At the first light of dawn, Lu Chang had already loaded his packed trunks onto the prepared carriage. The humble courtyard was emptied – the chickens and ducks had been served to villagers who came to congratulate Lu Chang in the previous days, while the pots, bowls, ladles, and old bedding that couldn’t be taken along were given to nearby neighbors.
After bidding farewell to his neighbors and returning the key to the landlord, Lu Chang found himself momentarily dazed at leaving this place he’d called home for ten years, never to return – even someone as composed as him felt a twinge of emotion.
In the lingering morning mist, he half-expected someone to come running, waving from afar across the muddy path of Changkang Lane.
“What are you thinking about?” Madam Zeng asked, noticing him staring blankly at the lane’s entrance, patting his back.
“Nothing,” Lu Chang snapped back to reality, helping his mother onto the carriage.
A mother knows her child best. Madam Zeng suggested, “Why don’t we… wait a bit longer? Perhaps Mingshu will come to see us off?”
“What’s the point of waiting for her?” Lu Chang continued helping his mother onto the carriage. He knew clearly that whether he waited or not, Jian Mingshu wouldn’t come. After what was said between them, their ten-year bond from childhood was severed. Given her straightforward and decisive nature, she wouldn’t see him again.
Madam Zeng shook her head and sighed, stepping into the carriage and falling silent.
After settling his mother, Lu Chang wrapped his outer robe tightly and sat at the front of the carriage. Gripping the whip, he raised his hand and cracked it with a sharp snap, urging the horse to pull the carriage into the morning mist.
From Jiangning to Bianjing, one could travel by either water or land. The water route was faster, but due to Madam Zeng’s weak constitution and tendency for seasickness, Lu Chang chose the land route. He preferred to travel slower to better care for his mother.
Within half a day, the carriage had left the city.
The accumulated snow on the official road outside the city had been cleared. The trees lining both sides were bare of leaves. Near the year’s end, there were few travelers, and the cold wind penetrated to the bone. Despite wearing a wind cap and securing his clothes tightly, Lu Chang couldn’t keep out the all-pervading wind. His cheeks turned red, his body cold, his frozen hands numbly gripping the reins as his gaze fixed on the seemingly endless road ahead.
As his thoughts scattered in the wind, Lu Chang was lost in contemplation when suddenly another carriage rapidly approached from the opposite direction. Pulled by three horses, the carriage was completely black, its windows tightly covered with dark felt curtains. There were no insignias to identify its origin.
The sound of galloping hooves echoed like drums on the quiet road as it quickly approached Lu Chang.
Though Lu Chang remained outwardly calm, he couldn’t help but feel suspicious, discreetly observing this strange carriage.
Soon, the carriage drew alongside him, and at that moment, the thick curtain was lifted. A delicate, fair woman’s hand emerged, wearing a filigree pure gold bracelet with two small bells dangling from it.
Lu Chang was startled, and in the next moment, his gaze met that of the woman behind the curtain.
Jian Mingshu never expected to encounter Lu Chang on the official road.
She had gone to Xunyang Town a day earlier than Lu Chang, spent the night there, and near noon the next day quietly prepared a carriage to go to Yunhua Temple. Following the principle of catching a thief red-handed, she planned to take Concubine Zhou by surprise.
Preoccupied with her concerns and finding the carriage stuffy with its tight coverings, Jian Mingshu felt short of breath and lifted the curtain for air.
Unexpectedly, in that brief moment, she encountered Lu Chang on his way to the capital. Though considering that the land route to Bianjing necessarily passed by Mount Yunhua and through Xunyang Town, their meeting wasn’t so surprising given that she had gone to Xunyang first and was now heading back.
Despite her decisive words and clear thinking earlier, this unexpected encounter stirred up more bitterness than their previous parting. Her emotions burst forth like a breached river, reddening her eyes, but they had only a moment as their carriages passed each other, without even calling out names.
She rubbed her eyes, unshed tears dispersing in the cold wind as she lowered the curtain, seeing no more. When she turned back inside the carriage, her expression was composed again.
Meanwhile, Lu Chang slowly withdrew his gaze, returning to his contemplation of the road ahead.
Winter nights fell quickly, and Lu Chang’s luck wasn’t good. Not long after encountering Jian Mingshu, his carriage developed problems – a wheel had gone askew. He had to drive the carriage into the woods beside the official road for repairs. Seeing it was getting late and they couldn’t reach Xunyang Town before nightfall, he decided to make camp, light a fire, boil water, cook food, and spend the night outdoors.
As darkness fell completely, only black shadows remained around them. The campfire illuminated just a small area at their feet. Looking around, there were only bare tree branches dancing like claws in the night, with occasional distant animal calls stirring unease in their hearts.
