Under the ink-black night sky, swirling snowflakes blanketed the withered branches in the courtyard. A gust of cold wind swept past, causing the red lanterns hanging under the eaves to sway continuously.
A chill seeped through the cracks of the windows, and the flickering candlelight cast dim, wavering shadows across the room.
“Master, An’er is a child I bore after walking through the gates of death. Even if his face has a blemish and his hair color is different from ordinary people, he is still your son in the end.” Concubine Zhou’s eyes were red and swollen, and she looked with tear-filled eyes at the man she had to rely on for the rest of her life. Kneeling on the cold floor, she clutched the hem of Jia Zheng’s robe and pleaded bitterly, “Master, I only have this one child. I beg you to show mercy and not send him away. He is a piece of flesh torn from my body. Now that he is barely a full month old, he is to be sent away in the dead of winter. My heart aches too much to bear it. Master, I beg you, Master.”
Seeing that Zhou was still persistently pleading, Jia Zheng frowned impatiently. “Zhou, in the past, I always thought you were sensible. Why are you acting so unreasonable now? It is true that An’er is my son, but ever since he was born, he has caused his mother’s health to fail repeatedly. When we invited a Daoist priest to examine him, it turned out he was born under an ill-fated star. If he stays in the manor, wouldn’t he be a terrible disaster?”
“Now I am merely having him sent to a temple where all his daily necessities will be provided, and he will not be mistreated. The priest said that if he is accompanied by the Buddha from a young age and endures all the hardships of the mortal world, his ominous fate will naturally be broken once he reaches adulthood. When that time comes, I will naturally bring him back.”
Jia Zheng brushed away Concubine Zhou’s hand and said in a stern voice, “Stop pestering me. This matter is settled. Tomorrow I will send someone to escort him out of the manor. Just pack some useful items for him.”
“Master! Master!” Jia Zheng’s robe slipped from Concubine Zhou’s grasp, and she collapsed onto the cold floor in tears. When the maid Luoyue saw Jia Zheng leave, she hurriedly entered the room, saw Concubine Zhou fallen on the ground, and rushed forward to help her up. “Concubine, please get up. The floor is cold.”
In a daze, Concubine Zhou was supported to a seat by Luoyue, and her tears fell in a steady stream. Seeing this, Luoyue hurriedly took out her own handkerchief to wipe the tears from her face. “Concubine, what did Master say?”
Concubine Zhou did not answer. Instead, she turned her head to look at the tiny swaddle on the bed. She suddenly stood up, walked quickly to the bedside, and bent down to look at the tiny infant in the bundle. Reaching out, she stroked the half of the infant’s face bearing the red birthmark, her nose stinging as fresh tears fell once more.
Even with a dual-colored face, this child was still her own flesh and blood. How could she bear to part with him? Concubine Zhou scooped the infant into her arms, pressing her cheek against the baby’s. Her cold tears touched the infant’s face, causing the baby to open his eyes in unease.
“My child, my An’er. Never did I imagine that our bond as mother and child would reach its end after a mere single month. Once you leave, who knows when the two of us will meet again?” Or perhaps they would never meet again? Thinking of this, Concubine Zhou felt as though her heart was being torn apart, and her tears flowed like rain.
Gu Zhaoyan listened to Concubine Zhou’s words with utter confusion. What did this mean? What did it mean that their mother-and-child bond lasted only a single month? What did it mean when she spoke of not knowing when they would meet again? Wasn’t he right here, safe and sound? He had too many questions in his mind, but in the end, he could not resist infant instinct and drifted back into a deep sleep.
“Concubine.” Luoyue looked with heartache at Concubine Zhou, who refused to let go of the child, and her own eyes turned red as well. “Concubine, it is already the middle of the night. You should get some rest.”
Concubine Zhou shook her head, her voice hoarse and soft as she said, “An’er is being sent away tomorrow. I’m afraid that if I don’t hold him now, I won’t have the chance anymore.” Her tears streamed down like rain, and her beautiful eyes were red and swollen. She wiped her tears, trying hard to clearly see the face of the child in her arms.
Gazing at the baby’s docile sleeping face, Concubine Zhou could not help reaching out to stroke the infant’s silvery-white hair. Not only was her child born with a red birthmark across half his face, but even his hair color was silvery-white. She knew that all the talk of ill-fated stars was a lie, and that they were merely driven by their own fears. Yet her child was so sensible and well-behaved, never crying or making a fuss. Why must he be sent away just because of their inner cowardice?
Concubine Zhou sat holding the child like that until dawn. Luoyue packed the clothing intended for the child, walked over to Concubine Zhou’s side, and softly said, “Concubine, it is dawn.”
“Indeed, it is dawn.” Concubine Zhou stared blankly outside. The wind and snow had not yet stopped. How could she possibly rest easy sending her An’er away from the estate in this kind of weather?
“Concubine, why don’t this servant accompany the young master? I can take care of him as he grows up.” Luoyue squatted down beside Concubine Zhou and looked at her. “With this servant there, the young master will at least not go hungry.”
Concubine Zhou shook her head and silently shed tears. “Master said that only by letting An’er constantly accompany the Buddha and endure the hardships of the world can his ill-fated destiny be erased. He will not agree to this.” She deeply suspected whether the master was seizing this opportunity to let her An’er perish, so that no one would ever discuss the fact that he had sired a child with an ill-fated star. With this thought, she tightened her grip around the swaddle even more.
