Chapter 10 – Goodbye
Even though Yu Tang’s words were said with conviction, but she actually felt extremely uncomfortable about this in her heart.
It was not right to misuse the Pei Family’s name and reputation as a shield for her own advantage.
However, apart from this, she couldn’t think of another way.
She silently thought, when this matter is resolved, she must go to the temple to offer incense for the Pei family’s grand elder, thanking the Pei family for taking care of them and their neighbors for all these years. If there is ever a chance for her to repay the Pei family, she will definitely do her best and treat it with the utmost importance.
Lu Xin didn’t know if he should trust Yu Tang’s words.
However, there could be a one in a ten-thousandth chance that she was speaking the truth.
All along, the Yu family and the Pei family didn’t have much to do with each other. However, just the other day, he was the one who personally bridged the gap between them and invited the imperial physician from the Pei family to see Yu wen’s wife’s illness. Yu wen seemed to have mentioned before that he would personally visit the Pei residence to show his heartfelt gratitude to grand elder Pei.
Thinking of this, he regretted it so much that he wanted to stomp his feet.
Had he known that this would happen, he would have ignored the Yu family’s affairs.
However, if he didn’t care about the Yu family’s affairs, how could Yu Wen have easily spent two hundred taels of silver to buy the painting?
Lu Xin persisted. “I want to see your father! He owes me a debit of gratitude for saving his wife and yet he dares to treat me like this!”
Yu Tang stood in front of him and looked down at him from above, saying, “Do you think that I would dare to do this without my father’s permission? My father merely did not want to see the ugly side of his best friend’s face.” Saying that, she gave Ah Cam a look and said, “Take him to Supervisor Tong’s place first, and we will discuss this matter tomorrow.”
Ah Cam responded “Yes!” in a loud voice.
Lu Xin suddenly panicked and said sternly, “What do you want? Aren’t you afraid that your reputation will be ruined and you won’t be able to get married in the future?”
Yu Tang said indifferently, “Our family was swindled by you to the point of ruin. Can I even marry into a good family?”
The two of them continued to argue, but ultimately Lu Xin gave in as he was fearful of the Pei family. He relented and said, “I can’t give you the full amount – I’ve already spent fifty taels.”
Yu Tang asked Ah Cam to search his body and he found one hundred and eighty taels of silver.
She scoffed at Lu Xin and immediately drew up the paperwork and asked him to take a pledge. “Let’s make it clear. It was you who sold this forgery of “Pine Creek Fishing Hidden Painting” to our family for twenty taels of silver, and this is the evidence. There will be no further entanglements between us. I will give you an extra ten taels of silver as a sign of goodwill, and this matter will be settled.”
Lu Xin was extremely unwilling.
Yu Tang warned him, “I heard that many people were burnt to death on Changxing Street. If I were to hide you here… I wonder when will you be discovered.”
Lu Xin glared at Yu Tang hatefully like a venomous snake.
In her previous life, Yu Tang had encountered more terrible things than this, so how could she be shaken by Lu Xin’s gaze?
She firmly took Lu Xin’s hand and pressed his fingerprint on the parchment and kept it securely. Afterwards, she threw 30 taels of silver to Lu Xin and ordered him to leave.
Lu Xin left with deep hatred in his eyes.
Yu Tang took out another 20 taels of silver to thank the women who helped her and sent them away and finally felt like a burden has been lifted from her chest.
Ah Cam said worriedly, “Eldest Miss, Lu Xin won’t complain to master, right?”
Yu Tang patted the pouch with the paperwork on her waist and said, “If he still has the guts to do so, let him go.”
Ah Cam felt better but felt bitter about the thirty taels of silver. “Then why did you still give him back so much silver?”
Yu Tang said dismissively, “The barefooted one isn’t afraid of the one having shoes on1. He is in a hurry to go to the capital, isn’t he? If we don’t give him any money and crush his hopes, he may become desperate enough to turn against our family. This thirty taels of silver is just to buy us peace of mind.”
In her previous life, Lu Xin did not return back to Lin’an after going to the capital. She hoped that Lu Xin will not return in this life as well.
Ah Cam smiled and nodded in response.
Yu Tang also felt relieved.
