Chapter 232: Tempering One’s Character

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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Because he stayed in the village, Liu Changqi knew that he couldn’t fight his brothers over this matter and had stayed silent during their discussion. Now that he heard Liu Tao’s words, it gave him a lot of face. He quickly nodded and said, “That’s right! Tao’s place is very empty. You can just get the He family brothers to move over now…. It’s nothing much?! In any case, their wedding is still being discussed. We are preparing… It would be best for their wedding to be held within the year!”

If this was before, everyone would start to crack jokes at Liu Tao’s expense. But with Liu Yun’er’s matter now, no one had the mood to laugh. Everyone nodded their heads and agreed it would be best to settle the matter this year. 

Liu Changgeng still wanted to argue, so Liu Changshi lowered his voice and said firmly, “Erge, don’t argue. You should listen to me about this! I have a concern – I don’t know what Li’s character is like… But sange is….”

After pausing, everyone understood what he was trying to say. Liu Changgui had a crooked personality and he didn’t use his intelligence in an honest manner. Liu Li was already seven, if he were to pick up on those characteristics….

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Liu Pu started to talk to Liu Li, and both of them seemed to get along. Liu Li was originally rather timid, but seeing that everyone in the family seemed friendly, and because the atmosphere was rather lively, he very quickly forgot his fears and followed Liu Pu into the courtyard to play. 

All the adults were still discussing matters and talking. Very quickly, it was evening. They continued to stay here for the meal before heading back. Liu Yue’er and Liu Li would temporarily continue to stay with Liu Changgeng’s home. In a few days, the He brothers would move to Tao’s home, and they would move over to stay with Liu Changshi permanently. 

Liu Xu’er and Shi Cheng also finally returned to their own home. With them were the two boys who were sold with Liu Li. Shi Cheng was now trying to contact their family members. If they were kidnapped, they would naturally return them to their families, but if they were actually sold by their families, then they wouldn’t. They would keep them and find them some work in their home – it would be better than sending them back only to be sold again. 

When they first went to Hanzhong city, they had only planned to stay there for a few days. Who knew that they would actually spend close to two months there! When they got home, there was another round of tidying up to do before they could finally sleep. 

A lot had happened in these two months, and they were both exhausted. After cleaning up, they very quickly fell asleep. When Liu Xu’er opened her eyes again, the sun was already high in the sky, and Shi Cheng was long gone. 

Liu Xu’er was still thinking about finding the people who had sold her cousins. She washed up and came to the front yard. When she was there, she didn’t see Shi Cheng so called for a servant girl to check in with the manservants. In a while, the servant girl came in to report, “There was some news from the slave traders. First Young Master has gone out already.”

That was quick! But Liu Xu’er wasn’t overly shocked – they were after all born and bred here, and the slave traders wouldn’t be willing to offend them. They would definitely come forward to share their news the instant they heard word from the Shi family.

Of course, they would never admit to knowing the two children’s actual identity. They would definitely push the responsibility of that onto the sellers.

Liu Xu’er knew that Shi Cheng would probably be out for a long time, so she returned to her own rooms, bathed and changed clothes. Then she took out a set of children’s silver jewellery. She then added in some of her handmade baby shoes, hats and hand-warmers, packed them all together and went back to her maiden home accompanied by a servant girl. 

With how much needed to be done yesterday, she hadn’t gotten the chance to see her new nephew. 

When she arrived at the Liu family, there were already a lot of people. Again, they were split into two different areas, one for the men and another for the women to sit and talk and soothe. Liu Xu’er went around giving her greetings before going to Liu Shu’s courtyard. She told her servant to announce her before following her into the room. 

There was only Shao Rong in the room. She had already come out to greet her. Seeing her, she smiled and said, “I figured you would come by today.”

Liu Xu’er sighed, “That’s right. Yesterday was so busy, I didn’t have…. Where’s the baby, inside the room?”

Shao Rong brought her into the room. The baby was sleeping on the kang. Shao Rong instructed the wet nurse to leave the room. Liu Xu’er quickly went over to lie on the kang and look at the child. The baby was already over a month old, chubby and white. His nose and mouth resembled Liu Shu. With his faint brows, and his little hands in fists, he looked adorable. 

Liu Xu’er leaned over to have a look. In a soft voice, she smiled and said to Shao Rong, “Why is he so plump? I thought they said he wasn’t so chubby when he was born?”

Shao Rong gestured to the door, “Didn’t we hire a wet nurse? At first, I said there was no need for one, it would be enough once my milk came in… In the end, it’s a good thing we hired her. This baby can really eat. I definitely don’t have enough milk to keep him fed!”

