Guan Wan Matures

“Someone’s making a scene on East Street!”
“There’s a woman, an unmarried one, a daughter of the Guans’, you know? Their eldest daughter?”
“Oh! That spinster? Oh my goodness, which idiot thought it was a good idea to offend her?”
“Nobody offended her, she’s offending others! She said that if a woman is capable, she should lord it over the men!”
“Oh my…that’s an incredibly bold statement! What are you waiting for? Let’s go over and take a look!”
“How is she going to get married at this rate?!”
“Imma kill her! Make sure she doesn’t lead the rest of the women astray!”

When the people further out heard about the commotion, they came running over to take a look. More and more people had gathered, so the crowd was only growing in size…

Some of them were just here to watch the show, but there were others who were much more agitated. Some of them actually came with weapons and were ready to kill Guan Qing.

“I’ll see who dares to do that!”

Cao Zhang didn’t even need to do anything. He just needed to stand a little closer to Guan Qing and nobody dared to move.

He had a really commandeering presence.

He was tall, broad, and threatening, plus many years of fighting and killing other people. Others could tell immediately that they should think twice before getting into a fight with such a man, so they didn’t dare to take any action.

Someone in the crowd yelled, “I can’t believe you would want such a woman! Aren’t you afraid that she might become your master, then bankrupt you of everything, get involved with some other man out there and serve you a bowl of poison?!”

Cao Zhang raised an eyebrow and glanced at Guan Qing. But Guan Qing ignored him and had no expression on her face.

Cao Zhang laughed loudly and merrily. “If I can take Miss Guan to be my wife, I’d be happy for my next eight lifetimes! Don’t you think she ought to be my master? If she bankrupts me, then it’s my fault for being incapable and earning too little. As for getting involved with other men – who else could be better than me?”

That caused the crowd to gasp and murmur even more loudly. This man really dared to say anything!

Some older women, young wives and even old, married women, couldn’t help but dab their eyes with a handkerchief. What touching, romantic words! Why had nobody said such things to them before! They wanted to marry a man like that too!

But one of the angry men in the crowd refused to back down. “What if she really tries to kill you!”

Cao Zhang raised his eyebrow higher and looked rather flirtatious. “I’ll be honest with all of you. My greatest wish in this life is…to die at her hands.”

Everyone who could see Cao Zhang could see the devotion in his eyes as he stared straight at Guan Qing.

He had her back and was willing to protect her at all costs. As long as she said so, he would do anything for her

Guan Qing, let me be your man so I can take care of you and dote on you! You don’t have to be afraid of anyone trying to seek revenge! I will willingly die at your hands!

“Bullshit! Are you still a man or not?! How could you fall for such a woman?!”

Cao Zhang shook his head sadly. “It’s alright, I know you suffer from low self-esteem. Shoo, shoo.”

“What do you mean by I suffer from low self-esteem! I do not!”

Cao Zhang explained, “Because you know very well that you can’t afford to have such a woman. You can’t afford her and you’re not brave enough to admit it either. In order to satisfy that pathetic ego of yours, you have no choice but to step on everyone else and insult the whole world just so you can feel a more superior to others.”

“You…I’m just speaking the truth! I’m saying all this for your own good!”

Cao Zhang merely scoffed.

This chaos started with Madam Liu, but it gained traction because of what Guan Qing said.

This woman had said something completely unorthodox, was trying to persuade others to think the same way, had failed to follow the rules set for women, did not know how to behave in public and even riled up the crowd. A fight could really break out any moment.

News of what happened spread like wildfire.

Every street and alley, every teahouse and restaurant. The entire city had gone crazy talking about this.

Nobody remembered all that about Prince Ling insulting the empress. This was the latest news, and it was something much closer to them! Empress Chen and Prince Ling were people of high status and completely unreachable to them, so they could only gossip about it but could never actually get to see the ones involved. But Guan Qing was different. She was the eldest daughter to a major merchant, and despite being nearly 20 years old, she remained unmarried. A woman like her saying such words might seriously get her killed!

While nothing that Guan Qing said or did was targeted directly at Empress Chen and it looked completely unrelated to the empress, anyone smart enough, or involved with the empress, could see what she was trying to do.

She was stabbing at the empress’ heart and had stolen the effect that the empress wanted to have on the people!

And the results were really clear. Even the court officials had grown tired of arguing with one another over Prince Ling and were happy to change topics.

Once a person calmed down, they would turn their attention to other things. Empress Chen was ill and could not entertain visitors for the time being. Prince Ling had only been allowed to behave wildly for a few days and it was a scandal because nobody expected him to become like this. But the emperor had already stepped in to imprison the prince and there were no further updates about him. There was nothing left for the people to talk about.

So, they stopped talking about that and moved on.

They were still willing to argue with each other, so after they were done with that, they continued with this incident. They started arguing about what would happen to women’s values, which ones were right, which ones were wrong. These arguments were not only between court officials, but even students and elders among the commoners. After all, unlike talking about the empress, they didn’t have to watch their words all the time and fear that someone might apprehend them for being disrespectful to the monarchy.

They could say whatever they liked!

What would happen next was obvious. Guan Qing just needed to get through this wave and she’d be fine. As long as she spoke boldly, directly and rationally, she would cause even more people to express their views. And once everyone was more concerned about debating their views, she could walk away…

But that would take a while. For now, she had to push on.

Meanwhile, in a plain and low-profile horse carriage, Princess Changning and Old Madam Li were seated across each other and looking out of the window at the crowd.

“She’s a wonderful young lady…” Old Madam Li’s eyes seemed teary.

Princess Changning looked at both Guan Qing and Cao Zhang. “They are both wonderful young people.”

