Chapter 63: Owed
Qin Mingxu’s arms were covered in dense red blisters, oozing pus, a shocking sight.
Hua Lian said, “Owner, this is wolf poison!”
The medical text “Diannan Ben Cao” from the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty records that wolf poison, also known as “Five Tigers Descend the Western Mountains,” grows in the grasslands of Diannan. It has a bitter, numbing taste and is highly toxic.
In an instant, it was as if a string of pearls scattered in my mind. All the clarity of the past few hours since returning from the wedding banquet arranged itself into drum skins. The pearls fell, striking the drum skins, deafeningly loud.
Qin Mingxu’s face contorted, but he still smiled gallantly at me, “Sang Yu, it’s just a superficial wound, it doesn’t hurt. I’m glad you’re alright.”
I supported him and said to Hua Lian, “Quick! Go call a doctor!”
Hua Lian agreed and dashed out.
Seeing the courtyard in chaos, Wang Yuzhen prepared to slip away quietly.
Qin Mingxu’s attendants pounced and held her down firmly.
I carefully helped Qin Mingxu to lie down in a small house next to the wine cellar. This small house is where I sometimes rest when I’m tired from working at the counter. Inside, there is only a narrow wooden bed and a small table. On the table are brushes and ink, and the Peach Blossom Stream I was halfway through painting.
The painting depicted a mountain full of peach blossoms, a faint flying bridge, wisps of wild smoke, a clear stream flowing gently, and a person standing by the stream, only half of whom was painted, the other half left unfinished.
The small house was filled with the scent of ink and wine.
Before long, the doctor arrived.
Hua Lian followed behind the doctor, panting, “Owner, I once heard my father say that wolf poison is most afraid of litharge. I ran to three pharmacies and found some.”
The doctor examined Qin Mingxu’s arm wound carefully and said, “This young lady is correct. Wolf poison and litharge are antagonistic. With litharge, Young Master Qin’s arm might be saved. However, from now on, he probably won’t be able to draw a bow or hold a brush, rendering him half disabled.”
I turned around.
The biting spring wind suddenly blew a large patch of clouds into my heart, accumulating there.
I couldn’t articulate the feeling.
I only felt that some things were too heavy.
So heavy that I could barely bear it. So heavy that I couldn’t breathe.
Ten thousand taels of gold can compensate.
A lifetime of disability, how can it be compensated?
The doctor busied himself.
I opened the door and walked step by step into the courtyard, reaching Wang Yuzhen’s side.
She glared at me, her eyes full of resentment and unwillingness, still cursing, “Your life is always so tough, you can’t be killed or eliminated! I only regret that when you married into the family, I didn’t go all the way and beat you to death outside the manor! Leaving you, this calamity, has caused my family’s ruin! Zhu Sangyu, you are inherently vulgar and adept at seducing men, you even bewitched the eunuchs in the palace! It’s a real shame the wolf poison didn’t land on your face. I should have watched your face rot, so you could never seduce men again.”
Hua Lian, who was behind me, heard this and silently stepped forward, striking her left and right with all her might, delivering over a dozen slaps.
Wang Yuzhen’s cheeks swelled up high, and her mouth was beaten to a pulp.
I said coldly, “You just said someone instructed you to harm me, my child. Who was it?”
She tilted her head back and smiled triumphantly, “I won’t tell you. I’ll make you keep thinking. Torture you slowly.”
“Hua Lian, release the snake.”
“Yes!”
The venomous snake from Hua Lian’s sleeve crawled onto Wang Yuzhen.
The snake’s tongue licked her, and she trembled like a sieve.
“Zhu Sangyu, you… you poisonous woman… you…”
I looked at her, “I want to see if it’s you who tortures me slowly, or if I torture you slowly.”
The snake coiled around her eyes, and she cried out like mourning, yet she refused to utter a single word related to the matter.
I glanced at Hua Lian.
Hua Lian understood and retracted the snake into her sleeve.
“Give her the antidote for the snake venom.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Wang Yuzhen indifferently, “No one instructed you at all. You are insane on your own. Did you think you could trick me with a little trick, an illusion, before you die? Don’t worry, I won’t fall for it. And I won’t let you die so easily.”
I stood up and said, “I am different from you. No matter what, my hands will always be clean.”
Wang Yuzhen was on the verge of death.
Hua Lian put the snake venom antidote into her mouth.
She slowly opened her eyes and began to sob.
“If it weren’t for you, Cang Shi would still be in Yangzhou, a Fifth Rank Thousand Household Officer in the Canal Troops. We wouldn’t have gone to Jicheng, wouldn’t have met the Brocade Guards, and wouldn’t have sent Shu Er to the palace. Although Cang Shi is timid and cowardly and loves to frequent prostitute houses, we were husband and wife for half a lifetime, and he treated me well. I married into the Cheng Family, and although I didn’t bear any sons, he never spoke of divorcing me, always considered me, and listened to me. The Old Madam also valued me and let me manage the household. I was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Cheng Family, and my life was smooth. But you… ever since you arrived, everything has changed… You are my nemesis. Why did heaven let you come…”
Because of her greed, one wrong step led to a cascade of errors. All her regretful emotions were like a flood, needing an outlet.
