Chapter 4: The Eldest Son

  Ban Jin didn't know that the two masters inside were fighting.

  She and Cheng Jiaoniang had already stood at the gate, but they were not allowed into the house either.

  The servants around them also looked at them with strange eyes and refused to speak when asked, avoiding them.

  This made Ban Jin somewhat perplexed.

  "What's wrong with them?" she asked Cheng Jiaoniang in a low and somewhat anxious tone, "Why don't they look at us right in the eye?"

  Jiangniang looked at the courtyard.

  "They misunderstood you," she said.

  Bàn qín èn le shēng, gèng jiā bù jiě.

  Translation:

  Ban Qian hummed in response, becoming even more perplexed.

  She just excitedly told the doorman that she wanted to find Mr. Cheng Erlao and was there to recognize her relatives from Puzhou.

  "What misunderstanding is this?" She asked puzzled, after asking, she shook her head, since the lady said it was a misunderstanding, then it must be a misunderstanding. So she brought up a few more anxious thoughts, "What did they misunderstand? Lady, why didn't you remind me?"

  Because my mouth can't keep up with my brain, Cheng Jiaoniang fell silent, wanting to laugh a little, but before the laughter had even risen, another thought came.

  She looked into the courtyard and saw four or five maidservants walking towards her with gloomy expressions.

  Ban Jin saw the busy and excited reception.

  "Mothers, Second Master is..." she said.

  Before he could finish speaking, two maidservants hastily gathered around him.

  "Second Master is not at home, it's so late, let the young lady take a rest first and talk about it again tomorrow." They said, as they said this, one on the left and one on the right supported Half Cabbage.

  Bàn qín was startled.

  "What are you doing?" she shouted, and just as she opened her mouth, a piece of rag was stuffed into it.

  Half of the celery is dizzy.

  "You've got it all wrong..." she sobbed out loud.

  As expected, the young lady's words were always right.

  "I am the daughter of Second Master," said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  The two maidservants walking towards her were taken aback.

  What?

  In this room, Mrs. Cheng II wiped away tears with her head down, while Mr. Cheng II himself tidied up his disheveled clothes, it was clear that he was not familiar with doing such things, but at this time, he couldn't let the maids come in and laugh either.

  "Lock her up in the ancestral hall for half a month and don't let her out!" Old Master Cheng shouted with an iron face.

  "He's still young, and in that position, he can't avoid socializing. Those women are just for entertainment, we can't be bothered with this." Madam Cheng patted Madam Cheng II's shoulder and comforted her in a low voice.

  One white face and one red face, Madam Cheng knew that she couldn't make too much of a fuss either, or else being in the right would also become being in the wrong.

  She wiped away her tears and nodded in agreement.

  "Alright, let's just forget about it and move on. Let's pretend this never happened." Madame Cheng said with a sigh, then looked at Second Master Cheng, "Second Brother, from now on you must not be so reckless. You should think not only for yourself but also for your brother Xi."

  Cheng Er Ye's face was also iron-green, both ashamed and stifled.

  Two maidservants rushed in from outside the door.

  "Old master, madam." They said with a bow.

  "Is it done?" asked Madame Cheng.

  "No." The woman replied, glancing at Cheng Er Ye with a hesitant expression.

  "Whatever she says, don't listen to her, just stuff something in her mouth and drag her away. You've been doing this job for so long, can't you do it properly?" Madam Cheng said with a raised eyebrow.

  My wife was somewhat flustered.

  "Yes, yes," they said, unable to help but glance at Er Ye again, "But she says that she is the daughter of Er Ye."

  As soon as this was said, Mrs. Cheng Er, who had originally calmed down, suddenly got up again.

  "Cheng Erlang, you even have a daughter! You're too much!" she shouted, rushing towards Cheng Er.

  This time, Mrs. Cheng reacted quickly and stretched out her hand to block it, but she was dragged by one foot and almost fell over.

  The women rushed forward to support him.

  The house was in an uproar again.

  Ban Jin leaned against Cheng Jiaoniang's side, looking at the surrounding maids who were on high alert.

  "This time there shouldn't be any misunderstanding, right?" she asked Cheng Jiaoniang in a low voice.

  "I'm afraid the person passing on the message won't be clear, or the person listening won't hear it clearly," said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  Does anyone in this family still remember the daughter of the Cheng family from Pingzhou?

  She looked towards the courtyard, the high shadow wall blocked her line of sight, and she couldn't see what the inner house was like.

  "No!" Second Master Cheng shouted angrily, pushing away Second Mistress Cheng.

