Chapter 4: 4

I only remember the flickering red candle, her head bowed deeply, hair like clouds in the sky

In the inner room, Xie mu who had heard a sound, opened her eyes, sat up from the bed, put on her clothes, hurried out, shouting, “Has my son returned?”

Xie Changgeng took off the wet straw coat that he was wearing and handed it to A Mao who was running towards him, then crossed the threshold and walked quickly towards his mother.

Qiu Ju saw A Mao happily clutching the coat, looking at herself proudly, her face stiffened and she stared at the snot hanging from her nose in disgust.

“Put it away! The ground is wet! In case the old lady slips and falls while walking!”

A Mao was not annoyed, she sucked her snot and pointed at her lapel with a smile, “Your collar…”

 Qiu Ju looked down and realised that she still had a few pieces of melon shells on her collar, her face suddenly turned red and she hurriedly patted it off. She raised her eyes and saw A Mao’s gloating face and scolded in a low voice, “Watch out! If you pretend to be stupid, see if I won’t cut your rotten nose one day!”

A Mao got sick when he was five or six years old and was abandoned. At that time, in the cold winter on the twelfth lunar month, wearing ragged clothes, curled up in the snow like a cat and was about to freeze to death, Xie fu (Xie Changgeng’s father) could not bear it so he took her home. Xie mu complained a bit, but she raised her as a one of the servant girls in the family.

A Mao is not very bright, but silly, and due to her illness when she was young, her nose is runny when the weather changes. This year, when the madam married in, she received treatment from a doctor, took medicine for a period of time and slowly recuperated. Although the root cause was not eliminated, it was much better than the previous years.

She was not afraid of Qiu Ju, she sneered and muttered, “As soon as the master comes back, she will wipe rouge on her face, it looks like a monkey’s butt, how can it look good…” 

Qiu Ju frowned and wanted to pinch her ears again. A Mao blew her nose and threw it at her.

Qiu Ju’s expression changed and she hurriedly backed away.

A Mao snorted, raised her chin, hugged the coat tightly, turned and ran away.

Qiu Ju was so angry that she gritted her teeth, wishing she could kill this stupid girl with a thousand cuts to relieve her anger. The voices of Xie Mu and Xie Changgeng talking was heard from the inside, so she suppressed her anger and quietly went to the door and listening with pricked ears.

Xie Changgeng stretched out his hand to support his mother, who ran out, with a smile on his face.

“Mother, it’s me. I’m back.”

Xie Mu was overjoyed. She grabbed her son whom she hadn’t seen in more than half a year, looked him up and down while muttering that he was dark and thin. Seeing that his clothes boots were wet from the rain, she shouted, “Qiu Ju! Quickly come in and serve!”

Qiu Ju hurriedly walked in and said with a smile: “Master, sit down, I’ll take off your shoes!” She squatted down and stretched out her hand.

Xie Changgeng did not move and only asked her to light a brazier in his mothers room.

Qiu Ju bit her lip, slowly retracted her hand, gave a low reply, got up and walked out.

“Mother, it’s cold. How is your health?”

Xie Changgeng helped his mother sit by the bed.

“I’m fine! Don’t worry about it! Just be careful when you’re outside!” Xie Mu said with a smile.

“Why are you the only one back?”

She looked out the door.

It was quiet outside and there were no other voices.

“Why didn’t those state officials and county officials come with you? Could it be that the war is not going well?”

Xie mu was used to her son coming back with many local officials behind him. Seeing this abnormality, she couldn’t help but worry.

“Don’t worry, mother, the battle went well. I just didn’t want to alert outsiders, so I returned by myself first.”

Xie mu breathed a sigh of relief.

“This is good. This is good. Geng’er, are you hungry? You are so thin! You rest first and mother will go make something for you to eat!”

Xie mu got up and was about to go out, but was stopped by Xie Changgeng, saying that he was not hungry. He turned his head to look in the direction of the East Wing, hesitated, and asked, “Mother, where’s the bride? When I passed by the east wing, it seemed that there was no one inside?” 

When Xie mu heard her son ask about Mu shi, the joy she had disappeared. “Gone! Half a month ago, she went back to her mother’s house! I couldn’t even stop her!”

Xie Changgeng was stunned.

Xie’s mother spat out her bitterness.

