The Second Young Master’s Obedient Husband : Chapter 74

Su Qingyu had originally wanted to go in with Liang Yu, but just as they reached the doorway, Liang Yu stopped in his tracks. Su Qingyu stopped too and looked at Liang Yu in puzzlement.

Liang Yu looked at Su Qingyu for a moment and said, “I’ll go in by myself. You wait for me at the door.”

Su Qingyu was a bit puzzled, but still nodded.

Liang Yu rubbed his head, sighed, and went inside. Before long, the sound of cursing came from the room.

Su Qingyu had been standing at the door waiting obediently for Liang Yu to come out. Hearing the sounds from inside, his body could not help but tremble. He sneakily peeked through the window at what was happening in the room.

This was the first time Su Qingyu had seen the gentle and refined Big Brother lose his temper. Su Qingyu saw Liang Yu hanging his head while being scolded, and looking at the fierce Big Brother, he felt a bit afraid himself. After hesitating for a moment, he slipped out of the courtyard and stopped at the courtyard gate to keep waiting for Liang Yu, silently apologizing to his poor husband in his heart.

…

As soon as Liang Yu walked out the door, he saw a head poking out at the courtyard gate. It was Su Qingyu.

Su Qingyu saw Liang Yu come out, craned his neck to check that Liang Feng was not following, and let out a breath of relief. Only then did he step toward Liang Yu, tilting his little face up to look at him. “Did Big Brother agree?”

Liang Yu nodded, hugged his husband, and buried his face in his chest. Su Qingyu rubbed his husband’s head, comforting the person who had just been thoroughly scolded.

The two of them held each other for a while, then walked back to their own little courtyard hand in hand, cheerful. Finally they no longer had to deal with the accounts, and both of them let out a sigh of relief.

By the end of the month, the goods were all prepared, and the outstanding accounts had all been collected. Liang Yu explained the account situation once. Looking at the full room of people, he added that he had asked his big brother Liang Feng to manage the books.

The room went quiet for a moment. More than a dozen young and strong men could not help but tremble.

Liang Feng was a juren, a zancian at the yamen, who spoke in a gentle and soft voice. But which of the men who had played with Liang Yu as children had not been tricked by Liang Feng?

Do not be fooled by the fact that Liang Feng was not particularly strong. His tongue was sharp as a whip. The aunts and husbands from ten li and eight townships would praise him as soon as they saw him.

Those men had followed Liang Yu running wild and making trouble in the village. If Liang Feng caught them, he would give them a harsh lesson. They would go home with bruised and swollen faces and would not dare tell their families they had been beaten, only saying they had fallen and ended up like this.

After all, their parents knew perfectly well in their hearts. If they said they had been beaten by Liang Feng, their parents would know for certain they had done something bad and deserved the beating. If they dared to complain a few extra words, they might even get another beating from their parents, which would hurt worse than Liang Feng’s beating.

If Liang Feng hit you and you dared to hit back, that was even worse. Not only your parents, but even your grandparents who might have pulled him off you before would no longer intervene. They might even step in themselves and beat the child again.

Liang Yu saw that more than ten people had all gone silent, and had Shuanzi go invite Liang Feng over.

Liang Feng walked in wearing a half worn out blue robe, an abacus and ledger in hand, his face expressionless.

Shuanzi stayed at the door, not daring to go in.

Liang Yu stood up. “Big Brother.”

Liang Feng sat down at the table, set down the abacus, and opened the ledger. The tall and sturdy men were now like quails, lining up obediently to come over and explain the accounts they had kept. Liang Feng took up the brush and sorted out the accounts one by one, and each person’s entries gradually became clear and organized.

They were busy for the whole morning before they finally got things into some order. Liang Feng closed the ledger, rubbed his temples, and picked up the tea bowl to take a sip.

Liang Yu leaned over, about to say something. Liang Feng lifted his head and gave him a faint look. Liang Yu swallowed his words back down and stood obediently at Liang Feng’s side without making a sound.

