Chapter 6

When Shen Rui opened his eyes again, it was already broad daylight. Liu Ya was not in the room, and the bedding on the ground had been put away. Hearing the sound of him getting up, Mama Wang brought a bowl of porridge, with Liu Ya, who had dark circles under her eyes, following behind.

After Mama Wang helped Shen Rui wash up, she brought the bowl of porridge to him.

It was still the clear, see-through porridge, without any side dishes, but Shen Rui did not say a word and drank it mouthful by mouthful. Mama Wang's expression was complicated as she instructed Liu Ya to take good care of him and then left the room with the bowl of porridge.

Hao Pozi came again, but this time she did not go to the main room; instead, she entered the side room.

Liu Ya, standing by the window, quietly told Shen Rui.

Shen Rui thought for a moment and whispered, "Has there been someone watching this courtyard outside the door these past two days?"

Liu Ya thought for a moment and said, "I don't know, but there are always maids sweeping outside."

Shen Rui felt a chill of fear, grateful that he had patiently waited until the third watch of the night, when everything was quiet, before going out.

Because Liu Ya was timid and might make mistakes, Shen Rui pulled her to "practice" a bit, correcting her expressions and tone. The originally timid and dull little maid gradually became more flexible. The master and servant had gone to bed late the previous night, and after practicing, they lay down and went to sleep.

It wasn't until noon that Mama Wang brought another bowl of porridge, and the master and servant woke up.

Shen Rui, lying in bed, thought about the situation again. If the fact that he was mistreated was revealed, no matter what Old Lady An and Scholar Shen said, the seeds of suspicion would already be planted in others' hearts.

Lady Sun had done many good deeds before her death and had many good relationships with the clan. If someone could speak up for him, his situation would change.

However, that was not enough. It was still a matter of the fourth branch of the family. Even if there were clan members who were dissatisfied, they would only say a few words that wouldn't hurt. As long as he stayed in the Shen family, he would still be in the hands of Old Lady An and "Second Lady."

Whether from the perspective of the main and secondary branches or the future distribution of the Shen family's assets, he was a thorn in the side of the "Second Lady" who was about to be promoted. In the eyes of the world, Old Lady An, who seemed to protect and love him, actually hated him.

Before the original master was punished, there was a big play involving "Second Lady" and Shen Jin. Who knew if they were in cahoots with Old Lady An. It seemed that not only did he need to expose the mistreatment, but he also needed to find a way to leave this family.

Currently, Old Lady An and "Second Lady" were united, and the conflict was all on him. If the situation changed, would this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law still be so united?

After Mama Wang served Shen Rui the porridge, she saw that Liu Ya's eyes were drooping and scolded her a few times but did not punish her. She thought Liu Ya was timid and dared not sleep at night, so she spoke well of her in front of Shen Rui and let her rest.

Shen Rui, who had already slept enough, was afraid that Mama Wang would go to the side room, so he kept her talking.

He talked about various topics, occasionally inserting questions he wanted to ask, and gradually obtained a lot of useful information.

For example, although Lady Sun's family was not prominent, she was not from a poor family. When she married into the Shen family, she had a grand wedding with a red mile-long procession. In this family, even though Old Lady An was the highest in seniority, she never looked down on Lady Sun. Lady Sun was close to the women in the clan and had good relationships with several officials' wives in Songjiang Prefecture.

Songjiang was known for its "cloth covering the world," and every household had looms, and large households had textile factories. However, the two textile factories under Lady Sun's name were still among the best. Besides the textile factories, Lady Sun's dowry included grain stores and general stores. Although the Shen family was a prominent clan, and the brides who married in were often daughters of officials, few had dowries as rich as Lady Sun's.

Lady Sun did not have a haughty attitude. She was kind and charitable, and many neighbors and clan members had benefited from her kindness.

Lady Sun treated Old Lady An with utmost filial piety, providing her with bird's nest and shark fin, and never stinting on money. Even Old Lady An's relatives benefited from Lady Sun's help and did not have to worry about their livelihood. When Lady Sun fell ill, she entrusted the textile factories and stores to Old Lady An's relatives, making their lives even better.

As Shen Rui listened, he noticed something odd. Mama Wang was talking more than usual today.

However, from her behavior over the past few days, she was not a talkative person.

In the original master's memory, he had no impression of Liu Ya, as she was just a rough maid who had been bought a few months ago and rarely had the chance to be in front of the master. However, he knew Mama Wang.

Mama Wang was the daughter of Old Lady An's maid. She had come to the Shen family with her parents when she was young. It was said that she had served Old Lady An when she was young. Later, she was married to a house-born son of the Shen family, but her life was short. She lost her husband and son soon after marriage and returned to the mansion to work. After her parents and siblings passed away, she was left alone, watching the garden in the back courtyard.

People in the mansion avoided her like a snake because of her hard fate. However, since she was Old Lady An's maid, and Lady Sun was kind to her subordinates, no one bullied her.

When the original master was young, he was once tricked by a servant to go to the garden and pick all the blooming hibiscus flowers that were set up for the fourth branch's flower viewing banquet.

At that time, Mama Wang was so scared that she was speechless. However, in front of Old Lady An and Lady Sun, she only knelt down and confessed without revealing the original master. It was the servant who spoke too quickly and mentioned the original master picking the flowers.

Because of this, Mama Wang was not punished. The original master, under Old Lady An's protection, was not beaten. Only the servant, because Lady Sun mentioned "no rules, no order," received twenty strokes and lost his position as the original master's personal servant after several months of recovery.

When Lady Sun privately taught her son, she mentioned Mama Wang, saying that although she seemed dull, she was not a fool.

