The guards of the Marquis of Yingchuan were well-trained. They handled everything from checking into inns, feeding horses, night shifts, and providing hot water and soup—even more thoughtful and attentive than Zheng San had expected. They didn’t need to manage anything; they simply had to follow these guards.
In less than half a month, they left the Xingdu Command and stopped at Ningjing County.
Zheng San first went to a silver shop to exchange Fu Tingyun’s cash for bank notes, then found a merchant house headed for Zhangye to send the clothes, socks, and shoes Fu Tingyun had made for Zhao Ling’s birthday to Nianbo.
They had left in a hurry when Fu Tingyun had just finished cutting the clothes. During these days of travel, Fu Tingyun slept during the day and worked on needlework after checking into inns at night. Though it was already late to send them now, it was still her sincere intention.
After sending the items, Fu Tingyun breathed a sigh of relief.
She thought about this time last year when she first went shopping with Zhao Ling. Zhao Ling had given her two Muslim headscarves, and they had met Manager Ye… She wondered if Manager Ye had arrived safely in Xi’an Prefecture.
After resting for a night, they continued their journey.
When they reached Wushan County, heavy rain fell. The carriage carrying their trunks left deep wheel tracks in the muddy road. The next day, while passing through a mountain path, they were surrounded by a group of bandits.
They only had about twenty people, but the bandit group had thirty to forty.
Fu Tingyun felt her heart go numb and her legs weaken at the sight, but she still held Asen back: “Let’s wait until the guards can’t hold on anymore.” She somewhat regretted dismissing the escort guards.
However, the Marquis of Yingchuan’s guards showed no fear. The lead guard, whose surname was Jian, made a hand gesture, and the guards unstrung their bows and crossbows from their backs. Arrows shot toward the bandits like meteors.
The bandits at the front didn’t even have time to draw their swords before they fell, howling in pain.
Someone among the bandits cried out in terror: “They’re using military bows and crossbows!”
Guard Jian sneered, then declared loudly: “We serve under the Gansu Commander-in-Chief, the Marquis of Yingchuan.”
Upon hearing this, the bandits immediately scattered like birds and beasts, screaming in panic.
The guards didn’t pursue them, allowing the remaining bandits to flee into the mountains.
They departed leisurely.
In the evening, they rested at a relay station. The magistrate and deputy magistrate of Wushan County rushed over.
Guard Jian sat there imposingly, allowing the county’s officials to explain with sweaty foreheads why bandits were roaming in Wushan County.
Asen excitedly related all this to Fu Tingyun, but she secretly sighed, feeling heartache for Zhao Ling.
Owing such a great favor to the Marquis of Yingchuan, she didn’t know how great a price he would have to pay to repay it!
She resolved to part ways with these guards after reaching the capital, then have Zheng San send a generous gift to the Ducal Mansion to express gratitude. As for buying a house, she would figure it out on her own!
The rest of the journey was quite peaceful. When snowflakes began to fall from the sky, they reached Xi’an Prefecture.
Thinking of the hardships of the journey, Zheng San found an inn in a prosperous area of Xi’an, booked a quiet courtyard in the inn, and prepared several tables of wine and food to entertain the guards.
Xi’an was the capital of Shaanxi, so its public security was naturally incomparable to ordinary counties. The guards relaxed, drinking and playing finger-guessing games with Zheng San, leaving only two on duty, and assigning two others to escort Fu Tingyun to Yangliuxiang.
Old Master Lü and Madam Lü were shocked to see her and grabbed her hands, asking: “What happened? Where is Lord Nine?” They looked with suspicion at the two physically imposing and powerful guards, who were not ordinary men.
“Lord Nine is doing well, he’s earned military merit and been promoted to Centurion,” Fu Tingyun quickly assured them, then said, “…My relative in the capital is unwell, so I’m hurrying to see her.”
The Lü couple knew about Zhao Ling sending Jin Yuanbao to inform the relatives in the capital, so they immediately felt relieved. Learning that Zhao Ling had been promoted to Centurion made them even more overjoyed. Madam Lü wanted to go to Guangren Temple to fulfill her vow: “I promised the Buddha I would donate twenty taels of silver for oil.”
Old Master Lü enthusiastically invited the two guards inside for tea.
“No need!” The two guards stood there like door gods. “We’re following orders, we’ll just wait here.” Their expressions were somewhat cold.
Old Master Lü thought that since these were the Marquis of Yingchuan’s guards, having them stand at the door would be disrespectful to guests. He was about to try persuading them again when Fu Tingyun, recalling what Asen had said about Guard Jian’s demeanor when meeting the Wushan County officials, knew that if they weren’t under the Marquis of Yingchuan’s orders, these men wouldn’t even glance at them. She spoke before Old Master Lü: “Since you’re following orders, then I’ll trouble you two officers!” Then to Madam Lü she said, “It’s cold, please have a maid bring hot tea to warm these two officers later.” This way, she fulfilled the proprieties.
Seeing that Fu Tingyun had spoken, Old Master Lü and Madam Lü stopped insisting. They smiled and welcomed Fu Tingyun inside, offering hot tea and snacks as they sat in Madam Lü’s inner room.
Learning that Fu Tingyun would need to buy a house after reaching the capital, Old Master Lü thought for a moment and said: “Then I’ll go to the capital with you to prevent you from being cheated.”
