Chapter 57: Rising and falling in mutual harmony, what a bustling and lively scene

"When has the eldest cousin ever lost her virtue?" Yunjiao interrupted her, her tone lacking its usual gentleness and instead carrying a rare, decisive firmness. "Given Shen Changdong's behavior, let alone the fact that the eldest cousin merely spoke with a man in a private room, even if she had truly committed adultery, he deserves it. It would be most satisfying to make him wear a cuckold's green hat."

"Yunjiao, you... you, where on earth did you learn such talk..." Ji Yaru was left gaping, so startled that she could hardly speak clearly. How could a young lady ever utter such words?

Having said this, Yunjiao immediately felt it was somewhat inappropriate, secretly blaming herself for giving in to a momentary slip of the tongue.

Besides, this maternal cousin, though born of a humble family, had been strictly disciplined by their fourth maternal aunt. As a result, all three siblings were law-abiding folk and naturally could not bear to listen to such vulgar language.

Yunjiao lowered her gaze, putting on an uneasy expression to cover up, and excused herself: "I just overheard others chatting about it..."

"Yunjiao, such language is spoken only by vulgar street folk, and only foul-mouthed, shrewish women would say such things. You are a young lady of a good family; henceforth, you must remember never to pick up such unrefined habits..." Ji Yaru pulled her close and earnestly admonished her.

Before she could finish, a wave of commotion was heard, mingled with the weeping and wailing of a woman, as if an argument had broken out in the front.

"What has happened?" Yunjiao looked toward the direction of the sound, filled with shock and uncertainty.

"Let's go and take a look." Ji Yaru also stood on tiptoe to peer ahead.

"Jianjia, come here!" Yunjiao called out in a loud voice.

As if granted a pardon, Jianjia hurriedly hurried over, trailing Hibiscus and Huang in a trot.

Following the direction of the noise, the group returned to the front hall.

There they saw Madam Ding standing at the front of the hall, weeping so hard her whole body was trembling, while Madam Zhou sat on the floor, pounding the ground with her fists. The two of them wailed in alternating and echoing cries, making quite a lively spectacle.

Madam Zhou, in particular, cried out curses as she wailed: "A thousand cuts upon you—don't rely on your height and strength—to bully a poor widow like me—you, oh you, you'll come to no good end—you'll soon be joining my dead old man as a companion—Your whole household—are going to die, old and young alike—dying from the youngest to the oldest—ah—"

Yunjiao frowned in disgust; Madam Zhou's words were utterly venomous.

No wonder people often said not to argue with a widow; when she started cursing like this, who could possibly endure it?

Their fourth maternal aunt, Qian Fangxiang, had a fiery temper and was practically beside herself with exasperation. Glaring at the two troublemakers before her, she repeated sharply, "Second Sister-in-law! Second Sister-in-law! What kind of act are you putting on? Tell me, what exactly do you want?"

Fourth Maternal Uncle Ji Rongshang stood in the hall with a face as dark as iron, standing before the table and glaring fiercely at the two women with wide-open eyes. His chest heaved slightly, and his left hand rested on the table, clenched into a tight fist, clearly showing he was furious.

He came from a background of martial practitioners, possessing a tall and sturdy build and upright features, yet his temperament was quite gentle and he rarely lost his temper.

Moreover, he doted endlessly on his wife and children, especially this pair of daughters. It was hardly an exaggeration to call them the apple of his eye. In the Great Yuan Dynasty, people universally regarded sons as the continuation of the family lineage, making his intense fondness for his daughters exceedingly rare.

Standing beside him was the second maternal uncle, Liu Zhuangyong, whose complexion did not look too good either. He muttered incessantly, "What terrible luck, whatever is this all about... Sigh, what kind of mess is this..."

The second maternal uncle was a petty businessman who traveled the streets selling small wares—charcoal in the winter, gourds in the summer, and occasionally dealing in vegetables. When times were truly hard and nothing else could be found, even collecting scrap metal was work he would do.

Because he was constantly running about outdoors year-round, his skin appeared somewhat weathered and dark, and he did not look as youthful as Ji Rongshang—though, naturally, part of that was simply because he was older.

Furthermore, within their village, he was also one of the ritual assistants for the dead, meaning he was intimately familiar with all the customs and rites surrounding funerals.

