Chapter 62 – The meet up
Wei Xiaochuan didn’t know if Pei Yan would be an impartial judge or not, but one thing’s for certain. If this matter did not involve the Li family, they wouldn’t need to seek help from anyone; they could go directly to the magistrate and settle it. It would not have ended up like this, where even if Pei Yan acts as the arbitrator, the real perpetrator may not be punished for his crime.
This was a heavy blow for the young Wei Xiaochuan.
He took Yutang’s handkerchief and quickly wiped the tears from his face. After knowing that his second brother’s death was caused by the Li family but yet he couldn’t avenge him, the emotions that he had been suppressing all this while suddenly erupted like a volcano.
“Sister,” he clenched his hand tightly into a fist, his eyes were red, and he said in a voice full of determination, “I will definitely become an imperial scholar, obtain the title of ‘shujishi’ and enter into Hanlin Academy. I will not let anyone bully us again!”
Yu Tang was taken aback by Wei Xiaochuan’s sudden firm and serious tone.
This child must really be affected by this.
Just like in her previous life when she suspected that the Yu family’s downfall was related to the Li family, what she hated the most was not the Li family, but herself, who had fallen for their trap.
If she did not meet someone who was kind enough to help her, she might have been like Wei Xiaochuan now, hating the world and hating the people in it.
She gently held Wei Xiaochuan in her arms and whispered comfortingly, “It’s okay. Let’s take our time. As the saying goes, it’s never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Don’t be impatient. What about your father, mother, brothers and sister-in-law? We can’t let ourselves live unhappily just because of them. Otherwise, even if we take revenge, we will still be a laughingstock in front of our enemies.”
Yu Tang knew that if she advised Wei Xiaochuan not to take revenge now, it would only backfire and make Wei Xiaochuan feel discontented and hurt him further. Therefore, instead of holding him back, it was better to go along with him first. After some time had passed and his emotional wounds have healed then she would find an opportunity to advise him again.
After listening, Wei Xiaochuan’s expression became slightly better. He replied, “I understand. Sister, don’t worry, I won’t hurt my family and let my enemies laugh at me.”
It’s good that he’s able to listen to her.
Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief and said warmly. “I’ll have someone fetch some water for you to wash your face with. Later, we’ll go see your father together so he won’t worry about you.”
She also wanted express her appreciation towards the Wei family for forgiving her.
Although she still hasn’t forgiven herself, but she didn’t want the elders to stress even more over the problems she caused.
Wei Xiaochuan nodded. He washed his face and calmed down, and both of them went to the hall as if nothing had happened.
Master Wei and Yu Wen was just arranging the time to meet with Pei Yan. As they walked in, they heard Yu Wen say, “Third Master Pei agreed to be the intermediary for us in the morning, the day after tomorrow. On the Li family’s side, they have asked Master Wu our next door neighbor to help. I’ve already sent someone to contact Master Wu, so I think we should have a reply later. Do you want to rest here, or wait for Master Wu’s side to reply first before making further arrangements?”
“I’m still uneasy about it.” Master Wei said gravely. Although he had a bitter expression, but his eyes were clear and alert. Evidently, he had set aside his sorrow over the death of his son, and was wholeheartedly prepared to seek justice for him. “Who have you invited as the witnesses?”
Yu Wen reported their names one at a time.
Master Wei nodded and said, “It’s settled then. I’ll go with you when the time comes.”
Yu Tang saw that they were almost finished with their discussion, so she went up to Master Wei and thanked him.
Master Wei’s face softened and he spoke to Yu Tang gently.
Yu Yuan heard that Master Wei had arrived so he rushed over to pay his respects to his father-in-law.
As Master Wei was very satisfied with the marriage between Yu Yuan and Lady Xiang, he smiled more when he spoke to Yu Yuan.
Yu Wen’s mood improved and he invited Master Wei to join them for dinner. He said apologetically to Master Wei. “Unfortunately, my elder brother went to Nanchang as he wanted to hire a few skilled lacquer makers, so he’s unable to join us for drinks today. I’ll ask Ah Yuan to make a toast to you on behalf of his father.”
Master Wei asked curiously, “Is your original lacquer maker retiring?”
Generally, craftsmen wouldn’t leave the shop unless they had some major disagreements. That’s because if the craftsmen were to look for another job with other shops, the shop owners will usually inquire about the reason for leaving, was it a problem with the people, or was it your skills that weren’t good enough, etc..
Sometimes just a word from the original shop owner can prevent them from finding another job again.
