Ashes to Crown

Chapter 55: Chapter 19: Reflections

With a grim expression, Jiang Family arrived with her female servants just as the young ladies were preparing to leave.

They looked a little out of sorts, but they didn’t have the disheveled appearance of someone who had just been in a fight.

Upon seeing Jiang Family, the young ladies properly curtsied to take their leave. A few of them hesitated, and one even said, ”We are always imposing on you, Madam. My mother says she must host a banquet for you soon.”

Jiang Family was a bit surprised. Their Chu Garden had hosted many dignitaries, both from the Capital City and beyond, but she was rarely invited to their homes. She might receive a few invitations a year, but they always seemed perfunctory.

The young people who came to see Chu Tang and Chu Ke were always courteous to her, but they kept a certain distance.

Jiang Family understood this. It seemed like these people were befriending the Chu Family, but in reality, they just wanted to visit the garden. She didn’t mind, however. As long as it allowed them to forge connections and secure a foothold in the Capital City, her own people would ultimately benefit.

’What’s going on? How could these young ladies presume to invite me on their mothers’ behalf?’

’What happened?’

Jiang Family asked them with concern, ”Did you have a good time?” She glanced around. ”Did Ah Zhao come? Did she cause any trouble?”

The young ladies’ expressions turned awkward. They didn’t answer her questions, nor did they offer any explanation. They simply said, ”Ah Zhao has already gone home.” Without another word, they took their leave and departed.

Jiang Family had the head housekeeper see them out personally. She then turned to Chu Tang and asked, ”What happened? Did Ah Zhao insult or strike them?”

Chu Tang sat in the pavilion, gazing absently at the lake. She only turned her head when she heard her mother’s question.

”Mother.” She didn’t answer the question, asking instead, ”Our family’s garden is so beautiful. Has anyone ever wanted to buy it from us?”

’What is she thinking?’ Jiang Family laughed and said, ”Of course. People have wanted to since the very beginning.”

”I don’t mean long ago,” Chu Tang said. ”In recent years, has anyone tried to buy it?”

A proud and smug look appeared on Jiang Family’s face. ”Every year! Who could see this garden of ours and not want it? There’s no shortage of interested buyers. People have even sought out your father at the academy to ask about it.”

Chu Tang asked, ”Then why has no one bought it?”

Jiang Family laughed. ”Because we’re not willing to sell! How could we possibly part with such a magnificent garden?”

Chu Tang said, ”So it hasn’t been bought simply because we don’t want to sell.”

’What else could it be? The child is talking so strangely.’ Jiang Family reached out to touch her forehead. ’Did she hit her head on something in the garden?’

Chu Tang pulled Jiang Family’s hand away. Her mother hadn’t yet grasped the situation, but Chu Tang’s mind was already racing.

’She was young, but she had grown up in the Capital City and had seen and heard enough of the ways of the world. She knew how the powerful took what they wanted by force—snatching houses, seizing land, rare curios, or even a single exotic peony. If you had no power or influence, you could only wait for them to force a sale on you, or worse, scheme against you until your family was left ruined and broken—’

”Mother, what if we’re unwilling to sell, but someone is determined to take it by force? What would we do then?” Chu Tang asked softly.

Jiang Family asked urgently, ”Who? What is it? Which family’s daughter told you this?”

’Is some young lady sounding me out on behalf of her family?’

”Don’t pay them any mind.” Jiang Family patted her daughter’s shoulder. ’She must have been frightened. It’s so hard on my daughter, having to navigate her way among these wealthy young ladies.’ With a pained expression, she soothed her, ”Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared. No matter who it is, you don’t have to pay them any attention.”

Chu Tang asked, ”What if it’s the Zhao family who wants our garden?”

Jiang Family froze. ’The Zhao family... My daughter must be referring to the family of Imperial Concubine Zhao—’

’Could it be?’

Before she could ask, Chu Tang began to count on her fingers.

”What if the Yang family wants it?”

”What about the Crown Prince? Or the Third Prince? The Third Prince adores gardens; he’s practically taken over His Majesty the Emperor’s Wangchun Garden for himself.”

Jiang Family, whose heart had been lodged in her throat, finally relaxed upon hearing this and laughed. ”What’s gotten into you, dear? Your imagination is running wild. Why would people of their stature resort to outright theft?”

Chu Tang looked up at her. ”Mother, this is no joke. Why wouldn’t they take things by force? Putting them aside for a moment, didn’t Father himself try to monopolize the mountain spring at the academy a few years ago? He only failed because he couldn’t win against the landlord at the mountain’s base—”

’Even a scholar like her father, Chu Lan, had the impulse to seize something desirable. What more could be expected of those other people?’

Jiang Family’s face stiffened, and she looked rather embarrassed. ”What are you saying? Your father did not take anything by force! That was... a negotiation. Besides, that mountain spring should have belonged to the academy to begin with.”

But Chu Tang wasn’t listening to her mother’s excuses. She wasn’t some cloistered maiden who only socialized within the inner courtyards of the Capital. She spent more than half of every year at the academy and had seen plenty of how things worked in the small towns outside the city.

