The noise in the entire West Market Square suddenly died down.
The yamen runner stood with his mouth agape, the brass gong in his hand suspended in mid-air.
The man selling flatbreads still had half a mouthful of saliva unswallowed, his eyes bulging as he stared at Lin Siniang's back.
No one had ever seen such a thing.
The recruitment notice from the Imperial Envoy's headquarters, an official document stamped with the official seal, had actually been torn down in public by a widow covered in mud and wearing a blue cloth turban.
The silence lasted for only a few breaths.
"Rebellion! Hey! Are you crazy, woman!" The yamen runner was the first to recover his wits, the brass gong almost slipping from his grasp. He rushed forward two steps, reaching out to snatch the notice. "An official government document, how can a..."
"What she took down is the recruitment notice."
Lao Tong's voice interjected, and the yamen runner's hand stopped in mid-air.
Lao Tong adjusted the reading glasses on the bridge of his nose and said in an unhurried tone, "The recruitment notice was posted for people to take down, wasn't it?
"Taking down the notice means answering the call, a rule that has existed since the previous dynasty. Why are you, a yamen runner, trying to stop her?"
The yamen runner choked on his words, his face flushing bright red. He opened his mouth a couple of times, suddenly unsure if he should make a move.
The whispers in the crowd exploded at this moment.
"A widow taking down the recruitment notice? How many acres of land has she ever farmed?"
"She's probably delirious from hunger and wants to scam those ten taels of settlement silver."
"What does a woman who scratches a living from alkaline soil know about water conservancy and irrigation ditches? What a joke."
The wave of discussion grew higher and higher, turning from murmurs into mockery. Lin Siniang stood unmoving in her spot, the old scar on her forehead glowing an ashen white in the sunlight. Her lips were tightly pursed, and she didn't say a single word.
A middle-aged scholar wearing a faded indigo gown squeezed his way up from the back of the crowd. This man's surname was Zhou, and everyone in Zhenbei City called him Scholar Zhou.
In truth, he hadn't even earned the title of a scholar. He had taken the county examination three times and failed all three times. He usually made a living in the city by writing petitions and drafting contracts for wealthy families, and he loved nothing more than to show off a few quotes from the sages in front of others.
The bystanders couldn't be bothered to expose him.
Scholar Zhou squeezed in front of Lin Siniang, looked her up and down, and without bothering to hide the contempt on his face, he spoke in an affected tone:
"I say, good sister-in-law, do you know what you are holding in your hand? That is the imperial court's recruitment notice. It is recruiting experts well-versed in agriculture and water conservancy, not a notice for distributing porridge to beggars."
He turned his head and cupped his hands to the crowd, raising his voice by a third: "Everyone, judge for yourselves. The Imperial Envoy is looking for capable people who can grow crops in the Hetao region!"
"It's not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry who can come and take down the notice. A widow who curses her husband, who can't even feed herself, coming here to ruin an official government document—what kind of decency is this?"
A few jeers of agreement rang out from the crowd.
Lin Siniang raised her head and stared at Scholar Zhou for a breath, her voice as hoarse as sandpaper scraping across a wooden board. "The notice clearly states, regardless of military or civilian status, regardless of men or women."
"Oh, you can even read?" Scholar Zhou raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth turning down. "Is being able to read such a big deal? A hen crowing at dawn, since ancient times it has always been..."
"You can read, yet you didn't pass the exams to get a degree. I can't read every word, but I managed to grow seedlings in alkaline soil," Lin Siniang retorted earnestly. "Who is capable and who is not, the crops in the fields have the final say, not you."
These words choked Scholar Zhou right up. His face turned red and then white, and he was just about to flare up.
A sudden commotion arose on the outskirts of the crowd, accompanied by harsh curses and hurried footsteps. Someone was pushing their way in forcefully, causing the people in front to stumble one after another.
"Out of the way! Get out of my way, all of you!"
A sharp and piercing female voice cut through the noise. The man selling flatbreads was shoved aside from behind, his carrying pole crashing to the ground and sending flatbreads rolling everywhere.
Madam Qian squeezed out from the gaps in the crowd.
She was followed by two men. One wore a felt hat askew and had a face full of fierce flesh; the other was bare-chested with half a green dragon tattooed on his shoulder. They were the very same two thugs who had beaten people in the shack the day before.
