“Pry her mouth open! Hold her down!”
Outside, the winter wind was icy; inside, the chill was even more terrifying.
A nanny[1]In Chinese historical-household fiction, a nanny can be an older female servant or attendant, not necessarily someone employed to care for children. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); had seized Qiao Ruanyu by the hair. Her scalp tightened as if caught on an iron hook, and pain shot from her roots straight to the crown of her head. The veins at her temples stood out at once.
They forced a bowl of aphrodisiac down her throat. She choked and coughed until her face reddened; it was so bitter she nearly threw it up.
She had never imagined she would be reborn[2]In Chinese rebirth fiction, a character returns to an earlier point in life while retaining memories of what happened before; the cause of Ruanyu’s return has not yet been explained. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); at the very moment she was being sent to warm a eunuch[3]Historically, eunuchs were castrated men who often served in imperial palaces and could hold influential court positions. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });’s bed!
Her father and six brothers had gone missing in the battle at Yuanling Pass.
To carry on their ambitions, she had concealed her identity and gone to war.
At eighteen, she had subdued the cavalry of Mobei[4]Mobei literally means ‘north of the desert’ and historically referred to regions north of the Gobi Desert; the novel’s precise geography is not specified. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });!
At nineteen, she had led troops to reclaim the northern frontier, earning renown far and wide!
She was the indomitable Grand General Dingjiang[5]A distinguished military title in the story’s fictional Great Ye setting; its exact position within the military hierarchy is not established. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });!
Wearing her father’s mask, no one knew who she was, and no one had ever seen her true face.
After achieving unprecedented military glory, she was summoned to the capital to be granted a title!
Before she could depart, her fiancé’s younger female cousin, Lu Rouqing, suddenly appeared and lured her into drinking wine laced with gu poison[6]Gu is a traditional Chinese concept of poisoning and harmful sorcery, often associated in folklore with poisonous creatures. Its effects in this story are fictional. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, then secretly drew enemy forces in to surround and attack her.
She fought for a day and a night. The gu parasites ruptured her meridians[7]In traditional Chinese medicine and martial-arts fiction, meridians are channels through which qi, or vital energy, is believed to circulate; their destruction here is part of the story’s … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, destroying all her martial arts abilities.
She was on the verge of death in a snowy ravine. When she woke, she had lost her memory and mistook the Xie family for a kind refuge. Who could have known they would turn around and send her to become a eunuch’s plaything?
After the old eunuch died of illness, she was lucky enough to escape, but was caught and brought back to the marquis[8]A noble title, often used to translate the Chinese rank hou. Its precise privileges and standing vary by era and fictional setting. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_8').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_8', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });’s residence, where they dunked her in a pig cage[9]This evokes a form of extrajudicial drowning punishment associated with some local customs and historical fiction, in which a person was confined in a basketlike cage and submerged. It was not a … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_9').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_9', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); and broke both her feet!
Lu Rouqing took her place and became a celebrated woman general.
She was revered by thousands!
The first woman to be made a founding marquis since the establishment of Great Ye!
And Qiao Ruanyu died with hatred in her heart, spending ten years as a lonely ghost.
“Eunuch Wei is waiting. Hurry up, give her the medicine and send her over!” A hand like an iron clamp gripped Qiao Ruanyu’s chin.
Qiao Ruanyu struggled with all her might. The impatient nanny kicked her squarely in the abdomen. The pain left her sprawled on the floor, unable to recover for a long while.
“Try resisting again, and we’ll break both your legs right now!”
She had protected the people and guarded the borders. She had imagined countless ways to die on the battlefield.
Giving her life for her country, her body wrapped in horsehide for burial[10]This echoes the Chinese idiom ma ge guo shi, literally “wrapping a corpse in horsehide,” expressing a soldier’s willingness to die in battle for their country. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_10').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_10', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });…
She had never imagined dying in such humiliation!
Several nannies hauled her up by the arms and dragged her out like a corpse, without the slightest pity.
The light outside stabbed at Qiao Ruanyu’s eyes. Resentment and fury surged through her like a mighty river.
This wasn’t how it should be!
She had spent her life on horseback. This wasn’t how it should end…
Fury blazed in her bloodshot eyes. The instant she crossed the threshold, she threw all her strength into striking back.
Nanny Zhang slammed into the wall before she could react. As she reeled from the pain, Qiao Ruanyu snatched the hairpin from the old woman’s head and stabbed at her!
“Go to hell!”
“Ah—!” Nanny Li screamed, clutching her neck.
Chaos erupted. Wails and screams nearly split Qiao Ruanyu’s eardrums.
Qiao Ruanyu staggered backward, her hair stuck to her face. In the confusion, she ran from the room like a madwoman!
Snow lashed against her torn clothes. Her foot suddenly slipped, and she hit the ground with a jolt that made every bone in her body feel as though it had shattered.
Gritting her teeth, she forced herself up. Blood from her hand smeared across the ground.
“Quick! Catch her!”
“Where is she?”
The voices threatening her life drew nearer, like tentacles reaching to drag her into the abyss, to haul her back to hell!
Qiao Ruanyu bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood, clinging to the last of her strength and clarity as she ran toward a secluded courtyard.
