“I said, I am the Second Young Madam of the Cheng family. My husband’s family serves as officials. If you harm my life, you will come to no good end!”
I meant to frighten him, so he would stop.
That man laughed in extreme anger. “Nonsense. The Cheng family’s Second Young Master has never taken a wife. Where did this Second Young Madam come from?”
The coachman came trotting over with the food. The moment he saw someone holding a blade to my neck, he lost his head. The food fell to the ground, and his body shook like chaff in a sieve. “Second Young Madam! What’s happened to you? What are we to do…”
I shouted, “Hurry back to the manor and bring people to save me!”
“Aye…”
The coachman answered, scared out of his wits. He climbed into the carriage and sped away as if flying.
After the masked man saw the coachman, he seemed to freeze.
The blade was slowly lowered.
The pair of eyes behind the mask kept sizing me up.
I thought to myself that he truly was afraid now.
“You really are the Cheng family’s Second Young Madam?”
“Absolutely.”
“When were you married?”
“Yesterday.”
He took two steps back and murmured, “Everyone says the Cheng family’s Second Young Master is dead. Why would you marry a dead man?”
“We had a marriage contract from childhood; a promise is worth a thousand pieces of gold. A person without trust cannot stand; one who betrays faith will never earn a good name. Let alone that he is dead—even if he had become a wanted criminal at this very moment, since I was to marry him, I would still marry him.” I gritted out the words.
He began to laugh.
“In that case, Cheng Lao’er is rather blessed.”
After laughing, he seemed to think of something and said, “You came from Dongchang Prefecture, didn’t you?”
“So what if I did?”
I had only just arrived in Yangzhou, and my native accent had not changed. He must have heard it.
He planted his long saber against the ground and said, “Shandong, a place that produces heroes! I never thought even its women would be so righteous!”
Those men with him had leapt into the canal to chase Feng Gao, but to no avail. They all returned, angrily surrounding me in a tight circle.
He had just been about to say something when a horse suddenly shot out from the east.
Before I could see clearly, the person on horseback grabbed me up onto the horse and galloped away.
“Hey, you—”
The masked man seemed to want to shout something, but stopped himself. Though I could not see his expression, I sensed his shock.
My heart pounded wildly.
Had I just left the wolf’s den only to enter the tiger’s lair?
I was just about to cry out when the person on horseback said urgently, “Miss, do you not recognize me?”
Such a familiar voice.
It was Qin Mingxu, the one who had treated my foot.
The horse galloped into a narrow alley. Only then did he give a “whoa,” and the horse stopped.
I dismounted and saw Qin Mingxu, dressed in white, smiling as he looked at me.
“How did you come to Yangzhou?”
“I was originally taking a boat back to Yangzhou. It was only because that incident happened halfway that I turned north. Today, I came back again. Just now, at the silk shop, I saw you. It happened that the accountant was going over the accounts with me, so I had no time to call out to you. By the time I was finished, you had already left. A young shop boy said you had gone in the direction of the ferry crossing. So I hurried over. I saw you surrounded by several men, as if something might happen, so I—”
As he spoke, afraid I would not understand, he added, “That ‘Tiansheng Lou’ is ancestral property of the Qin family.”
Back in Dongchang Prefecture, I had heard of it before: along the thousand-li Grand Canal, there were ten thousand Tiansheng Lou. Tiansheng Silk Shops were spread throughout the prefectures and provinces; wherever there was a market town, there was a branch of Tiansheng Lou. It was one of the top businesses in Yangzhou Prefecture.
“What a coincidence…” I murmured.
He stroked the horse’s back. “Isn’t it? It seems I truly am fated with you, miss.”
“Do not speak nonsense!”
This libertine—sure enough, after only a few words, he had lost all propriety.
“Miss, those men at the ferry crossing just now seemed to be from the jianghu’s foremost great gang, the Qingyi Men…”
“Do not call me miss anymore. I am already a married woman. Young Master Qin, please show some respect,” I reminded him.
Only then did he notice that I had already put up my hair in a married woman’s style and no longer wore the adornment of an unmarried maiden.
“So quickly,” he sighed.
The sly brightness in his eyes dimmed.
The joy of reunion and the suddenness of the unexpected struck a reef, scattering nameless disappointment all over the ground.
He put away his teasing smile and said softly, “These past few days… have you been well?”
Hearing this, I felt a pang of sorrow.
My father and stepmother’s expulsion. The hardships of taking a boat south. Being looked down upon by the Cheng manor’s gatekeeper, who led me through the side gate. The Old Madam flying into a rage and wanting to order the servants to beat me to death. That earth-shaking cry in the hall, deciding that I would marry the deceased Second Young Master. The confrontation with the thieves on my wedding night. Today’s many twists and turns.
It had only been a few days, yet it seemed as though half a lifetime had already passed.
Crossing mountains and treading waters.
All I had to rely on was a single body full of lonely courage.
“I am quite well. My husband’s family treats me decently.”
I turned around. “It is getting late. I should go back.”
“A month ago, a major case occurred in Yangzhou Prefecture. Do you know of it?” he said.
I stopped in my tracks.
He continued, “Lord Xun, the Grain Supervising Circuit Intendant, embezzled official grain being escorted to the imperial court and was beheaded by those above.”
