Chapter 99: Suspicion
Yu Yuan was afraid that Yu Tang would overdo it and push Gu Xi’s nursemaid over the edge, which would be detrimental to their objective. He pulled on Yu Tang’s sleeve and pretended to rebuke her, saying, “This temper of yours, really. It’s such a small matter but it made you so upset. How can I bring you along with me like this? Sit down and talk. Everyone is watching us! You might not afraid of being stared at by people, but I am!”
This was also Yu Yuan’s way to gain some time and say a little more about the Li family’s faults in front of Gu San and his mother.
Yu Tang understood Gu San and his mother well and felt that her remarks were enough to make them sufficiently concerned to start investigating the Li family. Since their purpose was achieved, she did not intend to have further entanglement. Since two bowls of noodles have already been paid for, they should not be wasted. The sooner they finish eating, the faster they can leave.
She sat down.
Yu Yuan’s face brightened up and he quickly spoke up, “That’s right. The noodles are getting soggy, so please eat!” After saying that, he apologized to Gu Xi’s nursemaid. “Please don’t take offense. This sister of mine, she is good in all aspects, but she can be a little short-tempered. However, you can’t pin all the blame on her.” Speaking of this, he began to admonish Gu San, “Why didn’t you tell me that you were a member of the Gu family? Had I known, I wouldn’t have welcomed you both to eat noodles with us.”
From the beginning when Yu Tang stood up, various ideas and thoughts ran across Gu San’s mind. At present, he was uncertain if the Yu siblings had just inadvertently bumped into him or that they were intentionally waiting for him. However, be it the former or the latter, what they said about the Li family sent chills inside him.
His mother was Eldest young lady’s nursemaid, thus, their family’s fate was bound tightly to Eldest Miss right from the start, and it was a relationship whereby they had to share all the gains and the losses. Their Eldest young master did not agree with the marriage arrangements for Eldest Miss, but Eldest master was persuaded by his wife, and thus was motivated to compete with the eldest house, and get some support for his three sons. He saw that the Li family had a young man who was a provincial scholar and was well on his way to success, and thus forcibly set the marriage for Eldest Miss.
If the Yu family siblings were speaking the truth, then their eldest Miss’s in laws may really be just as what eldest young master predicted at the very beginning – inferior family background, with no noble heritage to speak of, and would only be unruly and disorganised.
Although it was impossible to withdraw from the marriage now, but this would mean the end of Eldest young Lady’s life!
Gu San got extremely anxious, and was not in the mood to eat noodles at all. All he wanted to do now was to get someone to find out what happened to the Li family, so that he could go back and report to Eldest Young Master, so that he could figure out what to do about Eldest Young Lady’s engagement.
“Mother!” He said after being silent all this while. He then signalled towards his mother, indicating that she should not engage in any verbal altercations with Lady Yu now. He smiled apologetically towards Yu Yuan and said, “Brother Yu, I saw that you and Yao San’er were childhood friends, so I assumed that he had told you about my identity. It was a misunderstanding on my part. Listening to you, it seemed that your Yu family has some kind of grudge with our in-laws’ family? However, just like what Lady Yu mentioned, my mother and I are just servants, and we don’t have any input on the family’s affairs, so please forgive us both. As for sharing the same table, Lady Yu, I have to rush off to help in the store after eating, so just think of it as sharing a table with strangers. We will leave immediately after we finish.”
As expected of Gu Xi’s most trusted helper. His words were polite and faultless.
Yu Tang didn’t intend on being stubborn.
She nodded her head and sat down to eat her noodles.
This restaurant’s noodles really lived up to its reputation. Although her mood was ruined, but just as she drank one mouthful of soup, the delicious and refreshing taste immediately whetted her appetite, and the noodles were so good that Yutang could not help but devote her full attention to it.
However, Gu Xi’s nursemaid was in a very complicated mood.
Although their Gu family was one of the leading prominent families in Hangzhou City, but within their family, there were many branches which resulted in many conflicts and tensions. Even if the Yu siblings had a grudge against the Li family and want to ruin the marriage between their eldest young lady and the Li family, it was unlikely that they would create rumors and cause trouble. Although there were not many people patronising this small noodle shop, but majority of them were locals in Hangzhou. Thus, what the Yu siblings said today would soon spread, and if the Li family was really as bad as the Yu siblings said, wouldn’t the marriage of their eldest young lady become a laughing stock within Hangzhou city? Wouldn’t their eldest young master get ridiculed for another a decade or two as well?
