Chapter 205: Being Too Kind Hurts Others

Originally, in the early Ming dynasty, quotas were set for the number of servants and slaves that official families could employ—even noble families were limited to twenty. It was only during the reign of Emperor Hongwu that such strict rules were enforced; thereafter, they gradually relaxed. Noble families often had people who voluntarily signed contracts to become slaves, and there were also slave traders who brought people to sell. Even the number of slaves born into these families was substantial. These contracts clearly stated they were lifelong slaves, though they were merely referred to as maids, servants, or wet nurses—officials paid no attention to such matters.

It would have been normal for the Gu family, worried about a lack of staff, to send four people over. But Zhang Yue never expected that his own father, Zhang Zhuo, didn’t even have enough people of his own yet still cared about him. Reflecting on the ambiguous tone of the letter, after the reunion dinner and the New Year’s rewards, he put on a thick red fox-fur cloak and headed to the flower hall in the front yard. There, the banquet had already ended, and only four strong men stood there neatly.

Zhang Yue was accompanied by Peng Shisan and the servants from the Duke of Ying’s household—all of them energetic and highly skilled in combat. At first glance at their arms and shoulders, he was shocked, wondering where his father had gotten these four strong men. As he thoughtfully stepped through the threshold, the four men, as if carved from the same mold, stepped forward in unison and bowed.

Because of the utterly confusing words in his father’s letter, Zhang Yue was unsure about these suddenly appearing servants. After ordering them to stand up, he sat down on the rosewood chair in the center of the flower hall and casually asked why they had followed his father. The four men exchanged glances for a moment, then a slightly thinner man stepped forward.

“Young master, we’re not new to serving the master. We’re considered old staff.”

Old staff? After staring at those four unfamiliar faces for a while, Zhang Yue was certain that even if his memory was poor and he couldn’t recall the names and faces of all the people in the Zhang family, he would at least be able to distinguish between new and old staff. Just as he was puzzled, the man bowed deeply again and quietly explained that he had served Yuan Fang for the past three years. With that explanation, Zhang Yue finally understood.

He still hasn’t returned the retainers borrowed from Liu Zhong; instead, they’re still out on errands. Having four more loyal and reliable newcomers is certainly a good thing. Yet upon closer inspection, everyone around him is either a lifelong servant of the Zhang family or someone borrowed by the British Governor’s office. These newcomers are at most his father’s confidants—there isn’t a single true ally among them. In the past, he couldn’t casually bring people around in Beijing or Nanjing, and upon arriving in Shandong, he was too busy to focus on this. Now, however, he must carefully select a few.

The first day of the lunar new year has always been a time for social interactions, especially for the Qingzhou government office, which had just found a new master. Although Zhang Yue stayed up late celebrating New Year’s Eve, he got up early the next day, washed up, changed clothes, and after breakfast, he first went to pay a visit to Governor Ling, then to Liu Meng’s house at the military headquarters. All these visitors were acquaintances, so it wouldn’t be proper to just leave after presenting gifts—he had to stay a while longer.

As soon as Zhang Yue left, Ling Xi instructed two of her attendants to welcome guests at the door, accept visiting cards and guest registers, and take care of the officials and wealthy families who came to pay New Year’s greetings. Since there weren’t many local relatives, only two tables were set up in the banquet hall, with charcoal braziers placed in the corners as a minimal preparation. This was originally meant to accommodate as many people as possible, but from early in the morning, countless people kept sending visiting cards and gifts.

The officials simply fulfilled their obligations with seasonal gifts, but the wealthy families in Qingzhou sent their own relatives and nephews to pay respects. Seeing so many gift-givers, Ling Xi sent someone to inquire, only to find out that Governor Ling’s place was also swamped with visitors, almost breaking down its threshold. Meanwhile, here, just in a short while, two tables were already not enough. With Zhang Yue absent, she didn’t dare make decisions on her own. After a moment’s thought, she went to the guest rooms to find Du Wan.

It was the first time Du Wan had stayed up late like last night. Waking up early in the morning, she still suffered from a hangover headache, so she instructed Chun Ying not to use hot water but to wash her face with well water directly. Only after washing her face three times with the icy water did she feel a bit more refreshed. She then put on a silver-red jiao cloth armor over her sandalwood-patterned jacket. Just as she finished getting ready, she heard Ling Xi calling from outside. She immediately told Chun Ying to lift the curtain. When the person came in and handed over the list of gifts, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“It seems my senior brother has quite a reputation in Qingzhou now. Otherwise, these important people would definitely have gone to flatter Governor Ling instead of coming here! Sister Ling Xi, are these all the visiting cards and gift lists sent by everyone?”

Seeing Lingxi nod, Du Wan took the stack of gift lists and began to go through them one by one. Coincidentally, several of them contained items of equal value—some pieces of bright red silk, exquisite porcelain, and gold and silver jewelry. She understood clearly that this was just following the established custom. After reviewing the last two lists, which were quite different, she looked up at Lingxi and realized they had been carefully selected by her. She couldn’t help but admire Lingxi’s sharpness.

