Despite Lu Chang’s typically composed nature, seeing Simple Mingshu in such a state made his mind go blank. Using the flickering torchlight, he extended his trembling hand beneath her nose. Only after detecting her thread-like breath did he finally regain his composure.
Though feeble, her warm breath against his fingertips brought Lu Chang back to his senses. He realized his palms were drenched in sweat, and his heart was pounding violently, nearly leaping out of his throat.
The person lying on the ground showed no movement except for weak breathing. He quickly raised the torch and looked up—above was a steep slope, its height beyond the torch’s illumination, clearly considerable. Having rolled down from such a height, who knew what injuries she had sustained? How should she be treated now?
Not yet twenty, Lu Chang was at a loss. He could only gently wipe the blood from her cheeks with his sleeve while softly calling, “Simple Mingshu? Mingshu?”
Simple Mingshu didn’t respond, her face was deathly pale, and the wound on her head still steadily bleeding.
Rip—
Lu Chang tore his robe, pulling off a strip of cloth to roughly bandage the wound at her temple. Stopping the bleeding was the priority. Just as he finished tying the bandage, a gust of wind caused the grass and trees to rustle, and hurried footsteps echoed from the slope. Lu Chang looked up, but in the darkness, he could only see numerous moving torches among the vegetation halfway up the slope, accompanied by rustling sounds. That must be the slope Simple Mingshu had rolled down—were those people with torches searching for her?
The Simple family?
No—
This didn’t seem right. If it were the Simple family, upon discovering Simple Mingshu missing or fallen down the cliff, they would be shouting and calling while searching, certainly not conducting such a secretive, silent search. Simple Mingshu’s accident was strange too. There was only Cloud Flower Temple up there, but the temple gates were quite far from the mountain path—how did she end up falling from here in the middle of the night?
Thinking this through, he found it increasingly suspicious. Looking more carefully, he caught glimpses of silvery flashes among the torchlight—the kind of reflection that only comes from sharp blades.
He’d heard that the area around Cloud Flower Mountain wasn’t peaceful, with bandits often robbing passing carriages and raiding nearby villages. Cloud Flower Temple’s worshippers included many female relatives of Jiangning County’s gentry and wealthy households, so being targeted wasn’t surprising.
Had Simple Mingshu been ambushed?
He glanced at the person on the ground and quickly made a decision, standing to stamp out the torch before swiftly removing his outer robe to cover Simple Mingshu, and then gently lifting her.
In his arms, she was light as a feather.
Madam Zeng had not slept well that night, waking at the slightest sound. Upon leaving the carriage and not seeing Lu Chang, she grew uneasy. Suddenly spotting a figure running through the darkness startled her. Just as she was about to cry out, she heard Lu Chang’s voice: “Mother, it’s me. Quickly, get in the carriage.”
Realizing it was her son returning, Madam Zeng relaxed, but before she could ask questions, she saw Lu Chang hurriedly climbing into the carriage carrying someone. This alarmed her again, and she quickly followed him inside.
When the copper lamp was lit and she saw whom Lu Chang had brought back, Madam Zeng was shocked awake: “Mingshu? Ah Chang, this…”
Lu Chang didn’t answer his mother, only pulling Madam Zeng’s blanket to wrap around Simple Mingshu, telling her without looking up, “Mother, don’t ask now. We can’t stay here long; we must leave quickly. I’ll explain when we’re safe. Please watch over her while I drive the carriage.”
The torches on the mountain were winding their way down—they were coming to search for Simple Mingshu.
After these brief instructions, Lu Chang rubbed Simple Mingshu’s cheeks with both hands and bent down to whisper in her ear, “Simple Mingshu, it’s me, Lu Chang. I’m taking you to town to find a doctor. You must hold on.”
With that, he rose and heavily lifted the carriage curtain, jumping down to gather their things from the ground and load them onto the carriage. After erasing their traces, he harnessed the horse and took the reins. With a crack of the whip, the carriage drove into the thick night, heading for the nearest town of Xunyang.
When the carriage reached the main road, Lu Chang finally noticed his whip hand was trembling. Having given his outer robe to Simple Mingshu, the cold wind cut through to his chest, freezing him to the bone, yet he felt his blood was about to boil. His mind kept replaying the image of Simple Mingshu’s blood-stained face, everything else forgotten.