“How could I impose on you like that?” Fu Tingyun hurriedly said, “You’re getting on in years, and in this wind and snow…”
“Let him go with you!” Madam Lü smiled from the side, “You’re both young and inexperienced. There are many tricks in buying and selling houses. Seeing that you’re from outside, either one person pretends to be a broker and another pretends to be the owner to cheat you together; or they repaint a house with rotting beams and pillars and sell it to you as eighty or ninety percent new; or they use relatives’ properties to trick you out of deposit money… With him along, you’ll have someone to help run errands. Besides, he’s just idle at home, so it’s good for him to go to the capital and see the excitement!” Her attitude was very sincere.
Fu Tingyun was determined not to trouble the Duke’s mansion, and Zheng San was previously just an escort guard who could handle household protection but would be somewhat inadequate when dealing with government clerks. She was just worried about not having usable personnel, so hearing the Lü couple’s suggestion, she couldn’t help but be tempted. After brief contemplation, she smiled and said: “Then I’ll trouble Old Master Lü!”
“Listen to what you’re saying,” Madam Lü was very happy to see that she didn’t treat them as outsiders. “We’ve received such great kindness from Lord Nine, and now we’re just doing something that requires minimal effort… Miss Fu must not be so polite in the future.”
Fu Tingyun cheerfully agreed, and Old Master Lü brought up the matter of selling land: “The rent from the three shops and the income from the fields in Chang’an County are in my hands, adding up to about 1,200 taels. I can also raise another 500 taels here. I think we should first sell 200 mu of land, which would relieve the urgent need in the capital.” He implied that they should avoid selling land in the end.
“You and I are thinking alike,” Fu Tingyun smiled, “I never planned to sell. I came this time to trouble you to find several honest and reliable tenants.”
Zhao Ling always felt that the money he gave her was her private money and was unwilling to use it.
“That’s easy, that’s easy.” Hearing that they didn’t need to sell the land, Old Master Lü smiled until his eyes curved, “The current tenants renting our fields are all very honest.”
The two talked about field matters for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, Fu Tingyun rose to say goodbye.
The next day, Old Master Lü brought over the year’s income, and Madam Lü accompanied her to buy some Xi’an local products. After resting for two days, Old Master Lü bade farewell to Madam Lü and accompanied them to the capital.
On the day of the Laba Festival, they rested at the relay station in Weinan County.
Fu Tingyun stood by the window lattice, watching the fluttering snowflakes in silence for a long time.
Zheng San’s wife came over with a bowl of Laba porridge, smiling: “Miss, I made this, please try it!”
Fu Tingyun smiled and sat on the kang bed, tasting a few spoonfuls. Although it was like chewing wax, she still nodded: “Mmm, it tastes quite good.”
Hearing this, Zheng San’s wife smiled and wiped her hands on her apron: “Then you eat first, I’ll bring some to Guard Jian and the others as well.”
Fu Tingyun smiled and nodded.
As Zheng San’s wife lifted the thick cotton curtain, sounds of crying and scolding came through.
“…You filthy whore, I’ll teach you to steal, I’ll teach you to steal!” A man was shouting.
“I didn’t steal, I didn’t steal, you left it there unwanted, so I just picked it up…”
Fu Tingyun was startled.
The voice arguing was that of a young woman, thin and somewhat stubborn, but sounding very familiar.
Her expression changed, and she couldn’t help but walk to the door.
The scolding became even clearer.
“Even what I throw away is still mine. Who told you to pick it up here? If you picked it up, that’s stealing…” The man’s voice was unreasonably bullying, followed by several “bang bang bang” sounds, like someone kicking.
Strangely, there were no sounds of the woman crying or begging for mercy.
Fu Tingyun followed the sound.
In the back courtyard of the relay station, a thin, small man wearing a bright blue coarse cotton padded robe was kicking a woman curled up in the snow.
In the cold weather, the woman was wrapped in several tattered summer clothes for warmth, skeletal and thin, with exposed skin frozen blue and purple.
“Stop!” Fu Tingyun frowned and shouted, “What did she steal from you?”
The thin man raised his head with a face full of hostility, but when he saw it was the person who had checked in today with the Duke’s and Marquis’s calling cards, he immediately lowered his head submissively, somewhat fearfully saying: “The young lady doesn’t know, this is an outcast who often comes to the relay station to steal food. I was afraid she would bring dirty things into the kitchen, and if the nobles ate them and got diarrhea or dysentery, what would happen? Then this humble one would deserve ten thousand deaths. That’s why I was just teaching this girl a lesson…”
“You’re lying, I’ve never been in the kitchen,” the woman curled up in the snow murmured in defense, struggling to raise her head by supporting herself with her elbow.
Fu Tingyun turned to look.
Their gazes met in the air.
Fu Tingyun was thunderstruck, standing frozen with a frost-like complexion.
The woman’s eyes were wide open, full of questioning: “Am I dreaming… or have I already died, so I can see the young lady…” As she spoke, two clear tears streamed down her face. “Young lady, young lady,” she crawled toward Fu Tingyun, “I’ve wronged you, I’ve wronged you…” In the snow, she left a winding mark. She came into the mansion with me, I told her how to comb her hair, told her how to dress, told her how to stand, told her how to smile… like my sister. She helped me pack your trunks, and I praised her for being obedient and sensible… young lady…” She stretched out her skeletal hand, tremblingly clutching the hem of Fu Tingyun’s skirt, “It was me, it was me who harmed you, it was me who harmed you…” She prostrated herself on the ground and burst into loud sobs.