“A lifetime of loyalty to the country and its people, only to end up as dry bones in a lonely grave, bearing a disgrace that will last for ages… Father, you lost.”
He stared at the newly erected tombstone, shaking with sobs. It was the first time I’d ever seen him cry.
His eyes were bloodshot, as if they might start bleeding at any moment. Combined with the death shroud of stark white he wore, he looked like an evil spirit risen from the dead to claim a life.
I backed away and sank to the ground, letting him vent.
“Miss Thẩm.”
“I’m here.” I stood up, scuffed out the random marks I’d drawn in the dirt with the toe of my shoe, and hurried to his side.
He had calmed down. Turning his head to look at me, he smiled. “Miss Thẩm, would you please take me back?”
I was astonished. “You don’t want to die anymore?”
He nodded. “Tử Ngôn has thought it through. Thank you, Miss Thẩm, for talking me out of it.”
I waved my hands. “No, no. It’s enough that you’ve come to your senses.”
“Then shall we head back?” I asked cautiously.
“Mm.” He nodded.
Thank goodness! I happily put away those two frightening items, but when I saw the coffin buried in the ground, I couldn’t help feeling a pang of regret. I wonder if anyone would buy it for half price if I dug it back up…
“Miss Thẩm, would you please help me take off this death shroud?”
I did as he asked, but I hesitated when I reached out. I wasn’t sure about undressing a living, breathing man.
We were so close I could almost feel the warmth coming off him. I closed my eyes and quickly helped him out of the shroud, folding it neatly and leaving him in only his undergarments.
“Please put it in the coffin for me. Just think of it as… Hàn Tử Ngôn having died.”
I did as he said, struggling to close the coffin lid before using the hoe to cover it with dirt.
“Miss Thẩm, may I go back to your hometown with you?”
The old doctor gave me a thorough scolding.
I stood hunched to one side, not daring to argue back.
The heir kept taking all the blame, but the old doctor didn’t let up.
After helping him secure his arms and legs again, I hurriedly pulled him away from the old doctor’s furious glare.
“I’ve caused trouble for you again.”
By afternoon, cooking smoke was rising from the houses. As I pulled the cart carrying him back to the temporary house, I heard him say that and replied, “You can call me Thẩm Mật.”
Miss Thẩm, Miss Thẩm. It sounded so distant.
He chuckled softly. “All right, Mật Nhi.”
His smile made my ears burn.
“Do you really want to come home with me? My hometown is a tiny place. How could it compare with the bustle of the capital?”
“Mật Nhi… is it that you don’t want me to?” His voice sank a little.
“No… that’s not it.” I stopped at once and turned to explain, but the moment I met his eyes, I hurriedly looked away.
“I’m just afraid the two of you will feel deprived.” I still remembered that luxurious carriage; I didn’t need to think twice to know how comfortably they must have lived before. And my own shabby house…
“Ha… after everything we’ve been through, how could we still complain about hardship? I’m only… afraid we’ll be a burden to you, Mật Nhi. If you don’t want us to—”
“No, it’s not that I don’t want you!” I cut him off immediately.
“As long as the two of you don’t mind, you’re very welcome.”
“Thank you.”
When we got back, the heir’s little brother was so happy he let out a loud shout.
He ran around the heir, chattering away, while the heir simply smiled and listened.
In the days that followed, I began preparing for the journey home.
The heir still couldn’t move around easily, so only the little boy and I could care for him. And usually, the little boy did most of it.
Whenever I helped him turn over or clean himself, I felt a little awkward. But later, I happened to notice that his ears turned even redder than mine every time, and that put me at ease.
I’d contacted an escort agency. We just had to wait for them to return to the capital, and then we could travel with them. That would take a little over a month, enough time for the heir to recover.
He returned the thirty taels of silver to me, saying it was for lodging and meals from then on. After thinking it over, I accepted.
I really did need the money if I was going to support two more people.
After a full month of recuperation, the splints on his arms and legs were finally removed. But the results were far from good—he gradually lost all feeling below the knees, and his right wrist was limp and powerless. Only his left hand could move a little.
The little boy and I were both very sad, but he seemed indifferent.
I thought it wasn’t that he didn’t care, but that he had no choice but to accept the truth.
The day before we were to return home, a few distinguished guests came to visit.
That day, I was just about to take the little boy to buy food when a young man in black brocade rode up and stopped right in front of the courtyard.
He dismounted with practiced ease, looked at the little boy, and called out, “Triều Nhi, how have you been? Where’s your older brother?”
