Chapter 105: Heavens, what a scandal! [Thank you all for your support! Again, thank you!]

They said the woman had entered the Yuan household, and the Yuan family carefully questioned her origins; when they heard she had once sung in a theater troupe, Lady Zhang of the Yuan household brightened immediately.

She had no other hobby—she simply loved listening to opera, truly a die-hard fan.

She immediately wanted the woman to stay in the household.

The Lady of Shoushan Bo was opposed to letting such a low-class person enter the Yuan family; she thought the woman’s eyes were too cunning, clearly no virtuous soul.

But this was an act of kindness and gratitude, so they couldn’t simply drive her out.

They could only suggest the Yuan family give her some living silver and let her go.

Yet Lady Zhang refused—where else could you find an opera singer who could sing just by being fed, and for free?

Seeing her younger sister-in-law act this way, the Lady of Shoushan Bo grew angry.

When Yuan Bo-yeh returned home and entered the main hall, he said nothing, and the Lady of Shoushan Bo, along with the Lady of Yongping Bo, left in anger, even canceling the betrothal arrangements.

Xie Shi recounted it vividly: she had not gone to court today due to her pregnancy; her elder sister-in-law had come to visit her on behalf of her mother-in-law, and her sister-in-law’s family was related to the observer, the Lady of Yongping Bo!

This gossip had begun circulating before the New Year, but it accelerated today as the nobles gathered at the palace.

Below is Wu Da-niang’s retelling: Lady Yuan of Shoushan Bo left the Yuan household in fury, and since year-end court affairs were busy, Yuan Bo-yeh had gone to his study to attend to official duties.

Yuan Wen-chun, the Yuan family’s eldest son, took after his mother, Lady Zhang, having loved opera since childhood.

When he returned home, his mother’s maid met him at the gate:

“Young Master, word has spread that you bravely rescued a helpless woman in Bianjing! The girl has come to your gate to kneel and repay your kindness!”

Yuan Wen-chun looked utterly confused—he had no memory of such an incident.

Entering his mother’s courtyard, he heard a woman singing softly inside, her voice remarkably pleasant.

He entered his mother’s main hall,

Lady Zhang, seeing her eldest son, said cheerfully: “Miss Zhu, this is my eldest son—take a look, is he the one?”

Miss Zhu turned around, and her eyes widened in shock.

After a brief pause, she sank softly to her knees, her supple form utterly pitiable to behold.

“Man-niang bows before her benefactor.”

She bowed her head to the ground, and as she rose, her chest swelled beneath her clothing.

Yuan Wen-chun, the eldest son, cleared his throat and turned his head away, then forced a look of confusion: “When did I ever save you?”

“Perhaps the benefactor was drunk that day and didn’t realize he’d done me a small favor.”

“Pure-er, I’ve confirmed it thoroughly—it happened at Pan Lou! This Miss Zhu sings beautifully, and I adore her. Your father didn’t object—let her stay in your courtyard.”

Before she finished speaking, Yuan Wen-chun’s wife, Lady Zhang, began weeping outside the door.

“Mother-in-law, is this how you treat me?”

Xu Zaijing was listening intently, and when the story stopped, he hurriedly asked: “Mother, what happened next?”

Sun Shi sipped tea and said she’d heard it from the wife of the household steward’s relative.

The Zhu woman remained in the Yuan household.

Lady Zhang of the Yuan household was the senior Zhang; Yuan Wen-chun’s wife was the junior Zhang.

In truth, the mother-in-law wanted to place a concubine in her son’s room, and the daughter-in-law had no say in the matter.

But this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were no ordinary pair: the junior Zhang’s mother was the senior Zhang’s sister, so they couldn’t openly break ties.

So when the junior Zhang made a scene, the senior Zhang had the Zhu Man-niang sing opera—what did she sing?

“The Jade Hairpin (The Daughter-in-Law Is Disobedient),” “Searching for the Son (The Daughter-in-Law Is Disobedient, Persecuting Her Mother-in-Law),” and “The Third Wife Teaches Her Son (The Son Discovers His Wife’s True Nature and Divorces Her).”

She sang until the junior Zhang’s face turned blue.

Xu Zaijing hurriedly asked: “And then? What happened after?”

Sun Shi looked at her gossipy son and smiled: “Your Aunt Wu said the next part is even funnier!”

Xie Shi, like someone reliving a joke she already knew, was eager to hear it again, her excitement palpable.

She covered her mouth with a handkerchief, her face beaming with delight at the gossip.

