The Lady Butcher and the Delicate Bride - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Old Man Mu thought that after making a trip to the Chu family at the end of Furong Village, the matter would be settled and his old woman would be released.

To his surprise, he received a message from Chu Yu the next day. She said the victim was willing to accept mediation, but the legal costs incurred along the way including the formal complaint, summons, initial hearing fees, the settlement required to withdraw the suit, and the “shoe and sock money,” “food and wine money,” “boat and carriage money,” “court attendance fee,” and “paper and pen fee” demanded by the runners amounted to a total of twenty taels of silver.

This staggering sum scared Old Man Mu so much his legs went weak. He knew lawsuits cost money, but he hadn’t expected it to be this much.

But he wasn’t a fool; he knew the other party was taking the opportunity to hike the price. With Chu Yu acting as the intermediary, Old Man Mu took his eldest son, Mu Kongqing, to meet the victim.

As soon as they met, Old Man Mu implored the victim to accept a smaller amount.

The victim only said one thing: “The yamen gate opens to the south; if you have right on your side but no money, do not enter.”

Old Man Mu felt incredibly stifled. It wasn’t that he had no money; he happened to have exactly that amount the full twenty taels he had received from selling San-ya, though some had been spent recently.

If it weren’t for his eldest son’s future, he wouldn’t even want to see this victim’s face, let alone pay this money to get her out. Mother Mu’s natal family was declining and they had little contact; in his eyes, this woman wasn’t particularly rare. With those twenty taels, he could easily marry someone younger and prettier!

But if he didn’t spend the money, the Xiucai would have a mother with a criminal record for theft, making it impossible for him to continue seeking official honors.

Old Man Mu instantly had the thought of divorcing Mother Mu. The victim seemed to read his mind and said somewhat contemptuously, “Divorce is fine. After the divorce, you and that woman are no longer related, but surely you don’t want the Master Xiucai to carry the reputation of abandoning his mother?”

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Old Man Mu was fuming. When Mu Kongqing saw that things had reached this point that the twenty taels intended for himself from selling his sister were going to be spent on this he flew into a rage. Ignoring all etiquette, he questioned why the victim was colluding with Chu Yu.

Seeing their attitude, the victim stood up to leave. Seeing the situation turn sour, Old Man Mu hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, saying humbly, “It’s not that we are unwilling to pay, but we are truly impoverished. We have only a few patches of poor land to survive on and must support my eldest son’s studies. I hope the Master can show some mercy and waive these various fees.”

The victim said angrily, “In the end, it’s my fault for having my silver and meat stolen? The thief isn’t brought to justice, and I instead have a bucket of dirty water thrown on me and have to pay for the lawsuit? Truly outrageous.”

Even if Mu Kongqing could figure out the schemes behind this, his youthful arrogance wouldn’t allow him to swallow this anger. Yet he feared being unable to continue his path to officialdom; once this label was stuck, regardless of whether he had true talent, he certainly wouldn’t be allowed to stay at the academy.

Who would keep a Xiucai at an academy if he couldn’t take the exams? His days of leisure would vanish, and the only thing waiting for him was the nightmare of returning home to farm.

Old Man Mu said somewhat unwillingly, “Could the Master help mediate with the officers to lower the court fees slightly? We truly cannot produce so much silver at home.”

Seeing their attitude soften, the victim, while still appearing troubled, seemed less resolute than before. Seeing an opening, Old Man Mu seized the chance to say a few more softening words. After a long discussion, they finally reached an agreement at fifteen taels of silver.

Once the result was settled, Mu Kongqing stormed out, leaving Old Man Mu alone to coordinate the aftermath with the victim.

Mother Mu was finally released from the yamen jail. The official explanation was that the victim had withdrawn the suit and Mother Mu had recanted her confession, stating she had simply taken the guest’s items by mistake, which did not constitute theft.

Nevertheless, the matter caused quite a stir. When Old Man Mu had Mother Mu pulled back on an ox cart, it drew the entire population of Furong Village to watch. Old Man Mu sat on the cart smoking his pipe with a dark face, silent, while Mu Jueming hid at home, not daring to step out.

Mother Mu had received twenty strokes on her buttocks and could only lie face down on a layer of dry straw on the ox cart. She had no strength to see how those on both sides of the road were gloating, but her ears still caught all sorts of voices—all of them scolding her. At this moment, she had no energy to talk back, so she just closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep, though in her heart she cursed Chu Yu’s ancestors back eighteen generations.

The wounds on Mother Mu’s body hadn’t been properly treated in jail. After returning, the pain was unbearable, and she begged her husband to buy some medicine for her. Thinking of the fifteen taels of silver wasted because of this woman, Old Man Mu couldn’t help but break into a loud scolding, ignoring her request and leaving the woman wailing on the floor for half the day.

Mother Mu knew that because of this, fifteen taels had been fleeced by others for nothing. Her heart ached terribly, and knowing it was Chu Yu’s doing, she spent her days either crying out in pain or cursing Chu Yu.

Neighbors heard the Mu household in constant turmoil; those who didn’t get along with them gloated secretly and grew to admire the pig butcher at the end of the village even more.

