The Cao family was quite famous in Lin’an, not only because they had a capable son, but more importantly because of the Cao family’s Old Madam.
Old Madam Cao was a well-known philanthropist and the most devout Buddhist. In Lin’an city, everyone knew this elderly lady of the Cao family. Building bridges and roads, distributing porridge and medicine, donating to schools and charitable halls… Not just the poor in Lin’an City, but the impoverished families in nearby towns and villages had all received help from the Old Madam, and they all called her the “Old Kind Soul.”
Although the Cao family had a large mansion in the city, the Old Madam didn’t like living there as a secluded ancestor who never left the house. The family bought her a piece of land in the suburbs, built three large thatched houses, and turned the rest into vegetable fields. In her spare time, the Old Madam worked in the fields. At seventy years old, she could still shoulder a hoe and walk with vigor, showing no signs of age. Of the vegetables and fruits she grew, after keeping a small portion for the family, she gave the rest to nearby villagers.
The Cao family wasn’t originally from nobility; for generations, they had been farmers, all honest and hardworking peasants. When Old Madam Cao was young, life wasn’t easy. She had elderly parents with chronic illnesses and four hungry mouths to feed. Despite working hard year-round with her husband, they barely made ends meet. When they were so poor they couldn’t even cook, she had to go around with a bowl begging for food. But everyone in the village was poor, and no one would give her credit for rice. Fortunately, she met a wandering monk who gave her his two shengs of alms rice, helping her through that difficult time. From then on, though illiterate, she became a devoted Buddhist.
The Old Madam had three sons and one daughter, all illiterate ordinary farmers. Her favorite was her youngest son, the third son Cao Hai, who joined the army at a young age. Cao Hai was the most clever; after entering the military, he went to the battlefield, fought desperately to earn merits, and rose through the ranks to become the Commander of Jiangning’s garrison forces. The whole family’s fortunes rose with him, building a large mansion and living a life of luxury with numerous servants.
Besides Cao Hai, the Old Madam’s other children stayed by her side. Now grown up, they had all married and had children. Several families lived together, along with Cao Hai’s principal wife, two concubines, and four children – dozens of people in total, making for a very lively household.
Everyone said the Old Madam was blessed to have such a successful son and enjoy her later years in comfort. However, she always felt that her son’s killing on the battlefield had brought bad karma, so she chanted sutras and copied Buddhist scriptures daily for him.
Though Cao Hai was an imposing general whose words were law outside, before his mother he was still the youngest son. He was the most filial of all; whatever good things he obtained, his first thought was of his mother. When the Old Madam was sick, no matter how busy he was, he would rush back to see her and personally serve her soup.
Yet such a person had killed thirty-seven members of the Jian family.
While Old Madam Cao enthusiastically told the surrounding villagers stories about karma and retribution from Buddhist scriptures, the young lady sitting beside her thought: when evil people run rampant, where is retribution?
“Shu’er, what are you thinking about?” Old Madam Cao asked the young lady after telling three stories.
She looked up: “I’m thinking about the stories you told. Heaven’s way is clear, retribution never fails. It seems Buddha watches, and those full of evil will surely face heaven’s punishment.”
When Old Madam Cao stayed in her suburban thatched house, she often sat at the village entrance telling Buddhist stories to villagers. She was an interesting person who told stories vividly and uniquely, much loved by nearby villagers and children. The Shu’er sitting beside her was a young lady who had recently moved there, an orphan without a family. On the day she arrived, she had helped the Old Madam – being elderly, the Old Madam had fallen on a field ridge, and Shu’er happened to meet her. She had struggled to help the Old Madam up, getting herself covered in mud in the process.
Old Madam Cao liked her very much, feeling they must have a Buddhist connection. She liked to take her everywhere, and though this young lady was young, she was steady in her actions, always taking good care of the Old Madam and patient in listening to the elderly woman talk. As time went on, she grew even more dear to the Old Madam.
“So in life, don’t think evil deeds can be hidden from people. Even if people don’t know, heaven sees everything.” The Old Madam patted her hand, smiling kindly.
She smiled too: “Every time I hear your stories, I gain so much insight.”
The villagers had gradually dispersed, but she still sat with the Old Madam talking.
“That’s because you have a Buddhist connection.” Old Madam Cao said gently, then asked about her recent living situation, finally sighing, “Poor child, it must be hard being alone.”
