Marrying a treacherous official

On the day the Cui family hosted a banquet for the officials' wives, Granny Kong styled Yunji's hair into a high bun and adorned it with pearl and jeweled hairpins, making her appear especially elegant and graceful.

Yunji went out wearing a light purple robe with a lotus flower pattern and a high collar. When she reached the entrance of the back garden, she was stopped by Granny Tong who was coming from the opposite direction.

"I hope the First Madam is well."

Granny Tong greeted her with a smile and said, "Madam Hou is too busy in the back garden to come here. She would like the First Madam to go to the Buddhist hall and invite the Old Madam to the banquet."

Yunji narrowed her eyes, sensing that there must be something fishy behind this unusual behavior.

"Did Mother prepare such a grand feast without personally inviting Grandmother beforehand?"

"Madam Hou is busy with both entertaining guests and raising funds for charity, so she must have forgotten about the old lady's matter."

Granny Tong said with a fawning smile, "Fortunately, the First Madam is here, so she can go and invite the Old Madam."

Yunji sensed that Madam You was deliberately trying to get rid of her, but she didn't know why for the time being.

"With the Lady of the Emperor already present, it would be extremely impolite to invite the Grandmother as well."

"So, according to the First Madam, we won't go and invite the Old Madam?"

Granny Tong had planned everything. If she didn't go, she would pin the blame for being unfilial on her. "In short, the Lady of the Marquis's intention is that the Old Madam must be invited."

Yunji was forced to make this trip. "Please ask the old woman to go back and tell my mother that whether my grandmother comes or not, please be prepared to apologize to her."

She turned and walked out, leading Granny Kong to the Buddhist hall.

The old woman who came to open the door was greatly shocked when she heard the purpose of their visit:

"Madam Hou came to the Buddhist hall the day before yesterday to invite the Old Madam to a banquet, but the Old Madam, devoted to Buddhism, politely declined. Why then did Madam Hou send the First Madam to invite her?"

"Perhaps the old woman relayed the wrong message."

Yunji lowered her head thoughtfully. Now she could conclude that Madam You had deliberately sent her away.

Now that she had arrived at the entrance of the Buddhist hall, she had no choice but to go in and pay her respects to Madam Cui. "Please ask the nanny to inform her that I am going in to see my grandmother."

The old nanny, being a wise and understanding woman, could easily see that she had been tricked. She smiled kindly and said:

"When the old lady is worshipping Buddha, she is completely focused and will not tolerate any disturbance. Please go back first, and come to pay your respects to the old lady on the first and fifteenth of the month."

After thanking the old nanny, Yunji left the Buddhist hall.

By the time she entered the back garden, the tea party had already ended, and all the officials' wives had gone to the flower hall for a banquet.

She could no longer chat and reminisce with the officials' wives or cultivate relationships with them.

A long banquet was set up in the flower hall, where the ladies of each family sat side by side, chatting and gossiping.

Yun Ji sat down next to Madam Gu, and before she could speak, Madam Gu whispered in her ear:

"Miss Cui has just made a splash, which has really made the ladies look at her in a new light."

"What's the big deal?"

"She took the initiative to step forward and called on the ladies to raise funds for disaster relief for the refugees at Yanzhen Temple."

"How so?"

Madam Gu's impression of Cui Lizhu changed drastically, and she praised her lavishly during their conversation:

"That day, Miss Cui was riding in a carriage through the Imperial Street when she encountered a woman begging for food. Upon hearing about the woman's tragic journey north to beg after suffering a disaster, Miss Cui was deeply moved and sent her nanny to deliver three days' worth of dry rations to the kneeling refugee."

"Later, when we sent people to inquire, we learned that the refugees had stayed overnight at Yanzhen Nunnery. It was Master Xuanzhen who kindly took them in. However, the nun had run out of money, so Miss Cui thought of raising funds to provide disaster relief for the refugees."

Yunji finally understood why Madam You had sent her away.

Originally, it was thought that Madam You insisted on organizing this grand banquet in order to take the opportunity to get closer to Abbess Xuanzhen.

Unexpectedly, she applied what had happened to her to Cui Lizhu, thus gaining a good reputation among the officials' wives.

Yunji tolerated You Shi time and time again, thinking that as long as the funds were raised, what did it matter if she suffered some oppression?

But what she got in return was Choi Yeo-joo stepping on her head, which she could not tolerate.

The wives of the officials chatted happily during the banquet.

After the banquet was cleared away, Madam Li asked Cui Lizhu:

"Miss Cui went to Yanzhen Nunnery and visited Abbess Xuanzhen. She must know what the abbess needs most right now."

"Replying to Madam Li, what the nun lacks most is food and charcoal."

Choi Yeo-joo gracefully paid her respects to Madam Li and spoke frankly with a smile.

Madam Li then asked, "How much grain are you short, and how much charcoal are you short?"

Cui Lizhu glanced back at Madam You, her expression slightly tense, and replied, "Roughly estimated, the daily cost of grain and charcoal is more than twenty taels of silver."

She didn't care about the lives of the refugees; she only cared about whether she could win the favor of the official's wife. She didn't bother to remember the long list of numbers that Granny Tong had given her, and only vaguely remembered an approximate number.

Lady Li's husband was the Minister of Revenue. As the wife of a high-ranking official who controlled the imperial treasury, she had been with him for many years and had learned his temperament regarding accounting. She was quite dissatisfied with the generalized explanations.

"How much money does Miss Cui plan to raise for this disaster relief?"

"Ladies should donate according to their own wishes; the more the better."

Choi Yeo-joo spoke humbly, which drew murmurs from the guests.

Seeing that things were not going well, Madam You smiled and stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Zhu'er is not yet of marriageable age and is still a bit inexperienced in managing the household. Please forgive her if she said anything wrong."

"Mother, the questions Madam Li asked are exactly what I was worried about."

Yunji rose from her seat, smiled as she looked at the ladies present, and began to speak eloquently:

"Therefore, I did some calculations that can give Mrs. Li a clear answer."

She did all this for one purpose: to give those dying refugees a way to survive. She had gone through every single account in her mind countless times, and she could recite them by heart.

"Master Xuanzhen distributed porridge to relieve more than 4,000 refugees, with each person receiving three he of rice per meal, two meals a day, mixed with wheat flour and wild vegetables, requiring about 15 shi of grain per day."

"The main hall of Yanzhen Temple shelters nearly 700 refugees. Just for heating the kang (heated brick bed), cooking porridge and boiling water, it takes more than 100 catties of firewood, and about 10 catties of charcoal is needed for heating in various corners of the inner hall."

"In addition, we need two taels of silver to purchase medicine, bedding, and other necessities. Based on the current skyrocketing grain prices in the market, let's take 300 cash per dou of rice as an example—"

After doing the mental calculations, she bluntly stated:

"Yanzhen Temple provides relief to refugees at a cost of 48 taels of silver per day. The relief will last for at least three months, from winter to spring, which is 4,320 taels of silver. And this is only enough to help more than 4,000 people. The total number of refugees affected by the disaster around Shengjing is no less than 20,000."

Master Xuanzhen was invited to the Cui residence as a guest. Standing outside the flower hall, she saw those familiar phoenix eyes and heard those captivating words. She clasped her hands together and murmured:

"May Buddha have mercy."