Chapter 514 - 516: The Rules
Chapter 514: Chapter 516: The Rules
The old woman wouldn’t budge an inch. "Young Madam, please don’t make things difficult for this servant. The main gate isn’t for just anyone to use."
The implication was clear: they were merely from a merchant family, and a destitute one at that. How could they possibly use the main gate, which was reserved for the masters of the house?
Xiao Shi Yu’s expression stiffened. She had almost forgotten this particular rule in Shangjing.
Her mother was, after all, an official’s wife, but her uncle’s family were indeed merchants.
But to be publicly humiliated by a servant woman was mortifying. Still, she didn’t dare challenge the ruling madam of the household, so she could only have a maid lead her relatives in through a side door.
She then turned and entered the courtyard through the main gate with her own mother.
"Mother," Tian Mi had never been so humiliated. "Maybe we shouldn’t go in."
"That’s not an option. We’re counting on them to save your father."
"It doesn’t matter which door we use. As long as we can get your father out, we just never have to come back here again."
Lady Tian kept her eyes fixed on the maid leading the way, whispering to comfort Tian Mi.
Tian Mi whispered back, "But what if they..."
Lady Tian gripped her arm forcefully. "You listen to me. Later, even if you have to get on your knees and grovel, you must beg your aunt to help."
"Our family is in this mess because of them. Whether they want to or not, they have to help."
"If you ever want to live like we used to, you will put aside your pride."
"Mother..." Tian Mi faltered. "Do we really have to pin all our hopes on this?"
"We have no other choice right now..."
As soon as they entered Xiao Shi Yu’s courtyard, Tian Mi and Lady Tian noticed that the servants were all furtively avoiding them. Even their own aunt repeatedly raised a sleeve to cover her nose.
"How could you come to the Capital looking like this?" Tian Lanfen couldn’t believe her brother was in trouble. Her words were laced with blame for her sister-in-law and niece.
Lady Tian explained what she had finally pieced together over the past several days. "My husband must have been a fool. He just had to pick a fight with that Mrs. Gu. He made this terrible mistake trying to stand up for his sister."
"Sister, your brother is now locked up in the Magistrate’s jail, and it’s all because of you. You have to figure something out and get them to release my husband."
Tian Lanfen was indignant. "Has the Magistrate of Le City grown a spine of steel? How dare he touch our family?"
Tian Lanfen knew her own husband was of little use, just a minor seventh-rank official. But wasn’t her son-in-law’s family here to back them up?
The head of their family was a First-Grade Minister! Were these people not going to show them even that little bit of respect?
"That’s exactly right," Lady Tian said. "We’ve sent plenty of gifts to those back offices over the years, but the moment something goes wrong, they refuse to listen to reason."
"If it weren’t for loyal servants like Li Yong protecting us, Tian Mi and I would have been utterly helpless. We never would have had the chance to run to Shangjing to ask for your help."
"Sister, my husband only has you for a sibling. You can’t abandon him."
Tian Lanfen fumed, "Damn them all. They took money from our Tian family and still dared to stab us in the back."
"Don’t you worry, Sister-in-law. I will handle this for you. I’ll write a letter right now and have my husband intervene."
"Auntie," said Tian Mi, "sending a letter back and forth will take too long! I don’t know if my father’s health can take it."
"Auntie, I’m begging you. Please, you and Cousin, get my father out of there quickly."
Seeing Tian Mi drop to her knees, Tian Lanfen reached out to pull her niece up. But as she got closer, the pungent odor made her recoil. Instead, she called to a nearby maid, "Help her up first."
"What are you saying, you silly girl? Your father is my brother. How could I possibly stand by and do nothing?" At this point, Tian Lanfen still thought the matter was trivial and could be resolved by having her son-in-law send a letter.
Even if the Magistrate wouldn’t give face to the Tian and Xiao families, he would have to show some deference to the Minister’s Mansion.
Tian Lanfen’s confident attitude made the mother and daughter from the Tian family sigh in relief. "That’s wonderful! Please, Auntie, hurry. Otherwise, my father will have to suffer for several more days."
"Alright. You two go to my courtyard and get washed up. Leave it to Shiyu and me to figure things out."
The mother and daughter had been through so much on their journey. Now that they could finally breathe a little, they were eager to get themselves cleaned up.
Once they had left, Xiao Shi Yu’s face clouded with worry. "What are we going to do? Mother, why did you agree to handle this? If things go wrong, it could implicate us."
"Besides, Father is just a minor county magistrate somewhere. There’s no way he can help."
"Of course your father can’t help," Tian Lanfen said with a look of disdain. "For this, we have to find my son-in-law. Only the Huang Mansion has the influence to do anything."
"Mother, that’s impossible! Have you forgotten that the First Madam came to me specifically to give me a warning? It’s not appropriate for my husband to get involved in this at all."
Seeing her suspicions confirmed, Xiao Shi Yu’s face fell. "The first branch of the family is watching our every move. How can we dare to do anything right now?"
"Daughter, you can’t forget your roots."
"You know full well how your uncle has treated you all these years. Now that they’ve fallen on hard times, you can’t even lend them a hand?"
Xiao Shi Yu retorted, "How am I supposed to lend a hand? Mother, you know my situation. Can’t you for once think about things from my perspective?"
"In that case," said Tian Lanfen, "you just keep quiet. I’ll go speak to your mother-in-law."
’Given our close friendship, she surely won’t refuse!’
But before they could make a move, the First Madam had already sent a messenger. The message, in no uncertain terms, was that Xiao Shi Yu was not permitted to house her maternal relatives in the mansion.
They tolerated Mrs. Xiao Tian’s presence only because she was a proper in-law of the family’s second branch. Letting her brother’s family move in as well would be a breach of decorum.
Tian Lanfen had long noticed the expressions on the faces of those from the other family branches. Now that the pretense had been so bluntly torn away, she felt she had lost too much face to stay any longer.
After giving her daughter a few parting words, she left the Huang Mansion with the freshly cleaned-up mother and daughter from the Tian family.
She had purchased a small courtyard house in Shangjing years ago while preparing for her daughter’s wedding. However, living alone felt unsettling, which was why she had sought shelter in the Huang Mansion.
"Auntie, does Cousin not like us?" Tian Mi asked, looking around the small courtyard. It was tidy, but how could it possibly compare to the residence of a high-ranking court official?
"That’s not it at all," Tian Lanfen replied. "I was just thinking it would be more comfortable to live in my own home. It’s easier to host you properly here."
"Just tell me what you need, and I’ll have someone go and buy it."
After all, this was her own flesh-and-blood niece. No matter how displeased Tian Lanfen felt inside, she didn’t let a trace of it show on her face.
"Then when will you send someone to get my father released, Auntie? You have no idea how horrible that Magistrate is! He threw Mother and me out of our home just like that. We didn’t even have time to take anything with us."