For some reason, Shen Rui had the same feeling now, as if Mama Wang was intentionally telling him something and giving him a hint.

*

People valued funerals, and Lady Sun was the head of the fourth branch of the Shen family. Close clan members came to pay their respects every day. Tomorrow was the "first seven" day, a significant event. Not only would the clan gather, but officials from the government might also come. Based on the situation on the "receiving the third" day, several officials' wives who were close to Lady Sun would likely send their younger relatives or servants to pay their respects.

Although the Shen family was a prominent clan, and some members held high positions in the capital, the fourth master was only a scholar and had not entered government service. Therefore, he had to be extra cautious in dealing with officials' families and asked clan members with official titles and their wives with imperial titles to help.

Regardless of whether other branches had members in government service, no one dared to neglect the officials and their families in Songjiang. Although "a strong dragon does not suppress a local snake," a county magistrate could ruin a family, and a prefect could destroy a clan. The county magistrate was the current authority.

For the government, the Shen family had lived in this area for generations and was the leading gentry. With some members holding high positions in the capital, it was appropriate for them to support each other and maintain good relations.

Thinking about this, people in the clan became even more respectful of Lady Sun.

The fourth branch of the Shen family had been declining, but since Lady Sun married into the fourth branch, their fortunes improved. Not only did her dowry textile factories do well, but the other shops under the fourth branch, which were not very profitable, also saw improvements by partnering with merchants. Not only did their finances improve, but their social status also rose. It was not difficult for a scholar's wife to become a county magistrate's wife's guest, but Lady Sun's close friends were prefectural magistrates' wives.

If only one prefectural magistrate's wife had been close to Lady Sun, the clan would not have been so impressed. However, in the twenty years since Lady Sun married into the Shen family, Songjiang had had four prefectural magistrates. Except for the one who was dismissed after less than a year in office due to political struggles, the other three prefectural magistrates' wives were all friends with Lady Sun.

Lady Sun's actions were not like those of a merchant, who only flattered and bribed. Instead, she seemed to have a genuine connection with them.

Because of this, even though she had no children for over ten years, she still held the position of the head of the fourth branch. Although Old Lady An was often dissatisfied with her daughter-in-law, under the mediation of the old clan leader, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law did not have a public falling out.

On this day, several clan members with official titles and their families came to pay their respects.

One person must be mentioned.

Although the Shen family was a prominent clan, passing down the tradition of farming and reading, passing the imperial exams was not easy. Out of hundreds of thousands of scholars, only one hundred to three hundred were selected as jinshi every three years, a ratio of one in ten thousand.

In the "water generation" of the Shen family, five jinshi and several scholars and students were produced. In other provinces, such a family would already be one of the top clans. However, in the Jiang-Zhe region, where the academic atmosphere was strong, having father-son jinshi or brother jinshi was common.

What truly made the Shen family famous in the scholarly world was the young jinshi Shen Li, who became the top scholar in the imperial exams in the third year of the Hongzhi era. Shen Li married the daughter of a top scholar and himself became a top scholar. The father-in-law and son-in-law both being top scholars became a famous story in the scholarly world.

Seven years later, Shen Li had been promoted to a sixth-rank lecturer. After his mother's death in the autumn, he returned home with his wife and children to observe the mourning period. After burying his mother, he refused to see friends and relatives and built a grass hut by the grave to mourn.

Shen Li was from a distant branch of the ninth generation, and the fourth branch of the Shen family was already out of the five generations of close relatives. They were not even "tang relatives" but "distant relatives," who only needed to wear plain clothes. However, after Lady Sun's death, Shen Li returned to the city to mourn, wearing the same mourning clothes as for a close aunt or uncle.

The clan members did not find this strange.

Beyond the five generations of close relatives, there was "mourning for a benefactor." Although Lady Sun was only a clan member, without her support for over ten years, there would not have been a top scholar.

Shen Li was not a social person, but for Lady Sun's funeral, he did not object to accompanying Scholar Shen to receive the officials' guests. However, since the fourth branch started the mourning, he had come several times to pay respects but had not seen Shen Rui, which made him very concerned.

When he asked Scholar Shen, Scholar Shen only said that Shen Rui was young and weak and could not bear the pain of losing his mother, so he was bedridden. When Shen Li wanted to visit, Scholar Shen gave various reasons to prevent him. Although Shen Li was grateful to Lady Sun, he had been away from the Shen family for many years and was not familiar with the other members of the fourth branch, so he did not want to force his way into the inner courtyard.

After several visits, Shen Li began to suspect something. On this day, when he received the invitation to discuss matters, he came with his wife, Lady Xie, and secretly instructed her to bring several maids to try to find out more in the inner courtyard.

Shen Li, worried about Shen Rui, endured the half-day of socializing with Scholar Shen. When he finally said goodbye, he got into his wife's carriage.

"How was it? Did you see Rui'er?" Shen Li asked eagerly as soon as the carriage started moving.

Lady Xie shook her head and said, "Old Lady An only said that Rui'er was bedridden and afraid of the wind, so she wouldn't let him see guests."

Shen Li's face changed, and he said, "Something is strange. I had someone investigate, and the fourth branch only called a doctor on the day Auntie died, and it was for Shen Jin. They said he fell and hurt his head when he heard the news of his mother's death. What a good filial son."

Lady Xie's expression was odd as she said, "You're right, it is strange. One afternoon in December, when I went to the toilet, I overheard something important."

Shen Li asked seriously, "What did you hear?"

Lady Xie frowned and said, "‘Lancao, Second Brother is going to die.’”

Shen Li was puzzled and said, "What does ‘Second Brother is going to die’ mean?" As soon as he finished speaking, he realized the meaning and his face changed: "Second Brother? Rui'er!"