Chapter 112: Eliminating the Nine Clans
The first day of the New Year.
A torrential downpour.
Old Madam Jiang still got up, dressed in brand-new clothes.
She sat upright in the main hall.
Looking around the room, a few precious vases were missing, and the paintings on the walls had been changed.
The gauze curtains had been replaced with coarse cloth.
She called out, “A-Yao.”
She wanted to ask A-Yao what was going on.
But after speaking, she came to her senses.
A-Yao was dead.
Old Madam looked back, as if she could still see a sturdy woman standing behind her, smiling at her.
“Old Madam.” A younger face bowed to her.
She was also a maid by her side, but only A-Yao had grown up and aged with her since childhood.
None of the others were.
There was no one else left.
Old Madam Jiang’s eyes were red, but she did not shed any tears.
It was not appropriate to cry on the first day of the New Year; it was inauspicious.
If one cried on the first day, one would cry for the entire year to come.
She had experienced great storms before; it would be fine.
Old Madam Jiang still couldn’t help but sigh; A-Yao would never have called her “Old Madam,” but only “Madam.”
When people get old, they are very afraid of aging.
Old Madam Jiang sat upright in the main hall, waiting for her children and grandchildren to come and pay their respects.
Today was the New Year, and everyone in the household had prepared new clothes.
Naturally, they were not as magnificent as in previous years, but they were still much better than the average family.
A new year, a new atmosphere.
The house was too big.
Even to come and pay respects to Old Madam, they had to cross two courtyards, and their clothes would get a little wet.
Jiang Huaisheng had lost a lot of weight.
The newly tailored clothes were perhaps the previous size, so they appeared somewhat loose, and even didn’t fit well.
There was an extra scar on his cheek.
Although it wasn’t long, it was very conspicuous; he might have a tendency for scarring, as the wound had turned outward and was very thick.
In ancient times, only prisoners who committed major offenses would be tattooed on their faces.
People with markings on their faces were the lowest of the low.
But now, Jiang Huaisheng had a scar on his face.
He didn’t understand how his younger brother could bring himself to do it, how he could wield a sword against him.
He had been recuperating recently, and he had been thinking about the whole matter, recalling all the events of the past.
He finally made the horrifying discovery that his brother’s frailty, his many ailments and problems since childhood, were perhaps all tacitly approved by Mother?
He didn’t quite know how to face Mother.
If that were true, then the matter between his brother and his wife Jinger was nonsense, a frame-up; the one who wanted Jinger dead wasn’t his brother, but Mother?
The more he thought about it, the more panic-stricken Jiang Huaisheng became.
He didn’t know what was the truth, what was real, and what was fake.
On the first day of the New Year, the family gathered to eat.
Madam Wu’s pregnancy was quite difficult; having gone through so much, she was very thin, but her belly was very large, which looked a bit frightening.
Looking at all this, Old Madam Jiang felt even more regretful.
She didn’t regret doing those things; she regretted that she had been soft-hearted. She should have killed him, taken advantage of his illness to end his life.
A-Yao was right; she had been too soft-hearted.
Having raised a snake for many years only to be bitten by it in return—a venomous snake is a venomous snake, and a scourge is always a scourge.
The meal was eaten quite calmly and harmoniously.
Jiang Huaisheng had a thorn in his heart regarding his Mother, but he was so used to being a devoted son that he actually dared not question her.
Jiang Wan had become increasingly composed recently, the childishness had faded from her, and she appeared very capable of handling things on her own.
At such a critical juncture, she was still able to continue copying scriptures every day and urged Jiang Rong to study at home.
And Jiang Huaisheng also urged his son to study every day, teaching him personally.
After this series of events, the one who changed the most was Jiang Rong; his schoolwork had become much heavier.
Aunt Yao’s death and Father’s injury had terrified him.
But Mother was still heavily pregnant, and Grandmother was old; he couldn’t rely on his sister for everything—that would be too irresponsible.
Looking at him now, he was also much more composed than before.
Although he no longer went to the County School, he was learning very well at home.
He was able to settle down and study.
Once he settled down to study, he discovered that reading wasn’t actually that difficult or boring.
When one stops listening to the affairs of the outside world and focuses solely on reading the books of sages, one finds books interesting; wandering in the ocean of books, one gains a lot.
He felt more reasonable and more courageous.
He even felt he would dare to give the imperial examinations a try now.
He didn’t like reading before, always thinking that life was just like that.