Furthermore, there’s also their family’s stepmother. As their eldest young master was a talented and capable person, she resented him immensely. Since there’s no way for her to deal with eldest young master, she could only find fault with their eldest young lady. Who among the Gu family’s members didn’t know that? If the Li family really behaved improperly, that would seriously tarnish their eldest young master’s reputation!
How could she sit still? She absentmindedly ate a few bites of the noodles and could not continue further. Once her son’s noodles were served, she repeatedly signalled to him that once he was done, they should leave.
Gu San, however, had calmed down.
At this point, instead of panicking and fleeing with their tails between their legs and making a mockery of themselves, it would be better to gather more information from the Yu siblings.
He ate several bites of noodles, and felt half full. Yu Yuan was nearly finished with his noodles, so he spoke up. “Brother Yu, just what happened to the Li family? Perhaps, you could tell me about it. I know that you are not the kind to spread gossip and hearsay. However, you are aware of the relationship between the Li Family and mine’s. My mother is Eldest Young Lady’s nursing maid, so when she marries, my mother would have to accompany her to Li’An City and I’ll have to follow along as well. This was why Eldest Young Master had me become an apprentice at one of their family’s stores. Therefore, it’s of utmost importance for me to find out the truth. Please share with me what you know and I offer you my thanks in advance.” After saying that, he got up and was about to bow to Yu Yuan.
The commotion that Yu Tang created had only just subsided when Gu San proactively asked about the Li family. Not wanting to cause a greater commotion, Yu Yuan quickly made him sit down and whispered, “Brother Gu, don’t say that, let’s discuss freely.” After saying that, he looked around cautiously, as if he was afraid of undue attention.
Gu San certainly did not want things to escalate.
He obediently sat down again and gestured to Yu Yuan, “Brother Yu!”
Yu Yuan sighed. He concealed the matter of the nautical chart, and quietly told Gu San and his mother about what Mrs. Li had done when she failed to obtain Yu Tang as her daughter in law, including matter of Wei Xiaoshan.
As they listened, their faces grew darker and darker. When they heard that the Yu family asked Pei Yan to be the intermediary, they sucked in a cold breath simultaneously, and Gu Xi’s nurse maid cried out in a low voice, “That means, Master Pei also knows about this matter?”
Looking at their expressions, they seem to be afraid of Pei Yan.
Yu Yuan was struck with an idea. He quickly glanced at Yu Tang and replied, “He knows! Not only does Third Master Pei know, everyone in Lin’an who possesses some status would know of it.”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid’s face immediately turned unsightly.
Yu Tang rolled her eyes and she intentionally let out a cold snort and said, “Now you know that we are not just making things up! If you still don’t trust us, you can ask Third Master Pei.”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid kept silent.
Gu San’s smile was a little forced as he got up and supported his mother to stand, saying, “Brother Yu, I have to head off to work, so I’ll take my leave. I’ll invite you to tea later when I have the chance.”
Yu Yuan got up to see him off and said pretentiously, “Brother Gu, my sister is quick-tempered, so if her words caused offense, please don’t take it to heart.”
“How could I!” Gu San replied politely.
Both of them exchanged pleasantries before dispersing.
Yu Yuan watched as Gu San and his mother left and let out a long exhale, and said to Yu Tang cheerfully “Today is our lucky day. We finally got this matter settled. Otherwise if you wanted me to say all the deplorable things the Li Family did, I really couldn’t.”
Yu Tang smiled understandingly and remarked, “To say it’s a stroke of good luck, it’s also brother’s. If it weren’t for you taking pity on me and bringing me to eat noodles, how could we have bumped into Gu San and his mother? How could we have spoken to them so easily? You should claim the credit for this success!”
Yu Yuan’s face turned red, and was embarrassed to talk about this matter so he quickly changed the subject, “So what are our plans for later? Should we return to Lin’an ahead of schedule?”
They were supposed to rest here for two days and two nights, return home tomorrow.
Yu Tang thought about it for a while and said, “Why don’t we go back early tomorrow morning? We can spend the rest of today exploring Hangzhou City, seeing how others run their business? How they serve their customers, the kinds of business that generate the most sales. And those porcelain stores, stoneware stores and so on, we can see what kind of designs and patterns they have…… what do you think?”
