Chapter 152

Chapter 152

[After Zhu Yuanzhang Returned to the Great Ming – 3]

Take her for free? And he had the nerve to ask if she was willing?!

He was a prince, for heaven’s sake. How could he be this cheap?!

Fury surged through Tao Chuqing. Yet after the two lessons she had already received, she did not dare retort. Her body merely went rigid, then shrank back in unmistakable rejection.

Zhu Yuanzhang had no intention of forcing her. Most of his interest vanished at the sight. He sat upright with a deep frown. “I never imagined you were such a materialistic woman. Hmph! I misjudged you!”

Tao Chuqing: “…”

Screw you, you wretched Prince Lu. If you think you can have me for free, dream on!

The emperors: “…”

Yes. That was Old Zhu, all right.

Tao Chuqing’s cheeks were red, though whether from fury or shame was impossible to tell. She collapsed onto the floor, bowed her head, and said nothing.

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his voice toward the door. “Someone come in!”

The attendants outside had heard the commotion and privately wondered, *His Highness is finished already?*

Whatever they thought, they did not dare delay. One announced himself, pushed open the door, and entered. “What are Your Highness’s orders?”

Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Tao Chuqing, who still sat on the floor. “Send her back to the Tao Family. Then notify the Magistrate of Luoyang and have him immediately dispatch troops to place the Tao household under guard. Don’t let any of them escape. If they cannot raise the money they owe me within three days, arrest whoever must be arrested and execute whoever must be executed. Show no leniency!”

The attendant froze. Tao Chuqing cried out, tears spilling from her eyes as she hurried forward to plead. “Your Highness, have mercy. The Tao Family truly has difficulties of its own. We never intended to withhold repayment…”

Zhu Yuanzhang kicked her aside. “Your difficulties are yours. Why should I be forced to swallow the bitter fruit? More than six hundred thousand taels can buy the heads of all nine generations of your clan several times over!”

Tao Chuqing tried to speak again, but Zhu Yuanzhang’s face hardened. Pointing at her, he said coldly, “Pester me with one more word, and I will have you dragged outside and beaten to death this instant!”

It was as if someone had cut out Tao Chuqing’s tongue. She fell silent at once, though tears continued to stream down her face like pearls from a broken string.

Like pear blossoms in the rain and peonies jeweled with dew, she stared unblinkingly at Prince Lu. Her eyes seemed able to speak, begging him to make an exception and spare the Tao Family.

Zhu Yuanzhang’s heart softened a fraction. His voice gentled as he asked once more, “You truly won’t let me have you for free?”

Tao Chuqing: “…”

Tao Chuqing practically hoisted the sedan chair onto her own shoulders and fled back to the Tao residence that very night.

Zhu Yuanzhang was deeply disgruntled. “What a materialistic woman!”

The emperors: “…”

…

The original owner’s father had already died, and his mother had passed even earlier. Only two Secondary Consorts left by the previous Prince Lu remained in the estate, along with several Commandery Princes and County Princesses.

Zhu Yuanzhang searched through the original owner’s memories. Finding nothing worthy of particular attention, he stopped wasting his energy on such trifles. By now, the Tumu Crisis had probably already occurred. He sighed and went to the study to calmly consider how he should deal with the chaos ahead.

Zhu Qizhen and Wang Zhen, the Eunuch Director of Ceremonial, had set out to campaign against the Oirats. They had taken not only the Duke of Yingguo Zhang Fu, Minister of War Kuang Ye, Minister of Revenue Wang Zuo, Grand Secretaries Cao Nai and Zhang Yi, and more than a hundred other court officials, but also over two hundred thousand elite troops from the capital garrisons.

The former were pillars of the state and military commanders personally cultivated by Old Fourth. The latter were elite forces under the Emperor’s direct control-the most tangible expression of the Zhu emperors’ military power.

One foolish ruler and one treacherous eunuch had buried them all.

Though he had been dead for many years, recalling the Tumu Crisis still pierced Zhu Yuanzhang to the heart. He took a deep breath and suppressed the fury within him, patiently considering his next move.

Once news of Zhu Qizhen’s capture reached Beijing, the court would be shaken. The officials would inevitably petition for the installation of a new emperor, just as they had in his previous world. As Yu Qian had said, “The realm comes first; the sovereign comes second.” When that moment arrived, whom would they enthrone?

The original owner was the only possible candidate.

Of course, with that bastard Zhu Qizhen setting the standard, Zhu Qiyu had practically glowed like an angel from head to toe. Even if Zhu Qiyu had handed the entire government to Yu Qian, it would not have mattered. That was called ruling through noninterference-the mark of a sage emperor!

