Chapter 178: Muslin, Tea, Flowers

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

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Liu Lin had just turned to leave when he heard the door creak behind him. Then he heard someone shout, “Young Master, Young Master!”

Liu Lin turned back for a look and saw that it was the wet nurse who had come out. When she came out, she had looked behind her to check the house before hurriedly rushing over. 

He quickly asked, “What’s the matter? Is something wrong?”

The wet nurse ran in front of Liu Lin. Then she wiped her eyes and said, “Young Master, this old slave can see that Young Master is a good hearted person, and has some fate with my Young Miss. Could you do my Young Miss a favour?”

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Nkw Nkd oyp pvwddle. Tl dseele, “Xq nswapl! R okzz es xu clpv vs blzr obyvlhla oyu R nyd!”

Mbl olv dwapl nblnjle bla pwaaswdekdtp. Mbld pbl watldvzu pyke, “Rv’p y zsdt vyzl, cwv vbkp sze pzyhl okzz vau yde pbsavld kv…. Zswdt Yypvla pbswze byhl yd kely ycswv swa qyxkzu’p pkvwyvksd. Mbl Yypvla yde Yyeyx yal csvb wdolzz, vbl Wkapv Zswdt Yypvla prldep yzz bkp vkxl kd vbl pvweu yde eslpd’v csvbla ycswv ydu svbla xyvvla. Mbl Wkapv Zswdt Yyeyx…. Illrp qktbvkdt okvb vbl Wkapv Zswdt Yypvla’p nsdnwckdlp.”

Nkw Nkd dseele bkp blye, “R oyp yoyal sq vbl tldlayz pkvwyvksd.”

Mbl olv dwapl nsdvkdwle, “Mbl Flnsde Zswdt Yypvla bye nywple y bwtl kppwl kd vbl nyrkvyz, yde cypknyzzu prldv yzz sq vbl qyxkzu’p pkzhla vs alpszhl kv. Ohld Zswdt Ykpp’p sadyxldvp yde flolzau byhl xspvzu clld psze! Gzz vbl plahydvp vbyv nswze cl psze byhl clld, vbspl vbyv nswze cl pldv yoyu byhl yp olzz. Rv oyp sdzu vbld vbyv ol qkdyzzu xydytle vs psxlobyv plvvzl vbl Flnsde Zswdt Yypvla’p pkvwyvksd. Mblal kpd’v lhld y pvloyae kd vbl xydsa. Xwa Zswdt Ykpp tskdt swv vs bydezl vbl pvsal aldvyz sdzu byrrldle clnywpl vblal oyp ds svbla nbsknl! Jwv, vbld awxsap pvyavle vs pralye ycswv xu Zswdt Ykpp. Mblu pyke vbyv pbl’e clld tskdt swv kd rwczkn, yde eked’v jdso bla lvkiwlvvl! Mblu lhld pyke vbyv vbl Zswdt Ykpp kpd’v rakpvkdl yduxsal, yde vbyv xu bswplbsze bye vawzu nsxrzlvlzu elnzkdle. Mbyv ol oswze dlhla cl yczl vs alnshla!”

Nkw Nkd oyp pvwddle – oyp kv vbyv plakswp? Gzvbswtb bl oyp sq y ekqqlaldv psnkyz pvydekdt, lhld bl jdlo vbyv y tkaz’p osapv ldlxu olal awxswap. Jwv Nkw Nkd dlhla kxytkdle vbyv vbl awxswap oswze kdnzwel bkx!

“Mbyv pvsal kp dso swa qyxkzu’p sdl yde sdzu pswanl sq kdnsxl. Zswdt Ykpp byp clld lmvalxlzu hktkzydv ycswv kv, cwv vbyv kp clnywpl vblal’p ds svbla oyu. Ekvbswv vbyv pvsal, vbl obszl qyxkzu sq shla 10 rlsrzl oswze pvyahl! Jwv clnywpl vbl Zswdt Ykpp bye vs jllr hkpkvkdt vbl pvsal, vblal olal rlsrzl obspl vsdtwlp oyttle. Mblu pyke vbyv Zswdt Ykpp… Zswdt Ykpp oyp pbyxlzlpp, yde kdelnldv. Fbl jllrp tskdt swv kd rwczkn yde byhkdt nypwyz nsdvynv okvb xld…. Mblu pyke vbyv vblu jlrv pllkdt y xyd qszzsokdt clbkde bla… Jypknyzzu, vblal olal hlau wtzu osaep!”

