Ying Xiaoman returned home late at night, put away her bamboo hat, hung the grappling hook back on the wall, and closed the door to her room.
Her Adoptive Mother had been coughing severely lately and couldn't sleep well at night. She was dozing in the room when she heard an unusual noise and was startled awake. She hurriedly slipped on her shoes and rushed out to the courtyard, "Child, who bullied you?!"
Xiaoman's temper was even more straightforward than her father's. When something displeased her, she would react on the spot. Since she was ten years old, she had never been seen coming home crying!
The door to the room swung open from the inside. Ying Xiaoman emerged with reddened eyes, dragged out several large basins of chopped lamb meat from under the stove, hung a lamp under the osmanthus tree, laid out her knives, spread a black cloth, and picked up a 4-5 pound piece of lamb loin with skin and bone. She began to chop the meat into fine mince.
Thud thud thud, thud thud thud thud thud.
The knife flashed like white lightning, turning the loin into fine minced meat in a matter of moments, tossing the lamb skin on the ground.
"Mother, we're not getting the signboard made anymore. We won't take the half tael deposit the shopkeeper paid us."
The Adoptive Mother was shocked, "They've already paid the money, why the sudden change of mind? I saw the characters Seventh Young Master wrote, they were excellent."
The knife paused, and the heavy cleaver smacked down on the chopping board.
"It's just a small business, what's the need for a fancy signboard," Ying Xiaoman said without looking up. "We can just put up a sign at the shop entrance. With me standing in the shop and meat on the chopping board, isn't that enough?"
While this made sense, it was very unusual.
Just yesterday when she left, this child was insisting on paying a high price for a good signboard.
The Adoptive Mother pondered, looking her daughter up and down, noticing her slightly reddened eyes, her knife-like gaze, the cracked chopping board...
She didn't dare to probe further, only saying, "Well, the shop has already opened, so whether we hang a signboard or not doesn't matter much. But we should definitely replace that chopping board."
Ying Xiaoman calmed down and examined the chopping board. This morning when Third Son Mo caused trouble, she had chopped a three-inch deep groove in front of him, and now there was a new crack. It was all bumpy and looked a bit unsightly.
"We'll replace it in a few days," she said.
She became sentimental, stroking the chopping board and murmuring, "It's not easy to find a good chopping board. I brought this one from the fish market."
The Adoptive Mother took away the chopping board, shaking her head at the two cleaver marks, and then gathered up the five pounds of minced meat that had been chopped into oblivion, preparing to sell it at the stall early in the morning.
Ying Xiaoman had vented her anger by fiercely chopping meat, and her irritation had mostly dissipated. She put away the black cloth, took out the pen, ink, and red paper prepared at home, spread them on the table, and wrote in neat, bold characters:
[YING FAMILY LAMB SHOP]
For their own meat shop, why bother asking this person or that person to write characters? What did it matter if the writing was a bit ugly? It was their own shop, so they should use their own handwriting.
The Adoptive Mother stood beside her watching, eight or nine tenths certain that this had something to do with Seventh Young Master.
After pondering for a while, she asked her daughter, "Yesterday afternoon after sending Zhi home, you disappeared. Then you came back in the middle of the night in a temper. And now you don't want the signboard we agreed on. Did you happen to run into Seventh Young Master outside, and he made you angry..."
Before she could finish speaking, Ying Xiaoman's eyes reddened again, a teardrop clinging to her eyelashes, about to fall but not quite.
"Mother, don't mention Seventh Young Master again," she said, wiping the corner of her eye. "He lied to me. He never intended to help me get revenge."
No wonder every time they discussed plans for revenge, about how to quickly eliminate the corrupt official Yan Rongshi, he always said things like "we need to consider this further" and "let's discuss this at length"...
It was all just excuses to delay!
He was the Yan family's Seventh Young Master, he never wanted to help an outsider like her kill the head of the Yan family, his own brother!
With a swoosh, the tightly closed main gate of the Ying family home opened.
Ying Xiaoman, with a stern face, said to the two sturdy guards standing watch outside, "Thank you both for guarding my family these past days. Seventh Young Master sent you here, you should go back to him now."
