“Smash!”
The sound of a teacup shattering broke the silence, sending the birds beneath the eaves fluttering away in alarm.
Liangping County had been built along a river. Here, the Wangtian Gully’s rushing waters eased into a gentle flow, yet as the season grew colder, the river seemed to grow darker and darker.
Inside the room, a woman silently drew in her legs, quietly tucking a pair of pink embroidered shoes beneath her padded skirt. Every movement was humble and cautious.
“He obviously doesn’t care about the common people’s lives! He just wants to bring us down!” Wen Ze took a deep drag from his tobacco pipe. The ember in the bowl flickered uncertainly as he turned to Wen Yingjing, his eye bags twitching with agitation. “Father, we absolutely cannot hand over the entirety of our family fortune!”
“I know that perfectly well. He wants to use our money to win the people’s favor and make a name for himself. How could I possibly let him have his way?” Wen Yingjing’s face seemed cloaked in a layer of dark, impenetrable gloom. Seated upright in his armchair, he tightly fingered a string of crimson Buddhist prayer beads.
The beads had been blessed by Master Faji, the most renowned monk in the region. He had claimed that they would ensure Wen Yingjing’s prosperity and keep him safe from harm.
For more than twenty years, Wen Yingjing had thrived in Mianzhou, wielding power comparable to that of a local emperor. He therefore placed great faith in the monk’s words. On ordinary days, he kept the prayer beads in the incense room; today, however, he had not let go of them for even a moment.
“Ouch, it hurts like hell…” Wen Xu sat on a cushion, a heavy cangue fastened around his neck. Both his arms were locked firmly inside it. His severed arm had been crudely secured with nothing more than a wooden splint and gauze, leaving no possibility of proper treatment. At that moment, he was wailing as though the sky itself were falling, behaving like a man whose father had just died. “Father, Mother, Big Brother! Hurry up and think of something! This damned cangue is rubbing my neck raw. I can’t take it anymore!”
Wen Ze was already distraught, and Wen Xu’s incessant whining only made him more irritable. He glared viciously at him. “Useless good-for-nothing! You ruin everything you touch!”
Wen Yingjing ignored Wen Xu’s cries and instead pointed at the woman standing with her head bowed nearby. “Look at the bastard you gave birth to. He’s come to claim our lives!”
The woman remained silent. She merely lowered her eyes obediently, concealing the emotions within them.
She slowly walked to Wen Xu’s side and cautiously raised a hand, gently supporting the edge of the cangue to take some of its weight off him and make him a little more comfortable.
“Mother!” Wen Xu, however, showed no appreciation. Baring his teeth, he complained, his face twisted with a mixture of pain and venom. “He slapped me dozens of times and had someone break my arm. Now he’s put me in this criminal’s cangue to humiliate me! Father was right. Why didn’t you strangle him when you had the chance? Why did you give birth to him and bring me all this trouble for nothing?”
The woman’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly. A faint sorrow lingered between her brows, but she still said nothing. She only focused more intently on supporting Wen Xu’s cangue, as though she had not heard his bitter outburst.
Her long hair was gathered into a simple bun at the back of her head, secured with a silver hairpin. She resembled a fragile epiphyllum, one that might wither at any moment.
At that moment, hurried footsteps sounded in the courtyard. A trusted subordinate who had remained in Mianzhou City rushed in, his expression grave. The moment he entered, he fell to his knees.
“Master, I’ve made inquiries. Every incense merchant who visited Mianzhou this time donated the full amount. The woman responsible for recording the contributions is sharp-eyed and meticulous, checking every payment line by line. No one dared try anything in front of her.”
Wen Yingjing tightened his grip on the prayer beads and snorted. “Since when have those old foxes been so willing to obey the government?”
“Master, people fear comparison above all else.” The trusted subordinate sighed and spoke frankly. “Although their losses aren’t small this time, once they saw that the Wen family was being forced to give up its entire fortune, they felt that their own losses amounted to nothing. In Mianzhou, the victor has always taken everything. They must be delighted to use this opportunity to drag the Wen family down. Who knows how happily they’re celebrating behind our backs!”
“Good! Very good indeed!” Wen Ze was so furious that he slammed his tobacco pipe onto the floor, scattering sparks everywhere. “I knew it! Ever since we developed Bone-Penetrating Fragrance and monopolized most of the incense trade, those people have been green with envy. Now they can’t wait for the Wen family to collapse completely!”
Wen Xu panicked. Forgetting his pain, he hurriedly asked, “Father! That bastard said he was going to abolish Dongyazi! Does that mean I’ll never be able to use Bone-Penetrating Fragrance again? I feel awful whenever I don’t have it!”
