Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Dare Not Take
Lin Hai Town.
Beside the Maritime Tax Office stood a small two-story stone building. Behind it, two rows of old houses enclosed a little courtyard. Under the shadow of the Maritime Tax Office—huge as a stone beast—the building and courtyard looked pitifully small.
This courtyard belonged to He Ji Old Shop, which controlled more than half of Lin Hai Town’s cargo warehouses.
A plain cart with a half-worn curtain stopped at the shop entrance. An attendant set down the step and lifted the curtain. He Cheng Ze, the household head of He Ji Old Shop, climbed down.
Inside, his eldest son, He Rui Ming, came trotting out to meet him.
“Father… around noon, it seemed the Heir Apparent came to our Lin Hai Town,” He Rui Ming said, leaning close and keeping his voice low.
“It seemed?” He Cheng Ze stopped short, brows knitting.
“I didn’t see him myself. I went to check the goods early and only just returned. It was Wu Shi from Moonlit Tower—he went with us to the capital once to deliver New Year goods, remember? He’s seen the Heir Apparent from a distance. When I came back, Wu Shi was already waiting. He said someone ate at Moonlit Tower at noon, and from what he saw… he thought it looked like the Heir Apparent.” He Rui Ming hurried through the explanation, as if speed could make it more believable.
“Mm.” He Cheng Ze’s expression eased by a hair. He grunted and went on.
“I had people ask around. They say he entered Lin Hai Town a little after noon, reached Moonlit Tower about a quarter past noon, ordered scallion-oil crab legs and stir-fried clams—Moonlit Tower’s specialties—and ate for almost three quarters of an hour. After that, he strolled along Xing Yang Street all the way to the Maritime Tax Office. He didn’t go in. He just stood across the street, looked for a moment, and left. They say he headed toward Ping Jiang City.”
He Cheng Ze listened without a word, then said, “The estate sent news. They received an urgent dispatch from Hang Zhou the day before yesterday—saying the Heir Apparent will stay at Ping Jiang Estate for a full year.”
“What?” He Rui Ming blurted, stunned. “Then today’s man really was the Heir Apparent? But why would the Heir Apparent come to Ping Jiang City? Education Commissioner Wei is in Hang Zhou. And people from Prince’s Manor always stay at the Hang Zhou estate—”
“Is that for you to question?” He Cheng Ze cut in.
“…No.” He Rui Ming ducked his head.
“Prepare. We’re going to Ping Jiang Estate right now to pay a visit,” He Cheng Ze ordered.
—
Li Xue Dong was kept in Li Family Market Town by Old Master Kuan to discuss a heap of clan matters. Li Jin Zhu and the sisters returned to Little Li Village.
Li Yin Zhu tended the stove. Li Yu Zhu cooked. Little Nan sat pressed close to Li Yin Zhu, chin propped in her hands, watching the fire being managed. Li Jin Zhu sat with her back to the wall, watching Li Yu Zhu wash and cut vegetables.
When Li Yu Zhu scooped water to pour into the pot, Li Jin Zhu said, “Stir-fry the vegetables. Use more lard.”
“Should we kill a chicken?” Li Yin Zhu brightened at once, as if she’d been holding her breath for hours.
“Tomorrow,” Li Jin Zhu said, and her smile finally reached her eyes. “Killing a chicken takes time—scalding, cleaning. Everyone’s starving. Little Nan’s stomach has been growling nonstop.”
From the moment she climbed into that cart at noon, Li Jin Zhu’s whole body had been strung tight.
“Our Little Nan is incredible,” Li Yu Zhu said softly, smiling.
“Never say it again,” Li Jin Zhu snapped, spine going rigid. “Don’t even think it. Forget it.”
“Eldest Sister, it’s over. It’s finished.” Little Nan tugged her sleeve.
Li Jin Zhu let out a long breath and sagged back against the wall. After a moment, she pulled Little Nan into her arms. “It’s over… It feels like a dream.”
“Me too!” Li Yin Zhu burst out. “Eldest Sister, that ox is ours now? And the money—twenty-four full strings! That’s so much! Will he really pay us? Can we really get it?”
“He wouldn’t dare not pay,” Little Nan said, smiling.
“The fire’s too big!” Li Yu Zhu laughed as she scolded. “You little devil, you’re going to burn the pot!”
Li Yin Zhu yanked the fire down in a panic.
“Eldest Sister,” Little Nan asked, looking up, “Brother has a deadline to report to Prefecture School. What do we do?”
“What do we do…?” Li Yin Zhu craned her neck over, eyes huge.
