The bustling New Year season passed, the ice and snow melted, and the dead branches at the doorway gradually sprouted buds. On the third day of the second month, Pei Shumin packed his luggage at home.
“Yuniang, I’ll be leaving tomorrow. Jinling is a long way off, about half a month’s journey. When I finish the examinations and return, it will be mid-March.”
By the stove, a light pink figure fluttered. A gentle breeze swept past the young woman’s rippling skirt, and shortly after, Shen Mingyu walked over carrying the freshly baked flatbreads she had made.
She wrapped them up securely with fine linen and earnestly exhorted, “Brother Pei, these flatbreads can keep for five or six days. You can eat these first, and save the rest of the dry rations to eat slowly along the way.”
Pei Shumin let out an “hn.”
The early morning sun fell upon the corners of his wife’s brows, sparkling with points of light just like the spring aura of February. He looked at her face again and again, reaching out to brush away those soft stray locks: “During the days I’m away, I’ve already entrusted Uncle Zhao, Auntie Da, and others in the village to look after you. Stay well at home, and when I come back, I’ll send you to school.”
Shen Mingyu obediently nodded.
Ever since the incident on the way home from school, Pei Shumin had become extremely vigilant and was never at ease letting her go out alone. Sometimes he would accompany her, and when he didn’t have time, he would ask Uncle Zhao or other villagers traveling the same way to drop her off. Pei Lang was good to her, and she also wanted Pei Lang to do well. She wondered if the travel expenses he had for Jinling were enough?
Shen Mingyu knew that Pei Shumin was the kind of person who would never mention it if funds were tight, choosing instead to grit his teeth and push through the journey no matter how difficult it was.
Ever since registering for the imperial examinations, Pei Shumin had originally planned to keep running his business while preparing for the tests, but later, under her persuasion, he had poured a bit more effort into his books.
With the operations at the county storefront put on hold, combined with the bitter winter, business naturally hadn’t been as good as usual. Shen Mingyu thought long and hard and decided to sell her own hair ornaments to swap out a bit more travel money for Pei Shumin’s journey.
She didn’t have many ornaments—just a few copper hairpins and wooden bodkins that wouldn’t fetch much cash.
The most valuable ones were only two items. One was the red jade bracelet Pei Shumin had bought her on her birthday.
She couldn’t bear to sell that one, so she could only sell the other—the longevity lock she had sneaked out from her mother’s chest back when she planned to elope.
In the afternoon, Shen Mingyu hopped onto Uncle Zhang’s ox cart and headed to a silver shop in Pingyang County.
Uncle Zhang waited outside the shop, while Shen Mingyu took out a longevity lock wrapped in soft cloth and handed it to the shopkeeper.
This lock was among the valuable treasures in Madame Qin’s chest. Before coming to the pawnshop, she had inquired with Auntie Da, learning that based on current silver prices, it was worth at least seven taels, but the intricate craftsmanship of this lock had to be evaluated separately.
Even Auntie Da, who had seen many ornaments, couldn’t help marveling that in all her years, she had never seen such an exquisite longevity lock; it looked like something not of the mortal world.
Shen Mingyu already had a rough estimate of its price in her heart—at least ten taels. Furthermore, this silver shop was a century-old establishment with an excellent reputation, and even Qiuniang’s wedding trousseau ornaments had been crafted here. If the shopkeeper offered a fair price, she figured she would just pawn it right here, making it convenient to redeem later when she had money.
The shopkeeper opened the soft cloth wrap, expecting it to be just an ordinary silver lock. However, upon seeing the craftsmanship, his expression turned startled and stunned.
“May I ask if the young mistress has ever lived in the capital before?”
As soon as these words were spoken, even Shen Mingyu was taken aback. She suddenly realized that this item truly possessed extraordinary craftsmanship, so she nodded composedly, as if she knew all about it.
“In the shopkeeper’s view, how much can it be pawned for here?”