“How dare you bring that up!” Wen Ze grabbed him by the cheeks and snarled, “Wen Zhuo has been looking for evidence against us for a long time. Once the matter of Bone-Penetrating Fragrance comes to light, we’d have more heads than we could count to lose! Remember this: Bone-Penetrating Fragrance has nothing to do with those bastards from Dongyazi. Deny it to the death!”
Wen Xu’s cheeks were twisted out of shape beneath his grip. He muttered aggrievedly, “It’s not just me who uses it. Prefect Lou Changsui needs it too…”
As soon as Lou Changsui was mentioned, the trusted subordinate hurriedly added, “Master, there’s another matter of even greater importance. The prefect has been thrown into prison by Director Wen! It seems the matter concerning Liu Kangren couldn’t be covered up after all.”
“What?” Wen Yingjing’s entire body jolted. His finger suddenly slipped, and when he tugged too hard, the prayer beads slid from his palm.
Perhaps the cord had grown brittle after hanging in the incense room for so many years. When the beads hit the floor, the cord snapped with a sharp crack. The beads clattered loudly as they rolled in every direction, scattering across the room.
Everyone present saw what had happened, and their expressions changed at once. For a moment, the room fell utterly silent, save for the prayer beads still rolling merrily across the floor.
Wen Yingjing’s right eyelid began to twitch violently.
Broken prayer beads were an omen of great misfortune.
He could no longer maintain his composure and ordered, “Fetch Master Faji at once!”
“Yes!” The trusted subordinate hurriedly acknowledged the order and was about to leave, but Wen Yingjing stopped him with a single motion.
Wen Yingjing drew a deep breath. “No. I’ll go myself. Prepare the carriage.”
Master Faji lived on Zhe Mountain, between Liangping County and Mianzhou City. The mountain was home to Wangxiang Temple, which had enjoyed flourishing incense and countless worshipers for many years.
In recent years, however, Faji’s health had deteriorated badly. He had stopped appearing in public, and some people suspected that he was close to passing into nirvana.
Fortunately, at that very moment, Master Faji was still alive.
This was only the second day of the seven-day deadline Wen Zhuo had set. Wen Yingjing had no time to worry about the hardships of the journey. He drove his horses hard all the way to Wangxiang Temple.
The moment he entered the temple gates, he ordered the servants accompanying him to pound on every door and rattle every entrance as they shouted at the top of their lungs, “Is Master Faji here? Master Wen has come to see him!”
Several young monks hurried forward to stop them, clasping their hands apologetically. “Please calm down, benefactor. Our master is unwell and has long since closed his doors to visitors. It is truly impossible for him to receive you. We hope you can be understanding…”
On any other day, Wen Yingjing might have put on a show of civility, scolding his men for being too loud and reminding them not to disturb the sacred grounds of the Buddhist temple. But now, he had no mind for such things. He merely stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, his dark expression fixed on the tightly shut wooden doors of the meditation chambers.
With Wen Yingjing’s tacit approval, the servants continued kicking the doors and pounding on the panels until they boomed throughout the temple.
At last, one of the doors slowly creaked open. A powerful herbal scent drifted from within, so pungent that it made everyone want to cover their noses.
Master Faji emerged wearing a monk’s robe washed nearly white with age. Leaning on a mottled meditation staff, he stooped as he slowly shuffled forward.
His hair had turned completely white, and he was so thin that he was little more than skin and bones. Only his eyes remained as bright and spirited as ever.
Before Faji could speak, Wen Yingjing hurried two steps forward and pressed him anxiously, “Master, the string of prayer beads you gave me many years ago broke for no reason today. Could this be an omen of some impending calamity?”
“Benefactor Wen.” Faji looked at him, slowly brought his palms together, and bowed. His voice was old and hoarse. “All those years ago, this humble monk warned you to harbor good intentions, uphold righteousness, reject evil, and never covet what does not belong to you. Only then would your fortune remain smooth and each year pass in peace. I wonder, over these past twenty-odd years, have you followed my advice?”
Wen Yingjing paused, his expression unchanged. “Naturally.”
Faji’s expression remained impassive, though a trace of pity flickered in his eyes. “If you followed my advice back then, why are you so anxious today? And if you did not, then you clearly do not believe this humble monk. Why bother asking now?”
Wen Yingjing was rendered speechless for a moment. Inwardly, he cursed the bald old monk for being so unyielding.
