Chapter 35: Family Matters and State Affairs

“Grandmother, the young master and the young ladies have arrived!” Lingxi rushed in after lifting the curtain, her face beaming with joy. Seeing Lady Gu sitting upright in the armchair at the center with no trace of happiness on her face, she gradually faded her smile, stepped back quietly beside Lady Gu, and held her breath. She thought that Grandmother had mentioned earlier that her grandchildren would return from Daxiangguo Temple, and now that everyone was about to enter, why was she still unhappy?

Before long, two maids lifted the curtain at the door. First to enter was Lady Feng with her two children, followed by Lady Sun and Zhang Yue, and then Lady Dongfang. After the three daughters-in-law bowed in greeting, they stepped aside and stood at attention. Then a young girl brought in several cushions, and soon the group of grandchildren knelt down to kowtow, filling the room with the sound of their respectful greetings.

Zhang Yue had felt that something was off as soon as he entered the room. After they finished kowtowing, there was silence for a long time. He peeked secretly and saw that Grandmother had not even a hint of a smile, which made him even more anxious.

Normally, even if the younger generation acted recklessly and made their own decisions, it shouldn’t have made the family’s elder so upset. But seeing Lady Gu’s stern expression, it seemed she might really take action—could they really be punished?

“Did you all know you were coming back? I thought you all had grown too independent and would run off without saying a word. How did your parents raise you?” Lady Gu suddenly raised her voice, her anger unmistakable. “Previously, when the river burst its banks, Brother Yue panicked and took his sisters and brothers to flee. It was reckless, but his intentions were good. But what about Brother Chao, Brother Ji, and Brother Jiu—what have you done?”

At that moment, the large room was filled with Lady Gu’s angry scolding. The three daughters-in-law—Lady Feng, Lady Dongfang, and Lady Sun—all stared at the ground. The newly brought maids trembled with fear, clutching their clothes and not daring to lift their heads. Even Lingxi, who had grown up around Lady Gu, was shocked but still did not dare speak up.

“It’s not wrong to care about your siblings. But when you ran away secretly, didn’t you think of your parents or me, this old woman? With so many maids and servants to serve you, how could you know the dangers outside? Don’t talk about being naive—you’ve all been educated since childhood. You know what filial piety means, yet you forget it at such a critical moment!”

After Gu Shi finished her reprimand, there followed a long silence. Gradually, Zhang Qǐ and Zhang Chao, who had been kneeling until their backs ached, realized they had made mistakes and dared not move an inch. Noticing that Zhang Qing and Zhang Yi beside them were sweating profusely and Zhang Yue and Zhang Jiu looked distressed, Zhang Chao, feeling guilty as the eldest brother, hesitantly crawled forward a step.

“Grandmother, my third brother is still young. When disaster struck, he knew to take my eldest sister and second sister with him to escape, just as grandmother said—none of the three is at fault. My second brother always follows my lead; he does whatever I say, not realizing I was acting under grandmother’s name. As for the fourth brother…” Zhang Chao glanced at Zhang Jiu and, after biting his teeth, continued, “The fourth brother also imitated me by sneaking out. Each person must take responsibility for their own actions; grandmother, please punish only me.”

Despite this, Zhang Jiu refused to accept it and stubbornly retorted, “I ran out because I missed my eldest sister—it has nothing to do with my eldest brother!”

Zhang Qǐ and Zhang Chao were full brothers, and they certainly wouldn’t let him bear the blame alone. So he also shouted, “Grandmother, what my eldest brother said is nonsense! It was clearly my idea. If there’s to be punishment, it should be mine!”

Seeing the chaos, Zhang Yue simply admitted honestly, “Grandmother, I was terrified and panicked at the time. I happened to see my eldest sister, Aunt Luo, and my second sister come in, so without thinking, I led everyone onto the carriage and left. If there’s any fault, it’s mine alone; it has nothing to do with Aunt Luo, my eldest sister, or my second sister.”

Zhang Yi was too shy to speak, but Zhang Qing became anxious and quickly said, “Grandmother, we all realize our mistakes. Please forgive them this time considering their young ages. It’s my fault as their eldest sister; I can’t blame them!”

