It was a fine winter’s day.
Unlike summer’s harsh glare, the winter sun hung quietly in the sky, spreading just the right amount of warmth over people below.
Of course, this warmth couldn’t completely ward off the chill.
Some pedestrians on the street had already changed into padded jackets, while others still wore their lined clothes, their hunched silhouettes betraying their shivers.
A young woman in a pea-green lined garment moved briskly through the marketplace carrying a basket covered with old cloth, her movements sharp and energetic.
When she arrived at her usual spot, she found it already occupied.
The occupant was Second Aunt Liu from her village.
Second Aunt Liu was not one to be trifled with, but the young woman was equally fierce. She immediately grew angry: “Second Aunt Liu, this is my spot. Please move aside.”
Second Aunt Liu lifted her eyelids to look at the young woman and sneered: “Oh? How is this your spot? Tell me, Dongmei, did you rent it or buy it? If you’ve neither rented nor bought it, then it’s first come, first served.”
The young woman had already been in a foul mood these days, and her anger flared instantly: “I’ve been selling eggs here for half a year. There are so many empty spots over there, why must you take this one? Second Aunt Liu, you’re deliberately making things difficult for me, aren’t you?”
“Why would I, your elder, want to make things difficult for you? That spot’s in the shade—you’d freeze to death sitting there. So what if it’s been half a year? If you wandered into a fancy restaurant every day for half a year, would that make it yours? That’s not how things work…”
The young woman’s eyebrows shot up as she spat angrily: “Stop with this nonsense! If you’re worried about the shade, why not move a bit forward where there’s sun? This is clearly about your pig that got into my yard and dug up my cabbages before my dog bit its leg!”
Second Aunt Liu grew angry at this.
The nerve of this woman! Such shamelessness!
Her pig had simply wandered into a neighbor’s yard and dug up a few cabbages. She would have paid compensation, but then the neighbor’s dog took a huge bite out of its hindleg.
That was bad enough, but they wouldn’t even return the meat from the pig’s leg, claiming the dog had eaten it.
Bah! That evening she’d smelled meat cooking from their house. She knew perfectly well whether that pork had gone into a dog’s belly or a human stomach.
“Dongmei, your mother-in-law and I have been neighbors for years without quarrel. Who knew that once she left, I couldn’t get along with you, her daughter-in-law? Let this aunt warn you—young wives should be gentle, or you might not even be able to keep your own man…”
“What do you mean by that?” The young woman’s heart skipped a beat.
These days she’d felt something was off about her husband. Though she hadn’t caught anything specific, her woman’s intuition told her something was wrong.
It was precisely this worry that had kept her up at night, making her late to the market today.
Second Aunt Liu gave a gleeful smile: “Oh, this aunt hasn’t said anything. But if you’ve no place to sell your eggs, why not check that house across from Ma Po’s pickle shop? When I passed by this morning, I could’ve sworn I saw someone familiar sneaking in…”
The house across from Ma Po’s pickle shop?
The young woman’s face changed dramatically as she realized—wasn’t that the pretty widow’s house? She knew they’d been carrying on!
The young woman stormed off with her basket, murderous intent in her stride.
Many market-goers knew her, and seeing she was off to catch her husband in the act, they quickly followed.
Ma Po’s pickle shop was famous in the area for its preserved vegetables, especially its pickled cucumbers. In winter, nothing beats having a bowl of Ma Po’s steaming hot corn porridge with those sour, crisp, and spicy pickles.
Jiang Zhan had just finished his second bowl of porridge and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, sighing contentedly: “Father, Fourth Sister, didn’t I tell you? Isn’t the corn porridge with pickles here absolutely amazing?”
Jiang Si smiled and nodded: “It is very good. Second Brother has found quite a nice place.”
Jiang Zhan looked pleased: “I made some friends in the Imperial Guard, and one of them loves finding good food around the city. When Fourth Sister mentioned being tired of rich foods and wanting some tangy pickles, I thought of this place. Does it suit your taste, Father?”
Fresh vegetables were scarce in winter and even households like Earl Dongping’s mainly served meat dishes. It was natural for young ladies to tire of such rich fare.
Jiang Ancheng’s mouth twitched: “It’s acceptable.”
Si’er is tired of braised pork knuckles? Seems we’ll need to change the menu.
“Don’t just think about eating and playing—focusing on your duties is what matters!” Jiang Ancheng delivered his routine lecture to his son.
After the riverboat arson incident, Jiang Zhan became less resistant to such advice. Though he still found it tedious, he nodded: “Son understands.”
Jiang Ancheng felt greatly comforted, his mood improving.
His son had become sensible, his daughter had always been wise—taking his children out for an outing like this, it seemed life held no regrets.
The young woman rushed to her destination and stopped to catch her breath, leaning against a tree in front of the house opposite Ma Po’s pickle shop. Her eyes immediately caught sight of a red cord lying by the door.
She bent down to pick it up.
The cord was old, broken at one end, with a rather elaborate knot at the other.
Seeing that knot, the young woman immediately recognized it as the one from her husband’s wrist.
She had learned this particular knot from a young wife who had married into their village last year. Since this was her husband’s zodiac year, she had tied it around his wrist at the beginning of the year.
That ungrateful bastard!
The young woman had a fierce temper and rushed forward to pound on the door.
Someone in the crowd who loved stirring up trouble held her back: “Listen, sister, if you knock, you’re just warning them! As the saying goes, catch a thief with stolen goods, catch adulterers in the act. If you knock at the front door, they’ll run out the back, and then where will you find justice?”
The young woman saw the logic in this and abandoned her plan to knock, looking to the speaker for guidance.
The person suggested: “Kick the door in and charge straight in—catch them completely off guard!”
“Yes, yes, that’s exactly what you should do!” several voices immediately chimed in from the gathering crowd.
The young woman, already consumed by anger with little rationality left, heard multiple people advising this and did exactly that without hesitation.
The door burst open under her kick, and she charged in like a whirlwind.
With the cold weather, even the usually chattering sparrows had grown lazy, and such excitement hadn’t been seen in quite a while. Many people, as if injected with chicken blood, rushed in behind the young woman.
No one noticed that the few people who had earlier encouraged this action from within the crowd quietly slipped away.
Zhu Ziyu’s face turned ashen as he watched the crowd suddenly burst into the main hall.
Cui Mingyue’s voice rang out sharply: “Get out!”