Madam Qian locked her eyes on Lin Siniang instantly. Her gaze swept over the yellow hemp paper notice, and then she shrieked:
"Well, well! I searched for you all night and couldn't find you, and here you are! Everyone, see clearly, this is the daughter-in-law of my Xu family. She stole something from our house three days ago and ran away. She belongs to our family!"
She waved a hand at the two thugs behind her. "What are you standing there for! Grab her!"
The bare-chested man chuckled darkly, clenching his fists as he advanced on Lin Siniang.
He was a head and a half taller than Lin Siniang, his shadow falling over her and blocking out most of the sunlight.
Lin Siniang did not retreat.
She pressed the earthenware pot in her arms three degrees tighter and forced a sentence out of her throat: "I took down the Imperial Envoy's recruitment notice! I know how to farm! I can make grain grow in alkaline soil! I am the person the Imperial Envoy's headquarters is looking for!"
The bare-chested man's footsteps paused for a moment.
It wasn't that her words frightened him, but the words "Imperial Envoy" made him hesitate for half a breath.
But it was only for half a breath.
Madam Qian urged and cursed from behind: "What are you afraid of? What does a beggar widow like her have to do with the Imperial Envoy? Don't listen to her nonsense, drag her away quickly. If you're late, those three taels of silver will be gone!"
The bare-chested man grimaced, grabbed Lin Siniang's arm, and dragged her outward.
Lin Siniang stood firmly rooted to the spot.
The bare-chested man tugged twice but failed to move her. He immediately grew angry, raised his leg, and kicked Lin Siniang in the left ribs.
That was exactly the spot where her ribs had been broken from a kick the night before.
Lin Siniang's body instantly hunched over, letting out a muffled, hoarse groan.
The crowd backed up several steps. A young woman carrying a baby covered her child's eyes, her lips trembling.
Old Man Wang also squatted beside his tofu carrying pole and turned his head away, unable to bear watching any longer.
No one stepped forward.
Seeing that one kick hadn't knocked her down, the bare-chested man cursed viciously and bent over to pry at the earthenware pot in Lin Siniang's arms. "Still holding onto this piece of trash! Let go!"
Lin Siniang's entire body curled into a ball, pressing the pot between her chest and knees, exposing her back to the outside.
With every punch and kick that landed on her back, she let out a muffled grunt, but her two arms refused to let go no matter what.
The man in the askew hat also joined in, kicking her in the lower back twice, each kick heavier than the last.
Blood flowed from the split open old wound on Lin Siniang's forehead, sliding down her cheekbone to her chin, dripping onto the earthenware pot in her arms.
Madam Qian stood three steps away, arms crossed, tilting her head as she watched this scene, her mouth still muttering non-stop: "Beat her, beat her to death! Once she's beaten into submission, she'll behave. It doesn't matter if she lives or dies; if she dies, it'll save us trouble."
Scholar Zhou had long since retreated to the back of the crowd, shrinking his neck and keeping quiet.
Sun Qi stood in place leaning on his crutch. The bottom of the crutch tapped against the ground twice, but he only had one leg; he couldn't stand steadily, and he couldn't rush over.
His lips moved a few times, and in the end, he only managed to curse out: "Animals."
No one responded to him.
The bare-chested man's hands grew sore from beating her. He stepped back and gasped for breath. Looking down, he saw that the woman was still curled up on the ground hugging that broken pot, as if it had grown onto her body.
"Damn it, still won't let go?"
He pulled a half-foot-long wooden stick from behind his waist, tapped it twice against his palm, and then raised it high above his head, aiming right at the back of Lin Siniang's head.
Madam Qian's curses, the crowd's murmurs, the howling of the wind sweeping past the eaves—all these sounds were compressed into a blur of background noise in this very moment.
Lin Siniang closed her eyes.
Five small millet seedlings were pressed against her chest, their leaves warmed by her body heat.
Using the last ounce of her strength, she curled her body an inch tighter.
Seeing this scene, Lao Tong turned his head away, pulling the brim of his hat down to cover half of his face.
The woman carrying a baby pressed the child's head into her embrace and closed her own eyes.
The wooden stick smashed down, whistling through the air.
But right at that moment!
A sharp crack pierced the air as an oil-soaked cowhide whip lashed violently against the bare-chested man's wrist.
Hello, dear readers! I am currently brainstorming the character traits for the official character illustrations of our key cast. Please feel free to speak up and share what each character looks like in your own mind!
However, the artwork releases might be a bit slow, as there are still other characters yet to make their debut later on.
I will let you know how to obtain these illustrations within the novel later, so please keep an eye out for future updates!