The two guards outside looked bewildered, "Miss Ying, why are you suddenly driving us away? If we've truly done something wrong, please let us know..."
"You haven't done anything wrong, but the Ying family doesn't want to deal with Yan Seventh Young Master anymore," Ying Xiaoman repeated. "You should go back to Seventh Young Master."
The guards wanted to persuade her further, but Ying Xiaoman pressed her lips together, unbolted the courtyard gate in front of them, and held the bolt in her hand.
"You saw me beat Shen Anu out of here a few days ago. Do you want to try it today?"
"..."
After driving away the two guards sent by Seventh Young Master, Ying Xiaoman closed the door and bolted it securely.
In the early hours of the morning, while it was still pitch dark, Zhi came out of her room rubbing her eyes, mumbling sleepily, "Sister, it's so noisy."
Ying Xiaoman turned and picked up Zhi, solemnly instructing her, "Seventh Young Master from the west room isn't your Seventh Brother anymore."
Zhi looked confused: "Has he become Seventh Uncle again?"
"No, don't call him Seventh Uncle..." Ying Xiaoman thought for a moment, her head aching, then said emphatically:
"He has nothing to do with our family anymore. If he comes again in the future, no matter what delicious fruits he brings to coax you, or if he brings a kite, or says he'll teach you to write... it's all lies. Don't listen to a word he says, and never open the door for him again."
Zhi's mouth fell open in shock, her big eyes like black grapes blinked, and tears plopped onto the ground.
"I like Seventh Brother, wuwuwu~"
Ying Xiaoman's eyes couldn't help but redden again.
Crystalline tears welled up in her eyes, but she held them back, refusing to let them fall.
She wanted to cry too.
"He's a liar," she explained to Zhi, choking back sobs. "Our family doesn't open the door for liars."
"Wuwuwu..." The two members of the Ying family, one big and one small, hugged each other heartbrokenly by the door, crying together.
Outside the door, the two guards who had been driven away hadn't actually gone far.
They listened carefully to the sounds from inside, catching a few key words, and exchanged helpless glances.
"What should we do?"
"Let's go back first and report everything to Young Master."
*
The hazy morning light shone into the narrow, quiet alley on the west side of the Ministry of Justice.
Following their master's orders, the guards quietly cleaned up the chaos in the narrow alley.
Eleventh Young Master had fallen from his horse in the dark night and rolled on the ground several times, scraping his hands and feet in several places. He was now sitting cross-legged against the wall, with a guard kneeling in front of him applying medicine.
Yan Seventh Young Master leaned against the wall, contemplating his friend thoughtfully.
"Was it you who Xiaoman ran into at the entrance of Changle Alley, posing as her enemy, the fake Yan Rongshi?"
Eleventh Young Master winced in pain as he spoke, "What nonsense are you talking about? Isn't Yan Rongshi you yourself?"
Yan Seventh Young Master shook his head, "No, listen to me."
He pointed at himself, "In Xiaoman's mind, I am the Yan family's Seventh Young Master, Yan Rongshi's brother."
"And you," Yan Seventh Young Master pointed at Eleventh Young Master, "—you are the corrupt official Yan Rongshi."
Eleventh Young Master was greatly shocked and remained silent for a moment: "...Come back to the palace with me. Let's get a royal physician to check your head."
"Don't worry about me," Seventh Young Master chuckled.
As longtime friends, there was no need for pretense in their conversation. He bluntly said, "Worry more about yourself, Eleventh Young Master. Xiaoman has a straightforward personality. Since she's decided you're her enemy, and she saw me with you, protecting your life... She won't wait for me to discuss revenge plans anymore."
"When you go out recently, make sure to have more imperial guards around you. Xiaoman will ambush you anytime, anywhere along the road, intending to assassinate you."
Eleventh Young Master wore an expression as if he had stepped into a mud pit.
After a long silence, he said in a deep voice, "If we clarify the misunderstanding, let her know that I'm not the Yan Rongshi she's seeking revenge against, that you, Seventh Young Master, are actually the head of the Yan family, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Yan Rongshi. Would she — considering her feelings for you — give up the idea of assassination?"
