Before Xiao Yin could finish speaking, a light knock sounded from outside the door.
I told Xiao Yin, "Don't panic," then rose and opened the door. A young woman smiled at me with concern.
The woman had a full, fair complexion and an elegant bearing. Her hair was coiled in a raven-black cloud of a bun, pinned at a slant with a white jade hairpin. Upon seeing me, she grasped my hands and looked me up and down. "Are you the Zhu family's young lady? Tsk, tsk, tsk, look at this face—such a beauty. It's just a pity..."
She dabbed at the tears in the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief. "It's just a pity that Second..."
"And you are?" I asked, though I had already guessed most of it.
She said, "I am Cangshi's wife, Huaishi's eldest sister-in-law."
I quickly curtseyed. "So it was the Eldest Young Madam."
She turned to look outside the door and whispered, "Sister, an hour ago, news of Second's death returned. When our Old Madam heard it, she was overcome with grief and has been crying until now. Everyone in the manor knows the Old Madam dotes on her youngest son. I don't know who poisoned her ears, claiming you carried misfortune and were a curse to Second Brother, leading to this outcome. The Old Madam gave orders to have you, master and servant, beaten to death... I have always been soft-hearted. Normally, I cannot even bear to step on an ant—how could I watch you meet such a disaster? I bribed the manservant at the side gate. Sister, you must run."
I hesitated.
She pushed me toward the door. "Sister, hurry. If you don't leave now, I'm afraid it will be too late..."
Xiao Yin picked up the bundle and followed behind. "Miss, the Eldest Young Madam is right. Let's leave quickly while we can still keep our lives."
Shoving and hustling, we reached the side gate.
The gate was open.
As if it had been prepared in advance.
The Eldest Young Madam looked left and right. "Sister, I cannot stay here long. If the Old Madam finds out it was I who let you go, the blame will not fall lightly upon me."
With that, she left.
It was an October morning in Yangzhou, the mist hazy and lingering.
I stood at the side gate, pondering.
Although Cheng Huaishi and I had a betrothal arranged by our elders, there had been no affection between us before this. But now that he had met with such an unexpected calamity, it was truly pitiful. I ought to see him off and preserve the propriety of our Zhu family.
To leave so abruptly would only make me appear heartless.
Xiao Yin urged, "Miss, what are you dazing for? Let's go. Back to our Dongchang Prefecture, and we can choose a good family for you to marry into. Let's never come to this wretched place again..."
A clear voice rang out.
"Where do you think you're going?"
I turned around and saw a young girl in a slate-blue dress walking toward me. She had delicate shoulders and a slender waist, eyes like autumn waters, and a spirited gaze—she looked quite determined.
She walked up to me, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Second Brother's corpse has not yet been found. Sister Zhu, you cannot leave!"
At her waist hung a sachet embroidered with small, exquisite characters: *Tomorrow awaits the clear dawn; upon the pond, behold the spring ice.*
I suddenly recalled that lecher on the boat, Qin Mingxu.
Could the characters on this girl's sachet have some connection to him?
Seeing that I did not answer, the girl continued, "Sister Zhu came to marry Second Brother. You cannot leave so ambiguously. Second Brother is an extremely clever person; I don't believe he just died like this. No matter what anyone says, I will not believe it."
As she spoke, as if remembering something, she said, "Sister Zhu, my name is Qingshi. I am the Third Miss of the Cheng residence. What is your given name?"
"Sangyu. Zhu Sangyu," I said.
"'Say not that the mulberry and elm are late, for the sunset glow still fills the sky.' Sister has a lovely name."
The Third Miss was very familiar from the start.
Despite having just met, she acted as if we were already close.
Looking at her was like looking at a little sister next door—very endearing.
She took my hand and walked back.
As we walked, she spoke of matters in the Cheng residence.
Only then did I understand why I had seen so many transport soldiers outside the manor yesterday.
The Cheng family's Old Master originally passed down the family through farming and scholarship. But when it came to the Master of this generation, he quite favored military affairs.
In the early years of the Wanli reign, the Master first tested in military strategy, then in archery and horsemanship, and passed the military examination. While on assignment in Huai'an Prefecture, he unexpectedly earned the appreciation of Lord Ling, the Governor of the Grain Transport Army, and became a fifth-rank Qianhu in the transport forces.
Grain Transport Army offices could be inherited. Three years ago, after the Master passed away from illness, the Eldest Young Master Cheng Cangshi inherited the position.
"Then, what does the Second Young Master usually do?" I asked. "Does he devote himself to letters or to martial arts?"
The Third Miss said, "Second Brother? He is quite the cunning spirit..."
Just as she was speaking, a serving woman walked over and said, "Miss Zhu, the Old Madam requests your presence—"
Xiao Yin shuddered with fear and clutched my arm. "Miss, what do we do? What do we do?"
As if the very next moment would be the gates of hell.
I gently patted her hand.
The Third Miss said, "Sister Zhu, don't panic. I'll go with you."
Whether it be mountain or river, one must always brave it.
I followed the serving woman forward.
The Old Madam lived in the main room of the north courtyard—spacious and imposing.