As they spoke, footsteps approached. Luoyue glanced at Concubine Zhou, stood up, and opened the door. Two older women pushed their way in from outside, lifting their chins as they looked at Concubine Zhou. “Concubine Zhou, the time has come. Please do not make things difficult for us sisters. Hand An’er over so we can take him away.”
Concubine Zhou ignored them entirely, staring only at the child in her arms and weeping. Seeing this, Luoyue felt a wave of anxiety. These two women were likely sent by the primary wife. If they were kept waiting like this, they might incur the wife’s wrath.
The two women exchanged glances. The slightly plumper woman immediately frowned, strode forward, and forcibly snatched the baby from Concubine Zhou’s arms. Concubine Zhou did not dare to struggle fiercely for fear of hurting the child, and could only gaze with yearning eyes at the baby.
“The concubine must not have rested well during the night. You should rest early, and old servants will be leaving now.” Having said that, the two women turned and carried the child away.
“My child! My An’er. Child! My child!” Concubine Zhou chased after them repeatedly, but upon reaching the doorway, she was blocked. Struggling against the arms of those women, she was shoved heavily to the ground, watching helplessly as the woman holding her child vanished into the driving wind and snow. Luoyue helped Concubine Zhou up and looked at her with concern. “Concubine, you must take care of yourself.”
Concubine Zhou stared blankly at the doorway, her clothes soaked with tears. My child.
Awakening from his sleep, Gu Zhaoyan felt a rocking and swaying beneath him. Before he could process his thoughts, he heard someone nearby say, “So what if he gave birth to a son? People from humble backgrounds simply lack good fortune.” The tone of disdain immediately caused an image of a sharp, spiteful face to form in Gu Zhaoyan’s mind.
“Exactly. Born under an ill-fated star, it is only thanks to our primary wife’s kind heart that he wasn’t drowned at birth,” another voice chimed in, full of mockery. “In this damned weather, if it weren’t for delivering this little brat, this old woman wouldn’t have had to come out in the freezing snow and ice. Such an ominous disaster of a star. Who’s to say I won’t catch bad luck from him?” With that, she actually reached out and pinched Gu Zhaoyan’s cheek.
An infant’s skin is tender and bruises easily without much force, let alone a hard pinch from this woman. Gu Zhaoyan felt a sharp pain on his face and, unable to bear it, burst into tears. You damn old woman, you really put your back into it! Just you wait. If I don’t get my revenge, my name won’t be Gu!
“Alright, alright. Call him what you will, he is still a young master of the manor,” the thin woman said with a frown, glancing at the red mark on Gu Zhaoyan’s cheek.
The plump woman rolled her eyes dismissively. “What kind of young master of the manor? He’s just an ill-fated star driven out of the estate!”
Hearing this, Gu Zhaoyan was startled. Driven out of the estate? Just because of the birthmark on my face and my white hair, they chased me out of the manor? He was so shocked that he even stopped crying. No wonder his new mother had wept so bitterly last night.
How long the carriage traveled, nobody knew. The plump woman lifted the curtain of the carriage window to glance outside, only to be met by a vast expanse of whiteness. Feeling the biting cold wind rush in, she quickly dropped the curtain.
The thin woman said, “There is a temple on the mountain nearby. I imagine we are almost there.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than the carriage came to a halt. The plump and thin women carried Gu Zhaoyan down from the carriage, instantly being pelted by the swirling wind and snow.
The plump woman rolled her eyes and leaned closer to the thin woman. “With this wind and snow, the mountain road is hardly passable. You and I are merely low-ranking servants in the manor. It’s not worth risking our lives for this cursed star.”
Looking at the isolated mountain before her, the thin woman also felt a shiver of fear. “Then what do you mean.”
Listening to their conversation, Gu Zhaoyan felt a rising sense of foreboding. These two hags wouldn’t want to abandon me right here, would they?
His premonition proved entirely correct. He heard the plump woman say, “Anyway, the master and the primary wife only said to send this little brat far away. They didn’t specify which temple. Clearly, they never intend to bring him back in the future. Let’s just leave him right here!”
You vicious, wicked hags! Gu Zhaoyan screamed silently. In this kind of weather, he would turn into an ice sculpture in no time at all! As he gazed at the sky full of drifting snow, he felt himself being lowered down, placed directly upon the ground. Snowflakes drifted onto his face, quickly melting into a chill that clung to his skin and slid down his neck.
The carriage wheels crushed through the snow with a creaking sound, gradually growing distant and leaving Gu Zhaoyan, a mere infant still wrapped in swaddling clothes, facing the steadily intensifying wind and snow.
The cold penetrated to his very bones, and Gu Zhaoyan felt his entire body growing stiff. Blinking his snow-filled eyes, he slowly closed them. It’s so cold.
A monk dressed in tattered kasaya walked over. Spotting the swaddle buried under the snow, he hurried forward to pick it up and brush the snow away. Seeing that the infant still maintained a faint breath, he hurriedly unbuttoned his monastic robe to press the baby closely against his chest to warm him. “Amitabha, what a sin, what a sin!”