Generals
Golden Osmanthus, Crimson Persimmons
When Lu Zheng was poisoned with an aphrodisiac, I spent a night as his wife to repay his kindness.
The Lu family was wealthy and powerful.
I was afraid people would think I meant to attach myself to them.
Before daybreak, I slipped out of the army camp and went south to start a small business.
I next heard news of Lu Zheng six years later.
While buying wine at the market, I heard that disaster had struck the Lu family.
Lu Zheng had been thrown into the imperial prison, and no one knew whether he was alive.
I wanted to take five-year-old Ke to see him, just once.
The Lu estate had already been confiscated.
After searching far and wide, I finally found the old marquis and his wife, both white-haired now, in a ruined temple outside the capital.
On the table before the Buddha lay a farewell letter and two bowls of thin rice gruel laced with arsenic.
The old marquis sighed and told me not to dissuade them.
“Even if we cling to life, they will still humiliate us.
We will only be a burden to our son.”
Looking at the elderly couple, so determined to die, I gave Ke a gentle nudge.
“Ke, say hello to your grandfather and grandmother.”