The shopkeeper picked up the silver lock and examined it closely. Small though the longevity lock was, it was carved with a full six red-scaled chi dragons, every single one intricate and dense, adorned further with auspicious clouds. The artistry of this lock far exceeded its intrinsic value in silver.
If he wasn’t mistaken, this should be the style most favored by the aristocratic families of the Capital a dozen years ago. To this day, wealthy households everywhere were still imitating it, and carving locks demanded the supreme skill of master artisans—there weren’t a handful of masters under heaven who could carve to this degree.
The shopkeeper pondered for a moment, and finally gestured with a hand.
Thirty taels?!
Shen Mingyu was secretly shocked. She had thought at most it would be around ten-odd taels, never imagining such a huge sum.
Such an amount instantly made her feel that her once-flattened purse was bulging.
With money urgently needed right now, Shen Mingyu thought it over and was about to complete the transaction when the shopkeeper suddenly noticed a thin, nearly invisible seam along the edge of the lock.
With the owner’s permission, he found a fine needle and gently pried at the latch. To his surprise, the body of the lock suddenly popped open, revealing a small piece of mutton-fat white jade tucked inside.
The shopkeeper was dumbfounded. Just this small piece of glossy, translucent mutton-fat jade alone was worth well over thirty taels.
However, Shen Mingyu’s attention was caught by the characters carved on the jade surface:
——”Helan Yan”
Helan Yan, Helan Yan…
The name rolled over the young woman’s tongue. She dazedly recalled that the bandits on the mountain had also mentioned it. Back then, she had feigned unconsciousness to eavesdrop and learned that they had mistaken her for someone else—and that person was named Helan Yan.
Helan Yan was the daughter of the Marquis of Wu’an, according to their words. And the criminals had lost the portrait, which was why they mistook her for Helan Yan.
Just because… she looked like the Marquis of Wu’an?
Suspiciously, Shen Mingyu looked down at the longevity lock again—
So this longevity lock had been lying at the bottom of her mother’s chest for over a dozen years, and she had always assumed it was something her mother had made for her younger sister. Looking at it now, it turned out not to be. How could her mother possibly have a longevity lock engraved with “Helan Yan”?
She couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard she tried, and a moment later, an absurd conjecture abruptly rose within her.
This conjecture caused her to tremble slightly, a massive conspiracy lurking deep in her heart.
The young woman’s gaze suddenly lost its anchor, floating back lightly to her childhood. That childhood was always thinly veiled with a layer of dark clouds; she had suffered from hunger and cold, doing the most work and eating the least in that household. No one cared about her; they only made her work, and intended to sell her off to human traffickers for money when she grew up.
She had learned from a very young age that a person must plan ahead for themselves.
In the end, Shen Mingyu did not sell the longevity lock. She silently wrapped it back up and boarded Uncle Zhang’s ox cart.
Her mind was filled with one matter after another, tangled like a messy pile of straw. Yet these were only conjectures without solid evidence; she didn’t even know much about this person named Helan Yan.
Thinking of Pei Shumin’s upcoming imperial examinations in Jinling, Shen Mingyu could only temporarily push these thoughts down. She began pondering: if she didn’t sell the lock, how else could she scrape together more travel funds?
That night, Shen Mingyu rummaged through her chests and cabinets, finding the thirty taels of betrothal gifts Pei Shumin had originally given her.
She clutched them in her palm, pondering and pondering.
Finally, she walked over to Pei Shumin, carefully handed them to him, and said, “Brother Pei, Jinling is a long way off, and there are still many matters that require money to smooth the way. You should take this with you.”
A full, bulging pouch of silver.
Pei Shumin looked down at the pale yellow embroidery on the purse—little flower buds, petal after petal, just like her entire heart laid bare. At a glance, he recognized it as the money she had saved up—thirty taels, thirty taels of betrothal money that had brought Yuniang to marry him. And now, for his distant journey, she was taking out those thirty taels once again.
For some reason, Pei Shumin felt his eyes grow moist. In their destitution and cramped thatched cottage, the lamplight danced with a yellowish hue over the watery film shimmering at the edge of his eyes.
