Chapter Fourteen: When the Big One Won't Work, Take Aim at the Small One

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Lady Zhu Jia returned home and entered the main hall, then slammed her palm onto the table.

She was plainly furious.

Seizing the opportunity, Zhu Wanjian fanned the flames. “That woman must have been bewitched by someone. She keeps defying the family again and again, even though Mother has made her wishes perfectly clear. She remains stubbornly obstinate. And those people doing business with her—we must find out who returned the money to her in time and make sure they can no longer establish themselves in Anlu!”

Lady Zhu Jia glared at him. “If you were not so utterly incapable of accomplishing anything and so adept at ruining everything, would matters have come to this?”

“Mother, how can you blame me for this? The rules were yours. How could I have known she would manage to raise more than forty taels of silver in such a short time? Mother, why not investigate whether she has… a lover behind her? Someone secretly supporting her?”

Zhu Wanjian’s eyes rolled restlessly as he once again schemed and plotted.

Lady Zhu Jia sneered. “What difference does it make whether she has one or not? If she truly does, are you planning to spread the news everywhere and bring shame upon the Zhu family?”

Zhu Wanjian fell silent, disgruntled and unable to think of a reply.

Lady Zhu Jia continued, “They want to show their faces in public, do they? Then let them keep running that rice shop. The larger ones may be difficult to deal with, so we will find a way to start with the smaller one… If we persist long enough, are you afraid we will not find an opening?”

“Mother? You mean we should look for a breakthrough through little Hao?”

Zhu Wanjian looked utterly bewildered.

Lady Zhu Jia could not be bothered to explain.

She had originally placed great hopes in her second son, but after this incident, she had become completely disappointed in Zhu Wanjian.

…

…

Madam Zhu’s rice shop enjoyed a brief period of peace.

For several days in a row, although the shop had scarcely any business, at least no one came to make trouble, and no one pestered them to surrender the shop.

That day, Zhu Hao went out of the city with Uncle Zhong and the others to search for new salt fields. He then instructed the farmers who had signed contracts with them on how to construct their salt-drying plots. After working through half the day, he returned to find Madam Zhu and Concubine Li sitting together, discussing something. Their expressions were difficult to read—neither sorrowful nor joyful.

“Mother, is something wrong?”

Zhu Hao sensed that matters were not looking good.

Madam Zhu said, “Steward Liu came here earlier and conveyed your grandmother’s message.”

Zhu Hao immediately understood. With a sigh, he said, “That old lady has far too great a need for control. She insists on having a hand in everything at home, as though the heavens would collapse without her… She has not set another trap for us, has she?”

Concubine Li hurriedly said, “Young Master Hao, you must not speak of the Old Madam that way. If she were to hear you…”

“Heh-heh. If Auntie does not tell her, do you think Mother will?” Zhu Hao said with a grin.

His assessment of Lady Zhu Jia came straight from the heart.

That old woman…

She was truly overbearing beyond compare.

Madam Zhu remained composed. “This time, your grandmother sent someone to deliver a message. In essence, she wants you to return to the Zhu family. The tutor at the family school will teach you there, and you can begin your studies… This is a good thing!”

Zhu Hao stared at her.

Would the old lady really be so kind as to let him study?

“Mother, is it not obvious? She knows that she cannot deal with us for the moment, so she wants to trick me into returning and hold me hostage, forcing you to submit!”

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Zhu Hao’s words gave Madam Zhu a tremendous fright. A moment later, she scolded him, “Little Hao, you are becoming more and more insolent. How can you say such things? You are a member of the Zhu family to begin with. Returning to the estate outside the city to study… there is nothing unreasonable about it! You are already eight by reckoning, yet you have not even begun your education. Your mother has failed you. For the past few years, I have always said I would hire a tutor for you, but tutors are not people we can afford so easily…”

Seeing the earnest hopes his mother placed in him, Zhu Hao did not argue. Instead, he asked, “Mother, did Steward Liu say what punishment there would be if you refused?”

Madam Zhu thought for a moment, then suddenly looked a little desolate. “Steward Liu said that our Zhu family is a household of military merit. Your father was a Hundred-Household Commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard and sacrificed his life for the country. If you do not wish to study, you may instead learn martial arts. There will be dedicated instructors to teach you, and strengthening your body will be no problem. When you grow up, you may even inherit your father’s military post.”

These words “frightened” Zhu Hao.

It was not that he lacked ambition, nor that he did not want to exercise.

But if the Zhu family dragged him back and made him train through the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer, the experience would be “so delightful” it would be explosive.

With his seven-year-old body, he would be made to suffer and toughen himself day after day until adulthood. Leaving aside the hardship, if his nutrition fell short, he would be trained into a sickly weakling.

There was a saying: literary study is for the poor, while martial training is for the rich. The investment required for martial cultivation was beyond ordinary people’s imagination. Given the tense relationship between him, his mother, and the rest of the family, would the old lady really spend a fortune on his martial training out of the goodness of her heart?

Zhu Hao asked, “Mother, would you rather I study or learn martial arts?”

Madam Zhu glanced at Concubine Li, who lowered her head and clearly had no wish to express an opinion.

“Mother hopes you will study and pursue the civil examinations. Though military households in Great Ming inherit their status from generation to generation, you can still make your mark through the civil examinations. But rising to the heavens in a single step is not easy; ten years of hard study may be the least you can expect. On the other hand, if you learn martial arts… inheriting your father’s post as a Hundred-Household Commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard after reaching adulthood would also be a path forward.”

“Your grandmother’s message invoked the story of Mencius’s mother moving three times. She said that if you continued doing business in public with us here, you would sooner or later become a peddler or common laborer, and that would not accord with your late father’s hopes for you.”

