Years ago, the imperial court pacified a group of bandits.
The bandit lair was not small, with three thousand thieves gathered in the mountains and forests. There were ten leaders, seated on ten chairs. After the pacification, they were offered official positions. Seven accepted appointments and became military officials. Three refused the court's appointments and disappeared without a trace.
One of the bandit leaders who refused the court's appointment ranked ninth among the ten chairs. He was skilled in using a pair of iron claws. The document recorded: "Zhuang Jiu, not yet twenty years old. Tall and strong, refused the appointment and left."
"The record is only a sentence or two, and even the surname is wrong. I almost missed it. But there aren't many people skilled with iron claws, and 'tall and strong' fits. Is it possible this Zhuang Jiu is your adoptive father?"
The words "tall and strong" did indeed sound like her adoptive father. But the other details didn't match up.
Ying Xiaoman stopped eating her cold rice balls and asked doubtfully, "Are you saying my father's surname wasn't actually Ying, but Zhuang?"
"I'm not certain, but it's possible."
"According to what you're saying, my father used to be a mountain bandit? He refused the court's appointment, so he came to our village and became a hunter?"
The answer was still "It's possible."
Yan Seventh Young Master turned to ask her, "How old was your father when he passed away?"
"In his fifties."
"Exactly how old in his fifties? Fifty-one, fifty-two, or fifty-seven, fifty-eight?"
"I don't know."
"..."
Yan Seventh Young Master didn't say anything, but gave her a look. His eyes clearly conveyed: How could you not know your own parents' age?
"My father didn't talk much about himself, and never celebrated his birthday," Ying Xiaoman recounted:
"One year, I overheard my mother muttering, 'Your father is almost fifty, and he's never had a birthday celebration. I asked if he wanted to have one for his fiftieth, but he refused.' That's when I found out my father was almost fifty."
"..." Yan Seventh Young Master raised his hand to rub his brow.
The past of this adoptive father in the Ying family was unusual.
Putting aside the Ying family for now, he continued to talk about the past of the Yan family.
"During my grandfather's time in office, he handled countless cases, big and small. Among them, the most serious case with the gravest consequences, which involved many officials, was coincidentally also a case of collusion with the enemy. Some officials, tempted by huge profits, leaked the plans for firearms from the Ministry of War to northern spies who had infiltrated the capital—"
His voice suddenly stopped.
The two of them were now sitting face to face at a small square table by the street, eating cold rice balls. Ying Xiaoman faced the roadside, while Yan Seventh Young Master faced the street.
About five or six steps away from their small table, a young man approached. He wore a dark red gauze robe and black boots, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He was playing with an ivory fan in his hand, and his figure looked familiar.
The newcomer greeted them through gritted teeth.
"How unfortunate for me to run into you two—have you made up again?"
It was none other than Yan Erlang, who had just acquired a new fan from the Xu family pawn shop.
Yan Erlang was truly furious. While he had been enthusiastically scheming on one side, had this couple reconciled on the other? Wasn't he just making a wedding dress for someone else?
He waved the ivory fan in his hand, then snapped it shut with a whoosh. He sneered:
"Seventh Young Master, the young lady beside you seems to be smiling sweeter than honey, but she has quite a few twists and turns in her heart. These past few days, she's been asking me to do something behind your back that would harm the Yan family. Do you want to hear about it?"
Ying Xiaoman's mood immediately soured. She tugged on the sleeve of the young master beside her and said in a low voice, "Don't pay attention to him."
Yan Seventh Young Master patted her hand reassuringly and unhurriedly scooped up a bean powder rice ball, picking up where Yan Erlang left off: "What's this? Did Xiaoman ask you to find a way to secretly sneak into the Yan family home?"
These words left Yan Erlang at a loss, with a lump in his throat. He clapped his hands loudly several times in the street, drawing curious glances from passersby.
"So you already knew? Interesting. You two are really interesting."
Ying Xiaoman: "..."
The slender fingers that had been tugging on Seventh Young Master's sleeve visibly curled, her gaze subtly shifting to the side.
Three parts embarrassment, four parts guilt, and five parts anger.
Yan Erlang was truly unreliable! A smiling tiger, ready to betray at a moment's notice. This fellow was even less trustworthy than Yan Eighth Young Master!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Her clear eyes, distinct in black and white, lifted to glare at him.
Yan Erlang actually had the audacity to smile crookedly at her.
The fingers that had curled away were gently squeezed one by one. Ying Xiaoman's gaze suddenly shifted from the street to her side.
Yan Seventh Young Master held her hand, comforting her gently: "It's just a small matter, don't mind him. The more attention you pay, the more he'll act up. Let's continue eating."
So the two continued eating their iced dessert. Their fingers intertwined under the table as they ate and chatted intimately in low voices.
Yan Erlang stood by the street, watching this scene, his anger growing.
The young lady would slap him without hesitation and glare at him for no reason, driving him away with just two or three words.
Although her anger was charming in its own way, at the blooming age of a peony, her smile must surely be sweeter and more beautiful than her temper.
Look at her now, her long lashes fluttering like a small fan, her eyes sparkling like stars in the sky, her smile as sweet as the crushed ice sugar water she was eating.
