Chapter 15: Truth

Chapter 15: The Unveiling Truth

After the skirmish, upon reaching the post station for rest, everyone began a frantic preparation of food. She Niang, however, was less flustered. She first washed her hair and then bathed, feeling truly alive again only after.

Once Qiu Ju and Dong Mei had finished assisting her, She Niang urged them to bathe as well. The post station was indeed well-equipped, offering a full nine dishes: chicken, duck, fish, and even bird's nest soup, all neatly arranged. Yu Shi mused that while eating rich foods was acceptable at home, it was ill-suited for travel. Thus, she requested the kitchen prepare some vegetarian dishes. When the food was served, Yu Shi took her two daughters to dine separately. This time, she had personally prepared the travel provisions: dozens of *aiwowo*, two large boxes of pepper-salt pancakes, assorted stuffed buns, and ten jars of sweet-pickled melon and vegetables.

Not to mention two baskets of fruit and two boxes of candied fruits.

These arrangements should have originally fallen to Lady Lu, but she was overwhelmed with duties and often neglected them, distributing food only after long intervals, leaving everyone famished.

Of course, she was doing her best. For instance, while their group was eating, Lady Lu had to arrange a temporary resting place for the coffin, oversee the feeding of the horses, plan the next leg of the journey, and determine the amount of rice and flour needed. While others could manage, the elderly matriarch required special care, and with Meng Shi frail and ill, and Cao Shi having recently miscarried, medicinal decoctions also needed preparation.

If the journey had begun with some excitement, it had now devolved into sheer exhaustion. She Niang and Li Niang collapsed into sleep the moment they lay down, and had to be roused by their nurses the following morning.

The journey would take at least two months, or up to three if slower. They had been on the road for less than ten days. She Niang let out a mournful groan, but she had an even more crucial task: looking after her mother.

Departing from the post station this time, they generally traveled during the day and rested at the next station at night. Fortunately, the Great Qi’s post stations were well-developed, with one every sixty to eighty *li*, so they no longer had to endure hunger as before and could travel with much greater ease.

Over a month later, they arrived at Yulin Station. Old Master Pei had died while serving as Vice Minister of Rites and had been posthumously honored by the emperor. Moreover, both her eldest uncle and her father were officials, and the Pei family was a distinguished clan, so the station attendants received them with warmth.

Unexpectedly, her father encountered an old classmate at the station. Yu Shi recounted to She Niang and Li Niang, "This classmate of your father’s, though not successful in the imperial examinations, possesses immense family wealth, with grain stores overflowing. His elder brother is a maritime merchant, and he himself is said to trade with the Tatars at the government-sanctioned markets."

As they spoke, Pei Yiqing sent word for them to come out and meet his friend, as their families shared a close bond.

Yu Shi quickly had the maids comb the girls’ hair before they went out to greet the guest.

She Niang observed a tall man seated beside her father, approximately thirty years of age, dressed in sapphire-blue *Hu* silk. Had Yu Shi not informed them that his family were merchants, she would have certainly taken him for a scion of a noble house.

Pei Yiqing introduced, "This is my wife."

Yu Shi bowed, and the man quickly sidestepped the formality.

Pei Yiqing continued, "Brother Shao, this is my eldest son, Ji, fourteen this year (by East Asian age reckoning). And these are my two daughters, the fourth and fifth in the clan."

She Niang, along with her older siblings, paid their respects to Uncle Shao.

This Uncle Shao, whose given name was Tang, presented everyone with ceremonial gifts. Pei Ji received a pair of exquisite jade pendants, while Li Niang and She Niang each received a pair of gold filigree bracelets inlaid with gemstones.

Pei Yiqing remarked, "This is far too generous."

"Don’t say that. I owe my education largely to Zhongmou’s (Pei Yiqing's style name) help back then," Shao Tang chuckled heartily.

While the two men conversed, Yu Shi led the three children away.

The Pei family was observing mourning rites, so they could not partake in alcohol. Pei Yiqing and Shao Tang chatted for a while longer before Pei Yiqing returned. Upon his return, he saw Li Niang and She Niang playing a jackstone game and quickly prevented them from standing to bow.

He sat opposite Yu Shi and stated seriously, "Please prepare a gift for me to send to Brother Shao later. This gift is for his son."

Yu Shi smiled, "I’ll prepare it right away, but first tell me how old the child is."

"He’s about the same age as our Ji. I heard the child is a prodigy. Brother Shao showed me a poem his son wrote when he was eight—it was truly fresh and elegant. He’s destined for greatness," Pei Yiqing said.

Yu Shi stood up and had someone open a trunk, remarking, "It seems you have high hopes for the Shao family’s son."

Pei Yiqing laughed, "Naturally."

She Niang, listening nearby, suddenly realized: Could the person her father was talking about be Zhuangyuan Shao? After all, the surname Shao wasn’t very common. If Uncle Shao and her father were classmates, then Zhuangyuan Shao should have married her sister—so how did Shun Niang end up involved?

Meanwhile, Yu Shi found a pair of jade clasps and packed them in a sandalwood box. After some thought, Pei Yiqing decided to deliver them personally and also introduced Shao Tang to his older brothers.

That night, She Niang and Li Niang returned to their room. She Niang opened the bracelet Uncle Shao had given her and secretly tried it on. But she was still just a child with thin arms, and the bracelet nearly slipped off.