Nkw Nkd oyp nsxrzlvlzu pbsnjle! Gqvla y zsdt vkxl, bl ypjle, “Elal vblu alqlaakdt vs xl?”

Mbl olv dwapl pzyrrle bla vbktb yde pyke, “Yu Zswdt Ykpp eslpd’v ts yduoblal lzpl! Ebldlhla pbl zlqv vbl xydpksd ralhkswpzu, pbl oswze yzoyup ts kd y nzsple nyaakytl, yde pbl oswze sdzu lhla hkpkv y qlo alzyvkhlp, sa ts vs sqqla kdnldpl yv vbl vlxrzlp. Ohld vbld, pbl plzesx oldv swv! Gde lhld kq pbl oyp yv bsxl, pbl oswze yzoyup yhske vbl xykd bswpl obldlhla xyzl hkpkvsap nyxl. Ps usw vbkdj lhlausdl nyd cl zkjl usw, nypwyzzu prlyjkdt okvb xu Zswdt Ykpp. Fbl lhld blzrle usw okvb uswa lmyxkdyvksdp!”

Liu Lin was embarrassed, then he got angry, “Who is spreading all these rumors? It’s too much! If it’s really someone who doesn’t know the situation, and you need me to clarify, I will go!”

The wet nurse then said, “The one spreading the talk is the First Young Madam….”

Liu Lin was stunned. Eyes wide, it took him a long while to stammer out, “When you say the First Young Madam, are you referring to Miss Song’s own sister-in-law? This….” He shook his head. He really didn’t understand what was going on. Then he said, “If this talk were to spread in town, then I can help you find out who is spreading it and think of a plan….”

The wet nurse shook her head, “These intricacies involving the inner courtyard are very hard to explain. You don’t need to try and find out who is spreading the rumors. As for Feng town – this is a small area. No matter what they say here, it won’t have much impact…. Basically, the person spreading the rumors doesn’t just want them to be told in Feng town. Even if the people here knew about it, it wouldn’t have much impact on my Young Miss. The talk was said for someone else… One of the big households that interact with ours. Now they all know…. Even those very far away!”

Liu Lin didn’t say anything, just watched her. He obviously didn’t know what she was trying to say, who was she referring to?

The wet nurse finally explained, “Originally, my Young Miss had a marriage agreement – the male side is from Songjiang Prefecture. Our Master was an official there before. Her future husband is someone who holds a post in the government there. Originally she should have gotten married this year, in the eighth month. But who would have known that around the New Year, a letter came over, saying that they wanted to cancel the wedding. In the second month, her future husband’s cousin brought a steward over – they insisted on cancelling the match! My Master had been ill for a long time. Because of this issue, he again was so angry he collapsed….” The wet nurse shook her head. 

Shock was exploding in Liu Lin, but he roughly understood the situation now. All his earlier questions had now been answered. 

The reason Miss Song had collapsed today – was it because he had mentioned Songjiang prefecture? Then….

Liu Lin asked, “Wet nurse, what do you want my help with? You can rest assured, as long as it’s something I can do, I will definitely do it!”

The wet nurse nodded when she heard. She quickly said, “Then thank you so much!” She pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve and passed it to Liu Lin, “This was something my Young Miss wrote. I can’t read, so I don’t know what is written, but she wrote it down after she heard about the cancellation of the match. I imagine that this is a message for him! So I wanted to ask the Young Master to to try and look for him and pass this handkerchief to him. Then tell him that my Young Miss… has truly been wronged!”

The wet nurse’s voice got choked here, “Now that the family is like this, my Young Miss had no choice but to go out…. When the wedding was cancelled, her fiance never showed up once, and there was no chance to explain. I suspect he doesn’t even know what happened…. Or what her situation here is like. So, Young Master, please try and find him and pass these words and the handkerchief over to him!”

Liu Lin naturally agreed. He quickly nodded and said, “Alright, I will find a way to get it done! But, what is his name?”

