Against the Current - Chapter 122

Chapter 122 - Visiting as Guests (Part 2)

After speaking, Madam Jin felt somewhat more at ease. She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and glanced again at Madam Xue. She saw that Madam Xue was dressed in a clove-purple soft-silk cross-collared tunic, paired with a white cotton-damask skirt. On her head, she wore filigree hair-combs and a kingfisher-feather hairpin inlaid with precious stones, while bright golden earrings hung from her lobes, making her look entirely like the wife of a landed gentry household. In contrast, Madam Jin herself wore a half-new blue satin jacket and a jade-colored skirt, with only a silver hairpin and a copper ring adorning her hair. A single silver bracelet on her wrist was her dowry from years past, and she possessed not a single other piece of jewelry. Compared to Madam Xue, she appeared all the more threadbare and impoverished.

As it turned out, although Xia Yun had passed the provincial examination, received gifts from the gentry, and taken up a minor post as a clerk in the yamen—which would have provided a somewhat comfortable living for an ordinary family—Madam Jin was simply too prolific. Although two of her sons were already married and a daughter had been wedded off, there were still two young daughters waiting to be married off at home, along with a pair of twelve-year-old twins. Her youngest son was only seven, but he had suffered from a congenital illness since birth, and seeking medical treatment and medicines had consumed a vast amount of silver. To this day he had not recovered, and simply lingered with a single breath remaining, bedridden. Since the family relied solely on cultivating a few mu of lean farmland, they possessed no true outward prestige or wealth.

Madam Jin thought to herself that previously Madam Xue did not have many pieces of jewelry either, and went about day in and day out wearing no more than two or three outfits. How was it that she had suddenly begun wearing gold and silver? Feeling displeased once more, she coughed twice, pasted a false smile onto her face, and said, "Sister Xue's attire is truly magnificent. Tsk, tsk, tsk, all this gold and silver on your head is almost enough to dazzle my eyes."

Suppressing her inner annoyance, Madam Xue replied, "It's just that her father's luck finally turned, and he became the head manager sitting in the large pawnshop, so life has become easier. Now that the master has gone to the capital and the shop was transferred, it's a rare thing that the new master also holds her father in high regard and kept him on. In his spare time, he picks up a few antiques to sell, so we manage to scrape by. This past New Year, her father busied himself with adding a few pieces of jewelry for Xianglan, and I ended up tagging along to benefit from it, getting two or three items made for myself."

Putting on the demeanor of an elder, Madam Jin leaned forward slightly, looked at Madam Xue, and said in a heartfelt, admonishing tone, "I must say, Sister Xue, since I am a few years older than you and presume to take some liberties, I really must say a couple of things. Now that life has improved, you mustn't squander all your money on gold and silver jewelry. There will be plenty of places where you'll need money in the future... If you ask me, now while Brother Chen is still young, you should quickly spend a few taels of silver to buy a fertile maid who can bear children. Of all unfilial acts, having no descendants is the greatest, and the Chen family cannot simply let their incense-burn die out!"

As soon as Madam Jin uttered these words, Madam Xue's expression completely dropped. Ever since she left the Lin family, she had endured hardship and suffering alongside Chen Wanquan, while also having to tolerate her husband's fondness for alcohol and willful temper. Now that she had finally lived through a couple of days of good life, an unrelated person had actually run over to urge Chen Wanquan to take a concubine!

Furious, Madam Xue was just about to speak when she heard Madam Jin continue, "Without a son, how will Brother Chen face his ancestors beneath the earth a hundred years from now? No matter how much family property you accumulate, what good is it without a son? In the future, there won't even be anyone by your bedside to tend to you. Do you remember the second daughter of the Gong family from our old neighborhood? She has a thick waist and a round backside, possessing the physiognomy of someone who brings sons. She's eighteen this year, and if we mention it to her family, they are bound to agree. Shall I go and ask around for you tomorrow?"

Madam Xue laughed coldly and said, "Elder Sister is joking, aren't you? As for 'not even having anyone by the bedside to tend to me,' I still have Little Lan right by my side."