“Oh!” Liu Xu’er laughed adn said softly, “That’s good! Having a good appetite is a good thing! No wonder he’s so chubby and cute…”

Shao Rong giggled, Liu Xu’er usually sounded so sophisticated, but sometimes she sounded just like a child. 

Shao Rong also came over to have a look. She softly said, “Xu’er, sanshu’s matter…. You must have spent quite a lot of money in Hanzhong city right? The way Sen said it, you’ve been dealing with the officials there for over a month and had to give a lot of bribes. How much did you spend? Was 1000 taels enough?”

It was Liu Xu’er’s turn to giggle. She turned to look at Shao Rong and said, “Dasao, did my ge tell you to check in? Why? Do you want to settle the bills with me?”

Shao Rong laughed, “Settle bills.. En, we need to settle it.” She looked at her child deep in sleep and covered her mouth. With an even softer voice, she said, “We cannot allow you to pay for everything… I am not good with words, so please don’t take offence if I say something badly. Honestly, this is a Liu family matter, and had nothing to do with Shi Cheng. When you married Shi Cheng, you became a Shi family member. Even though we know that Shi Cheng won’t say anything, you spent so much money for your maiden family…. We can’t just pretend to know nothing and let this slide!”

Liu Xu’er smiled and shook her head, “Don’t say such things. Shi Cheng and I have never thought of ourselves as separate from our family…. We are all one big family. Just like how you and dage have your own small family, and yet you still consider everyone else also a part of the family. Furthermore, we really didn’t spend that much. Shi Cheng is very sneaky, and won’t allow himself to be cheated that easily. All the bribes he gave out isn’t nearly as much as you think. It really is a small amount.”

Shao Rong’s mouth moved. She still wanted to say something, but Liu Xu’er had already smiled and said, “I am sure that dage will be discussing this with Shi Cheng, so we don’t need to worry about it. We should just let them discuss it.”

Shao Rong could only nod her head. The two of them started to talk about the baby, before the topic changed to Liu Yue’er and Liu Li’s matter. Shao Rong then shared the family’s financial situation with Liu Xu’er. By now, their family was considered quite wealthy – they had quite a lot of money flowing in every month.

“Mum really took to heart what the doctor said. Nowadays, all of the dishes are carefully chosen. Even the bowls and plates we use are specially selected. She was talking about wanting to buy Song Yao pottery, so your dad said to just get your second daughter-in-law to buy it…. Everyone laughed so hard.”

Liu Xu’er was rolling around, she was laughing so hard. 

She spent the noon meal with them. When it was 5pm, Liu Xu’er knew that Shi Cheng should be returning home soon. Because she was anxious to hear his news, she hurried back. 

When she got home, Shi Cheng hadn’t yet arrived. Liu Xu’er instructed the servants to prepare the evening meal and then waited for him till the sky was dark.

The instant Shi Cheng came in, he immediately announced, “Xu’er, they’ve found the two servants!”

Liu Xu’er ran out from the room. Stunned, she said, “They’ve found them already?! So quickly?!”

Shi Cheng said, “They haven’t caught them yet, but we already know who they are. Even if they can run for now, they can’t escape! The two servants thought they had gotten away cleanly, but they too were slaves! When the slave traders gave their names, I got others to check who they were. The officially registered slave traders I spoke to yesterday knew them – she had sold them to Liu Changgui’s residence. They are two brothers originally from Zheng Wang Village, someplace out west… I have already reported them to the officials. The magistrate has already sent people to arrest them.”

Liu Xu’er then said, “This counts as kidnapping to sell their masters. If they are found they would definitely be jailed for at least eight to 10 years!”

Shi Cheng smiled and nodded his head, “Although we haven’t caught them yet, they have become wanted criminals. The government offices have already sent out wanted notices. Selling their masters – their crime is not minor.”

Liu Xu’er could finally relax about this. When the two of them were finally caught, she would be able to let this go completely.

The next few days were still rather busy. Shi Cheng had left his businesses alone for quite a while, so he needed to check them over, while Liu Xu’er had to stay at home to tidy up the house. The seasons were about to change, so they needed to make new clothes, and all of the residence’s curtains and soft furnishings needed to be changed. 

At the Liu family side – everything had been sorted out after a few days. He Zhongzhou and his brothers had moved into Liu Tao’s home, and Liu Yue’er and her brother had moved to Liu Changshi’s home. Liu Shu, Liu Lin and Liu Sen continued to manage their businesses, and life resumed its normal peace….