I beat this dead fat pig!
Wen Qiao returned to his own courtyard. At the doorway, he saw Wen Xiao climbing a ladder to put a featherless baby swallow that had fallen to the ground back into its nest. Wen Ying and Wen Yuan were below, steadying the ladder and chatting. The younger maids were sweeping, drawing water, feeding the sparrows...
Just as Wen Xiao came down the ladder, she greeted Wen Qiao with a smile. "Elder Young Master, the young lady from the maternal side sent over a small flower basket."
"Put it in elder sister's room," Wen Qiao said.
"The eldest young lady also received a small flower basket from the young lady. This one is specially for you."
Wen Xiao lifted the door curtain and went to fetch the small flower basket for Wen Qiao to see. Wen Xiang was attending to Wen Qiao, helping him change his headdress and robes. Her gaze swept over the small flower basket; it incorporated more than a dozen kinds of spring flowers—peach blossoms, apricot blossoms, pear blossoms, winter jasmine, narcissus, and others—delicate and beautiful.
"Which elder sister from the young lady's side wove this small flower basket? Such skillful hands."
Wen Xiao said, "The young maid who delivered it said that the young lady wove it herself. She made only two: one for you and one for the eldest young lady. Unlike those quilts, which everyone got."
Wen Qiao liked incense: warm ones like Black Dragon Cassia and Green Red Lotus in spring, refreshing ones like Hengwu and Two Sus Old Game in summer, quiet ones like Jiangzhen and Miaogao in autumn, and warm sweet ones like Snow in Spring Letter and Bihan in winter, to mask the smell of medicine on him and dispel the medicinal scent in the room. Naturally sensitive to scents, Wen Qiao only took a light sniff of the mixed floral fragrance from the small flower basket before frowning. That little miss Yuanyuan only cared about it looking pretty; she hadn't considered that mixing these flowers together created a less than harmonious scent.
Wen Xiang guessed that Wen Qiao didn't like the smell of the flower basket, so she said to Wen Xiao, "Hang it outside under the eaves next to the parrot stand."
Wen Xiao was about to go out when she heard Wen Qiao's cold voice behind her.
"Place it on the incense table under the north window in my study."
For the first time, Wen Xiang had misjudged her master's intention. She was holding the incense pouch she had just removed from his waist, and in her daze, she dropped it to the floor. Wen Qiao glanced at her without a reproachful word, but Wen Xiang knew her master disliked carelessness from the staff. She quickly apologized.
"From now on, anything Yuanyuan sends must first be brought to my attention before being disposed of," Wen Qiao said.
Wen Xiang's face reddened as she acknowledged the order.
Among the four senior maids, she was the first to serve the eldest young master. He had never questioned them about how they handled items he received. It seemed he regarded this young lady differently.
After changing his clothes, Wen Ying served tea. Wen Qiao took only a small sip from the silver cup and asked, "Why did you brew this tea?"
"We had only two liang of the Jingting Green Snow you usually drink left. I gave a cup to the young maid who brought the flower basket. She said the young lady likes it but can't find good quality, and asked where we bought ours. Wen Yuan, being generous as always, wrapped up the remaining two liang and gave them to the maid."
Wen Ying had anticipated that her master would ask about the tea, but she had been unable to stop Wen Yuan from acting on her own. Wen Yuan hung her head and said sheepishly, "This Yangxian Snow Bud tastes about the same as Jingting Green Snow."
"Tomorrow, take five hundred taels from the cash box, buy more tea, and send half to Jiangxue Residence." Wen Qiao placed the silver cup with the remaining tea back onto the red-lacquer gold-flecked tea tray that Wen Ying held, then asked her to bring a cup of plain water. Suddenly, he had a thought. "When you deliver the tea to Jiangxue Residence, if anyone asks where the Jingting Green Snow was bought, don't tell them. From now on, buy tea in double portions—one for here and one for Jiangxue Residence."
Wen Ying agreed, assuming that since the eldest young master had just received the valuable quilt from the Jiang family, he was repaying the favor with tea.
*
Spring passed quickly. Summer was scorching, cicadas chirped incessantly, and the young ladies in the ducal mansion changed into gauze dresses and skirts.
In the garden, Jiang Xuesui, who had just picked a full basket of lotus seedpods, walked through the bamboo grove with Wen Yuanhuan and Wen Yuanle. The three girls were discussing what dishes to make with the fresh lotus seeds. From ahead came screams of surprise from a girl and boisterous laughter from boys.
"That's big sister's voice! Someone is bullying big sister!" Jiang Xuesui put down her bamboo basket and was about to rush forward when Wen Yuanhuan and Wen Yuanle grabbed her sleeves.
"Yuanyuan, you can't beat those young masters. They are twice as tall as you," Wen Yuanhuan advised.
Wen Yuanle added, "They are very strong. When they visit the mansion, they always like to bully big sister."
"Even if I can't beat them, I have to save big sister!" Jiang Xuesui blinked her round eyes and shook off Wen Yuanhuan and Wen Yuanle's hands.
Wen Yuanle stayed behind, tugging Wen Yuanhuan to go call for help, but Wen Yu and his servants blocked their way.
