Chapter 228: Finding Joy in Sorrow, Facing the Future with a Smile

Throughout history, there have been many famous strategists and many famous monks. Yet, perhaps only one monk who was both famous as a strategist and a monk has been renowned through the ages—that was the old monk who had just passed away at Qingshou Temple, Monk Daoyan, Yao Guangxiao. He inspired and assisted a regional prince to launch a rebellion that swept across the Central Plains. He gave wise counsel with great authority, but after achieving success, he desired neither wealth nor beauties, nor even official positions. He never interfered in state affairs and thus met a peaceful end.

Zhang Yue had met Monk Daoyan only once, when the latter was already an extremely old monk. It was hard to imagine his former glory, yet his words still carried the sharpness of his past. Seeing Du Wan frozen in shock and Xiao Wu’s eyes red with tears, he felt a genuine sense of sorrow—at least, a legendary figure was no longer among them.

Daoyan had not only sent Xiao Wu a letter but also a chessboard that had accompanied him most of his life, two boxes of black and white chess pieces, along with a tattered chess manual. Du Wan, who loved chess, was deeply moved by these items. After putting them away, he said he wanted to spend some time in the east wing room in quiet reflection, while Xiao Wu continued to sob in the main room, his tears falling like beads from a broken string.

“The old monk muttered before passing away that smart people in this world can’t bear loneliness, but at least they should endure it. He finally got his chance in old age; at least he didn’t live in vain.”

“He also said that although his sister and those old friends refused to see him, he had no regrets.”

“The emperor personally visited him and, after listening to him, released a monk. By the time I left, the emperor had posthumously honored the old monk as the Duke of Rongguo and generously rewarded his nephew. The old monk left me a piece of jade, saying it was to thank me for taking care of him for so many years… Ugh, if it weren’t for him, I would have starved to death. Why did he have to die so early…”

Seeing Xiao Wu crying uncontrollably, Zhang Yue quickly gave Lingxi a signal, asking her to pass him a handkerchief. Xiao Wu, still crying bitterly, took it and wiped his face without care, then wiped his nose vigorously. When he raised his head again, his eyes were swollen like walnuts, and his face was covered in tears. Seeing this, Lingxi ordered a maid to bring cold water and personally wrung out a towel to give to him.

After crying her heart out, Xiao Wu looked around and then remembered that she had first found the government office and was then brought here by Hu Bo. But what place was this? Remembering that the young lady had gone inside after receiving the items and never come out, while she had sat there crying foolishly for so long, her face turned slightly red as she asked Zhang Yue, “How did the young lady end up here?”
Zhang Yue recalled that he had clearly told Du Zhen about the Meng family, and his expression immediately became somewhat complicated. “Didn’t Mr. Du tell you when you came?”
“I went straight to the government office in Jinan. At that time, I was crying so hard I couldn’t speak. The master happened to be in a nearby county, and the mistress didn’t want to delay. She arranged a carriage and ordered someone to bring me here. How could there be time to talk about anything else?”
Xiao Wu looked around and found that several maids around her were strangers, including a sweet-looking noblewoman, which made her even more puzzled. If Du Zhen and his wife were in Jinan Prefecture, how could the young lady have ended up in Qingzhou Prefecture?
With such a noisy maid suddenly appearing in the Meng family, Zhang Yue was quite worried. It wasn’t until half an hour later when Du Wan, with slightly red eyes from crying, opened the door that he finally breathed a sigh of relief. With Du Wan around to watch, he wasn’t afraid that this little maid would cause further trouble in the already chaotic Meng family. Concerned that the evening meeting was about to start, he didn’t have time to say much comforting words and hurried back to the government office.
Spring in the south was characterized by continuous rain, but in the north, spring rain was as precious as oil. Although thunder had rumbled earlier, it hadn’t rained since March, and now many areas were facing drought. Although Shandong had many rivers and streams, it was difficult to obtain water for those far from them, leading to fights over water channels in several villages. During that day’s meeting, Yi Du County, Le An County, Shou Guang County, Zhu Cheng County, and An Qiu County all reported similar cases. After discussing it, the prefect and his subordinates decided that, aside from Ling Hua staying behind, they would go to each county the next day to investigate, lest civil unrest break out.
For officials in the Ming Dynasty, natural disasters were the worst fear, as reporting them would inevitably affect their evaluations. But if they dared to hide such incidents, they would face severe punishment rather than minor one. In cases of floods, droughts, or plagues, the provincial administration could first provide relief before reporting, which could be considered a act of benevolent governance. Yet even benevolent governance required officials to be willing and capable of implementing it—otherwise, it was useless if they just sat idly by.

Since drought and fights had occurred in all five counties, Zhang Yue, as the acting magistrate, along with the two deputy magistrates, had to go and check things out. After making the arrangements, he returned to his office, hungry, and immediately ordered Cui’s family to bring food. He then stepped into the inner room at the front of the main building, sat cross-legged on the kang, and closed his eyes to rest.

Before long, Lingxi personally brought the food on a lacquered wooden tray—dinner consisted of a plate of dumplings and a dish of rice vinegar. Seeing this, Zhang Yue couldn’t help but lift his head and ask in surprise, “Is it dumpling day at home today?”

“Miss Meng saw that Xiao Wu had come and was worried that Miss Du would get upset thinking too much, so she brought the two of them and Chunying to make dumplings. It almost turned into a chaos in the kitchen.”

