BBW Chapter 159 : Crashing Dad and Mom's 'Afternoon Tea'

byきつね -October 15, 2021

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"Miss, how should we bury…….Young Master Biao?" Chief Steward Qian was in a difficult position. He did not want to ask anything related to Miss's painful memory. Still, Hua Lingtian was not only the Young Master Biao of the Murong Mansion but also the Emperor of the Daye Dynasty. The Emperor's funeral could not be sloppy. But this man had died in the Murong Mansion. So how could they do it according to the Emperor's funeral?

Murong Yunshu has also thought about this issue and has not yet come up with a foolproof solution.

"The fact that he killed himself at Murong House, only he, himself, knows. Why don't I send someone to transport him back to his palace and make it look like he killed himself there. When the time comes, someone will report it to the capital for his beautiful burial." Chu Changge suggested.

Murong Yunshu could not think of a better way for a moment, so she had to nod her head. "Sitting in the Dragon Throne while he was alive, sleeping in the Imperial Tomb after death. This way, it can be considered that I obey his wish. He lived and died as one of the Imperial family."

*

As soon as the news of Emperor Shenwu killed himself in his Temporary Imperial Palace in Jinling spread, the Daye Dynasty was immediately shattered. Hua Lingtian only had a four-year-old son that could inherit the throne, but he would be the Emperor in name only, and this caused all the forces in the Imperial Court begin to get restless. This restlessness also gathered like surging clouds thousands of miles away in Jinling. If you read this chapter not at xinshou blogspot com, then they copy paste my work without crediting me. I want to cry.

The wind that swept through the tower heralded a rising storm in the mountains.

"Miss, word has come from Chu Province that the government has brought soldiers to loot the private bank, leaving not even half a coin behind. They want you to go over there and take charge of the situation." Chief Steward Qian came to report with a sobbing face.

At that time, Murong Yunshu was playing with Chu Changge in the small pavilion inside the garden. When she heard Chief Steward Qian's report, she only wrinkled her brows slightly before continuing to place the white piece in her hand on the qipan. "It's your turn." She softly said to Chu Changge.

Without thinking, Chu Changge placed a black piece immediately next to the white one and also said, "It's your turn."

Chief Steward Qian was dumbfounded. How could Miss be so calm when the fire was singeing their eyebrows? Guye acted like a mere light cloud and gentle wind and even treated him as if he was air! "Miss, our private bank has been robbed."

"Hmm." This time Murong Yunshu answered with only this one syllable.

Chief Qian held his forehead as he emphasised, "We lost a hundred thousand taels of silver!"

"Write a receipt and have the local official sign and stamp it. Then, report it to the Imperial Court, saying that the local official has advanced two hundred thousand taels of silver." Murong Yunshu responded in a leisurely and unhurried way.

The corners of Chief Steward Qian's mouth twitched slightly. "Miss, now even the Emperor has gone, then what's the use of having an agreement note with the government?"

"The Emperor is gone, but isn't the state treasury still there?" Murong Yunshu stopped her hand in mid-air as she tilted her head to look at him and instructed, "Take the receipt signed by the local official in Chu Province to get the silver from the state treasury."

"What if the Imperial Court won't pay us back?"

Murong Yunshu replied indifferently, "Then tell them that without these two hundred thousand taels of silver, the private bank will not be able to run."

Chief Qian immediately brightened up and praised, "Good idea! There's no harm to us if the private bank closes anyway, apart from losing a bit of reputation."

"Hasn't the Murong Mansion always been very conscious of its reputation?" Chu Changge asked.

Chief Steward Qian smilingly said, "From the moment Miss became engaged to you, Guye, our Murong Mansion reputation has been swept to the ground. It's just whether one pays attention to it or not." The tone of his voice was like he had smashed a pot to pieces just because it was cracked.

Chu Changge's two devilish-looking dashing eyebrows suddenly shook a few times as he asked with a darkened face, "Did I sweep Murong House's reputation to the floor?"

When he saw this situation, Chief Steward Qian's beard immediately trembled violently a few times, and he took two steps back while looking at his Miss for help.

The corners of Murong Yunshu's mouth curled upward as she leisurely pressed the pieces in her hand onto the qipan and said, "Your turn."

Chu Changge, however, was unwilling to give up as he insisted on getting his answer. "Did I sweep Murong House's reputation to the floor?"

Murong Yunshu raised an eyebrow and said, "I thought you would be proud of that."

Chu Changge went blank for a moment, then burst into laughter.

What kind of people are these! Chief Steward Qian had difficulty understanding how the couple was thinking. He shook his head and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something as he hastily said, "Oh, Miss, I suddenly remembered something."

Murong Yunshu did not answer but raised her eyebrows, indicating that she had heard his words.

