A Small County of Peace in Jiangnan.
The sky had only just begun to brighten when mule carts rolled through the blue stone alleyways, their wheels creaking against the stone slabs while the bells hanging around the mules’ necks jingled with every step.
People heading to work came out of their homes with tired expressions.
Mothers in the houses scolded their daughters in law.
Women shouted at their children.
Children cried and argued at the tops of their voices.
Shen Qingyin was awakened by the noisy sounds. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the yellowed canopy above her bed, and she immediately let out a sigh.
Before going to sleep last night, she had still foolishly hoped that she would wake up and find herself back in the modern era.
Apparently, she had been thinking too much.
This was already the fifth day since Shen Qingyin had transmigrated to ancient times.
Five days ago, Shen Qingyin had still been an ordinary overworked office worker.
She could not remember what had happened on the day before she transmigrated.
For the past few days, Shen Qingyin had been digesting all the information about her transmigration while sorting through the fragmented memories of the original owner.
The original owner was Shen Yingniang, a twenty one year old widow who had been widowed for three years.
Five years ago, her stepmother had married her off for a high bride price to a sickly man. Less than two years later, she had become a widow.
The elderly members of the family had also passed away, leaving behind only a young brother in law who was not yet nine years old.
Her husband had treated her extremely well during the two years they had been married, so she remembered his kindness and had never considered remarrying. Instead, she had opened a small noodle stall and continued supporting her brother in law’s studies.
Recently, in order to gather enough money for her brother-in-law’s tuition, the original owner had not only run the stall during the day, but had also gone out before dawn to wash clothes for other people and done needlework at night.
Once she had finally gathered enough money for his tuition, the strength she had been forcing herself to hold onto suddenly disappeared, and she fell unconscious, unable to wake.
Perhaps because the original owner had died, Shen Qingyin had arrived in her body, but the body remained extremely weak.
For the first three days after her arrival, Shen Qingyin had been in a daze.
Her fever would go down only to return again, repeating itself for several days. Her intense desire to survive had driven her to grit her teeth and rely on her modern knowledge of treating fevers, finally allowing her to step back from the gates of death.
After regaining her strength and clarity of mind, she gradually accepted the fact that she had transmigrated.
Shen Qingyin lifted the quilt, and a chill immediately seeped into her body, making her shiver.
The mornings in April were still cold, so she needed to put on more clothes.
She quickly got out of bed and put on her clothes. After fastening her bodice, she walked over to the dressing table and sat down.
She stared at the woman reflected in the bronze mirror and still could not get used to seeing this face.
The woman had striking features. Her eyes were slightly upturned, naturally carrying a captivating charm even without any eye makeup, while her lips were moist and vividly colored.
The original owner had not looked like this in her younger years. Back then, she had suffered from poor nutrition. Although she had possessed some beauty, her stepmother had treated her harshly and kept her chronically underfed, leaving her thin and frail. It was precisely because of this that she had avoided being sold as a concubine.
Shen Qingyin stared at the woman in the mirror in a daze for quite some time before picking up the comb and beginning to arrange her hair.
Although she had inherited some of the original owner’s memories, practical skills such as doing one’s hair were different. Her mind remembered how it was done, but her hands were still unfamiliar with the technique, so she settled for a very simple hairstyle.
Her hair reached down to her hips. She braided it into two sections, tied them together with a strip of cloth, then coiled the braids up and secured them with a wooden hairpin.
Once her hair was arranged, she stood up and walked out of the room.
The original owner’s husband’s family was surnamed Lu.
The Lu family’s ancestors had been scholars, so the family had accumulated some savings. Their residence was also fairly spacious, with three rooms and a main hall. Three small rooms had been built side by side in the courtyard as well.
They were the kitchen, the bathing room, and the storage room.
Because the Lu family had some savings, Madam Lu had been able to arrange a marriage for her son shortly before she died.
Although the original owner’s husband had always been sick, he could still copy books while bedridden to earn some money for the household and cover part of his medical expenses.