”Son, let mother tell you, this bride is really hard to explain. Mother doesn’t know how to scold her well! In the beginning, after you left, she was quite honest and would come to see me every morning and evening. I thought that I didn’t treat her badly, but suddenly, half a month ago, she gave me a look and said that she wanted to go back to her mother’s house! Mother tried to tell her that you didn’t leave her on purpose, and that you were going to come back soon, so she should wait a little longer. She didn’t take it seriously and left me that day, taking all the people back with her!

Thinking of the scene at that time, Xie mu was still angry.

Xie Changgeng thought for a moment and asked, “Did she say why she wanted to go back all of a sudden?”

Xie mu shook her head, “She didn’t say anything! Just wanted to leave! That’s why I’m so angry! Geng’er, do you think that there is such a daughter-in-law? She’s just relying on her mother’s family’s power! What can I do? I can only let her go!”

Xie Changgeng frowned slightly, and said nothing more.

Xie mu thought about it and began to persuade her son.

“Forget it! Don’t be annoyed. If she wants to go, she can go. Her legs are on her body and can’t tie her up, and we don’t care! Let mother tell you, we have another good thing.”

Her face showed a joyful look.

“Since she’s like this, I simply told her about Feng’er. It’s a good thing she has self-awareness and didn’t say anything bad. Mother just wanted to wait for you to come back and bring Feng’er in.” 

Xie Changgeng did not answer.

Xie mu continued, “Our family used to be down and out, and your father was just a yicheng. Fortunately, the master of Qi’s family had vision and determined that you would be successful in the future, so he took the initiative to tie the knot with us. This is the kind of gratitude that we have to remember for the rest of our lives. It’s a pity that the marriage didn’t happen. I don’t have that daughter-in-law’s blessing. Later, you committed a crime and left, but thanks to the care of the Qi family, mother was able to live in peace. Now that we are up, the Qi family has unfortunately suffered.”

 Xie mu sighed.

“It’s not easy for Feng’er. All those years, we didn’t have any news about you, and she didn’t know whether you lived or died. She has always served me as if I were her biological mother. Later, you came back and said that you had already arranged a marriage outside. Mother knew her feelings for you and asked if she wanted to be a concubine. She did not say a bad word and nodded her head at that time.”

“Such a good woman, Geng’er, you can’t let her down!” 

The son remained silent. Xie mu was unhappy at once.

“Geng’er, you don’t look down on Feng’er because you are married to a noble girl, right? Let me tell you, we must not be ungrateful!”

Xie Changgeng smiled slightly.

“Mother, don’t be angry, that’s not what my son means. As my mother has already spoken to Mu shi, and when she gets back, I’ll bring her here.”

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Xie mu was a little happier, but she was still a little dissatisfied with her son’s words.

“She said she would leave, she doesn’t even respect me as her mother-in-law, let alone you, Geng’er, why should we wait for her to return? Why wait for her to come back? Who knows when she will come back? If she doesn’t come back, should we let Fenger wait like this?”

Xie Changgeng pondered for a moment.

“My son will go there in a couple of days and pick her up.”

Xie mu was angry.

“No way! It’s only been six months since she got married and she’s already like this! What is this all about? She left on her own, and if she wants to go back, she should go back on her own! I forbid you to pick her up! I won’t allow you to pick her up because she’ll want to go back there every two to three days!”

Xie Changgeng said patiently, “When I came back, my son had planned to go to Changsha. When the old Changsha wang died three years ago, his son was in Xiucheng in Liangzhou, and he couldn’t go back for the funeral. In the past few years, I have not been able to spare time. Recently, I am free to pay my respects, it is my duty. On the way, I will bring her back.”

 When mother Xie heard her son say that, she reluctantly said, “Forget it, then you go early and return early, don’t let Feng’er wait too long!”

After a pause, she added, “How many years has she waited for you!”

Xie Changgeng agreed.

Xie mu was finally happy again, and wanted to personally go to pack up the new room in the east wing for her son, but was stopped by Xie Changgeng, saying that the servants could clean it up, and that he didn’t have many things.

Xie mu was busy shouting to send someone over.

Qiu Ju came in with a brazier and placed it on the stove in the corner of the room.

Xie Changgeng went over, lit the charcoal fire with his own hands, covered it with a lid and ordered her to serve his mother well. Only then did he leave the house and go to the east wing.

He walked through the corridor.