To this day, she still blames me for everything.
Those who harm others will be harmed in return.
Starting with harming others, one will inevitably end with harming oneself.
She will never understand this principle.
A shop assistant returned and reported, “Owner, that group of people started fighting among themselves at the yamen, causing chaos. That Li Cai was beaten by his accomplices. The mother and son of the poisoned little boy wished they could tear him apart.”
Everything was within expectation.
I pointed at Wang Yuzhen and instructed, “Send her to the yamen properly. Let her reunite with those people.”
“Yes.”
“Report Young Master Qin’s condition truthfully to the officials. Present all the evidence.”
“Yes.”
After Wang Yuzhen was taken away, I sat at the counter and drank several cups of wine.
The shop, which had been bustling all morning, was now incredibly quiet.
Dusk descended.
I felt no joy of victory.
Instead, I felt a profound melancholy.
Hua Lian walked to my side and said softly, “Owner, you’re worried about Young Master Qin, aren’t you?”
With a hint of intoxication, I looked at her, “Hua Lian, do you know what it feels like to owe someone?”
She thought seriously for a moment and said, “I know. Mister once said, ‘Be without shame in your heart, and unconfused by emotions.'”
I held my wine cup and said, “Your Mister is an understanding person.”
She smiled, “Mister is certainly understanding. Everyone in our village says Mister is like a celestial being.”
I said, “You always praise Mister when you mention him. If that’s the case, I’ll prepare a dowry for you in the future, and you can marry that Mister, alright?”
She quickly waved her hands, as if she had heard the most absurd thing, “Owner, no, no, celestial beings are to be revered, not married. Oxen mate with oxen, horses mate with horses; things that are different cannot be matched, I understand this principle.”
I increasingly enjoyed listening to her speak.
Unadorned.
Simple and true.
“According to you, what is a good match?”
She leaned on the counter, “Like you and Young Master Qin, you are a good match.”
I suddenly lowered my head.
After a long while, I said, “Do you really think so?”
“Mm.”
“Why?”
She said solemnly, “He has you in his heart.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know. I even know the thoughts of snakes, let alone people.”
Her eyes were so clear.
She turned and looked at me, “Owner is very lonely.”
I suddenly started to cry.
I thought I had hidden it very well.
Hua Lian’s simple words had revealed it.
I busied myself with great fervor, strategizing and managing.
It seems I once possessed something, yet it also seems I never possessed it.
Hua Lian said nothing more and went to organize the account book.
I hastily wiped my tears and got up from the counter.
The shop assistants returned, “Owner, that woman and those beggars have been locked up in the yamen by the officials. Tomorrow, the announcement will be posted. Our wine shop will be cleared of suspicion.”
“Understood. You all go back to your work.”
“Yes.”
In the evening, the strategist from the yamen came to deliver news, “Boss Zhu, that woman is dead.”
Upon hearing this, I paused and asked, “How did she die?”
The strategist said, “The jailer put her in with those troublemakers. Those people resented her for implicating them, and there was pushing and shoving, a lot of commotion. By the time the guards arrived, she had already been beaten to death.”
The strategist looked at me, hesitating to speak.
I understood and took out several silver notes from my sleeve, handing them to him, “Thank you for your trouble in coming to tell me. Have a cup of tea.”
The strategist accepted and smiled, “Boss Zhu is too kind. Boss Zhu is the victim, the party involved, I should inform you.”
I stood in the courtyard, looking at the sky.
The clouds in the night sky were soft like down, surrounding the moon. The clear light was from deep to shallow, faint and indistinct.
I pushed open the door of the small house and walked in.
Qin Mingxu had medicine applied to his wounds.
The medicine had a strong scent, mingling with the ink and wine, rich and pungent.
At some point, he had picked up the half-finished Peach Blossom Stream from my table and was looking at it intently. Seeing me enter, he said, “Sang Yu, why is this painting only half finished?”
I sat down beside him and said softly, “I’m sorry. I’ve implicated you again this time.”
He shook his head, “Sang Yu, between us, what is there to be sorry for, what needs to be apologized for.”
I sat quietly for a long time.
I looked at him.
This man who, upon first meeting me, treated my foot without question.
The man who repeatedly extricated me from difficulties.
The man who said, “Miss Zhu, I have been rash for half my life, but I have never deceived you.”
Because of me, this man was now facing a lifetime of disability.
It felt as long as a lifetime had passed.
I said, “This Peach Blossom Stream painting will be completed soon.”