However, unexpectedly, when she turned around, she noticed a pair of ghostly eyes under the shadow of the broken wall opposite, staring at her quietly.
Yu Tong was scared half to death.
Could it be the ghosts of the people in the Changxing Street fire who burned to death?
She immediately tried to run, but her legs felt like they were made of lead, and she couldn’t lift them.
Yutang trembled, and even hugged Ah Cam tightly, afraid to let go.
The owner of those eyes quietly came out of the shadows of the broken wall.
The pale white moonlight shone upon his face.
He was a man of twenty-three or four years old, with a clear brow and a handsome face, but it was cold as ice. He was as beautiful as a piece of exquisite jade, but his presence was overwhelming.
It turned out to be the man in blue that she had met earlier in the pawnshop.
He casually walked out of the shadows as if the ruined and desolate streets of Changxing was his own back courtyard.
Yu Tong’s eyes grew round.
How could he appear here?
Yu Tang hurriedly looked past him to peer behind.
There was a shadow!
She breathed out a sigh of relief.
At least it’s a living person, and not some kind of ghost!
Yu Tang gently patted her chest and calmed down. Thinking of this man’s attitude towards her in the pawnshop, she hesitated, not knowing how to begin. The man in blue raised his eyebrows and spoke first. “Pei family? Are you are familiar with the Pei family pawnshop’s Supervisor Tong? Did he give you a guarantee that the painting was a forgery?”
His voice was flat and indifferent, but when Yu Tang heard it, she turned red with embarrassment and felt terrible.
Two of the most out-of-character and reckless things that she had ever done in her life – the first was going to the Pei family’s pawnstore and selling that painting, and second, was to use the Pei family’s name to suppress Lu Xin.
Both of these things coincidentally happened to be seen by the man in front of her.
He must think that she was a person who was shameless and despicable.
When the thought crossed her mind, Yu Tang felt extremely uncomfortable and said. “No, no! Please listen to me, he was the one who sold this fake painting to me ……”
“If I hadn’t seen that you were also a victim, do you think that you would still have the opportunity to use the Pei family’s name as a shield and spout nonsense?” The man said sternly, with no intention of listening to her explanation as he sharply interrupted her words, “Taking into consideration your young age, and that you just wanted to recover what was unfairly taken from you, I will not pursue this matter further. However, should there be a next time, I will not spare you so easily!”
So he saw it all!
Fortunately, he didn’t make things difficult for her.
Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief.
However, with his tone of voice, it was clear that he was either from the Pei family or someone closely related to the Pei family.
If it was her who saw someone acting like this under the Yu family’s name, she would have been so angry that she would have jumped up and down, unlike him who only reprimanded her with a few words.
Yu Tang bowed her head low and admitted her mistake.
The man didn’t intend to continue their conversation, and instead strode out towards Hua’er Lane.
Yu Tang couldn’t decide if she should go after him and ask who he was, so that she could ask her father to thank him in person later, but the man glanced back at her as if he knew what she was thinking.
That gaze, was like a sharp blade cutting through the air and falling on her.
Yutang immediately lost courage.
Although there was a reason for her actions, but she was clearly in the wrong and she couldn’t deny it. Looking at his expression, he obviously did not want to have anymore dealings with her, so how could she be so thick-skinned to bother him further?
The man left with large strides.
Seven or eight men also came out of the darkness and followed him.
It turns out that there were so many people in the shadows?
Yu Tang was shocked.
She did not see them at all!
The man and the people beside him soon disappeared into the night.
Yu Tang shivered.
Ah Cam seemed to have crawled out of the ice pit; his teeth were chattering as he stammered. “Eldest, eldest miss, who was that man? Why did he look so scary? He won’t go to the Pei family to report us, would he?”
Yu Tang smiled bitterly, “I don’t think he will.”
In his eyes, they were just insignificant people – why would he even bother with them?
Yu Tang felt complicated and only became more and more curious about this man.
She instructed Ah Cam: “See if you can find out from Supervisor Tong who that person is.”
Ah Cam was a little scared, but thinking of the recent events, he stiffened his head and agreed.
Yu Tang took the one hundred and thirty taels of silver and headed home. She then gave it to Yu Wen and told him everything that happened.