"Yu'er, big sister hasn't offended you. Why won't you let us get help?" Wen Yuanhuan asked.
"That big fool didn't offend me, but her brother did. And why are you two siding with outsiders? The Miao family's young masters are our own maternal cousins. Have you forgotten how uncles and aunts treated you?" Wen Yu said.
Wen Yuanhuan and Wen Yuanle still wanted to go for help, but the servants surrounded them.
*
Jiang Xuesui had never seen such bad people. The group of young masters chased the fleeing eldest young lady. Whoever got close lifted her gauze skirt as high as possible. They laughed together, and they didn't care about her terrified screams or how her eyes were swollen from crying.
Jiang Xuesui couldn't bear it. She grabbed stones from the ground and threw them at the young masters.
The big-headed, fat-eared Miao Dalang was hit on the shoulder by a stone Jiang Xuesui threw and felt pain. But seeing Jiang Xuesui's delicate, jade-carved little face, he softened slightly. Pointing at her, he said, "You little brat, come apologize to me, and I won't hold it against you. I'll let them let you go."
"I won't apologize to you bad people!" Jiang Xuesui ran to Wen Yuan'ai, still holding two stones in her hands.
"Big brother, why waste words with this little girl? Anyone who can play with the big fool must be a little fool."
"Fool's disease is contagious—spreads to one, then two, then three..." The young masters surrounded Jiang Xuesui and Wen Yuan'ai, clapping and singing insulting rhymes.
Wen Yuan'ai sobbed, "Yuanyuan is not a little fool... Yuanyuan is not a little fool..."
Among the young masters, some had itchy hands. After lifting Wen Yuan'ai's skirt, they lifted Jiang Xuesui's skirt. That completely angered the usually good-tempered Wen Yuan'ai. She charged the young masters with her head and bit the hands of those who tried to lift Jiang Xuesui's skirt.
Jiang Xuesui remembered a saying—"To catch the bandits, first catch their leader." She waited for an opportunity, then threw the two stones right at Miao Dalang's head. Next, she charged head-first into his belly. Miao Dalang fell to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain. Jiang Xuesui sat on him, pulled off one embroidered shoe, and smacked him hard across the face with it. She beat him until his face was bruised and swollen, and his nose bled continuously. Miao Dalang tried to throw her off, waving his arms wildly. Seizing the chance, he grabbed her hair and yanked out a lock of it. Jiang Xuesui ignored the blood trickling from her scalp and didn't even shed a tear. She knocked her head heavily against his, stunning him unconscious.
"I beat this dead fat pig! Who else wants to fight me?" Jiang Xuesui glared at the stunned Miao family young masters. They shrank back, never imagining that a little girl could knock out their big brother. Her head was so hard! And she was so brave.
Holding her shoe in one hand and Wen Yuan'ai's hand in the other, Jiang Xuesui shouted at the young masters, "I am the eldest daughter of the Jiang family. If you dare to tell the adults, say that I knocked out this dead fat pig!"
Just then, Wen Qiao came looking for his elder sister. The unconscious Miao Dalang opened his eyes and saw Wen Qiao. Unable to swallow the humiliation of being beaten unconscious by Jiang Xuesui, but unwilling to admit he couldn't defeat a little girl—that would be a huge joke—he led his brothers to lodge a complaint before Old Lady Wen. He started by saying that Wen Qiao had injured him and Wen Yuan'ai had bitten his brothers. The Duke of Xiangguo happened to be present. He thought that his eldest daughter was simple, and his eldest son always defended her. The Miao family's young masters must have been mocking his daughter, and his son beat Miao Dalang in anger.
"Dalang, it's our Ai'er and Qiao'er who are at fault. I'll have them apologize to you."
Wen Qiao was about to admit that he had wounded Miao Dalang to avoid implicating Jiang Xuesui, but Jiang Xuesui, who had been having her wounds dressed in the green gauze screen, rushed into the hall. Pointing at Miao Dalang, she said, "He's lying! Big brother never fought! I slapped his face with my embroidered shoe and knocked him out with my head!"
Jiang Xuesui took off her other embroidered shoe, raised it above her head for all to see, and then showed the big lump on her forehead with a serious expression. Old Lady Wen's heart ached for her but also felt like laughing. Lady Sang, Lady Zhu, and Lady Yu felt both pity and amusement. The wives of the Miao family, however, reddened with shame and hung their heads, not daring to speak.
Miao Dalang and his brothers still refused to admit what Jiang Xuesui had said—it was a matter of male pride. They never expected the eldest daughter of the Jiang family to be so willing to lose face.
Jiang Xuesui continued, "It was wrong of me to hit people, but the Miao family's young masters were even more wrong! They lifted my and big sister's skirts, and called big sister a big fool and me a little fool. That's why I had to fight them!"
"No, she's lying! My brothers and I did nothing of the sort! Yu'er, Huan'er, and Le'er also saw. It was the eldest Wen girl who went mad and bit us. To defend ourselves, we pushed her away, and then the eldest Wen boy came to beat us!" Miao Dalang argued.
Wen Yu immediately stepped forward to support Miao Dalang. Wen Yuanhuan and Wen Yuanle said nothing—one claimed she hadn't seen clearly.