Did that mean they were going to Ping Jiang City too?
Even Li Yu Zhu paused mid-stir and looked over.
“Good. Let’s talk it through,” Li Jin Zhu said. She patted Li Yin Zhu’s arm, reminding her the fire was dying.
“I never dared to dream Xue Dong would truly pass and become a licentiate. Now he has.” She hugged Little Nan again, as if making sure she was still there.
“Xue Dong has been assigned to Prefecture School. He has to go to Ping Jiang City. On the road, the three of us talked—Xue Dong, Little Nan, and me. Xue Dong cannot go alone. If he goes by himself, our family splits in two.”
Li Yu Zhu and Li Yin Zhu stared at her, four eyes shining.
Li Jin Zhu wiped her face once, hard.
She couldn’t bear to leave them behind.
“Little Nan means we rent out the fields… and all of us follow Xue Dong to Ping Jiang City.”
“Woo!” Li Yin Zhu howled with excitement and swung her arm straight into the firewood. The wood smacked the pot bottom, and sparks flew up.
“You little devil!” Li Yu Zhu laughed and cursed. “You’re going to smash a hole in the pot! Eldest Sister—these fields, how much rent can they bring? Enough for five people to live on?”
“We have two oxen!” Li Yin Zhu blurted. “And twenty-four strings of cash! Little Nan said Third Uncle wouldn’t dare refuse!”
Li Jin Zhu’s smile thinned. “I’m not confident either. Tomorrow, Yu Zhu and I will go to Li Family Market Town. We need to talk to the clan grandfather of the Wang Branch. Little Nan can stay with Old Three and watch the house—”
“No,” Li Yu Zhu cut in, serious now. “They can’t stay home. Especially Little Nan. Third Uncle’s family has no sense. Don’t gamble on ‘probably.’”
Li Jin Zhu nodded once. “Then we bring Yin Zhu and Little Nan. All of us go.”
The next morning, the four sisters ate early and hurried to Li Family Market Town.
Li Yin Zhu and Little Nan spent the day playing with Cui Ye, the eldest daughter of Li Wen Hua. Meanwhile, Li Jin Zhu and Li Yu Zhu, along with Li Xue Dong, met in the ancestral hall with the clan elder and each household head to discuss Xue Dong’s schooling in Ping Jiang City.
After some discussion, Old Master Kuan sent someone to invite Teacher Gao. When Teacher Gao arrived, they talked on into dusk, and at last the matter was settled.
Li Xue Dong was only seventeen. His future was limitless. Since he needed to study in Ping Jiang City, it would be best for both him and the Li clan if he settled there permanently. Old Master Kuan and several other clan elders agreed, and Teacher Gao supported it strongly.
If Li Xue Dong, as head of the household, settled in Ping Jiang City, the sisters naturally had to go with him. That was simply how it worked.
As a licentiate, Li Xue Dong was entitled to fifty mu of tax-exempt land. His household only had a little over thirty mu of paddies, so the clan paid to make up the remainder to fifty. Along with that, they arranged two oxen and five tile-roof houses to be managed by Li Wen Hua.
Li Xue Dong supported his eldest sister’s decisions without wavering. Old Master Kuan and the clan elders argued until their mouths went dry and still couldn’t bend the siblings.
Old Master Kuan proposed that the clan provide five taels of silver each month for social expenses and two taels for ink and paper. Everyone agreed—until Li Jin Zhu refused outright.
“We have hands and feet,” she said. “We can feed ourselves, and we can support Xue Dong. Besides, Xue Dong has stipend rice. It’s one and a half strings of copper a month.”
Li Xue Dong backed her again. Old Master Kuan and the elders tried and failed again.
Old Master Kuan then suggested buying a three-courtyard residence in Ping Jiang City. Before he even finished, Li Jin Zhu waved both hands and refused even harder.
In the end, Teacher Gao stepped in and brokered a narrow compromise: they would not buy a house, but the rent money for a home in Ping Jiang City would be covered by the clan.
After a full day of decisions, Li Xue Dong moved to Ping Jiang City with his four sisters, taking only the rent money from the clan.
The Li clan placed enormous hopes on this seventeen-year-old licentiate. But Li Jin Zhu and the others knew exactly how Li Xue Dong had become a licentiate. The heavier the hopes, the more uneasy she felt. Every copper coin the clan offered came wrapped in expectation.
How could she dare take it?
Even the rent money, she’d already resolved: first, the cheaper the house, the better. Second, once they gained a foothold in Ping Jiang City, they would pay the rent themselves.