Chapter 911: Jinxed Mouth — the Good Never Come True, the Bad Always Do

Chen Chen Guanlou's mouth had been blessed by some divine power — the good never came true, but the bad always did.

After he had chatted with the Grand Steward, it was only a few days before the old matriarch of Hou Fu fell ill.

His reputation as a jinxed mouth was now thoroughly confirmed.

When he learned the old matriarch had taken to her bed with illness, he was a bit stunned. He touched his own mouth and thought, "It can't really be that powerful, can it!" Speak of illness and illness appears; speak of a weak spot, and the weak spot starts acting up.

He felt oddly guilty.

He prepared a generous gift — all manner of rare medicinal ingredients, sourced from officials imprisoned in the Sky Prison, the kind you couldn't buy at any pharmacy outside. Rare medicinal ingredients were all locked away in the private storerooms of the various households.

Once the gift was ready, he made a trip to Hou Fu to express his regards.

He didn't get to see the old matriarch.

The old matriarch was advanced in years, bedridden and in need of quiet recuperation, unfit for any exertion. Once her health improved, a banquet would be held to thank everyone.

He did meet the Grand Steward.

The Grand Steward was swamped — so busy that blisters had formed at the corners of his mouth, and he looked utterly haggard.

"You really ought to take better care of yourself, sir. You're not young anymore."

The Grand Steward sighed heavily. "With the old matriarch ill, the Heir has taken leave to stay home and tend to her."

"Is that appropriate?"

The Heir is of the grandchildren's generation, not the sons'. There's no need for him to go that far.

The Grand Steward let out another sigh. "I won't hide it from you. The old matriarch's illness came on with terrifying force. The Heir worries that if something unexpected happens, he won't be at ease — he insists on staying by her side himself."

Chen Chen Guanlou: …

He felt even guiltier.

He scrambled to make excuses. "That serious? Could it be the weather? Lately it's been hot one moment and cold the next — lots of people are coming down with colds."

The Grand Steward glanced at him and nodded. "The weather is part of it, and the old matriarch is old — the slightest disturbance is more than her body can bear.

The other day, the accounts office reported that the Second Branch Master had been doing business and may have been swindled, or perhaps lost it gambling — in any case, a huge sum had gone missing from the books. Part of that money was the Second Branch's private property. The news had been kept hidden, but no one knows who let it slip, and it reached the old matriarch's ears. She was so furious it attacked her heart. Sigh…"

Chen Chen Guanlou's heart secretly rejoiced at the news. Thank heavens — it had nothing to do with his jinxed mouth. It was purely the Second Branch being useless and making their own mother ill with rage.

The Grand Steward fixed him with a deep, penetrating look. "That mouth of yours — in the future, do try to say more auspicious things."

Chen Chen Guanlou immediately protested. "You calling me a jinxed mouth — I absolutely will not admit it. I'm merely planning ahead, thinking a little further than most. Who could have guessed it would line up so neatly that the old matriarch actually fell ill?"

"In any case, it's too inauspicious. Tomorrow you'll go to the temple and burn incense — to drive away the bad luck. You won't have to pay for the incense and oil money; Hou Fu will cover it. You cannot refuse. Consider it praying for the old matriarch's blessing, and for the Chen clan's blessing. You should understand — if anything untoward happens to the old matriarch, Hou Fu's position will be dire! Every member of the Chen clan will have to endure hard times."

The Grand Steward appealed to reason, moved him with emotion, played the sympathy card.

Chen Chen Guanlou had wanted to refuse, but every one of his excuses was shut down by the Grand Steward's words. If he didn't go burn incense, he would be a sinner against the Chen clan!

Fine, he'd go!

Fine, he'd go!

The Sky Prison was quiet these days anyway, and he had nothing to do.

Early the next morning, Hou Fu sent someone to hurry him along — get up early, go to the temple, burn incense and bow to the Buddha, ask the Buddha to protect him and dispel the bad luck.

"Did they say which temple?"

"Bao Guo Temple outside the city. We've already contacted the senior monks inside — they'll hold a special dharma assembly to dispel the bad luck. Guaranteed: no more jinxed mouth after this!"

Chen Chen Guanlou stared at the rather young-looking servant boy and thought, forget it — he wouldn't bother squabbling with a child.

"You serve at Hou Fu — hasn't anyone taught you how to speak?"

