinking she was heading to the latrine, she reached for the candle holder at the bedside, but then she heard Yu Fuling say, “Mother, Yujiao says it’s going to rain tomorrow. We need to get the wheat in the courtyard stored away.”

Madam Song also threw on a robe. “That can’t be. The weather’s been so good these past few days.”

Yu Fuling replied with a mysterious air, “You don’t understand. If Yujiao says it’ll rain, then it definitely will. Mother, let’s hurry and move the wheat.”

Seeing how serious she was, Madam Song remembered how Yujiao had predicted rain the night before their hunting trip, and it had rained the next day. She immediately got up, a bit anxious. “If it really does rain tomorrow, what about the wheat still in the fields? If it gets soaked and stays wet, it’ll be ruined!”

Yu Mengshan also sat up and asked Yujiao, who had just stepped out from the side room fully dressed, “Meng girl, is it really going to rain tomorrow? How do you know? How long will it last?”

Yu Jiao pointed upward. “From the signs in the sky. This year’s been especially rainy. I don’t know how long this rain will last.”

Mengshan didn’t understand any of this talk about reading the sky, but Yujiao didn’t seem like she was joking. He hurried to put on an outer robe. “If it really rains, the wheat in the fields needs to be harvested fast. Otherwise, half a year’s work will be lost.”

Madam Song said immediately, “I’ll go wake up big brother and sister-in-law. Fuling, go get your third Uncle and third Aunt, and let your grandparents know too. We have to get to the fields quickly.”

The entire Yu family had just gone to bed, and now the second branch was knocking on every door, creating quite a commotion and waking everyone up.

When Yu Fuling knocked on the third branch’s door, Madam Zhao scolded her loudly, “Are you mad? The sky’s clear, how would it rain? Are you just making trouble and keeping people from sleeping? If you second branch people want to go crazy, do it yourselves! Stop bothering us!”

With a loud bang, she slammed the door shut.

Yu Fuling gritted her teeth, helpless, and turned to knock on the doors of the elder Yu couple. When Old Madam Yu opened the door, already dressed, she asked, “Who said it’s going to rain tomorrow?”

Yu Fuling was a bit afraid of her but believed firmly in Yujiao’s words, so she braced herself and answered, “Yujiao said so.”

“She says it’ll rain, and it will? What, the heavens listen to her now? Everyone in the village is harvesting these days, if it were going to rain, word would’ve gotten out already. Stop stirring up nonsense in the middle of the night. If you want to harvest, go ahead yourselves. No one’s stopping you!” Furious at being woken up, Old Madam Yu moved to shut the door.

But then a calm, cold voice cut through the air.

“Heaven doesn’t listen to me. But the rain tomorrow is the heavens’ message to me. I’ve delivered it. If the fields flood and the harvest is lost, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Yu Jiao stepped out from behind Yu Fuling, composed and unflinching.