Seeing Xie Yunzhuo puffing up with anger, Yun Zhen shot Xie Yunqi a look and quietly told her to close the door. Then each of them took a small stool and moved away from the main house, the three siblings sitting down together in a circle.
Xie Yunzhen reached out with both hands, one on each side, and gently pinched both their cheeks. She looked at the two similar faces before her—both had inherited their mother’s good looks, so fair and adorable that it was truly hard to stay angry at them.
She let out a helpless sigh and smiled lightly. “What exactly happened? Aren’t you going to tell your sister?”
“Sister, lighter! Lighter! It hurts so much!” Xie Yunzhuo pretended to squirm and dodge Yun Zhen’s hand, whispering in a whiny voice.
Seeing this, Xie Yunqi covered her face with her palm-leaf fan and tilted her head back, quietly laughing. Everyone knew their sister had always been gentle with them—calling her a second mother wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Perhaps it was precisely because she was so good that Xie Yunzhuo always loved to clown around and make her laugh.
In the villagers’ words, it was purely “asking for a beating.”
Oh dear, she couldn’t say that word—if Mother found out, she’d think she’d learned bad things from others.
Xie Yunzhen glanced over and naturally didn’t miss Xie Yunqi secretly sticking out her tongue on the side. She must be thinking of all sorts of nonsense in that little head of hers again. So she simply asked her, “What about you, Yunqi? You seem so happy—why don’t you tell your sister about it?”
“Alright, Sister,” Xie Yunqi said with a sweet smile, always completely unguarded around Yun Zhen. She put down her fan and spoke right up. “It’s that Ning Erlang. Yesterday after school he blocked us and wouldn’t let us leave, and he kept leaning his face in to kiss me. So annoying! And he said something like… something like, hmm? ‘The fortune of multiple wives’?”
“Sister, what does ‘the fortune of multiple wives’ mean?”
Xie Yunqi frowned in thought for a few moments, then cupped her little face in her hands, utterly puzzled, and asked Xie Yunzhen.
Xie Yunzhen was caught off guard by her question, and her expression nearly cracked. That Ning Erlang was only about two years older than her siblings—how could he act so shamelessly? He wasn’t that old at all, and the juren tutor was a proper, upright man. Having lost his wife early, he’d never remarried or taken a concubine, and he didn’t seem like the type to teach such words to a group of children.
But if no one had taught him, where would an eleven- or twelve-year-old boy learn phrases like “the fortune of multiple wives”?
Thinking of Ning Erlang’s outrageous behavior, a trace of disgust welled up in Xie Yunzhen’s eyes. She said seriously, “That’s not a good phrase. From now on, if he says things like that, just pretend you didn’t hear them. But if he does anything improper to you again, you run. If you can’t run, tell the tutor. Understand? But no matter what, don’t throw any punches.”
Ning Erlang’s full name was Ning Shao, the most favored youngest son of the lizheng’s household. Although the Xie family couldn’t afford to offend the lizheng’s family, she still didn’t want her siblings to be humiliated like this. Avoiding conflict whenever possible would be the best course.
Ever since she was young, she had known that her mother and her siblings were different from her—and different from their elder brother who had passed away prematurely.
Only her elder brother and she were the same kind.
She still remembered the cold winter she was adopted. In a desolate, broken temple, her mother and another young woman each held a swaddled infant in their arms. Both looked utterly disheveled, as if they had been traveling for a long time—hair in disarray, exhausted beyond measure.
Even so, her mother’s appearance was, to Xie Yunzhen at that time, like a goddess descending to earth, bestowing upon her divine compassion, filling her heart with a desperate will to live.
But the girl who had been beside her mother seemed to be ill and hadn’t made it through the night.
In that abandoned temple, she wasn’t the only homeless child, yet when her mother left the next day, she happened to reach out her hand to her, and from then on, she had a home.
Over the years, to conceal Yunzuo’s identity as a boy, they had settled in many places from north to south, and Ning Village was the longest they had stayed so far.
“I know, sister. I didn’t like Ning Erlang anyway; it was him who kept pestering us.” Xie Yunqi pouted, and for some reason, a visible gloom settled over her expression.
Xuefu also came over, first happily nuzzling Xie Yunzhen’s hand, then circling around Yunqi a few times.
Yunqi hugged Xuefu’s neck and said pitifully, “Sister, I heard people say that having girls in the village school affects other students’ studies. Is that true? I study very seriously every day…”
Xie Yunzhen frowned upon hearing this: “Who said that? Where did you hear it?”
“It was Ning Shao’s mother. I overheard her a few days ago, saying she was going to tell the teacher not to let us come to the village school anymore.”
As the sisters talked, they didn’t notice when Xie Yunzuo had gone quiet, poking at the ground with a twig, looking thoroughly dejected.
