The Shop
"Young Madam, are you really not going to take care of the Old Madam when she's ill?"
After serving the Old Madam for a few days, Zhu Qing came over to ask Lin Yunwan's opinion.
Lin Yunwan maintained her stance. "I'm not going."
Since the Lu family doesn't dare to provoke her now, why should she go looking for trouble?
Zhu Qing sighed and said, "Recently, the old man has been drowning his sorrows in alcohol, and he doesn't come back until the middle of the night."
Lin Yunwan frowned.
They're really useless.
The men of the Lin Family never resort to drinking to solve problems.
Lu Chang'gong was reciting from memory beside her. Lin Yunwan didn't want him to hear anything bad, so she said to Zhu Qing, "Don't say these things anymore, they'll corrupt the child."
Zhu Qing said yes, and glanced at Lu Chang'gong. She saw that the Eldest Young Master was focused on writing, seemingly oblivious to everything else.
The Drooping Silk Hall was very quiet, with wisps of incense smoke rising from the incense burner.
Zhu Qing felt at peace.
"The weather is getting colder; winter is almost here."
She listened to the howling wind and smiled as she spoke to Lin Yunwan.
Lin Yunwan responded softly.
Zhu Qing seemed to be thinking about something, and was in a very good mood. Leaning back on the soft pillows, she said with a smile, "A few years ago on the estate, what I feared most was winter. I didn't have nice clothes to wear, and I rarely had enough to eat."
Lin Yunwan didn't know what life was like on the estate, so she asked her, "How did you manage to get through it?"
Zhu Qing smiled, lowered her eyes, and said, "There's always a way for people to live."
He didn't go into details about how he survived year after year on the estate.
It was getting late, and she felt a little sleepy. She got up and said, "I'll head back now."
Lin Yunwan remembered that when she first arrived today, she had mentioned seeing Physician, so she said, "The Physician will come tomorrow. If you are indeed pregnant, you won't need to come so often because of the cold weather."
Zhu Qing bowed and said, "Thank you for taking care of Young Madam."
Before leaving, she glanced at Lu Chang'gong. She really wanted a child, whether it was a boy or a girl. If she could have a child as smart and Filial Piety as Young Master Chang Gong, she would be willing to die for it.
Ping Ye saw Zhu Qing out, and when she came back in, she said with a grin, "Madam, I have a feeling it's going to snow soon."
So fast?
Lin Yunwan raised her eyebrows and, after calculating the days, realized that she had indeed been reborn for quite some time.
She told Lu Chang'gong, "Before the New Year, you should go to the Clan School to get to know your teachers and classmates. After the holidays, I'll find you a Master to teach you boxing and swordsmanship."
Lin Yunwan paused for a moment, then said, "It'll be very tiring starting at the end of the year, so you need to be prepared."
Ten years of hard study is no joke, and it's even more difficult to excel in both academics and martial arts.
Lu Chang'gong wasn't afraid of hardship, simply saying, "I'll follow Mother's arrangements."
Lin Yunwan nodded, though she had other plans in mind, but it wasn't convenient to say them in front of Lu Chang'gong, so she closed her eyes and thought about them to herself.
"Bring me the needle and thread."
She instructed the maid to continue making winter undergarments for Lu Chang'gong, as well as her mother and younger brother.
The work was almost finished. When Lu Chang'gong left, he put away the needlework, handed over a pair of gloves, and said with a smile, "Take these and wear them, don't worry about them. I also made some knee pads for you, I'll give them to you in a few days."
He patted the cotton and fabric used to make the knee pads; the colors and patterns were very suitable for his age.
Lu Chang'gong pursed his lips, smiled faintly, and left.
As soon as the person left, Lin Yunwan discussed with the two maids. "Chang Gong will be nine years old after the New Year." He's ten years old in the traditional Chinese way of counting age. As a mother, I need to arrange some things for a boy of that age.
