She sighed theatrically and hugged her knees, looking small, delicate, pitiful, and helpless. “My life is like a drifting duckweed, a boat untethered; through all my years, I’ve weathered wind and rain. The moon’s shadow sinks in the cold pool at the third watch[1]Traditional Chinese night timekeeping divided the night into five watches. The third watch was roughly around midnight, though the precise hours varied. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });; on this traveler’s road, my clothes are thin in the autumn of my ninth year. The sound of torn silk hastens the prophecy of my past life; tears through faded makeup imprison me in this one. Am I the only woman from a humble home who knows heartbreak? It lies at the very end of these vast waters.”
Song Zhi felt as if her words had struck him hard. He actually turned his head toward her.
Now that he was close, he caught the scent of soapberry[2]Soapberry fruits contain natural cleansing compounds and have traditionally been used for washing, including hair and clothes. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); on her.
A breeze suddenly stirred. A loose strand of the young lady’s hair was lifted by the wind and brushed lightly over the back of his hand, tickling him.
In these remote hills, there was actually a woman as detached from worldly concerns and as serene as a chrysanthemum as Miss Zhao—
“Am I the only woman from a humble home who knows heartbreak? It lies at the very end of these vast waters.” He murmured the lines again, then cupped his hands in a solemn salute[3]Bringing the hands together in front of the body is a traditional Chinese gesture of greeting, thanks, or respect. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. “Miss… what talent.”
Uncle Zhang said with a smile, “Her father often taught her to read. That girl knows more characters than I do! It’s a shame her mother died young, and now her father’s gone too. She’s fallen into the hands of that black-hearted stepmother of hers…”
Uncle Zhang shifted the subject with practiced ease. “By the way, young man, what does your family do?”
“Oh, my father does a little business…”
“Is it a big business? Judging by your appearance… you must be from a wealthy family, too, right?”
Song Zhi was modest. “We get by, that’s all. We still depend on the weather for our livelihood.”
Feng’s lips curved faintly.
Number Twelve hadn’t said a single truthful thing.
Business?
What businessman had muscles like that?
What businessman could casually withdraw a hundred-tael bank draft[4]The tael was a weight unit widely used to account for silver money. A draft or note could represent a sum stated in taels; exact values varied by historical setting. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); from a money house?
Honestly… Number Twelve was full of tricks.
“Oh…” Uncle Zhang took the long way around, then gave Feng a meaningful look before asking Song Zhi, “So, young man, has your family arranged a marriage for you?”
Feng seemed unconcerned, but her ears immediately perked up.
This was important information that would determine her next move.
Song Zhi smiled. “I’ve been away for half a year. I don’t know what’s going on at home.”
Hah.
That was as good as saying nothing.
Number Twelve was warm and friendly, but ask him anything and he knew nothing.
How… cunning.
Uncle Zhang smiled slowly. He always worried that Feng was young and didn’t understand the dangers involved; as an elder, he ought to help where he could. So, half jokingly, he said, “Young Master Song, they say a life-saving debt should be repaid with your life[5]A romance-story convention in which someone repays a rescuer through marriage or lifelong devotion. It is a trope, not an actual obligation. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Now Miss Zhao is about to be pushed into a pit of fire by her stepmother. You can’t just stand by and watch her die, can you? You’re blind, so you haven’t noticed how pretty this girl is. Her looks are certainly a match for yours!”
Feng immediately shot Song Zhi a sidelong glance.
His brows had drawn together slightly, and his lips were pressed into a thin line. He was probably thinking of a tactful way to refuse. Feng knew at once that the time wasn’t right yet.
Number Twelve…
You really are a tough nut to crack.
Song Zhi was searching for a polite refusal when a firm, righteous voice sounded beside him. “Uncle Zhang! Please don’t say things like that. If you force someone to marry you just because they saved your life, how is that any different from repaying kindness with malice? If you speak like this, Uncle Zhang… you’ll make Young Master Song suspect that I saved him with ulterior motives!”
Uncle Zhang had a good temper. Even after Zhao Jinfeng had rebuffed him twice in one day, he wasn’t annoyed. He only grinned. “Girl Jinfeng, don’t get worked up. I was only speaking offhand…”
No one brought the matter up again for the rest of the journey.
Except Zhao Yunxiang, who ran all the way home. She embellished the story of meeting Feng and her “lover” in the street, told Madam Yan, then anxiously dragged her mother to the estate to catch them in the act.
“Mother, I saw it clearly! That man must be her lover! Father isn’t even cold in his grave, and she’s already flirting with a man while still wearing mourning clothes. She’s bringing shame on the Zhao family! Let’s go catch them together right now. Then we can open the ancestral hall[6]A clan building or shrine for honoring ancestors and, in some communities, gathering family members to discuss lineage affairs. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, enforce the family law[7]Here this refers to clan or household rules and discipline, distinct from the formal law administered by government officials. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, or even drown her in a pond. There’s always some way to deal with her!”
