Even when Mrs. Shen returned to the room, Jinxia was still struggling to figure out why, in her mind, she was allowed to see a naked man but annoyed at the thought of Lu Yi seeing a naked woman… But at the end, she couldn’t think of anything.
“Aunt, you’ve worked hard. I’ll massage your legs… Your feet?”
Mrs. Shen waved her hand to stop Jinxia, “Just sit there and don’t move. If you want to be good to me, then don’t do anything or else I have to treat your wound again, it would be more troublesome.”
Jinxia smiled at her, “You always care so much for the people.”
Mrs. Shen cleaned her hands, sat down at the dressing table, then carefully removed her hair accessories and combed her hair slowly. Jinxia leaned against the bed frame and watched her comb her hair, “Your hair is well maintained, it’s so smooth and soft.”
“How old are you this year?” Mrs. Shen asked her while continuing to comb her hair.
“16.” Jinxia chuckled, “My mother is already planning to marry me off.”
“Judging from your temper, you’re born in the summer? Is that why you’re called Jinxia?”
*[Summer in Chinese is 夏天 [Xiàtiān], Xià is summer, 今 [Jīn] is a short form for ‘today’ [jīntiān (今天)], so her name is translated to ‘this summer’ (今夏 = Jinxia), TN]
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Mrs. Shen turned her head, there was confusion in her eyes, “Don’t you know when you were born?”
“I was brought home by my mother from the orphanage, so I’m not very clear about when I was born.” Jinxia said.
“Oh….”
Mrs. Shen turned back and continued to comb her hair. After a while, she asked again, “When you were brought home, how old were you?”
“It was the 28th year of Jiajing’s reign, so I was probably around three or four years old.” Jinxia tried to remember. She laughed, “My mother said, at the orphanage, I was the best eater so she thought I would be the easiest to take care of, hence she took me home.”
*[The Reign of the Jiajing Emperor is between 1522–1566, so the 28th year should be around 1549, TN]
Mrs. Shen held her comb tightly, the sharp tip of the comb pierced through her skin. She sat there motionless, trying to maintain her breathing and didn’t dare to turn her face.
“Aunt, what’s wrong with you?” Jinxia asked.
Mrs. Shen took a deep breath, trying to answer her in a calm voice, “Nothing… I just didn’t think you were such a sad child.”
“There’s no need to pity me.” Jinxia laughed, “In my neighbourhood, I was the best fighter, apart from my mother, no one dared to bother me.”
Her face was full of joy while recalling her success. Mrs. Shen slowly turned to look at her, the look in her eyes was full of tenderness.
***
“Peacake, one red seed, the blind man ate it and opened his eyes, the disabled person ate it and became normal, the bald person ate it and grew a ponytail, the deaf person ate and can hear….”*
*[A Beijing nursery rhyme – A red bean seed cake, TN]
Several children were playing and singing in front of Lingyin Temple.
On the side, an old woman wearing a gray shirt with gray hair was supporting an older woman with white hair. In her hand she was holding a bamboo walking stick and because she could not see, she had to rely on the other old lady to guide the way. The clothes on these two women were washed until they had almost turned pure white, both of them staggered along the road leading upwards.
After arriving at Lingyin Temple, the old woman dressed in grey greeted the young monk, “Little master, we are looking for the Head Monk to pray for our family.”
The young monk clapped his hands together and bowed, “Dear parishioners, my master and the rest of them have not been in the monastery for several days. Please come back another day.”
The white haired woman said with disappointment, “Please, do you know when they will be back?”
“In Cengang, there are thousands of injured and dead soldiers, all the masters have rushed there to perform the ceremony to release the dead and they may not come back for another few days.”
“Cengang…” The old woman with white hair muttered in her mouth, turning to face the other woman, “Who is in Cengang?”
“Xiao Feng… Xiao Feng is in Cengang.”
The woman in the gray shirt sighed.
“He’s going to die too, they’re all going to die.” The white-haired woman muttered and turned around, using the bamboo stick to find her way.
The young monk quickly understood that their family members were also among the number of soldiers in Cangang. Nowadays, pirates were rampant, so many had died on the battlefield; it seemed they were also worried about the safety of their family members. He sighed and walked back in the temple, knelt before the Buddha statue and prayed.
[All translations belong to Syublush. If you are reading it anywhere else, then it’s stolen.]
The way down the mountain was much more difficult than the way up.
“Mother, let’s rest for a while.” The gray-shirted woman searched for a sitting stone, dusted it with her sleeve and carefully helped the white haired woman to sit down.