The gemstones on it were truly translucent, without any impurities.

She Niang waved her hand and said, "Sister, Uncle Shao is truly generous. The gemstones on this are of better quality than what we ordinarily wear."

"Of course. The Shao family isn’t just wealthy—they’re extremely, extremely rich," Li Niang turned to look at She Niang.

She Niang had seen fine things in the palace—almost all the jewels in the world had been at her disposal—but she had more pressing worries, so she could only briefly appreciate them. Now, as a child, her perspective had changed a lot. Reluctantly, she put the bracelet back into the jewelry box.

As she closed the box, Li Niang said, "You know, the old lady has never given me such nice jewelry."

"To be honest, our father is an official. We’ll meet more people in the future, so you don’t always have to curry favor with the old lady. She’s kind, but there are so many people crowding around her now—you might not get much out of it," She Niang said.

Li Niang was now twelve and was old enough to feel embarrassed about certain things. Hearing this, she agreed and shared an incident: "Once, Shun Niang was hungry after mealtime, and the old lady specially had the small kitchen make her wontons with egg yolk filling. She also ordered many snacks prepared lest Shun Niang find them too rich. Another time, I was a little hungry, and the old lady just had someone give me a few leftover goose-fat pastries from lunch."

"If it were me, I wouldn’t have eaten them," She Niang said. Even though the old lady had taken care of her, she wasn’t the type to grovel.

Li Niang giggled, "I can tell you’re that kind of person."

The sisters, spending day and night together, had grown closer than before.

She Niang stretched and got into bed. Li Niang wanted to hug her while sleeping, but She Niang didn’t like others touching her and quickly said, "Sleep on your own."

Li Niang pouted, "You’re mean."

After chatting for a while, they eventually fell asleep. The next morning, they ate a bowl of porridge and two types of pastries before continuing their journey.

Along the way, they saw many people selling themselves with straw markers and numerous famine victims. Yu Shi had someone distribute a bag of steamed buns to them. She Niang could only shake her head and sigh, "I grieve for the men of Qin and Han, where palaces and towers have turned to dust. In prosperity, the people suffer; in decline, the people suffer."

Although this was called an era of prosperity, the common people still lived in hardship.

Li Niang, however, was completely indifferent and said to She Niang, "Why bother with all this? It has nothing to do with you."

"These people being sold might not have had bad lives before—perhaps they were even better off than us. But something happened to their families, and this is the result. As the saying goes, fortune shifts like the wind—that’s what it means," She Niang said.

Yu Shi, listening nearby, sensed a touch of Zen wisdom in her words: when helping others, one might also be helping one’s future self.

The carriage continued forward, but soon the Fifth Branch household was in an uproar. Cao Shi’s headpiece had gone missing, along with a gray squirrel fur-lined jacket.

Yu Shi and the old lady were the first to arrive and couldn’t help asking, "How did this happen?"

A headpiece was worth at least a hundred taels, and the fur-lined jacket dozens of taels—this was a serious matter.

Cao Shi snorted, "I’m not as shallow as some people. If someone returns them, I’ll let it go for the sake of family harmony. But some refuse to admit it and won’t even show their face. If they steal from me today, who knows who they’ll steal from tomorrow when they become bolder?"

The old lady and Yu Shi exchanged glances—they could tell Cao Shi was implying Yi Niang.

So, they offered a few token words of consolation.

But Yi Niang had a strong character and was willing to make a full spectacle of herself. In front of everyone, she turned out all her trunks and cried, "I know I’m not Lady’s biological daughter. Lady can punish me all she wants usually, but now she’s openly and secretly accusing me of theft—I won’t bear this blame. My deceased mother, save your daughter…"

Cao Shi had finally encountered someone who would stand up to her. Actually, with many people coming and going at the post station, the missing items were likely due to inattentive servants. But the servants were quick to pass the buck and were all too happy to pin it on Yi Niang.

Yi Niang, however, being destitute feared nothing and kicked up such a fuss that the servants covered their mouths to stifle giggles, enjoying the spectacle.

Old Madam Pei had never liked Cao Shi to begin with, and seeing her cause a scene every few days, she sent Nanny Xiang to reprimand Cao Shi, which only made Cao Shi resent Yi Niang even more.

Cao Shi felt that she could have let the matter slide after just scolding the girl a few times, but she never expected that girl to dare challenge her openly—did she really think she was something special just because she had latched onto the old lady?

Cao Shi summoned her over. Yi Niang had expected Cao Shi to be furious, but instead, she merely smiled and said, "Let me tell you the truth—our family allowing you to come back was already a huge favor. Do you really think I was the one who harmed you? Have you ever stopped to think about the kinds of things your mother did?"

"What do you mean?" Yi Niang sensed something hidden behind Cao Shi’s words.

Cao Shi rose and looked at her. "After your mother married into the family, she failed to produce an heir, so she went to Xuandu Temple to pray for a child. Do you know how Xuandu Temple 'gave' your mother a child? The temple kept a reserve of robust young disciples. They would drug women seeking fertility with soporifics and then have intercourse with them. That’s how your mother got pregnant with you. It was a major scandal back in the day. Your mother couldn’t live with the shame and hanged herself. Your father couldn't stand to look at you—his bastard child—so he sent you away."

Yi Niang broke out in a cold sweat.