Unfortunately, this world had no Zhu Qiyu. It had Zhu Yuanzhang. When the court’s envoys and ceremonial officials arrived in Luoyang to escort him to Beijing and place him on the throne, he would never show the womanly softness Zhu Qiyu had. He had his own ways of dealing with those bastards!

Xu Youzhen, who had proposed fleeing south and moving the capital; Zhu Qizhen, who would brazenly return to Beijing without a shred of shame; Men Da and Lu Gao-Zhu Yuanzhang had accounts to settle with every last one of them!

Zhu Yuanzhang remained in the study for two hours. When he saw that night had deepened, he finally rose and followed the original owner’s memories to his bedchamber. Just before closing his eyes, he suddenly remembered something vital. “Damn it! Where is Old Ma?!”

All sleep vanished. Zhu Yuanzhang shot upright and turned the original owner’s memories inside out. At last, he found a few clues.

While the late Princess Consort of Lu was still alive, she had been close friends with the wife of a chiliarch surnamed Lin. Several years after she gave birth to her son, Madam Lin became pregnant. The late Princess Consort had once joked that if Madam Lin gave birth to a daughter, the girl could marry her son.

The Lin Family’s rank was not especially high, but their daughter was more than qualified to become a princess consort. After all, the present dynasty had learned from the fall of its predecessors and generally selected imperial consorts from common families. Even Empresses and Noble Consorts came from such backgrounds, so a prince’s wife having humbler origins was nothing unusual.

The late Prince Lu and his wife had shared a harmonious marriage. Since his Princess Consort had proposed the match, Prince Lu had raised no objection. Alas, heaven showed them no mercy. Madam Lin died in childbirth, and only a few years later, the Princess Consort of Lu also succumbed to illness.
The young lady of the Lin Family had lost her mother at birth, which had already given the late Prince Lu some reservations. Several years later, when the girl was ten, her father died as well. The late Prince Lu did not particularly favor her, and gradually no one mentioned the verbal betrothal again. The unfortunate Lin girl was raised by her uncle and aunt. By Zhu Yuanzhang’s reckoning, she should now be fifteen or sixteen.

The original owner knew about the arrangement but had never met the Lin girl. Zhu Yuanzhang considered it with a sorrowful expression, staring blankly into space. “Old Ma also lost her mother soon after she was born, and her father didn’t live very long, either. If this really is her, then she’s suffered far too much…”

Tears flashed briefly in his eyes. He wiped them away, lay down again, and said, “Why brood over guesses? I’ll visit the Lin Family tomorrow and find out.”

…

Zhu Yuanzhang slept soundly through the night, but every lamp in the Tao residence remained lit. No one in the family could sleep.

Their cherished daughter, raised in the lap of luxury, had been sent into a prince’s estate. Father Tao and his wife looked as if someone had carved the flesh from their hearts, their faces grim all night.

Their eldest son, Tao Rong, blamed himself even more. He sighed incessantly, cursing his own incompetence for allowing himself to be swindled and reducing his sister to this fate, forced to spend the rest of her life paying for his mistake.

Only Eldest Madam Tao thought something was amiss. She glanced at her in-laws, who looked as if their parents had died, then at her husband. “Isn’t this a good thing? That’s Prince Lu, an imperial prince of the highest rank! Our dynasty has always treated the imperial clan generously. Prince Lu’s Estate has neither a Princess Consort nor a Secondary Consort, so there can’t be any fighting in the inner residence. As long as Sister’s womb proves fortunate and she bears a son or daughter, won’t mountains of gold and silver be waiting for us? With a Commandery Prince for a grandson and a County Princess for a granddaughter, the Tao Family will gain prestige wherever we go! Even if Sister has no children, as long as she wins Prince Lu’s favor, we won’t have to spend every day terrified that some official will come and take a bite out of us, as we did before!”

Father Tao and his wife wore resentful, furious expressions. Tao Rong glared viciously at his wife. “You heartless creature! All you can say is that it’s a good thing. If it’s so good, why didn’t you go yourself?!”

Eldest Madam Tao also came from an imperial merchant family and had confidence to spare. She was not afraid of him. At once she snapped, “If I had Chuqing’s face, I would have gone long ago. Why would I ever have married you?!”

Tao Rong stared at her, dumbstruck. When he recovered, anger and humiliation flooded him. “You shameless woman! What sort of filth are you spouting? Chuqing has fallen into a pit of fire, and you, her sister-in-law, stand here making heartless remarks. Has a dog eaten your conscience?!”