At dawn, Lu Chang drove the carriage into Xunyang Town. After quickly asking a passerby for directions to the clinic, they arrived shortly after. Simple Mingshu still showed no signs of waking, the bandage on her head soaked through with blood, a horrifying sight that had left Madam Zeng’s eyes red with tears. The clinic’s door was finally opened to Lu Chang’s knocking, and before the tardily arriving doctor could complain, Lu Chang pulled him to the carriage.
Upon lifting the curtain and looking inside, the doctor didn’t dare delay. He hurriedly called for someone to carry her into the inner chamber and summoned a medical woman, with Madam Zeng assisting in the examination. After a long while, the doctor came out wiped his hands, and sat at his desk to write a prescription.
Through the half-closed door, Lu Chang could only see blood-stained clothes covering the floor. His heart skipped a beat as he turned to ask the doctor, “Sir, how are her injuries?”
The doctor wrote furiously, not looking up as he replied, “The young lady is fortunate. To fall from such a height without internal injury is a blessing amid misfortune. Her dislocated arm has been reset, her ankle is sprained, and she has several external wounds which the medical woman is treating now.”
“When will she wake up?” Lu Chang asked, slightly relieved.
“That depends on fate. Though she has no fatal injuries, the head wound is deep. We’ve stitched it with mulberry bark, but the human brain is the most complex thing under heaven. External head wounds are manageable, but what’s happening inside is harder to say. We’ll need to observe for several days. Here’s the prescription—start with these medicines and see how she responds. The external wounds need fresh dressing daily.” As the doctor spoke, he had filled a sheet of paper. He put down his brush and blew on the paper, waiting for the ink to partially dry before pushing the prescription toward Lu Chang.
Lu Chang’s heart sank again. Just as he reached for the prescription, the doctor suddenly withdrew it, giving him a scrutinizing sidelong glance. “What is this young lady to you? And how did she fall down the mountain?”
Seeing the doctor’s expression, Lu Chang knew that if he answered wrong, the doctor would report to the authorities. After some thought, he replied seriously, “I am Lu Chang, a graduate of Jiangning County. That is my mother inside, and the injured person… is my sister. I was taking my mother and sister to the capital for the imperial examinations when we encountered bandits. My sister was victimized and pushed down the slope during the struggle.”
“Lu Chang? Could you be this year’s top graduate from Jiangning Prefecture?” The doctor stood up excitedly.
Lu Chang quickly cupped his hands in greeting, “Indeed, I am. The recommendation letter from the prefectural school is in my carriage if you wish to see it?”
“No need, no need,” the doctor waved his hands and continued, “Your sister is severely injured. Do you have lodging in town? If not, you’re welcome to stay at the clinic. I can observe your sister’s condition, and if anything happens, we can treat her promptly.”
“The doctor is truly benevolent. Lu Chang thanks you first. We’ll trouble you then.” Lu Chang bowed deeply.
After expressing his gratitude, Lu Chang paid the consultation fee and got the medicine, handing it to the medicine boy for preparation. The medical woman had finished bandaging Simple Mingshu and was cleaning up the mess before leaving the room. Only then did Lu Chang lift the curtain to enter. Madam Zeng was standing by the basin washing clothes, while Simple Mingshu still lay unconscious, now dressed in Madam Zeng’s old clothes, her hair combed to the side of the pillow. The layers of bandages around her forehead made her face appear even more frail and pitiful.
Lu Chang silently looked for a moment, then grabbed his outer robe that had been covering her and hurriedly said, “Mother, I’m going out for a while. Please look after her first.” Without waiting for Madam Zeng’s questions, he quickly left.
Though not as prosperous as Jiangning County, Xunyang Town was still wealthy. By now it was broad daylight, shops on both sides of the street had opened, and the alleys were full of passing citizens. Lu Chang asked a random passerby for directions to the Simple family’s gold shop.
Logically, Simple Mingshu’s encounter should have been reported to the authorities, but Lu Chang felt something was amiss. He decided to find the Simple family first before reporting to officials, to avoid any complications. If he remembered correctly, the Simple family had a branch shop in Xunyang Town.
Indeed, the passerby pointed him in the right direction.
The gold shop wasn’t far; Lu Chang saw the Simple family’s golden signboard after walking just a short distance. This branch shop wasn’t large, with only one manager and two errand boys inside. Just as Lu Chang was about to approach, his peripheral vision caught something in the alley opposite the shop, and his steps unconsciously slowed.
Two men stood in the shadows of the alley entrance, wearing date-brown fitted clothes with cloth-wrapped long objects at their waists—clearly weapons. The two men stood leaning against the wall with folded arms, appearing to chat casually, but their eyes never left the shop’s door and the people passing by. Lu Chang changed his mind, walking past the gold shop’s entrance, and likewise encountered these men’s hawk-like gazes.