Madam Jin covered her mouth and smiled, her eyes crinkling into a web of wrinkles that made her look two years older than when she wasn't smiling. "Little Lan will have to marry off sooner or later; how could she possibly stay at home for a lifetime? Surely you aren't planning to find a matrilocal son-in-law? Oh my, let old sister give you a piece of advice: what kind of decent goods would be willing to enter a household as a matrilocal son-in-law? Even if you can't find someone who passes the imperial examinations and becomes a high-ranking official like our third one, you at least need to find someone with property within their household, don't you?"

Madam Xue was so angry that her hands and feet grew ice-cold. At that exact moment, a voice rang out from the doorway: "What Auntie Xia just said strikes precisely at what is in my heart." The group turned their heads to look and saw Xianglan stepping into the room with a smile on her face. She first offered a greeting to the people in the room and then said to Madam Jin, "It is indeed better to have some property. As for those who have nothing but empty prestige while their families are dragged down and as poor as church mice, even if we are a humble family, we would never dare to climb high and form a match with such people. With a huge crowd of poor relatives hanging about in the future, how could anyone live?"

Madam Jin instantly raised her brows and glared, her chrysanthemum-like face tightening even further as she sneer-laughed, "I was only offering kind advice, yet it provokes so many words from a junior. Don't think I can't tell; the young lady is taking indirect digs at our family with every word she says. But I came with a heart of pure affection to advise your mother—taking a secondary wife is also a happy occasion. Your parents are growing older day by day, and you will be married off before long; how can they not have someone by their side to look after them... I truly have no face left to sit here any longer." With that, she rose and made to leave.

Although Madam Xue felt a sense of vindication in her heart, on the surface she still offered words to persuade her to stay, and said to Xianglan, "A mere child with no sense of propriety—when elders are speaking, is this any place for you to interrupt? Hurry up and make your apologies to Auntie Xia!" At the same time, however, she turned her face away and blinked conspiratorially at Xianglan.

Holding her head high, Madam Jin let out a cold snort and said to Madam Xue, "You really must teach your daughter properly! With a tongue as venomous as that, I'm afraid she'll have a hard time getting married in the future!"

Xianglan’s voice was clear and crisp, rattling off like a string of firecrackers as she retorted, "I am young and ignorant, so I certainly need Auntie Xia to teach me. I previously thought that taking a concubine was something only befitting great aristocratic households. Take Auntie Xia's family, for instance: having produced a provincial graduate, who among outsiders does not respectfully address Elder Uncle Xia as 'Old Master' upon meeting him? Such majesty and prestige are what make one worthy of taking a secondary wife. Firstly, Elder Uncle Xia and Auntie Xia are even older than my mother, so they are the ones who truly need someone by their side to look after them; secondly, for a provincial graduate's own father to take a concubine is also a joyous occasion—it brings honor to one's face when spoken of, doesn't it?"

Madam Jin had never expected that the Chen family's daughter would not yield an inch in verbal sparring, and that she would actually use her own weapon against her in a counter-attack, instantly turning her face the color of a pig's liver with anger. Seeing her mother suffer a loss, Xia's third sister indignantly stood up and protested, "My mother was doing it for your family's own good! My mother is not a hen that cannot lay eggs—what reason does my father have to take any concubine!"

Without even glancing at Xia's third sister, Xianglan addressed Madam Jin directly, saying, "There are several things improper about what Auntie Xia brought up today. Firstly, my mother is still young; in past years, when the household circumstances were poor, her constitution was also weak. Now that she is properly nourishing her health and can go to the temple to make merit and pray for a son, there is no need to worry about not giving birth to one. If Auntie Xia is truly concerned that my parents lack a son, out of all these years of neighborly affection, she should be advising my mother to take better care of her health instead. Secondly, my father has never had any intention of taking a secondary wife, nor is he even willing to adopt or foster a male heir—if Auntie Xia doesn't believe me, she is welcome to go and ask him. Thirdly, whether one takes a concubine or not is entirely our family's private affair; what business is it of yours? Auntie Xia originally spent all her time mingling with vulgar market women, passing her days in idle gossip without ever learning what propriety is—no wonder that even now, as the mother of a provincial graduate, she still knows no rules. Although I am untalented, I at least spent a couple of years serving within a great mansion and learned a thing or two about shame. Let me gift Auntie Xia a word today: as for trying to persuade people to take concubines and acting like a matchmaker trying to forge connections, don't ever do it again in the future. Making Auntie Xia lose face would be a minor matter, but making young Scholar Xia lose face— khiến others think that young Scholar Xia is also a gossip-monger—would be far worse!"

