The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)

CH 20

Tang Fan walked over. “What is it, Ah-Dong? How about you come in and talk about it.”

The entirety of her little face wrinkled up. “These are water chestnut cakes and tofu rolls the madam had me bring over, Sir Tang.”

The cake had been sliced into small square chunks, their translucent bodies embedded with pieces of chestnuts inside.

The tofu rolls were thin egg wrappings stuffed with steamed shiitake rice and diced tofu, then fried in pork fat. The outside was browned, and the inside was soft and aromatic, making one ravenous seeing them.

He took a look; the basket was still packed full. “How come you didn’t sneak any to eat today?” he couldn’t help but tease.

She sighed deeply, righteously demonstrating that she wouldn’t just steal food. “I might not be able to come bring you anymore snacks in a couple of days.”

In truth, despite Mister Tang being a foodie, he was flexible by nature, and not too demanding over his quality of life — to have was best, to not was no big thing. Hence, upon hearing her words, he just smiled. “Why? Did you make a mistake and get put on house arrest?”

Ah-Dong shook her head. “No, no. I heard the Old Lord is bringing back his newly-taken concubine, and the Madam isn’t happy. Plus, Sister Ah-Chun said that when he returns, the Madam won’t be able to make decisions in the house, so it won’t be easy for us to go out.”

Tang Fan was confused. “Even if he does return, isn’t she still the Mistress of the family? How could she not even be able to make the trifling decision of sending snacks?”

She propped her chin up. “I heard Sister Ah-Chun say something else. She told me not to say it to anyone random. You can’t tell it to anybody after you hear it!”

He picked up a cake piece and put it in his mouth, thinking to himself that the Li cook really had first-class skill whilst he poked fun at her. “Well, if you don’t tell me now, I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist saying something.”

Ancient peoples matured early, and the little girl was right at the age of gossip and excitability where she was eager to have someone to share stuff with; how could she not say anything? At his refusal, her tiny face scrunched up tight. “Then… then don’t say it to anyone I know! They can’t know that I was the one that said anything!”

He pffted out a laugh. “Alright, alright. Say what you want to say, now.”

“I heard Sister Ah-Chun say that the Madam’s been married into the Li family for a lot of years and hasn’t had any babies the whole time. Even Young Lord Lin was born from the Old Lord’s concubine. Because of that, the Old Lord has always threatened that he was going to divorce the Madam, but because her maiden family has distant relatives that are officials, he’s constantly had apprehensions about doing that. This time, he’s bringing back a concubine, and she’s said to already be pregnant, so the Madam is displeased all of right now. Even everything we do will need to be done a bit low-key. Ah-Chun won’t let me bring things over after today so that the Old Lord won’t accidentally see, misunderstand something, and offend you then.”

Tang Fan was bewildered. “Even if that’s the case, your Mistress has been managing the household for many years. Your Master goes on long, faraway business trips, while she takes care of the Li home; how can he treat her like she’s a maid he can rid of, or divorce her just because he says so?”

Furthermore, the Madam Li he knew wasn’t anyone that had none of her own opinions and would allow someone to bully and humiliate her.

Ah-Dong, still ultimately being a little girl, was a bit confused upon hearing that. After thinking for a good minute, she said, “Sister Ah-Chun said that something happened to the Madam’s maiden family long ago, and they needed a lot of money. No one else could help in time but our Master, who took out his savings to assist them. Because of that, our family became poor later on, and the Old Lord couldn’t continue to study to be an official, so the Madam’s always felt like she owes him.”