Embroidered Phoenix Chronicle

Early in the morning, Bangchui's mother arrived at the old lady's courtyard, her attitude resolute. Her family absolutely refused to marry this wicked woman, even if it meant the betrothal gifts would go down the drain. She had already sent the matchmaker with the betrothal papers to cancel the engagement. According to custom, if the bride's family broke off the engagement, they had to return all the gifts received; if the groom's family did so, the bride's family could choose to keep them. The old lady nodded and sent her away. She then ordered someone to fetch the matchmaker.

Madam Xu hurriedly sent someone to bring Yu Mei, along with her belongings, to her courtyard. Her husband had been sullen and silent all day, only instructing her not to let Yu Mei embarrass herself in the other courtyard. Madam Xu didn't know what they had caught her up in, and carefully helped her husband to bed, while she herself tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep well!

Liangjie, forgetting to eat, rushed over to tell the old lady that she felt Qingxinger was very unreliable and wanted to replace her with a younger maid. As for whether Qingxinger would be sent away to marry or kept on, she didn't care.

Master Liu hurriedly went out to find a Taoist priest he knew well—his eldest son's courtyard needed a thorough examination by someone knowledgeable. Master Liu was furious—this family had to be dealt with; poor eldest son and his wife, so many people had schemed against them!

The whole house was filled with a tense atmosphere. The maids and servants dared not say a word and were always in a hurry.

The eye of the storm, however, was calm. Fengxian was quite emotional yesterday, but her husband's reassurance and her sister's encouragement quickly calmed her down. Besides, she was somewhat prepared, and although it was hard to believe, she could accept it. Although she felt guilty, her husband's presence prevented her from being too overwhelmed. Yesterday, the couple unanimously decided that they must be firm and report it to the authorities!

The old lady was still quite spry. After breakfast, she called Zhao Ma, and, leaning on her crutches, strolled leisurely to the front yard. The couple sat facing each other on the kang (a heated brick bed). Ruihong was reading, and Fengxian was embroidering a bellyband. Liu Ye'er was nowhere to be seen. The old lady had assumed she would be there to offer advice—her mischievous ideas far surpassed those of the usually serious eldest son and his wife.

Ruihong slipped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and helped the old lady up. Fengxian put down his work and poured the old lady a cup of tea. The old lady took a sip and said, "Hmm, mulberry tea. This is good. Why didn't you add some rock sugar? If you run out, just go to the inner storeroom and get some. Do you think we'll shortchange you?"

"Grandmother, my sister doesn't allow me to eat too much sugar, saying it makes me feel hot and damp. She only allows me to eat three rock candies a day at most, so I just don't eat any more to avoid craving them! I'm used to it."

"Oh, is that so? Where is Miss Seven? Is she unable to come because Ruihong is here?"

“Grandmother, I didn’t say a word to her. She was the one who kept to herself and was very proper. She was making soup for Fengxian. Grandmother, look how well she’s taken care of Fengxian. She’s not fat, but she looks great!”

The old lady nodded, the words lingering on her lips, yet she hesitated, unable to bring herself to speak. She forced herself to say them. The couple remained silent. After a long while, Ruihong said, "Grandmother, my children died at her hands. If it weren't for… such a vicious woman, I wouldn't be satisfied even if I ate her flesh and slept on her skin. Couldn't I even report her to the authorities? Poor Fengxian, he was spared his life…"

“Hong-ge’er, I know you two can’t swallow this insult. Even I would want to tear her apart! But Hong-ge’er, the third brother is getting engaged. You should understand what this marriage means! Even if we report it to the authorities, we won’t get the death penalty. If she turns around and makes false accusations, spreading rumors and exposing your secrets, you two will lose face. But will the Liu family still have the face to marry into the county magistrate? She’s not afraid of a fight to the death, so why should we use a glass lamp to kill a rat?”

The old lady was right. In fact, they both knew that the chances of reporting it to the authorities were slim. This was a family scandal. Not managing the family properly would certainly make them a laughing stock, but what was even more frightening was that the rumors would spread and become more and more distorted, with everyone adding fuel to the fire. In the end, who knew what kind of story it would become? It was possible that they would kill a thousand enemies but also lose a thousand and fifteen thousand of their own.

Seeing that the two of them remained silent, the old lady sighed and said, "We can't let Fengxian keep this bottled up. Let's sell her. As for which family she's sold to, that's up to Fengxian! Just don't sell her to a brothel; our family can't have that kind of reputation." Seeing that Fengxian still wouldn't look up, the old lady continued, "We'll replace all the people in your house with the three of you. We can't let you suffer in vain. Fengxian, choose for yourself. If you don't like it, we'll buy someone else!"

Fengxian knew it was time to stop, so she nodded, her eyes glistening with tears. After chatting for a while longer, the couple saw the old lady to the door. Zhao Ma rushed out from the courtyard, laughing, "It's so kind of Miss Qi to have made eggs into tofu and braised them. Old lady, why don't you try some? They look so delicious!"

"Oh? Bring me a bowl when it's ready, I want to try it too!" Ruihong and his wife readily agreed, and Fengxian's lips couldn't help but curl up. "Grandma, Xiaoqi won't let me eat too much meat, afraid that I'll get too fat and have a difficult birth. She just gives me eggs all day long, but they're actually quite delicious. Grandma, you'll know once you try them!"

The food was indeed delicious. The eggs were steamed like tofu and lightly pan-fried, the snow-white broth thickened with cornstarch, and there were also wood ear mushrooms, shrimp, carrot slices, and spinach. It looked very appealing, and the warm drink was very comforting. The old lady ordered someone to bring a box of dried longan and a box of melon seeds, and then grabbed a handful of copper coins and stuffed them into Cuicui's hands, saying with a smile, "Please thank your young lady for me. I'm sorry I didn't give her the best things. These two boxes of fruit are for your young lady to enjoy! Good child, you are lucky to have found such a good mistress!" Cuicui thanked her with a beaming smile, and took the boxes back home.

Liu Lian grabbed a handful of dried longans and handed them to Cuicui, but seeing that she wouldn't eat them and instead kept them away, he was puzzled. "Cuicui, why aren't you eating them? What are you keeping them for?"

After hesitating for a while, Cui Cui finally said in a low, shy voice, "Miss, it's almost the New Year, it's good for me to save this for guests! In previous years I've always been the one eating other people's food, this year I'll give them something good to eat!"

"You eat first, I'll buy you some more for the New Year!"

"Miss, you're really joking. You can't just buy dried longan like that! Even if you have the money, the shop has to have it in stock! It's not like the Liu family; even if you have the money, it's not easy to buy them!"

Is this thing very precious?

"Miss, you studied under Huo Langxue, yet you don't know how valuable this thing is? Well, the doctor's family has far more valuable things than this, no wonder you don't value it! You might not even be able to buy it for a tael of silver per pound!"

"Oh!" This greatly surprised Liu Lian. Modern society has seen unprecedented advancements in agriculture and logistics, making many precious things commonplace. Ginseng is nothing special anymore; a mere dried longan, just a dried fruit, is commonplace. Fresh longans aren't rare anymore, so how could Liu Lian possibly care? She pointed to the dried longan, "Take it if you like, I'll just crack the seeds!"

"Miss, are you crazy?" Poor Cui Cui was terrified!