Now that he had started to study properly, he felt filled with power, and the future held infinite possibilities.
Old Madam Jiang looked at her grandson and was extremely gratified. “A blessing in disguise,” she thought; sometimes you have to break things to rebuild them, so it wasn’t necessarily all bad.
“Good, very good. Ronger, focus on your studies. Although I am just a pile of old bones, your grandfather was an upright man with friends all over the world, and they can be useful at critical moments. Madam Wu, focus on your pregnancy; our family will add a new member this year, which is a great joy. Once you have given birth and finished your confinement, we will set off for the capital; the weather will be warmer by then.”
Old Madam made arrangements in an orderly manner, and her words had much more human warmth; she was no longer filled with Buddhist detachment, sitting high above everyone else.
Madam Wu nodded obediently.
Her husband held her hand, and she was not afraid.
Jiang Rong also agreed obediently; he would definitely study hard.
Jiang Wan was also very happy. During this time, there were many household affairs; she had sold some servants and reorganized the inner residence. Now, the entire mansion was under her control.
And no rumors would reach Grandmother’s ears.
She felt that she was really handling things with ease.
At first, she thought she would be flustered and unable to cope.
When she actually did it, she found it wasn’t difficult.
Now seeing that her brother was also making progress, she felt she had seen an unexpected joy and was full of hope for the future.
If she could become the sister of a top scholar, her prospects for marriage would only be high, not low.
Whether it was noble families or wealthy clans, everyone would look up to scholars.
The family had many books, and her brother had an advantage; as long as he studied hard, he would surely succeed.
The family was happy and harmonious.
Although this year’s reunion meal was the worst one in years—in the past, the table would be full, with twenty-eight bowls.
This year there were only twelve bowls.
But no one complained.
Even because of this turn of events, the family was more united.
Jiang Huaisheng looked at his Mother; sitting in front of her, he realized there were a few white hairs on her forehead.
He thought that such a good person as his Mother would certainly not do those things; it must have been Aunt Yao’s instigation, and she deserved to die.
Although his face was injured, it was fine; there was still Ronger.
He had ignored Ronger before, but now that he was teaching him personally, he discovered that Ronger had excellent talent; he had just been too lackadaisical before. He had always felt his daughter was intelligent and hadn’t cared enough for his son.
Teaching him seriously, he realized his son was also very good; it just hadn’t been apparent before.
This gave Jiang Huaisheng a new goal in life.
Even if he himself couldn’t enter the court to be an official, there was still his son.
He could teach him from behind the scenes, offering advice and strategies; it was the same, perhaps even better this way.
Outside, the wind and rain were heavy.
But the family in Jiang Mansion was more united, and this New Year had more atmosphere than previous years.
Because there was new motivation and hope, it was no longer a stagnant pool of water.
Just as they were eating peacefully, suddenly there was drumming and banging outside, bustling with noise.
Old Madam Jiang frowned slightly.
In this rural place, even heavy rain couldn’t stop the people begging for money. During holidays, those people would make two strange-looking heads—neither lion nor dog—and dance like demons in front of the doors of wealthy families, just to beg for a reward.
If you didn’t give them anything, they would keep drumming at your door.
This sound was annoying to listen to.
But today was the first day of the New Year; one must not get angry.
Old Madam Jiang still said kindly to the servant, “Go out and see. If they are begging for a reward, give them some money; life is not easy for anyone.”
The servant looked up at Miss Jiang Wan, and seeing her almost imperceptible nod, she got up and went out.
The family was drinking soup.
The old lady was very particular; she would drink some health soup after meals.
It was good for the body and helped digest those hard-to-digest foods.
At her age, she didn’t even accumulate a mouthful of thick phlegm in the morning, and she rarely coughed; she had taken health preservation to the extreme.
The family was also basically free of illness and disaster.
The drumming at the door did not fade away; instead, it got closer and closer.
It was as if they were drumming at the very door.
Old Madam frowned again; A-Yao was so efficient—if she had let A-Yao go out to send them away, she would have surely sent them away efficiently. Now this maid, she was not handy at all.
She couldn’t even do this small thing well.
She actually let people in.
Madam Wu was actually a bit curious. She was a lively and fun-loving person, but after coming to this small place, she hadn’t gone out many times and had increasingly restrained herself. She was quite curious about things outside; she had never seen them, only heard about them from others.
A group of people came in, drumming and banging, dressed in strange costumes.