The double happiness posted on the doors and windows when they got married in early spring is still there. But the red had faded, it was soaked by the rain and mist, and due to the wind, crumpled and stuck together. A gust of wind passed, and suddenly it fell off the door, “snap”, and fell to the ground.

Xie Changgeng glanced at it and crossed the threshold of the new room.

The attendant had brought in his carry-on. A Mao and another servant maid were busy making the bed and cleaning the table. When they saw him return, they called out “Master”.

Xie Changgeng nodded and stood aside.

After the two girls finished cleaning up the house, they were going to unpack his clothes and put them away, but he stopped them and said he would do it by himself.

The two bowed to him and retreated.

Xie Changgeng took out his clothes and opened the cabinet door, a faint fragrance immediately wafted into his nostrils and penetrated his lungs.

He looked up.

The closet was filled with women’s clothing, full of pink and red, light smoke and soft mist. In the corner, hanging quietly is a delicately embroidered cymbidium orchid sachet.

The first thing that came to mind was a memory from the wedding night at the beginning of the year.

He had only just entered the room at that time. He had just removed the bride’s veil, but before he could see the appearance of Mu shi, their was a tap on the door, saying that the imperial court’s urgent edict arrived.

He hurried out, took off his wedding clothes, bade farewell to his mother and left home that night.

When he left, it was early spring, now that he’s returned today, it was already late autumn.

At this moment, he tried to recall the appearance of his bride.

I only remember the flickering of the red candle, her head bowed deeply, and hair like clouds in the sky. In a trance, he seemed to catch a glimpse of the silent head, as gentle as water.

Xie Changgeng stood for a moment, closed the cabinet door, and put his clothes aside. Hearing the sound of A Mao humming in a low voice in the corridor, he hesitated, walked to the door, and called her.

A Mao dropped the broom, ran to the door, and came in with a smile, “Master, are you looking for me for something?”

Xie Changgeng asked her, “After Madam passed through the door, did she serve my mother thoughtfully?”

A Mao likes the new wife from Changsha, who never thought she was dirty, and upon hearing this question, hurriedly walked in and nodded vigorously, “Very thoughtful! She will wait in front of the old lady’s room early every day to comb her hair and put on shoes! “

“Then do you know why did she suddenly go back?”

A Mao spread her hands: “Madam did not tell me…”

Xie Changgeng pondered for a moment and nodded, “Okay, it’s alright. You go ahead and work.”

A Mao turned around to go out, took a few steps, sniffed her nose and suddenly bowed.

“Master, I know! But I dare not say it, I’m afraid you will scold me…”

She looked at Xie Changgeng, hesitantly.

Xie Changgeng said, “It’s okay, whatever you know, just say it.”

A Mao grew up always doing the wrong thing, making the old lady angry, so she always scolded her for being stupid. But Master has a good temper and never scolded her.

Since he was a child, his writing has been very good. When he was only ten years old, he got the top rank in the country exam. The neighbours said behind his back that the Master seemed to be a gentleman, but in reality he kills without blinking an eye.

They were all afraid of him, but A Mao was not. After being encouraged again, she became more daring, came up to him and said in a low voice, “Master, when you were not at home, I always heard the old lady saying that Qi young lady was good. Just the other day, Qiu Ju even said front of us, if master had not left home, Qi young lady would have been the wife of master. I was angry and quarrelled with her. She grabbed my ear and I ran to tell madam.”

“Did madam get angry and that’s why she left?”

When A Mao finished speaking, she saw that he didn’t speak. His brows were slightly wrinkled, as if he were unhappy, she felt uneasy, looked at his face, and said cautiously, “Master… Did I do something wrong again… I won’t dare to talk too much in the future…don’t be angry…”     

Xie Changgeng returned to his senses, smiled slightly, and said warmly, “It’s okay. I understand. You can go.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and boldly added, “Master, are you going to bring Madam back! She is so nice, she even helped me see a doctor for medical treatment! My nose is much better now! Qiu Ju always scolded me for my rotten nose, and it makes me angry!”

Xie Changgeng nodded.

A Mao bowed to him and left happily.

Xie Changgeng looked around the new room, walked to the south window with his hands behind his back, and looked out at the low clouds as the autumn rain fell, gradually lost in thought.

TL: Even though I understand Xie mu’s reasoning, I can’t help but detest her. One of the worst MIL’s, not because she’s cruel but because she’s dumb.

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