He suddenly looked up and said irritably, “Fine, if she won’t let us, then so be it! Who needs her permission anyway? I don’t want to go anymore. Sister, I don’t want to attend the village school.”
“Why? Just because of Ning Shao’s mother’s gossip?” Xie Yunzhen’s hand, which had been stroking Xuefu, unconsciously slowed, causing the creature to whimper in dissatisfaction.
“That’s not it at all! We don’t have money at home now—do you think I’m stupid? If Yunqi wants to go, let her go. I’m not going anyway. If I don’t go, sister, can we get half the Shuxiu back?”
Xie Yunzhen was momentarily speechless, her nose stinging slightly at Xie Yunzuo’s somewhat naive words. She stood up, acting as if it were no big deal: “What are you thinking? There’s no such thing as getting the Shuxiu back. You two go to school and stop worrying about things that aren’t your business.”
Xie Yunzuo’s stubborn streak kicked in, and he stood up too, walking inside as he spoke: “Then I’ll go talk to Mother. She’s the head of the family, and she definitely wouldn’t bear to see you running around all day for money. I’m young and strong—I can help too!”
“Stop right there!” Xie Yunzhen grabbed Yunzuo’s ear and pulled him back. “I told you not to disturb Mother’s rest.”
Seeing the little rascal’s anxious expression, Xie Yunzhen was amused, and the gloom in her heart dissipated. She said with a smile, “In this family now, those who could make decisions aren’t as healthy as I am, and those who are younger and healthier than me can’t make decisions. So, what I say goes. You two, just go to school obediently. Ning Shao’s mother is the wife of Ning Village’s headman, not from Shikou Village. The honored scholar doesn’t even have to kneel before the county magistrate—how dare she try to lord it over him?”
“That’s true.” Xie Yunzuo scratched his head. “But—”
“What’s there to argue about? Listen to your big sister!” Xie Yunzhen pulled Yunqi and Yunzuo into a hug, deliberately ruffling their hair, her smile as bright as a painting. “There’s a wealthy household in town throwing a birthday feast that’ll last several days. They’re so busy they’ve hired a bunch of outside help, and your Sister Tian Zhi and I managed to snag positions too. I’m heading into town shortly and will probably be there for a few days, so you two kids don’t need to worry about money. When Mother wakes up, make sure to tell her about this. Oh, and there are still some preserved vegetable cakes I made the day before yesterday on the stove. I’ll let the neighbor auntie know in a bit—you two can eat lunch at her place like before. If Mother can’t get out of bed, don’t you dare try to cook on your own, understand? I’ll find time to come back.”
Xie Yunzhen said all this in one long breath, and the two siblings nodded with vague understanding.
She breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. This excuse came easier than she’d expected.
Xuefu, however, seemed to understand Xie Yunzhen’s words and knew she was leaving again. He propped himself up on his hind legs, his front paws gripping her waist, unwilling to let her go.
“Alright, Xuefu, I’m busy right now. Next time, next time I’ll take you out for a walk.” She lowered her voice, grabbing the big white dog’s enthusiastic muzzle with one hand. After making sure he wouldn’t bark, she hugged him for a good while before pushing him away.
Before going inside, Xie Yunzhen extinguished the fire on the stove and lifted the lid of the medicine pot. She thought to herself: Forget it, this is the last time. Yunqi worked so hard to watch over this brew.
Next time, she’d find a better physician to treat her mother no matter what.
As she was about to leave, Xie Yunzhen had already tidied herself up and stepped one foot out the door, only to tiptoe back inside to rummage through the trunk by the bed for a dress.
That lord was clearly quite particular about clothing and appearance. But she was always doing labor and afraid of causing trouble, so she’d always dressed plainly and simply. The only outfit that was even remotely presentable—a pink dress—was made from cloth she’d bought in midsummer two years ago, and she’d never been willing to wear it.
She held the dress up to look at it. If she didn’t compare it to the pink dress that lord had made her wear that night, she’d think this one was as beautiful as could be. But side by side, they were like a common pheasant compared to a phoenix.
She hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to go to the next room to change. But because she was so nervous about waking her mother, she stood up too carefully and ended up bumping into the low cabinet.
She rubbed her waist, hissing through her teeth, not daring to make a sound.
“Yunzhen?” Her body froze, heart pounding wildly. She turned back nervously, only to realize her mother was just talking in her sleep. She breathed a sigh of relief and moved to leave.
She hadn’t even made it out of the room when she heard rustling sounds behind her. Turning back, she saw her mother had woken up. Yunzhen turned around again to help her sit up half-reclined.
“I dreamed of that Granny Li again. Ever since she came to the village a few days ago, I’ve felt uneasy,” Madam Xie said, rubbing her brow with a weary expression. “I heard she came again the other day. She didn’t come looking for you, did she?”