Yu Wen went pale with fright and even broke out in a cold sweat. He scolded his daughter. “What made you so bold? You are only a little girl, but you actually went to such a place? If something happened to you, what will your mother and I do? And Ah Cam, how could he encourage you to go to Hua’er Lane and hire female thugs to embarrass Lu Xin? If Lu Xin was more aggressive and shameless, what would you have done?” He also praised the man in blue for his good temperament.
“It was my mistake.” Yu Tang said, and also spoke of supervisor Tong’s kindness, “because I was uncertain of the authenticity of the painting, and did not have enough silver to get a formal appraisal, I could only use the pretext of going to the pawn store to pawn something, but in fact, I should have asked supervisor Tong separately to help to take a look at the painting instead. Regarding supervisor Tong, I can only request father to prepare some gifts to send to him as our token of appreciation.”
After all, she is still only a young girl of fifteen or sixteen years old, and it was more appropriate for her parents to see to such matters.
“Of course!” Yu Wen nodded repeatedly and said, “It would be even better if we knew who the man in blue was, so that we can also show our appreciation as well.”
Yu Tang agreed. She held up the painting in her hand and said, “Then what should we do with this painting?”
Yu Wen sighed and said, “Take it as a keepsake! Think of it as a lesson learnt. Your uncle Lu made such a huge scandal, it is most likely he will not come back to Lin’an.”
That will be for the best! Yutang thought.
It was also a good way to prevent Lu Xin from negatively influencing her father to try this and that every now and then.
Yutang voiced her agreement. She then mentioned the Pei family’s grand elder, saying, “Father, when you visit the Pei family’s residence, remember to ask the Pei family about grand elder Pei’s health! Our family owes them such a big favor, if there is anything we can do to help, we will definitely do it.”
Yu Wen looked at her disbelievingly and said, “What could the Pei family want that they don’t already have? Do they still need our help?”
Yu Tang pursed her lips and smiled.
Yu Wen was grateful to the Pei family, and so when he went to the Pei family to express his gratitude, he asked about the condition of Grand elder Pei.
The Pei family’s main housekeeper was the one who arranged for the two imperial physicians Yang and Wang, to see Yu wen’s wife at grand elder Pei’s request. Furthermore, Yu Wen was also very sincere, so he didn’t hide anything from him and said, “It’s nothing serious. The second and third masters were called back because Grand elder Pei was upset. The third master is a bit restless at home, but the second master has always been a quiet man. These days, the second master accompanied the grand elder to drink tea and chat. Furthermore, we invited a few renowned physicians to take care of him, and as a result, grand elder looks to be getting better day by day.”
As for who the man in blue is, the Pei family’s main housekeeper only vaguely said a few words and did not make it clear.
Yu Wen thought that that person must belong to the Pei family. If the housekeeper did not want to divulge, then it’s not good on his part to pry either. He didn’t think too much of it, but remembered the Pei family’s kindness towards them.
He went back to reprimand Yu Tang. “If you dare to do anything like this again, I will really break your legs!”
Yu Tang went up to give her father a consoling squeeze on his shoulder.
Yu Wen couldn’t do anything about his daughter, and sighed helplessly.
The next day, he brought some snacks, tea and wine and went to make amends to Supervisor Tong in person.
Supervisor Tong laughed when he found out the reason and what happened afterwards. Not only did he not blame Yu Tang, but he even praised Yu Tang for her courage and asked Yu Wen to bring back a packet of osmanthus cake for Yu Tong as a snack.
But he also kept silent on who the man in blue was.
Because of this incident, Yu Tang formed an even better impression of Supervisor Tong.
Yu Wen and Chen shi were afraid that Yu Tang would go out and get into trouble again, so after some discussion, they prohibited Yu Tang from going out and kept her at home to do embroidery.
Ah Cam also inquired for a long time on the man’s identity, but also was unable to find out who the man in the pawnshop was.
What things could be hidden from the Pei family in Lin’an?
It was evident that the man did not want them to know of his identity as he did not want to meet them at all.
Yu Tang gradually gave up, but as she slept alone in bed at night, she would occasionally toss and turn, as she recalled how the man looked at her and felt uneasy.
(光脚的不怕穿鞋的) Meaning that a person with nothing left, is not afraid of anything as he has nothing to lose. So they are capable of doing anything to get what they want.