Not far from there, the children were singing, “…..Peacake, one red seed, the blind man ate it and opened his eyes, the disabled person ate it and became normal, the bald person ate it and grew a ponytail….”
The white-haired woman attentively listened and suddenly said, “Wu’er also likes pea cakes but we don’t have any at home. I should buy one for him… Let’s go home.”
“Alright, let’s go home now.” The woman in white shirt replied obediently.
“Back to Huizhou, back to Shexian.”
“…..Mother.” The old woman in the gray shirt was shocked because she didn’t expect her to make this request.
“These years, I have wronged you….” The white haired woman stroked the other woman’s face and said, “It’s useless even when Wu’Er is running such a big business because you don’t seem to benefit anything, even the slightest joy.”
“Mother, mother don’t say that… We’ve been sitting for a while, let me go find you some water.”
The woman quickly turned away, wiping away the tears before her mother could see them and walking away. She had made about five to six steps, when she suddenly felt like something was wrong and turned around to see her mother: two people came out of nowhere, holding knives in their hands, and pointing them at her mother.
“Mother!” She shouted.
Although the white haired woman could not see, she could still sense something was wrong and judging from her daughter’s scream, her doubts were confirmed. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any fear on her face, but a smile instead…
The sharp edge of one knife almost reached her, when a bamboo stick appeared out of nowhere and blocked the two blades.
A person wearing a blue robe landed in front of the white haired woman and slowly turned around. He laughed and pointed at the two men, who were covering their face with veils, “What clan are you two from?”
“Where did this dirty taoist come from? Get lost!”
Those men naturally wouldn’t care about him, they simply slashed their knives toward Lan Daoxing but their moves were quickly blocked by the bamboo stick. Just a few more moves and the veils on their faces fell down…
“Still not leaving?” Lan Daoxing laughed, “If I may give a piece of advice, it’s fine that your veil has fallen but if your waist belt were to fall, it wouldn’t look too pretty.”
After a brief fight, the two men realized it was not worth it. They turned to look at each other and jumped away.
“Mother, mother, mother…” The woman in the gray shirt rushed to the white haired woman and continuously called out for her.
The white haired woman was motionless; although she was not injured, she was no longer breathing.
Lan Daoxing turned around, checked her pulse and sighed, “Her life is gone, please don’t be too sad.” He bent down and put her on his back, then carried her down the mountain while the other woman followed from behind.
***
The inn, inside the courtyard.
Cen Fu hurriedly walked in, passing Jinxia before she could greet him. He headed straight to Lu Yi’s room with a serious look on his face.
“Something is wrong.” Jinxia said, quickly moving herself next to the wall and trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. YangYue couldn’t help but shook his head.
After a while, Cen Fu came out. Jinxia hurriedly greeted him and brought him over the table with food on it.
“What’s the matter?” She slowly pushed one of the Sixi dumplings dishes toward him.
Cen Fu glanced at her but didn’t bother to hide it, “Zhao Wenhua, do you know him?”
“Public Works Department Minister, Zhao Daren, who doesn’t know him?”
Cen Fu nodded his head, “Zhao Daren was demoted to a commoner because the tower in Zhengyang didn’t work.”
“The tower in Zhengyang?” Jinxia tried to remember, “It’s the Emperor’s new house. I heard the construction started last year and it isn’t finished yet?!? I can’t blame the Emperor for getting upset. However, why didn’t Yan Daren help putting in some good words for his adopted son?”
Zhao Wenhua had claimed Yan Song as his adoptive father; he was one of Yan Song’s confidants and had been working together with him for years. Last year, because he’d secretly offered Bai Huaxian wine to the Emperor, it had offended Yan Song. Luckily, he’d made up for his mistake by sending him lots of gifts. Was it because of that incident, that Yan Song was still mad and therefore he deliberately didn’t want to help?”
Or perhaps was that being done by Yan ShiFan?
“Your Young Master, what did he say after hearing this news?” Jinxia asked Cen Fu.
“Young Master said – ‘Oh’.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
Cen Fu started to eat the dumplings.
Jinxia beside him seemed to start thinking hard, to the point she forgot to chew the buns in her mouth. Bai Huaxin wine… Maybe Yan ShiFan saw Zhao Wenhua as an unfaithful person, even if Yan Song had already forgiven him. Even so, based on Yan ShiFan’s temperament, taking revenge was a way to satisfy his anger, so he definitely wouldn’t let that incident go easily.
