Chapter 8: Retaliation
“My studies are demanding. I won’t disturb Third Miss’s elegant mood for enjoying the garden.”
Cui Jingkong lowered his eyes, his gaze falling to the ground. He took a restrained step back and turned to leave.
Having finally cornered him, Zhong Yun saw that he was about to slip through her fingers. She quickly stepped forward and blocked his path again.
“Second Brother, why must you use such words to put me off?” She frowned slightly, lifting a corner of her handkerchief to cover her lips, her posture like that of the famous beauty Xi Shi clutching her heart. “I was simply worried that Second Brother has been enduring coarse food and clothing while traveling and is tired from the journey, so I specially prepared this.”
After speaking, she held the plate up to him. A young maiden’s playful charm and concern were on full display, exceptionally moving.
But Cui Jingkong only gave her beautiful face a cold glance. Not only did he feel no pleasure, but he also thought Zhong Yun was utterly foolish.
Tired of feigning civility with her, he walked straight up the steps. Only in the instant they brushed past each other did he drop a single sentence: “Men and women should not touch. Third Miss, please conduct yourself with dignity.”
He left Zhong Yun standing frozen in place, the smile frozen on her lips. Her body trembled slightly, and finally, she couldn’t help but hurl the object in her hands to the ground.
The priceless white jade plate with a broken-branch pattern shattered into pieces in an instant. The intricately shaped pastries, which had taken the cook half a day to make, rolled into the dust.
The young girl’s hands, clenched into fists at her sides, were so tight that her knuckles turned white. Zhong Yun couldn’t understand it: Cui Er, who had been somewhat receptive before, had gone away for a few days. How could his temperament have changed so drastically?
Third Miss of the Zhong residence—Zhong Yun—was the illegitimate daughter of the concubine, Lady Liu. Zhong Changxun was her full-blooded younger brother.
With two legitimate daughters above her, her marriage prospects were limited to the leftovers from others.
Zhong Yun was only eleven or twelve at the time. She had thought that at worst, she could be married off as a concubine to a powerful family in the capital. However, the court was treacherous, and the situation changed overnight. Her family had fled into the deep mountains and wilderness to hide in disgrace.
Lady Liu had cried in her arms for days. Her health had also been weakened by the arduous journey, and now she was sickly and out of favor.
Zhong Yun had cried too. The world was unfair. Men could go out and make a name for themselves, but women were nailed to the spot, their freedom restricted. Choosing a husband was no different from being reincarnated. Once married, the fate of the rest of her life was sealed.
Her dreams of an ideal husband and a life of luxury had all come to nothing. Zhong Yun could only sift through the people in the academy and pick someone who was barely acceptable and had some potential.
However, those who could afford to attend the private academy were nothing more than the sons of local wealthy families. The most “prominent” was the county magistrate’s son. These boys were too wild and their behavior too crude. How could Zhong Yun, who had seen the wealthy and refined young masters of the capital, accept such a disparity?
When Cui Jingkong was still a little beggar, Lady Liu had often ordered him around with a drawn-out tone. But at that time, Zhong Yun hadn’t even given him a second glance. After all, he was a servant. Who would care?
It wasn’t until he was unusually brought into the schoolroom by Teacher Zhong, frequently entering and exiting the study, and even being seated at the Lantern Festival family banquet that year, that Zhong Yun, after a period of observation, knew her chance had come.
She had tentatively tried to interact with Cui Er. Although he almost never responded to her, at most he would keep his distance, never showing any firm rejection, let alone the undisguised contempt he had shown today.
Before this, Zhong Yun had always thought that she and Cui Er were the same kind of people. Both were cold by nature, selfish, and would do anything to achieve their goals.
Wasn’t this a win-win situation?
Cui Jingkong had no parents, and now his own brother was dead. He was all alone. Since her father valued him so much, if he were to make a comeback in the future, he would surely be entrusted with important responsibilities. And a marriage alliance would bind him more deeply to the Zhong family.
And Zhong Yun could, as she wished, gain a husband who was superior in character, ability, and appearance. Because of the Zhong family’s influence, she would naturally be treated with respect after marrying Cui Jingkong.
Her face turned red and then pale, as if she had been slapped. She gritted her teeth and returned to her room. Seeing her brother, Zhong Changxun, tiptoeing back with a basket of steamed dumplings, anger rose in her heart. She grabbed his ear and dragged him into the room.
“Ouch, ouch! Let… let go!”