Thinking of what had happened in the Meng family’s kitchen, Lingxi couldn’t maintain her usual serious expression any longer and burst into laughter. “I and Qiuhen Hupo mixed the filling together. Since it was a rare occasion to make dumplings, everyone couldn’t have different meals, so we used more than ten or twenty pounds of meat—all of which I brought from the office. Now, it’s Miss Meng’s skill at making them; she refused to let me bring Miss Du’s dumplings.”

Hearing that making dumplings could cause such a fuss, Zhang Yue was both amused and puzzled. Seeing that the dumplings were evenly shaped, he picked one up, dipped it in some rice vinegar, and took a bite. The skin was thin, the filling abundant, and there was an indescribable freshness. He gave Lingxi a thumbs up and said with a smile, “I didn’t know you were also good at making fillings. It’s really good. By the way, send some over to Lord Ling. Since I often borrow meals from him, I should share the good stuff with him too.”

“You don’t need to tell me, young master. I’ve already sent them.”

Hearing Zhang Yue proudly emphasize borrowing meals, Lingxi couldn’t help but laugh. Watching him finish the entire plate of dumplings one by one, she thought of Du Wan’s masterpiece. Anyway, compared to Xiao Wu’s self-proclaimed “skillful” dumplings, Du Wan was at least competent. With these thoughts, she simply ignored the dishes and smiled, inviting Zhang Yue to go and see the excitement.

The four maids and two young masters in the Meng family had gone through tough times for over ten days. Hearing there would be dumplings to eat, they were naturally happy, and even the servants looked pleased. However, the two wives who used to manage the kitchen stood outside, listening to the noise coming from inside—the real chaos. They exchanged puzzled looks.

Had those young ladies broken all the pots and pans?

Du Wan and Xiao Wu Chunying were both from the south and were not familiar with making pasta-based dishes. Even if they wanted to try their best, they were at a loss. Kneading dough and rolling it out was particularly difficult for them. Du Wan was careful, but Xiao Wu ended up with flour all over her head and face. In the end, Hu Bo Qiu Hen took over, not wanting the two to continue doing it.

When it came to making dumplings, although Meng Min demonstrated several times, none of the dumplings Xiao Wu made could stand upright; they all lay flat in the plate and couldn’t get up. Many even required two sheets of dough to wrap the filling. Du Wan’s dumplings varied in size, and the evenly rolled dough wouldn’t stay in shape in her hands, leaving her flustered.

Meng Min could tolerate it at first, but eventually she couldn’t help but chuckle. Gradually, the chuckles turned into light laughter, and then into loud laughter. Since her father was imprisoned and her mother fell seriously ill, she had rarely shown joy. Hong Xiu, who was watching, was initially happy but soon felt a sting in her nose and turned away. Hearing the laughter, Xiao Wu, unwilling to give up, wiped her nose with her hand and became even more determined with the dough on the cutting board.

“Hmph! I’ve even learned something as hard as writing. I bet I can handle a piece of dough!”

When Zhang Yue entered the kitchen through the curtain, he heard Meng Min’s loud laughter. What he saw next was a group of girls making dumplings—Du Wan, with a red face, asking Hu Bo and Qiu Hen for advice, holding a plump dumpling in her hand; Meng Min, teaching Xiao Wu how to make dumplings stand upright, with a little flour on her forehead. Noticing that no one was looking, he coughed lightly.

Xiao Wu now thought that nothing in the world was harder than making dumplings. Seeing Zhang Yue’s smile, she thought he was gloating, so she shouted, “Why are you coughing? If you’re so good, make a dumpling and show me! If you can do it, I’ll… I’ll take you as my teacher!”

Meng Min, with a handkerchief on her head and an apron on, didn’t expect Zhang Yue to show up at this moment. She was about to say that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, but Du Wan quickly interjected, “Don’t laugh. If you try making dumplings, you might not even be as good as Xiao Wu… Huh…”

Under everyone’s gaze, Zhang Yue washed his hands in the basin nearby, dried them, picked up a piece of dough, added filling, and skillfully shaped it into a dumpling. Seeing the girls around him stunned, he smiled slightly and winked slyly at Xiao Wu. Then he washed his hands again and said to everyone with a smile:

“Looking at how much time you’ve spent to make just this much, you probably haven’t even had a bite yourselves, right? While it’s great to be busy and happy, those two wives outside must feel guilty. Let them do it instead; you should take a break too.”
Seeing Zhang Yue drive Meng Min and Du Wan out, Xiao Wu reluctantly went to wash his hands in anger. Qiu Hen couldn’t believe it and nudged Amber beside her with her elbow, “You and I have been with the young master for so many years—when did he learn how to make dumplings?”
Amber replied with a smile, “There’s probably much more we don’t know about the young master!”
Before long, the wives outside came in to take over. They finished making all the dumplings and cooked them in batches, ensuring everyone had enough to eat. Meng Min had the cooked dumplings served on plates and invited everyone to eat on the kang table in the main room. Xiao Wu, being greedy, ate a few too many and ended up burping nonstop. The others also forgot the rule of not talking while eating or sleeping, chatting about the interesting events of the day. Eventually, when they saw the flour stains on each other’s faces, they all burst into laughter.
Though there was no wine, and though everyone felt weighed down by uncertainty about the future, a sense of joy filled the air, making them enjoy themselves instinctively. Their laughter reached the main room, and Lady Wu felt deeply relieved upon hearing it—once they got through this period, everything would be fine!