***
Lu Yi was alone in his room, with his eyebrows deeply furrowed, also thinking about that matter – Zhao Wenhua was demoted… If, like A’Rui had said, it had been all Yan ShiFan’s plan, that meant this was only the beginning; Zhao Wenhua was Hu Zongxian’s partner, since he was demoted, no one else could back Hu Zongxian up now. Then, when he would be charged or accused of conspiring with pirates, this would have been Yan ShiFan’s second phase; while the third phase would have been…
[All translations belong to Syublush. If you are reading it anywhere else, then it’s stolen.]
‘If it was according to A’Rui’s words, if he helped Hu Zongxian, surely the allegations of being involved with pirates would also fall on him. If Hu Zongxian was punished, then he wouldn’t be able to get away with it either, even his father would find it hard to help him.’
But, Lu Yi still didn’t understand, why was Yan ShiFan so sure about everything, especially regarding the fact he would help Hu Zongxian?
Since arriving in Zhejiang, all the evidence he investigated incriminated and troubled Hu Zongxian, but he never had any relationship with Hu Zongxian, so there was no reason to help him.
By nightfall, Lu Yi was still in the same position, sitting at the table, wearing a white robe and reading.
The rails of the window were tapped by bamboo branches. He rose to open the window, seeing Lan Daoxing’s shadow fly past, stopping at the end of the street not far from where his room was, waiting for him.
Lu Yi put on his outer robe nicely, turned off the light, then jumped out of the window, chasing Lan Daoxing.
Those two people had great kung fu knowledge, alternating between flying and jumping, they quickly passed various streets in silence, then continued to walk until they reached the center of Hangzhou. That’s when Lao Daoxing stopped.
“Wang Zhi’s mother just passed away this morning.” Lao Daoxing said briefly.
Lu Yi tightened his eyebrows.
Lan Daoxing added, “It’s not what you think. She died of old age, not because someone tried to kill her. However, what you think is also not wrong, there were people who wanted to kill her.”
“What is this place?”
“This is the house Hu Zongxian gave to Wang Zhi’s mother as a special gift last year, specifically letting his mother and his wife live here.” Lan Daoxing saw Lu Yi’s face, shrugged his shoulders and continued, “This residence has been sealed for a while. Hu Zongxian definitely didn’t expect that they would dare to come back here again… Come in, I’ll introduce you.”
Even when Mrs. Shen returned to the room, Jinxia was still struggling to figure out why, in her mind, she was allowed to see a naked man but annoyed at the thought of Lu Yi seeing a naked woman… But at the end, she couldn’t think of anything.
“Aunt, you’ve worked hard. I’ll massage your legs… Your feet?”
Mrs. Shen waved her hand to stop Jinxia, “Just sit there and don’t move. If you want to be good to me, then don’t do anything or else I have to treat your wound again, it would be more troublesome.”
Jinxia smiled at her, “You always care so much for the people.”
Mrs. Shen cleaned her hands, sat down at the dressing table, then carefully removed her hair accessories and combed her hair slowly. Jinxia leaned against the bed frame and watched her comb her hair, “Your hair is well maintained, it’s so smooth and soft.”
“How old are you this year?” Mrs. Shen asked her while continuing to comb her hair.
“16.” Jinxia chuckled, “My mother is already planning to marry me off.”
“Judging from your temper, you’re born in the summer? Is that why you’re called Jinxia?”
*[Summer in Chinese is 夏天 [Xiàtiān], Xià is summer, 今 [Jīn] is a short form for ‘today’ [jīntiān (今天)], so her name is translated to ‘this summer’ (今夏 = Jinxia), TN]
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Mrs. Shen turned her head, there was confusion in her eyes, “Don’t you know when you were born?”
“I was brought home by my mother from the orphanage, so I’m not very clear about when I was born.” Jinxia said.
“Oh….”
Mrs. Shen turned back and continued to comb her hair. After a while, she asked again, “When you were brought home, how old were you?”
“It was the 28th year of Jiajing’s reign, so I was probably around three or four years old.” Jinxia tried to remember. She laughed, “My mother said, at the orphanage, I was the best eater so she thought I would be the easiest to take care of, hence she took me home.”
*[The Reign of the Jiajing Emperor is between 1522–1566, so the 28th year should be around 1549, TN]
Mrs. Shen held her comb tightly, the sharp tip of the comb pierced through her skin. She sat there motionless, trying to maintain her breathing and didn’t dare to turn her face.
“Aunt, what’s wrong with you?” Jinxia asked.
Mrs. Shen took a deep breath, trying to answer her in a calm voice, “Nothing… I just didn’t think you were such a sad child.”
