Lady Ji made her decision. She played with Xiaosuisui for a while and accompanied her to lunch at Qinxing Yuan, only leaving when it was time for Xiaosuisui’s nap.
Zhu Xiuxiu was supporting her, intending to take her back to her courtyard, but Lady Ji waved her hand. "I’m going to see what my third son is up to!"
So Zhu Xiuxiu could only help her back to the Four Seasons Garden.
Ji’s third son had just finished lunch and was being attended by Xiu Zhu as he rinsed his mouth. When he saw Lady Ji enter, he quickly wiped his hands and invited his mother to take a seat.
"What brings you here? If you needed anything, you could have just sent someone to call me over. Why trouble yourself to come all this way?"
As Ji’s third son spoke to Lady Ji, he glanced at Zhu Xiuxiu. Could she have gone to Mother to complain about me? he wondered.
"What? Are you suggesting I, your mother, can’t come to the Four Seasons Garden? Must I now make an appointment in advance, like your business associates, just to speak with my own son?"
Hearing this, Ji’s third son’s heart skipped a beat. It’s over, he thought. Zhu Xiuxiu, that airhead, really did go and complain about me to Mother!
"Now, how could that be! You’re my mother; you can see me whenever you wish. How could those business associates of mine possibly compare to you?"
Xiu Zhu quickly served tea to everyone.
Ji Youcheng picked up his teacup and blew on it gently. I’m dying of thirst, he thought. Every time I have to coax Mother, I talk myself parched.
His barrage of placating words seemed to have the desired effect, putting Lady Ji in a much better mood.
"Enough with the sweet talk. Stop trying to humor this old woman with honeyed words. Give me something practical!"
"PFFT!" Ji Youcheng sprayed out the mouthful of tea he had just sipped.
"Mother, what did you say?" Ji Youcheng wanted to clean out his ears. Here we go again, he thought. Every time Mother speaks like this, that ’Universe in a Sleeve’ Second Sister-in-law gifted her always manages to fleece me out of a good bit of my pocket money.
"I said I want something more tangible. I’m getting on in years; I want you to show your filial piety!"
Ji Youcheng hastily fumbled for his handkerchief to wipe his mouth.
"How would you like me to show my filial piety, Mother? Let me tell you, my Bright Moon Pavilion hasn’t been doing too well recently, so you can forget about gold or silver."
Lady Ji pointed at his head and said to Zhu Xiuxiu, "Look, just look! This is the son I bore, always scared I’ll take his silver. He’s a real Pixiu, that one! I haven’t even said what I want him to do to be filial, and he’s already trying to fob me off."
Zhu Xiuxiu pursed her lips, holding back a smile.
"Isn’t he just obsessed with money? Luckily, I brought a sizable dowry. Otherwise, with his stinginess, I fear I wouldn’t have a single cent of spending money to my name in this household until the day I die!"
Zhu Xiuxiu’s every word was a jab at Ji Youcheng’s miserliness! She painted him as a tightfisted man who valued money over his own mother and was too penny-pinching to provide for his wife!
"That’s enough! Stop fanning the flames. Does Mother really need money? Don’t I deposit retirement funds for Mother at the bank every year? She can’t even spend all the interest she earns annually. Besides, when Mother said she wants me to be filial, she didn’t specify that giving her money was the only way!"
Zhu Xiuxiu let out a cold laugh at his words.
"Master Ji, you truly live up to your reputation as a businessman, twisting words as you please. You even claim to have guessed Mother’s intentions. Well then, why don’t you tell us what kind of ’filial piety’ Mother was actually referring to just now?"