Yu Wen replied, “The original lacquer maker had spent his entire life working for my family and long had the intention to retire. After the fire, he took the opportunity to request for a break and go back to his hometown. Because of this, some of the apprentices started to have doubts and wanted to leave as well. If they were to stay on, they can’t manage it on their own. Therefore, our best solution is to get some skilled masters to come and join us.”
Master Wei thought for a while and said, “Why don’t you let Ah Yuan explore and try things out on his own after he gets married? Anyway, his parents are still young, so he can leave the family affairs to them. In this way, Ah Yuan can test his ability, and his parents do not have to bear such a heavy financial burden and hire so many skilled masters.”
Yu Wen was a little surprised, as he did not expect that the Wei family would let Yu Yuan use Lady Xiang’s dowry after marriage.
This should the Wei family’s kindness. Lady Xiang grew up in the Wei family, and Master Wei was responsible and proper in his actions. Therefore, if he made such a statement, Lady Xiang must have also agreed to it.
However, this matter concerns Yu Yuan and his parents. As his uncle, he had no right to make a decision for them.
“Let the young couple decide for themselves after they’re married.” Yu Wen replied.
Yu Yuan’s neck turned red with embarrassment.
Master Wu’s personal attendant came to find Yu Wen and said, “Our master said that he had completed all the things you’ve instructed. The day after tomorrow, at dawn, we will meet under the old camphor tree at the entrance of Little Plum Lane and go to the Pei family’s residence. Our master should have informed you of this in person, but he was held back to have a meal with Master Du. As he was afraid that you would be waiting for a reply, he instructed me to inform you first. When our master returns home, he will speak to you further.”
Master Du was one of the people they invited to be a witness.
Yu Wen thanked the attendant and rewarded him with silver. He then instructed Ah Cam to have tea with the attendant, while he continued his conversation with Master Wei. “You can put your mind at ease. The Li family has agreed to go to the Pei family with us to settle this case.”
After finding an arbitrator, their worst fear is that the other party would refuse to come.
Therefore the intermediary needs to be well-respected and his words must carry weight, and has to be someone that the other party feels they cannot easily offend.
Master Wei sighed. “This time, I really have to thank Third Master Pei. I still have a hundred year old ginseng at home, I’ll take it to thank the third master when the time comes!”
Yu Wen wanted to say that Third Master Pei might not accept it, but as it was a token of the Wei family’s appreciation, he kept silent. Both of them discussed at length about what they should say when they meet with Pei Yan and the Li family.
Yu Tang waited until after Master Wei and his son had left before going to see her father.
“Father” she pleaded with Yu Wen, “Take me along with you then.”
She really wanted to know what the Li family would say on that day.
Her life now was drastically different from previously, and the Li family already showed their true colors, so would they end up losing this case?
She dearly wished to know and was eagerly awaiting to see the conclusion in person.
Yu Wen felt that such an arbitration case was rare, and it was also good for Yu Tang to experience more of the world.
He agreed to her request but warned Yu Tang sternly, “It’s fine to go, but you can’t speak and get yourself noticed.”
Yu Tang initially thought she would have to go to extra lengths to convince her father. She was overjoyed and said, “Don’t worry, I will follow my brother and not let anyone notice I’m there.”
Yu Wen nodded his head.
Yu Tang then asked Yu Wen. “What about the two fugitives? Will we get the Qu brothers to escort them over when the time comes?”
However, this would mean exposing the role the Qu brothers played, and they may not be willing to offend the Li family.
They still had to ask the Qu brothers for their opinion.
Yu Wen replied. “You don’t have to worry about that. I have already spoken to the supervisor Tong. On that day, supervisor Tong will send someone over to bring the two fugitives to the Pei family in advance. This will prevent the Li family from having any opportunity to create problems.”
Yu Tang was greatly relieved. On the actual day, she disguised herself as Yu Yuan’s personal attendant and followed behind Yu Wen and Yu Yuan, all the while keeping her head low as they went to Little Plum Lane with Master Wu.
As they were the ones who arranged this, they had to arrive early, but it turns out that Master Wei and Wei Xiaoyuan arrived even earlier than them.
Yu Wen quickly introduced Master Wu to Master Wei.
Master Wei, in turn, thanked Master Wu gratefully.
Master Wu, a warm-hearted man, supported Master Wei up, who was in the midst of giving him a bow. He patted Master Wei’s shoulder jovially, saying, “There’s no need to be so polite. Master Yu and I have been neighbors for many years, he knows my sociable nature. It’s fate that we meet like this, let’s meet up more in the future.”