After all these years in the village, someone had finally come out to discipline this wicked woman.

After this ordeal, the woman truly felt an added layer of fear toward Chu Yu. Plus, with the beating she had taken, it would take a month or two to heal; she wouldn’t be coming out to stir up trouble anytime soon.

After Mu Dingxiang bought the seeds, she busied herself every day with the Chu family’s plots of land. It was already much later in the season than everyone else; she had to hurry with the sowing.

Chu Yu still went out early every morning to slaughter pigs, coming back at noon to sleep before going to the fields to help with the farming.

In the past, she didn’t farm and didn’t understand the climate, seasons, or which varieties should be planted in which soil—otherwise, she wouldn’t have rented the land out. But now that Mu Dingxiang was here, she handled everything from start to finish. When Mu Dingxiang told her to sow, she sowed; when told to hoe, she hoed. She simply provided the muscle, doing mindless labor, which was no difficult task for her.

After this busy period, she discovered that the little wife she had “bought” for twenty taels was indeed a first-rate hand at work. From plowing to turning the soil, selecting seeds to sowing, and transplanting seedlings, every step was done in an orderly fashion.

No wonder the Mu family kept her so long and were reluctant to trade her for money. Calculating it now, the grain she grew in the Mu family’s fields likely earned more than Old Man Mu earned doing odd jobs outside.

Seeing Mu Dingxiang’s height still increasing, Chu Yu was happy to feed her. She was a butcher herself, and meat from the shop was readily available. Whatever she could bring back, she brought to provide nutritional supplements for the little girl at home. Every time she saw the girl eating happily, Chu Yu gained satisfaction from the feeding.

“I can’t keep eating like this; I’ll get fat if I continue,” Mu Dingxiang said, feeling a bit alarmed as she saw the flesh on her arms and legs gradually increasing. Meat was delicious, but she didn’t want to grow into a massive body like Matchmaker Wang.

“You’re not fat. You’re still too thin; there isn’t even two taels of meat on you. Zhu-er complains every time that Mother’s hug is too bony,” Chu Yu used Zhu-er as an excuse directly.

And how could Mu Dingxiang be called fat? Chu Yu could lift her as easily as a little chick.

Zhu-er, listening on the side, added: “Mother isn’t fat at all! Other people are all bulging here, and it’s so soft and comfortable to rest on. Mother has no meat there, so it’s not comfortable to rest on.”

While speaking, Zhu-er stared intently at Mu Dingxiang’s chest.

Hearing this, Chu Yu couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Mu Dingxiang’s face turned beet red. She pinched Zhu-er’s ear and said, “Who are ‘other people’? Who else have you gone to for a hug? If you think Mother’s is too small, go find someone else.”

Zhu-er looked aggrieved, hopped into Mu Dingxiang’s arms, and hugged her arm tightly, saying, “Mother can’t not want Zhu-er! Zhu-er doesn’t think Mother’s is too small; Zhu-er is afraid other people will think Mother’s is too small.”

Mu Dingxiang glared at her: “Other people are other people. Mother doesn’t live with other people; let them be as judgmental as they want.”

“But ‘other people’ is Chu Yu!” Zhu-er stared wide-eyed at Mu Dingxiang.

This time Mu Dingxiang caught the point. She turned around and said to Chu Yu, “Is it that you think I’m too small?”

Chu Yu cried out that she was being wronged: “I don’t!”

After saying that, she grabbed Zhu-er’s little green skirt, pulled her over, and slapped her bottom a few times: “When did I ever say your Mother is small? What nonsense are you talking!”

With her bottom being slapped, Zhu-er said tearfully, “Brother Vine said so! He said when a Father and Mother are together, the Father always likes the Mother to be big there. Mother is so small, so Chu Yu will definitely be judgmental.”

The more she explained, the messier it got. Chu Yu felt her head swelling as she looked at the innocent-faced girl ten years her junior: “I definitely never taught her this! She said it herself—that old vine tree by the river told her.”

Mu Dingxiang hadn’t expected these little plant spirits to be so gossipy. But having such a matter brought up for discussion was very embarrassing, so she stopped speaking. However, in her heart, she secretly wondered: Does Chu Yu actually like women? They had been together for so long, yet she was always perfectly well-behaved without the slightest overstepping. Could it be that her body was indeed too scrawny and she simply didn’t catch her eye?

One couldn’t blame Mu Dingxiang for being old-fashioned; since Chu Yu had taken her, she had decided on Chu Yu for this lifetime, regardless of whether the other was a man or a woman. Although matters of emotion felt distant to her, at the very least she didn’t find Chu Yu dislikeable. Spending her life this way was something she felt she could accept.

Moreover, Chu Yu was so good-looking. Thinking back to her time with the Mu family, every time she felt she couldn’t hold on, she relied on the sight of Chu Yu’s unrestrained figure passing by to give herself hope. That this free-spirited person could become her nominal husband already made her incredibly grateful to the heavens.

“Ahem, I think you can still grow a little bit taller,” Chu Yu said, seeing her silence and thinking she was annoyed, hurriedly changing the subject.

Support