Yunzhen’s eyelid twitched. She looked away, hiding the dress behind her back and saying guiltily, “Yunzuo was so fierce that day—he nearly smacked her in the face with the broom. I don’t think she’d dare come.”
Her pale hand behind her back nervously clutched the dress, terrified that Madam Xie might notice some hole in her story. But then Madam Xie closed her eyes, tilted her head, and fell silent.
This startled Yunzhen. She quickly reached out, nervously checking her mother’s breath. Only after feeling the even breathing did she realize her mother had simply fallen asleep again. She let out a sigh of relief.
After covering her mother with a thin quilt, a cloud of worry settled over her heart, stirring a touch of sorrow in Xie Yunzhen’s chest.
Out of habit, she pinched her own thigh to keep the traitorous tears from falling and needlessly worrying her siblings.
She glanced down at her pink skirt and, without hesitation, stuffed it back into the trunk.
Why bother changing? That nobleman wouldn’t think well of any of her clothes anyway. She might as well go as she was.
Once inside Raocheng, seeing that it was still early and recalling that the nobleman hadn’t specified an exact arrival time, Xie Yunzhen decided to first go find Granny Li to collect the money. If time allowed, she would also make some inquiries about where the best physicians in Raocheng could be found.
She couldn’t wait any longer.
Xie Yunzhen didn’t understand—how had what started as a simple cold deteriorated into such a serious illness over these past few years?
Granny Li lived in the western part of the city, quite a distance away. It took Xie Yunzhen considerable effort to locate her in an alley.
When Granny Li answered the door and saw it was Xie Yunzhen, she was quite surprised. But upon hearing that the girl had come to collect money, she immediately moved to shut the door.
Xie Yunzhen reached out to block it and got her hand caught in the doorframe. She yanked her hand back in pain, tears welling at the corners of her eyes, but she ignored the hurt and demanded, “Auntie Li, what do you mean by this?”
She was used to being docile and rarely quarreled with anyone in Ning Village—this was a first.
Granny Li’s attitude was a complete reversal from the days before when she had been pleading with Xie Yunzhen. She said with self-righteous indignation, “The nobleman said it would take several days to finish. You want the silver before it’s done? Where’s the sense in that?”
“I’m from Ning Village—where would I run to?” Xie Yunzhen refused to back down, her face red as she argued through gritted teeth. “We agreed that the fifty taels would be given to me once the first matter was settled, or else I wouldn’t agree. You—you promised!”
Hearing this, Granny Li knew she was in the wrong. She gripped the door panel, her eyes darting about. Then, thinking it over, she figured she’d already gotten the money from Young Master Wen anyway, so handing over those fifty taels wasn’t entirely out of the question.
“Then wait a moment.”
Granny Li also couldn’t help but think—with a face like that, who knew what fortunes might come her way in the future. Better not to push her too far.
So she put on a fawning smile once more, though the moment she turned her back, a glint of contempt flashed in her eyes—ha, she’d seen plenty of young women like Xie Yunzhen. They’d hem and haw and refuse to budge at first, but once they were in the beds of those high officials and nobles, surrounded by gold and silver, they’d be reluctant to leave. In time, those clear, pure eyes they’d had at the start would sink into the dye vat and grow dull and lifeless.
She figured Xie Yunzhen would be no different.
Just look—wasn’t she already getting worked up over fifty taels?
Having obtained the fifty-tael banknote as hoped, Xie Yunzhen carefully tucked it into the lining of her clothes. After leaving Granny Li’s place, she learned that the physicians at Ruichun Hall were the best in the city. She hurried over, only to find the shop closed, with a notice posted saying the physician had gone home to visit family for three days.
Xie Yunzhen was so frustrated she felt dizzy, but there was nothing she could do for now. She had no choice but to head to the Pei residence, since there was an important figure waiting there whom she couldn’t afford to offend.
After some inquiries, Xie Yunzhen easily found the Pei residence. The gatekeeper had been informed in advance that a beautiful young woman would be arriving that day, so he let her in without any questions.
But the Pei residence was vast, and no one came to guide her. She wandered this way and that, getting herself thoroughly turned around without spotting a single soul.
She was just sitting down in the rain pavilion, feeling deflated, when she heard a familiar voice calling her from behind.
Xie Yunzhen turned around and her face lit up with joy—it was Nanny Zeng, whom she had met before.
“Madam Xie, you’ve come at just the right time. Forgive me, but please drink this.”
The young master had calculated it precisely, guessing that Madam Xie would arrive around this hour, and sure enough, there she was.
Nanny Zeng walked toward Xie Yunzhen, lifted the lid of the food hamper, and held out a bowl of steaming medicinal broth.