Chapter 28
Chapter 28: A Family in the Courtyard House
Wang Gui waited in the front wing room just inside the courtyard gate. When He Cheng Ze and his son filed out one after the other, smoothing their robes as they went, Wang Gui stepped in and requested an audience with the Heir Apparent.
Gu Yan twirled his folding fan and listened to Wang Gui’s report as if it were idle background noise.
When Wang Gui finished detailing how Li Xue Fu and Li Xue Shou had been beaten—how, with what, and what the wounds looked like—Gu Yan gave a satisfied, “Mm,” then asked, “And that young licentiate? When will he start classes at the prefecture school?”
“Replying to the Heir Apparent,” Wang Gui said quickly, “the Li family’s young licentiate spent the whole day in clan deliberations today. The day he goes to the prefecture school still hasn’t been set. This year, the prefecture school has the new licentiates report on the fourth and fifth day of the month, so he should be setting out soon.”
He was used to running errands for the Heir Apparent. Anything connected to the young licentiate that he could think of, he’d already had people investigate. And sure enough, that household’s departure date truly wasn’t decided yet.
“Mm. You handled this errand well.” Gu Yan’s eyes gleamed with the bright satisfaction of a man who collected other people’s misery like curios. “Ten days from now, once Li Wen Cai has that wooden cangue removed, send someone to find out how the Li clan plans to deal with him. Also, once those two idiots’ wounds have healed, have someone check whether the scars have grown hair back. If they have, beat them again—and I’ll dock you half a month’s pay.”
“Yes.” Wang Gui bowed.
Ever since he was little, the Heir Apparent’s favorite question had been: What happened next?
And what happened next?
This time, even Wang Gui had found the spectacle oddly gripping. The Heir Apparent would definitely want the sequel.
Wang Gui had planned for that.
“Also,” Gu Yan added, “keep an eye on that young licentiate. When he reaches Ping Jiang City, come report.”
—
Just as Old Master Kuan had predicted, every house Li Jin Zhu picked was the cheapest one she could find.
Li Wen Liang didn’t offer opinions. He only pointed out facts.
This place? Next door ran a discreet prostitute’s trade—half the door shut, apricot-blossom lanterns hanging out front as if subtlety were a rumor.
That one? Cheap rent, but no well. If they wanted water, they had to buy it—and by the time they added up daily water money, the “cheap” rent wasn’t cheap at all.
And that other one? Next to a freight depot. Loud all day with people coming and going, and the men in and out were all rough. With four daughters in the household, it wouldn’t be proper.
After four or five viewings, Li Jin Zhu finally admitted something she hadn’t wanted to face: she and her siblings had never left their village. Out here, there were simply too many things they didn’t know.
Once she saw that clearly, she stepped back at once and asked Li Wen Liang to choose the house.
Li Wen Liang spent two days walking them through options, and in the end they chose a courtyard house two streets away from the prefecture school.
It was long and narrow: three main rooms, plus a small side room on the west. Three wing rooms lined each side. There was no front wing building at all. A loquat tree grew right beside the gate, its branches thick and green.
The small courtyard was paved with blue-green bricks, and behind the main rooms sat a little garden plot, two or three fen of land. That was what pleased Li Jin Zhu most. Even if it was only a bit over two fen, it would still be enough to grow vegetables for five mouths.
The place was far better than she’d dared to hope. The rent, naturally, was far above what she’d dared to budget.
After several days of searching in Ping Jiang City, Li Jin Zhu had seen their inexperience plain as day. Even though the rent overshot her expectations by a wide margin, she didn’t protest once. She let Li Wen Liang decide.
At this moment, Li Wen Liang was the person they trusted most. Whether the courtyard was “too good” for them was something they could figure out later, once they’d lived in Ping Jiang City long enough to know what “good” even meant.
House-hunting took longer and was messier than Li Jin Zhu had planned. On the third day, they split into two groups. Teacher Gao accompanied Li Xue Dong to the prefecture school to register, helped him buy the clothes, cap, and book bag a new student needed, paid visits to the headmaster, teachers, and senior students, and attended gatherings with his cohort of newly admitted licentiates.
Li Jin Zhu, meanwhile, followed Li Wen Liang to keep viewing houses and to compare prices among provisioners across Ping Jiang City.
They’d only brought some old clothes and a few baskets of rice. Everything else had been left in Little Li Village. Now they had to buy all their daily necessities from scratch.
Li Jin Zhu held the twenty taels of congratulatory gifts Li Xue Dong had received, as well as the twenty-four strings of ox-rental money Third Uncle Li Wen Cai had paid back. After Li Wen Liang paid a full year of rent, Li Jin Zhu agreed with him that for the rest—everyday items and household goods—they would spend their own money.
Li Wen Liang didn’t argue. He simply stayed with her, comparing quality and price with quiet patience, explaining why one thing was worth choosing, what mattered about another, and why the cheapest option was often the most expensive in the end.
Li Jin Zhu quickly saw that Li Wen Liang knew the market—and that he was the kind of man who could pinch a copper coin until it begged for mercy. He wasted nothing. At last, she could truly relax. From then on, she discussed everything with this elder uncle from another branch and treated him with genuine respect.
From the day they rented the house, Li Yu Zhu stayed home with Li Yin Zhu and Little Nan, sweeping and scrubbing and putting away, piece by piece, whatever Li Jin Zhu and Li Wen Liang brought back each day.
After seven or eight busy days, the little home was roughly set up. In the back yard’s garden plot, Li Yu Zhu had already turned the soil and planted seven or eight kinds of vegetables—flowering greens, bok choy, chives, and more. Some had even pushed up tender sprouts.
Li Jin Zhu bought about ten half-grown hens and one rooster. Li Wen Liang bought several bamboo poles, split them, and fenced off a chicken coop in one corner of the back yard.
Ping Jiang City wasn’t like Little Li Village. Chickens couldn’t be allowed to wander wherever they pleased, fluttering into neighbors’ courtyards and leaving filth by other people’s gates. Here, they had to be kept penned.
Once the household was settled, Li Wen Liang carefully explained a few city rules and manners. Then, together with Teacher Gao, he set off back to Kun Shan County.
The day after they saw Li Wen Liang off, Li Jin Zhu ate breakfast and went with Li Yu Zhu to the cloth market. They planned to check prices first, then look at looms, spinning wheels, cotton, and anything else they needed. They had to start weaving as soon as possible.
The prefecture school had just opened, and everything inside it was hectic. The coursework was tight as well. Li Xue Dong left at dawn every day and didn’t return until late.
That left only Little Nan and Li Yin Zhu at home.
Little Nan suggested, casually as if it were nothing, that the two of them go out for a stroll.
When outsiders were around, the family of five carried a secret too large to speak. Even Little Nan agreed she should keep her head down and be as unnoticeable as possible.
After they arrived in Ping Jiang Prefecture, everyone had been busy: Li Xue Dong and Teacher Gao with school matters, Li Jin Zhu with Li Wen Liang buying necessities, Li Yu Zhu with Li Yin Zhu cleaning and planting.
Little Nan had trailed behind her sisters like a shadow, quiet enough to vanish. From the moment she stepped through the courtyard gate, she hadn’t taken a single step outside.
Now, with Li Wen Liang and Teacher Gao gone, that bottled-up excitement finally boiled over.
Li Yin Zhu wanted even more to see the legendary Ping Jiang City. The two of them agreed at once, locked the courtyard gate, and wandered out along the alley.