TDFM Chapter 113

Wealth 

Like dragons, phoenixes could generate clouds and mist wherever they passed.

That evening, the capital had originally been bathed in brilliant sunset rays, but suddenly a dense cloud formed. The dense cloud moved rapidly and finally descended toward the imperial palace.

Many people then cried out “auspicious omen” and knelt in worship toward that dense cloud.

After Yun Qing and the others jumped down from the phoenix’s back, they landed on a rooftop. They waved farewell to the phoenix, which let out a clear cry, then turned and flew toward the horizon carrying that patch of dense cloud.

The group withdrew their gazes and looked around. Beneath their feet stretched magnificent palace buildings, their glazed roof tiles reflecting the orange-red light of evening, while the setting sun slowly disappeared behind the flying eaves.

Ci Li said in puzzlement, “This is the imperial palace. How did it bring us to the imperial palace?”

Cheng Suiyan replied, “It must be because this is the very center of the capital.”

Yun Qing nodded – that made sense.

She suddenly thought of that cruel dream again.

Could Master be nearby?

With this thought, she took out a copper divination die from her treasure pouch.

This copper die had fourteen faces and was similar in shape and size to regular dice. Yun Qing cast the die six times in succession in her hand.

Cheng Suiyan said, “Yun Qing, how can you still have the mood to play with dice? Let’s go, let’s go. The inner palace isn’t a place to fool around. Come with me quickly—”

Yun Qing suddenly raised her hand, and Cheng Suiyan fell silent.

The divination die was also a type of fortune-telling tool, though few people used it nowadays. Yun Qing carefully analyzed the hexagram patterns and silently sighed.

It was like this again.

“What’s wrong, Yun Qing?” Jiang Baiyu asked.

Yun Qing touched her chin. Actually, ever since leaving Huayang Mountain, she had frequently divined Master’s location. Logically speaking, even if her calculations weren’t accurate, she should at least have calculated some incorrect direction. But every time she performed divination, Master’s location came up blank.

He seemed as if he did not exist in this world.

Yet he was still alive.

Just as Yun Qing was about to speak, she suddenly heard many footsteps approaching them. Someone ran while shouting, “By order of the Imperial Preceptor! Evil creatures have trespassed in the imperial palace – apprehend them immediately!”

Yun Qing didn’t explain much, only saying: “Let’s leave this place first.”

The group naturally wasn’t afraid of these palace guards, but they also didn’t want to get entangled with them. Cheng Suiyan called out “Follow me” and led them running in one direction.

Cold wind lifted their robes as the young people ran wildly toward the setting sun, with shouting, footsteps, and the whooshing sounds of arrows behind them. Fu Xue said while running: “What a pity, I still wanted to visit the imperial kitchen!”

Cheng Suiyan laughed. “What’s so good about imperial cuisine? Come eat at my house instead!”

“You’re just bragging. Your family eats better than the emperor?”

“You don’t understand – the imperial chefs’ skills are naturally superb, but they’re too cautious when cooking for the emperor, so imperial cuisine naturally lacks much of its interest.”

“Wow, I really want to see how well your family eats!”

The harsh winter wind carried the young people’s laughter, while guards supported their swords and shouted, “The evil creatures are so arrogant! Quickly go report to His Majesty and the Imperial Preceptor!”

****

After jumping out of the imperial palace, Cheng Suiyan thought that traveling on rooftops was much more convenient than on the ground, so he didn’t descend. He went straight west, climbing walls when encountering walls, jumping over houses when encountering houses. After running for more than a quarter-hour like this, he led the others to flip down into a residential compound.

By this time the sun had set in the west, though it wasn’t completely dark yet. The compound was already lit up. Red silk lanterns hung everywhere – by walls, under eaves, even in trees. With daylight not yet fully gone, these red silk lanterns appeared somewhat translucent, having a light and beautiful quality different from lanterns in deep night.

Yun Qing looked down and saw neatly laid blue bricks beneath her feet, their surfaces carved with begonia flower patterns. Not far away was a section of steps paved with bluestone, carved with many bats of various sizes.

Even the ground and steps were carved with flowers, not to mention the door frames and houses – they could truly be described as exquisitely beautiful.

Yun Qing drew in a breath and asked Cheng Suiyan, “This is your home?”

Cheng Suiyan nodded. “Yes.” He looked around and saw a young maid passing by outside the gate, so he called out, “Hey, which courtyard are you from?”

The little maid was holding a box. When she turned and saw Cheng Suiyan, she cried out in disbelief, “Young Master?”

“It’s me.” Cheng Suiyan walked forward. “Go—”

“Young Master has returned, Young Master has returned!” The little maid ran off with pattering steps.

“…” Cheng Suiyan stepped through the courtyard gate and stood on the pathway looking left and right. He saw another maid and beckoned to her, “You come here, go to the kitchen—”

That maid was carrying a pot. When she saw Cheng Suiyan, her reaction was much the same as the previous little maid’s – she ran off shouting “Young Master has returned,” and this one was so excited she even threw away her pot.

Cheng Suiyan still maintained his beckoning gesture, his silhouette looking somewhat desolate in the cold wind.

Awkward.

Yun Qing said, “Young Master, what should we do now?”

“Yun Qing! Stop teasing me.” Cheng Suiyan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Come on, let’s go back to my courtyard first.”

The group followed Cheng Suiyan through winding turns. Along the way they caused several more incidents of “Young Master has returned.” Fu Xue said, “Your house is really big. Do you get lost at home?”

One question made Cheng Suiyan lose confidence. He said: “I… should… not be that stupid, right?”

“I heard that houses in the capital are very expensive. Your family’s mansion must be worth quite a lot of money, right?”