“Good, good! I’ve only seen people shifting blame among themselves. It’s quite novel in our Zhang family—everyone is vying to take responsibility!”

Though her tone remained stern, Gu Shi’s expression gradually softened. In a large family, internal strife was the worst thing. Slight scheming among the wives wasn’t a big deal, but the four grandsons were the family’s future hope. She naturally wanted them to support each other and build something together. After all, her nephew, the Duke of Britain, could help for a while, but not forever.

Praise be to praise, but she kept these thoughts to herself. Glancing at Zhang Qing, who looked anxious, she felt even more that her eldest granddaughter was responsible and sensible, so she signaled Lingxi to help her up. Seeing Zhang Yi kneeling there silently, trembling, she pondered for a moment before asking another maid to pull her up as well.

Granddaughters are different from grandsons. Even though she disapproved of her second granddaughter’s petty nature, she saw no reason to take it out on her.

“Chao is the eldest, yet he fails to set a good example for his younger siblings. He must kneel in the ancestral hall for three days to reflect! Qi and Jiu should each go back and write twenty copies of calligraphy characters; they’re not allowed to leave for three days! Yue… well, it’s rare for someone so young to react that way. He should also write twenty copies of calligraphy characters and spend time with his parents. They’ve been worried sick because of his disappearance!”

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief, especially Zhang Chao, who had already braced for the worst. The thought of avoiding a scolding made him agree without hesitation. As for the other three, at least two had no objections, as writing twenty copies of calligraphy characters was nothing much—only Zhang Qi looked bitter, thinking it would be better to kneel in the ancestral hall with his elder brother rather than write those endless characters.

Facing the four grandsons who agreed unanimously, Lady Gu couldn’t help but smile, but her expression quickly turned serious again as she turned to her three daughters-in-law. Although the chaos in the household was caused by her, she was deeply disappointed that none of them had been of any use at critical moments. Especially her usually shrewd second daughter-in-law, who had made such an unforgivable mistake—she had to give an explanation to the first and third branches of the family.

So, she said coldly to Dong Fangshi, “Second daughter-in-law, although you may not have meant it before, even if a disaster really struck, there are high buildings in the house where we could move to and wait for rescue. You absolutely should not have abandoned your three younger relatives. Is this the behavior of an elder?”

“Old Lady…” Dong Fangshi had been living in fear for days. Now that the truth was out, though aggrieved, she dared not argue and knelt down. “I indeed am at fault.”

“Yuege and Qing’er are your nephews and niece. Although Yier wasn’t born from your womb, she is still the second son’s biological daughter. To just abandon her like that—how will others view you?” Lady Gu glanced at Lady Dongfang again, then calmly ordered, “As a mother, you should take better care of your sons and daughters from now on. Leave the household affairs to the eldest and third daughters-in-law; raising children properly is more important than anything else.”

This was undoubtedly a denial of Lady Dongfang’s authority to manage the household. For a moment, the room fell dead silent. Lady Feng and Lady Sun exchanged glances, both seeing a hint of joy in each other’s eyes. The other maids also felt a chill, realizing that changes were coming to the Zhang family’s mansion. Only Lingxi remained unmoved—after all, she was merely the old lady’s maid, nothing more.

Zhang Yue saw his mother’s joy and felt pleased. He wasn’t a saint; he had almost suffered greatly and wanted some form of compensation. Thankfully, fate had its justice… no, it should be said that the grandmother had her eyes open—good and evil would eventually be rewarded.

Just as these words set the tone for a shift in power within the family, the curtain outside was pulled back, and Zhang Zhuo entered with a serious expression, holding a letter in his hand.

“Mother, I just received an urgent letter from the Duke of Ying in the capital. Three censors have jointly accused Minister Song and Vice Minister Jiang of the Ministry of Works, along with my elder brother, of failing to manage the Yellow River properly.”

It had finally arrived!

The gloom from earlier hadn’t dissipated yet, and now this new news cast another shadow over everyone’s hearts. What had seemed like a minor family matter before could now lead to a major upheaval!