Tao Ye knew perfectly well what was going on. She said, "The maidservants serving Yun Young Master Yi were chosen by you with Madam's help."
Lin Yunwan nodded and said to Tao Ye, "Keep an eye out for girls of suitable age."
And that girl that Qing liked before...
She went through it in her mind and then stopped thinking about it.
If Qing still wants to choose that girl, she won't stop him.
The Wei Shi sent people over to ask Lin Yunwan for advice on how to manage the Inner Residence. Tao Ye is handling it all now. She went out briefly, lifting the curtain to answer those she knew the answers to and saying she didn't know the others.
Lin Yunwan is now solely focused on matters concerning Chang Gong and her maternal family.
Exhausted, Tao Ye dealt with Wei Shi's people and entered with a beaming smile, saying, "Madam, someone from the Lin Family has arrived!"
Lin Yunwan woke up from her drowsiness and quickly asked, "Who's here?"
Tao Ye said that Steward Lin had returned.
Lin Yunwan, accompanied by her maid, went to meet him in the outer Through Hall.
"How did the exchange of the shop go?"
As she asked her questions, she observed the manager's expression.
Steward Lin kept his head down, avoiding direct eye contact with Lin Yunwan, and said with a smile and a bow, "Great-Aunt, everything went very smoothly. Here are the contract and the silver notes. And one more..."
"One what?"
He also handed a brocade box to the maid.
Steward Lin said, "Great-Aunt guessed right. Manager Luo's relative did want to take over the shop, but he didn't have enough money. He scraped together what he had, and it still wasn't enough. I refused to budge and argued with him for several days, so he gave me a family heirloom Jade Pendant as collateral."
"I thought the Jade Pendant was of good quality, so I bought it. I've already had it checked at a pawnshop over there, and it's definitely a good item."
"Great-Aunt, whether you want to keep the title or not is up to you."
Lin Yunwan nodded, without blaming the manager. It wasn't easy to sell the shop at market price in a short time.
She opened the brocade box and said, "It is indeed a good item. But I have no use for it."
Steward Lin asked, "Great-Aunt, should I make another trip? I'll take the Jade Pendant to sell for you as well."
Lin Yunwan held the Jade Pendant, thought for a moment, and then said, "He said it was an ancestral Jade Pendant, but that's not necessarily true." Otherwise, it would be a real disservice to her ancestors to sell her ancestral Jade Pendant for a shop.
"If it's true, it wouldn't be good to sell it to him."
So she came up with a compromise. "Find a larger pawnshop, pawn it immediately, and keep the pawn ticket. If he wants to redeem it later, just give him the ticket and let him do so. If he doesn't want to redeem it, wait two or three years, and it will naturally become a dead pawn."
This won't stop her from exchanging the money for silver.
Steward Lin said it was a good idea.
Lin Yunwan gave him the Jade Pendant and most of the silver, instructing him, "Don't tell my mother and brother how much silver the shop has been sold. Just say the majority is with me, and this is just money I gave my mother to buy medicine."
Steward Lin didn't want it because he knew that if the young master found out, he would definitely not let him take it back.
Lin Yunwan said, "Take it. A lot has happened at home while you were gone. Yun Yi somehow found five hundred-year-old ginseng roots, and I don't know how much money my family will have to spend on me."
Steward Lin had already returned to the Lin Family and knew about these matters. He smiled and said, "Don't worry about the ginseng. Yun Young Master Yi went to Prince Huan's Residence to ask for it."
The Lu family was too ashamed to accept it, so the ginseng was eventually returned. However, Qi Lingheng gave it to Mr. Li Qi, and how to use it was up to the Physician.
"Prince Huan's Residence?"
Lin Yunwan was somewhat surprised; why would her younger brother go to Prince Huan for help?
"Great-Aunt, you don't know..."
Steward Lin hesitated, then said before leaving, "You should ask Young Master Yi yourself; I'm afraid I can't explain it clearly."
Some doubts were planted in Lin Yunwan's heart.