Chapter 80: Forced Donation
I didn’t know how many more drum beats had sounded outside before I collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
The room was filled with the smell of alcohol, as if it were about to engulf me.
Green Tomb.
A Green Tomb with affection still knows the way, but there is nowhere on the vast sand to summon a soul. This is how I first came to name it.
The intensity of the Green Tomb, intense enough to scorch the heart.
Not to be blocked by ordinary means.
In my daze, it felt like a hand was undressing me.
That hand was filled with longing.
I tried to push it away, but I had no strength, and my eyes wouldn’t open.
On the other side of the dream, the valley was deep and secluded, veiled in mist, with peach blossoms and flowing water, and a fishing boat gently drifting. I, carrying the dust and weariness of my journey, asked the fisherman for directions, searching for Peach Blossom Spring.
Isn’t this precisely the scene I depicted in my painting 《Peach Blossom Stream》?
The fisherman on the boat told me that if I went east, always east, I would find Peach Blossom Spring.
Go east, but where is east?
By the time I woke up, the night had long since departed like a flock of geese flying away. The sky was breaking open, a fish-belly white, with a thin mist hanging in the air.
My outer robe and skirt were all removed, and I was only wearing my undergarments.
I realized what had happened last night.
Footsteps could be heard from outside.
I rustled about, dressing myself and getting up.
The person outside heard the movement, stopped, and said through the door, “Sang Yu, I made date porridge. Would you like some?”
I remained silent.
He came in with the porridge, carefully served me a bowl, blew on it to cool it, and then handed it to me.
“I’m sorry, I drank too much wine last night too. I just wanted to get drunk with you. I didn’t expect…”
His face showed a look of guilt.
It had been several days since our wedding, and he hadn’t deliberately consummated our marriage. At night, we lay on the same bed, and I could hear his rapid heartbeat and breathing. He was restraining himself. I knew he was waiting for an opportunity, a natural progression. He was waiting for me to completely open myself up to him. True marital bliss, like a fish swimming in water, where the water ripples for the fish, only then can joy be achieved.
However, last night’s heavy drinking led us to become husband and wife by mistake.
This was neither my intention nor his.
I took the porridge he handed me.
After a moment, I said, “Mingxu, you have a bowl too, and eat with me.”
He paused slightly, then smiled and nodded quickly, “Okay.”
In the dim morning light, we sat silently in the small house and ate porridge together. Just like countless ordinary couples in the world.
I don’t blame him.
Nor should I.
On the riverbank, I accepted his proposal. I am his wife, and intimacy in bed is a matter of time.
Even though the appearance of the old man San Tuo revealed many truths to me, causing unbearable heartache and lingering regret. But the banquet is over, and life is unpredictable.
There’s a saying that mountains don’t meet mountains, but people always meet again. He and Cheng Huaishi became mountains that could not meet.
Thinking of it still causes pain.
Recalling it still brings regret.
The tree in the courtyard, standing tall like a canopy.
The person from the old dream, their soul scattered in the underworld.
All my thoughts are simply buried deep in my heart.
With the intimacy of last night, Qin Mingxu showed me even more closeness and tenderness than before. Xiao Yin brought in a copper basin, he tested the temperature, wrung out a handkerchief, and handed it to me.
“Sang Yu, someone from the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau has come to discuss the procurement of imperial silk with me, so I’m going. After I finish, I’ll accompany you to the mulberry garden to watch a play. Tonight, there’s 《Embroidered Skirt Record》, which you like.”
I nodded.
He left, a gentle smile on his lips.
Xiao Yin said, “Miss, I’ve never seen the son-in-law so happy before.”
The shop assistants gradually got up and started their work. Hua Lian opened the door of the wine shop, tallying yesterday’s income and expenses.
I sat in the small house, flipping through the storybook 《Embroidered Skirt Record》.
Feng Gao entered silently.
“The balcony is deeply locked, the sky is dim, the King of Xiang’s dream is broken in Wushan. Though the clouds and rain disperse, the changing notes and shifting melodies reunite in harmony…” he recited softly behind me.
I turned my head, “When did you arrive? I didn’t even notice.”
“I’ve been here for a while. Elder Sister was engrossed in her reading, so I didn’t disturb you. My official duties in Jiangnan are finished, and I’ll be returning to the capital in the next two days. I’m reluctant to leave Elder Sister. I came to see you.”
He stood by the desk, smiling.
Suddenly, his smile froze.
He saw the portrait of Cheng Huaishi that I had drawn yesterday.
The ink was still fresh, clearly not an old work.
In the midst of our new marriage, I drew Cheng Huaishi, and the sensitive him suddenly became worried.
“Elder Sister… you know?” he blurted out.
I stared at him.
He didn’t dare to meet my eyes and lowered his head.
Many hazy and unresolved matters from the past became clear.
“Dou Ya, you’ve always known, haven’t you?”
Back then, how could Cheng Huaishi, severely injured, have escaped the Eastern Depot’s search?
Qing Yue Pavilion, the fleeting black shadow in the bamboo forest, Feng Gao’s feigned ignorance.
I guessed it.
I guessed everything.
His voice was as cool as the cold moon.
“Elder Sister, if you liked Cheng Huaishi, I would find a way to rescue him from the death row. If you accepted Qin Mingxu, I would protect the Qin family and be the backing for Tiansheng Tower. I never cared who was by your side. Whether a thief or a bandit, an official or a commoner, it didn’t matter. That night, Cheng Huaishi was covered in burns, and he begged me to let him go. He said he didn’t want to burden you anymore in this life. I…”
He slowly looked up, his voice choked with emotion.