Yet with a blink, he calmly swallowed all of it back.
He pushed his wife’s purse back: “Keep it yourself. Once I gave it to you, it became yours. Silly Mingyu, I have money. How could I possibly not leave money for myself?”
“You kept some?”
Pei Shumin gave an “hn.”
Seeing his sincere expression, which didn’t look like he was lying, Shen Mingyu eased up slightly and took the money back. She then peered over suspiciously again: “How much did you keep?”
Pei Shumin curved his lips without answering, his gaze gently hooking her in.
Shen Mingyu tried to touch him, but lunged forward and grabbed empty air.
Who would have thought he would step back?
She wiped the dust-stained face of hers and prepared to lunge again, only to be suddenly swept horizontally into Pei Shumin’s arms as he carried her toward the bed.
As the curtains fluttered down, the bed shook all night long.
Shen Mingyu had to admit that Pei Lang’s stamina was truly exceptional. The next day, he was still able to get up early, strap on his luggage, and head out the door.
Before leaving, Pei Shumin looked down at her and exhorted once more, “Mingyu, you must obediently wait for me to return.”
“I’ll be back very soon. If you encounter any difficult matters, do as I told you before, understand?”
“I know!”
The young woman stood on tiptoe, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.
Pei Shumin smiled, touched his cheek, and finally hardened his heart before turning to leave.
The spring sun illuminated the rural soil and pine woods, with green fields stretching everywhere—everything possessed the look of spring just beginning.
After Pei Shumin left, Shen Mingyu started hanging out the laundry as usual. Yet while doing these chores, even though the sunlight was just right and the small courtyard was tranquil, with him gone, things felt rather empty.
Pei Lang had gone to Jinling for the imperial examinations, to test for official rank and fame.
She didn’t fear that Pei Lang wouldn’t pass; she only feared he wouldn’t be willing to go. Shen Mingyu had always trusted her husband, and she trusted his capability. Thinking of this, her heart was filled with a sense of hope.
Shen Mingyu hung out the freshly washed clothes and took down the dry ones. Just as she was folding them to put them back into the chest, she caught sight of that longevity lock once again.
She fell deep into thought…
Three days later, a messenger knocked on Shen Mingyu’s door.
The man was tall and thin, surnamed He and named Er, from the neighboring village. Three days ago, when Shen Mingyu mentioned she wanted to find a helper, He Qiuxian had recommended someone from her own village. Qiuniang had said this person could read and write, often took on errands and delivery jobs, and moved around various villages most frequently—she could tell him whatever she needed.
“Young mistress, these are the items you wanted.”
Shen Mingyu took the paper handed over by He Er and paid him fifty wen. After the man left, she closed the door, took out the papers, and began examining them.
The paper contained a copied registry, copying the genealogy of the Shaoxi Village ancestral hall. Shen Mingyu read line by line, flipping to the branch belonging to her gambling scoundrel of a father, followed right after by her younger sister’s name—yet her own name was missing.
The young woman’s lowered gaze flickered, and she then opened another booklet.
For the sake of this booklet, she had run all over the bookstores in Pingyang, finally managing to buy it yesterday at a storytelling teahouse—it recorded the historical rise and fall of the capital’s aristocratic clans, though it was written in a more orthodox style, and storytellers often polished it into entertaining anecdotes to amuse teahouse patrons.
She flipped to one of the pages and found the Helan clan of the Marquis of Wu’an.
In his youth, the Marquis of Wu’an had followed the imperial carriage through countless battles in the south and north, establishing numerous great merits. After settling down, he had a household full of wives and concubines, totaling four sons and three daughters, among whom Helan Yan was born to his primary wife, Lady Jiang.
Lady Jiang came from a noble background as the eldest legitimate daughter of the Grand Defender’s Estate. The Grand Defender’s Estate had ties of marriage with the Empress Dowager, and the Marquis of Wu’an also enjoyed deep imperial favor; thus, ever since Helan Yan was born, she had been a darling held in the palm of their hands. The booklet even recorded: Exquisite delicacies were inexhaustible, and imperial rewards flowed like water.
