Chapter 217: Chapter 216: The Husband Who Came Home Drunk
Scholar Mo, a scholar who seldom drank, felt dizzy after drinking just a few cups of wine.
Zhong Xingwang, the young master, managed somewhat better. After all, he was the son of a rich family and had practiced drinking from a young age. Aside from studying, he would also hang out with classmates during breaks.
He would go sightseeing, visiting places like painting workshops bustling with beautiful women.
He had yet to establish his own household or business, yet he indulged in the airs and graces of a debauchee.
Zhong Xingwang was not like those prodigal sons who only knew how to feast and fritter away their time. He was diligent in his studies and never acted recklessly when out for fun.
Mrs. Mo had stayed in Lady Tang’s courtyard for an hour, during which she kept listening to Lady Tang gossip about others. Sometimes, she would even talk to herself about various matters concerning the place.
Whether she was bragging about her fine life in front of her or derisively laughing at Mrs. Mo’s marriage to a poor scholar wasn’t clear.
From Lady Tang’s words, Mrs. Mo gleaned valuable information; the Tang Family was the richest in the small county town, but there were other wealthy families that one couldn’t afford to offend.
However, she only taught the Tang Family children, and if the family were to host a banquet, they wouldn’t have her, a teacher, present.
Leaving Lady Tang’s courtyard and heading back to her own with the maid, who had held in many words while at Lady Tang’s and now couldn’t resist speaking to her mistress:
“Lady Tang really is something. What does it matter if she married into a rich family? How is that of any concern to you, Miss? You’re the legitimate daughter of our family, and she is merely born out of wedlock.”
Mrs. Mo sternly looked at the maid and said:
“Quiet! There are too many prying eyes here in Tang Mansion. Do you want to cause trouble for me?”
“Miss…” The maid felt wronged; her words were only meant to stand up for her mistress.
“Speaking less is helping me. This isn’t the Zhong Family estate,” Mrs. Mo cautioned after checking that there was nobody else around, feeling a bit more at ease.
“Yes…” The maid hung her head low, certainly understanding her mistress’s plight. Her previous outburst was just an expression of her inner thoughts.
When they returned to their courtyard and didn’t find her husband, Mrs. Mo felt it odd and inquired about him, learning that Mr. Mo hadn’t returned that afternoon.
As it was nearing dinner time, the maid went to get the meal and also to gather some news.
After making inquiries, the maid came back with the meal and reported to Mrs. Mo:
“Miss, the master and the young Master went out with Housekeeper Tang this afternoon.”
“Did you find out what they were doing?” Mrs. Mo felt it odd, as the young brother not only had bothered Housekeeper Tang in the morning but also involved others and took her husband away in the afternoon.
She regretted a bit not asking her brother-in-law more or less discreetly earlier and decided to inquire from her husband upon his return in the evening about their activities.
“It is said that the young Master is buying land here from the Tangs to build a house,” the maid relayed what she had heard.
Surely, the Tang Family members all knew about it; in a large estate, as long as you do a little probing, someone will tell you everything—as long as you pay them and they believe that what you’re asking about won’t harm the interests of their masters.
Since the arrival of the teacher and then Zhong Xingwang, the young newcomer here, there had been yet another person making inquiries.
The person asked was the one following Housekeeper Tang, and the guards had some things they couldn’t help but disclose, though nothing of what was revealed was a secret.
This matter was completely transparent and didn’t need to be hidden; Zhong Xingwang’s purchase of land to build a house had already been seen yesterday and that morning with Housekeeper Tang, and in the afternoon, they’d even asked government office officials to measure the land. The Tang Family would figure out the price at which to sell to the young Master.
Many were concerned about their interests being harmed, but upon learning that the land wasn’t simply a gift but rather sold at a slight discount to the young Master, they were reassured.
Hearing the maid’s words, Mrs. Mo fell silent, deep in thought. Her brother buying land so far away to build a house, she guessed, was partly for her sake.
She felt both grateful and sad. As a married daughter, she couldn’t aid her natal family, yet her family was going out of their way to help her.
I still can’t repay my parents for their nurturing grace, and yet I have to cause them more trouble.
“Madam, please have your meal. Someone has already come with a message that the young Master and Housekeeper Tang, along with a few others, have gone to a restaurant for a meal.”
Mrs. Mo, faced with a meal of good fortune, did not eat alone but invited the maid who came with her to join her.
When she was a young lady, the maid received the same treatment; she had not followed her when she was together with her husband.
Now, only when the young lady ate alone would she accompany her.
In the courtyard, the other maids and old women had their own welfare.
After Mrs. Mo finished her meal, she waited for her husband to return, asking the maid to brew some sobering tea, and to deliver it to the inn after her husband came back.
Mr. Mo, tipsy and unsteady, was helped back by others. Mrs. Mo, concerned, fed him the sobering tea and asked the maid to deliver more of the tea to the inn.
“Husband, you can’t drink liquor. Why did you drink so much?”
“Wife, it’s alright, I’m fine. Wife, can you perform magic? Why are there so many shadows of you? Hehe, each one of you is so beautiful.”
Scholar Mo felt that his wife had several shadows and looked at his wife, dazed and blurred, feeling that she seemed even more beautiful at that moment.
“Flatterer, drink the tea. Let me wipe your face so you can go to bed, alright?”
“Wife, wife is so good…”
Scholar Mo wasn’t dull. Today, he received many envious glances, knowing it’s because he married a Miss, causing their envy.
It seemed as though being here, without the pressures of the Capital City, he lived more freely.
Mrs. Mo wanted to ask about her little brother’s matters but found her husband had already fallen asleep while she was wiping his face and hands.
She had no choice but to swallow the words on the tip of her tongue and wait until her husband woke the next day.
That night, Scholar Mo slept heavily in bed, without vomiting, under his wife’s care.
Mrs. Mo watched over her husband and couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning, picturing many scenes in her mind, together with some speculations stirring in her heart.
She harbored growing worries about the unknowable future years.
As Mr. Instrument, she didn’t have much confidence; accepting this job was also to make money.
Moreover, she had the additional task of teaching and enlightening, both of which she needed a plan for.
In the afternoon, she met Lady Tang’s younger son, who seemed quite well-behaved, but not as bright as Lady Tang’s older son.
Maybe it was because he was still young, or perhaps each person’s intelligence is different. Enlightenment is needed for children whose brains have not yet matured; it can help then.
To save the Tang Family from any more trouble with those musical instruments, the next day, Young Master Tang sent the instruments to the Ye family.
The instruments included the pipa, Guqin, and flute. The Ye family of five sisters received five of each instrument, not many in variety.
Each sister could have their own instrument to learn during the teacher’s lessons. With three types of instruments, one of each was left for the teacher, to be used for instructing the students.