Chapter 10 – Goodbye
Even though Yu Tang’s words were said with conviction, but she actually felt extremely uncomfortable about this in her heart.
It was not right to misuse the Pei Family’s name and reputation as a shield for her own advantage.
However, apart from this, she couldn’t think of another way.
She silently thought, when this matter is resolved, she must go to the temple to offer incense for the Pei family’s grand elder, thanking the Pei family for taking care of them and their neighbors for all these years. If there is ever a chance for her to repay the Pei family, she will definitely do her best and treat it with the utmost importance.
Lu Xin didn’t know if he should trust Yu Tang’s words.
However, there could be a one in a ten-thousandth chance that she was speaking the truth.
All along, the Yu family and the Pei family didn’t have much to do with each other. However, just the other day, he was the one who personally bridged the gap between them and invited the imperial physician from the Pei family to see Yu wen’s wife’s illness. Yu wen seemed to have mentioned before that he would personally visit the Pei residence to show his heartfelt gratitude to grand elder Pei.
Thinking of this, he regretted it so much that he wanted to stomp his feet.
Had he known that this would happen, he would have ignored the Yu family’s affairs.
However, if he didn’t care about the Yu family’s affairs, how could Yu Wen have easily spent two hundred taels of silver to buy the painting?
Lu Xin persisted. “I want to see your father! He owes me a debit of gratitude for saving his wife and yet he dares to treat me like this!”
Yu Tang stood in front of him and looked down at him from above, saying, “Do you think that I would dare to do this without my father’s permission? My father merely did not want to see the ugly side of his best friend’s face.” Saying that, she gave Ah Cam a look and said, “Take him to Supervisor Tong’s place first, and we will discuss this matter tomorrow.”
Ah Cam responded “Yes!” in a loud voice.
Lu Xin suddenly panicked and said sternly, “What do you want? Aren’t you afraid that your reputation will be ruined and you won’t be able to get married in the future?”
Yu Tang said indifferently, “Our family was swindled by you to the point of ruin. Can I even marry into a good family?”
The two of them continued to argue, but ultimately Lu Xin gave in as he was fearful of the Pei family. He relented and said, “I can’t give you the full amount – I’ve already spent fifty taels.”
Yu Tang asked Ah Cam to search his body and he found one hundred and eighty taels of silver.
She scoffed at Lu Xin and immediately drew up the paperwork and asked him to take a pledge. “Let’s make it clear. It was you who sold this forgery of “Pine Creek Fishing Hidden Painting” to our family for twenty taels of silver, and this is the evidence. There will be no further entanglements between us. I will give you an extra ten taels of silver as a sign of goodwill, and this matter will be settled.”
Lu Xin was extremely unwilling.
Yu Tang warned him, “I heard that many people were burnt to death on Changxing Street. If I were to hide you here… I wonder when will you be discovered.”
Lu Xin glared at Yu Tang hatefully like a venomous snake.
In her previous life, Yu Tang had encountered more terrible things than this, so how could she be shaken by Lu Xin’s gaze?
She firmly took Lu Xin’s hand and pressed his fingerprint on the parchment and kept it securely. Afterwards, she threw 30 taels of silver to Lu Xin and ordered him to leave.
Lu Xin left with deep hatred in his eyes.
Yu Tang took out another 20 taels of silver to thank the women who helped her and sent them away and finally felt like a burden has been lifted from her chest.
Ah Cam said worriedly, “Eldest Miss, Lu Xin won’t complain to master, right?”
Yu Tang patted the pouch with the paperwork on her waist and said, “If he still has the guts to do so, let him go.”
Ah Cam felt better but felt bitter about the thirty taels of silver. “Then why did you still give him back so much silver?”
Yu Tang said dismissively, “The barefooted one isn’t afraid of the one having shoes on1. He is in a hurry to go to the capital, isn’t he? If we don’t give him any money and crush his hopes, he may become desperate enough to turn against our family. This thirty taels of silver is just to buy us peace of mind.”
In her previous life, Lu Xin did not return back to Lin’an after going to the capital. She hoped that Lu Xin will not return in this life as well.
Ah Cam smiled and nodded in response.
Yu Tang also felt relieved.
