Chapter 4 Part 1

“That cursed Vice Minister, what a blasted nuisance!”

Along a compound corridor, a county official tore off his robes in one yank. “A mere bookworm who understands nothing of officialdom, a paper general… He should just stay in his precious Dali Court—what’s he doing in our backwater little town, huh?!”

“And besides, among the witnesses, that Nanny Zhao of the Zou Manor clearly said it all already—it was all the epileptic young master’s doing, no one else’s… and that the Xu girl was a pitiful soul forced into the marriage, so fleeing in chaos was hardly blameworthy…”

Beside him, another petty official nodded along. “Hah. Evil Ghost appearing, an old illness flaring, a joyous occasion turning to mourning—any one of those could be written down. Nobody wants to pursue it, but that Vice Minister just has to investigate. Investigate, investigate, investigate my foot!”

“Hah, ‘Vice Minister,’ he calls himself—he really dares put on airs. A good-for-nothing who rose on a woman’s skirts.” The county official snickered, slander flowing as easily as water. “If he hadn’t caught the Eldest Princess’s eye at the Hundred Flowers Banquet, would the Vice Ministership of the Dali Court ever have landed on him? A poor scholar who couldn’t even procure a letter of recommendation?”

“Probably…”

The other’s tone turned leering, his expression sly. “In that department, haha, he must be skilled, hm?”

The two officials exchanged a look and immediately burst into knowing laughter.

—But the laughter did not last long.

From behind them came an amused female voice: “You’re not wrong, you know.”

The woman wore a vermilion Immortal-Retaining Dress, her beauty striking, her every glance carrying a measure of pride and a measure of ease. “For my Prince Consort to be chewed over by the likes of you… a good-for-nothing indeed, isn’t he?”

Her red lips pressed together, phoenix eyes delicate, crescent brows curved, her tone still smiling—

Yet a chill ran down both officials’ spines.

“E-E-Eldest Princess!”

The two turned ashen with shock, tongues hopelessly tangled, and dropped to their knees with a thud. “This petty one, this petty one meant no offense, truly, tru—”

“What’s to fear? Would I swallow you two alive?” The Eldest Princess was still smiling broadly, waving a hand, her next words as leisurely as small talk.

“Evil Ghost. Old illness. A wedding turned funeral. A case that so fascinates that good-for-nothing Prince Consort sounds rather interesting.”

“Would you two grant me a look as well?”

The Zou Family’s wedding had been a grand affair, building fanfare since a month prior. So it was no difficulty at all to learn who Xu Liangdi was, where her home lay, and how many mouths her household held.

Luo Jiao visited a few out-of-the-way pawnshops and hastily sold off some of the dowry, barely managing to hire carriage transport and make her way back to her own village—Mo Fishing Village.

During the pawning, Luo Jiao had shouted herself hoarse in the Sea of Consciousness, but Xu Liangdi never made a sound. Luo Jiao took it as tacit agreement.

By the time she limped back to Mo Fishing Village, it was already dusk the next day.

Fields and paths, silence on every side—Luo Jiao’s steps faltered, until at last the silent Xu Liangdi, silent for three days in the Sea of Consciousness, finally spoke.

“That young master of the Zou Family… will he die?”

Startled by the sudden voice, Luo Jiao nearly pitched headfirst into the grass. “Scaring a ghost, are you?!” She picked herself up, brushed off her cloth skirt, and grumbled, “Who cares if he dies? You’re the one who died!”

Xu Liangdi went silent again.

Luo Jiao couldn’t be bothered to say more.

The curse she had laid on that Zou fool that day was nothing more than ‘enjoy pleasures you dared not enjoy, do deeds you dared not do’—and examined honestly, she didn’t think the curse itself contained anything remotely wicked. Whether the fool lived or died depended on fate; if the fool wasn’t inherently bloodthirsty, if someone intervened, if… in short, that one curse alone did not inevitably lead to a tragic end.

Fate. Fate. Good and evil hung on a single thought; life and death on a single thread—all left to fate.

Luo Jiao sighed. She had never fancied herself a good person. In her last life she’d had every means to live free and unburdened, yet cared too much for others’ opinions and the world’s rules, and it ended in absurdity. In truth, whether past life or present, morality and its like had never concerned her much; it was worldly talk that had left her hesitating at every turn.

Seeing the wisps of cooking smoke drawing near, Luo Jiao stopped beside a thick tree stump to rest.

Not far off, at the fishing village riverbank, children were playing in little groups.

Luo Jiao was quietly watching the little bridge and flowing water when a pellet struck her in the back.

She turned—and saw a boy with a slingshot raised, hollering, “The Xu Family’s little tramp is back! The Xu Family’s little tramp is back! The Xu—”

“Don’t—don’t say that!” Beside him, an older child panicked at once. “That’s my sister!”

