Lin Se was dead.
It was my father who went to the county yamen to bring her back.
Later, I heard Uncle Zhao say that when they identified the body, my father took one look and was so frightened he fell sitting to the ground, wailing loudly like a madman. In the end, it was Uncle Zhao who signed to claim the body.
Lin Se had slipped and fallen into the water aboard an official boat.
The corpse had soaked in the river for several days and been gnawed by fish and crabs. In weather this hot, by the time she was brought back, she was already rotting and foul-smelling, no longer in human form.
Half a month ago, she had still been a flower-like girl. To suddenly become like this—anyone would find it hard to accept.
All the more so my father. My father loved Concubine Xue, and he was very fond of their daughter.
Xing’er and I ran all the way to the west courtyard.
The entrance was packed with villagers who had come to watch the commotion. Xing’er shouted, “Make way!” and pulled me through the crowd to the front.
A simple coffin sat on a horse cart, giving off a thick, foul stench. I could not believe Lin Se was lying inside.
Concubine Xue was slumped on the ground, both hands clawing at the earth. Perhaps she could no longer make a sound from crying; she only leaned crookedly against a serving woman, her beautiful face twisted in anguish.
The last time I saw her, she had left a deep impression on me. Her hair at the temples was black as a crow’s wing, arranged in a Di coiffure; she had been bright and graceful, soft and beautiful. Compared with this haggard woman before me, with mottled makeup and disheveled hair, she seemed like another person entirely.
My mother stood silently beside my father, gazing at Concubine Xue with sorrow in her eyes.
For most of her life, my mother had loathed this woman of lowly birth, regarding it as the greatest humiliation to share a husband with a prostitute.
Thus, though the Lin residence and the west courtyard were very close, separated only by a single street, my mother had only met Concubine Xue a few times.
Even when they did meet, she had never looked at her this carefully, had she?
Perhaps because they were both mothers, and because Lin Se was, after all, of the Lin family bloodline, my mother’s expression was full of grief at that moment as well. I did not know what she was thinking; she did not even notice when I came to stand beside her.
“Mother,” I called softly, taking her arm.
My mother turned and saw it was me. She squeezed my hand, then frowned and said to Xing’er, “Take Eldest Miss back. She mustn’t look at this.”
With such a great matter happening in the household, how could I possibly sit still in my room?
So I asked my father in a low voice, “Father, did you see clearly?”
My mother shook my arm, signaling me not to say more.
But when I heard Xing’er say that something had happened to Lin Se, I had already felt puzzled. By all reason, Lin Se was not someone who acted rashly. How could she have slipped and fallen into the water?
So, ignoring my mother’s hint, I continued carefully, “Xing’er said… said… her appearance could no longer be made out…”
My father nodded heavily.
“On Sese’s wrist, she was still wearing the bracelet her mother gave her.”
It was said to be the token of love my father had given Concubine Xue.
Lin Se had passed the preliminary selection for the imperial harem draft. On the eve of her journey to the capital, Concubine Xue had given the bracelet to her.
“Leaving her stopped here is no solution. Bring her into the residence and prepare the funeral arrangements,” my mother suddenly said in a low voice. Then she turned and pulled me away.
After only a few steps, I suddenly heard a miserable howl from behind me. I turned back to look.
It turned out Uncle Zhao had ordered the young servants to lead the horse cart away, and Concubine Xue had thrown herself onto the coffin.
The coffin lid had been pushed open slightly. Concubine Xue must have seen inside.
“What are you all standing there for? Hurry and help her inside!” my mother snapped.
Concubine Xue’s serving women and maids hurried forward, but Concubine Xue clung tightly to the coffin, crying and struggling. Several people were actually unable to restrain her.
At this moment, my father, who had always been steady and conservative in front of others, strode over and lifted her away in his arms.
The young servant hurriedly led the horse cart off.
Concubine Xue collapsed in my father’s embrace, weeping as though her heart and liver were being torn apart.
This time, it was I who pulled my mother away.
I heard Concubine Xue sob brokenly, “Rujie, Sese should never have died… It should never have been her who went…”
My mother abruptly stopped and said to her head maid, Chunmei, “Go and slap her mouth to pieces!”
“Wait!” I called Chunmei back, holding my mother’s arm as I said, “Mother, look at her—she’s like a madwoman. Don’t lower yourself to argue with her. Lin Se was her life. Now that Lin Se is gone, her soul has fled too. How could she not speak nonsense? Let’s go, all right?”
Though my mother was strict, she would not easily lay hands even on servants in ordinary times, much less on Father’s concubine. Besides, Concubine Xue had just lost her only child.
It was only because this concerned me. Concubine Xue had come just short of saying, “The one who should have died was me.”
Even now, she could still try to make my father pity her more and make my mother feel indebted. It seemed she would still be able to live on strongly in the days to come.
Jiangnan produces beauties.
The preliminary selection was to choose five thousand beauties from across the nation. In our county alone, three were selected, and Lin Se was the most outstanding among them.
That very night, the county magistrate personally came to our house to offer congratulations.
The preliminary selection lasted two days. On the third day, the draft procession departed by large boat.
Before they had even left Yangzhou, disaster befell Lin Se.
I always felt there was something unusual about the matter. Especially after hearing Xing’er tell me a strange tale, suspicion grew even stronger in my heart.
Xing’er’s mother served in my mother’s quarters, so Xing’er and I had grown up playing together. He took after his mother in appearance, delicate and feminine. Ever since we were young, my mother had treated him like my personal maidservant, and even now she was accustomed to having Xing’er attend to me in everything.