Xu Zaijing froze. What? This wasn’t the biggest joke yet? What else could there be?

Sun Shi glanced at her daughter-in-law and asked: “Daughter-in-law, did the Lady of Yongping Bo tell you the rest?”

“Mother, yes—but you tell it.”

“Very well.”

It was said: on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month, a man dragged a crowd to the Yuan household gate, shouting that his younger sister had entered the Marquis’s residence to repay a debt, been kept overnight, lost her purity, and was now missing—alive or dead—and demanded the Yuan household give an explanation.

Lady Zhang of the Yuan household was still clueless, still thinking only of keeping her opera singer at home for her own pleasure, showing no sign of yielding.

Meanwhile, Yuan Bo-yeh was busy with official duties at the Ma Zheng office.

Cornered, the junior Zhang humbled herself to the senior Zhang and proposed an “excellent, excellent” solution.

Xu Zaijing stared with clear eyes at his mother,

Sun Shi glanced at Xie Shi, who, though she already knew, was eager to hear the next part again.

Sun Shi continued: the junior Zhang persuaded the senior Zhang to have her younger brother take the concubine—so the senior Zhang could keep enjoying the opera, and the family ties wouldn’t be strained.

Both sides benefit—wouldn’t that be perfect?

The senior Zhang’s eyes lit up; she gave the junior Zhang a look of approval—she hadn’t thought of it herself.

But that night, when Yuan Wen-shao returned home and heard the news, he refused.

Yuan Bo-yeh also rejected it: “Er-lang is about to marry—a daughter of a scholarly family, a proper lady—how could he take an opera singer as a concubine?”

At this, Zhu Man-niang’s elder brother returned to cause trouble, but the senior Zhang went out and quelled the matter, promising him again and again.

That night,

Sun Shi couldn’t go on.

This, this abrupt cutoff—really!

Sun Shi looked at her children—they were no longer children, surely they could find out for themselves—and said:

That night, Yuan Wen-chun invited his younger brother to drink, and he drugged his own brother!

It was a stallion’s estrus drug!

The Yuan household was a subordinate office under the Ma Zheng bureau, and Yuan Bo-yeh understood animal pharmacology well—he naturally had some stockpiled.

Later, they sent the Zhu woman into Yuan Wen-shao’s room.

The Yuan household servants said the Zhu girl’s screams lasted until the middle of the night, then fell silent—she nearly died.

Xu Zaijing asked curiously: “Didn’t Yuan Bo-yeh hear?”

Xie Shi said: “It’s said Yuan Er-lang’s quarters were in the corner, far from his mother’s favor, and Yuan Bo-yeh had always slept poorly—he’d already taken his calming decoction.”

The next day, Yuan Wen-shao was ashen-faced, his skin blue, utterly shattered—he sought out Yuan Bo-yeh, who collapsed straight onto his desk from rage.

Luckily, Yuan Bo-yeh had worked hard in his youth, endured great upheavals, possessed an unshakable temperament, and had a strong constitution—otherwise, he might have died of anger.

That’s why he requested leave from the Censorate before the New Year.

The three Xu brothers stared in horror, silent.

No!

You could just buy one—why use a stallion’s drug? Are you trying to kill your own brother—or cripple him?

They’re blood brothers, born of the same womb—could they really do this?

Xu Zaijing thought of Yuan Wen-chun’s future actions in Yangzhou—perhaps he truly meant to cripple his brother, so the family fortune would all go to his own household.

Xu Zaihang asked: “Mother, how do you know this?”

Sun Shi said: “It’s because Yuan Bo-yeh fell ill, disrupting Ma Zheng office affairs. The senior official, concerned for his subordinate, sent medicine to Yuan Bo-yeh—the messenger had a distant relative in Yuan Wen-shao’s courtyard, who heard the tale and told his own wife. And both Zhangs have always mistreated their servants and maids, yet never disciplined them—so this scandal spread.”

Xu Zai-duan said: “Yuan Da-ren is a capable official in the Ma Zheng bureau—how could his senior wife spread such private family matters? This is… improper!”

[Checked many sources: the junior Zhang’s mother and Yuan Wen-chun are indeed sisters; the junior Zhang has another sister named Zhang Xiumei. Hmm, many Zhangs.]

I rebuilt this chapter and reposted it—time display is now correct.

Chapter 95 had a time display glitch—it was actually updated this morning.

Four straight days of ten-thousand-character updates—exhausting.

Writing hard now—this shouldn’t be a broken chapter, right?

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(End of Chapter)