Master Wei agreed and invited Master Wu to visit the Wei family sometime.
Master Wu readily agreed and started up some small talk about Master Wei’s harvest this year.
As they were speaking, the invited witnesses came streaming in.
All of them greeted each other.
No one noticed Yu Tang.
Yu Tang was relieved and took this opportunity to familiarize herself with these people- all of them were prominent ones in Lin’an City, who knows if they will need to find them for help with anything in future.
When the agreed time was near, the Li family came.
As Li Yi was away on official business, the ones who came were Li Duan and Li Jun.
Master Wu frowned and asked Yu Wen in a low voice, “Didn’t you invite the Li family’s patriarch house?”
“Yes, I did!” Yu Wen looked a little unhappy and said, “I personally invited them.”
Master Wu was displeased and said, “What do they mean by this? They don’t recognize themselves as people from the Li family?”
Logically speaking, after such an incident, the patriarch of the Li family should make their appearance. However, only Li Duan and Li Jun came. This means that either the patriarch house of the Li Family is unconcerned about this matter or that Li Duan’s family did not respect the authority of the patriarch house.
Just before these two brothers could enter, Li He along with his father who was the Li family patriarch, the twelfth uncle of the Li family, appeared in Little Plum Lane.
“Li Duan, wait for us.” Li He panted and shouted loudly to Li Duan.
Li Duan turned around, his expression wasn’t good, but he still stopped.
All of the people who came today were smart people. After seeing this, they surmised that Li Duan’s family did not respect the patriarch house very much.
A few of them whispered, “He’s only a fourth-ranking official, but he is already this arrogant. Look at the Pei family, all of the branch families have officials, but which branch dares to disrespect the patriarch house!”
“If it was otherwise, how would the Pei family stand on the peak for several generations and not fall!”
As Yu Tang listened to their conversation, her eyes fell on Li Jun.
It was only a short ten days, but Li Jun looked like a different person entirely. His face was haggard and his eyes were dull and lost its luster. He seemed like a plant that has shriveled up. It was as though he had aged 10 years and could no longer return to being the same cheerful person he was before.
Chapter 62 – The meet up
Wei Xiaochuan didn’t know if Pei Yan would be an impartial judge or not, but one thing’s for certain. If this matter did not involve the Li family, they wouldn’t need to seek help from anyone; they could go directly to the magistrate and settle it. It would not have ended up like this, where even if Pei Yan acts as the arbitrator, the real perpetrator may not be punished for his crime.
This was a heavy blow for the young Wei Xiaochuan.
He took Yutang’s handkerchief and quickly wiped the tears from his face. After knowing that his second brother’s death was caused by the Li family but yet he couldn’t avenge him, the emotions that he had been suppressing all this while suddenly erupted like a volcano.
“Sister,” he clenched his hand tightly into a fist, his eyes were red, and he said in a voice full of determination, “I will definitely become an imperial scholar, obtain the title of ‘shujishi’ and enter into Hanlin Academy. I will not let anyone bully us again!”
Yu Tang was taken aback by Wei Xiaochuan’s sudden firm and serious tone.
This child must really be affected by this.
Just like in her previous life when she suspected that the Yu family’s downfall was related to the Li family, what she hated the most was not the Li family, but herself, who had fallen for their trap.
If she did not meet someone who was kind enough to help her, she might have been like Wei Xiaochuan now, hating the world and hating the people in it.
She gently held Wei Xiaochuan in her arms and whispered comfortingly, “It’s okay. Let’s take our time. As the saying goes, it’s never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Don’t be impatient. What about your father, mother, brothers and sister-in-law? We can’t let ourselves live unhappily just because of them. Otherwise, even if we take revenge, we will still be a laughingstock in front of our enemies.”
Yu Tang knew that if she advised Wei Xiaochuan not to take revenge now, it would only backfire and make Wei Xiaochuan feel discontented and hurt him further. Therefore, instead of holding him back, it was better to go along with him first. After some time had passed and his emotional wounds have healed then she would find an opportunity to advise him again.
After listening, Wei Xiaochuan’s expression became slightly better. He replied, “I understand. Sister, don’t worry, I won’t hurt my family and let my enemies laugh at me.”
It’s good that he’s able to listen to her.
Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief and said warmly. “I’ll have someone fetch some water for you to wash your face with. Later, we’ll go see your father together so he won’t worry about you.”
