19
I made it safely to Gusu.
On the way out of the capital, I even found A Mi again.
Every so often, I’d find a few more little animals.
Before long, one carriage wasn’t enough room, so I had to rent a larger one in Qizhou.
When I got back to Gusu, I spent nearly all my savings on a large plot of land for them to live on.
I also bought an ox to plow the fields.
I had no idea how I’d make a living in the future.
For now, I’d just have to farm.
The ox was a little disgruntled.
【Why don’t the cats and dogs have to work, while I have to plow the fields?】
It had a point. Feeling guilty, I gritted my teeth and bought another ox.
“Then you can take turns.”
The bull stared at me, dumbfounded.
Then it let out a loud moo.
Actually, the cats and dogs weren’t useless, either.
I had two cats and two dogs.
Since I wasn’t good at coming up with names, I called the black cat Little Black, the white cat Little White, the yellow dog Lucky, and the spotted dog Prosperity.
Little Black caught mice.
Little White caught fish.
Lucky guarded the house.
Prosperity chased ducks.
A Mi could sing.
Every animal was good at something.
Later, I raised plenty of poultry, too.
With so many animals, there were plenty of disputes.
So I bought a little gavel especially for the job and settled their disputes every day.
“Chick A stole food from Chick B. It’s sentenced to one day without corn.”
“Little Black wouldn’t listen and kept bringing mice as gifts to the young lady next door. It’s sentenced to one day without shrimp.”
A Mi spread its wings and circled around me, calling out: 【O Great Judge!】
—
20
In my second month in Gusu, I received a letter from the capital.
It was from Cố Duy Ngôn.
He briefly filled me in on a few things.
After I left, the Eastern Palace had been in utter chaos.
The Crown Prince had nearly turned the entire Eastern Palace upside down looking for me. The Crown Princess had even demanded to enter the palace to see the Emperor, but they stopped her.
I sighed.
Triệu Thư Diệu had never truly cared whether I lived or died.
He was the Crown Prince.
No one dared say he was wrong.
Everyone only knew how to blame me.
I looked down at the third line.
Cố Duy Ngôn wrote that he had been demoted again for speaking frankly, and that before long he would be taking up a post in Gusu.
The fourth line.
The Crown Prince had used his authority to investigate and discovered that I’d gone to Gusu.
He warned me to be careful.
A sudden unease gripped me, and I clutched the letter in my hand.
If he knew I’d gone to Gusu, he must have also found out that Cố Duy Ngôn had helped make my travel documents.
I was worried about him.
I was afraid he’d be implicated because of me.
Lucky rubbed its fluffy head against my hand. 【What’s wrong, Chao?】
It had realized there were so many people that it needed a way to distinguish them, so it called me “Chao.”
I folded the letter, put it away, and smiled at him.
“It’s nothing. The Great Judge really is about to arrive.”
Lucky didn’t understand and only barked once. “Woof!”
21
Cố Duy Ngôn became the chief administrator of Gusu.
His residence wasn’t far from my home.
The little bird Tiêu Phi Luyện often flew over several walls to sneak off with fish caught by Little White.
After court, Cố Duy Ngôn came to my house. He picked Tiêu Phi Luyện up by the scruff, held it in his arms, and apologized to me:
“I’m sorry. I haven’t trained it well.”
I smiled and said:
“It’s all right.”
“Would you like to stay for a meal, sir? Little White caught today’s fish itself. It’s very fresh.”
He asked, “Who’s Little White?”
Little White leaped out and meowed at him.
He laughed, understanding.
“In that case, I won’t stand on ceremony.”
The cats and dogs ate on the ground.
The chicks and ducklings ate in the courtyard.
Cố Duy Ngôn and I sat at the round table to eat.
He seemed a little ill at ease.
I, meanwhile, was weighed down by worry.
“Sir, have I gotten you into trouble?”
He chuckled softly.
“So that’s what you’ve been worrying about?”
“Ups and downs are part of life. I made a wrong move, so being transferred out of the capital was inevitable. And helping you get travel papers wasn’t illegal, nor was it against the code of honor. No one can fault me for it. You don’t need to worry.”
I pressed my lips together, got up to shut the windows tight, then told Lucky and Prosperity to keep watch outside.
“Then… Your Highness, did the Crown Prince make things difficult for you?”
“He did, but not because of this.”
“The Crown Prince once sent a love letter to the Crown Princess by white crane, and it became a celebrated tale. Miss A Chao, do you remember what was written in the letter in the crane’s beak?”
I shook my head. “His Highness wouldn’t let me see it, but I can ask him about a few things for you.”
He froze. “Ask him for me?”
22
I went to ask A Mi.
I asked whether it could get in touch with the white cranes in the Eastern Palace’s large pond.
A Mi looked surprised and a little confused. “I’ll give it a try…”
I waited for news from it.
I waited a whole month, until the Crown Prince ordered a southern inspection tour to investigate a case.
As it happened, I’d just received some news, which I told Cố Duy Ngôn.
The white crane hadn’t just delivered one letter.
There had been something else in the letter, too, and its beak had grown tired from carrying it.
After delivering the letter, it flew to the pond at the marquis’s residence to rest.
