SMMW | Chapter 16

“Who are you?!”

A tall man dressed in ragged clothes had appeared in the courtyard, and his build looked somewhat familiar.

Before Wen Qing could carefully make him out, the other man yanked off his headscarf, gave his face a rough wipe, and revealed his original appearance.

So it was Yuan Hao.

Even after being recognized, Yuan Hao did not stop. Instead, he directly undid the front of his clothes and swiftly stripped them off, revealing a strong, bare upper body.

Wen Qing was still in shock, trying to process these incomprehensible sights, when Yuan Hao’s hand had already gone to his waistband.

“…”

“Yuan Hao! What are you doing?! Have you no sense of propriety!”

Wen Qing retreated several steps away, turned his back, and pointed as he scolded him in a fluster.

“Y-you-you-you-you… if you’re changing clothes, then go inside!”

“This is the courtyard. What if the women of the household see?!”

“How can you change clothes here? Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!”

…

Wen Qing kept going on and on for quite a while, but got no response at all. When he looked up, Yuan Hao, already dressed again in his usual blue robe, was standing right in front of him with an innocent look on his face, as if the one who had just changed clothes in the courtyard had not been him at all.

“Why didn’t you go change in your room?” Wen Qing asked again.

“…” Yuan Hao still did not answer, as if he had not heard him at all.

Wen Qing felt that Yuan Hao was deliberately pretending to be stupid. But the welcoming banquet had already been laid out inside, and Grandfather and Grandmother were still waiting. It would not do to make them worry. So Wen Qing suppressed that bit of doubt and anger and told Yuan Hao to go eat with him first.

At the dinner table, Yuan Hao behaved very normally. He normally exchanged pleasantries with Grandfather and Grandmother, normally chatted about what he had seen and heard, and normally spoke about what he had done that afternoon, saying that he had taken on a master and would be learning some martial arts.

Grandfather and Grandmother both said that was good, saying that a man should not devote himself only to study, and that only one skilled in both letters and arms could become someone great. After saying that, they had a servant fetch something from the study. What was brought over was a copy of Internal Nourishing Method.

Practiced over a long period of time, it could help those learning martial arts regulate their breathing, nourish their meridians, and also aid the improvement of external training methods. Most importantly, it was highly adaptable and could be matched with any martial art. Yuan Hao accepted it happily.

That night, Madam Wen sent over two sets of clothes, one for Wen Qing and one for Yuan Hao. Since it was already late, Madam Wen did not go to Yuan Hao’s room and instead asked Wen Qing to deliver his set.

Wen Qing was already holding in a stomach full of questions. Taking the clothes, he went straight to Yuan Hao’s room. At that moment, Yuan Hao was still flipping through Internal Nourishing Method.

After Wen Qing explained why he had come, Yuan Hao was very pleased and casually picked up a dark green outfit. Wen Qing had originally wanted to say that the dark green one was his, and the indigo one was meant for Yuan Hao, but seeing that Yuan Hao had already chosen it, he did not stop him.

Who could have expected that in the very next moment, Yuan Hao would use the same trick again. He undid the front of his clothes and started stripping them off, clearly intending to try them on.

Having learned from experience, Wen Qing immediately turned his back and shouted angrily, “Yuan Hao! You did that on purpose!”

This time Yuan Hao did speak. He said,

“The clothes are very nice.”

He really was teasing me on purpose!!!

There was no reasoning with a rascal. Wen Qing was so angry he puffed up. His leg was clearly still not fully healed, yet he still limped and half-hopped as he ran off. He decided that once he had time someday, he would go to Putuo Temple and ask for a talisman. If this bad-hearted yao tried it one more time, he would pull it out and scare him to death!

The Wen family had quite a few shops in the capital. Over the last few days, the managers had been constantly coming to report matters. Grandfather and Grandmother were getting old, so dealing with everything was inevitably becoming tiring. After sitting in and listening a few times, Wen Qing proposed to his grandfather that a few of the shops should be sold off or leased out.

“First, there are too many businesses, and they cannot all be managed properly. Second, these few do not bring in good returns, so it would be better to cut our losses in time. Third, the remaining money can be used to properly manage the old shops. Those are the true foundation of the Wen family.”

“Well said.” Master Wen stroked his beard and nodded. “The family is not lacking in silver. There is no need to spread our business too wide. The two clothing shops in the south, the Ke family has wanted them for a long time. I’ll set a time another day. A-Qing, you go and discuss the price.”

“Me?”