She also wanted express her appreciation towards the Wei family for forgiving her.
Although she still hasn’t forgiven herself, but she didn’t want the elders to stress even more over the problems she caused.
Wei Xiaochuan nodded. He washed his face and calmed down, and both of them went to the hall as if nothing had happened.
Master Wei and Yu Wen was just arranging the time to meet with Pei Yan. As they walked in, they heard Yu Wen say, “Third Master Pei agreed to be the intermediary for us in the morning, the day after tomorrow. On the Li family’s side, they have asked Master Wu our next door neighbor to help. I’ve already sent someone to contact Master Wu, so I think we should have a reply later. Do you want to rest here, or wait for Master Wu’s side to reply first before making further arrangements?”
“I’m still uneasy about it.” Master Wei said gravely. Although he had a bitter expression, but his eyes were clear and alert. Evidently, he had set aside his sorrow over the death of his son, and was wholeheartedly prepared to seek justice for him. “Who have you invited as the witnesses?”
Yu Wen reported their names one at a time.
Master Wei nodded and said, “It’s settled then. I’ll go with you when the time comes.”
Yu Tang saw that they were almost finished with their discussion, so she went up to Master Wei and thanked him.
Master Wei’s face softened and he spoke to Yu Tang gently.
Yu Yuan heard that Master Wei had arrived so he rushed over to pay his respects to his father-in-law.
As Master Wei was very satisfied with the marriage between Yu Yuan and Lady Xiang, he smiled more when he spoke to Yu Yuan.
Yu Wen’s mood improved and he invited Master Wei to join them for dinner. He said apologetically to Master Wei. “Unfortunately, my elder brother went to Nanchang as he wanted to hire a few skilled lacquer makers, so he’s unable to join us for drinks today. I’ll ask Ah Yuan to make a toast to you on behalf of his father.”
Master Wei asked curiously, “Is your original lacquer maker retiring?”
Generally, craftsmen wouldn’t leave the shop unless they had some major disagreements. That’s because if the craftsmen were to look for another job with other shops, the shop owners will usually inquire about the reason for leaving, was it a problem with the people, or was it your skills that weren’t good enough, etc..
Sometimes just a word from the original shop owner can prevent them from finding another job again.
Yu Wen replied, “The original lacquer maker had spent his entire life working for my family and long had the intention to retire. After the fire, he took the opportunity to request for a break and go back to his hometown. Because of this, some of the apprentices started to have doubts and wanted to leave as well. If they were to stay on, they can’t manage it on their own. Therefore, our best solution is to get some skilled masters to come and join us.”
Master Wei thought for a while and said, “Why don’t you let Ah Yuan explore and try things out on his own after he gets married? Anyway, his parents are still young, so he can leave the family affairs to them. In this way, Ah Yuan can test his ability, and his parents do not have to bear such a heavy financial burden and hire so many skilled masters.”
Yu Wen was a little surprised, as he did not expect that the Wei family would let Yu Yuan use Lady Xiang’s dowry after marriage.
This should the Wei family’s kindness. Lady Xiang grew up in the Wei family, and Master Wei was responsible and proper in his actions. Therefore, if he made such a statement, Lady Xiang must have also agreed to it.
However, this matter concerns Yu Yuan and his parents. As his uncle, he had no right to make a decision for them.
“Let the young couple decide for themselves after they’re married.” Yu Wen replied.
Yu Yuan’s neck turned red with embarrassment.
Master Wu’s personal attendant came to find Yu Wen and said, “Our master said that he had completed all the things you’ve instructed. The day after tomorrow, at dawn, we will meet under the old camphor tree at the entrance of Little Plum Lane and go to the Pei family’s residence. Our master should have informed you of this in person, but he was held back to have a meal with Master Du. As he was afraid that you would be waiting for a reply, he instructed me to inform you first. When our master returns home, he will speak to you further.”
Master Du was one of the people they invited to be a witness.
Yu Wen thanked the attendant and rewarded him with silver. He then instructed Ah Cam to have tea with the attendant, while he continued his conversation with Master Wei. “You can put your mind at ease. The Li family has agreed to go to the Pei family with us to settle this case.”
After finding an arbitrator, their worst fear is that the other party would refuse to come.
Therefore the intermediary needs to be well-respected and his words must carry weight, and has to be someone that the other party feels they cannot easily offend.