Everyone in the family had been sick, which made Shen Qingyin wonder whether they might have some hereditary illness.
There was no way for her to verify this suspicion, so all she could do was observe the young brother in law who was now technically her family member and see whether he developed any symptoms. If he did, she would have to make sure he received treatment as early as possible.
Shen Qingyin was just about to wash up when she heard sounds coming from the kitchen.
Before long, a thin boy of around eleven or twelve years old, dressed in a dark blue short robe, walked out of the kitchen.
This was the original owner’s younger brother in law, Lu Jinyou.
“Big Sister in Law, are you feeling better?”
Shen Qingyin nodded. “I am completely recovered.”
Following the way the original owner had always treated him, she continued, “I have recovered now, so you do not need to keep taking leave from school to look after me. Eat breakfast and then go to school.”
In order to fulfill her husband’s regret at being unable to continue pursuing the imperial examinations, the original owner had worked tirelessly to earn as much money as possible so she could support her brother in law’s studies and help him become a successful candidate in the examinations.
In the end, this had also become her deepest obsession.
“I have been reviewing my lessons. Missing a few days of school will not matter.”
More importantly, he was worried about leaving his sister in law alone at home.
A few days earlier, when he had returned home after school, he had entered the main hall and noticed that the door to his sister in law’s room was not fully closed. When he went over to shut it, he saw her lying on the floor through the narrow opening.
He had hurriedly pushed the door open and rushed inside.
There had not been a trace of color on her face. Trembling, he had placed his hand beneath her nose.
She was not breathing.
All the blood in his body seemed to turn cold in an instant.
Before he could recover from the shock and grief, the “corpse” on the floor suddenly moved, as though there was still a breath of life left in her.
The physician had said that her condition was extremely dangerous, and he had remained anxious for several days.
Shen Qingyin did not say anything more to him and simply replied firmly, “Go to school.”
Lu Jinyou opened his mouth, wanting to say that he could go tomorrow instead, but when he saw the stern expression on his sister in law’s face, he could only swallow his words.
“I will get ready and go.”
Although Shen Qingyin was not very familiar with him, she had been cared for by this child over the past few days and remembered his kindness, so she added, “Eat breakfast before you go.”
“By the way, have you paid your tuition?”
At those words, Lu Jinyou lowered his head and pressed his lips together without saying anything.
Thinking about the Lu family’s circumstances and the fact that she had been taking medicine continuously over the past few days, Shen Qingyin immediately understood.
“You used the tuition money to pay for my treatment?”
Lu Jinyou’s voice was muffled. “Your life is more important than my studies.”
There was nothing wrong with that statement.
Shen Qingyin thought for a moment before asking, “How much did you spend?”
The recent memories of Shen Yingniang in her mind were very clear, and she knew how much the tuition cost.
“More than four hundred copper coins.”
“When I went there, the teacher who collects the tuition was not there, so I brought the money back.”
He was very relieved that the teacher had not been there, because it meant they had money available to pay the physician.
Shen Qingyin carefully recalled the situation.
The private school in town required tuition to be paid once every three months, with each payment costing one string and five hundred copper coins.
This single illness had consumed almost a month’s worth of tuition, causing Shen Qingyin’s brows to furrow.
If Lu Jinyou had to stop attending school because they could not gather enough tuition, she was afraid that the original owner, Shen Yingniang, would return as a vengeful ghost and demand an explanation from her.
Even setting the original owner aside, the money had been spent on her after she woke up, so she had a responsibility to deal with it.
Besides, surviving in ancient times was not easy.
Lu Jinyou had a talent for studying. If he really managed to obtain an academic qualification, their lives would become much easier.
Even if he only became a licentiate, he could teach at a private school in town.
If he became a successful candidate at the provincial level, he could also receive tax reductions on a fixed amount of farmland. Her position as his sister in law would rise accordingly, and earning money would become easier as well.
If the original owner’s memories were correct, she had only fifty copper coins left, and those had been deliberately set aside as capital for her business.