Madam Jin was all the more astonished that Xianglan could utter such a speech to publicly strip her of her dignity. Trembling all over with rage, she pointed at Xianglan and stammered, "You... you..." unable to get another word out for a long time. In her fury, she rose and prepared to leave. Xia's second sister-in-law, being a quick-witted and sharp-eyed person, hurriedly stepped forward to support Madam Jin and said to Madam Xue, "My mother meant well; she just spoke wrongly a moment ago. I'll make amends on her behalf."

Madam Xue also hurried over to smooth things over, scolding Xianglan, "You have no respect for senior or junior!" She then smiled at Madam Jin, saying, "A young girl doesn't understand things—Elder Sister, please do not hold it against her!"

Clutching Madam Jin's arm, Xia's second sister-in-law coaxed, "Mother, hurry and sit down. This was just a case of words carrying one thing to another in the heat of the moment; what is so serious about it?" She repeatedly shot meaningful glances at Madam Jin.

Knowing that her second daughter-in-law was the most scheming among them, Madam Jin—though itching to leave—was thick-skinned enough in the end to sit back down.

Being adept at pleasant banter, Xia's second sister-in-law first praised the attractive furnishings in the room, then went on to compliment Madam Xue's attire, before finally steering the conversation back to Xia Yun. She boasted about how Xia Yun possessed boundless talent and was a paragon of refined appearance. Upon hearing this, Madam Jin straightened her spine once more and began recounting how highly valued Xia Yun was in the yamen. Within a few turns of phrase, the previous unpleasantness was brushed aside, and they were laughing and chatting again.

Being exceptionally quick to make herself at home, Xia's second sister-in-law turned her face once more to speak with Xianglan. Reaching out to stroke Xianglan's side-hair and arm, she looked her up and down from head to toe. Feeling somewhat uneasy, Xianglan shifted slightly aside without leaving a trace, but Xia's second sister-in-law took another step forward, grabbed Xianglan's hand, and smiled, saying, "My goodness, you truly look like an immortal maiden! The last time I saw you was a few years ago, before you even entered the Lin family. In the blink of an eye, you've turned into such a grown-up young lady, blossoming to the point where I almost didn't recognize you. That brisk and capable temperament of yours also charms me so—I wonder what fortunate man will be blessed enough to marry such a little beauty in the future?"

She rattled off questions back and forth about what Xianglan usually did with her time. With a faint smile, Xianglan replied, "What else is there to do? Just handle some needlework on ordinary days."

Xia's second sister-in-law chuckled and said, "You and your needlework—you've just been painting, haven't you? How many taels of silver can a single painting sell for these days?"

Xianglan was startled. Seeing the sharp, piercing gleam in Xia's second sister-in-law's eyes made her feel even more uncomfortable, and she replied indifferently, "Xia second sister-in-law is joking. What do I know about painting? Don't listen to people outside chewing the root of their tongues with idle gossip."

Wearing an ingratiating smile, Xia's second sister-in-law pressed on, "Are you trying to fool your sister-in-law? Tell your sister-in-law in secret; sister-in-law promises not to tell anyone else..."

Just as they were speaking, Xia's third sister crowded over again. Being a year younger than Xianglan, she had hardly ever worn a few new clothes growing up. Ever since Xianglan had stepped through the door, her eyes had coveted Xianglan's bright garments and accessories, and she gazed in envy, saying, "The flowers and ornaments you wear in your hair are truly so pretty."

Xianglan had been fretting over how to deal with Xia's second sister-in-law, so upon hearing this, she pulled a brocade-piled flower ornament from her hair, handed it out to Xia's third sister, and said, "If you like this one, I'll give it to you."

Xia's second sister-in-law repeatedly exclaimed, "Oh dear, how can we possibly accept that?" Secretly regretting that she hadn't praised Xianglan's attire earlier—otherwise, she should have been given one as well—she found it awkward to open her mouth now.

Taking the flower ornament, Xia's third sister found it exquisite and unique, complete with butterfly feelers bent from copper wire and dangling with tiny deep-red agate stones that trembled with every movement. She stroked it over and over again. Without even uttering a word of thanks, she immediately stuck it into her own hair, and then stared with eager, longing eyes at Xianglan's head, saying, "The hairpins and clasps you're wearing are also awfully pretty..."