“Ok!” Yu Yuan laughed breezily, “Since we have completed our main task, anything else is fine.”
Yu Tang nodded her head.
The two siblings went off in high spirits.
Gu San and his mother spoke for a long time at the back alley of the Gu family’s silk store before going their separate ways. Gu San slapped his cheeks to make himself look less depressed before heading into the store, while Gu Xi’s nurse maid had a grim face the entire way back to the Gu Mansion.
The next day before dawn, someone emerged from the back door of the Gu Mansion and boarded a boat to Lin’an City.
The Yu siblings were also on this boat.
The two of them sat down in a corner, as per what they had done when they arrived, and talked quietly about what they had seen in Hangzhou City in the past two days. Yu Tang also took this opportunity to encourage Yu Yuan to speak up about the management of their family’s lacquerware store. “I’m not trying to get you to disobey eldest uncle, but I think it’s better that we reinvent our ways than to let it die out like this. If uncle is willing to hand over the store to you, then let uncle take care of our family’s fields and forests instead. If eldest uncle insists on running the store himself, you might as well run the family’s fields and forests instead. When the farms and fields have yielded profits, eldest uncle would know that you are a capable person and your words will naturally have more weight in our family. So when you discuss with eldest uncle on how to run the store, eldest uncle will definitely consider your opinions seriously.”
In this way, her eldest uncle and cousin would not be in conflict all the time, and this would also allow her eldest uncle to slowly hand over the business to Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan pondered.
Yu Tang continued, saying “I am of the same view as you. The family store can be managed by eldest uncle, and you can do business in Hangzhou City. However, after exploring around Hangzhou City these two days, I realised that every store has their own tricks and unique skills, which is not something that money can buy. Didn’t all those books say? Ruling a large country is like cooking small fishes at the right temperature and with the right ingredients. We can’t be in a hurry, we have to figure things out bit by bit.”
Yu Yuan asked, “Was it just like how you did it?”
In the past, Yu Wen would not seek Yu Tang’s opinion on things, but now he would seek Yu Tang’s advice on matters. If Yutang was against it, most likely he would give up. Even his father, if he heard that it was Yu Tang’s idea, he would also give the idea more thought.
Chapter 99: Suspicion
Yu Yuan was afraid that Yu Tang would overdo it and push Gu Xi’s nursemaid over the edge, which would be detrimental to their objective. He pulled on Yu Tang’s sleeve and pretended to rebuke her, saying, “This temper of yours, really. It’s such a small matter but it made you so upset. How can I bring you along with me like this? Sit down and talk. Everyone is watching us! You might not afraid of being stared at by people, but I am!”
This was also Yu Yuan’s way to gain some time and say a little more about the Li family’s faults in front of Gu San and his mother.
Yu Tang understood Gu San and his mother well and felt that her remarks were enough to make them sufficiently concerned to start investigating the Li family. Since their purpose was achieved, she did not intend to have further entanglement. Since two bowls of noodles have already been paid for, they should not be wasted. The sooner they finish eating, the faster they can leave.
She sat down.
Yu Yuan’s face brightened up and he quickly spoke up, “That’s right. The noodles are getting soggy, so please eat!” After saying that, he apologized to Gu Xi’s nursemaid. “Please don’t take offense. This sister of mine, she is good in all aspects, but she can be a little short-tempered. However, you can’t pin all the blame on her.” Speaking of this, he began to admonish Gu San, “Why didn’t you tell me that you were a member of the Gu family? Had I known, I wouldn’t have welcomed you both to eat noodles with us.”
From the beginning when Yu Tang stood up, various ideas and thoughts ran across Gu San’s mind. At present, he was uncertain if the Yu siblings had just inadvertently bumped into him or that they were intentionally waiting for him. However, be it the former or the latter, what they said about the Li family sent chills inside him.
His mother was Eldest young lady’s nursemaid, thus, their family’s fate was bound tightly to Eldest Miss right from the start, and it was a relationship whereby they had to share all the gains and the losses. Their Eldest young master did not agree with the marriage arrangements for Eldest Miss, but Eldest master was persuaded by his wife, and thus was motivated to compete with the eldest house, and get some support for his three sons. He saw that the Li family had a young man who was a provincial scholar and was well on his way to success, and thus forcibly set the marriage for Eldest Miss.
