The faint dawn light enveloped the Shuntian Prefecture as the crowing of roosters from an unknown location heralded the beginning of another busy day.
Xiu Niangzi couldn’t sleep again.
Every night when darkness fell, she was unable to sleep, always feeling that footsteps might sound outside the door at any moment, and her Niuniu would return.
How could she sleep? What if she missed Niuniu while asleep?
Xiu Niangzi lay awake, staring blankly until she dozed off just before daybreak.
The rooster’s crow woke Xiu Niangzi, who had barely slept.
She got up, dressed, and walked out with a numb expression.
Having lost her daughter, what difference did each day make to her? It was just a day after day of torment.
She was waiting – waiting for that beast who deserved to be cut into a thousand pieces to be pushed to the execution ground and beheaded. Once she saw his dirty blood spurt out, she could go find Niuniu with peace of mind.
Her Niuniu was only fourteen; how could she be without her mother?
Xiu Niangzi slowly opened the door.
The pain of losing her daughter and the recent insomnia had almost drained this woman’s spirit, making her move as slowly as an old woman.
Outside the door, a small, worn bamboo basket sat quietly on the ground.
Xiu Niangzi suddenly shuddered, her gaze fixed on the basket.
They had such a basket at home. That day when Niuniu went to buy her osmanthus cake, she took a basket just like this one—
Xiu Niangzi suddenly remembered something and grabbed the basket, yanking off the cover.
Eight diamond-shaped pieces of osmanthus cake were arranged on a plate, looking mouth-wateringly delicious.
Xiu Niangzi’s hand loosened, and the basket fell to the ground, the osmanthus cakes rolling out of the plate.
She stared unblinkingly at the cakes on the ground for a moment, then suddenly as if gone mad, she knelt on the ground and began stuffing the cakes into her mouth.
An old woman, hearing the commotion, hurried over and tried to stop her: “Oh my, Xiu Niangzi, how can you eat things that have fallen on the ground?”
Xiu Niangzi’s body trembled, and she suddenly grabbed the old woman’s wrist, hissing, “Where did this come from?”
The old woman had never seen Xiu Niangzi in such a frenzied state and was momentarily frightened.
“Speak! Where did this come from?”
The old woman’s gaze dropped: “You mean these osmanthus cakes?”
Xiu Niangzi nodded vigorously.
“I don’t know. The yamen is full of men; who would eat osmanthus cakes? Strangely, I passed by here earlier and didn’t see anything. How did a basket of osmanthus cakes suddenly appear?”
Xiu Niangzi hugged the basket, tears falling like rain: “It’s Niuniu, it must be Niuniu who brought me the osmanthus cakes!”
The old woman carefully asked, “Xiu Niangzi, what do you mean?”
The appearance of this plate of osmanthus cakes seemed to have restored Xiu Niangzi’s ability to speak. She pulled the old woman, murmuring constantly: “Niuniu was going to buy me osmanthus cakes from the street that day…”
In the end, Xiu Niangzi began to sob, and the old woman wiped her tears as well.
“Do you think these osmanthus cakes were sent by Niuniu?” Xiu Niangzi asked, her eyes full of hope.
The old woman suddenly slapped her thigh: “It must be! I was wondering how strange it was. This basket of osmanthus cakes appeared out of thin air. It must be Niuniu worrying about you, bringing you the osmanthus cakes you love to see you.”
“Niuniu is worried about me?”
“Of course she’s worried. Tsk tsk, Xiu Niangzi, just look at yourself now. You’ve become skin and bones. How could Niuniu not worry?”
Xiu Niangzi laughed: “I knew Niuniu would come back to find me. Niuniu, you must wait for Mother. It won’t be long before mother comes to find you—”
The old woman was startled and squeezed Xiu Niangzi’s hand hard: “Xiu Niangzi, you can’t think of doing anything foolish.”
Xiu Niangzi just smiled: “I’m not thinking of doing anything foolish. I just want to go find my Niuniu.”
“Xiu Niangzi, you’re confused!”
Xiu Niangzi was stunned.
The old woman said exasperatedly: “Why did Niuniu come back to see you? Isn’t it because she’s afraid you’re not doing well because you miss her? If you have thoughts of seeking death, Niuniu might not even be able to reincarnate!”
“What do you mean?” Xiu Niangzi suddenly became anxious.
The old woman sighed: “The old sending off the young, this is a great filial impiety of the young. Xiu Niangzi, you must have heard this saying before, right?”
Xiu Niangzi nodded involuntarily.
This was an old saying; of course, she knew it.
“Xiu Niangzi, Niuniu went before you, regardless of the reason, she’s already carrying the debt of owing her mother. If you seek death because of her, her sin will be great. When the King of Hell looks at the book of merits and deeds, Niuniu was supposed to be reborn into a wealthy family to enjoy blessings in her next life, but now she might be reborn as an animal—”
“Nonsense!” Xiu Niangzi was shocked, her face turning pale.
She didn’t care what happened to herself, but Niuniu couldn’t suffer anymore!
The old woman patted Xiu Niangzi’s back: “So, Xiu Niangzi, you must live well. If you live well, Niuniu’s debt will be less, and she’ll have blessings in her next life. Ah, Niuniu is such a good child, remembering to send osmanthus cakes to her mother…”
Xiu Niangzi’s eyes moved slightly, and she murmured: “My Niuniu will become a noble lady, she won’t have to grind tofu with me, be bullied, and certainly won’t be killed by anyone, right?”
“Yes.” Secretly observing Xiu Niangzi’s eyes gradually regaining their vitality, the old woman quietly sighed.
It seems she believed it. Whether she could get a reward from the old master was uncertain, but saving a life, she had accumulated some virtue, right?
Xiu Niangzi was truly a pitiful person.
Zhen Shicheng soon received news from the old woman that Xiu Niangzi had not only eaten an extra bowl of rice day but had also voluntarily swept the floor.
Zhen Shicheng’s heart eased.
Being able to eat and work meant Xiu Niangzi had given up thoughts of seeking death.
That little girl had a way.
Thinking of Jiang Si, Zhen Shicheng couldn’t help but smile.
After Jiang Si told Zhen Shicheng about arranging work for Xiu Niangzi, she instructed A’fei to quickly find a suitable shop.
The shop didn’t need to be large, preferably with a storefront facing the street and a courtyard in the back for people to stay.
Jiang Si didn’t expect this small shop to make money; it just needed to maintain operations. The key was that with such a cosmetics shop, she could appear there openly, which would be convenient for handling many things in the future.
For Jiang Si, ruining the reputation of the heir of Marquis Changxing was just solving one problem; there were more problems to solve later.
For this reason, all preparations were necessary.
The last part of May passed in the tumultuous case of the heir of Marquis Changxing torturing and killing ten women.
During this period, except for one victim’s family who couldn’t be found, the families of the other victims successively came to handle the aftermath. Zhen Shicheng helped them obtain considerable compensation from the Marquis Changxing’s mansion.
People always forget quickly. Soon, people’s attention was drawn to the case of “Yang Guojiu’s” sudden death. As there was little progress in this case, Beijing seemed calm for a while.
However, Yu Jin’s mood has been quite unsettled recently.
His eighteenth birthday was approaching.