"The court is now presided over by an Auxiliary Minister appointed by the Empress Dowager herself. Guess who is that Auxiliary Minister?" Chief Steward Qian smiled as he stopped his story at the climax to keep his listeners in suspense.

Murong Yunshu's eyelids twitched before she answered, "Nie Qing."

"How did you know that, Miss?!" Chief Steward Qian was shocked.

Murong Yunshu responded indifferently, "Just guessing."

Chief Qian did not believe it. "How could you guess so accurately? Did someone tell you about this before?"

"Nie Qing is the only capital official whom we all know. Who else could it be if not him? If it were someone else, I wouldn't have known that person even when you had given the person's name, and you wouldn't have let me guess." Murong Yunshu explained.

The Chief Steward Qian suddenly realised. "It's true that nothing can escape Miss's discerning eyes!"

*

No sooner had the Chief Steward left, another group of 'guests' arrived. To say 'guests' was actually a bit too rusty. After all, they were all family. Although they were not related by blood, they had lived under the same roof for more than ten years, so their feelings were not shallow. It was just that this kind of relationship was rather peculiar. For Murong Yunshu, they were indispensable, yet she was reluctant to be too close with them as an actual family.

Murong Yunshu knew full well, for the nine concubines to be here together, they must have something to say to her, but she was not going to be the one who would speak up first. She wanted the relationship to remain at this not-too-close level. She picked up her cup of tea and sipped it slowly, waiting for them to speak calmly.

"Yunshu, we have something we want to discuss with you." The First Wife spoke hesitantly.

Murong Yunshu put down the cup of tea in her hand and asked, "What is it?"

"I heard that you are going to…….send us out of Murong Mansion?" The First Wife deliberated for a long time before coming up with the word 'send'.

Murong Yunshu: "Oh, I would have forgotten about this if you didn't mention it. In a moment, I'll instruct Chief Steward Qian to make the arrangements."

The nine concubines were in a state of anguish. If they had known about this, they would not have made the trip. They would also not have mentioned it and pretend that nothing had happened.

After a long silence, it was the First Wife who spoke up again, "Yunshu, we don't want to marry anyone else. We just want to stay in Murong Mansion for the rest of our lives."

When Murong Yunshu heard what had been said, she asked curiously in return, "Who said I'm going to marry you to someone else?"

"Huh?" The nine ladies stared at her together. Was that not what she was talking about?

Second Wife: "But we heard Murong say that you are going to find us a good home......."

Murong Yunshu was flabbergasted for a moment. She suddenly remembered Little Murong had muttered something similar in her ear that one day. She held her forehead that had gotten a headache and asked in distress, "You believe his words?"

"Uh......" Have they been tricked?

Seeing that the nine concubines all looked puzzled, Murong Yunshu knew that they had misunderstood her meaning. So she explained, "You have come to Murong Mansion for so many years, but you have only returned to your maiden family a handful of times, and I have not seen anyone from your maiden family come to visit you. So, I am asking Chief Steward Qian to arrange for you to return to your maiden family to visit your relatives. If you want to stay there for a little while, you can also stay for some days. When you've had enough, I'll send someone to pick you up and bring you back......"

Halfway through Murong Yunshu's words, the nine concubines were already crying and too emotional to speak.

This was the scene Murong Yunshu dreaded the most and why she never took the initiative to care for them. Once people were concerned and touched by each other, an invisible bond would quietly form. The more bonds there were the more life and death separations they would face. She had tasted the loss of her mother and did not want to go through it again. After gathering herself, Murong Yunshu responded lightly, "I'm not dead yet, so you don't need to mourn for me in such a hurry."

The sobs of the nine aunts ceased abruptly, and they all looked at her in silence with their eyes red.

"Yunshu, we don't mean that......"

"Go back, pack your things and get ready for the journey. I will have someone prepare gifts for your relatives." After saying this, Murong Yunshu picked up her cup of tea and continued to sip it with a 'take care, I won't see you off' look.

The nine concubines looked at each other before they finally said 'thank you' and left one after another.

As soon as they walked away, the nine concubines looked like different people. They became articulate and energetic, no longer looking like they had been wronged just as before.

"I knew that Yunshu wouldn't be so cruel."

"Yes. Yunshu looks cold, but in fact, her heart is kinder than anyone. Otherwise, she wouldn't have treated us generously for so many years."

"But one thing is strange. Little Murong is only a little bit older. How does he know about 'finding a good home'?"

There was another person who was equally curious about this matter.

"Madam, what are other things that you've taught Murong while I was away, apart from the business?" Chu Changge had an excited look on his face.

"The Four Books and Five Classics." Murong Yunshu answered relatively calm.

"Nothing else?"

Murong Yunshu took a shallow sip of her green tea. "No."

Chu Changge raised his voice a little bit. "Are you sure?"

"Very sure." Murong Yunshu's expression remained unchanged.