However, unexpectedly, when she turned around, she noticed a pair of ghostly eyes under the shadow of the broken wall opposite, staring at her quietly.
Yu Tong was scared half to death.
Could it be the ghosts of the people in the Changxing Street fire who burned to death?
She immediately tried to run, but her legs felt like they were made of lead, and she couldn’t lift them.
Yutang trembled, and even hugged Ah Cam tightly, afraid to let go.
The owner of those eyes quietly came out of the shadows of the broken wall.
The pale white moonlight shone upon his face.
He was a man of twenty-three or four years old, with a clear brow and a handsome face, but it was cold as ice. He was as beautiful as a piece of exquisite jade, but his presence was overwhelming.
It turned out to be the man in blue that she had met earlier in the pawnshop.
He casually walked out of the shadows as if the ruined and desolate streets of Changxing was his own back courtyard.
Yu Tong’s eyes grew round.
How could he appear here?
Yu Tang hurriedly looked past him to peer behind.
There was a shadow!
She breathed out a sigh of relief.
At least it’s a living person, and not some kind of ghost!
Yu Tang gently patted her chest and calmed down. Thinking of this man’s attitude towards her in the pawnshop, she hesitated, not knowing how to begin. The man in blue raised his eyebrows and spoke first. “Pei family? Are you are familiar with the Pei family pawnshop’s Supervisor Tong? Did he give you a guarantee that the painting was a forgery?”
His voice was flat and indifferent, but when Yu Tang heard it, she turned red with embarrassment and felt terrible.
Two of the most out-of-character and reckless things that she had ever done in her life – the first was going to the Pei family’s pawnstore and selling that painting, and second, was to use the Pei family’s name to suppress Lu Xin.
Both of these things coincidentally happened to be seen by the man in front of her.
He must think that she was a person who was shameless and despicable.
When the thought crossed her mind, Yu Tang felt extremely uncomfortable and said. “No, no! Please listen to me, he was the one who sold this fake painting to me ……”
“If I hadn’t seen that you were also a victim, do you think that you would still have the opportunity to use the Pei family’s name as a shield and spout nonsense?” The man said sternly, with no intention of listening to her explanation as he sharply interrupted her words, “Taking into consideration your young age, and that you just wanted to recover what was unfairly taken from you, I will not pursue this matter further. However, should there be a next time, I will not spare you so easily!”
So he saw it all!
Fortunately, he didn’t make things difficult for her.
Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief.
However, with his tone of voice, it was clear that he was either from the Pei family or someone closely related to the Pei family.
If it was her who saw someone acting like this under the Yu family’s name, she would have been so angry that she would have jumped up and down, unlike him who only reprimanded her with a few words.
Yu Tang bowed her head low and admitted her mistake.
The man didn’t intend to continue their conversation, and instead strode out towards Hua’er Lane.
Yu Tang couldn’t decide if she should go after him and ask who he was, so that she could ask her father to thank him in person later, but the man glanced back at her as if he knew what she was thinking.
That gaze, was like a sharp blade cutting through the air and falling on her.
Yutang immediately lost courage.
Although there was a reason for her actions, but she was clearly in the wrong and she couldn’t deny it. Looking at his expression, he obviously did not want to have anymore dealings with her, so how could she be so thick-skinned to bother him further?
The man left with large strides.
Seven or eight men also came out of the darkness and followed him.
It turns out that there were so many people in the shadows?
Yu Tang was shocked.
She did not see them at all!
The man and the people beside him soon disappeared into the night.
Yu Tang shivered.
Ah Cam seemed to have crawled out of the ice pit; his teeth were chattering as he stammered. “Eldest, eldest miss, who was that man? Why did he look so scary? He won’t go to the Pei family to report us, would he?”
Yu Tang smiled bitterly, “I don’t think he will.”
In his eyes, they were just insignificant people – why would he even bother with them?
Yu Tang felt complicated and only became more and more curious about this man.
She instructed Ah Cam: “See if you can find out from Supervisor Tong who that person is.”
Ah Cam was a little scared, but thinking of the recent events, he stiffened his head and agreed.
Yu Tang took the one hundred and thirty taels of silver and headed home. She then gave it to Yu Wen and told him everything that happened.