This inauspicious start made Madam Zeng anxious. After Lu Chang’s reassurances, she managed to eat and drink a little before retiring to the carriage. Lu Chang laid out felt blankets outside and set up a tent, planning to make do for the night.
Unable to sleep in the tent, he got up, put on his clothes, and sat by the fire, lost in thought.
The woods weren’t large, situated at the foot of Mount Yunhua next to a cliff. Further up was the winding road to Yunhua Temple. During daylight, one could glimpse the temple’s roof among the mountains, but at night without light, looking up revealed only ink-black darkness merging with the night sky, nothing visible.
He glanced around briefly before turning his gaze back.
Compared to Lu Chang’s luck, Jian Mingshu’s group fared better, reaching Yunhua Temple before dark and even enjoying a hot bowl of vegetarian noodles.
As night fell, a servant who had been gathering information outside came to whisper in her ear.
Jian Mingshu pushed aside her half-finished noodles, wiped the fine beads of sweat from her brow, and then stood up. Donning a thick cape and clutching a small hand warmer inside cotton hand-warmers, she quietly set out for Water Fairy Nunnery.
She wanted to see exactly who had been carrying on with Concubine Zhou for over two years.
The Jian family hadn’t treated Concubine Zhou poorly, providing her with comfortable food and clothing. Any son she bore would be a Jian heir, any daughter a cherished member of the family. Even if she remained childless, the Jian family would never mistreat her. Yet judging by Concubine Zhou’s behavior, she had not only had an illicit affair and borne an illegitimate child but was likely also scheming for the Jian family fortune.
Jian Mingshu couldn’t tolerate this but feared her father would be devastated if he knew. She planned to investigate thoroughly before making any decisions.
With these thoughts, her steps quickened.
By afternoon, Concubine Zhou had arrived at Yunhua Temple, rested there until evening, and then dismissed her attending maids to chant sutras alone in the meditation room. At nightfall, she had slipped out and headed to Water Fairy Nunnery. What she didn’t expect was that her people had been bought by Jian Mingshu and were now monitoring her movements, reporting back when she entered the nunnery.
Money can make demons turn millstones, and Water Fairy Nunnery wasn’t impenetrable. Jian Mingshu offered a hefty silver payment, and the greedy young nun, caring nothing for her superiors’ instructions, quietly let Jian Mingshu’s group in through a side door and pointed out the path to Concubine Zhou’s quarters. Jian Mingshu crept along until she reached the window, where she heard a man’s eager lewd talk and heavy breathing from inside. She blushed, steadied herself, then continued listening.
“Why are you so impatient? Let’s discuss matters first. I see that girl Mingshu has grown suspicious. We probably can’t meet here anymore and need to find another place. Also, what’s your plan for that matter? Mingshu is about to get engaged and married, and I see the old man intends to give her half the Jian family fortune as dowry. If so, we’ll only get half of the property – can you accept that?” Concubine Zhou’s voice rang out, mixed with the rustling of clothes being removed, showing none of her usual modest demeanor.
“Don’t worry, I’ve planned everything. Tonight, while you’re away from the Jian residence, we’ll make our move. In for a penny, in for a pound…”
The man’s lowered voice carried a hint of malicious satisfaction, causing Jian Mingshu outside the window to stare in horror.
Lu Chang suddenly awoke, as if from a nightmare, but upon opening his eyes, he couldn’t remember what he’d dreamed.
The cold penetrated his bones through the thin tent, causing his temples to throb. Sleep was impossible now, so he wrapped himself in the blanket and went outside. The night was deep, probably around the third watch.
A light rain had fallen at some unknown hour, softening the ground and extinguishing the fire – no wonder he’d been frozen awake. Lu Chang looked around, planning to build another fire for warmth. Just as he was about to gather dry firewood, he heard a woman’s cry from the mountain, followed by the sound of something heavy rolling down through grass and trees.
The falling was rapid. Lu Chang heard two dull thuds as if someone had rolled down the slope and struck nearby wood and stone, unable to even cry out.
He quickly grabbed a thick branch for a torch and followed the sound, finding a person lying face-down under a tree near the slope. He looked up at where they had fallen from – it was a high slope that, judging by its position, should connect to the road to Yunhua Temple, though the exact details were hard to make out in the darkness.
Rolling down from such a height would likely be fatal or at least crippling. From the figure and clothing, it appeared to be a woman, though he couldn’t tell what had happened. Without further thought, Lu Chang rushed forward, holding the torch toward the person.
She lay on her side, her clothes torn in many places by branches, her hairpins scattered, and hair disheveled across her face, completely silent. Lu Chang stuck the torch in the ground and reached out to check her breathing.
As he brushed aside the messy hair covering her face, he revealed a face almost completely covered in blood.
Despite the bloody mess and loss of her usual refinement, Lu Chang recognized her instantly, exclaiming involuntarily –
“Mingshu?!”