Ji Yingying’s throat was so dry it made her cough, and suddenly water flowed into her mouth. She gulped it down desperately, vaguely hearing someone say, “It’s alright, the lady is fine now.”
“My lady!” Seeing Ji Yingying’s eyelashes flutter, Xiang’er wept with joy, tightly gripping her hand.
Her head felt waterlogged, difficult to move even slightly. Ji Yingying opened her eyes to see people gathered around her. She gradually recognized them: “Xiang’er, Yulan…”
Four or five maids surrounding her burst into loud sobs.
“What are you crying for? Cry again and I’ll kill you!” A rough male voice shouted from afar.
The torchlight wasn’t very bright, flickering distantly on the stockade. Though the moon was out, why had it gotten dark so quickly? She remembered it had been daylight. The house had been stripped bare, and no more soldiers had come. Second Brother Zhu had said to wait until nightfall, then burn their mother’s remains and escape by swimming… Ji Yingying reached out to Xiang’er, letting her help her sit up.
The pale moonlight illuminated the open space, with endless tents stretching beyond the stockade. Ji Yingying’s pupils contracted as she gripped Xiang’er’s hand: “Is this a military camp? The Nanzhao army camp.”
“Yes. We’re imprisoned in the Nanzhao military camp,” Xiang’er said chokingly.
Yulan pulled Chunlan and the other two young maids to kneel before Ji Yingying: “My lady, First Madam is gone. Please take us four in. We will serve you with all our hearts.”
“Sister-in-law is gone.” Ji Yingying repeated as if confirming a fact.
Tears streamed down Yulan’s face: “After giving birth, when the madam was joyfully washing the baby, the Nanzhao soldiers burst in… My lady hemorrhaged… When Madam tried to let her see the young master one last time, a Nanzhao soldier pushed her into the wall, and the young master…”
“Stop!” Ji Yingying cut her off.
The faces of her mother, brother, Nanny Ji, and the newborn child suddenly appeared before her. Her heart felt crushed in an iron grip, bleeding with pain. She clutched her chest, gasping for air.
Memories came flooding back.
She had hidden under the corridor with Xiang’er and Second Brother Zhu, watching wave after wave of soldiers plunder their home. Their family members’ bodies lay silently before them, not daring to even go collect the remains. She had watched all night without closing her eyes.
The house had finally grown quiet. She had crawled out, wanting to close her mother’s eyes. Then she had lost consciousness. “Did the Nanzhao soldiers find us?”
Xiang’er shook her head, crying: “No, it was someone in black with a covered face, seemed to be a woman from her build. She knocked you unconscious. When Second Brother Zhu and I couldn’t help but come out to stop her, she shouted once, and the Nanzhao soldiers came running in.”
“What about her?”
“She ran away.”
The Nanzhao army had entered Sandaoyan. And a masked woman had come specifically to capture her. Who else could it be? The mysterious woman who had appeared in Sandaoyan. She must have good martial arts skills to escape unharmed when the Nanzhao soldiers stormed in. Ji Yingying laughed: “Fifth Miss Niu.”
But what did it matter if it was her? They were all imprisoned here anyway. Could she escape to confront her? Ji Yingying shook her head and asked about the others: “Second Brother Zhu must be detained with the men? What about the old nannies? Uncle Ji Fu, Uncle Ji Gui, Uncle Tian?”
Xiang’er shook her head, not knowing. Yulan and the others who had been taken together immediately answered: “We were separated when we reached the camp. This site holds only young ladies.”
Ji Yingying looked carefully and indeed saw that all those sitting on the ground were young women. She recognized several young ladies from other families, all sitting with their maids.
Just then, the stockade opened. A large group of women was led in by soldiers.
“Look! It’s the Zhao family!”
“That one wearing a veil is Second Madam Zhao!”
“Pah! If the Zhao family hadn’t convinced the county magistrate to issue those restrictions and seal off the streets, my parents would have helped me escape earlier.”
“Keep your voice down, there are many of them.”
Fifth Miss Niu walked together with the Zhao family women, followed by a large group of young Zhao family maids. Yu Yuan’s sharp gaze swept across the area, found a corner, and directly went to lift two young ladies sitting on the ground, pushing them aside: “Move!”
The two young ladies were angry but, seeing the large group of Zhao women approaching, had to swallow their anger and find another place to sit.
Some straw mats were scattered on the ground, which the earlier prisoners had used to sit on. As soon as the Zhao family entered, their maids drove people away, collected the mats, laid them out in the space, and invited the Zhao family ladies to sit.
The Zhao family maids sat around them in a circle, like stars surrounding the moon.
The young ladies who had their mats taken away began crying softly in grievance.
Someone who couldn’t bear it whispered mockingly: “We’re all imprisoned by the Nanzhao army, yet they still think they’re the high and mighty Zhao family ladies.”
“The Zhao family has many people. Better to endure it.”
“Heaven sees what people do, beware of karma!”
After the Zhao women entered, the young ladies in the open space spontaneously moved their positions. They preferred to sit more cramped than stay near the Zhao family.
Fifth Miss Niu sat with perfect composure. Her bearing suggested she was attending a banquet rather than being imprisoned in an army camp. Only the crying of her sisters-in-law beside her was irritating, making her frown as she snapped: “My husband is the heir to the family head position. He will surely think of a solution. Just wait.”
The Zhao family ladies had heard about what happened in the front hall, and an elder aunt-in-law grew angry: “If Second Young Master Zhao hadn’t agreed with that Nanzhao White King, would the Zhao family have come to this end?”
She moved to strike Fifth Miss Niu. Yu Yuan stepped forward and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to look at the women in the yard: “Did their families agree to Nanzhao’s terms? If not for my master’s temporary compliance, would Fifth Madam still be sitting here with dignity?”
They were all captured by Nanzhao soldiers. The young ladies had disheveled hair and their white dresses were stained with dirt. The worse off had torn outer garments. Everyone was scared in the military camp, rubbing dirt on their hands, faces, and necks. All were disheveled and filthy. Though the Zhao family women were frightened, they hadn’t fallen into such a state. Fifth Madam Zhao closed her mouth resentfully, but still muttered: “Second Master’s death was Second Young Master Zhao’s fault…”
First Madam Zhao began wiping away tears again.
Ji Yingying was hidden behind others, but her ears caught everything.
“Zhao Xiuyuan, Sheng Fengze,” she murmured their names, rolling the sounds between her teeth as if wanting to grind them to pieces.
Her gaze fell on Yu Yuan’s black clothes, strengthening her certainty: “Xiang’er, look at that maid in black beside Second Madam Zhao, doesn’t her figure look familiar?”
The Zhao family sat in the opposite corner, not far from the stockade. In the torchlight, Xiang’er saw clearly: “The build is similar. But she’s not masked.”
What was this? Even in death, she wanted to drag her down too. Ji Yingying’s lips twisted in mockery. She turned around, noticing the stockade wasn’t far from her. A Nanzhao soldier stood outside it. Perhaps because of the soldier’s presence, the young ladies all sat far from the stockade.
“It’s too crowded here, let’s move over there.”
The five maids looked fearfully at the soldier outside the stockade. Xiang’er wouldn’t disobey Ji Yingying and followed her move. Yulan and the others exchanged glances. Their mistress, Fourth Lady Zhang, was gone. Ji Yingying was their only pillar now. The four also moved with her.