“Yes. All the family businesses will be yours in the future, so it is better for you to become familiar with them earlier. Though of course, do not let it delay your studies,” Madam Wen added.

Since the two elders had put it that way, Wen Qing could only agree, and was happy enough to help shoulder some of their burden.

It was only after Wen Qing had gone through several rounds of discussion with the Ke family’s representative, settled the contract, and everything was finally set in stone, that he belatedly realized it might not have been only about giving him experience.

Because the Ke family’s representative was actually a woman.

This time, after returning with the contract, Grandfather began sounding him out from the side. “What do you think of the Ke family’s young lady?”

“She’s very good. She handles matters skillfully, her prices are fair, and she speaks straightforwardly.”

Grandmother jabbed Grandfather with her elbow. Grandfather coughed, then continued, “Aside from official business, I mean. For example, her appearance, her temperament, hm, things like that.”

“I was only focused on discussing the price. I didn’t pay attention. I don’t even remember what she looked like anymore.”

“You don’t remember? This…” Grandfather looked to Grandmother for help, and Grandmother shot him a look that clearly said useless.

“A-Qing,” Grandmother asked, “if we were to arrange a marriage for you, what do you think of Miss Ke?”

Now that the matter had been laid out in the open, Wen Qing did not dodge around it. Helplessly, he said, “Grandmother, I have not thought about marriage yet. Even if I were to marry, it would only be after I finish the spring examinations and bring Mother here.”

“Ah, you are a good child. We two old things only spend our days thinking too much. We feel that you will become an official in the future. If the two of us old people can no longer keep going, then who will take over the family business? The more we thought about it, the more we felt that it would be better to find you a capable wife. If you think Miss Ke is good, you could first get engaged, and after the examinations, once you bring your mother over, you could marry.”

Wen Qing had not expected Grandmother to have planned so far ahead already. He declined vaguely, “I haven’t thought about these things… let’s wait until after the examinations.”

Madam Wen was old, and once she started talking, she could not stop. Now that the matter had been brought out into the open, the floodgates of conversation were open too.

“Speaking of Xin’an, ah, that’s Miss Ke, her full name is Ke Xin’an.

I think she’s quite good. Her father gave birth to several muddleheaded sons, but this one daughter is the only clever one. Because she was born of a concubine, they did not care much about her, so they simply pushed her out and had her manage the shops.

The atmosphere in the capital is still fairly open-minded. At first, everyone praised her, saying she was clever and capable, and that whichever family married her in would be fortunate. But in this city, girls generally begin discussing marriage at sixteen. That bastard father of hers dragged things out until she was twenty and still did nothing. How could the neighbors possibly have any kind words left to say!

On the surface, her father says he wants to look around carefully and choose a son-in-law well, but in truth he’s just keeping her around as free labor! Once a girl gets any older, where are the good marriages left?

If you ask me, not a single one of these men is any good. Three wives, four concubines, all dreaming pretty dreams, yet incapable of being proper fathers and husbands, leaving their wives and daughters to suffer for nothing.”

The more Madam Wen spoke, the angrier she became. Originally she had only meant to praise Miss Ke, but then she started cursing the girl’s father, and in the end simply cursed all men under heaven.

Master Wen had not made a sound at first, but by this point he could not help himself anymore and argued, “Hey, you, how did you end up cursing all the men in the world?”

Madam Wen’s momentum did not lessen in the slightest. She glared at him and said, “I’m cursing who I want to curse. You don’t have any concubines, so why are you stepping up here to get scolded!”

“…Oh.” Master Wen fell silent, sullenly.

Perhaps she felt that this opponent was too weak and not satisfying enough. Madam Wen turned her head and continued instructing Wen Qing.

“A-Qing as well. In the future, just be devoted to one person and find one suitable young lady, that’s enough. Don’t let the inner courtyard become a black mass of people, all chaotic and messy. The family backgrounds should be a good match, or if hers is a little lower that’s fine too. Don’t go thinking about climbing to a higher branch. There are no good days to be had in the homes of the powerful.”

Madam Wen endured and endured, and finally, in order to complete this proper romantic education for her grandson, forced herself to speak as though she were throwing caution to the wind.

“For example, let’s take a certain official in the capital.”

“Hey, you?!” Master Wen immediately spoke up to stop her.

“I’m not saying who it is. Can’t I talk about it inside our own home?!” Madam Wen looked fierce, but by this point she was already bluffing more than she was bold.