Shen Qingyin said to Lu Jinyou, “Take one string of copper coins with you today. Explain the situation carefully to your teacher and tell him that you will definitely make up the remaining tuition before next month. If he refuses, come home and tell me. I will speak to your teacher myself.”
Lu Jinyou’s studies had always been excellent. If the teacher valued talented students, there was a good chance he would agree.
Lu Jinyou nodded. “All right.”
“I am almost finished making breakfast. Big Sister in Law, go wash up first.
It will be ready soon.”
Shen Qingyin nodded. She went outside, cut off a short section of willow branch, beat the end until it became fibrous, and used it as a toothbrush to scrub her teeth vigorously.
She was adapting fairly well to her drastically changed circumstances.
There was no point complaining when she could not change them.
The conditions were simply what they were. For now, she only wanted to figure out how to make money and had no time to feel sorry for herself.
After washing up, she walked into the kitchen and said to Lu Jinyou, “I will do it. Hurry and get yourself ready. Do not be late for school.”
She had cousins around his age in her previous family, and after spending several days with Lu Jinyou, Shen Qingyin had gradually become accustomed to being around him.
Lu Jinyou stood up and left the kitchen, returning to his room to get ready.
Breakfast consisted of ordinary coarse rice porridge and dried vegetables.
Salt was expensive in ancient times, so people could not afford to eat that much salted food.
After breakfast, Lu Jinyou slung his cloth bag over his shoulder. He looked at his sister in law several times as though he wanted to say something, but in the end he only said, “Big Sister in Law, if you start feeling unwell, do not force yourself to keep going. Rest when you need to.”
“I know. Hurry and go.”
Only after her newly familiar brother in law had left did Shen Qingyin finally let out a complete sigh of relief.
She was still afraid of being exposed and being mistaken for some kind of monster, so even in front of this child, she did not dare to let down her guard.
After taking a breath, she remembered the clothes she had changed out of over the past two days and thought that she needed to wash them. Otherwise, she would soon have nothing clean to wear.
During the past few days, while Shen Qingyin had been drifting in and out of consciousness, the auntie next door had helped wipe her body and change her clothes.
The clothes she had changed out of had not been washed either. After repeatedly sweating from her high fever, they had become soaked and were now almost sour with odor.
After recovering from such a serious illness, her body had not become weak at all. Instead, it felt as though she had been given a new life. Her entire body felt light and full of energy.
She placed all the clothes into a basin, took some soapberry and a washing stick, then stood at the courtyard gate and took a deep breath before opening it and stepping outside.
This was the first time she had left the courtyard since transmigrating.
She walked along the blue stone slabs of the ancient alleyway, watching children chase one another and play while women sat outside their doors sorting vegetables and chatting. The whole place was filled with the atmosphere of ordinary daily life.
It was a strange feeling.
When she encountered the neighbors in the alley, they all looked at her curiously.
“Mrs. Shen, have you recovered from your illness?”
Shen Qingyin matched the woman’s face to the corresponding memory in her mind and answered with a smile, “I recovered yesterday.”
Along the way, one person asked questions while she answered them, and eventually she made her way out of the alley.
A branch of the river flowed past the entrance of the alley. A set of stone steps led down from the bank to a platform where everyone usually washed their clothes.
When she arrived, two women were already washing clothes there, chatting idly as they worked.
“I saw the eldest son of the Zhou family yesterday. He was frightening.”
“That cannot be right. I remember that when Zhou Dalang left home, he was a rather handsome young man. How did he end up looking so strange?”
“It is not his appearance. He is actually more handsome than before. It is just that his presence is frightening.”
“Think about it carefully. He spent ten whole years in the military and even went to battle. Who knows how many people he killed? I feel as though he carries the smell of blood around with him.”
“He is covered in a murderous aura, and those eyes are like knives. When he looks over, it feels as though he is about to kill someone. It is terrifying.”
“Stay far away from him when you see him in the future. What if he has become so accustomed to killing that he mistakes us for enemies and kills us too?”
They did not lower their voices when talking about other people, so Shen Qingyin could hear every word clearly without deliberately eavesdropping.