Chapter 28: Acrobatic Troupe
She looked as she did when she was young.
Wearing a light green dress, she smiled faintly. So serene, so approachable.
The pain of her final illness finally ceased to torment her.
“Mother—”
I cried out, weeping heartbrokenly.
She reached out her hand and caressed my cheek.
“Sang Yu, my child, you’ve grown so much. These years, Mother hasn’t been here. It must have been hard on you.”
I shook my head desperately, unable to speak.
She combed my hair as she did when I was little, and I rested my head on her lap.
“I remember when Mother first saw you, you were very small. Your face was sallow and thin, but your eyes were clear and drew affection. Back then, Mother knew that you and I were destined to have a mother-daughter bond…” Mother said slowly and calmly.
I looked up at her, “Mother, what are you saying?”
Mother hugged me, her face like the plants and trees on a October night, covered with a layer of frost.
“Sang Yu, do you know why Mother gave you this name? Losing something in the east, but gaining it in the west. Mother lost a child and grieved so much that she could no longer bear children. Mother has always regarded you as the most precious blessing bestowed upon me by a bodhisattva.”
A wind suddenly stirred in my heart, like light smoke, sparse rain.
East Corner. West Peak.
Could it be that the Zhu Family had a child who died young before, named Zhu Dongyu?
“Sang Yu, Mother originally thought that since you’ve forgotten the past, then forget it. Mother raised you as her own child, so that you could be happy and safe from now on. Before Mother’s death, she hesitated whether to tell you the truth. But until the moment she closed her eyes, she couldn’t bear it. The world is so vast, where can my little Sang Yu find a place to belong?”
The smile on Mother’s lips held endless compassion and kindness.
“Mother, I am your own child. I am your own child.”
From childhood to adulthood, I never doubted this.
Mother bathed me, cooked broth for me, combed my hair, and taught me to write and draw stroke by stroke. She was so good to me, how could I not be her own child?
The Lion Iron Token in my hand fell to the ground.
Mother picked it up and said to me, “Sang Yu, when Mother brought you home, you were tightly clutching this iron token. Mother doesn’t know the origin of this iron token. Perhaps, one day, you will find the answer yourself.”
“Mother, why can’t I remember anything…”
Mother stroked my hair, “Sang Yu, you were seriously injured in the acrobatic troupe.”
Acrobatic troupe.
Dragon and Lion Dance.
A familiar dizziness surged like a wave.
A drumbeat sounded from somewhere.
Mother disappeared.
“Mother! Mother!”
I called out repeatedly.
“Madam—”
Someone tightly grasped my hand.
I suddenly sat up, opened my eyes, drenched in sweat, with tear stains still on my cheeks.
Cheng Huaishi looked at me with concern.
I looked around. It was already dawn. Everything in the bedroom was as usual. The red gauze curtains had been rolled up, and Xiao Yin entered with a copper basin of water for washing. Outside the window lattice, a faint rosy glow entered, and birds on the branches chirped happily.
This dream was so real.
So real, as if Mother had truly come.
I felt under my pillow; the Lion Iron Token was still there.
“What time is it?”
Xiao Yin said, “Miss, it’s the first quarter of the Mao hour.”
Cheng Huaishi said, “Did Madam have a nightmare?”
I said softly, “It wasn’t a nightmare. I saw my mother.”
Cheng Huaishi said, “It must be because Madam has been too busy lately. I’ll have the cook stew some nourishing soup for Madam later.”
He placed several silver notes by the bed and stood up, “Madam, I have to go to the Ministry of Revenue to take up my post today. If Father-in-law and the others are really leaving today, please remember to give them these silver notes. Say that the Cheng Family’s hospitality was lacking this time and ask for their understanding.”
Xiao Yin wrung out a warm handkerchief and handed it to me. I wiped my face.
Cheng Huaishi had already reached the door. He looked back at me. I smiled at him, and then he left.
After he left, Xiao Yin said, “Young Master is truly a carefree person. Yesterday, the Young Master caused such a scene, and he can still act like this today.”
After I finished washing, I put the silver notes in my sleeve and went to the South Garden.
In the South Garden, my father and Lin Yue had already packed their luggage.
The Old Madam ordered the maidservants to bring many gifts.
The maidservant smiled and said, “The Old Madam said she didn’t sleep well yesterday and felt unwell this morning, so the Second Young Mistress will escort the in-laws and the young master to the ferry terminal. The Old Madam repeatedly instructed that she wishes the in-laws and the young master a safe journey and hopes they will visit often when they have time.”