“It’s been so many years already… say it then, if you want to.” In the end, Master Wen still yielded a step.

“Ahem, I’m only mentioning it casually.” Madam Wen added a line of transparent cover-up.

“Let’s say there was an official in the capital. Originally he was a poor scholar, relying entirely on the support of his first wife’s family. Then he passed the jinshi exam and received office.

The family had thought they would finally begin to live good days, but then in that very year, a commandery princess sought a husband to marry into her family. For the sake of that opportunity, he abandoned his wife and child.

He even disliked how ugly the reputation of divorcing his wife would sound, so he insisted that his first wife had died of illness. He used his official power to force her family not to dare cry injustice, and forced that woman to leave on her own. What he did not know was that at the time, she was already pregnant.

A woman, pregnant and traveling far away, although she had loyal servants and wealth with her, was still not by her parents’ side, had no relatives around, and had to manage business matters on her own… So every time I see Xin’an, I think of her.”

At this point Madam Wen could no longer suppress her tears and began choking up.

Master Wen poked her shoulder, meaning that she should rein it in. If she said any more, the truth would be exposed.

Madam Wen wiped her eyes, steadied her emotions, and continued:

“Ahem, as for that beast, yes, he did gain support and his official career prospered, and he became a very high-ranking official.

But what happened later? Since it had been agreed that he would marry into the commandery princess’s family, then the children all had to take the princess’s surname. Otherwise, on what grounds would she have chosen him?

Once he grew older, he started regretting it and wanted a son to carry his own surname.

In the last couple of years, he even secretly kept an outside woman. The commandery princess directly brought a complaint before the emperor. Not only was he docked pay and made to reflect on his faults, after all that fuss, he still failed to leave behind a child with his own surname. He became a joke for all to laugh at, shameless thing.

The commandery princess would not swallow that grievance. Once the doors were shut, she had him beaten with boards, saying that it was the emperor’s oral decree. He was beaten so badly he could not walk for half a year, and still had to bow and scrape.

They say that when he went to court, he forced himself to walk properly, but his face was still swollen, and everyone laughed at him. It was only because the commandery princess took the children into account that she finally spared him further beatings.

If you ask me, if the commandery princess weren’t somewhat older now, why shouldn’t she divorce him and take a younger husband instead? Hmph. If he dares keep an outside woman, then why shouldn’t the commandery princess, a golden branch and jade leaf, be allowed to do the same?”

“Hey, you, the more you talk, the more outrageous you get. Right in front of A-Qing…” Master Wen stopped Madam Wen from going on.

The more Madam Wen spoke, the more relieved she felt. Being interrupted by Master Wen only made her unhappily jab him back.

But Wen Qing had already understood. He knew that this was most likely his own background.

A shameless father. A mother driven to leave her home. Grandfather and Grandmother held as hostages.

Because his mother feared that his father would harm his grandparents in the capital, she could only urge him to study hard and become the pillar of the Wen family. Only then would they no longer be bullied.

“Grandmother, I understand everything you’ve taught me.” Wen Qing patiently coaxed the old woman.

The paper window had not been pierced through, but all of them already understood in their hearts. Master Wen let out a long sigh.

“However, there’s one point I don’t quite agree with.” Wen Qing deliberately raised his voice, trying to ease the heavy atmosphere a little. “At home, Miss Ke manages business, and you feel sorry for her. But if she married in here, wouldn’t we still be making her work all the same? It would only be changing one employer for another.

If you ask me, you’d be better off teaching me. That would be the true meaning of keeping the good water from flowing into others’ fields. In the future, I can be an official by day and a landlord by night~”

“Hahahahahaha, you child…”

“Forget it, we were only asking. If you don’t want to marry, then we’ll set the matter aside for now.”

At last, the gloom on the two elders’ faces faded. Wen Qing also felt much more at ease, and then turned to practical matters. “There’s a batch of medicinal herbs that has to be sent to Chunxi Town, three hundred li away. I plan to hire an escort agency to deliver it, so tomorrow I’m going to go meet the escort agency’s manager…”

The next day, at the escort agency.

“You can rest assured about that. Master Huang is a retired great general, someone who’s seen the battlefield and seen blood, there’s absolutely nothing to fault in his skills! He’s even killed Tatar raiders before, so a few mountain bandits and petty thieves mean nothing to him.

And on top of that, he recently took in a gifted new apprentice with exceptional martial skill. When people say his name, it rings loud and clear, and he’s known by the nickname Rolling Blade Tiger!”