If the Yu family siblings were speaking the truth, then their eldest Miss’s in laws may really be just as what eldest young master predicted at the very beginning – inferior family background, with no noble heritage to speak of, and would only be unruly and disorganised.
Although it was impossible to withdraw from the marriage now, but this would mean the end of Eldest young Lady’s life!
Gu San got extremely anxious, and was not in the mood to eat noodles at all. All he wanted to do now was to get someone to find out what happened to the Li family, so that he could go back and report to Eldest Young Master, so that he could figure out what to do about Eldest Young Lady’s engagement.
“Mother!” He said after being silent all this while. He then signalled towards his mother, indicating that she should not engage in any verbal altercations with Lady Yu now. He smiled apologetically towards Yu Yuan and said, “Brother Yu, I saw that you and Yao San’er were childhood friends, so I assumed that he had told you about my identity. It was a misunderstanding on my part. Listening to you, it seemed that your Yu family has some kind of grudge with our in-laws’ family? However, just like what Lady Yu mentioned, my mother and I are just servants, and we don’t have any input on the family’s affairs, so please forgive us both. As for sharing the same table, Lady Yu, I have to rush off to help in the store after eating, so just think of it as sharing a table with strangers. We will leave immediately after we finish.”
As expected of Gu Xi’s most trusted helper. His words were polite and faultless.
Yu Tang didn’t intend on being stubborn.
She nodded her head and sat down to eat her noodles.
This restaurant’s noodles really lived up to its reputation. Although her mood was ruined, but just as she drank one mouthful of soup, the delicious and refreshing taste immediately whetted her appetite, and the noodles were so good that Yutang could not help but devote her full attention to it.
However, Gu Xi’s nursemaid was in a very complicated mood.
Although their Gu family was one of the leading prominent families in Hangzhou City, but within their family, there were many branches which resulted in many conflicts and tensions. Even if the Yu siblings had a grudge against the Li family and want to ruin the marriage between their eldest young lady and the Li family, it was unlikely that they would create rumors and cause trouble. Although there were not many people patronising this small noodle shop, but majority of them were locals in Hangzhou. Thus, what the Yu siblings said today would soon spread, and if the Li family was really as bad as the Yu siblings said, wouldn’t the marriage of their eldest young lady become a laughing stock within Hangzhou city? Wouldn’t their eldest young master get ridiculed for another a decade or two as well?
Furthermore, there’s also their family’s stepmother. As their eldest young master was a talented and capable person, she resented him immensely. Since there’s no way for her to deal with eldest young master, she could only find fault with their eldest young lady. Who among the Gu family’s members didn’t know that? If the Li family really behaved improperly, that would seriously tarnish their eldest young master’s reputation!
How could she sit still? She absentmindedly ate a few bites of the noodles and could not continue further. Once her son’s noodles were served, she repeatedly signalled to him that once he was done, they should leave.
Gu San, however, had calmed down.
At this point, instead of panicking and fleeing with their tails between their legs and making a mockery of themselves, it would be better to gather more information from the Yu siblings.
He ate several bites of noodles, and felt half full. Yu Yuan was nearly finished with his noodles, so he spoke up. “Brother Yu, just what happened to the Li family? Perhaps, you could tell me about it. I know that you are not the kind to spread gossip and hearsay. However, you are aware of the relationship between the Li Family and mine’s. My mother is Eldest Young Lady’s nursing maid, so when she marries, my mother would have to accompany her to Li’An City and I’ll have to follow along as well. This was why Eldest Young Master had me become an apprentice at one of their family’s stores. Therefore, it’s of utmost importance for me to find out the truth. Please share with me what you know and I offer you my thanks in advance.” After saying that, he got up and was about to bow to Yu Yuan.
The commotion that Yu Tang created had only just subsided when Gu San proactively asked about the Li family. Not wanting to cause a greater commotion, Yu Yuan quickly made him sit down and whispered, “Brother Gu, don’t say that, let’s discuss freely.” After saying that, he looked around cautiously, as if he was afraid of undue attention.
Gu San certainly did not want things to escalate.
He obediently sat down again and gestured to Yu Yuan, “Brother Yu!”
Yu Yuan sighed. He concealed the matter of the nautical chart, and quietly told Gu San and his mother about what Mrs. Li had done when she failed to obtain Yu Tang as her daughter in law, including matter of Wei Xiaoshan.