"Xiaoman has a clear-cut personality of love and hate, and would rather break than bend. If she learns that she's been seeking revenge against the wrong person, and that I am actually the enemy she's been desperately searching for, yes, she would stop trying to assassinate you."
Yan Seventh Young Master — no, there was no need to conceal his identity in front of Eleventh Young Master, so we can call him Yan Rongshi now — calmly analyzed:
"But she would turn to target me instead. Xiaoman strikes extremely fast. Before I could utter a word of explanation, she would kill me on the spot."
Eleventh Young Master: "...Hahahahaha!"
The development of events was too absurd, almost inconceivable. Eleventh Young Master, disregarding the brotherly friendship of many years, suddenly burst into laughter, unable to stop:
"Seventh Young Master, Seventh Young Master, the Yan family's golden child, you've finally met your match. The girl you've taken a fancy to is indeed no ordinary person."
Yan Rongshi raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, "That's enough laughter, you can stop now. There must be a big misunderstanding in the Ying family's blood vendetta, but I haven't had the chance to ask for clarification yet."
Xiaoman's adoptive father had been employed by a certain household in the capital many years ago.
The master of this household had his entire family schemed against by Yan's grandfather who was in power, thus creating a blood feud. The imperial court was lenient towards scholars and officials, and Minister Yan had been in power for many years, inevitably making political enemies in court. However, most were merely demoted and sent away from the capital. It was rare to implicate an entire family.
Following this line of investigation, they looked into the strong bodyguards hired by the families of political enemies. People with the surname Ying were rare, and those skilled with iron claw weapons even rarer. Perhaps some clues could be found...
The Eleventh Young Master across from him was also deep in thought.
He stood up and paced rapidly for a few rounds before stopping, then said with certainty, emphasizing each word: "No matter how fierce the young lady is, she's still just one person. We weren't prepared tonight, allowing her to get close. But with the numerous elite guards and increased security, she definitely won't be able to kill me."
"But since she escaped and we couldn't capture her on the spot, she certainly won't admit to last night's events. I have a plan."
"—We might as well continue the mistake. I'll keep using the name 'Yan Rongshi' to lure her to attempt another assassination. We'll seize the opportunity to capture her alive, and then explain everything face to face."
Yan Rongshi frowned as he listened: "It's not a good idea."
"Let's give it a try," the Eleventh Young Master insisted.
Yan Rongshi stood up: "I'll go find Xiaoman first and explain to her in person. The matter of the Ying family coming to the capital for revenge has been suspicious from beginning to end. She also mistook someone's identity, and misunderstandings bred more misunderstandings. It would be best to explain everything face to face."
...But there was no way to explain. Ying Xiaoman refused to meet him at all.
All of Seventh Young Master's belongings left in the Ying family's guest room, including bedding, pillows, change of clothes, teapots, and teacups, were neatly thrown outside the door.
At that time, the sky had just begun to brighten, with the morning star twinkling on the horizon. The early market vendors in the capital had just started setting up their stalls. Yan Seventh Young Master walked into Seven Scholars Lane, treading on the morning dew. Before he even got close to the Ying residence, he encountered two gate guards from afar, who quietly recounted how Ying Xiaoman had driven him out in the middle of the night.
Yan Seventh Young Master's heart immediately sank a little.
As he continued to approach the Ying family's door, he kicked a porcelain bowl in the darkness with a clang.
"Xiaoman," he knocked on the door, "Please listen to my explanation in person. Can you open the door?"
The courtyard gate opened a thin crack.
A dark object was thrown out, hitting him in the face. He caught it with his hand, feeling something soft and heavy—it was a cloth bundle.
Opening the bundle in the faint light from the horizon, he found various items haphazardly wrapped inside. These included the swallow kite he had sent to the Ying family in recent days, the crystal cup that came with the grape wine, and the pebbles he had collected in Tongluo Alley and kept in a ceramic bowl of clear water. The pebbles were tied in a fine mesh bag, with four pieces of paper money worth one guan each pressed underneath.
