Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I obeyed the arrangements and hurried back to my tent to pack my things.

There wasn’t much: a sword, a ration pouch, a suit of armor, and a few pieces of silver the general had awarded me for my merits.

The brothers stood off to the side, clicking their tongues in wonder.

“I told you Wood was a woman, but none of you believed me.”

“I never said I didn’t believe it. What I meant was, man or woman, Wood is still our brother.”

“Yeah, right. Wood’s about to go live it up in the Prefectural Mansion. You think she still cares about having a brother like you?”

“Ah, Wood really is blessed. The Prefect’s family must have dumplings three meals a day, right? Meat-filled ones, too.”

I looked at this bunch of mud-legged soldiers.

They looked back at me with those same foolish grins.

Every face was sallow from hunger. Military pay was tight this year, and none of us had enough rations. The general had gone to the imperial court again and again to ask for grain, but he had come back empty-handed.

Winter had arrived, and everyone’s padded jackets were full of holes, thin cotton batting poking through. No one had money for new ones.

Whenever the north wind blew, everyone hunched their necks and shivered.

Even so, as they looked at me now, the joy on their faces was sincere.

For the past twelve years, we had blocked blades for one another on the battlefield, taken arrows for one another, traded life for life.

I shouldered my little bundle. “Brothers, I’m leaving.”

They waved cheerfully. “Remember to write.”

I climbed into the Zhao Mansion carriage.

Inside, the bedding was covered in pine-green satin, silver-red Suzhou embroidery cushions were set out, and a gilt hand warmer burned with fine silver charcoal. The whole compartment was so warm it almost made one drowsy.

All at once, I remembered a poem the general had once read to us.

He had said, “Behind vermilion gates, wine and meat rot; by the roadside lie the bones of those frozen to death.”

Something stirred in my chest, and I looked toward the other side of the carriage.

The person sharing the carriage with me was Zhao Qingqing.

She wore an exquisite silk dress and a snow-white fox-fur cloak. She glanced at me with faint disgust, then shifted farther away.

When it was just the two of us, she no longer bothered with that delicate, fragile act. Her hostility toward me was written all over her face.

“You don’t actually think being their biological daughter means anything, do you?” Zhao Qingqing said coldly, her voice somewhat shrill. “The Zhao Mansion has produced officials for generations. We are an upper-class family of distinction. How could a crude person like you possibly be worthy of being a young lady of the Zhao Mansion?”

Zhao Qingqing went on and on, but I only remained silent.

It wasn’t that I was yielding to her. In my life, arguing had always been utterly meaningless.

It was like two nations at war. What did it matter if the officials on both sides argued until the sky went dark?

In the end, what mattered was whose fist was harder, whose strength was greater, and who had real soldiers in hand.

Seeing that I ignored her, Zhao Qingqing grew even angrier.

When we reached the gates of the Zhao Mansion and she was about to get out of the carriage, she suddenly pitched straight forward and fell.

Zhao Shuo-my elder brother by blood-had just stepped down from the carriage in front. When he turned and saw this, he hurried over.

“Qingqing, are you all right?”

Zhao Qingqing’s face was pale. Clutching her ankle, she blinked her almond-shaped eyes, and fat tears came tumbling down.

Zhao Shuo panicked. “Qingqing, where are you hurt? Does it hurt?”

His voice quickly drew Prefect Zhao and Madam Zhao over as well.

Once the whole family had gathered around her, Zhao Qingqing finally spoke.

Sobbing, she said, “Just now, I was getting out of the carriage, and somehow, a force suddenly came from behind me. Then I fell…”

Before she had even finished speaking, Zhao Shuo was already glaring at me, his brows drawn and his eyes blazing.

“Zhao Mujin, you actually pushed Qingqing?!

“I know you suffered greatly after being lost outside the family, and it’s only natural that you’d harbor resentment. But why take it out on Qingqing? Back then, Qingqing was only a swaddled infant. It wasn’t as if she harmed you. Why must you target her like this?”

As Zhao Shuo flew into a rage, Zhao Qingqing had already stumbled forward on her knees.

She clutched at the hem of Zhao Shuo’s robe and wept helplessly.

“Brother, Sister surely didn’t do it on purpose. She must have spent too many years in the military camp and never ridden in a carriage before, so she didn’t know the proper way to get down. That’s why she bumped into me.

“And Sister is right to resent me. After all, the person who caused Sister to end up wandering the streets was my grandmother. Though I never had much contact with that grandmother, since we are related by blood, I ought to repay the sins she committed…”

Zhao Qingqing sobbed until she could barely breathe, tears streaming down her face.

Madam Zhao grew anxious beside her. “Qingqing, your health is poor. How can you withstand kneeling in the snow like this? Get up, quickly!”

Zhao Qingqing shook her head. “If Sister won’t forgive me, Qingqing won’t get up. Qingqing must apologize to Sister…”

Perhaps her body truly was delicate, because before Zhao Qingqing could finish speaking, she fainted into Zhao Shuo’s arms.

In a panic, Zhao Shuo scooped Zhao Qingqing up in his arms and rushed into the mansion. “Someone! Summon the imperial physician at once!”

Madam Zhao hurried after him, looking at the pale-faced Qingqing and shedding tears nonstop. “My poor daughter. How can fate be so cruel, making her suffer such a terrible grievance…”

Prefect Zhao gave me a disappointed, disgusted look. With a flick of his sleeve, he turned and followed them.

I was left abandoned where I stood. Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, landing silently on my shoulders.

I had to admit, it did hurt a little.

I had always known I was an orphan. Now that my birth parents had suddenly found me, even though I could tell they were unreliable, perhaps deep down I’d still held on to the tiniest hope of gaining a family’s love.

Now that hope was finally gone too.

But all told, I was only sad for a single instant.

The next instant, I spotted the fruit laid out in the main hall.

Each one was bright red and plump. One glance and you could tell they were bursting with juice.

In a bitterly cold place like Qingzhou, there weren’t many fresh fruits to be had. These must have been rushed here along the official road by fast horses, specially for the Prefectural Mansion’s enjoyment.

I asked a servant, “Can I eat these?”

The servant had clearly been waiting for me to burst into tears. Instead, he was caught completely off guard by this turn of events and stammered, “Y-Yes, you can…”

I said, “Great!”

I ate a few, then secretly stuffed a big handful into my clothes.

The Zhao Mansion really was rich.

Being rich was wonderful.

Everyone in the mansion had surged off toward Zhao Qingqing’s side in a great crowd. I had been neglected, and no one was paying attention to me.

So I took advantage of the chaos, climbed over the wall, and slipped out, making it to the market before the stalls closed so I could sell all the fruit.

I sold them for two taels of silver and bought several big, fat pigs.

I hired a carriage, loaded all the trussed-up pigs onto it, and instructed the driver to deliver them to the military camp.

After thinking it over, I still felt uneasy, so I wrote a letter and had him take it along as well.

The letter said:

Brothers, seeing these words is as good as seeing me in person.

Once the pigs arrive, slaughter them and eat them quickly. Whatever you do, don’t be like last time with that sheep we caught. You couldn’t bear to eat it, and in the end, the more you raised it, the skinnier it got.

Don’t worry. With me in the Zhao Mansion, from now on, we’ll have meat at every meal!