Zhong Changxun was fourteen this year. He should have been a lanky teenager, but due to an overly rich diet, he had grown sideways. He was short and stocky, with a round belly protruding in front of him. Now, in pain, he was hopping around like a meatball.
“Tell me everything, what exactly happened with Cui Er today!”
“I was just about to tell you, dear sister! You’re my dear sister, my ear is about to be pulled off!”
Zhong Yun let him go. The chubby boy clutched his reddened ear and cried out in pain for a long time, then said aggrievedly, “I was eavesdropping outside the study. I only heard that his own brother died, and now his sister-in-law is living with him.”
Perhaps it was a woman’s intuition, but Zhong Yun quickly sensed something was amiss. She pondered for a moment. After today’s events, the path with Cui Jingkong was blocked. They had torn off all pretenses. She, a noble lady from the capital, had been humiliated by a poor scholar. She couldn’t just swallow this insult.
Hearing that she wanted to take revenge on Cui Er, Zhong Changxun’s eyes lit up. His usually dull mind, which would doze off in the schoolroom, was now spinning fast. “Sister, I heard from Li Ergou that there are two herbs that, when mixed together, are used to make breeding boars go into heat. If a person takes it, they will lose control and make a fool of themselves in public.”
The grudge between them had been one-sidedly formed long ago. Cui Jingkong was clearly a beggar, someone he could order around at will. For him to suddenly be reading and studying on an equal footing with them was enough to make him resentful.
What was even more hateful was that they had both taken the county examination. Cui Jingkong, who had only been studying for three years, had astounded everyone by taking the top rank, while he, with a teacher for a father, had barely scraped by at the bottom of the list. It was no different from having his face torn off and thrown on the ground to be trampled.
Food, clothing, lodging—which of Cui Er’s clothes, which of the books in his hand, wasn’t given by the Zhong family? Such a treacherous servant should have been dragged out and beaten to death long ago.
After hearing this sinister plan, Zhong Yun’s face showed not a trace of a maiden’s shame or anger. She only cared if it would bring misery to Cui Er, so she nodded.
The condescending face of her legitimate mother seemed to appear before her eyes. Her eyes flickered, and she said slowly, “Since it’s such a good thing… how can we not let Second Sister have a taste?”
Of her two legitimate elder sisters, the eldest had married the governor of Youzhou two years ago. The second sister’s brain had been damaged by a fever in her childhood, and she was a simpleton who could only giggle and clap her hands.
All they had to do was lure away her loyal, short-haired attendant, then lock the two of them together. It would be killing two birds with one stone.
The brother and sister looked at each other and smiled, both seeing the blatant malice in the other’s eyes.
*
In the days after her brother-in-law left, the old locust tree sprouted new green branches.
It was as if overnight, the wind that brushed against her cheeks had become gentle, blowing away the desolation of the mountains and bringing forth a vibrant, flourishing green.
The woman was in a daze, and the needle pricked her fingertip. She cried out in surprise and quickly tossed the half-embroidered pouch to the side to prevent the drop of blood from staining it.
She put the stinging fingertip in her mouth, her expression distant. She thought, including today, it had been exactly ten days since he left.
After they came down the mountain that morning, Cui Jingkong, in a hurry to get back to the academy, had only briefly told her that he would be staying there for a month and a half.
Feng Yuzhen, thinking of living alone and the ruffians who sometimes roamed the area at night, couldn’t help but worry, and fear showed on her face.
Cui Jingkong took in her fear. He had been about to walk away, but he paused. He stood five steps away from her and turned back, the shadows of the withered trees flickering over him.
The young man stood tall and graceful, just looking at her, and promised he would be back early.
Perhaps it was because of the few days they had spent together, but hearing his confident tone, Feng Yuzhen felt a little more at ease. Only then did she realize that ten days had passed in the blink of an eye.
Although Cui Jingkong had spoken very little when he was here, he was still a living person, and his presence had dispelled some of the loneliness. The house, which had felt a bit crowded before, now seemed too empty.
After stopping the bleeding, she picked up the tiger-head pouch again. She had been embroidering it on and off for three or four days.
Mother Feng was an excellent embroiderer, and among her daughters, only Feng Yuzhen had inherited her skill. She had a calm temperament, and had been as soft as a ball of dough since she was a child. She could sit alone all day without feeling bored. She was steady and patient, with small, nimble hands, and she was the most hardworking.
