Mid-May, the sixth year of Jinghe.
The first rays of dawn were breaking. Beneath the vermilion walls of the temple, a woman dressed in pale blue cotton tightened her collar. Only then did she pour fifty-five wen from a faded silk pouch into the hand of an old woman carrying a basket.
After taking the basket from the old woman, the woman smiled slightly. Her gaze was as gentle as water, momentarily dazing the old woman before her.
“The fifty wen is for the eggs. For the remaining five wen, I must trouble you, Granny, to bring back two sticks of candied hawthorns for my Ningning from the market at the foot of the mountain.”
“Of course. Mistress Yu, please head inside quickly; it’s still chilly out here.”
Granny Wang waited until that graceful figure disappeared behind the threshold before shaking her head and heading down the mountain. She couldn’t help but sigh, “Such a fine lady, how could her luck be so poor?”
Granny Wang still remembered when Mistress Yu first moved to Lingtai Temple. Back then, Granny Wang had just returned from the market when she saw a gold-calf carriage stop at the foot of the mountain from afar. Having grown accustomed to seeing high-ranking officials and nobles coming to Lingtai Temple to pray, Granny Wang understood at once.
This was another noble who lived in a world completely different from her own. She never expected that now, not only would she be on speaking terms with the noble lady from that carriage, but they would practically be neighbors.
“Sigh… a widow and her child, how pitiful…”
Yu Yihe turned and entered her home. To call it a home was a bit of a stretch; it was merely a small courtyard in the northwest corner of the sprawling Lingtai Temple, consisting of only three blue-brick rooms and a small kitchen made of mud.
Qingshuang was in the courtyard washing the clothes changed out of yesterday. Hearing the door close, she looked up and saw Yu Yihe heading toward the mud kitchen. She immediately moved to stop her.
“Young Mistress, you should go back inside and get some more sleep. Leave these rough chores to me. I’ll cook the porridge as soon as I finish the laundry and call you when it’s ready.”
Yu Yihe didn’t stop, disappearing inside. When she emerged, she was carrying a wooden basin toward Qingshuang. Reaching the well, she expertly dropped the bucket and pulled the coarse hemp rope to draw water.
Her fair, slender arms showed faint blue and purple veins from the exertion. Under the morning light, her skin looked like white jade. These were hands that should have never touched “spring water,” yet they were performing manual labor with great efficiency.
Watching this scene, Qingshuang’s eyes reddened, and she suddenly burst into tears.
“Young Mistress…”
Yu Yihe covered Qingshuang’s mouth with one hand to stop her from crying, while her eyes remained fixed on the wooden basin. She used her other hand to skim away the rice husks floating in the water.
Qingshuang’s impending sob was stifled, and her reddened eyes widened.
After a few breaths, Yu Yihe released her hand, tilted her head to look at her, and let out a light laugh. Her tone was brisk. “I am no longer some young lady of a sheltered household. I can’t let all these chores weigh on your shoulders alone.”
How could a widow who had been forgotten in a temple for three years still put on the airs of a high-born lady?
Yu Yihe lowered her eyes and carefully skimmed off the husks, not daring to look at Qingshuang’s face. After repeating this three times until the water was completely clear, she immediately carried the wooden basin into the kitchen. The moment she turned around, a flicker of emotion finally rippled in her eyes.
But once inside the kitchen, Yu Yihe set aside those useless feelings and started the fire to cook.
Life had to go on.
By the time Granny Wang returned, Yu Yihe had already finished breakfast and was outside flying a kite with Ningning. A few days ago, Granny Wang’s husband had made a kite for their grandson and had made one for Ningning as well.
The kite was made from paper used for calligraphy practice—quite crude—but Ningning loved it. Suppressing the bitterness in her heart, Yu Yihe had played with her for several days, though her mind constantly drifted back to the kites she had seen during her own youth.
Granny Wang stood to the side with her basket, watching the mother and daughter. She felt an inexplicable sense of comfort. What was the word for it? How did the saying go? Admiring… what? In any case, both mother and daughter were exceptionally beautiful.
She thought for a long time but couldn’t remember the phrase, so she simply praised them with a smile. “Ningning is so well-behaved. My grandson’s kite was broken by him ages ago.”
Hearing Granny Wang’s voice, Ningning immediately stuffed the kite string into her mother’s hand and ran toward the old woman. The little girl’s voice was crisp and very endearing. “Granny, where are my candied hawthorns?”
Granny Wang immediately took a stick of candied hawthorns from the basket, leaned down, and pressed it into Ningning’s hand. She then handed the other one to Yu Yihe.
Once the child had the candied hawthorns, her entire focus was on the treat. Granny Wang took the opportunity to chat with Yu Yihe, sharing all the local gossip she had heard.
“Guess what I saw in the market? Hey, a whole crowd of soldiers! I heard they’re preparing the traveling palace on the neighboring mountain for the Emperor to escape the summer heat.”
