Chapter 434 - 238 Test_2
Last year, Lady Wu had spent silver to send someone to Quanzhou Province in search of her brother. Half a year later, the person returned and reported that Lady Wu’s brother had followed a county magistrate surnamed Sun, who had moved to a prefecture in Jiaodong called Zaozhou, to serve as a magistrate several years ago. Her brother, as Sir Sun’s Old Master, had also gone to Zaozhou.
Lady Wu had a very close relationship with her brother, and even if the sibling affection had been less strong, her parents still lived with her brother. Qian Sangui and Lady Wu couldn’t fathom why her brother would ignore his only sister for over a decade and why her parents would neglect their only daughter as well.
Qian Hua would be traveling to Capital City in the middle of this month, and Capital City wasn’t too far from Jiaodong. Qian Sangui instructed Qian Hua to take some time to visit Zaozhou and make sure to find out the whereabouts of Lady Wu’s brother.
After the people from the outer courtyard had their fill of food and drink, they gradually left for their homes. Before Wong Shoushi and his eldest son Wong Furen departed, Old man Cai, following Qian Sangui’s order, returned the half cart of gifts and a hundred ingots of silver that the Wong family had brought.
Wong Shoushi’s face turned red as he said, "We are all relatives, why does Landlord Qian accept everyone else’s congratulatory gifts, but refuses mine?"
Old man Cai replied, "This is the order of our lord and lady, they say they have accepted the kindness of Old Wong, but the gifts should please be taken back."
Left with no choice but to walk away embarrassed, the Wongs fled, still red-faced and laden with their returned belongings.
This greatly upset Lady Tang who was standing aside. On the way back, she grumbled to Old man Qian, "Third Uncle’s family lives well, but we poor relatives have a hard life. Why didn’t he accept those gifts and show some generosity to us? Clearly, Third Uncle has no place in his heart for his brothers and nephews..."
Old man Qian cursed, "Nonsense, my grandson holds a high official post. If Sangui had accepted such large gifts, it would be considered a bribe, which is punishable by beheading."
Old woman Qian, supported by Lady Xu, was walking by their side and, overhearing this, also scolded, "You home-wrecking wench, you’ve ruined your own house, and now you want to ruin my third son’s too? Not if I can help it."
As she spoke, she again tried to strike someone with her crutch, but Qian Manhe hurried over to pull Lady Tang away. They had gone a considerable distance yet the sound of Qian Manhe scolding Lady Tang could still be heard.
Old man Qian then started berating Qian Ergui, who was following behind.