Aside from these men, there remained four other ritual assistants in the room. Keeping vigil over the spirit was their primary duty, which was why four of them would spend every night accompanying the grieving family members of the deceased.

Presumably, it had already been arranged that Ji Rongshang and Liu Zhuangyong would keep watch tonight.

"Father, what has happened?" Ji Yaru quickly stepped forward to ask.

Qian Fangxiang was already at the height of her fury. Catching sight of her daughter, she blazed with anger: "Get out of here, this is none of your business!"

"Mother..." Rebuked so sharply, tears instantly welled up in Ji Yaru's eyes.

"I told you to get out! Can't you understand?" Qian Fangxiang flew into an even greater rage.

"Why are you shouting at a child?" Ji Rongshang could no longer bear to watch. He spoke to Ji Yaru in a gentle tone: "Yaru, go and sleep with Jiao'er first. You don't need to trouble yourself with these petty matters."

Yunjiao hurriedly pulled Ji Yaru out through the doorway.

Ji Yaru looked at her with tear-filled eyes, about to speak, but Yunjiao motioned for her to hush. The two of them retreated into the shadows and strained their ears to listen.

They heard the second maternal uncle, Liu Zhuangyong, attempting to persuade them: "Second Sister-in-law, whatever you have to say, say it properly. Don't sit here leading a nonstop weeping chorus. We're all family; there's no need for this, and it doesn't sound good if word gets out."

The subtext was that there were outsiders present, and she ought to have some shame rather than making a spectacle for people to laugh at.

Madam Ding stopped crying and roared loudly, "What did I do wrong! Second Brother-in-law, you tell me if I was at fault! I merely spoke a joking word with my sister-in-law, and he acts like a mad dog ready to bite people!"

"Brother-in-law" was often addressed familiarly by women who had married into the family. Madam Ding, having married into the Qian family, addressed her husband's relatives similarly to her own children; this was both custom and a sign of closeness.

Liu Zhuangyong was clearly in a difficult position as well: "A joke is a joke, but... Yaru is still an unmarried maiden after all, some things cannot be spoken of blindly..."

"How did I speak blindly!" Madam Zhou instantly bounced up from the floor. "Even a joke can't be spoken! Ding catching-chicken, that niece of yours is truly precious!

So what if my Shijin is unworthy? He's not good enough for your gold-plated daughter! Mentioning a match between them is as if someone were demanding your old life!

You might as well keep her raised in your house for the rest of her days, and carve a meat coffin for her when she dies!"

*Bang!*

It was the heavy sound of a table being smashed.

"Old widow! You're still running your mouth!" Ji Rongshang roared angrily. "If my mother-in-law weren't still lying right here, I'd smash this teacup straight across your face!"

Then came the heavy thud of a teacup being slammed down onto the table.

According to custom, within forty-nine days after a person's passing, no household items could be shattered; otherwise, the paper ingots burned for the deceased would turn into mere copper coins in the netherworld, losing all their value.

"Go on and smash it, smash it!" Madam Zhou began making a scene again. "If you've got the guts, smash it! If you don't smash it today, you're no better than my spawn—"

"Yunjiao, what should we do!" Ji Yaru was frantic with panic, gripping the sleeve of Yunjiao's dress tightly.

How could Yunjiao fail to understand by this point?

What she had guessed during the day was correct: Madam Zhou had fallen out with her, and had now set her sights on Ji Yaru to be her granddaughter-in-law.

A moment ago, Madam Zhou must have been probing Fourth Maternal Uncle Ji Rongshang's intentions through her words, never expecting that the uncle, fiercely protective of his daughter, would fly into a rage.

"Let's go call Second Maternal Aunt and Third Maternal Aunt," Yunjiao thought for a moment and suggested.

Second Maternal Aunt Qian Fangyi was dignified, generous, kind to others, and possessed a manner of speaking that easily won people's trust.

However, being easy to trust was of little use against the likes of Madam Ding and Madam Zhou, who could not be reasoned with by conventional logic.

Therefore, Third Maternal Aunt was also needed to come and awe them into submission.

"But... which courtyard are Second Maternal Aunt and the others resting in?" Ji Yaru asked in a panic, having completely lost her wits.