The little boy only lowered his head and said nothing.
The brocade-clad man looked awkward and a little annoyed. Forcing a playful tone, he said, “What’s wrong? Who upset our Triều Nhi?”
Just then, a carriage slowly approached.
The brocade-clad man immediately stood up and went over to the carriage.
A delicate hand lifted the carriage curtain, revealing a face of breathtaking beauty.
I was stunned.
Was that… a fairy?
The brocade-clad man hurried to help her down. But she didn’t look at him; with tears in her eyes, she gazed tenderly at the little boy. “Triều Nhi, where’s your older brother? Is he well?”
Her voice was so soft and melodious, it was captivating.
I looked at the little boy, and he looked back at me.
Just then, the heir’s voice came from inside the courtyard. “Come in.”
We both immediately breathed a sigh of relief, hurried back into the courtyard, and slammed the door shut.
Outside the gate, her sobs continued to echo.
Inside, I looked at the heir’s expressionless face and felt a pang of regret.
They were such a handsome, well-matched couple. What a shame fate had played them false.
She stood outside the gate for a long time, but eventually the brocade-clad man persuaded her to leave. Before going, she knocked and gave me five hundred taels of silver.
I refused, but the little boy rushed up from behind, snatched the money, and said, “My older brother says to take it. From now on, neither side owes the other anything.”
With that, he slammed the door shut.
I could only quietly follow them inside.
The heir told the little boy to give me the silver.
I kept waving my hands. It was such a large sum—I truly couldn’t manage it.
But he was adamant, saying that I was the one managing the household, so naturally I should keep the money.
Unable to change his mind, I carefully put the silver away, wondering as I did where I could hide it safely.
Just then, the heir told me to pack our things. We would be traveling with the escort agency tonight.
I was taken aback. Weren’t we supposed to leave tomorrow?
He shook his head and said, “Our wealth has been exposed. This place is no longer safe.”
I thought of the moment I’d received the silver notes, and the way people from the neighboring houses had watched me… He was right. What if someone came to rob us…?
Go! We have to leave right now!
At last, we set off for our hometown.
After rocking along the river for several days, we switched to traveling by land.
In a small town, I unexpectedly spotted a cart with wheels.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I bought one.
When the heir saw the cart, he thanked me sincerely.
At last, he could go outside and feel the breeze for a little while.
I could tell he was truly happy.
By the time we got home, the osmanthus blossoms in the courtyard were in full bloom, while the persimmon tree still had rather sparse leaves.
At first, I planned to buy a separate house for the two brothers.
But the little boy clung to me and refused to go, no matter what.
With no other choice, I brought them both back to my house.
When our neighbor, Auntie Hoa, saw me return, she was overjoyed.
But when she saw the heir and the little boy, she looked a little puzzled.
I quietly explained that they were my mother’s nephews, that both their parents had died, and that they had come to stay with me.
Auntie Hoa seemed a little reluctant, but when she saw the heir’s legs and the little boy’s frightened eyes, she finally softened.
She hurried to help tidy up the little room beside the kitchen.
I wanted to give them a different room, but they both firmly refused.
With no other choice, I let them have their way.
The heir… became my cousin.
10
With the heir’s help, my tofu business kept growing. I hired Auntie Hoa’s husband to help transport the goods and, while he was at it, assist the heir during the day with washing and his personal needs.
I enrolled the little boy in school.
Everything seemed to be gradually getting better.
The osmanthus trees were in full bloom, and every day I cut a few sprigs to put in the heir’s room. Now and then, when the little boy had a day off, I’d push the heir outside in the cart, and we’d enjoy the fun of shaking the trees to catch the osmanthus blossoms. Of course, every time, he ended up with blossoms all over his head, but he never got angry. He only looked at me and the little boy indulgently.
His left hand was recovering fairly well, and he was gradually able to grip things, though it still trembled uncontrollably. To rebuild his grip for holding a brush, he tied a stone to his wrist with a cord and kept it there until the cord rubbed his skin raw.
I couldn’t help but marvel at his determination.
The days passed, the persimmon tree grew heavy with fruit, and the grief of losing our loved ones gradually eased. Before the night of the Winter Solstice, I brought the memorial tablets for Nanny Lưu and the heir’s parents home and placed them alongside my own parents’ tablets.
I had left the memorial tablets at a temple, where a senior monk had chanted prayers for a hundred days to invoke blessings. When the heir saw them, he told the little boy to solemnly bow three times before me.