Although they were guests, Lingxi had already heard Zhang Yue’s instructions and knew that Du Wan was acting on Du Zhen’s behalf, which was why she had come. Noticing that Du Wan had also noticed the two lists she had chosen, Lingxi smiled and said, “The rest are just like the old customs I heard about before, but these two are rather strange. The first one lists ‘one child.’ You know, these days, aside from close relatives, who would give slaves as gifts? But when I checked, it turned out to be silver figurines. The other one is donkey-hide gelatin, a specialty from Shandong, but when I opened it, instead of donkey-hide gelatin, there were pieces of gold foil inside.”

“Your senior brother has just been promoted, and someone has already sent such a generous gift!”

Du Wan had only assumed there was something strange, but she never expected it to be this extravagant. She was instantly shocked. Lingxi waved her hand dismissively and added, “This is just one example of extravagant gifts. There are also odd people who send an empty gift list and then sit in the banquet hall to enjoy the meal. If they hadn’t left, I would have thought they were here to take advantage of others. I used to think I had seen a lot of people, but it seems I was just an ignorant frog in a well. Who would have thought there are so many strange people in the world!”

“Miss Du, is Miss Lingxi here?”

As the two were talking, someone called out from outside. Du Wan quickly ordered Chunying to go and find out what was going on. Soon, Chunying returned in a hurry and said, “Miss, Sister Lingxi, Aunt Cui outside says someone else has sent a gift, claiming it’s from the Han Prince’s Mansion. Since the young master isn’t here, it would be impolite for anyone else to receive it, so Aunt Cui came to ask for your guidance.”

The Han Prince’s Mansion? Du Wan and Lingxi exchanged a glance, both thinking the same thing. Could it be that the Han Prince was determined not to give up because Zhang Yue was Zhang Fu’s nephew? At this moment, Du Wan naturally couldn’t step in, and Lingxi didn’t dare delay. She put the gift lists on a table and hurriedly went outside. When she reached the door, she saw that there were eight people from the Han Prince’s Mansion, and the gifts filled an entire cart. Even though she was used to various gift-givers, she was still stunned.

As the cart full of gifts arrived, not only did the guests already sitting in the banquet hall come out to see what was happening, but even those who had come to pay respects to the prefect quietly slipped out to peek. When the Prince of Han was stationed in Qingzhou Prefecture, the local people suffered greatly, and to this day, his infamous reputation is still enough to stop children from crying at night. Officials in Qingzhou Prefecture were forced to send gifts to the Prince of Han’s mansion, yet it was unheard of for the Prince’s mansion to return gifts to any official, let alone such a large quantity.

Receiving the thick list of gifts, Lingxi struggled to resist the urge to open it immediately. She explained that Zhang Yue, who had gone out to visit guests, was not around at the moment, and invited the leading officer and the soldiers escorting the gifts to rest and eat in the banquet hall. However, in front of all the onlookers, the leading officer firmly shook his head.

“The Prince of Han ordered that once the gifts are delivered, they must leave without staying. If Lord Zhang returns, please tell him to visit the Prince of Han’s mansion in Le’an on the third day of the month.”

Though it was just a casual remark, it had a profound impact on those around them. Many people curiously stared at the large black boxes and at Lingxi’s list of gifts, guessing what might be inside. Although Lingxi knew that spreading rumors would only make things more bizarre, opening the boxes in public was out of the question. She ordered someone to carry the items to the warehouse. After everything was stored and locked away, she held the list and went to find Du Wan again—this time truly at a loss for what to do.

Zhang Yue didn’t return until after noon. As his carriage turned into the alley in front of the government office, he saw a bustling scene with endless traffic. Upon entering his own mansion and hearing from his attendants, and seeing the guests in the banquet hall from afar, he immediately had an idea of the situation. It wasn’t until he learned that the Prince of Han had sent a cart full of gifts that he truly started to worry.

What was the Prince of Han, Zhu Gaoxu, doing? Was he not satisfied with tormenting his uncle Zhang Xin enough and now trying to kill him as well?

For a moment, he blamed Zhu Di’s earlier order. If it weren’t for Zhang Qian taking him to the Prince of Han’s mansion, Zhu Gaoxu might not have paid attention to such an insignificant person. Taking a deep breath, he walked straight in. When he entered the main gate and encountered Lingxi, who rushed out to greet him, he asked in a stern voice, “What gifts has the Prince of Han sent?”

“A bushel of pearls from the South Sea, a box containing five gold bricks weighing 200 taels. In addition, there’s python silk, Lu silk, and Hangzhou silk. In short, just from the items listed on the gift list, their value is no less than 5,000 taels of silver.”

Seeing Zhang Yue gasp in shock, Lingxi softly explained, “I heard that when the old master was on good terms with the King of Han back then, the King would often send generous gifts during festivals, though not as much as what the young master is receiving now. It’s probably meant to appease him, considering what happened before. Also, among the guests drinking in the banquet hall, two from Zhucheng sent generous gifts, while another arrived with empty hands and waited there calmly, showing great patience.”