Chapter 18: Buddhist Gu (6)

The sudden appearance of the old butler pulled Wu Siwei out of his deep thoughts. He replied repeatedly, “Ah, I’ll go right away, right away.”
Over the years working at the Wu family’s manor, Wu Siwei had long understood the masters’ mindset. What was a birthday banquet but a way to maintain face? Such an opportunity came but a few times a year, and one must not let it undermine the reputation of the Wu family of Jianghuai—otherwise, it would be a grave disgrace.
Though he disdained it in his heart, Wu Siwei still left the kitchen, locked the door, and rushed toward a small courtyard facing west。……
Today was the 80th birthday of the Wu family’s patriarch, and he had invited prominent figures from all walks of life in Jiangdu to gather at the manor. Such a grand occasion naturally required significant investment.
Although the Wu family was not among the most influential in Jianghuai, they were still a distinguished family with a history of a hundred years. If one were to distinguish between noble families and commoners, noble families placed great emphasis on appearances, often valuing face above everything else.
For a wealthy family like the Wu’s, hosting a birthday banquet meant that just the dishes laid out on the dining table would be enough for an ordinary peasant family to eat for over a decade.
And how was face maintained? Naturally through food, clothing, and other necessities. Food is the foundation of life; whether the guests had a good time was secondary. If they could praise the host’s banquet, then the face of the birthday banquet would be secured.
The Wu family’s eldest son was the eldest grandson of the family and was deeply loved by everyone in the Wu household. The patriarch especially favored this precious grandson and even designated him as the next head of the family.
However, the current head of the family, Wu Weixian, did not share this view. Though he liked his son too, he believed he was too scheming, always hiding things, and overly cruel and ungrateful—unsuitable to be the head of the family.
This led to a significant disagreement between him and the patriarch, even resulting in reprimands from the latter. Yet he would not change his decision. If the Wu family were handed over to this son, it would surely become a domineering clan that bullied the weak, ruining the good reputation passed down through generations!
To gain the patriarch’s support and turn the situation around, the eldest son racked his brains to please the patriarch, hoping he could pressure his grandfather to change his mind.
This 80th birthday celebration was orchestrated by the eldest son.
Filial piety comes first for ordinary people—elderly in ordinary families would eat longevity noodles to celebrate reaching an advanced age, let alone a distinguished family like the Wu’s?

A birthday banquet must be held, but the way it is organized and its scale can have vastly different external impacts. Wu Weixian originally intended to invite some relatives from his clan and some elderly people close to the Wu family to celebrate. This way, it would not tarnish the old master’s reputation nor be overly extravagant to the point of being annoying.

Unfortunately, the eldest son refused to give up easily. Under his instigation, the old master also began to resent him, thinking his son was deliberately neglecting him. He even summoned Wu Weixian to the warm pavilion on the east side to confront him directly.

Realizing he had been labeled as unfilial, Wu Weixian dared not argue further on this matter. He immediately apologized to the old master and promised to hold a splendid birthday banquet.

Wu Weixian was furious after being tricked by his own son, but he couldn’t express it, so he had to swallow his anger.

“Fugui, has there been any activity around Qi’an recently?”
Wu Weixian asked his servant, eyes closed as he rubbed the Buddhist beads in his hand.

The man named Fugui had been Wu Weixian’s tutor in his youth and was now the second butler of the Wu household. He nodded and replied, “Master, the eldest son has been quite proper. He just writes poems with other scholars who passed the imperial examinations and goes out for walks.”

“Hmph. I never thought he’d seem so well-behaved. This time, he’s acting quite convincingly!”
Wu Weixian suddenly opened his eyes and sneered coldly.

“Have someone keep an eye on him. Report any unusual activity immediately.”
Wu Weixian’s voice was icy cold, sending chills down everyone’s spine.

Wu Fugui trembled slightly and sighed, “Master, it’s not that Fugui is being presumptuous, but the eldest son really isn’t as you think. Why, why won’t you give him a chance?”

Normally, he shouldn’t have said such things. Although the master treated him like a brother, he couldn’t ignore their differing statuses. Even though he wore fine brocades and silks and had servants at his disposal, his status was still worlds apart from that of the master.

There was an invisible wall between them, mercilessly separating them. As he grew older, he could feel that wall more clearly. Whenever the master tried to talk to him in a casual manner, that wall would press down mercilessly with immense force. He couldn’t bear that pressure. He preferred to remain humble, watching over the master from afar, just as he had done for decades.

But this time he could no longer remain silent—the master and the young master had reached a point of utter hostility. If things continued like this, he really couldn’t imagine what would happen.
“You’re still defending that wayward son!”
Wu Weixian was furious. Pointing at Wu Fugui’s nose, he snapped, “Does that wayward son still have any sense of respect or propriety? Does he even consider me his grandfather? If I don’t keep an eye on him, sooner or later he’ll kill me!”
“Cough, cough… cough…”
Wu Weixian’s chest heaved violently, like an inflated raft; his cheeks were red and hot from anger, looking terrifying from afar.
“Master, Fugui was just being rude. Please don’t get angry!”
Wu Fugui didn’t dare say another word. He quickly stepped forward and began patting Wu Weixian’s back.
“Don’t you think I’d like to sit down and talk to him properly? But at this point, it’s completely impossible between us.”
Wu Weixian shook his head with a bitter smile, bearing the loneliness of that moment alone…
After fetching the cured meat from the storage room, Wu Siwei locked the wooden door carefully.
It was noon, and the other kitchen staff had gone to the courtyard across the way to take a nap. There was no one else in the kitchen but him.
He glanced around cautiously, took a deep breath, and took out a small paper packet from his cloth pocket. Then he swiftly chopped the cured meat into small pieces with a kitchen knife and threw them into an enamel bowl.
“You just need to mix this into the meat. Anyone who eats this meat will be blessed by the Great Buddha!”
Wu Siwei remembered the words spoken to him by that Tibetan Buddhist monk in black robes, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Thinking that he would now accumulate great merit, Wu Siwei felt overjoyed.
“Amitabha, Amitabha! Do more good deeds—good deeds bring good rewards!”
Wu Siwei clasped his hands together in reverence and quickly threw the meat mixed with grayish medicinal powder into the iron pot.