Last night’s pursuers hadn’t given up on Simple Mingshu, even following her here to lie in wait.
This wasn’t the behavior of ordinary bandits. Common thieves, though brutal, would typically disperse after obtaining money and goods, not relentlessly pursue an escaped woman. These people even knew about the Simple family’s branch shop in Xunyang Town, clearly targeting Simple Mingshu, or perhaps the Simple family, rather than being mere bandits.
Thinking this through, Lu Chang muttered, “Simple Mingshu, what kind of trouble have you gotten into?”
He immediately turned back, returning to the clinic.
The medicine boy had finished brewing the medicine and handed it to Lu Chang upon his return. When Lu Chang entered the room with the medicine, Madam Zeng was sitting at the foot of the bed, eyes closed in exhaustion. After a sleepless night of fear and worry, the already frail Madam Zeng couldn’t take much more strain. Lu Chang didn’t wake his mother, instead sitting at the bedside, stirring the black medicine and quietly watching Simple Mingshu.
After a while, he finally spoke, “I must truly have owed you something in a past life.” While speaking, he spread a cloth on Simple Mingshu’s collar and slowly brought a spoonful of medicine to her lips.
The first spoonful of medicine didn’t make it into Simple Mingshu’s mouth, instead flowing down the corner of her lips. He quickly wiped it clean with the cloth—such a cleanliness-loving girl probably wouldn’t like being covered in medicine stains.
“Mingshu, if you can hear my voice, will you be good and drink the medicine?” He bent down to her ear and spoke softly.
As he finished speaking, he caught his mother’s eyes open in his peripheral vision, looking at him with an indecipherable expression. His ears suddenly turned pink, and he quickly raised his head, missing Simple Mingshu’s slightly trembling eyelashes.
The next morning, Simple Mingshu still showed no signs of waking. Lu Chang made a decision to return to Jiangning County to inform Master Simple.
Due to Simple Mingshu’s injuries making it inadvisable to move her, and the clinic temporarily safe, Lu Chang left both Madam Zeng and Simple Mingshu there while he set out alone for Jiangning.
After seeing Lu Chang off, Madam Zeng remained anxious, staying in the room to watch over Simple Mingshu. Time passed slowly and painfully. Finally, night fell, and the clinic closed early. Madam Zeng ate a little and lay down to rest, but with worries weighing on her mind, how could she sleep? She dozed fitfully until midnight when she heard a door open outside. The curtain was blown up by the incoming cold wind, and she immediately sat up, alertly watching the outside.
The door curtain was pushed aside, and a tall, thin figure entered with the cold air from outside. In the dim light from the window, he saw Madam Zeng already out of bed and said, “Did I wake Mother?”
It was Lu Chang’s voice, carrying an indescribable weariness and desolation, like the quiet long alley outside, where wind swept the leaves and frost froze the vegetables, without a trace of warmth.
The candle was quickly lit, and Madam Zeng shielded the lamp’s flame, turning to ask him, “You’re back so soon?” She looked outside again, puzzled, “Just you?”
Lu Chang had abandoned the carriage and ridden horseback to Jiangning, and without other encumbrances, his speed was many times faster than the journey there, taking less than a day and night to return from Jiangning. Given Simple Jinhai’s doting nature toward his daughter, even if he couldn’t come personally to receive her, he would surely send people with carriages and bring along famous doctors from Jiangning. How was it that only Lu Chang had returned?
Lu Chang didn’t answer. He had set out early morning, not taking a drop of water or grain of rice all day in order to return as early as possible. Now his lips were cracked from dryness, his stomach cramping, his complexion terrible, and his hands numb from cold, yet standing at Simple Mingshu’s bedside, he felt all these hardships were nothing compared to the words trapped in his chest, too painful to utter.
“What exactly happened? Say something!” Seeing his silence, Madam Zeng grew anxious first, grabbing his sleeve to ask.
“No one will come for her.” Lu Chang took a long breath as if suffocating before speaking, “The Simple family compound in Jiangning was raided last night. After being completely plundered by bandits, it was set on fire. All thirty-eight members of the household, none survived. Master Simple… is gone.”
The devastating news struck like a bolt from the blue, leaving Madam Zeng standing like wood and stone, unable to react for a long time.
Author’s Note: The groundwork for the Simple family’s story is mostly laid out here. The main story comes later. The matter of revenge will be left for later, giving them both a process of growth.