Several people nearby were holding back laughter, not daring to make a sound.

Su Qingyu came in carrying a plate of cut fruit and set it on the table. Liang Feng’s expression softened a bit. He glanced at Su Qingyu and nodded.

Su Qingyu called out obediently, “Big Brother.” Liang Feng nodded in response and lowered his head to continue flipping through the ledger.

When he was leaving, Liang Feng called Liang Yu over to the side. Su Qingyu was too far away to hear what was said. He only saw Liang Yu hanging his head and taking the scolding obediently.

After a while, Liang Yu came back. Su Qingyu looked at him. His face was expressionless, but one ear was a bit swollen.

Su Qingyu considerately did not ask, only brought over a bowl of tea and handed it to him.

Liang Yu took the bowl, drank a sip, and sighed. “Big Brother said, next time I drag him into something like this, he’ll have Father split me off to live on my own.”

Su Qingyu was stunned for a moment. The corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably, but he quickly pressed them down, hanging his head, his expression somewhat twisted.

Liang Yu looked at him like that, ground his teeth, reached out to pinch his cheeks, and pulled him over. “Laughing behind my back? Hmm?”

Su Qingyu quickly shook his head, his little face looking perfectly sincere. In the end he still could not hold it in, and buried himself in Liang Yu’s chest laughing nonstop.

After a while Su Qingyu finally stopped laughing. He lifted his little chin and kissed the Liang Yu who looked completely helpless. “Big Brother talks tough like that, but he still helped. You brothers really have a good relationship.”

Liang Yu pinched his face and made a sound of agreement.

…

That night Liang Yu lay in bed. Su Qingyu in his arms was already asleep, but Liang Yu could not fall asleep no matter what. He could not help but think of old matters.

Back then the court was in turmoil. Big Brother only had the rank of xiucai. The first round of conscription, he got through it with his scholarly rank and silver. But then there was a second round. Liang Feng was twenty two that year, Liang Yu was seventeen. The family had two men of the right age, and Father was the village head. This time there was no getting out of it.

Liang Feng, as the older brother, directly agreed to the conscription without letting Liang Yu know.

Liang Yu only found out from his own brothers. This time basically none of his brothers had escaped it. All the young men of the right age had to go to the battlefield. They were worried sick, but not a single one regretted it. They had all settled matters with their families, and when they gathered together they were still laughing and joking around. But as they laughed, their eyes all turned red.

Liang Yu came back from outside and found Liang Feng drinking in the room. He said straight out, “Brother, Sister in law just got pregnant. You can’t go. Let me go. I want to go to the battlefield and earn military merit.”

Liang Feng gave him a slap on the back of the head. “Go where? Is the battlefield some fun place? Your big brother is not dead yet. How could an older brother not go and let his younger brother go? Get out and get to work!”

Liang Yu was kicked out the door by Liang Feng. His eyes could not help turning red, but secretly he made up his mind.

On the day they were to set out, the night before the farewell feast, Liang Yu put a large amount of laxative in the food. That night he left a letter, shouldered his bundle, and left.

The whole family was so weakened they could not even get out of bed. They used connections to find the person in charge of conscription. That man said the identity papers had already been submitted and could not be changed. Liang Feng held the letter Liang Yu had left, looked at the chicken scratch characters on it, and cursed for several days. In the end, whenever he was able to send things, he sent silver, cotton padded clothes, cured meat, and so on, shipping them all over to make things a bit easier for him over there.

During festivals and holidays, the whole family went to the temple to pray for blessings, hoping he would return safely.

Translation Notes:

juren (举人): A successful candidate in the provincial imperial examinations in imperial China. It was a significant scholarly rank that came with certain privileges, including exemption from some taxes and corporal punishment.

xiucai (秀才): The lowest rank in the imperial examination system, earned at the county level. It granted some social status and legal privileges but was below juren.