“Elder Sister, please don’t blame me. No one in this world wants you to be happy more than I do.”
I held his hand, and we silently shed tears, facing each other.
My younger brother.
My little Dou Ya.
What was his fault?
He was merely being protective. His weakness was Elder Sister. He saw no right or wrong, no principles, nothing. He just wanted me to be happy.
After Dou Ya left, I sat in the small house for a long time before pacing to the counter.
Hua Lian reported to me, “Owner, just now, I saw a black box outside the shop.”
“What black box?”
“The black box we took to Shenju Mountain. The three thousand taels of silver notes and the musket we gave to the One-Eyed Dragon were returned to us, untouched.”
“Oh?”
“Also, besides returning our things, they sent a pot of water lily.”
I followed her gaze and saw the pot of water lily. The flowers were large and brightly colored, their fragrance wafting far, with emerald leaves like floating waves.
I said, “This One-Eyed Dragon is indeed a righteous bandit.”
Hua Lian said, “He’s truly honorable. If he didn’t succeed in the task, he wouldn’t accept the money for free. The bandit leader probably knew that the owner was getting married and didn’t want to send the looted items as a gift. Sending a pot of water lily is clean and sincere.”
Within the imperial court, there are still petty individuals.
In the greenwood, there are still noble heroes.
I suddenly remembered the fisherman on the boat telling me that if I went east, always east, I would find Peach Blossom Spring.
Isn’t Shenju Mountain to the east?
Peach blossoms follow the flowing water all day, but where is the cave by the clear stream? Perhaps it was this fleeting thought that, when I was at my wit’s end and had nowhere to retreat, I would carry Dou Ya, along with Dou Ya and Cherry, and flee desperately eastward.
As dusk fell, Qin Mingxu returned.
The 《Embroidered Skirt Record》 in the mulberry garden had begun, but we didn’t have time to watch it.
Because the Yangzhou Prefectural Office had issued an order for all merchants in the city to donate funds to compensate the Zheng family for their flooded private land and to rebuild the Zheng family’s ancestral temple.
Although the Lord Prefect did not explicitly state it, his words implied that this was an order from above. The people in the prefectural office were merely complying with the higher authorities. Amidst the grand pronouncements, the Zheng family seemed to have become the greatest contributors to the Yangzhou flood control, having rendered immense service.
The Lord Prefect summoned all the merchants to the public hall to discuss the donation matters.
Qin Mingxu and I were among them.
Maternal Uncle Zheng also came. However, he didn’t say anything, just made an appearance and left, leaving behind a steward to meticulously record how much each family donated.
None of the merchants were willing to donate, but at such a time, refusing to contribute might offend Consort Zheng and bring trouble. Thus, they began to announce figures one after another.
“Zhao’s Rice Shop, five thousand taels—”
“Shen Family Restaurant, eight thousand taels—”
The steward recorded them one by one.
I whispered to Qin Mingxu, “Mingxu, we should donate about the same as everyone else. Just to go through the motions.”
Qin Mingxu remained silent.
Only then did I notice that his expression was very unnatural.
A thin layer of sweat was on his forehead, and his palms were clenched tightly.
“Mingxu, what’s wrong?” I asked.
He finally came back to his senses, pretending nothing was wrong, and smiled, “Nothing, nothing.”
The other merchants had all reported their amounts.
The steward looked at Qin Mingxu with a half-smile and said, “Boss Qin, it’s your turn.”
Qin Mingxu seemed to be avoiding the steward, not looking up, and appeared uneasy.
He pondered for a moment and said, “Tiansheng Tower, one hundred thousand taels—”
The entire hall erupted in an uproar.
I pushed him in surprise.
The Zheng family had always “plundered the people.” Now, with their private land flooded, they were “plundering the merchants,” which was truly unfair. Everyone else was just going through the motions; why did he have to contribute so much?
Last time, Maternal Uncle Zheng accused him of snatching a bride, and he had no relationship with the Zheng family left.
Moreover, summer was approaching in Jiangnan, and it was time to make thin garments, requiring a large sum of money to purchase raw silk. Such a large amount suddenly being withdrawn from the accounts would have some impact on the business.
The steward clapped his hands with satisfaction and said, “Good, Grand Canal, Ten Thousand Families Tiansheng Tower, worthy of Boss Qin, generous, generous.”
I sensed something was wrong and looked at the steward.
I hadn’t noticed when he entered. Now, looking closely, I was secretly astonished.
I have always had a good memory for faces. Anyone I’ve met even once, I remember.
I remembered that I had seen this person at Zhang Manor. His name was Zou Cheng. He was one of Minister Zhang’s subordinates. In the past, when Minister Zhang imprisoned the troupe leader of the acrobatic troupe at Zhang Manor, he assigned this person to guard him. The troupe leader of the acrobatic troupe died mysteriously. Minister Zhang suspected Zou Cheng was a spy planted by someone else in his manor and, on the grounds of “ineffective handling of affairs,” expelled him from Zhang Manor. I hadn’t seen him since then.
I never expected him to be a steward at the Zheng Residence now.
Qin Mingxu gave a perfunctory nod to Zou Cheng and stood up, about to leave.
“Boss Qin, stay. The rest of you, you may leave,” Zou Cheng said meaningfully.
“Other merchants, go back and think carefully about how things should be done.”
The merchants left the public hall, grumbling, all blaming Qin Mingxu for being the first to step forward and raising the bar for donations.
Outside the public hall, I looked back.
Zou Cheng looked at Qin Mingxu with an inscrutable expression.
Qin Mingxu became increasingly nervous…