"They have! I did learn the rules. But I haven't been learning long. Liu Liu Guanshi said someone like me would be perfect for serving you — I wouldn't get beaten."

Outrageous!

Slander!

Pure slander!

Chen Chen Guanlou asked the boy, "When have I ever hit anyone?"

"Even if you don't hit people, the moment your face darkens, everyone says it's terrifying. For someone like me, Liu Liu Guanshi said you definitely wouldn't bother arguing with me."

"Which Liu Liu Guanshi are you talking about? That's surprisingly accurate."

He really couldn't be bothered to argue with a greenhorn servant boy. Any servant with two years' experience under his belt, he would have already darkened his face and thrown out for being too noisy.

The boy beamed, looking carefree and lighthearted. "The Liu Liu Guanshi's surname is also Chen — Chen Chen Guanxiang!"

Brother Xiang!

Chen Chen Guanlou bared his teeth. "Chen Chen Guanxiang runs the gatehouse — when did he switch jobs and start training servant boys?"

"Master Xiang still runs the gatehouse, but he also trains us. He says once we're trained, we can work the gatehouse too."

"You? At the gatehouse?" Chen Chen Guanlou looked at the short little servant before him. "What's your name?"

"I'm called Xiao Cong! Master Xiang said my name wasn't great, so he gave me a new one — Da Cong!"

Chen Chen Guanlou was a bit baffled. "What's the difference?"

"A huge difference." The servant boy Da Cong looked immensely pleased with himself.

Chen Chen Guanlou pressed a hand to his forehead. Chen Chen Guanxiang, oh Chen Chen Guanxiang — you really are ruthless. Sending over a servant boy like this, what on earth are you scheming? He knows perfectly well that Chen Chen Guanlou dislikes dealing with dim-witted people, and at the same time, he never argues with children.

A half-grown kid like this, with that innocent, clueless look — if he were to argue, he'd only make himself look petty.

He might as well shut his mouth and go along with it!

After breakfast, he set off for the outskirts of the city.

His elder sister Chen Chen Xiaolan, who had learned yesterday that he was going to the temple to burn incense, came over early this morning to join in the fun, saying she'd pray alongside him.

"I have a task to do — what are you tagging along for? Can the tea shop manage without you?"

"It can manage. With your brother-in-law watching, nothing will go wrong. I haven't been out in ages. Ever since we split the family, I've been busy from dawn to dusk — never had time to go burn incense for the Bodhisattva. This time I'm going with you, to thank the Bodhisattva for blessing me and granting my wish — a smooth family split. From now on, life has to get better and better."

Chen Chen Xiaolan was bursting with energy.

After splitting the family and moving out of the Su family old residence, she no longer had to share a cooking pot with her mother-in-law — she was overjoyed!

From now on, he would devote himself wholeheartedly to building up their little family, determined to make their days flourish and to raise their children into accomplished adults.

"When you head back later, stop by my place on the way and take a couple of pieces of cured meat home." Chen Chen Xiaolan said so.

The moment Chen Chen Guanlou heard "cured meat," the corner of his mouth twitched. "The Su family really divided up the cured meat they didn't finish over New Year?"

"Divided it up! We split more than twenty jin. The weather's getting warm, and we're afraid it'll go bad. You taking a couple of pieces home would actually be helping us lighten the load."

Where did he need to come help lighten the load? He knew his big sister always thought of him whenever she had something good, just like when they were little, afraid he wouldn't get enough to eat or enough to wear.

His heart felt wonderfully warm, and he thought it was beautiful too!

The feeling of having someone who cared about him was really quite nice.

"Fine, give me a couple of pieces of cured meat then. It just so happens I have a few newly minted official silver ingots on hand, in absolutely superb condition — something I'll probably never come across again. I'll give you a few ingots later; just think of them as a collectible, something to save up for the children as dowries or betrothal gifts. They'd make a very impressive showing."

Chen Chen Guanlou had nothing else in abundance, but money he had plenty of.

The official silver was not something he had made up — he really did have a batch of newly minted ingots on hand, the work of the Imperial Workshops' craftsmen, made exclusively for the imperial clan and nobility, with flawless quality. Through Sun Sun Daoning's connections, he had obtained a small amount. He had no use for them anyway, so he planned to keep them all for his three nephews.