Madam Zhu held great expectations for her son, but she also knew how difficult the road of the civil examinations was—a narrow bridge crossed by countless competing armies.

As for martial training, the Zhu family itself was a hereditary household of Embroidered Uniform Guards. With the halo of his deceased father, a fallen hero, surrounding him, Zhu Hao might perhaps accomplish something in officialdom.

Zhu Hao said, “Whether I study or learn martial arts, once I enter the Zhu family, I will never be allowed to leave. At that point, Mother will have no choice but to swallow her anger and surrender the land and houses.”

Madam Zhu fell silent.

In truth, she had considered this possibility before.

She had only just fallen out with her husband’s family. Would Lady Zhu Jia really be kind enough to let her son return home to study?

There had to be a scheme behind it.

Madam Zhu was simply too honest by nature. She preferred to assume the best of others. Now that her son had pointed it out, a moment’s thought was enough for her to realize that once he returned to the Zhu family, even seeing him again would become difficult.

“Mother, I want to study, but I will not return to the Zhu family to do so. We will soon be earning money. When the time comes, send me to an ordinary private school. I can study alongside other children.”

Zhu Hao revealed his plan.

Concubine Li suddenly interrupted, “But… what if we refuse and the Zhu family comes to take him by force? Young Master Hao is, after all, a young master of the Zhu family.”

As for the land and houses, Madam Zhu could claim that they were her husband’s inheritance and do everything in her power to protect them.

But now the Zhu family was calling back its legitimate grandson to study or learn martial arts. Whether he pursued the civil or military examinations, they had the authority to do so. She had no right to refuse.

“Mother, Auntie, do not worry. I believe they will not come to seize me by force before the end of the month,” Zhu Hao analyzed.

Madam Zhu was puzzled. “How do you know?”

Zhu Hao smiled. “Mother, think about it. They have now left us with no business to conduct, so they will certainly wait to see how we respond. If we cannot come up with the required contribution by the end of the month, we will have no choice but to obediently surrender the land and houses and return to the Zhu family. Would they still need to drag me away to study or learn martial arts as a hostage?”

“Only if money continues to flow from your side into the Zhu family’s coffers will they have any leverage over me and be able to use me to threaten you.”

Madam Zhu could not help clicking her tongue at his words.

Without examining the matter carefully, no one would have realized that there were so many details hidden within it.

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“Little Hao, how… how did you think of all that?” Madam Zhu asked in astonishment.

Her son’s mind worked in a truly extraordinary way. Even with all her years of experience dealing with people and affairs, Madam Zhu had never considered so much.

Zhu Hao grinned, revealing two rows of pearly white teeth. “Mother, did I not say it before? The children of poor families mature early. Father is gone, so from now on I am the man of this household. I will stand tall and protect all of you!”

Though Madam Zhu felt that her son had grown far too quickly, she had no way to explain everything happening before her. She shook her head, pulled him close, and gently patted his back, wanting to comfort him properly—only to find that she had nothing to say.

As a mother, she naturally wanted to protect her son, but she felt that her own strength was far too feeble.

…

…

Just as Zhu Hao had expected.

If the Zhu family had truly wished to help Zhu Hao “make something of himself,” they would not merely have sent a steward to deliver a preliminary warning. They would have come to take him away directly.

The reason they had not demanded him at once was indeed that the old lady believed Madam Zhu would, in all likelihood, be unable to produce forty taels of silver for the family by the end of the month.

Since that was the case, they might as well wait another month and see how the rice shop developed.

Because Lady Zhu Jia had come to the shop to cause trouble, very few customers dared risk offending the Embroidered Uniform Guard by entering to buy anything. Even long-standing customers who had patronized the shop for years now passed by without entering.

They paid lip service to their support, but when official retaliation was involved, why would anyone invite such trouble for no reason?

As for the cooperation agreements previously signed with inns and restaurants throughout the city, every one of them had been canceled. Their explanation was simple enough:

“You have offended the authorities, and you have also antagonized your own clan. We do not want to invite trouble. So please do not come here again to promote your goods. Even if your salt is excellent, it will improve the flavor of our dishes only marginally. It is not worth bringing down the combined pressure of the authorities and the Zhu family upon us.”

Only Madam Zhu and her son knew that their business was progressing smoothly.

Several days passed.

Madam Zhu began contacting tutors in the city, hoping to find her son a teacher before the end of June. That way, the Zhu family would have no excuse to take the child away.

You see? I have already found a tutor to teach my child. We do not need your “kindness.”

Zhu Hao watched his mother neglect even the business. She clearly had no money on hand and still owed Master Su a debt, yet she refused to give up. A wave of heartache swept over him.

“My mother truly cannot see the situation clearly. Even if she finds a tutor for me, the Zhu family will still have a reason to take me away… But since the Zhu family already regards me as an important piece on the board, I have no choice but to take an unexpected path!”

Zhu Hao racked his brains for a solution.

As long as he continued running the rice shop with his mother, the Zhu family would be unable to deal with Madam Zhu directly and would do everything in its power to take him away.

Whether it was the authorities, the village elders, the neighborhood elders, or public opinion, all of them would surely support bringing him back to study or learn martial arts.

Unless…

He had a reason he could not return to the Zhu family.

A bold plan took shape in Zhu Hao’s mind. He had thought of it before, but because he had only recently arrived, he had not put it into practice. Now, however, if he did not implement it soon, the Zhu family would gain control of him, and he might well lose all freedom and spend the rest of his days in darkness.

“I have to find a way to get into Prince Xing’s residence. Only then will the Zhu family have no reason to take me back.”

“But the threshold of Prince Xing’s residence is far too high. Getting in through legitimate and lawful means will not be easy. What a headache…”