The Wife of a Loyal Servant - Chapter 5

“Missed out on a few hundred taels?” Cheng Shaotang looked even more bewildered.

Ling Yu naturally couldn’t spell it out for him.

She couldn’t exactly say that one of the three little girls the matchmaker brought along would one day become the Empress and that she’d simply struck up a connection and done her a favor. She’d at least be repaid with a few hundred taels down the line, even if she never rose to greatness.

A few hundred taels! Enough to keep an ordinary family fed and comfortable for an entire lifetime.

Across two lifetimes, she’d met plenty of people, but the ‘Miss Liu’ she’d occasionally glimpsed in Prince Qi’s residence was the most beautiful of them all. At first glance, she’d seemed like some celestial consort, Chang’e stepping out of the moon palace*. So when she later learned that ‘Miss Liu’ was born to a farming family, she simply couldn’t believe it.

(TL’s notes: *月宫里的嫦娥 (yuè gōng lǐ de Cháng’é) The phrase is typically used to praise a woman’s beauty or evoke something ethereal, unattainable, pure, or distant.)

It was said the Empress had been sold by her family at thirteen. That frail little girl earlier looked no more than eleven or twelve. But children from poor households often went hungry and lacked warm clothes—looking younger than their age was nothing unusual.”

Yet this person, so deeply etched into her memory, had stood right before her in this life, and she still failed to recognize her, thus wasting a chance at fortune for nothing.

Was it simply that she lacked the fate for riches, or was the pearl of ‘Miss Liu’ now too well hidden?

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became, but when Cheng Shaotang pressed her, all she could muster was a vague, “It’s nothing.” Fearing more questions, she quickly added, “It’s getting late. Let’s get going!”

With that, she strode ahead toward the county town.

Cheng Shaotang was riddled with doubts, but he wasn’t the type to pry. Since she didn’t want to talk, he let it be.

After they’d walked some distance, Ling Yu stole a glance at the man beside her, suddenly remembering that in her past life, hadn’t this man died protecting that little girl from earlier?

She remembered it was a fine drizzle hanging in the air. He had told her he’d taken on a job and would be away from home for a while. As for how long, he couldn’t yet say. If their son asked after him, she was to tell the boy that when his father returned, he’d take him riding.

Back then, little five-year-old Shitou loved nothing more than having his father take him horseback riding. But Cheng Shaotang was always far too busy, with barely any time left for him.

After so many years of marriage, Ling Yu had long grown used to his sudden assignments. She packed his bags as she always did, reminded him to be careful, personally saw him out the door, then shut it behind him and returned to her routine: caring for her mother-in-law, raising her son, and quietly waiting for his return.

Unfortunately, three months later, all that came back to her was an urn of ashes.

She had never asked about his work outside, and he had never mentioned anything. Naturally, she had no idea what kind of mission had cost him his life. Not until one of his close colleagues told her in secret that he had died while fulfilling an order to protect Consort Liu.

The man refused to say anything more.

Matters of the royal household were not for a commoner like her to pry into anyway. And once you take a man’s pay, you give your whole heart to the job.  If you lose your life in the line of duty, one could only sigh that one’s skills weren’t enough and fate had been unkind.

The Prince Qi’s Residence soon sent over a rather generous sum as compensation, fulfilling their duty as the ‘masters.’ It was fate, and as relatives, they had no real grounds for bitterness.

After they had walked some distance, she couldn’t hold herself back and asked, “Did you see those three young girls just now?”

“I did,” Cheng Shaotang replied. He wasn’t sure why she brought them up, and after thinking it over, assumed she was simply curious. For once, he offered an explanation: “While repairing the cart, I chatted a bit with the man. The woman is a trafficker, and the man is her husband. Those three girls were bought by the two of them.”

“They didn’t have any visible injuries, nor did they show fear toward the couple. They looked uneasy, yes, but that was likely due to uncertainty about what lies ahead. So the transaction was probably voluntary.”

“Oh… I see,” Ling Yu murmured in surprise.

Cheng Shaotang responded with another quiet “mm” and said nothing more.

They continued the journey in silence. Yet Ling Yu kept sneaking glances at him, and as she looked at his sharp, resolute profile, she suddenly realized this man truly deserved to be called incredibly meticulous.

She was certain he’d been completely focused on repairing the cart, not paying attention to the girls. At most, he might have looked their way once when asking if they needed help or as they were leaving. How could he possibly have gathered so much from just a couple of looks?

She suddenly wondered, had he stepped in to help earlier because he suspected the couple of trafficking the girl and wanted to find out what was going on?

After all, the world was in chaos these days, and there were plenty of unscrupulous traffickers and kidnappers.

As for her own question earlier, it had been nothing more than a spur-of-the-moment thing. She wanted to know what this man thought of the girl who would one day become the Empress, now just another maid-for-sale in a trafficker’s hands. After all, in their past life, he had died protecting that girl. As his wife, she knew she shouldn’t dwell on it. But she couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy.

The couple soon reached the county town.

Changping County was small and couldn’t compare to the prosperous large county towns, but it was far better off than the impoverished ones where news of people starving to death came out every now and then. In Ling Yu’s view, the county’s relative peace was thanks to a magistrate who was relatively considerate of the people.