The tables and chairs in the room were all made of superior rosewood. Hanging in the center of the wall was a painting of *A Hundred Sons Welcoming Blessings*.
The Old Madam was weeping in grief.
Hearing the servant announce us, she raised her head, her deep, dark eyes falling upon me.
She redirected the grief of losing her son onto me. Fiddling with her prayer beads, she muttered, "Calamity star, calamity star. I should have known better than to entangle myself with a ruined household. My Huaishi was a perfectly fine child when he left. How can he be gone just like that..."
A young manservant knelt on the ground, clutching blood-stained clothing, wailing, "Before Second Master met with disaster, he told this servant that he had failed to take a wife and start a family, and failed to be filial to his elderly mother—truly unfilial."
These words increasingly pierced the Old Madam's heart. Tears streamed from her eyes as she cried out, "My son—"
"Beat this wretched little hoof from a ruined family who cursed my son to death!" the Old Madam ordered.
Several thick-set, burly guards walked over.
The Third Miss took a few steps, intending to step forward and block them.
"Wait!" I called out.
"When my maternal grandfather was alive, our families were on good terms for generations. Although my Zhu family declined considerably after my mother's death, does the Old Madam truly intend to disregard the sentiments of the past entirely and execute me without justification over mere rumors?"
"Rumors?" The Old Madam gnashed her teeth. "The monks in the temple said it. How could it be false?"
As the two sides were arguing, a young manservant outside the door announced, "Madam, Miss Liu has arrived!"
The Old Madam wiped her tears with a handkerchief and hurriedly rose to greet her. "Xian'er, you've come."
A woman in a rattan-yellow dress walked in, grasped the Old Madam's hand, and urgently said, "Aunt Cheng, did something really happen to Brother Huaishi? Quickly tell me this isn't true. It must be the servants wagging their loose tongues."
The Old Madam hugged her, saying nothing.
The Third Miss quietly said to me, "This is Liu Yuxian, the daughter of Yangzhou Prefect Lord Liu. She is most attentive to Second Brother. She is always urging Mother to break off Second Brother's engagement so he can marry her instead."
No wonder the Cheng family treated me like that yesterday—they had a higher branch to climb.
With the Cheng family's eldest son having inherited the Grain Transport Army office, if the second son were also to marry the prefect's daughter, it would be like adding brocade to flowers, like pouring oil on a blazing fire.
I looked at the woman.
Her eyes were rimmed red as she looked at the Old Madam. "Aunt Cheng, please tell me quickly. Brother Huaishi is so skilled in martial arts. He only went to Huizhou on assignment and should have returned soon."
The Old Madam pointed at the blood-stained clothing in the manservant's hands, trembling, wanting to speak yet stopping.
Liu Yuxian's eyes stared blankly; her last hope seemed to be gone.
The thing she least wanted to happen had been confirmed.
She collapsed onto the floor.
"My Brother Huaishi, my Brother Huaishi..."
At this moment, a middle-aged man walked in and said to the Old Madam, "Madam, the clan elders say that since the Second Young Master died away from home without having married, he cannot enter the Cheng family's ancestral grave. Which plot of land do you think we should buy to bury Second Young Master's clothes and cap?"
The Old Madam said angrily, "Buy what land? My Huaishi naturally should enter the ancestral grave, together with his grandfather and father."
The middle-aged man said awkwardly, "Not having married means he cannot enter the ancestral grave. This is the Cheng family's rule passed down through the generations. There is nothing to be done..."
The Old Madam pondered for a long while, then said, "Then let Huaishi marry! Whether Huaishi is here or not, the wedding must be grandly celebrated. Let everyone in Yangzhou Prefecture see the spectacle. Who will be the bride..."
The Old Madam's gaze turned to Liu Yuxian.
Liu Yuxian hurriedly lowered her head.
The Old Madam said tearfully, "Xian'er, you always used to say you wanted to marry Huaishi...?"
"When Brother Huaishi was alive, I did say... said I would marry him... but now, he is dead. I, I, I..."
Liu Yuxian stood up and fled as if escaping a plague.
"I am willing."
I said in a raised voice.
Everyone present looked at me in unison.
"You are truly willing?" The Old Madam looked at me, her gaze no longer as fierce as before.
"Willing." I met the Old Madam's gaze.
I wanted her to know what kind of household of loyalty and righteousness was the "ruined family" she kept muttering about.
Since I had traveled a thousand li holding the betrothal letter, I should see it through from beginning to end!
After a very long while, the Old Madam said, "Good."
The Third Miss cried out, "Second Sister-in-law is righteous!"
The steward, manservants, and maids whispered amongst themselves, discussing, and one after another showed expressions of approval.
The twenty-second day of the tenth month.
Dinghai month, Guiwei day. In Yangzhou, the rain poured down in buckets.
An old servant woman held Cheng Huaishi's spirit tablet.
I wore red bridal garments and exchanged wedding bows with the spirit tablet.
From then on, I became the Second Young Madam of the Cheng family.
On the wedding night, the red candles burned high. Outside the door, there seemed to be some movement...