“I suppose so. Who knows.” Cheng Suiyan said this while leading the group into his own courtyard.

Several maids in the courtyard heard voices and came out to look. Seeing Cheng Suiyan leading two men and two women toward the flower hall, they all froze for a moment, then stepped forward in an orderly fashion to serve, bringing tea and refreshments.

Cheng Suiyan said to a maid with gentle features and a teardrop mole at the corner of her eye. “Ruoshui, my friends haven’t eaten yet. Have someone go to the kitchen to select some good dishes and bring them up. I’ll go see Mother first and return shortly.”

The woman called Ruoshui responded, then asked, “Should Young Master change clothes first?”

Cheng Suiyan nodded slightly, then asked, “Where’s Father?”

“I heard the Prime Minister went to the palace, and it’s unknown when he’ll return.”

Yun Qing thought to herself: So Suiyan’s father is actually the Prime Minister? No wonder their family has such great wealth and property.

Just then, crying sounds came from outside.

The person cried while saying: “My son, why didn’t you say anything when you came back? Not eating well or dressing well outside – you must have suffered so much! My son, you’ve been gone for more than half a year. How could you not come back to see your old mother?”

Cheng Suiyan’s expression changed, and he hurried out to meet her, saying as he walked, “Mother, how did you come here? It’s so cold outside – aren’t you shortening my lifespan?”

Yun Qing and the others followed out curiously and saw an elderly woman with graying hair surrounded by a group of maids, crying loudly. This elderly woman wore luxurious clothing and had a black fox fur headband across her forehead, with an excellent piece of mutton-fat jade set in the center.

She had a full forehead and dignified bearing. At this moment she held a gold-inlaid peony-patterned hand warmer in one hand and grasped Cheng Suiyan with the other, crying and scolding him.

Cheng Suiyan consoled her. “Look, I’m perfectly fine. If you cry like this, Mother, others will think I just got out of prison.”

“If you were in prison, that would be better – we could at least bribe people, and I could get news of you.”

“Alright, alright, come inside first. It’s so cold out here. Mother, have you eaten?”

Finally persuading the emotional woman to come inside, Cheng Suiyan introduced Yun Qing and the others to his mother. This woman loved her son dearly – how could she not like her son’s friends? Moreover, these young people were each more attractive than the last, just standing there was pleasing to the eye.

She gave a meaningful look, and a maid beside her brought forward meeting gifts.

It turned out that those earlier cries of “Young Master has returned” were all running to report to the old lady. Each received rewards, so naturally the old lady knew her son had brought friends home and had prepared gifts in advance. She couldn’t wait for her son to come see her, so she came directly.

Yun Qing felt that wealthy families really conducted themselves with dignity and thoroughness. She couldn’t accept gifts for nothing, so she casually cast an evil-repelling charm on the old lady.

The maids set out the meal, and the old lady ate dinner together with the young people.

These dishes were extremely pleasing to the eye – even without eating, just looking at them lifted one’s spirits. Yun Qing found that she couldn’t even name many of the dishes or knew what ingredients they were made from, only that they all tasted excellent.

She wanted to ask about them, but seeing that everyone was eating without speaking, she assumed wealthy families had rules about not talking during meals, so she also kept quiet.

The old lady was in good spirits because her son had returned, and secondly, seeing Fu Xue eating with such relish, she couldn’t help but eat an extra bowl of rice herself.

After the meal, maids brought fragrant tea, towels, and water for rinsing mouths, then everyone sat drinking tea and chatting. Yun Qing was quite curious – this old lady looked old enough to be Suiyan’s grandmother, so how could they be mother and son?

Of course she couldn’t bring herself to ask, but unexpectedly, the old lady mentioned it herself.

And she spoke about it quite proudly.

It turned out this old lady was surnamed Song, and her natal family was also from a scholarly official lineage. At sixteen she became engaged to the fourth son of the Cheng family, and married at eighteen. At that time, the fourth son had just passed the imperial examination as Third Place Scholar – double happiness! The two were a talented man and beautiful woman, a divine couple whom everyone envied.

But alas, nothing in this world is perfect. For several years after marriage, Lady Song never bore children. Everyone thought she was infertile, and she herself thought so too.

The fourth son successively took three concubines, but none of them, male or female flowers, ever bloomed. Afterward, the fourth son became disheartened and planned to adopt a son from the clan when he got older.

Just as the couple was selecting potential sons, unexpectedly, Lady Song became pregnant!

At that time she was already thirty-eight years old. Having hoped for a child for twenty years, how could she not be overjoyed!

“People say I spoil him, but I was like an old clam producing a pearl – this is my only flesh and blood in this lifetime. If I don’t spoil him, whom should I spoil? Don’t people live their whole lives for their children?” Lady Song was a sentimental person. Speaking of emotional matters, she wiped the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief.

Jiang Baiyu said, “Parents loving their children is natural human feeling. I see that Suiyan has a gentle temperament and isn’t arrogant or domineering, which shows that you, Madam, are not someone who indulges her children.”

These words struck right to Lady Song’s heart. She smiled and nodded, then asked Jiang Baiyu how old he was, where he was from, and whether his parents were well.

Jiang Baiyu shook his head. “Both my parents have passed away.”

Lady Song felt very sympathetic and offered some comfort, then looked toward Yun Qing.

Yun Qing also had no parents.

At this point Lady Song was already vaguely sensing something was wrong. After comforting Yun Qing, she looked toward Fu Xue.

Then toward Ci Li.

Well, these four people couldn’t produce a single parent between them.

For that instant Lady Song had some doubts – did her good son have some hidden criteria for making friends? No parents allowed?