The Grain Supervising Circuit Intendant was of the proper fourth rank, one rank higher than even the prefect, the parent-official of Yangzhou. For such a high official of the court to be executed was naturally a sensation in the area. But why was Qin Mingxu telling me this?
He said, “The Cheng family’s second son had dealings with people from the Qingyi Men in the past. A few days ago, I heard he was drinking on a boat with Lord Xun’s orphaned child. Miss, what I mean is… you…”
He fell silent, knowing he had said too much. After a long while, he bowed and said, “Take care.”
I understood Qin Mingxu’s meaning.
He wanted to tell me that my husband, Cheng Huaishi, had been drawn into trouble. Though he was now dead and gone, the calamity was not over, and there might still be many hidden consequences. Those people from Qingyi Men who surrounded and attacked me at the dock might have been provoked by Cheng Huaishi.
I lowered my head and walked forward.
No matter what lay ahead, the road I had chosen was mine to bear, bitter or sweet.
When I reached the main road, the coachman drove the carriage over with more than ten household servants.
When the coachman saw me, he said nervously, “Second Young Madam, are you all right?”
I shook my head. “I am fine.”
I suddenly remembered what Qin Mingxu had said: “The Cheng family’s second son had dealings with people from the Qingyi Men in the past,” and “Those men at the ferry crossing just now seemed to be from the jianghu’s foremost great gang, the Qingyi Men”…
The masked man’s shock…
My mind jolted.
I ordered the coachman, “Go back to the ferry crossing!”
However, by the time the carriage reached the ferry crossing, those men in blue-green robes had long since vanished without a trace.
I looked at the canal where boats came and went, dazed for a moment.
Could that masked man have been Cheng Huaishi?
Why on earth was he hiding himself and falsely claiming to be dead? Did he have some unspeakable difficulty?
Was this disaster connected to Lord Xun, the Grain Supervising Circuit Intendant who had been beheaded?
The canal was like a drifting belt of jasper, coming from the depths of the white clouds at the horizon. Clear waves rippled, flowing toward the boundless fields. The willow trees on the embankments on both sides swayed bleakly in the dead of the tenth-month winter.
The glow of dusk gently gilded the canal and gilded illustrious Yangzhou.
With a heart full of worries, I returned to the manor.
The steward was waiting for me at the gate.
As it turned out, he had returned before me.
I was just about to ask him how the child’s illness was.
He said anxiously, “Second Young Madam, you have finally returned.”
“What is it?”
“Just now, a group of people from a money house came to the manor, saying that Second Master borrowed usurious loans from them before his death, and they have come to demand repayment.”
“What did Old Madam say?”
“After noon, an invitation came from the household of a colleague in the grain-transport army. Old Madam, Eldest Young Master, and Eldest Young Madam all went to the banquet. They will not be back for a while. This humble one was planning to send a young servant to report…” the steward said.
“Wait!”
I hurriedly said, “Do not report it. At a banquet, there must be many people. If others learn of it, where will Second Master’s face be put? Where will Old Madam’s face be put? Where will the Cheng manor’s face be put?”
As if suddenly enlightened, the steward said, “Yes, yes, Second Young Madam is right. This humble one was thoughtless.”
I walked inside.
In the main hall, a group of men sat within.
A man with a full beard saw me arrive and immediately shouted for repayment.
I held out my hand. “Since you have come to collect a debt, bring me the IOU.”
The bearded man took a sheet of paper from his sleeve.
I received it and looked at the writing on it.
The handwriting I had seen in the study last night intertwined with the IOU before my eyes.
After a moment, I said, “This is not Second Master’s handwriting.”
The bearded man said calmly, “What? Now that the man is dead, you want to deny the debt?”
I smiled and said to the bearded man, “A person’s handwriting has spirit. You may imitate its form, but you cannot imitate its essence. The way I see it, you all are counting on Second Master being gone and trying to take the chance to extort us.”
“You!” The bearded man pointed at me.
I said, “If you do not accept this, then we can go to the authorities together. We will take Second Master’s usual writing and compare it with the writing on this IOU. Do not think that by learning seven or eight parts of the likeness, you can come here and deceive people. I must remind you what punishment the Great Ming Code prescribes for extortion without cause…”
My certainty intimidated him.
The bearded man thought it over, then led his rabble of followers away.
Before leaving, he said bitterly, “Just you wait!”
Once they were gone, I let out a breath of relief.
When night fell, Old Madam returned, and the steward reported the matter to her.
Old Madam looked at me and said, “Sangyu, where have you seen Lao’er’s handwriting before?”
This was the first time she had called me by my name.
“Replying to Mother, last night, in the study, your daughter-in-law glanced at it a few times.”
“You merely glanced at it a few times, yet remembered it so deeply… You are a good child.”
Old Madam’s eyes grew moist again as she thought of her youngest son.
“If it were me or your eldest sister-in-law, we would certainly have been too lazy to lower ourselves and confront that pack of ruffians. Giving them the silver would be a small matter; what I fear is that it would indulge those petty people’s appetites. Sangyu, you are bold yet careful, a good hand at managing household affairs. The fields and businesses Huai’er managed before—why not entrust them to…”
At this point, Eldest Young Madam cast me a sinister glance.