As they listened, their faces grew darker and darker. When they heard that the Yu family asked Pei Yan to be the intermediary, they sucked in a cold breath simultaneously, and Gu Xi’s nurse maid cried out in a low voice, “That means, Master Pei also knows about this matter?”
Looking at their expressions, they seem to be afraid of Pei Yan.
Yu Yuan was struck with an idea. He quickly glanced at Yu Tang and replied, “He knows! Not only does Third Master Pei know, everyone in Lin’an who possesses some status would know of it.”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid’s face immediately turned unsightly.
Yu Tang rolled her eyes and she intentionally let out a cold snort and said, “Now you know that we are not just making things up! If you still don’t trust us, you can ask Third Master Pei.”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid kept silent.
Gu San’s smile was a little forced as he got up and supported his mother to stand, saying, “Brother Yu, I have to head off to work, so I’ll take my leave. I’ll invite you to tea later when I have the chance.”
Yu Yuan got up to see him off and said pretentiously, “Brother Gu, my sister is quick-tempered, so if her words caused offense, please don’t take it to heart.”
“How could I!” Gu San replied politely.
Both of them exchanged pleasantries before dispersing.
Yu Yuan watched as Gu San and his mother left and let out a long exhale, and said to Yu Tang cheerfully “Today is our lucky day. We finally got this matter settled. Otherwise if you wanted me to say all the deplorable things the Li Family did, I really couldn’t.”
Yu Tang smiled understandingly and remarked, “To say it’s a stroke of good luck, it’s also brother’s. If it weren’t for you taking pity on me and bringing me to eat noodles, how could we have bumped into Gu San and his mother? How could we have spoken to them so easily? You should claim the credit for this success!”
Yu Yuan’s face turned red, and was embarrassed to talk about this matter so he quickly changed the subject, “So what are our plans for later? Should we return to Lin’an ahead of schedule?”
They were supposed to rest here for two days and two nights, return home tomorrow.
Yu Tang thought about it for a while and said, “Why don’t we go back early tomorrow morning? We can spend the rest of today exploring Hangzhou City, seeing how others run their business? How they serve their customers, the kinds of business that generate the most sales. And those porcelain stores, stoneware stores and so on, we can see what kind of designs and patterns they have…… what do you think?”
“Ok!” Yu Yuan laughed breezily, “Since we have completed our main task, anything else is fine.”
Yu Tang nodded her head.
The two siblings went off in high spirits.
Gu San and his mother spoke for a long time at the back alley of the Gu family’s silk store before going their separate ways. Gu San slapped his cheeks to make himself look less depressed before heading into the store, while Gu Xi’s nurse maid had a grim face the entire way back to the Gu Mansion.
The next day before dawn, someone emerged from the back door of the Gu Mansion and boarded a boat to Lin’an City.
The Yu siblings were also on this boat.
The two of them sat down in a corner, as per what they had done when they arrived, and talked quietly about what they had seen in Hangzhou City in the past two days. Yu Tang also took this opportunity to encourage Yu Yuan to speak up about the management of their family’s lacquerware store. “I’m not trying to get you to disobey eldest uncle, but I think it’s better that we reinvent our ways than to let it die out like this. If uncle is willing to hand over the store to you, then let uncle take care of our family’s fields and forests instead. If eldest uncle insists on running the store himself, you might as well run the family’s fields and forests instead. When the farms and fields have yielded profits, eldest uncle would know that you are a capable person and your words will naturally have more weight in our family. So when you discuss with eldest uncle on how to run the store, eldest uncle will definitely consider your opinions seriously.”
In this way, her eldest uncle and cousin would not be in conflict all the time, and this would also allow her eldest uncle to slowly hand over the business to Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan pondered.
Yu Tang continued, saying “I am of the same view as you. The family store can be managed by eldest uncle, and you can do business in Hangzhou City. However, after exploring around Hangzhou City these two days, I realised that every store has their own tricks and unique skills, which is not something that money can buy. Didn’t all those books say? Ruling a large country is like cooking small fishes at the right temperature and with the right ingredients. We can’t be in a hurry, we have to figure things out bit by bit.”
Yu Yuan asked, “Was it just like how you did it?”
In the past, Yu Wen would not seek Yu Tang’s opinion on things, but now he would seek Yu Tang’s advice on matters. If Yutang was against it, most likely he would give up. Even his father, if he heard that it was Yu Tang’s idea, he would also give the idea more thought.
