“I ran into… a band of mountain bandits… They chased me all the way here.” Number Twelve tilted his head. His dark hair fell like a waterfall, and his clothes hung loose and disheveled. He looked like a delicate flower, soaked by wind and rain and in urgent need of shelter. He gazed at her and went on, his voice hoarse. “Benefactor, what should I call you?”
Well, well.
Gang Leader Cao had made it perfectly clear: Number Twelve had been pursued by his enemies to Meng County, and they had only driven him as far as Niujia Village.
This fellow mentioned the bandits but not his enemies. He seemed to have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Feng countered, “And what should I call you, Young Master?”
“My surname is Song… I’m the third son in my family. You may call me Song… Third Brother[1]An informal way of identifying a man by his birth order within his family. It need not mean that the speaker is actually his sibling. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717503_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717503_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”
“Then you may call me Miss Zhao.” Feng noticed that his lips were dry and peeling from blood loss, so she offered him the bowl of water. “Have some water, Young Master.”
The man lowered his eyes and gave a pale, fragile smile. “I haven’t recovered from my serious injuries, and I can’t manage to use my hands. I’ll have to trouble you, Miss…”
Got it.
He wanted her to feed him.
Zhao Jinfeng held the bowl to his lips with one hand and supported his back with the other, carefully helping him drink. Number Twelve seemed like a fish that had been stranded on shore for ages and finally returned to the water; his whole body relaxed.
“By the way, there were a few gold leaves in your purse. I used them to hire a doctor and buy medicine. There’s hardly anything left now…”
“That’s all right. Money is only something external to oneself. But I’ve been badly injured, so I may have to trouble you for a while yet.”
Feng set the bowl on the table and smiled. “You’re too polite, Young Master. Rest here until you’ve fully recovered; there’s no need to leave before then. But men and women should keep their distance. I’m here alone, observing mourning for my father[2]In traditional Chinese filial custom, mourning a parent could restrict marriage and social activities. The precise observance depends on the period and household. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717503_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717503_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, so please don’t wander about and invite gossip.”
He answered with a quiet “Mm.”
Only after she had closed the door and walked a long way away did Feng smile at Caihuan and say, “That fellow… has a few tricks up his sleeve.”
Caihuan looked at her, puzzled.
“Go fetch Doctor Liao. That fellow is almost certainly blind.”
Caihuan was startled. “But he looked… perfectly fine to me.”
Blind?
That would be a real nuisance.
He’d need someone to help him even to take a shit—
“He’s pretending.” Feng tapped her maid lightly between the brows. “Didn’t you see him open his eyes and immediately feel the clothes he’d been changed into? He wouldn’t take the water from me either. And just now, when you didn’t say anything, he didn’t notice there was a third person in the room.”
Caihuan thought to herself: My goodness, Miss’s eyes are sharp!
She figured out all that in just one exchange?
And Miss says Number Twelve has a lot of tricks!
The first twelve men combined couldn’t hold a candle to her mistress when it came to scheming!
“Trying to play games with me?” Feng gave a cold laugh. “Fine. I’ll play along.”
Caihuan was already worried. “Miss, I think this Number Twelve… might be harder to fool than the first eleven.”
As far as Caihuan was concerned, the ninth one, the impoverished scholar, had been the best.
He was shy, spoke gently, had a lovely voice, and beautiful hands.
When Miss urged Number Nine to go to the capital for the imperial examinations, his eyes had been red with tears. He swore that if he passed the jinshi examination[3]Jinshi was a prestigious degree in the imperial civil-service examination system, generally awarded after its highest levels. Success opened a path toward official service. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717503_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717503_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, he would come straight back to fetch Miss and marry her.
Only three months had passed.
She wondered if Number Nine had reached his destination yet.
Feng walked a long way, thinking about how to handle the situation, before smacking her forehead. “Oh, no! I forgot to take the chicken leg with me… That fellow got it for free!”
What a lucky fellow.
It wasn’t enough that he got to eat a chicken leg.
He also had a beautiful woman like her, fair as a celestial maiden, going to all the trouble of pursuing him.
Song Zhi knew he was blind as soon as he woke.
First, his enemies had pursued him; then a band of mountain bandits had taken advantage of his predicament. While fleeing, he had fallen backward and hit his head. When he woke, he heard someone speaking.
When he opened his eyes again, it was as if a veil hung before them. Everything was hazy, and he couldn’t make anything out clearly.
Fortunately, that Miss Zhao sounded… harmless.
As soon as she left, Song Zhi forced himself upright, then slowly familiarized himself with the room. It was sparsely furnished, with little furniture and barely enough room to move around. It was clear that Miss Zhao’s family was not well-off.