“There’s no need to pity me.” Jinxia laughed, “In my neighbourhood, I was the best fighter, apart from my mother, no one dared to bother me.”
Her face was full of joy while recalling her success. Mrs. Shen slowly turned to look at her, the look in her eyes was full of tenderness.
***
“Peacake, one red seed, the blind man ate it and opened his eyes, the disabled person ate it and became normal, the bald person ate it and grew a ponytail, the deaf person ate and can hear….”*
*[A Beijing nursery rhyme – A red bean seed cake, TN]
Several children were playing and singing in front of Lingyin Temple.
On the side, an old woman wearing a gray shirt with gray hair was supporting an older woman with white hair. In her hand she was holding a bamboo walking stick and because she could not see, she had to rely on the other old lady to guide the way. The clothes on these two women were washed until they had almost turned pure white, both of them staggered along the road leading upwards.
After arriving at Lingyin Temple, the old woman dressed in grey greeted the young monk, “Little master, we are looking for the Head Monk to pray for our family.”
The young monk clapped his hands together and bowed, “Dear parishioners, my master and the rest of them have not been in the monastery for several days. Please come back another day.”
The white haired woman said with disappointment, “Please, do you know when they will be back?”
“In Cengang, there are thousands of injured and dead soldiers, all the masters have rushed there to perform the ceremony to release the dead and they may not come back for another few days.”
“Cengang…” The old woman with white hair muttered in her mouth, turning to face the other woman, “Who is in Cengang?”
“Xiao Feng… Xiao Feng is in Cengang.”
The woman in the gray shirt sighed.
“He’s going to die too, they’re all going to die.” The white-haired woman muttered and turned around, using the bamboo stick to find her way.
The young monk quickly understood that their family members were also among the number of soldiers in Cangang. Nowadays, pirates were rampant, so many had died on the battlefield; it seemed they were also worried about the safety of their family members. He sighed and walked back in the temple, knelt before the Buddha statue and prayed.
[All translations belong to Syublush. If you are reading it anywhere else, then it’s stolen.]
The way down the mountain was much more difficult than the way up.
“Mother, let’s rest for a while.” The gray-shirted woman searched for a sitting stone, dusted it with her sleeve and carefully helped the white haired woman to sit down.
Not far from there, the children were singing, “…..Peacake, one red seed, the blind man ate it and opened his eyes, the disabled person ate it and became normal, the bald person ate it and grew a ponytail….”
The white-haired woman attentively listened and suddenly said, “Wu’er also likes pea cakes but we don’t have any at home. I should buy one for him… Let’s go home.”
“Alright, let’s go home now.” The woman in white shirt replied obediently.
“Back to Huizhou, back to Shexian.”
“…..Mother.” The old woman in the gray shirt was shocked because she didn’t expect her to make this request.
“These years, I have wronged you….” The white haired woman stroked the other woman’s face and said, “It’s useless even when Wu’Er is running such a big business because you don’t seem to benefit anything, even the slightest joy.”
“Mother, mother don’t say that… We’ve been sitting for a while, let me go find you some water.”
The woman quickly turned away, wiping away the tears before her mother could see them and walking away. She had made about five to six steps, when she suddenly felt like something was wrong and turned around to see her mother: two people came out of nowhere, holding knives in their hands, and pointing them at her mother.
“Mother!” She shouted.
Although the white haired woman could not see, she could still sense something was wrong and judging from her daughter’s scream, her doubts were confirmed. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any fear on her face, but a smile instead…
The sharp edge of one knife almost reached her, when a bamboo stick appeared out of nowhere and blocked the two blades.
A person wearing a blue robe landed in front of the white haired woman and slowly turned around. He laughed and pointed at the two men, who were covering their face with veils, “What clan are you two from?”
“Where did this dirty taoist come from? Get lost!”
Those men naturally wouldn’t care about him, they simply slashed their knives toward Lan Daoxing but their moves were quickly blocked by the bamboo stick. Just a few more moves and the veils on their faces fell down…
“Still not leaving?” Lan Daoxing laughed, “If I may give a piece of advice, it’s fine that your veil has fallen but if your waist belt were to fall, it wouldn’t look too pretty.”
After a brief fight, the two men realized it was not worth it. They turned to look at each other and jumped away.
“Mother, mother, mother…” The woman in the gray shirt rushed to the white haired woman and continuously called out for her.
The white haired woman was motionless; although she was not injured, she was no longer breathing.