Eldest Madam Tao froze as well. She looked at the restrained fury and obvious agreement on her in-laws’ faces, then laughed coldly in astonishment. “If you knew it was a pit of fire, why did you push her into it? You already shoved her in, so why put on this performance now? If you had any backbone, you would sell every pot and pan to repay the debt instead of selling your daughter. You’re the ones who ruined everything. Why are you taking it out on me?”

Tao Rong choked on his fury. “You!”

Father Tao and his wife went livid. Before either could speak, a pageboy rushed in, his voice panicked. “Master, Madam-the Young Miss has been sent back!”

Father Tao’s expression changed abruptly. His wife was equally horrified. Both hurried several steps forward as Tao Chuqing entered the front hall with a bloodless face. Her gaze swept over her family one by one, and tears began pattering down.

Father Tao thought of their debt, then of Prince Lu’s power, and nearly lost his mind with anxiety.

His wife seized their daughter’s hand and asked in a trembling voice, “Qing’er, why have you come back? Did you see His Highness? What did he say?!”

Remembering Prince Lu’s words, Tao Chuqing felt nothing but humiliation. She bit her lip until it hurt and refused to speak.

Her mother grew frantic and shook her arm hard. “Qing’er, say something!”

Tao Chuqing could bear it no longer. She burst into loud sobs. “He doesn’t want me! He said I wasn’t worth that much money and that unless I gave myself to him for free, he wanted nothing to do with me! He also ordered the Tao Family to repay him within three days. Otherwise, he won’t show mercy. He’ll confiscate our property if he must and kill whoever he must!”

Father Tao looked as if lightning had struck him. He staggered backward several steps and collapsed into a chair.

His wife’s face turned ashen with terror. For a time, she could not speak.

Consumed with guilt, Tao Rong repeatedly slammed his head against the wall. “It’s all my fault. All my fault! If not for me, none of this would have happened. It’s all my fault…”

Neither guilt nor fear could do the slightest thing to solve their predicament.

Father Tao was older and more experienced. Once he saw that their plan involving his daughter had failed, he made an immediate decision and began considering where he could raise enough money to cover the shortfall of more than six hundred thousand taels.

One side was an imperial prince of the highest rank and cousin to the Reigning Emperor. The other was an imperial merchant family from Luoyang with neither office nor title. If they truly fought, only the Tao Family would die. Father Tao could not take that gamble.

“I’ve already done the calculations. If the Tao Family squeezes everything it can, we can probably raise one hundred thousand taels…”

A light flashed in his wife’s eyes. She surveyed everyone with a tender expression of self-sacrifice for the greater good. “Since I married into the Tao Family, I am one of you. If I combine my dowry with the income from my shops over the years, I can contribute twenty thousand taels.”

Everyone’s gaze naturally turned to Eldest Madam Tao.

Eldest Madam Tao: “…”

As though she had not noticed the hints in her in-laws’ and husband’s eyes, Eldest Madam Tao demurely clasped the jade bracelet around her wrist. “I haven’t been married into the family as long as Mother has, but my devotion is no less than hers. I will contribute thirty thousand taels!”

Only thirty thousand!

Displeasure flickered across Father and Mother Tao’s faces. They managed not to show it openly and suppressed their irritation for the moment. Father Tao gently asked his daughter-in-law, “How much can your maiden family help us with? Your parents have a large and prosperous business. If they grit their teeth, surely they can produce several hundred thousand taels. We are all one family and must weather this storm together…”
Eldest Madam Tao: “…”

She laughed in exasperation. “Father, business is business. As the old saying goes, you help someone through an emergency, not through permanent poverty. My maiden family has money to spare, but if the Tao Family borrows it now, what will you use to repay them in the future? I am a married daughter, so my maiden family has no say over how I spend my dowry. But I cannot drag them into ruin simply to save myself!”

Father Tao’s face turned livid. He said nothing.

Tao Rong found his wife’s calculations heartless. “Disaster is already upon us, yet all you can think about is whether the Tao Family will repay the money someday?!”

Tao Chuqing frowned as well. “Sister-in-law, we’re the ones who are family. You can’t take an outsider’s side!”

Seeing the entire Tao Family turn against her, Eldest Madam Tao’s expression darkened. “Thirty thousand taels. That’s all I have. Take it if you want it. If you don’t, we can part ways right now! Business is business. Why drag feelings into it?”

