Volume One, Chapter Seventeen: The Scent of Meat Wafts Everywhere

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Gazing at the towering piles of historical texts and calligraphy supplies, Su Jin’s eyes narrowed in delight. One string of copper coins contained a thousand coins; two strings meant two thousand. Calculating based on the previous price of two hundred thousand per string, these coins could fetch four hundred million. Yet Su Jin only allowed herself a brief, pleasant daydream. She knew it was impossible to sell them all at that price. Rarity determined value; those two strings were worth four hundred thousand because coins from the Yue dynasty had never appeared on the market before, driving the price up. If all two strings flooded the market, who knew how far the price would plummet?

What thrilled Su Jin even more was the mountain of historical books. Finally, she could thoroughly study the history of the Yue dynasty. If Old Du knew these existed, he would undoubtedly be overjoyed. As for the calligraphy supplies, also crafted during the Yue dynasty, she could keep them for gradual study.

She carried the books to her bed, sat cross-legged, and skimmed through them roughly.

“No Records of Yue?”

“Almost finished copying, so I didn’t buy it,” came the reply.

Su Jin decided to start with the books Shen Yubai had purchased. But after a short while, a headache began to prick her temples. Many terms were unfamiliar; she had no idea about the regulations and could only jot down questions on small slips of paper to ask Shen Yubai.

Shen Yubai helped answer. During their free moments, Su Jin read while Shen Yubai copied the texts.

Perhaps it was the weariness of a day’s exertion, or the archaic, obscure language of the histories, but Su Jin, sitting cross-legged on the bed, eventually rested her head on the book pile and fell asleep.

After copying a page and receiving no notes from Su Jin, Shen Yubai wrote a slip of paper and passed it over: “Any differences?”

After another page and still no response, he paused, then wrote again: “Fallen asleep?”

Still no sign.

Shen Yubai smiled wryly. She had sworn to finish a book but probably only read four or five pages. He wrote two words on bamboo paper: “Sweet dreams.”

The paper floated above Su Jin’s head. In her sleep, she seemed to find the paper tickling, pushed it aside, turned over, and nestled far from the pile of histories, as if she never wanted to see them again.

Shen Yubai steadied his mind and continued copying peacefully.

Mrs. Luo returned to the house at dusk, closing doors and windows tightly. The oil lamp on the kang table filled the room with light.

When she saw the dishes Shen Yubai brought, Mrs. Luo was dumbfounded. There were four dishes and a soup, plus two large bowls of rice.

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“How could we possibly finish all this?”

“The fairy is happy today; mother, you should eat your fill tonight. If anything’s left, it’ll just spoil.”

Mrs. Luo hurriedly said, “We can finish it all—I’ll eat every last bite!”

That evening, Zheng had claimed they were in the county town and had not prepared dinner for Mrs. Luo and Shen Yubai. After finishing her household chores, Mrs. Luo was exhausted, her back pressed against the front.

Only after Shen Yubai had eaten his fill did she start her meal properly.

Unbeknownst to them, someone outside was drawn by the aroma.

Shen Xiulian sniffed and wanted to investigate but dared not approach, only watching from afar.

When the fragrance finally dissipated, she stomped her foot, snorted coldly, and returned to the main room.

Naturally, the incident reached Zheng’s ears.

“I knew they must have bought something tasty in the county town. But to hide away, shut doors and windows, and sneak food like thieves!” Zheng fumed.

“Mother, I want meat too,” Shen Xiulian swallowed her saliva.

Zheng grabbed her, “Call your sister-in-law over. I want to ask if she understands what filial piety means!”

Xiulian happily went to fetch her sister-in-law but was stopped by Old Shen.

“They were given food by your maternal family; how can you ask them for more?”

Having been taunted by the Luo family that morning, it would be shameful to go asking for food again.

Xiulian pouted by Zheng’s side.

Zheng slammed the kang table, indignant: “What kind of big family is the Luo’s? They’re supposed to be paying for medical expenses and buying meat, yet I think it’s that third daughter-in-law hiding our third son’s silver. She’s got the money and is secretly eating.”

In village households, as long as parents lived, families rarely split.

Old Shen was the head of the Shen family, but Zheng managed the finances.

“Third brother became a great official but left no money after death,” Shen Xiulian muttered.

That remark sparked Zheng’s suspicion.

Zheng had never even been to the county seat, so she didn’t know the difference between an honest and a corrupt official.

To her, the county magistrate was a big shot.

How could a big shot have no money?

If the official had no money, who would?

Zheng firmly believed Luo was hiding the money and resented her, finding new ways daily to wear her down, hoping Luo would tire and surrender the silver.

“Go call your third sister-in-law. I want to ask where all the money went.”

Zheng spoke to Shen Xiulian, only to be stopped again by Old Shen.

He was a man who cared about face.

If Luo was hiding money, she wouldn’t admit it now after so many years.

And a mother-in-law couldn’t exactly search a daughter-in-law’s room like that.

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Especially when she was a widow.

Though stopped, Shen Xiulian was not satisfied.

The scent of meat haunted her, keeping her awake as she tossed and turned on the kang like a pancake on a griddle.

The next day, when she saw Mrs. Luo, she snorted and turned away.

She then caught her sister-in-law Jiang’s smiling gaze.

“Who upset our Xiulian?”

“Who else could it be?”

Shen Xiulian rolled her eyes at Mrs. Luo, who nervously twisted her hands.

Jiang noticed and smilingly pulled Shen Xiulian into her room.

As the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen family, Jiang was adept at handling relationships; both the matriarch and the younger sister-in-law confided in her.

After a little coaxing, Shen Xiulian spilled everything about the previous night.

Jiang was astonished. “You smelled the meat too?”

“Every day that strong scent drifts outside. Who wouldn’t notice? I say she’s hiding third brother’s silver.”

Jiang sighed deeply. “If third sister-in-law had money, she’d have long since used it to treat Yubai. She has only one son—how could she bear to see him suffer?”

Though meant to console, Jiang’s words only fueled Shen Xiulian’s anger.

“Hasn’t she called doctors less these years? The house always reeks of medicine; that all costs a fortune.”

“Well…”

Jiang hesitated, as if persuaded by Shen Xiulian, and sighed: “If she really had money to spare, Hongye’s path through the imperial exams would be much easier. Your dowry would be bigger too, so when you marry, you’d have face in your husband’s family.”

Mentioning dowry and family honor roused Shen Xiulian’s cunning thoughts.

She whispered to Zheng upon returning.

“If she won’t release the money, what can we do?”

“Force her to hand it over if we know she has it!”

Xiulian only cared about securing a dowry silver; family honor meant little to her.

“Ever since third brother died, our family has declined, no match for the Chen family. If my dowry is too little, I won’t have face marrying into the Chen family. Then I can’t even speak up for Hongye.”

That struck Zheng’s soft spot.

Her most cherished were her eldest grandson Shen Hongye and her youngest daughter Shen Xiulian.

Back then, Zheng had forced her third son to marry into the Chen family.

But since his death, the Shen family had fallen from grace, while the Chen patriarch still held office as county magistrate.

In recent years, contact between the two families had waned.

Xiulian was fifteen and still unmarried; Zheng grew anxious but dared not ask directly.

What if she offended them? What then?