Yu Wen went pale with fright and even broke out in a cold sweat. He scolded his daughter. “What made you so bold? You are only a little girl, but you actually went to such a place? If something happened to you, what will your mother and I do? And Ah Cam, how could he encourage you to go to Hua’er Lane and hire female thugs to embarrass Lu Xin? If Lu Xin was more aggressive and shameless, what would you have done?” He also praised the man in blue for his good temperament.
“It was my mistake.” Yu Tang said, and also spoke of supervisor Tong’s kindness, “because I was uncertain of the authenticity of the painting, and did not have enough silver to get a formal appraisal, I could only use the pretext of going to the pawn store to pawn something, but in fact, I should have asked supervisor Tong separately to help to take a look at the painting instead. Regarding supervisor Tong, I can only request father to prepare some gifts to send to him as our token of appreciation.”
After all, she is still only a young girl of fifteen or sixteen years old, and it was more appropriate for her parents to see to such matters.
“Of course!” Yu Wen nodded repeatedly and said, “It would be even better if we knew who the man in blue was, so that we can also show our appreciation as well.”
Yu Tang agreed. She held up the painting in her hand and said, “Then what should we do with this painting?”
Yu Wen sighed and said, “Take it as a keepsake! Think of it as a lesson learnt. Your uncle Lu made such a huge scandal, it is most likely he will not come back to Lin’an.”
That will be for the best! Yutang thought.
It was also a good way to prevent Lu Xin from negatively influencing her father to try this and that every now and then.
Yutang voiced her agreement. She then mentioned the Pei family’s grand elder, saying, “Father, when you visit the Pei family’s residence, remember to ask the Pei family about grand elder Pei’s health! Our family owes them such a big favor, if there is anything we can do to help, we will definitely do it.”
Yu Wen looked at her disbelievingly and said, “What could the Pei family want that they don’t already have? Do they still need our help?”
Yu Tang pursed her lips and smiled.
Yu Wen was grateful to the Pei family, and so when he went to the Pei family to express his gratitude, he asked about the condition of Grand elder Pei.
The Pei family’s main housekeeper was the one who arranged for the two imperial physicians Yang and Wang, to see Yu wen’s wife at grand elder Pei’s request. Furthermore, Yu Wen was also very sincere, so he didn’t hide anything from him and said, “It’s nothing serious. The second and third masters were called back because Grand elder Pei was upset. The third master is a bit restless at home, but the second master has always been a quiet man. These days, the second master accompanied the grand elder to drink tea and chat. Furthermore, we invited a few renowned physicians to take care of him, and as a result, grand elder looks to be getting better day by day.”
As for who the man in blue is, the Pei family’s main housekeeper only vaguely said a few words and did not make it clear.
Yu Wen thought that that person must belong to the Pei family. If the housekeeper did not want to divulge, then it’s not good on his part to pry either. He didn’t think too much of it, but remembered the Pei family’s kindness towards them.
He went back to reprimand Yu Tang. “If you dare to do anything like this again, I will really break your legs!”
Yu Tang went up to give her father a consoling squeeze on his shoulder.
Yu Wen couldn’t do anything about his daughter, and sighed helplessly.
The next day, he brought some snacks, tea and wine and went to make amends to Supervisor Tong in person.
Supervisor Tong laughed when he found out the reason and what happened afterwards. Not only did he not blame Yu Tang, but he even praised Yu Tang for her courage and asked Yu Wen to bring back a packet of osmanthus cake for Yu Tong as a snack.
But he also kept silent on who the man in blue was.
Because of this incident, Yu Tang formed an even better impression of Supervisor Tong.
Yu Wen and Chen shi were afraid that Yu Tang would go out and get into trouble again, so after some discussion, they prohibited Yu Tang from going out and kept her at home to do embroidery.
Ah Cam also inquired for a long time on the man’s identity, but also was unable to find out who the man in the pawnshop was.
What things could be hidden from the Pei family in Lin’an?
It was evident that the man did not want them to know of his identity as he did not want to meet them at all.
Yu Tang gradually gave up, but as she slept alone in bed at night, she would occasionally toss and turn, as she recalled how the man looked at her and felt uneasy.
(光脚的不怕穿鞋的) Meaning that a person with nothing left, is not afraid of anything as he has nothing to lose. So they are capable of doing anything to get what they want.