"Think harder. Is there really nothing else? For example, finding him a good family or something like that……."

When she heard this, Murong Yunshu simply put down her teacup and looked at him in a bad mood, saying, "That happened when you were around."

"When?" Chu Changge began to search his mind for such memories when he suddenly remembered one windy afternoon. He took advantage of Little Murong's nap and had an 'afternoon tea' with Murong Yunshu. After that, he talked about the bad influence of those four grown men, South, East, North and West, going to the brothel now and then. Thus he wanted to find a good family for them and marry them once and for all.......

In an instant, Chu Changge's face turned green as he looked at Murong Yunshu with a horrified expression. "Are you sure......it was that time?"

"Won't we know once we ask him about it?" Murong Yunshu's tone was unusually relaxed as if the only person having 'afternoon tea' was Chu Changge, and she was just taking a nap. [+]

Chu Changge's face turned from green to black. How could he ask his son such a thing?

"Perhaps, he only heard the part about 'finding a good family'." Murong Yunshu said.

"Oh, yes, perhaps he only heard the latter part." Chu Changge's heart had just become quite relieved when from the corner of his eyes, he suddenly saw a tiny figure walking towards them with his hands behind his back and a contemplative, old-fashioned look on his face.

At the same time, Chu Murong also noticed Chu Changge. When he saw that his father and mother were looking at him, his eyes lit up, and he ran into the pavilion with a blossoming smile on his face. "Dad, Mom." His voice was so sweet that it made people's ears go soft.

"Good boy." Chu Changge carried Chu Murong to sit on his lap, smiling leisurely and asking, "What were you thinking about so intensely just now?"

"I was thinking of Grandmas' reactions. I ran into them on the road just now, and they asked me a few questions. When I finished answering, they strangely laughed while muttering, 'the world's morals are worsening day by day, truly worsening'. How strange." Chu Murong frowned in bewilderment.

On the other hand, Chu Changge and Murong Yunshu were utterly transformed into two living stone statues.

"Dad, Mom, why are you both silent?" Chu Murong asked.

Murong Yunshu moved her lips stiffly, pulled out a smile, and asked with the last trace of her luck, "Murong, what did you say to your Grandmas'?"

Chu Murong blinked and said, "They asked me where I learned such things as 'finding a good family', and I said I heard it from my dad and mom. They then asked me what else I had heard. I said I had also heard some of my dad and mom's voices, which were odd and different from the usual. That's when they laughed, in a bizarre way, and asked me if I saw anything. I said I saw Dad on top of Mom......"

"Stop!" A violent scold sounded out abruptly, which frightened Chu Murong till his shoulders shook.

"Dad, why are you angry?" Chu Murong cocked his head in confusion and tilted his head to look at Chu Changge.

At that moment, Chu Changge's handsome face darkened. It took a long time before he said calmly, "Next time you hear or see something, don't talk about it everywhere, or I will immediately send you to Black Wind Mountain. Understand?"

Chu Murong was dumbfounded for a while. "I heard Uncle North say that the scenery on Black Wind Mountain is good......"

"Shut up!" Chu Changge twisted little Murong's back collar like a rag doll, held him down and sat him on the stone table. He solemnly told him, "There is only salt in Black Wind Mountain. When you get there, you will eat salt every day."

Chu Murong said, "It's better to eat salt than vinegar."

"......" The corners of Chu Changge's mouth trembled slightly. "And who did you learn this from?"

Chu Murong weakly twisted his head to look at his doting mother, a look that said it all.

Seeing that the spearhead was pointed in her direction, Murong Yunshu raised her eyes calmly and put up a truthful stance as she earnestly said, "Eating salt is indeed better than eating vinegar." In the end, she added, "Feng Cheng said so."

Chu Changge was speechless. She was always the least calm when she encountered such a thing. Why did she act as if nothing was wrong today?

"You don't mind?" Chu Changge asked ambiguously. He believed Murong Yunshu knew what he was asking.

Murong Yunshu answered calmly, "It's not like he understands."

"But he will understand about it one day." Chu Changge could hardly imagine how Chu Murong would react in the future when he suddenly understood what those strange sounds and movements meant.

"By the time he gets it, he'll have long forgotten about what happened that day."

"Believe me. Men will remember this kind of thing for a lifetime."

"Then we'll pretend nothing happened and agree that it was a hallucination on his part."

".......Madam, you are very resourceful."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Murong Yunshu smiled lightly and lowered her head to drink her tea while hiding the embarrassment in her eyes. Actually, when she knew that her son had witnessed their 'afternoon tea', she was so ashamed that she wanted to find a hole to burrow herself into immediately. But when two people were 'caught in adultery' together, one was always frantic and the other calm. Chu Changge was always calm every time. It was time to change his role this time around. Precisely like the reversal of the wheel of fortune, right?