With that, he flashed Luo Jiao a sheepish grin and came hobbling over, favoring a lame leg. “Sis… why are you back? The Zou Family…”

In the Sea of Consciousness, Luo Jiao heard Xu Liangdi cry out urgently: ‘Siwei!‘

‘Xu Siwei?‘ Luo Jiao sneered inwardly. ‘Your brother’s name is rather meaningful—how is it that you’re the one called ‘Liangdi’? I thought your parents were simply uneducated; now it’s clear they had the learning—they just wouldn’t spend it on you.‘

‘What—what do you mean!‘

Xu Liangdi hadn’t grasped the point, but bristled anxiously all the same. ‘Mother and Father weren’t educated, but—but Siwei’s name was chosen by the finest storyteller for miles around!‘

Luo Jiao winced: ‘That’s… not what I meant at all…‘

But before the two could argue it out, Xu Siwei reached out and grabbed Luo Jiao’s hand. “Sister! Did they treat you badly?” His lame leg failing him, he simply hopped the last few steps over. “I told you the Zou Family was no place to go—the young master’s an idiot, the head housekeeper’s a tyrant, anyone who goes there just suffers for nothing.”

Luo Jiao frowned. Who exactly did Xu Liangdi marry into that family for?

She opened her mouth, and asked almost without thinking, “Are you truly this oblivious, or just pretending?”

Xu Siwei looked blank. “Oblivious to what?”

In the Sea of Consciousness Xu Liangdi wailed, ‘Don’t go saying anything reckless!‘

Meeting Xu Siwei’s probing gaze, Luo Jiao pulled her hand free in irritation. “…Forget it, it’s nothing. Xu Liangdi wants to go back—” realizing her slip, she stopped at once, waving a hand and raising her voice instead. “Ahem. I want to go home.”

Xu Siwei nodded hurriedly. “Mother and Father missed you too!”

Watching him, Luo Jiao felt a stab of irony inside. But she could at least sense Xu Liangdi’s flood of joy in the Sea of Consciousness, so she let it be, and argued with no one.

Idle talk sours fast.

The two exchanged pleasantries all the way back to the Xu household. Xu Siwei chattered the entire way, asking this and that, and in the Sea of Consciousness Xu Liangdi answered with relish. Luo Jiao, listless, picked out only a few lines to repeat, fobbing him off at random.

Xu Liangdi noticed her low spirits but didn’t press. Xu Siwei, seemingly oblivious, stayed warm from start to finish.

The moment they crossed the Xu family threshold, Luo Jiao heard pots and pans clatter off the stove.

“Liangdi?” It was a woman’s voice, cracking with alarm. “You—what happened to you?”

Luo Jiao looked over to see a man in fisherman’s garb also hurrying out at the sound. “Xu Liangdi?”

“How did you get back?” Both of them dropped their work and rushed over. “What in the world happened?”

Xu Siwei was only a child of eight or nine—too young not to be fobbed off with a few perfunctory lines. But Mother Xu and Father Xu were another matter.

Luo Jiao had no choice but to spin a wild tale—from the hired sedan bearers to Ah Bao’s sudden madness, from slender hopes to a brush with death; at the emotional height she wept real tears, delivering the embellished saga with utmost gravity.

Mother and Father Xu listened, stunned. “Then… how are things at the Zou Manor now?”

“I don’t know,” Luo Jiao said, wiping her tears. “I only remember flames reaching the sky as I left the manor. Whether that was a hallucination, or…”

She paused, sobbing at just the right moments. “I don’t remember any of the journey. I dragged this sick body along, and only barely made it back to this village…”

Mother Xu hurriedly gathered her into her arms, patting her back. “You’re home, that’s all that matters! None of the rest is yours to think about. If the sky falls, your mother will hold it up!”

Xu Siwei grinned beside them. “Good thing you’re back! Mother’s been doing all the sweeping and cleaning alone lately—I thought she’d work herself to death!”

The remark rubbed Luo Jiao the wrong way, and she abruptly frowned.

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Mother Xu cut her son off at once, then gave Luo Jiao a sheepish smile. “Liangdi, you’ve only just settled in today—no chores for you, just rest, understand? As it happens, your father caught a big yellow croaker this morning. Mother will make you soup.”

Luo Jiao gave a flat “Mm.”

She had long since shed the wedding robes, dressed in gray-white coarse cloth, her hair tied up oddly, her whole demeanor dispirited—naturally, the Xus took her to have suffered terribly. A child they’d raised from infancy; to claim they felt nothing would be a lie.

The little fishing village was hardly prosperous; the aroma of the yellow croaker drifted for houses around and drew the neighbors’ questions. The Xus gave a few vague answers, shut the door, returned to the table—and, unprecedented, piled most of the tender fish into Xu Liangdi’s bowl.

Stripped of his favored treatment, Xu Siwei pulled a face, but a glare from Father Xu batted it right back. “Xu Liangdi, eat more. Look how thin you’ve gotten.” Father Xu picked bones from the fish, then turned to Mother Xu. “Was Xu Liangdi always this thin?”

Mother Xu started, then nodded again and again, a tear falling from her eye. “All that traveling these past days—she’s thinner still.”

Lunch stretched on with warm concern until nearly the hour of Shen, and then Luo Jiao was ushered back to her room.

“A sleepless night—you must be exhausted.” Mother Xu smiled warmly. “Rest early, now.”

Luo Jiao answered.

At the door, before closing it, Mother Xu hesitated, looking at her. “Liangdi… how are your feet?”

Luo Jiao smiled. “They’re fine now.”

The woman’s eyes grew wet, and she choked out, “I’m sorry. Mother failed to protect you.”

Luo Jiao felt nothing inside—but Xu Liangdi was moved to pieces, her voice shuddering: “Mother… it wasn’t your fault, Mother.”