Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“Hey, what are you crying for?”

“None of your business!”

Sitting on a peach tree branch, the little boy covered his face with his sleeve, looking as if he were deathly afraid of being seen.

The little girl under the tree curled her lip. While fiddling with the slingshot in her hand, she hummed with a total lack of emotional intelligence.

“It’s just because your daddy doesn’t want you anymore!”

“Your daddy’s the one who doesn’t want you!” The boy jumped down from the peach tree, hands on his hips aggressively.

“How would you know? I don’t even remember what my daddy looks like. But what does it matter? I have my mother! She made this slingshot for me herself. It can hit a bird perched on the highest point.”

“Tch, how crude!”

“Tch, don’t you dare beg me to let you play with it then!”

A pair of siblings had moved in next door. I didn’t like the little boy; he spent all day weeping and wailing. He clearly had a heart full of bitter resentment, yet he put on the airs of an adult.

But Mother told me that I wasn’t allowed to bully them and that I had to call them ‘Elder Brother’ and ‘Elder Sister.’

Fine. I had always listened to my mother since I was small.

Besides, although that elder brother named Qi Yu was very annoying, Sister Zhaozhao was a very good person. I could eat three of her osmanthus cakes at once.

“Tch, how crude.”

Qi Yu sat up straight with a stiff face, frowning in disgust as he watched me eat until my face was covered in cake crumbs.

Annoying Qi Yu. He acted as if he were some noble young lord.

…

Mother fell seriously ill. On her deathbed, she placed my hand in the palm of Sister Zhaozhao’s hand.

“Zhaozhao, you are a good child. Huai’an has no other relatives left; I can only entrust her to you. I don’t wish to cause you too much trouble, but I only ask that you give her a bowl of plain porridge so she can survive.”

“Rest easy, Auntie. From now on, I will surely treat Huai’an like my own sister. I will never mistreat her.”

Mother left. I didn’t want her to go, but I knew I couldn’t keep her.

Mother said that from now on, Zhaozhao would be my real elder sister and Qi Yu would be my real elder brother. From that moment on, they became the people I cherished most in this world.

I took it to heart. I had always listened to my mother.

…

The old couple next door told us that recently, some fierce-looking men had been appearing at the east end of the village. They heard these men would kidnap young women to sell them, and if they couldn’t be sold, they would cut out their hearts and livers. They warned us to be careful and not run around.

Sister Zhaozhao had to go to the market to sell osmanthus cakes to earn money. Before leaving, she told us to stay home obediently. However, Qi Yu had been sick for several days, and today his fever wouldn’t break. He lay on the bed, drifting in and out of consciousness, calling for his mother.

He really was someone who loved to act tough; only when he was sick did he act like such a child. Watching him… I was truly anxious.

I knew there was a kind of herbal medicine on the mountain behind the village. When I was little and got sick, Mother would always pick it and grind it into powder to mix into plain porridge. After eating it and sleeping, I would get better.

Qi Yu was crying and calling for his mother in his sleep again. His eyes were tightly shut, yet tears still stained his pillow. I looked at him and sighed, then reached out to unbolt the closed door.

…

I can never clearly remember what happened afterward. I only know that when I was most afraid, Sister Zhaozhao arrived.

“Huai’an, in a moment, Sister will go and lead them away. You run toward home. Run fast, don’t stop, and don’t look back. Do you hear me?”

I shook my head, weeping. “But Sister…”

“Don’t you remember what your mother said before she left? She told you to treat me as your real sister and to listen to me in everything. Are you not going to listen now?”

“Waaa… I’ll listen. Sister, I’ll be good. But Sister, I’m worried about you.”

“Be a good girl, Huai’an. Go home and wait for me. When I get back, I’ll steam some osmanthus cakes for you to eat.”

Sister Zhaozhao never came back.

…

“He Huai’an, why didn’t you listen to Sister? Why did you run around?

“Sister went to save you. Why are you the only one who came back?

“Why did you leave her behind? Why did you let her be the bait to trade for your life? Are you truly so cold-blooded and afraid of death?

“Sister was my only relative, yet you killed her.

“He Huai’an, you owe Sister a life. I want you to pay it back.”

“…Alright.”

“What right do you have to just die and be done with it? I want you to live with regret and guilt, living in as much pain as I do.”

“Alright.”

…

Only later did I learn that Qi Yu was an Imperial Prince. His birth mother was of lowly status, and both he and Sister Zhaozhao had been subjected to endless bullying since childhood. After their mother passed away, the concubines of the Harem pushed the siblings out of the palace and sent them to this remote, impoverished countryside.

So, he really was a noble young lord.

Later still, the Grand Tutor from the palace came to take Qi Yu back. I don’t know how much suffering Qi Yu-who was merely used as a pawn for power-endured in that war for the throne before he finally sat upon that dragon chair. Nor do I know how much blood stained his hands afterward to uproot the factions in court. I only know that along this journey, I never seemed to see him smile again.