Master Wei sighed. “This time, I really have to thank Third Master Pei. I still have a hundred year old ginseng at home, I’ll take it to thank the third master when the time comes!”
Yu Wen wanted to say that Third Master Pei might not accept it, but as it was a token of the Wei family’s appreciation, he kept silent. Both of them discussed at length about what they should say when they meet with Pei Yan and the Li family.
Yu Tang waited until after Master Wei and his son had left before going to see her father.
“Father” she pleaded with Yu Wen, “Take me along with you then.”
She really wanted to know what the Li family would say on that day.
Her life now was drastically different from previously, and the Li family already showed their true colors, so would they end up losing this case?
She dearly wished to know and was eagerly awaiting to see the conclusion in person.
Yu Wen felt that such an arbitration case was rare, and it was also good for Yu Tang to experience more of the world.
He agreed to her request but warned Yu Tang sternly, “It’s fine to go, but you can’t speak and get yourself noticed.”
Yu Tang initially thought she would have to go to extra lengths to convince her father. She was overjoyed and said, “Don’t worry, I will follow my brother and not let anyone notice I’m there.”
Yu Wen nodded his head.
Yu Tang then asked Yu Wen. “What about the two fugitives? Will we get the Qu brothers to escort them over when the time comes?”
However, this would mean exposing the role the Qu brothers played, and they may not be willing to offend the Li family.
They still had to ask the Qu brothers for their opinion.
Yu Wen replied. “You don’t have to worry about that. I have already spoken to the supervisor Tong. On that day, supervisor Tong will send someone over to bring the two fugitives to the Pei family in advance. This will prevent the Li family from having any opportunity to create problems.”
Yu Tang was greatly relieved. On the actual day, she disguised herself as Yu Yuan’s personal attendant and followed behind Yu Wen and Yu Yuan, all the while keeping her head low as they went to Little Plum Lane with Master Wu.
As they were the ones who arranged this, they had to arrive early, but it turns out that Master Wei and Wei Xiaoyuan arrived even earlier than them.
Yu Wen quickly introduced Master Wu to Master Wei.
Master Wei, in turn, thanked Master Wu gratefully.
Master Wu, a warm-hearted man, supported Master Wei up, who was in the midst of giving him a bow. He patted Master Wei’s shoulder jovially, saying, “There’s no need to be so polite. Master Yu and I have been neighbors for many years, he knows my sociable nature. It’s fate that we meet like this, let’s meet up more in the future.”
Master Wei agreed and invited Master Wu to visit the Wei family sometime.
Master Wu readily agreed and started up some small talk about Master Wei’s harvest this year.
As they were speaking, the invited witnesses came streaming in.
All of them greeted each other.
No one noticed Yu Tang.
Yu Tang was relieved and took this opportunity to familiarize herself with these people- all of them were prominent ones in Lin’an City, who knows if they will need to find them for help with anything in future.
When the agreed time was near, the Li family came.
As Li Yi was away on official business, the ones who came were Li Duan and Li Jun.
Master Wu frowned and asked Yu Wen in a low voice, “Didn’t you invite the Li family’s patriarch house?”
“Yes, I did!” Yu Wen looked a little unhappy and said, “I personally invited them.”
Master Wu was displeased and said, “What do they mean by this? They don’t recognize themselves as people from the Li family?”
Logically speaking, after such an incident, the patriarch of the Li family should make their appearance. However, only Li Duan and Li Jun came. This means that either the patriarch house of the Li Family is unconcerned about this matter or that Li Duan’s family did not respect the authority of the patriarch house.
Just before these two brothers could enter, Li He along with his father who was the Li family patriarch, the twelfth uncle of the Li family, appeared in Little Plum Lane.
“Li Duan, wait for us.” Li He panted and shouted loudly to Li Duan.
Li Duan turned around, his expression wasn’t good, but he still stopped.
All of the people who came today were smart people. After seeing this, they surmised that Li Duan’s family did not respect the patriarch house very much.
A few of them whispered, “He’s only a fourth-ranking official, but he is already this arrogant. Look at the Pei family, all of the branch families have officials, but which branch dares to disrespect the patriarch house!”
“If it was otherwise, how would the Pei family stand on the peak for several generations and not fall!”
As Yu Tang listened to their conversation, her eyes fell on Li Jun.
It was only a short ten days, but Li Jun looked like a different person entirely. His face was haggard and his eyes were dull and lost its luster. He seemed like a plant that has shriveled up. It was as though he had aged 10 years and could no longer return to being the same cheerful person he was before.