’Her father would have been able to monopolize that spring. But unexpectedly, the landlord produced a distant relative with connections to the Zhao Family, forcing her father to back down.’

’At the time, her father and brother had complained, blaming it all on Second Uncle for failing to uphold the family’s standing and forcing them to live meekly.’

Her mother was still rambling on beside her, but Chu Tang had stopped listening. Resting her chin on her hand, she gazed out at the lake. The garden truly was magnificent, with its winding waters, exquisite halls and pavilions, and lush trees and flowers that captured the beauty of every season.

’If no one had come to seize it by force, it wasn’t because those powerful people were kind. It was because they were unable to.’

’So who in the Chu Family was stopping them?’

’It certainly wasn’t her father, the teacher.’

She lifted her hand and gave herself a light slap. ’How could I have not realized it after all these years?’

’If I had realized this sooner, I would have made Chu Zhao treat me as her own true sister, and had Second Uncle treat me as his own true daughter!’

”Oh, my dear child!” Jiang Family cried, grabbing her hand. ”You’ve been possessed! Someone, quickly, go fetch Liu Dao!”

...

...

That day, many of the young ladies were at home, chattering on about things that had happened.

”Mother, Mother, isn’t it true?” Qi Leyun said, tugging on her mother’s sleeve. ”That Chu Zhao’s father, Chu Ling... isn’t he a disgraced official?”

Mrs. Qi chuckled and nodded. ”Yes, yes,” she said, pushing a plate of pastries toward her daughter. ”Here, eat a little more. Why didn’t you eat properly at dinner? Did someone call you fat again?”

”Forget about that for now.” Qi Leyun pushed the pastries aside, her voice filled with righteous indignation. ”Why didn’t His Majesty find him guilty back then? If he had, that Chu Zhao wouldn’t be acting so outrageously today! Mother, do you know what she said? She claimed her father wasn’t a criminal! She said that because His Majesty never passed judgment on him, anyone who claims he is guilty is defying the throne and showing contempt for the Emperor!”

Mrs. Qi looked somewhat exasperated. She smiled at a nearby maidservant and said, ”Since when did my daughter start commenting on matters of the court?”

Just as she spoke, Qi Lingshi ambled in. ”What is our Ah Yun giving pointers on?” he asked curiously. ”Share it so your father can learn something new.”

Qi Leyun rushed to grab her father’s arm and hastily repeated everything she’d just said. As Mr. Qi listened, his ears ringing with the name ”Chu Ling,” his expression changed from surprise to deep thought.

”What’s happening?” he said. ”Why is everyone suddenly talking about Chu Ling? That name has been unspoken for over ten years.”

”Because his daughter hit Miss Liang,” Qi Leyun said.

Mrs. Qi smiled, handing a cup of tea to Mr. Qi. ”It’s because His Majesty threw tea on Liang Siqing,” she said.

They seemed like two separate incidents, but a veteran of the court like Mr. Qi immediately understood the connection. ”I heard about that matter too,” he said.

”Father, look! Chu Ling doesn’t even discipline his daughter, and instead, he runs to His Majesty to lodge a complaint against Liang Siqing. Isn’t that just brazen and unreasonable!” Qi Leyun said, adding resentfully, ”And today, Chu Zhao even had the gall to say that the reason no one dares to try and take their family’s beautiful garden is because of her father—it’s laughable!”

As she spoke, Qi Lingshi, who had been smiling, let out a soft ”Ah,” his expression suddenly pensive. ”Now that you mention it,” he said, ”I think I’ve just remembered something.”

Her tirade interrupted, Qi Leyun asked, ”What?”

Qi Lingshi stroked his beard, concentrating as he delved deep into his memory. ”It was a long time ago. I think it was right after Chu Ling had submitted a memorial criticizing His Majesty. His Majesty was furious and reprimanded him. Then, a short while later, Wang Zhuang, the Weaving and Dyeing Order from the Ministry of the Imperial Household, was suddenly exiled. A chest overflowing with evidence of his crimes had appeared on His Majesty’s desk.”

Qi Leyun stomped her foot. ”Father, we were talking about Chu Ling! What does the Textile and Dyeing Bureau have to do with anything?”

Qi Lingshi gestured for her not to be hasty and continued, ”It all happened so suddenly at the time, no one paid it much attention. That’s just the life of an official, full of ups and downs. However, I later overheard another official saying that Weaving and Dyeing Order got what he deserved. He said the man was black-hearted and greedy, always scheming to get his hands on other families’ assets. Before he was arrested, he’d even boasted about turning the Chu Garden into his own Wang Garden, since Chu Ling had fallen from power and his property was up for grabs—”

Qi Leyun looked at her father and stomped her foot again. ”We’re talking about Chu Ling—”

Qi Lingshi looked at her, his expression pensive. ”Exactly. It was you talking about Chu Ling that made me wonder... Was Wang Ling convicted and exiled because he had schemed to take the Chu family’s property?”