When she was first learning, all ten of her fingers were covered in needle pricks. The next day, they would be purple and swollen with pain, and she couldn’t even hold chopsticks. The other sisters would cry and say they would rather work in the fields. Only she would lie in bed and cry silently, then pick up the needle and thread again the next morning.
After several years of practice, the rare birds and beasts on her embroidery frame came to life under her flying needle. When she was twelve, her family began to sell her embroidery at the market for money.
Later, when Cui Ze married her, the two of them lived entirely on his hunting, with some to spare, so there was no use for this skill. It was only because her leg had been hurting for the past two days after coming down the mountain, and she had nothing to do, that she had picked it up again.
Embroidery was the fruit of many years of hard work. Although she hadn’t touched it for many years, counting both her past and present lives, the moment she picked up the needle and thread, the dusty memories were wiped clean, and the movements were already ingrained in her.
But today, she had made several mistakes. Her eyes were on the embroidery, but her mind was elsewhere.
When she came to her senses, the tiger-head pouch was already finished, but she wasn’t satisfied with the result and had to undo it and start over. This repeated process wasted a lot of time, and now she had pricked her hand, causing further delay.
She frowned in annoyance, blaming herself for her constant daydreaming. Just then, she heard a woman’s voice calling from outside.
“I’m Qian Cuifeng from Hedong. Is anyone home?”
Feng Yuzhen looked out and saw a square-faced woman of about fifty standing in front of the fence. Behind her was a young man with his head bowed, clearly reluctant to be there.
Qian Cuifeng had a basket of eggs in the crook of her arm and a smile on her face. “Sorry to bother you, Zhen’niang. We don’t live far, just across the river. I saw the fence was up and thought a new family had moved in.”
Feng Yuzhen opened the fence and invited them in for a drink of water. “We just moved here and spent the last two days tidying up.”
But Qian Cuifeng waved her hand and just peeked inside from the doorway, showing no intention of coming in. The two exchanged a few more pleasantries, but seeing no one else come out of the house, she couldn’t help but ask, “Is your brother-in-law not here today?”
Feng Yuzhen realized that this auntie’s intentions were not what they seemed. She answered honestly, “Kong’ge’er has gone back to the academy. He probably won’t be back for another four or five days.”
The woman’s expression froze for a moment. Although she quickly recovered her smile, her attitude as she offered the eggs had clearly become very reluctant.
“So that’s how it is. I was wondering why I hadn’t seen him these past few days. Don’t laugh, but my third son,” she patted the young man beside her on the shoulder.
“He was mischievous when he was a child and had some conflict with Cui Er. I thought, now that we’re living so close, it’s best to clear things up.”
Her heart was bleeding for the basket of eggs that had been delivered to the wrong person. Cui Jingkong had moved into the brick house years ago, but she had only just come over now. Of course, it was for Cui Er.
Cui Er was a top scholar among scholars. The only other scholar in the village was an old, white-haired Tongsheng, who was also highly respected.
When they heard that Cui Er had taken the top rank in the examination, many people had come to this house to touch the locust tree for good luck, hoping to get some of the God of Literature’s fortune.
Her son had had a big fight with Cui Jingkong when they were children. Later, Auntie Qian found out that it was her son who had bullied him first. When she heard that Cui Er might become an official in the future, she was so scared she was out of her wits.
She had always wanted to find him to apologize, but the branches of the old locust tree had been almost completely broken off by people, and she had never been able to find him.
It wasn’t until she saw the smoke rising from the chimney from a distance and asked the neighbors that she found out his widowed sister-in-law had returned with him.
So she had rushed her son, who was an apprentice carpenter in town, to come back to the village so they could apologize. But they had still come at the wrong time.
Seeing that Cui Er wasn’t here, Qian Cuifeng was about to leave after a few words, but Feng Yuzhen hesitated. “Auntie Qian, I’m planning to go to town in the next two days to buy some rice and flour. If it’s convenient, could you give me a ride?”
An ox-cart was a rare and luxurious thing. The Qian family went to the market regularly in the middle of the month, so the villagers had all hitched a ride with them at some point. She and Cui Ze had sat side by side on the back of the cart on their way to town before.
Hearing that her family was short on food, Qian Cuifeng’s eyes darted around. She quickly waved her hand and said, “Oh, rice and flour are so expensive in town. I’ll just bring some over for you, Zhen’niang!”
Feng Yuzhen couldn’t refuse, but she said she had many other things to buy. In the end, they agreed that she would come to her door to pick her up the next morning.