The instant she pushed open the door, a bone-piercing, murderous chill seized her. Her strength gave out, and she crashed hard to the floor.
This was the forbidden loft where the Xie family’s revered ancestor[11]Here ‘ancestor’ is a reverential title for someone regarded as senior within a family lineage, not necessarily a deceased forebear; the man’s exact status is not yet explained. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_11').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_11', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); lived.
Wind slipped through the window, stirring a faint rustle.
A figure behind the screen appeared in her bloodshot eyes.
Qiao Ruanyu dug her fingers into the floor, trying to drag herself closer.
“Ancestor…”
“Please… help me.”
Footsteps raced past outside, accompanied by a sharp whisper. “Hurry! Find her!”
“Keep your voice down! If you disturb the ancestor, you’ll lose your head!”
Qiao Ruanyu’s lips were dry. Stubbornly, she tried to inch toward him.
She had to survive!
She would never again hand over the military honors and glory that belonged to her!
“Ancestor, Ruanyu, a daughter of the Qiao family, has come to beg your help. Please take pity on me…”
Despair at being driven into a dead end made every word from Qiao Ruanyu sound as if it were soaked in blood. Fighting the medicine’s effects as they began to take hold, she struggled to her knees.
“Once Ruanyu escapes, she will surely repay you.”
“Please…”
Qiao Ruanyu bowed her head and kowtowed[12]Kowtowing is a formal act of profound respect or supplication, traditionally performed by kneeling and touching the forehead to the ground. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_12').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_12', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, despair held tightly in check. Her voice was choked with tears, but the sound of her forehead hitting the floor drowned it out.
Her head struck the icy ground, breaking the pride she had held unbent.
At last, a low, cold voice came from behind the screen.
“A daughter of the Qiao family?”
An oppressive authority descended on her without a trace of anger. Qiao Ruanyu’s heart quivered, but she forced her voice steady and nodded. “Yes.”
“Come closer.”
She clenched her pale fingertips, drew a deep breath, and entered the inner room with her head bowed.
The stench of blood suddenly filled her nostrils, thick and piercing.
Eyes lowered, the first thing she saw was a sword still dripping blood.
Someone had just been killed.
The thought flashed through her mind. Suddenly, a razor-sharp blade swept past, and Qiao Ruanyu looked up, her pupils contracting.
A tall figure in a black robe edged with dark gold stood before her, slowly wiping the blood from his sword.
She saw only his profile: narrow eyes as sharp as icy blades, black hair falling loose, his whole bearing as cold as a winter peak.
At his waist hung a green jade pendant, tilted to one side and carved with birds in flight and mountain peaks.
It was the very pendant enshrined in the ancestral hall[13]An ancestral hall is a family or clan shrine used to honor forebears, often housing memorial tablets and objects connected to the lineage. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_13').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_13', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });—the family ancestor’s!
How could the Xie family ancestor be so young…
“You’re the first person to dare barge in here and beg me for help.”
A cold, murderous look flashed in Yan Chenyuan’s eyes as he aimed the sword at Qiao Ruanyu. His narrow eyes were dark. “You’ve got nerve.”
Alarm bells rang in Qiao Ruanyu’s mind. She knew he was no kind man, but at this moment he was the only lifeline she had.
Exhausted and desperate, Qiao Ruanyu met his phoenix eyes[14]A Chinese literary description for long, elegant, almond-shaped eyes, often with slightly upturned outer corners. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_14').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_14', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); directly. The instant she came to her senses, she hastily lowered her head.
But the aphrodisiac was beginning to take effect.
A blaze of heat began to run wild inside her body.
Qiao Ruanyu lowered her head and fought the heat. As she forced herself to hold it back, memories surfaced of all the things her father had once told her about the Xie family ancestor.
His temperament was unpredictable, and he was decisive in killing.
The Xie family revered and honored him, but none of them had ever glimpsed his true face.
Her voice trembled. “Ruanyu truly had nowhere else to turn. I know I’ve offended you, but I beg you to give me a way to live. Ruanyu will pledge her life to you and be the blade in your hand!”
Yan Chenyuan seemed utterly uninterested. “I don’t involve myself in the Xie family’s affairs.”
The light outside the room suddenly dimmed as someone approached hesitantly. “Ancestor?”
Madam Xie’s voice sounded cautious and respectful outside, yet to Qiao Ruanyu it was like a blade coming to claim her life. Her face turned deathly pale.
Madam Xie couldn’t hear anything from inside. Her voice quavered as she asked again, “Ancestor, this junior[15]A deferential form of self-reference used when addressing someone of higher seniority or an older generation. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_15').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_15', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, Jiang of the second branch[16]The second branch denotes a particular line within an extended family, commonly distinguished by descent from different sons; it is a family distinction, not an official rank. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736293_1_16').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736293_1_16', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, apologizes for disturbing you. May I ask whether my future daughter-in-law, the daughter of the Qiao family, has mistakenly entered your room?”
“If she’s there, please let her come out. I’ve come to take her back.”
“She’s had too much to drink. If she has offended you in any way, please forgive her.”
Qiao Ruanyu’s knuckles went white. Then Yan Chenyuan said with deliberate languor, “She wants to take you back.”
References[+]