The door slammed shut again, bolted from the inside.
The girl inside never showed her face.
Yan Seventh Young Master picked up the mesh bag of pebbles, squeezing each one.
Holding the kite, gripping the crystal cup, with the paper money worth four months' rent clutched in his palm, he stood silently outside the Ying family's door for a long time.
*
Just a door apart.
While Zhi went back to her room for a nap, black cloth was spread out in the small courtyard, and a fat sheep was led out, preparing twenty jin of fresh mutton early for the Ying family's butcher shop today.
The Adoptive Mother sat under the eaves sheltered from the wind. Mother and daughter were separated by several zhang, one silently beheading, removing tails, and draining blood, the other silently washing the chopping board.
The sky gradually brightened. Since throwing out the bundle at the end of the fourth watch, there had been no more movement outside the door.
The Adoptive Mother sighed and spoke.
"We've cleared out all of Seventh Young Master's things from his room. He won't be coming to our house anymore?"
Ying Xiaoman was peeling the skin in the midst of the bloody smell that filled the courtyard, "He won't be coming anymore. The four guan of rent was returned to him in person, and from now on, he has nothing to do with our family."
"If Seventh Young Master has nothing to do with our family anymore, then, what about considering the young man from the Shen family next door..."
"The young man from the Shen family, of course, has nothing to do with our family either."
The Adoptive Mother felt a bit worried in her heart, staring at her daughter who was focused on her work in the morning light. "Child, you're already sixteen. It's good that you're dedicated to running the butcher shop, but can you do that for a lifetime?"
Ying Xiaoman didn't even lift her head, sharpening the bone-cutting knife before starting to chop meat with a steady rhythm, "Why can't I do it for a lifetime? The butcher shop makes good money. The meat bun shop next door sells four buns for twenty wen, and they've been in business for twenty years."
"You little rascal, if you're upset, go vent your anger outside, don't take it out on your old mother."
"I'm not angry, I'm serious."
The Adoptive Mother sighed and shook her head helplessly, "I can't talk to you today. We'll discuss this another day. Go on, slaughter your sheep."
By the time Zhi woke up and called for someone, twenty jin of fresh mutton had been neatly prepared in wooden buckets in the courtyard, with cleaned sheep offal and large bones packed separately. Ying Xiaoman pushed the small wheeled cart under the tree in the courtyard and called to Zhi through the window, "Come with me to the shop today, let Mother rest at home. I'll buy you two meat buns to eat later."
"Alright!" Zhi got dressed, climbed down from the kang bed, washed up, tied her hair into two small buns, and bounced to open the courtyard gate first.
As soon as she opened the door, she froze, then turned back to call,
"Sister, the two gate guard uncles are gone!"
"They left, they won't be coming back anymore," Ying Xiaoman called out towards the gate, "Zhi, be careful not to trip when you go out, there were things thrown out all over the ground last night."
Zhi looked around in confusion, "There's nothing on the ground... Ah!"
She hopped over the threshold to pick something up, squatting on the ground for a long time unable to lift it, struggling to hold the object outside the door as she called out, "Sister, it's so heavy, so heavy!"
Ying Xiaoman peeked out the door to look.
All the items that had been angrily thrown out last night had indeed been cleaned up, but not taken away. They were all neatly packed into a large cloth bundle. Along with the floral cloth bundle thrown out at the fourth watch, they were stacked tidily against the wall by the family's door. Occasional passersby would glance at it curiously.
On top of the two bundles, a very familiar heavy door bolt lay quietly. Its iron-capped ends reflected glints of sunlight, and Zhi was now trying with all her might to lift it.
—Seventh Young Master had returned the iron door bolt he had taken away last night.
Ying Xiaoman felt an indescribable emotion in her heart.
She picked up the twenty-jin iron door bolt that had been returned unchanged, weighing it in her hand before turning to bring it back into the house.
Just like in their old home in the countryside, she leaned it against the wall behind the door panel.
Her footsteps paused, then she turned back to bring in the large and small cloth bundles leaning against the wall outside the door.
She placed them one by one next to the iron door bolt.