Lan Daoxing turned around, checked her pulse and sighed, “Her life is gone, please don’t be too sad.” He bent down and put her on his back, then carried her down the mountain while the other woman followed from behind.
***
The inn, inside the courtyard.
Cen Fu hurriedly walked in, passing Jinxia before she could greet him. He headed straight to Lu Yi’s room with a serious look on his face.
“Something is wrong.” Jinxia said, quickly moving herself next to the wall and trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. YangYue couldn’t help but shook his head.
After a while, Cen Fu came out. Jinxia hurriedly greeted him and brought him over the table with food on it.
“What’s the matter?” She slowly pushed one of the Sixi dumplings dishes toward him.
Cen Fu glanced at her but didn’t bother to hide it, “Zhao Wenhua, do you know him?”
“Public Works Department Minister, Zhao Daren, who doesn’t know him?”
Cen Fu nodded his head, “Zhao Daren was demoted to a commoner because the tower in Zhengyang didn’t work.”
“The tower in Zhengyang?” Jinxia tried to remember, “It’s the Emperor’s new house. I heard the construction started last year and it isn’t finished yet?!? I can’t blame the Emperor for getting upset. However, why didn’t Yan Daren help putting in some good words for his adopted son?”
Zhao Wenhua had claimed Yan Song as his adoptive father; he was one of Yan Song’s confidants and had been working together with him for years. Last year, because he’d secretly offered Bai Huaxian wine to the Emperor, it had offended Yan Song. Luckily, he’d made up for his mistake by sending him lots of gifts. Was it because of that incident, that Yan Song was still mad and therefore he deliberately didn’t want to help?”
Or perhaps was that being done by Yan ShiFan?
“Your Young Master, what did he say after hearing this news?” Jinxia asked Cen Fu.
“Young Master said – ‘Oh’.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
Cen Fu started to eat the dumplings.
Jinxia beside him seemed to start thinking hard, to the point she forgot to chew the buns in her mouth. Bai Huaxin wine… Maybe Yan ShiFan saw Zhao Wenhua as an unfaithful person, even if Yan Song had already forgiven him. Even so, based on Yan ShiFan’s temperament, taking revenge was a way to satisfy his anger, so he definitely wouldn’t let that incident go easily.
***
Lu Yi was alone in his room, with his eyebrows deeply furrowed, also thinking about that matter – Zhao Wenhua was demoted… If, like A’Rui had said, it had been all Yan ShiFan’s plan, that meant this was only the beginning; Zhao Wenhua was Hu Zongxian’s partner, since he was demoted, no one else could back Hu Zongxian up now. Then, when he would be charged or accused of conspiring with pirates, this would have been Yan ShiFan’s second phase; while the third phase would have been…
[All translations belong to Syublush. If you are reading it anywhere else, then it’s stolen.]
‘If it was according to A’Rui’s words, if he helped Hu Zongxian, surely the allegations of being involved with pirates would also fall on him. If Hu Zongxian was punished, then he wouldn’t be able to get away with it either, even his father would find it hard to help him.’
But, Lu Yi still didn’t understand, why was Yan ShiFan so sure about everything, especially regarding the fact he would help Hu Zongxian?
Since arriving in Zhejiang, all the evidence he investigated incriminated and troubled Hu Zongxian, but he never had any relationship with Hu Zongxian, so there was no reason to help him.
By nightfall, Lu Yi was still in the same position, sitting at the table, wearing a white robe and reading.
The rails of the window were tapped by bamboo branches. He rose to open the window, seeing Lan Daoxing’s shadow fly past, stopping at the end of the street not far from where his room was, waiting for him.
Lu Yi put on his outer robe nicely, turned off the light, then jumped out of the window, chasing Lan Daoxing.
Those two people had great kung fu knowledge, alternating between flying and jumping, they quickly passed various streets in silence, then continued to walk until they reached the center of Hangzhou. That’s when Lao Daoxing stopped.
“Wang Zhi’s mother just passed away this morning.” Lao Daoxing said briefly.
Lu Yi tightened his eyebrows.
Lan Daoxing added, “It’s not what you think. She died of old age, not because someone tried to kill her. However, what you think is also not wrong, there were people who wanted to kill her.”
“What is this place?”
“This is the house Hu Zongxian gave to Wang Zhi’s mother as a special gift last year, specifically letting his mother and his wife live here.” Lan Daoxing saw Lu Yi’s face, shrugged his shoulders and continued, “This residence has been sealed for a while. Hu Zongxian definitely didn’t expect that they would dare to come back here again… Come in, I’ll introduce you.”