When Father Tao saw that she was genuinely angry, his expression eased. “Don’t overthink it. We meant nothing else…”

“Of course.” Eldest Madam Tao nodded with a smile, then abruptly turned her spear on Mother Tao. “Mother, your maiden family is wealthy as well. When will you pay them a visit? You should ask them for at least one hundred thousand taels.”

Mother Tao: “…”

Eldest Madam Tao turned to Tao Chuqing. “Since things have come to this, we might as well contribute the dowry Mother prepared for Sister, too, don’t you think?”

Tao Chuqing: “…”

Then Eldest Madam Tao looked at Father Tao. “Father, when will you visit your maternal great-uncle’s family? Grandmother may have passed, but her maiden family is still your maternal kin, and you remain in contact. Relatives ought to help at a time like this! Oh, and you should visit Aunt’s family as well!”

Father Tao: “…”

That escalated damn fast.

The Tao Family conference collapsed on the spot. Thoroughly displeased, Eldest Madam Tao returned to her room, removed her hair ornaments, washed her face, and went to bed.

Halfway through the night, her husband shoved her awake. “How can you still sleep when our family faces such a disaster?!”

Her mind was thick with sleep. She saw her husband sitting against the headboard with a black expression, heaving sigh after sigh. The anger she had suppressed all night finally erupted. “Marrying into your family was like falling into a mud pit! Anyone can make speeches. Why don’t you do something useful? How can you sit there when our family faces such a disaster?!”

She grabbed a pillow and pummeled him with it, cursing between every blow. “Go borrow money from your uncles! Go borrow from your aunts! Visit your friends! If nothing else works, take a bowl into the street and beg-at least that would bring in something! You caused this mess, and your father incurred the debt, yet the whole family takes its temper out on me, the daughter-in-law with a different surname. Are any of you human?!”

Humiliated into fury, Tao Rong raised a hand as if to strike her. Eldest Madam Tao’s face changed violently. “Touch me and see what happens! Do you think my maiden family is nothing but decoration?!”

The Tao Family was a quagmire at present and truly did not dare lose such a valuable alliance. Tao Rong lowered his hand resentfully. After throwing out, “Women and petty men are the hardest to deal with,” he swept away.

Eldest Madam Tao shed a few angry tears, then wiped them away herself. “What a worthless thing! He has no ability of his own, so he vents his anger on me!”

The more she thought about her in-laws’ and sister-in-law’s conduct that night, the colder her heart became. The senior maid keeping watch outside entered and quietly advised, “Young Miss, anger harms the body. Why lower yourself by arguing with people like them?”

Eldest Madam Tao snorted. “How could I not be angry? Even now, they’re still hiding their private reserves! All this talk of borrowing here and asking there-just wait. Aunt’s family might loosen its purse strings, but who else would pay the Tao Family any attention?”

Hesitation flickered across the maid’s face. She sighed. “Don’t place any hope in your aunt-in-law. They already quarreled beyond repair…”

She then recounted how Mother Tao and Tao Chuqing had mocked Madam Tao and driven her away.

Eldest Madam Tao nearly suffered an attack from sheer rage. She leaned against the bed and considered for a long while, then gave a dark chuckle. “If this is how they treat me, and all they want is to lie on my maiden family and suck their blood, why should I foolishly share their suffering? Nanny, return to my parents’ home for me and give my father a message…”

“What message?”

Eldest Madam Tao said, “If the Tao Family merely suffered a temporary cash shortage, then as in-laws, lending them money would be reasonable. But they’re outright bankrupt. Any loan would be no different from throwing silver into a river! I may have married into this family, but I cannot harm my own parents. Father and Mother would gladly help me, but my younger brother is already married. They must not let my troubles create a rift between themselves and my sister-in-law.”

She slipped on her embroidered shoes, climbed out of bed, and retrieved her account books from a chest. After working her abacus in silent concentration for a long while, she finally said, “When I married, my parents gave me thirty thousand taels as a dowry. The shops have earned quite well these past two years. Altogether, I have a little over fifty thousand taels. Those shops are hens that lay golden eggs. I can’t bear to sell them to strangers, so I’ll return them to my parents. Tell Father to prepare fifty thousand taels in banknotes and take them to Prince Lu’s Estate as the price of buying my life. Ask Prince Lu to show mercy and allow me to return to my maiden home with my attendants and maids.”

The senior maid was truly startled. Then she remembered that her young mistress had always possessed a mind of her own and did not try to dissuade her. She merely asked hesitantly, “Will Prince Lu agree?”

Eldest Madam Tao smiled bitterly. “Trying is still better than waiting here to die.”