There was still light rain outside, so these people were soaking wet, and when they came in, they made the floor wet.
In front of outsiders, Old Madam subconsciously adopted an appearance of being kind yet aloof.
But she saw the leader of the drummers speak, “By the order of Mr. Jiang, I have come to deliver New Year gifts to Old Madam, Mr. Jiang, Young Master Jiang, and Miss Jiang. Mr. Jiang said that although Old Madam Jiang is not benevolent, he cannot be unfilial; for the New Year, he must send gifts.”
The man said this in a singing tone and carried in clay jars, six in total.
The jars were set down, and a congratulatory letter was left behind.
The group of people danced like demons again, drumming and banging as they left, leaving the floor in a mess.
The maid Bishu also turned pale; she didn’t dare to stop them, and she couldn’t stop them—she saw that one of the people wearing a mask looked like her third uncle’s son.
She quietly dared not say a word.
The door was wide open, and cold wind blew in.
Old Madam couldn’t help but cough.
The maid didn’t even know to pat her back; it was Jiang Wan who was filial. Hearing her grandmother cough, she immediately stepped forward to stroke her back.
Six clay jars looked very creepy.
They were pitch black.
Who sends jars as gifts?
Jiang Wan signaled the servant to open the jars, and then a pungent, foul smell came wafting out.
They quickly covered them back up.
Old Madam Jiang frowned and asked, “What is this?”
The maid Bishu answered in a low voice, “Reporting to Old Madam, this is pickled vegetables made by the country folk here. Wild vegetables are put into jars, and after a long time, they emit a foul smell. You remove the moldy layer on top, and the stuff underneath can be eaten.”
After saying this, Bishu hesitated slightly, wondering whether to say the rest.
Seeing her stuttering, Old Madam said impatiently, “What else? Continue.”
Bishu was scared and knelt down, saying, “Here, apart from pickled vegetables, this clay jar is also used to collect bones. Because families are truly poor and don’t even have land, when people die and have nowhere to be buried, they can only be placed somewhere, waiting for the corpse to rot until only the bones remain. The bones are then collected, put into a clay jar, and the jar is placed in the wilderness; that counts as a burial.”
“One clay jar collects one corpse. Usually, many clay jars are lined up neatly. Even bandits would not easily touch these jars, because they all contain human bones.” Bishu added tremblingly.
Here, the masters included Old Madam Jiang, Miss Jiang, Madam Wu, Mr. Jiang, Young Master Jiang, plus Madam Wu’s unborn child, which added up to exactly six.
Thinking about it this way, it was simply horrifying.
Hearing this, Old Madam Jiang’s teeth were chattering.
Beast, beast.
Hearing this reason, Madam Wu also thought that there were only five of them, yet six were sent—did it include the child in her belly? Her brother-in-law hated her so much; she swayed, her face turning pale.
The most difficult time for Jiang Huaisheng was when he discovered he had a scar on his face and couldn’t enter the court to be an official, and his ambitions could not be realized. He had gone through that journey of mental struggle, and now he felt much stronger. Faced with this behavior of sending clay jars to scare them, he actually didn’t care.
He would just focus on teaching Ronger to study.
As long as they worked hard, one day they would be rewarded.
So he was very calm and, instead, not very angry.
Jiang Wan also felt that sending these things, besides being annoying, caused no real harm and was completely unnecessary.
Jiang Rong was also much more mature now. Looking at these things, he was not afraid; instead, his inner resolve to study hard and make progress was strengthened. One day, he would settle the scores and avenge the wrongs.
Old Madam Jiang’s teeth were chattering; she was old and hated hearing about death the most.
Especially since today was the first day of the New Year.
“Give me what that beast wrote.”
The old lady’s angry appearance might just be for others to see.
She was the one in this house who had truly experienced great storms.
The letter was opened.
“I was slandered as unfilial and looked down upon and trampled by the world. Although the truth has come to light, I was, after all, raised to adulthood by Old Madam Jiang; this relationship can never be severed.”
Seeing this, Old Madam Jiang showed contempt. That beast had killed Aunt Yao to vent his anger and had finally become a bit more sober.
“No matter what I do to you, I will be criticized by the world, so I will not leave the Jiang Family. I will take the Jiang Family to rebel to the end and will never accept amnesty. Old Madam Jiang must pray that I win; otherwise, the day I fall and the nine clans are convicted, on that day we can all head to the Yellow Springs together—how delightful that will be!”
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