He also heard only the clucking of chickens and barking of dogs, sounds unique to the countryside, outside. That confirmed that everything Miss Zhao had told him was true.
She was alone, observing mourning, young, and a woman. She ought to be easy enough to manipulate.
His vision was blurred, and he was seriously injured; his enemies might not have gone far.
This place would do as a temporary refuge—
Caihuan went to fetch a doctor. While the doctor was examining him, Song Zhi said slowly, “Doctor, my vision suddenly went dark just now. When I opened my eyes again, everything in front of me was foggy. Could I have injured my eyes?”
Zhao Jinfeng’s lips curved upward. She put just the right amount of shock into her voice. “How could that be? But you seemed perfectly fine before… How did this happen so suddenly?”
Doctor Cao exchanged a look with Zhao Jinfeng, then unhurriedly packed away his medicine case. “This young master sustained a heavy blow to the back of the head. There are signs of blood stagnation obstructing the clear orifices[4]This is a diagnosis expressed in traditional Chinese medicine, which interprets symptoms through concepts such as blood stasis and the body’s channels. It is not a modern clinical diagnosis. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717503_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717503_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. First, we’ll use acupuncture at the Baihui and Fengchi points[5]Named acupuncture points in traditional Chinese medicine: Baihui is at the top of the head, while Fengchi is near the base of the skull. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717503_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717503_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); to restore yang and awaken the spirit[6]In traditional Chinese medicine, yang describes one aspect of the body’s dynamic balance. This phrase expresses a treatment principle within that medical framework, not an established biomedical … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717503_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717503_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Then we’ll decoct peach kernel, safflower, Sichuan lovage, and other ingredients to disperse the stasis. He must also rest his mind and avoid anger, agitation, and worry.”
What in the world was he going on about?
Zhao Jinfeng hadn’t understood a word. She only asked, in a pitiful voice, “Doctor, when will he be able to see again?”
A blind man—
This was when Number Twelve was at his most helpless. If she cared for him attentively, she might really be able to take advantage of the opportunity.
A badly injured blind man stranded in an unfamiliar place would surely be helpless, and he wouldn’t be able to leave for at least two or three months. Getting him under her thumb… would be a piece of cake.
“His blood stasis should disperse and his channels clear in a little over a month. Let him rest easy. This is not something to rush.” The doctor wrote out a prescription. Zhao Jinfeng sat beside Song Zhi and comforted him gently. “Don’t worry. Since I rescued you, I would never abandon you. Just make yourself at home here, Young Master Song.”
Song Zhi could see only a blur amid the shifting light and shadows, but he sensed her concern. He smiled faintly and cupped his hands[7]A customary gesture of respect in Chinese settings, made by bringing the hands together in front of the body. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717503_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717503_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. “I’m much obliged, Miss.”
Zhao Jinfeng saw the doctor out. Song Zhi’s eyes were injured, but his hearing had grown sharper, and he heard Miss Zhao quietly urging the doctor to use the best medicine and do everything he could to cure his eyes.
Mm.
She did seem like a kind person.
But Zhao Jinfeng was cautious. She pulled Doctor Cao a long way away before pressing him for the truth. “Old Cao, tell me honestly. How bad are his eyes?”
Doctor Cao stroked his beard, grinning slyly. “His eyes aren’t seriously injured. If a doctor in the city treated him, it’d take only a few days. But you know my medical skills have always been a bit unpredictable… Heh…”
Doctor Cao even got bashful as he spoke. “When he’ll see again? I can’t say.”
Zhao Jinfeng smiled wickedly. “That makes things easy.”
A certain kind-hearted person returned to the room and saw Song Zhi moving slowly along the wall. Zhao Jinfeng hurried over and steadied him. “Young Master Song, don’t be in such a hurry. You might fall and hurt yourself. I’ll make you a walking stick tomorrow.”
Song Zhi smiled. “I’ve been lying down all day. I just wanted to get up and walk around.”
He heard the young woman laugh, shy and gentle. “You still have a wound on your back. Don’t rush things. I’ll support you… Take it slowly.”
As their fingers touched, the man’s hand brushed Zhao Jinfeng’s.
This woman could afford to keep servants, which suggested her family was well-off.
But her fingers were rough, clearly accustomed to hard work. The fabric at her cuffs was the coarse hemp cloth most commonly worn by country folk. And though he had been lying in Miss Zhao’s home for so long, he had yet to see any elders of the household.
This was a woman her family had cast aside.
Song Zhi quickly came to his judgment.
He could place two or three parts of his trust in her.
References[+]