In truth, he was two years younger than I was, but he often moved about outside and knew far more than I did. Still, he told me everything.
He secretly said to me, “The eunuchs in the palace are all rootless men, and their hearts are the most vicious. Because they’re useless in that way, they use every kind of trick in the bedchamber…”
This sort of bastard talk from him was not something I had heard only once or twice. I listened without changing expression, immediately thought of Lin Se, and said, “Our Sese…”
Xing’er put a finger to his lips and shushed me, then leaned close to my ear. “If this kind of talk gets out, all of us will suffer for it!”
In my heart, I had already made my own judgment. I could not help feeling both hateful and shocked. I grabbed Xing’er hard by the shoulders and shook him with all my strength. “So we just let it go? How hateful! It’s simply too hateful!”
Xing’er’s head wobbled back and forth. “With no proof and no evidence, what can be done? She was an unmarried girl, and she was born of a concubine not entered into the clan records. Our Madam allowed her funeral to be held at home. Even in death, that counts as being shown favor.”
He freed one hand, took out a short knife, and handed it to me with a grin. “Stop thinking about those things. Here, I’ll give you a treasure to play with.”
At one glance, the knife looked very valuable.
The hilt seemed copper yet like gold, carved with patterns of auspicious clouds and flying dragons, and at the grip was inlaid a sapphire the size of a thumb.
I hurriedly asked, “Where did this come from? This sapphire alone must be worth quite a lot of money!”
Xing’er looked around. Seeing only a young maid sweeping in the distance, he said, “The night before last, by the back gate of the west courtyard, there came someone who was about to die. I happened to be in the west courtyard, and the gatekeeping young servants told me to go deal with it. I went over and took a look—whoa! I don’t know which wealthy family’s young master he was, but he was very young, and the material of his clothes was even better than yours, Eldest Miss! There was a huge hole in his belly. The moment anyone moved him, blood flowed out. His eyes were closed, and he had only breath going out, none coming in.”
I listened in astonishment. Seeing that I was interested, Xing’er’s tongue grew even more nimble. He said, “Those young servants gave me this precious knife. They said they found it on him when they searched him. So I asked them if there was anything else. They said there wasn’t. Those slippery bastards—who would believe them! But they still had some conscience. They knew this thing was too valuable, so they didn’t dare pocket it.”
Holding the short knife, cool and heavy in my hand, I could not help asking, “Is he still alive? Did anyone report it to the authorities?”
Xing’er said, “You don’t know what the world outside is like. There are uprisings and rebellions everywhere. Some time ago, even bandits robbed the yamen. How would the yamen have time to care about something like this!”
“Did anyone find him a doctor?”
“There’s no saving him. Yesterday, Concubine Xue learned of the matter and said not to let someone die at the doorway and bring bad luck. She ordered people to carry him into the little alley. It rained again last night, so he’s probably long dead.”
I paced a few steps, uneasy in my heart, then said, “Xing’er, let’s go take a look.”
Xing’er was startled. “That won’t do. If Madam finds out, she’ll flay me alive. Besides, you’re a precious young lady—why would you go look at a corpse? No, no!”
I strode quickly toward the outside. “The things you’ve taken me to do are enough for my mother to flay you a hundred times over. This one won’t make much difference. If you don’t go, I’ll go myself!”
Holding an oiled-paper umbrella, Xing’er supported me as we walked to the little alley.
In the narrow alley, there really was a person sitting there.
He looked about fourteen or fifteen. His handsome face was pale, and he leaned motionless against the wall. The bluestone slabs beneath him had been soaked black by his blood.
Xing’er did not dare go forward himself, and he would not let me approach either. He said, “Don’t look, don’t look. He’s dead!”
Summoning my courage, I called, “Hey, wake up!”
Unexpectedly, he really did slowly open his eyes. Only, his pupils did not move, nor did he look at us. He stared straight at the sky at the end of the alley.
The alley was very narrow.
I followed his gaze and saw a slender strip of blue sky.
His eyes were deep and beautiful, especially dark, with lashes long and dense.
Neither Xing’er nor I dared even breathe loudly.
He looked at the sky for a while, then closed his eyes again.
Xing’er said softly, “It’s almost been three days, yet he still hasn’t died.”
He had only one breath left, lingering stubbornly and refusing to disperse.
My eyes stung. I took out a pouch of silver and stuffed it into Xing’er’s hands, saying repeatedly, “Hurry and find a doctor. Hurry!”
“This—this, why should we invite trouble for ourselves?”
“A human life is at stake. Even if it were only a cat or a dog, we couldn’t watch it die before our eyes. Go quickly! Otherwise, don’t even think of speaking to me again!”
Xing’er ran off into the distance.
In the little alley, only I and a dying person remained. I began to feel afraid, but I was even more worried that he would die just like this. So, clutching his knife, I said, “You must hold on. The doctor is on the next street, and he’ll be here very soon. Your knife—we’ll keep it for you for now. People often say that carrying jade is a crime in itself. You’re injured, and if you carry valuables on you, I fear it may bring danger…”
As I was speaking, two young servants arrived, hurriedly running over with a wooden plank between them.
When they saw me, they were startled and hastily moved to bow. I waved my hand and asked in surprise and suspicion, “What are you doing?”
One young servant said, “Concubine Xue wants to arrange a ghost marriage for Second Miss.”