  Madam Cheng II fell to the ground and dragged Madam Cheng I, crying out loud.

  Cheng Da Laoye spun around and drew out the precious sword of Dong Zidao hanging on the wall.

  The women were frightened and quickly knelt down to intercept the master.

  Madam Cheng exhorted this one and that one, anxious to the point of bursting into flames.

  "I'll go see who's coming to harm me!" Cheng Er Ye also rushed out in a flurry.

  "You dare to go and see him? If you do, don't come back home!" Old Master Cheng cursed in a trembling voice.

  Cheng Er Ye didn't hear and rushed out immediately.

  "Big brother and sister-in-law, look at him hurrying to recognize them." Madame Cheng II cried.

  Madam Cheng hastily stood up.

  It's hard to say clearly when seeing each other.

  "Don't worry, I'm here, and no one from outside will be allowed to enter our home, whoever they are!" she said, not bothering to comfort Mrs. Cheng anymore, and hurriedly chased after him.

  Cheng Er Ye soon arrived at the entrance and saw from a distance two women standing under the lantern, surrounded by several maidservants, very eye-catching.

  Really someone came to the door?

  Cheng Er Ye's footsteps slowed down. He was reckless in the past, but he didn't think he would leave a child outside. Could it be that he had been neglectful?

  Since it was neglected, I'd rather die than admit it. I suppose this side is also baseless and unfounded, otherwise, they wouldn't have come to me until now.

  Thinking of this, Cheng Er Ye's footsteps became more energetic, and he came over with a stern face and an air of indignation.

  "Master is here!" exclaimed Ban Jin with a glance, his eyes shining with excitement.

  Jiang Yao had also seen it early on.

  This man in his thirties, slightly thin build, medium height, recently can be seen with a pale complexion, square face, not particularly good-looking but not bad-looking either.

  Behind him, Madame Cheng hurriedly followed.

  "What's going on here?" Old Master Cheng shouted in a deep voice.

  Before the words had fallen, Pan Jinlian was already joyfully advancing forward.

  "Master, it's me, Ban Jin," she called out, "I've brought back Big Madam."

  Cheng Er Ye's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

  Celery?

  Who is it?

  "Daughter, daughter, this is your father, this is your father." Ban Jin pulled Cheng Jiaoniang again, shouting with a mix of joy and heartache, and couldn't help but burst into tears.

  "Don't shout rashly, who is whose father!" shouted Cheng Er Ye.

  "Where did you come from? But isn't that a case of mistaken identity?" Madame Cheng also stepped forward and said in a low voice.

  Ban Jin cried so much that she couldn't speak and her words were unclear. Jing Nang took a step forward, reached out and lifted the curtain.

  "Father," she said, kneeling down in respect.

  This woman is good-looking, and at first glance, she seems somewhat familiar.

  Cheng Er Ye and Madame Cheng were stunned.

  "Which one of you is it? How dare you yell at someone's father?" Second Master Cheng shouted back.

  "Old master, you forgot, you said you would go to the Taoist temple to pick us up." Ban Qin cried, "The Taoist temple was struck by lightning and burned down, so my wife and I came back on our own."

  A thunderclap seemed to sound in the night sky.

  Cheng Er Ye and Madame Cheng were both stunned.

  It's really not just shouting father! She is indeed his daughter!

  Cheng Da Lao Ye was also stunned.

  "What's wrong, silly?" he asked incredulously.

  "Yes, sir, it's the big madam from Pingzhou Taoist Temple who has returned." The servant woman said.

  Cheng Da Lao Ye put the treasured sword in his hand back onto the table slowly.

  "It's her." He muttered to himself, exhaled, and then thought of something else, becoming tense, "Has someone from the Zhou family come too?"

  My wife and I were both stunned for a moment and didn't think of who the people from the Zhou family were, but Mrs. Cheng II thought of it.

  The Zhou family, the maternal family of her husband's first wife, had looked down on her as a junior before she entered their household. If not for the support of her own maternal family, she would still have to pay respects to the ancestral tablet of Madame Zhou.

  Madam Cheng 2 stopped crying, and her hands on her knees slowly clenched into fists.

  It's her daughter.

  The eldest daughter of Cheng Jia's second branch has returned.

  "What? The eldest daughter?"

  Deep in the inner courtyard, Cheng Qiuniang suddenly sat up with her hair scattered all over.

  "Did I get an older sister?" she asked with wide eyes, her pale face flushing red, her slender fingers, tipped with tender pink nails, pointing at herself. "Am I not the eldest daughter anymore?"