After watching for a while and confirming they were not in danger, Old Madam Li looked at Princess Changning, “Why aren’t you heading back?”

Princess Changning was calm as she pointed at the crowd outside. “Look at what’s happening out there. Would you want to head back?”

Old Madam Li shook her head honestly. “Nope. I’d like to stick around and watch.”

“Let’s watch it together then.”

“Let’s do just that.”

…

While the streets were getting rowdy, the Guan family business became the talk of the town.

Guan Qing was a Guan.

No matter what she said, some cursed at her, but some supported her. Most of her supporters were women who were not willing to speak too loudly or too publicly, but the ones who cursed at her were more than willing to act on it. In no time, the Guans’ shops were attacked, and even their house…got attacked.

The shops were still alright, since Guan Qing had already informed them beforehand and knew the storekeepers could handle it. As for her house…

Guan Wan was there to hold the fort.

For whatever reason, she didn’t tell her family too much about what she was about to do. And when news of what happened reached the house, Guan Wan was too stunned to even move.

But just a few moments later, she calmed down.

She put down the soup she was preparing and walked into the living room. Her face was stern as she started giving instructions, “Shut the doors fast, including the side gate! Ignore anyone who tries to antagonize us! If they throw rotten vegetables at us, let them be! Once they’re done throwing, collect the leaves and feed them to our pigs and chickens! No, there’s no need to find out if Eldest Sis is alright! She’ll definitely return before sundown!”

Guan Wan made arrangements in an organized manner and gave clear instructions.

Her little fists were clenched tightly inside her sleeves and she did her best to make sure she didn’t burst into tears.

When her older sister and cousin were around, she could be that little sister who didn’t have a care in the world and did whatever she liked, since the two older girls would clean up her mess. But when they weren’t around, she had to take charge.

And she knew how to!

In that instant, the little girl of the house matured.

Ji Yuanjia secretly sent a message through the side gate and requested to see her. His eyes brightened when he saw the resolute and confident Guan Wan standing before him.

He…was definitely going to devote his entire life to this woman!

Today was a good chance to prove himself worthy of her!

On the other hand, Madam Zhang was very displeased with this situation. When Guan Qing was around, she couldn’t do anything and let things be. But now, Guan Qing wasn’t around and Guan Wan was taking charge! How could Guan Wan ignore the fact that she was still living in this house!

Guan Song had travelled to the shops outside Bianliang and had not returned, Guan Lang was still at the academy because it was not the holidays yet. Even if they heard about anything, they wouldn’t be able to return immediately. It was her perfect chance to seize power!

But there was nothing she could do.

The young women could do whatever they wanted because they had Madam Zhang’s mother-in-law to back them at home.

“Do you want a candy?” Madam Bai offered Madam Zhang one.

Madam Zhang smiled and shook her head. “Thank you for the kind offer, but it would be rude of me to take something that was meant as a gift to my elders.”

Madam Bai was just offering her a sweet out of courtesy and didn’t actually want to give her any. She immediately retracted her hand and put the candy into her mouth. She smiled merrily, “Mmm! It’s so sweet!”

These candies from Prince Ping were really different from the ones she could find in the market!

Madam Zhang was furious. She wanted to take charge of the household! Not eat sweets! If this old woman keeps eating candies, she thought, she’s going to die from diabetes someday!

Madam Bai knew what was going through her mind. She noticed that Madam Zhang was staring at the eight strong aunties guarding the gate, so she waved a maid over and told her to send more aunties to the gate.

Madam Zhang nearly flipped. Was it fun to trap her in the house?!

“The longer I watch the children grow up and mature, the more comforted I feel,” Madam Bai smiled brightly at Madam Zhang. “And the more I see how ungrateful mothers can be, the more upset I become.”

Madam Zhang nearly glared back at her. Was she referring to her?!

“Both of us have had our time. The world belongs to the children now,” said Madam Bai quietly. “Just sit here and watch the show.”

…

The streets were bustling and the house was fending off naysayers, but Song Caitang had no idea.

She enjoyed the silence in the room and the silence of her surroundings. She could even hear a breeze.

When she had gone through the cases a good nine times, she finally heard footsteps approaching the door. There was more than one person.

In no time, a key could be heard and the door was unlocked.

A large group of people entered. Some were in charge of making sure Song Caitang didn’t move, while others brought in a large screen and placed it in front of her.

The screen was made from very high quality materials. The embroidery on it was a scene from the riverside in spring. It was white and covered in pink flowers. The screen was clearly very thin, yet no one could see through it at all.

The number of people and this screen proved once again that her kidnapper was definitely someone extremely wealthy.

She couldn’t see through the screen and couldn’t see who was behind the screen and what they were doing. But she could hear and smell.

A three-legged round table was carried in.

Tea was being made.

The teacup made no sound as it was placed on the table. The tea smelled fresh and fragrant. It was high grade white tea.

An incense burner was lit and the incense smelled a little like orange peel. It was refreshing but slightly bitter.

After everything was prepared, they all moved aside and waited quietly.

A few moments passed before someone finally walked into the room and sat down at the table behind the screen.

This person did not speak and just sat there quietly, as though the first person to speak would lose the game.

Remaining unseen and unheard was a way to create stress for the other party.

This person was trying to make Song Caitang frantic and afraid.

But clearly, Song Caitang was not afraid.

Not only that, but she wanted to make the other person afraid.

So, she broke the silence first. But instead of begging for mercy or bursting into tears, she said, “Since you’re not going to talk, then let me guess who you are and why you’ve kidnapped me.”

Song Caitang could not hear what the other person said or what movement they made, but a middle-aged woman standing next to the screen seemed to have received some instructions. She bowed to the person behind the screen, then turned to Song Caitang with a stern and arrogant look in her eyes. “You may do so.”