Hearing his call of "mother", the tears that Concubine Qiu had just repressed rushed forth again: "It's because Mom is useless. If I was not a concubine, then you would not have had to suffer so many wrongs." Over these years, she had to see her own son pay respects and call others 'young master'. And, even if her child wanted to call her "Mother", he'd have to do so making sure that others were not aware first. The pain she felt was one others wouldn't be able to understand.
Concubine Qiu was originally the daughter of the first wife of an influential merchant family in Jiangnan. The Qiu family married her to the North Marquis in order to expand their power over the business by borrowing the power of the North Marquis. Originally, she relied on the favor of the North Marchioness she had earned with her own ability of calculating accounts. Hence, she could pass the days peacefully in the mansion. She meticulously served the Marchioness, only asking that her son would be able to live well. But nowadays, the child whom she loved dearly had been forced down from the qualifications for the imperial exam and was married to a ruthless Wang Ye. How did he still call her gently? How did he not complain?
Seeing his own previously bold and cheerful Mother become like this, Mu Hanzhang's heart felt it extremely hard to take, so he took his mother, who had lost a lot of weight, into his arms: "Perhaps marrying Wang Ye is a good thing. Being able to enter the imperial court as a scholar may not necessarily mean everything will be peaceful and life will be smooth. Mother must cheer up. Otherwise, I will worry."
* * * * *
On the return trip, Mu Hanzhang was silent. Hiding in his sleeves, his hand grasped a palm-sized purse that was filled with banknotes worth 100,000 silver given to him by Concubine Qiu.
"These are the dividends given every year by the Qiu family. I have saved most of it. It is useless in this household, all of it was saved for you. The depths of the royal family are deep, and, even if that person is pampering you for now, he cannot love you dearly forever. This will also let me be a little more relieved."
"Jun Qing?" Jing Shao, who was treated coldly, opened his pair of drunken eyes wide to look at him, "Did you hear what I said?"
"En?" Mu Hanzhang turned his head, and, in the beautiful pupils of his eyes, was a trace of bewilderment. Then, in an instant, he recovered his mind, "This servant failed in his etiquette. Wang Ye, please forgive my crime."
Jing Shao sighed: "Nothing. I will sleep for a while." Just then, he had said that he did not agree to the North Marquis' request for salt trade certifications. Instead, he showed him an alternate route. Saying this a second time made it boring, seeming like one was showing off one's accomplishments purposefully, so he closed his eyes and did not say more.
Watching him sullenly lean against the corner to sleep, Mu Hanzhang felt a little apologetic, so he reached out and lightly pushed at the back of Jing Shao: "Wang Ye... Lean on this one to sleep. There is no pillow in the carriage." The carriage ride is very bumpy, if he slept like that, it was very easy to knock against his head.
The person who was pushed did not respond and his back was still turned away from him. Was he really angry? Mu Hanzhang moved closer: "Wang Ye?" No response. He moved a little closer again.
Suddenly, the carriage rolled over a rock and jolted a bit. Mu Hanzhang, because he was kneeling in the carriage and was not balanced, fell backwards. Who knew the person who was currently sulking would unexpectedly instantly turn around to press him onto the floor of the carriage while one big hand was cushioning the back of his head.
Mu Hanzhang was shocked by this series of unexpected events, so he stared blankly at a loss on what to do.
"This servant deserves death. Wang Ye, please forgive this servant's crime." The driver repeatedly apologized in panic.