My father and Lin Yue looked embarrassed. Zhu Xifeng’s anger from being beaten yesterday had not subsided, and he glared at me with resentment.
The steward prepared a horse carriage, and I went with them to the ferry terminal.
Lin Yue and Zhu Xifeng boarded the boat. I called out to my father, “Father, please wait a moment. I have something to ask you.”
My father stopped.
I looked at him, “Father, I dreamed of my mother last night.”
He coughed a few times and stroked his beard.
I said, “Father, Mother had a child named Zhu Dongyu who died young, is that right?”
“Why are you asking this out of the blue?”
“Father, am I a child of the Zhu Family or not? Mother told me last night that she picked me up from outside. Father, I want to hear you say it.”
The water of the Grand Canal rippled.
My father’s eyes flickered, and he stammered, “You… you are naturally a child of the Zhu Family. How can what you dream be true?”
I looked at him quietly.
From his expression, I got the answer.
I stuffed the silver notes into his hand, “Father, whether I am a child of the Zhu Family or not, Mother raised me and loved me, so I will be a child of the Zhu Family for life.”
The boat was about to depart. Lin Yue urged them.
My father looked ashamed, “Sang Yu, Sang Yu, I… I… I had no ill intentions towards you…”
He boarded the boat.
I stood at the ferry terminal, filled with melancholy.
Turning, I heard several men in a nearby wine shop talking loudly.
“Since Minister Zhang’s reforms, the lives of us common people have improved a lot. Before, corvée labor was levied according to household registration, which was hard on the poor. Now, taxes are levied based on land, and the burden of corvée has fallen on the large landowners. We can finally catch our breath.”
“Minister Zhang has offended many landlords and gentry; many people want to harm him.”
“Minister Zhang will be fine. He has the Emperor and the Empress Dowager protecting him.”
“But Minister Zhang is ill now, and our good days might be over…”
“Even though Minister Zhang is ill, he is still working hard for the country. I heard from my cousin who works at the yamen that Minister Zhang has now appointed an official named Cheng to the Ministry of Revenue. That Official Cheng is young but passed the imperial examination and is highly appreciated by Minister Zhang.”
“May the gods and Buddhas bless us, hopefully, this Official Cheng is a good one…”
Listening to these words, and looking at the sincere smiles on the faces of those short-shirted men, I suddenly understood the grand words Cheng Huaishi had spoken last night.
“Establish heart for heaven and earth, establish destiny for the people,” when translated into the practicalities of the human world, it becomes the dawn for countless poor people. It allows them to be freed from heavy and oppressive taxes, and after hard work, they can sit back and relax in a tavern, having a drink.
True peace under heaven is not just about the revelry in the imperial court.
The bright sun shines, and the gentle breeze blows.
All beings, like ants, are able to find peace and happiness, and only then is there peace and tranquility.
“Elder Sister, why are you walking so fast—”
Someone gently patted my shoulder from behind.
I turned around and saw Feng Gao looking at me with his lips pursed.
Today, he was not wearing Eastern Depot official robes, but ordinary smoke-colored brocade clothes.
Like blooming peach and plum blossoms, like joyful spring.
There was a hint of mischief and triumph in his eyes, “Did Zhu Xifeng leave? Elder Sister, you didn’t see, he wet his pants yesterday from fright—”
I looked at his face.
I had never looked at him so intently, so carefully, for so long.
He touched his cheek, “Elder Sister, why are you looking at me like this?”
“Where is your Lion Iron Token?”
He was stunned, took the iron token from his embrace, and handed it to me.
I took it and took out mine to compare.
Zhu Xifeng was not wrong.
The two iron tokens were identical. Not the slightest difference.
“Elder Sister, you remember now, don’t you?” His voice trembled slightly.
“Where did you get this iron token?” I looked at him.
“Elder Sister, this is the iron token from the acrobatic troupe. We all have one. I… I thought yours was gone… I searched in Dongchang Prefecture many times later, but the acrobatic troupe from that year had disbanded, and there was no trace.”
The dream and reality intertwined, confirming each other.
I stood there stunned.
The midday sun was so scorching. Everything seemed dyed with an orange-yellow hue. The leaves curled up. The cicadas chirped noisily.
Feng Gao placed his hands on my shoulders and said urgently, “Five Directions Lion Dance, embroidered balls…”
Suddenly, someone pushed Feng Gao away and shielded me behind him.