A year from now, once a new magistrate takes office, Changping County will look completely different.

She shook her head.

In her previous life, she had traveled to quite a few places. Though her experience wasn’t vast, she knew well enough that chaos didn’t just plague small county towns. Even the prefectures and provinces above them were hardly any better.

When the highest ranks are in turmoil, it trickles down layer by layer, from top to bottom, eventually turning into one big mess. Otherwise, why would she have ended up fleeing from place to place in her past life?

When the Kings of Hell fight, the little ghosts suffer; when princes battle for power, the common folk pay the price. Add an emperor who is indifferent to state affairs, and how could the world not fall into chaos? How could common folk ever hope for a good life?

“Let’s head to the bookshop first and get everything we need for the first birthday ceremony. What do you think?” Cheng Shaotang said. Seeing that she didn’t look tired, he handed her the water pouch, gesturing for her to drink before asking her opinion.

Ling Yu took several gulps, handed the pouch back, and wiped her mouth. “Alright.”

Although people say, ‘All trades are lowly; only studying is noble,’* in her eyes, after seeing one too many scholars full of bad habits and too weak to even wring a chicken’s neck. She much preferred that her son follow his father’s path. She wanted him to grow sturdy and reliable, someone who could work hard and support a family without issue. Anything was better than ending up like his grandfather.

(TL’s note: *万般皆下, 唯有读书高 (wàn bān jiē xià pǐn, wéi yǒu dú shū gāo) means “All professions are humble; only learning stands above them.” It’s a classical saying exalting scholarship as the highest path.)

The two of them arrived at the bookstore on East Street. Cheng Shaotang picked out a copy of the Three Character Classic and a writing brush. Ling Yu noticed he was glancing around instead of heading straight to pay, as though he were looking for something. Puzzled, she asked, “What are you looking for?”

“Invitation cards.”

“Invitation cards?” Ling Yu froze for a moment. She watched as he found a stack of them, paid for the cards along with the Three Character Classic and the brush, and then borrowed ink and brush from the shopkeeper to write out the invitation.

Her lips twitched slightly, her face full of helpless resignation.

She didn’t even need to look to know who the invitation was for. It could only be her father.

Poor families didn’t bother with such formalities. For a child’s first birthday ceremony, a casual verbal invitation was enough. If someone lived far away, sending word through a neighbor was more than sufficient.

Only her father—that overly pedantic scholar—had to be an exception.

When they stepped out of the bookstore, she couldn’t help whispering, “Why write invitations at all? It’s a waste of money. We could just ask someone to pass the message along. Why go through so much trouble?”

“No! Father is a scholar. Scholars care about these things. Why upset him over a few coins?” He shook his head, clearly disagreeing.

Ling Yu snorted, “With handwriting like yours, writing him an invitation will only give him something new to nag about!”

Thinking of his own awful handwriting, Cheng Shaotang couldn’t help showing rare embarrassment.

He couldn’t help it; he hadn’t studied much, and his father-in-law insisted that the invitation had to be handwritten by him personally. No matter how ugly the writing was, the old man would simply have to endure it.

Although she wasn’t pleased, he was doing all this for her father, so Ling Yu couldn’t say much more. Remembering how strict her father always was with Cheng Shaotang, she couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty.

After just a few steps, they saw a general store ahead. She planned to go in to buy a lock and some embroidery thread.

“I’m going across the street to get a few things. If you’ve finished shopping, wait for me inside.” She was in the middle of choosing colors when she heard him and only responded casually. She didn’t bother to ask what he was buying.

Once she had finished picking everything out and managed to haggle the shopkeeper into reducing the price by one copper coin, Cheng Shaotang returned.

“What did you buy?” she asked curiously when she saw the oil-paper packages in his hands.

“Sugar cakes, mung bean pastries, osmanthus candy, and a packet of tea,” he answered honestly.

“What?” Ling Yu’s eyes flew wide open, her face turning somewhat pale. “Why did you buy all this? This…this must have cost a fortune!” 

“Sweets, sweets, sweets—and tea! Which one of those is cheap?!”

“The sugar cake is for Mother and Xiao Shitou. Mother-in-law likes mung bean pastries, the tea is for Father-in-law, and the osmanthus candy is for you. Altogether it cost about one tael and twenty coins,” Cheng Shaotang replied.

“One tael and twenty coins?!” Ling Yu’s face finally changed.

“You spent one tael and twenty coins on these unnecessary things? Do you know how long that money could support our whole family? You—how do you even still have so much money?”

Seeing how dark her expression had grown, Cheng Shaotang was momentarily at a loss. This dignified tall man actually wore the cautious look of a child caught misbehaving. “It’s money from the brothers at the escort agency for wine…”

“Wine money? You—!” Ling Yu felt as if a fire had ignited in her chest. If they hadn’t been standing in the middle of a busy street, she might have exploded on the spot.

“You good-for-nothing spendthrift!”

He actually had money to lend to others for drinking!

Finally unable to hold back, she suddenly grabbed his wrist and forced out each word through clenched teeth. “Hand. Over. All. Your. Money!!”