“Mother, since you like Miss Shu and pity her loneliness, why not adopt her as your goddaughter? That way, Miss Shu would have a family to rely on, and Mother would have another daughter to keep her company,” said Cao’s second daughter-in-law as she came to fetch the Old Madam for dinner. She held a little girl of seven or eight, who let go of her mother’s hand upon seeing the Old Madam and flew into her embrace to be spoiled, then called out “Hello, Sister Shu.”
The Cao family naturally couldn’t let Old Madam Cao live alone in the suburbs; there were always daughters-in-law and grandchildren keeping her company. After some time, they had all become familiar with Shu’er.
“How could this be? I’m of humble status, I dare not presume such honor,” the young lady stood up shaking her head, appearing overwhelmed by the favor.
But Old Madam Cao slapped her leg: “This is a wonderful idea, why didn’t I think of it? What presumption? Could it be you look down on this old woman?”
“Of course not, Old Madam is like a Bodhisattva, I can’t get close enough to you, how could I look down on you? It’s just…” She looked at the Old Madam with troubled hesitation, her misty eyes arousing sympathy.
“Since you don’t mind, then it’s settled. We’ll find a good time for you to come to the mansion to meet my sons and daughters-in-law and make this adoption official.” The Old Madam grew more excited as she spoke, chattering for a long while before being persuaded by her second daughter-in-law to return for dinner.
“Goodbye!” The young lady patted the little girl’s head, smiling as she bid them farewell. After watching them leave, she stood there blankly for a long while before looking down at her hands.
Compared to properly investigating and bringing evil people to justice, killing was much easier – though brutal, it was simple.
However…
At the end of August, Old Madam Cao truly adopted a goddaughter.
On the day of the kowtow and tea ceremony, all the Cao family members were present.
Ming Shu carefully counted – forty-five people in total. Excluding servants, there was Cao Hai’s birth mother Old Madam Cao, Cao Hai’s eldest brother’s family of five, second brother’s family of six, Cao Hai’s wives, concubines, and children making seven, totaling nineteen people.
Leaving the Cao mansion, Ming Shu carried a bundle in her arms. Old Madam Cao liked her, and the Cao family’s children and grandchildren, wanting to please their mother, were also warm to her, giving substantial welcoming gifts. The bundle contained gold and jade, but Ming Shu didn’t look carefully. She only seemed to feel the dust on her knees and brushed at them forcefully, but the dust seemed impossible to remove.
It had been some time since she left Bianjing. The day she drugged Lu Chang and followed Tao Yiqian’s merchant caravan out of the city was July 28th. Now August was almost over, and the weather was getting cooler.
An autumn wind blew, making her shiver. She couldn’t help rubbing her arms as she hurried toward her lodgings.
The Mid-Autumn Festival had passed. She wondered how Lu Chang and Aunt Zeng were doing in the capital. After receiving her letter, they must have been both shocked and worried. But in this world, gatherings and partings were always unpredictable. As time passed, the people one should remember would gradually fade in one’s heart, just as she had thought before.
If she and Lu Chang never met again, they would both forget each other.
If she couldn’t forget in a day, then a year; if not in a year, then ten years; if not in ten years, then twenty years… She would eventually forget, and so would he.
She now lived next to Old Madam Cao’s thatched house, in a place Tao Yiqian had helped her find. It was somewhat similar in layout to where Lu Chang used to live – a small house divided into three rooms, with a small courtyard where one could raise chickens and ducks and grow vegetables… But Ming Shu raised nothing and planted nothing. Except for the firewood piled against the wall, the courtyard was empty.
What should and shouldn’t be done, she had done it all. Now she could only wait.
It was getting late when she returned to the village. Ming Shu saw two unfamiliar men loitering at the village entrance from afar, but she recognized them.
One of them, missing an eye and wearing an eye patch, was Jiao Chunlu.
They hadn’t immediately agreed to Ming Shu’s big deal. Ming Shu had told them to think it over and come find her, giving them the address of this small village.
Ming Shu turned and walked to a secluded spot, stopping and turning only after Jiao Chunlu followed her in.
“Greetings, Master Jiao.” Ming Shu bowed slightly to the two men, “Have you come to find me? Have you made your decision?”
Jiao Chunlu’s remaining eye stared at Ming Shu malevolently, as if wanting to flay her alive. His lowered voice was sharp and grating: “Little girl, aren’t you afraid we’ll steal the gold vault key, torture the location out of you, then silence you forever?”