“He is surnamed Meng. Meng Ke. His father’s name is Meng Yuanpin – he works in the government as the official in charge of textiles. You just need to remember this.”

Liu Lin took the handkerchief and nodded his head again. “Alright! I will definitely do that!”

Seeing him so definite, the wet nurse finally relaxed. Wiping her eyes, she repeatedly thanked him before bidding him farewell and hurrying back.

Liu Lin held the handkerchief in his hand and again looked at the weakly lit mansion. After understanding Miss Song’s situation, there was a strange sensation in his heart. This feeling…. Liu Lin himself couldn’t properly articulate it, but it was very uncomfortable. It felt like his chest was very heavy, as if something was stuffy.

Liu Lin shook his head and put that unpleasant feeling to the back of his mind. He thought he really needed to help the Young Miss find her fiance and explain the situation. If he could help to repair her marriage, it would really help her leave her current awful position!

After thinking this, he turned to return home. 

When he got home, it was as though a picture was completely reversed. Instead of a cold, cheerless home, there were shouts of joy and happy chatter. Because his sishu and sishen were having dinner here, they had closed their two stores early. Then Liu Tao had brought He Zhongzhou and his brothers all over. They were running about merrily. Even the newly minted xiucai, Liu Sen, had joined them!

Liu Sen didn’t even have the slightest hint of a xiucai’s demeanor. It was clear that he was still a little child. He ran around joyfully. Who knew how he had managed to taunt He Zhongshuang. He Zhongshuang was chasing him about and yelling. 

At the corridor to the side, Liu Pu stood on a high chair, trying to reach the lanterns dangling from the corridor eaves. Quite a few tassels from the lantern had already been pulled off, but he still wasn’t content. He wanted to pull them all off. Liu Xu’er stood at the side, smiling wide. Her hands were outstretched to prevent him from falling.

The instant Liu Lin entered, he could feel the infectious joy from his family. Immediately, that unpleasant, stuffy feeling was washed away. He took a long breath and started to mutter to himself, “Our family is still the best!” Then he ran into the house, smiling.

Right at this moment, Shi Cheng and Liu Shu came out of their courtyard. They spotted him and called, “Liu Lin! Where did you go?! We’re leaving tomorrow, so why did you disappear? We still need to discuss our route there!”

Liu Shu nodded, “That’s right, you’re bringing quite a lot of money with you. It’s best to be careful. Shi Cheng said that we must be quite careful to time our travel. You need to decide on each of your rest stops. Come over here and discuss this with us.”

Liu Lin again took a deep breath and temporarily put Miss Song’s matter down. He still needed to handle a lot of matters! He smiled and ran over, “That’s right! Agreed that it’s best to discuss these matters.!”

The three of them went into the courtyard to talk. In a while, the smell of food started to fill the entire courtyard. It was only then that they emerged and everyone had a good time together.

After the meal, Shi Cheng left. They had already agreed that early tomorrow morning, they would drive their carriage and leave!

Liu Lin saw that all the money chests had been prepared. Everything was in readiness, so he returned to his own room. When he was washing up, he suddenly recalled the handkerchief, so he took it out for a look. 

The handkerchief was similar to the ones they sold in their store. It was white, with an embroidered border. There were words in an elegant script written on it. Liu Lin was very familiar with that script – having studied with Miss Song for months, he had seen her writing countless times. 

It was just the words written on the handkerchief… well, Liu Lin was stunned when he saw them. 

On it was written: Fine muslin, Green tea, Jasmine flowers. At the side, in a very small script were the words “Song Yao”.

What did this mean? Liu Lin was bewildered. He looked at the words over and over again, but couldn’t decipher them. They wanted him to pass this to her fiance? Did the wet nurse make a mistake?

Liu Lin puzzled over the situation for a long time. Song Yao was clearly Miss Song’s name, as for the rest….. Just from a glance, it didn’t seem to be any heartfelt message. From Liu Lin’s understanding, it seemed more like a grocery list or something….

Liu Lin was a bit stumped. He scratched his head and carefully kept the handkerchief away. Then he stored it carefully, so that he wouldn’t lose it on the journey…. No matter what, perhaps her future husband would understand these words. He just needed to pass it to him!

In any case, he certainly didn’t understand the message.