Shen Mingyu’s gaze locked in place, and she flipped further back.
Helan Yan was born in the third year of Kangqi—she was actually the exact same age as Shen Mingyu.
The exact same age, the longevity lock at the bottom of her mother’s chest, and her being mistakenly captured because she looked like the Marquis of Wu’an…
The young woman shook as she packed all these items up, carefully hiding them in the chest beneath her bed.
She walked out into the courtyard, feeling the morning sun of early spring blowing against her face. She was already sixteen years old, having lived sixteen years without anyone loving or cherishing her, until she met Pei Lang. She thought to herself that some matters simply had to be investigated clearly.
Holding a wooden basin, Shen Mingyu walked down to the river to wash clothes, her mind constantly mulling over this matter.
When should she speak of it?
She wanted to take the longevity lock to the capital and ask the people of the Marquis’s estate.
She also wanted to see the Marquis of Wu’an, who looked like her, according to the bandits.
However, Pei Shumin’s imperial exams were imminent, and this examination was exceptionally important to him; she couldn’t disturb him.
Or rather, should she wait until the exams were over?
In another two months, Pei Lang would be able to come back. By then, once Pei Lang found out, he could accompany her to the capital together.
Pondering thus, Shen Mingyu finished washing another basin of clothes, her fingers frozen red.
From that moment on, a matter was planted deep within Shen Mingyu’s heart.
At night, she would hold the longevity lock, sitting at the head of the bed to ponder it carefully.
As luck would have it, her mother had an entire chest of treasures, and out of all of them, she had just happened to snatch this single piece when she ran away.
Her mother’s chest of treasures consisted mostly of jade bracelets, silver hairpins, and bodkins, which she hadn’t dared to steal for fear her mother would take them out to wear. This was the longevity lock her younger sister had worn as a toddler, which certainly wouldn’t be used anymore, so she had taken this most inconspicuous one.
Thinking about it now, Shen Mingyu felt quite fortunate that she possessed a bit of cleverness.
Yet she also owed thanks to Pei Lang, and to the heavens for helping her.
After jumping from the bridal sedan, she had no home left and drifted through life carrying a small bundle. During those hardest times, she had never sold the longevity lock. Later, when Pei Lang sent her to school and taught her to read, she was able to recognize the carved characters of “Helan Yan” the moment the shopkeeper pried it open.
However, Shen Mingyu was also feeling rather worried now.
What if Madame Qin suddenly discovered the longevity lock was gone and came knocking on her door… then all her efforts would be in vain.
Keeping a keepsake in one’s hands always carried too many risks of long nights leading to dreams. Yet if she set off to leave right away, she was afraid Pei Shumin would be angry.
She understood Pei Shumin too well.
He wanted her to obediently stay at home; if she just left like this without a word, he would never forgive her.
The young woman couldn’t help biting her lip, beginning to ponder carefully.
She was so conflicted.
Thinking of this, Shen Mingyu pulled yet another small box out from under the bed.
She carefully opened it. Inside lay a pure, glossy red-veined jade bracelet—the one Pei Shumin had given her on her birthday. She couldn’t bear to wear such a pretty bracelet and always treasured it carefully, only daring to take it out at night for a glance.
Shen Mingyu snapped the box shut with a click, lay down to sleep, and stared fixedly at the pitch-black roof beams.
He always wore old, patched clothes, and the meat he bought home was never eaten much by him; he always placed it in her bowl. He had earnestly told her that she was still growing, and only by eating enough and eating well could she go to school and study properly.
In truth, he was only one year older than her.
Pei Shumin was frugal and harsh on himself, yet he managed to scrape together money from the cracks of the mud to buy her such an expensive bracelet. Even for someone as slightly vain as her, he showered her with unsparing kindness.
The young woman secretly wiped away a tear.
Shen Mingyu, oh Shen Mingyu, you cannot leave. If she just left without a word, she would be utterly heartless. Pei Lang would never forgive her for the rest of his life.