After a while, he forced down his anger and said courteously, “My Wen family has now been struck by a great calamity. Is Master truly going to stand by and watch?”
Faji slowly closed his eyes. “The causes sown twenty years ago have borne their consequences. This humble monk is powerless to change them.”
In all of Mianzhou, how many people would dare speak to Wen Yingjing in such a tone? What was more, Wen Yingjing had made the arduous journey up the mountain himself to seek an audience, giving Faji more than enough face.
Had it been anyone else, he would have ordered his servants to give them a vicious beating long ago.
But he still held some reverence for the Buddhist faith and did not lose his temper on the spot.
“If that is the case, then I will not trouble Master any further!” Wen Yingjing’s face turned livid. With a flick of his sleeve, he said, “I trust that my life is hard enough to withstand anything. I will surely be able to crush that persistent wraith of a bastard!”
With that, he turned around and descended the mountain without looking back.
As soon as he returned to the Wen residence, Wen Yingjing summoned the steward. “Sort out every asset listed in the accounts. Silver, land deeds, houses, jewelry—anything that can be converted into cash. Pack it all into chests!”
The steward did not dare delay and hurried off to carry out the order.
As chest after chest was brought out, Wen Ze’s heart ached at the sight.
“Father, do we really need to take out this much? That brat Wen Zhuo has no idea how much wealth our family actually possesses. We could simply put together some token amount and be done with it!”
Wen Yingjing stroked his beard, the wrinkled corners of his eyes narrowing with shrewd calculation. “Set half of these chests aside and send them to Second Madam. I will personally write her a letter of divorce and have her leave the Wen family at once with these assets.”
Wen Ze stared at him in shock. “Father, you—”
He was just about to speak up for his mother. She had accompanied Wen Yingjing when he had started from nothing and had endured every hardship by his side, while his second mother had done little more than win his favor with her beauty. Yet over the years, his father had grown increasingly cold toward his mother, and now he actually intended to give most of the family fortune to Second Madam!
But then, as the thought sank in, Wen Ze suddenly saw the light. He slapped his thigh in delight. “Father, what a brilliant plan! Once we do this, those assets will no longer belong to the Wen family in name. They will be in Second Mother’s hands. Even if Wen Zhuo is dissatisfied, he will have to show some restraint and will not dare move against her lightly. Once this crisis is over, you can quietly marry Second Mother again. Won’t the family fortune return to you then?”
“At least you are not completely stupid.” Wen Yingjing cast him a sidelong glance. His eyes drifted toward the direction of Mianzhou City, and the corner of his mouth lifted in disdain. “That whelp is still far too green to contend with me. He wants to put on a grand show for the common people? Then let him put on his show.”
There was malicious glee in Wen Ze’s voice. “Liu Kangren has been handing out porridge everywhere for four months. The local grain merchants could no longer sell at high prices, so they ran off to other regions long ago! Pingzhou, Gezhu, and Zhenzhou may only be suffering from a moderate drought, but the people there still have no grain to eat. Most of them are reduced to chewing tree bark, while the grain merchants have made a fortune in those places. When the time comes, he will have money but be unable to buy grain, stirring up public outrage. Let’s see how long he can keep acting so mighty!”
Thus, on the evening of the following day, Lin Yingniang regained her freedom.
With several enormous chests in tow, she moved into the long-abandoned residence on the outskirts of the county, escorted by more than thirty Wen family servants.
The courtyard gate had long since rotted away, its surface mottled black and covered in the scars of age.
One of the servants stepped forward and pushed it open. With a harsh, creaking groan, the gate trembled precariously, as if the slightest bit more force would send the entire thing crashing to the ground.
Lifting her skirts, she walked inside.
The weeds at her feet had grown wildly, yellow and withered. The night dew dampened her shoes and stockings, while the blades scratched at her ankles, as though the lingering spirits of the dead were resisting her desecration of this former home.
She had no choice but to stop, afraid of offending them.
The bluestone bricks that had once been laid with such care had long since been broken apart and devoured by encroaching weeds. Moonlight filtered through the damaged eaves, illuminating the ruined window lattice, the charred-black doorposts, and, in the southeastern corner of the courtyard, a small wooden horse made of yellowwood.
The wood had dried and cracked, and nearly all the paint had peeled away, exposing jagged, sharp splinters. It was impossible to tell that this had once been a child’s favorite toy.
Lin Yingniang’s heart felt as though it had been tangled in withered grass and pierced by moonlight. A faint, aching pain spread through it bit by bit.
How ironic. After twenty-two full years, she had returned to the home she and Wen Qimin had once shared.