Yu Yihe was slightly startled, but a moment later, she was amused by Granny Wang’s words. Her smile dazed Granny Wang once again.
“Mistress Yu, you are a lady from a great family. Have you ever seen what the Emperor looks like? Is he like us, with one nose and two eyes? Or does he have a couple more than us?”
“Granny, you must be joking. My family’s status was modest; I have never seen His Majesty. But I know that His Majesty is just like us, with nothing extra…”
Just then, a shout came from a distance. It was Granny Wang’s grandson calling for his grandmother.
The two said their goodbyes, and Yu Yihe reeled in the kite to take Ningning home. It wasn’t yet noon. Qingshuang was sitting under the porch embroidering a handkerchief. Yu Yihe walked over and held the candied hawthorns to her lips.
Qingshuang looked up, her eyes bright for a moment, but then she turned her head away. “You eat it, Young Mistress. This servant doesn’t need any.”
“You know I’m not particularly fond of sweets. Eat.”
Qingshuang was still reluctant. “This servant won’t eat it.”
It wasn’t until Ningning also ran over and held her own candied hawthorns out that Qingshuang finally couldn’t help but turn back. Looking at the pair, her eyes turned red again.
“Young Mistress, you eat first, then I will.”
Left with no choice, Yu Yihe bit off the top hawthorn, and only then did Qingshuang accept it. Yu Yihe watched the two of them eating the snack, then turned and went to sit under the pagoda tree in the courtyard.
The sweet scent of pagoda flowers filled her nose, and the sweet and sour taste of the hawthorn lingered on her tongue, but Yu Yihe’s heart could not be sweetened; only bitterness remained.
Granny Wang’s words had reminded her of the Yu family.
If His Majesty was coming to the traveling palace for the summer, he would certainly bring his concubines and the relatives of his high-ranking officials. Would her third sister, who held the high rank of Imperial Consort, come? Would her parents come?
If they came, would they remember her, the widow living in quiet cultivation at the temple?
Yu Yihe lowered her eyes and let out a mocking laugh.
They likely wouldn’t.
Having been disappointed too many times, she had learned not to expect anything. Yu Yihe quickly pushed the matter from her mind.
But this time, Yu Yihe was wrong.
Thus, when she saw that familiar face again, she was stunned for a long time. It wasn’t until the smile on the visitor’s face began to stiffen that she spoke in a low voice.
“Mother.”
“Oh… my daughter, you have suffered.”
Madam Yu looked at her second daughter standing dazed within the threshold, her heart filled with a complex mix of emotions—distress, guilt, and a touch of wonder.
Time seemed to favor Yu Yihe exceptionally well. At twenty-five, she looked like a bride in the prime of her youth. Her hair was simply tied in a matron’s bun, wrapped with a piece of dark green cotton cloth like the local village women, and her face was devoid of powder. This simple attire, rather than making her look common, gave her an air of pure, ancient elegance.
Even the traces of childbirth hadn’t diminished her beauty in the slightest; instead, they added a gentle charm… making her quite different from the noble ladies one usually saw.
She reached out to stroke Yu Yihe’s cheek. The soft, smooth touch made her heart ache again.
Madam Yu couldn’t help but think of her other daughter, who had grown gaunt and frail after a miscarriage a month ago. Seeing Yu Yihe looking healthy and well-proportioned, her newfound distress and guilt unconsciously began to fade.
She even overlooked why her second daughter was living in such a crude house and leading such a hard life, instead hurriedly expressing the purpose of her visit.
“…Your younger sister’s luck has been poor. She had a miscarriage just last month and is currently staying at Qiqing Garden with His Majesty to escape the heat. His Majesty has specially permitted family members to enter the garden to visit and accompany her. You two sisters haven’t met in years; it is the perfect time to see each other and ease your mutual longing.”
Yu Yihe listened as Madam Yu finished explaining her intent, her eyebrows twitching slightly.
Three years ago, when her younger sister returned home to visit, she was a “bad luck” widow. Three years later, now that her sister had suffered a miscarriage, was she no longer “bad luck”?
But Yu Yihe didn’t say it. Madam Yu glanced at her, then picked up Ningning, who was behind her, and coaxed, “Ningning, Grandmother will take you to see a grand garden and eat delicious food.”
Ningning stayed quietly in Madam Yu’s arms, glancing at her mother’s expression without saying a word.
Seeing this, Yu Yihe knew that she had to go this time. “Then please wait here a moment, Mother. I will pack some clothes.”
She turned and took Qingshuang inside to pack. As soon as they entered the inner room, Qingshuang whispered excitedly, “Young Mistress, the Madam has finally come to fetch you! We don’t have to live this hard life anymore!”
Yu Yihe didn’t dampen Qingshuang’s spirits. She gave a faint smile and simply told her to pack her own things.