But Madam Yan seemed not to have heard her. Instead, she only asked, “You said that man was blind?”
“That’s right! He was handsome, but there was something wrong with his eyes!”
“Do you know which family he belongs to?”
“How would I know?” Zhao Yunxiang pulled her mother toward the door. “Mother, while Zhao Jinfeng is still being all lovey-dovey with that lover of hers, let’s call the clan members and catch them in bed!”
Irritated by her daughter’s incessant chatter, Madam Yan said coldly, “Once the three-year mourning period[8]A traditional Confucian ideal of extended mourning for a parent, often called “three years” even when actual observance varied. The chapter’s timeline is the one that governs the story. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_8').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_8', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); is over, your brother can sit the imperial examinations. You want to make this affair known to everyone? So your brother can be mocked by his future colleagues for having an elder sister of loose morals?”
Zhao Yunxiang froze.
The Su family might be no good, and the old man might be old, but the Su family was rich!
Besides, she had feelings for the Eldest Young Master Su. If Zhao Jinfeng married into the family and became her sweetheart’s stepmother, wouldn’t she and the Eldest Young Master Su be torn apart?
“But if we don’t catch her now, and someone else finds out later that she was fooling around with an unrelated man during the mourning period… wouldn’t Second Brother be disgraced all the same?”
Besides, it wasn’t certain Second Brother would even pass the provincial examination[9]A major level of the imperial civil-service examinations, whose successful candidates generally obtained the juren degree; details differed among dynasties. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_9').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_9', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });!
Madam Yan remained calm. “We’ll wait.”
Zhao Yunxiang was utterly baffled. “You’re always telling me to wait! You told the matchmaker to wait, and you told the Su family Master to wait. What exactly are you waiting for?”
Madam Yan sighed. Her daughter was so lacking in sense that it worried her. “That wretched woman who came before me… left Zhao Jinfeng quite a dowry[10]Property and valuables provided in connection with a woman’s marriage. Customs governing who controlled that property differed across families, regions, and periods. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_10').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_10', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Since your brother has repeatedly forbidden me to interfere with her marriage, then her dowry has to stay in the Zhao family!”
Zhao Yunxiang’s eyes shifted. “But Eldest Sister says she doesn’t know anything about a dowry. When Mother sent her to the estate, she nearly died in the snow and still didn’t let a single word slip. Why would she change her story now?”
“That’s why we have to wait—”
“Wait again?” Zhao Yunxiang had no patience. All she could think of was that now was their chance and once it was gone, it would never come again. Besides, they’d finally caught Zhao Jinfeng in a compromising situation. How could she bear to let it go? “What if they run off together while we’re waiting?”
“Tomorrow, I’ll first find out what’s going on between them.” Madam Yan’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “When the two of them are besotted with each other and can’t control themselves, we’ll secretly seize the blind man and threaten to have him sent to the authorities and beaten to death. To save her lover, Zhao Jinfeng will willingly hand over her dowry.”
Madam Yan ran through her plan, narrowing her eyes with a smile. “First we’ll make her give up the dowry, then charge her with being unchaste and drown her. That way, we’ll kill two birds with one stone.”
Zhao Yunxiang finally understood. Her voice was hard to contain, so excited was she. “I thought you really meant to marry her off to Shopkeeper Su!”
“Shopkeeper Su may be old, but his family has mountains of gold and silver. Your Second Brother needs money for his studies at every turn, and I have no intention of groveling to her.” Madam Yan sneered. “It wasn’t enough to grovel to that wretched woman all these years—now I’m supposed to grovel to her daughter too? Not a chance!”
Madam Yan’s own preference was to find any man at all and marry Zhao Jinfeng off to him. Unfortunately, her precious eldest son wasn’t on his mother’s side. One moment he was spouting Confucian doctrines[11]Teachings associated with Confucius that emphasize moral cultivation, family duties, propriety, and responsible government. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717509_1_11').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717509_1_11', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); and moral principles; the next, he was saying Zhao Jinfeng had looked after him when he was little; then he’d bring up his future career in government and how doing things too ruthlessly could give people something to use against him.
Whatever the reason, he simply wouldn’t agree to marry Zhao Jinfeng off.
Madam Yan had no choice but to submit to her son’s authority and plan a roundabout way to get what she wanted.
But if Zhao Jinfeng made a mistake of her own, then Madam Yan could hardly be blamed for taking advantage of it—
Back when her own family had fallen into trouble, she had begged and pleaded with her husband to let her use Zhao Jinfeng’s dowry to tide them over, promising to repay double once things had settled down. But after all these years of marriage into the Zhao family, the old man still guarded against her like a thief.
If not for that, her elder brother wouldn’t have died in prison.
Because of this, her family had nearly disowned her!
Now, at last, the old man had breathed his last. It was time to avenge that old grudge!
References[+]