“I’m not afraid. No one else in the world except me knows the vault’s location. What use are your threats against a desperate person who only wants revenge? If I die, you won’t get a single coin.”
If she were an ordinary person today, she would naturally fear pain and death, but now, with the Jian family gone, her father gone, she had nothing left – nothing could threaten her.
“Who knows if you’re lying to me? You say the Jian family has a gold vault, where’s the proof?”
“There is no proof. Believe it or not, frankly, this deal is also about revenge for Master Jiao. You served them loyally but got nothing in return, losing your brother and your men’s lives, all made into scapegoats. Even now your name and portrait hang on Jiangning’s most wanted list, forcing you to flee from Jiangning to Lin’an, hiding east and west without peace. Yet you don’t know that the one who forced you into this state, the real culprit, is Cao Hai, who led the troops to hunt you down that day.”
Ming Shu spoke with an icy smile, her voice cold as snow.
Jiao Chunlu unconsciously covered his left eye socket, which was aching. This eye had been shot out by an arrow during that hunt. The bandit leader who died in the raid was his elder brother Jiao Chunfa, while he… had barely escaped.
“The taste of being used by others isn’t pleasant, is it? The life of a stray dog isn’t pleasant either, is it? Come to think of it, we have the same revenge to take.” Ming Shu mocked him word by word, yet also seemed to bewitch him, “Don’t you want to earn these thirty thousand taels of gold? Take revenge, flee far away, enjoy wealth and luxury – what’s not to like? You can’t touch Cao Hai, but the Cao family is full of the elderly, women, and scholars. Even with the guards Cao Hai has arranged, I’ve checked – they’re no match for your numbers.”
Jiao Chunlu slowly lowered his hand from his eye, looking at her – so young and pretty, yet speaking of such things so casually. Dozens of lives seemed like mere ants to her, making him feel somewhat unsettled.
“You’re young but vicious and poisonous enough.” Jiao Chunlu said, then asked her, “So what’s your plan?”
“Next month is Old Madam Cao’s seventieth birthday. The Cao family will hold a grand celebration, and Cao Hai will return. We’ll strike before he returns. I’ll notify you of the details later.”
Ming Shu smiled again as if thanking him for his compliment.
Jiao Chunlu stared at her malevolently again, as if trying to find flaws in her face, but after staring for a long time, he could see nothing except her calm smile.
“Fine, I’ll wait for your notice. If you dare deceive me, I’ll make you wish you were dead.” He finally nodded, warning her malevolently, then tossed her a way to communicate messages before hurriedly leaving with his man.
Only after the two figures disappeared did Ming Shu let out a small sigh of relief, turning to walk toward her lodgings.
Lost in thought as she reached her door, Ming Shu absently pushed it open. It was already dark, and the humble cottage had poor lighting, leaving the room pitch black. After entering, Ming Shu didn’t immediately close the door, intending to use the faint light from outside to light the oil lamp. Unexpectedly, a hand reached out from beside her, gripping her wrist tightly and pulling her to the side.
A dark figure darted out, quickly closing the door and pinning her against it.
Ming Shu was greatly startled, her back cold with fear. She wanted to scream for help but was tightly muffled by that person.
Before her was a man wearing a cloak, his wide hood covering his head and face. She could only see deep shadows under the hood.
“If you don’t want to bring Jiao Chunlu in here, keep quiet, and put down what’s in your hand!”
The voice from under the hood made Ming Shu loosen her grip on the dagger she had secretly drawn.
That voice…
“Lu Chang?!”
The man had just removed his hand from her mouth when Ming Shu cried out.
He had to cover her lips again, cracking the wooden door slightly and guiding Ming Shu to look outside.
Sure enough, Jiao Chunlu and his man had secretly entered the courtyard. The two hadn’t left; after Ming Shu turned back, they had followed her to find out where she lived, intending to keep watch.
“Boss, something seems strange inside.”
Jiao Chunlu gestured with his mouth, and his man crept to the door, pressing his ear against it to listen.
On the other side of the door, Ming Shu was held against it by Lu Chang.
The hood had fallen back, and light from the door crack illuminated Lu Chang’s eyes.
Their eyes met, neither speaking.
Inside and outside the room, all was silent except for the soft sound of breathing…