With its keen hearing, it had overheard quite a few things.
But its memory was poor, and by now it could only remember a little.
…
When I got home,
the backyard was in an uproar.
I pushed open the door, intending to ask what had happened, but the moment I looked in, I saw Triệu Thư Diệu standing in the courtyard.
He wore a cloak, his face dark.
Behind him stood a group of armed guards.
Startled, I instinctively dropped to my knees.
He reached out to help me up and demanded coldly:
“A Chao, why did you run away?”
“Have I not treated you well enough? So many people would give anything to be a secondary consort, and I granted you that position. Yet you still wanted to run?”
I can predict when it’s about to rain now.
Because my knees ache to the bone before the rain comes.
I have him to thank for that.
I took two steps back.
“Your Highness, I don’t want to be a secondary consort.”
He advanced on me step by step, his shadow falling over me.
“Why? Is it because of Commandery Princess Lạc An?”
That was true, and it wasn’t.
I lowered my head and said:
“I don’t like the Eastern Palace.”
My shoulders trembled with fear, and my voice choked a little.
Shock and disbelief flickered across his face.
“When you were by my side before, you were clearly happy.”
I said softly:
“That was before.”
“Truthfully, I’m terrified of ferocious beasts. But for Your Highness, I still tried to tame a wolf. It was cunning. The moment it was let out of its cage, it lunged at me and bit me. Luckily, there were guards nearby.”
I rolled up my sleeve, revealing a terrible scar.
“I finally helped Your Highness accomplish what you wanted. But the very next day, Your Highness had me beaten with ten strokes of the rod.”
“I was never happy in the Eastern Palace.”
Triệu Thư Diệu gripped my wrist tightly, his eyes fixed on the scar. His pupils trembled slightly.
His eyes reddened. After a long pause, he finally spoke, his voice trembling:
“A Chao, I had no idea…”
I pulled my hand away, hiding the scar inside my sleeve, and continued:
“Besides, all there is between Your Highness and me is a contract.”
“I’ve fulfilled everything I promised, so now I have to leave.”
Triệu Thư Diệu stared at me, transfixed.
A tear silently slid down his cheek.
Even someone as selfish as him knew how to cry.
He forced a smile and said to himself:
“Since you like it here, stay a little longer. Once I’ve taken care of everything, I’ll come get you.”
23
Triệu Thư Diệu never came back a second time.
He was stripped of his position.
As it turned out, he had raised a large private army. As it turned out, he and the marquis had been plundering the people’s wealth.
All this evidence was submitted by Cố Duy Ngôn.
Triệu Thư Diệu and Commandery Princess Lạc An were stripped of their titles, reduced to commoners, and exiled to Ningguta.
After Cố Duy Ngôn went to the capital, I made a map showing the way to Tong'an.
Before he returned, I gathered my cats and dogs, took the big goose along, sold all my fields and house, then went to the carriage yard and hired the biggest carriage I could find.
A Mi stood by the carriage window and asked me, “A Chao, where are we going this time?”
“Tong'an,” I said. “It’s a beautiful place, with lots of egrets. You can play with them.”
A Mi replied, “I don’t play with egrets.”
I laughed and gently squeezed Little White’s tiny paw.
“All right, then. You can go play with A Mi’s bird friends. It’s near the sea, and there are plenty of fish. Little White is sure to like it.”
Little White meowed, sounding delighted.
I looked out the window.
Mountains rose high, and rivers stretched far.
Before I left, I didn’t leave a letter for Cố Duy Ngôn.
I thought he would understand.
He’d helped me forge a travel permit, and I’d helped him once in return. That settled our debts.
My abilities were too unusual. I didn’t want to get dragged into anything ever again.
I’m not clever.
I’d never imagined I would help a tiger do evil and become Triệu Thư Diệu’s lackey.
The world was in turmoil.
Better to take my little menagerie and run away first.
—
24
I settled down in Tong'an.
I had a few plots of farmland and lots of animals.
Every morning at dawn, the rooster woke Prosperity.
Prosperity would get up, prod Yellow Ox One into plowing the fields, let the ducklings out, then carry the bamboo basket of grain in its mouth to feed the chickens.
This household couldn’t do without him.
Usually, the sun was already high before A Mi flew over to wake me.
“A Chao, we’re all hungry.”
I dragged myself out of bed and prepared food for all the animals.
By the time I was done, it was already noon.
Golden sunlight spilled across the courtyard.
Little Black lay in the sun, lazily licking its fur.
After eating and drinking her fill, Little White told me, “A Chao, I’m going out to hunt. We’ll have fish again tonight.”
Prosperity said, “A Chao, I’m taking the ducks for a walk.”
I smiled and nodded. “Sure. When will you be back?”
“Before sunset.”
I dragged a reclining chair outside and sat by the door to bask in the sun.
I watched Little Black play with a ball of yarn.
I listened to A Mi singing in the branches.
After finishing his morning’s work, Yellow Ox One ambled back and sent Yellow Ox Two out to the fields to take over.
…
My heart was as calm as the sky today.
With nothing going on, I was like a carefree little immortal.
— The End —