These two, arguing one moment and reconciling the next. One knowing the young lady wanted to steal something from his home, neither stopping her nor giving it to her; the other clearly holding affection for Yan Seventh Young Master, yet still sneaking into the Yan family home to steal?!
What valuable item did the Yan family have that Ying Xiaoman was so fixated on?
With a whoosh, he opened his folding fan and fanned himself.
His anger grew even more intense.
The loyal servant beside him, watching this scene, sighed quietly and advised, "Second Young Master, the two of them are clearly in love and inseparable. Even if you try to come between them, you won't succeed. There are so many beautiful young ladies in the world. I heard that two new beauties have recently started receiving guests at Chunhua Tower, both gorgeous and talented..."
Yan Erlang raised his hand to stop him.
He closed his eyes, and a familiar feeling rose in his heart.
Sour, frustrated, a rarely experienced and indescribable feeling of torment.
Among the three thousand weak waters, one only takes a single scoop to drink. Among the thousands of beautiful young ladies in the capital, he just had to set his sights on this one who looked down on him.
Staring at the intimate couple in the crowd, a mischievous streak in Yan Erlang's nature was provoked, and he smiled instead of getting angry.
"Don't be fooled by their current lovey-dovey appearance... As long as that precious item is still in the Yan family home. One wants it, one won't give it up, these two will eventually fall out."
He lazily stepped forward, "As the military strategists say: Plan before you act. Why should I rush? I'll wait patiently by the tree stump for the little white rabbit to fall into my arms."
He strolled a few steps along the street, then turned back to take one last look before leaving.
"What was Yan Erlang mumbling to himself?" Ying Xiaoman muttered as she ate. "Looking at that calculating expression, he doesn't seem to be saying anything good."
"Whatever he's planning in private," Yan Seventh Young Master put down fifty copper coins, and the two of them stood up, holding hands as they continued to stroll through the street:
"He certainly doesn't have good intentions and can't be trusted. Come, Xiaoman, tell me in detail, how did you use Yan Erlang's methods to secretly sneak into the Yan family mansion?"
Xiaoman replied without thinking: "I can't say." They looked at each other and continued walking hand in hand for a few steps in silence.
Ying Xiaoman sighed: "Yan Erlang really isn't a good person. He tried to provoke an argument between us as soon as he saw us."
"Let's not fall for his trap. We won't argue," Seventh Young Master said firmly.
"Mm."
"It's all Yan Erlang's intentional mischief, trying to provoke us. Stay far away from him in the future."
"Mm!"
They returned home that night after an enjoyable outing.
Along the way, they had eaten at five or six night market stalls until their stomachs were round and couldn't take any more. Ying Xiaoman held Yan Seventh Young Master's hand, insisting that he come back home with her to try the half chicken in lotus leaf that was on the stove, to taste her mother's cooking.
Yan Seventh Young Master had his reservations.
"Your mother doesn't have a good impression of me. If I show up unannounced now, won't the old lady dislike me?"
Ying Xiaoman beckoned him to come closer and whispered a secret.
"Ever since my mother discovered that our neighbor Shen A'nu is even more unreliable, almost failing to take care of his own mother, she doesn't criticize you as much anymore. The doctor you invited last time was very skilled, and my mother even said she wanted to find an opportunity to thank you."
Yan Seventh Young Master pondered these subtle changes, "So, I can visit your home again?"
Ying Xiaoman held his hand and smiled with crinkled eyes: "Can you still eat? Let's not take the lotus leaf chicken home. I'll invite you over to eat."
Although she said she was inviting him over to eat chicken, Ying Xiaoman had already eaten at five or six night market stalls, and her stomach was round and full. How could she possibly eat any more?
Yan Seventh Young Master looked at the person's tall and slender figure. After sitting down, he began to use his chopsticks slowly and methodically, eating at a surprisingly steady pace.
"You have a good appetite," Ying Xiaoman said with surprise. "I wouldn't have guessed."
Yan Seventh Young Master smiled at her, "At my age, there's no such thing as a small appetite. There are many things you can't tell from outward appearances."
The two sat opposite each other in the small courtyard under the osmanthus tree hung with lanterns. Ying Xiaoman watched as half a chicken gradually disappeared from the table, silently wondering if he had gone hungry during his time recovering in Tongluo Alley...
Zhi had already gone to bed, but the Adoptive Mother was still awake. A few low coughs came from the room, and the Adoptive Mother called out through the window, "Child, is Seventh Young Master here?"
Ying Xiaoman: "Yes! I brought Seventh Young Master back to eat lotus leaf chicken. He'll leave after eating, and I'll clean up the table. Don't get up, Mother."
"I'm not getting up," the Adoptive Mother snorted. "You little brat, are you done being angry? Have you finished arguing with Seventh Young Master? Have you cleared up the matter from your last fight? Next time Seventh Young Master comes knocking on our door, will you open it or not?"
Ying Xiaoman: "..."
Adoptive Mother: "While Seventh Young Master is here, clear things up with him face to face. Save him from coming to knock on the door time and again, and you from lying awake night after night. Chopping meat in the courtyard late at night until my ears hurt."
Ying Xiaoman: "...It's not easy to explain. We'll talk after eating. In any case, Mother, please stop asking."
Yan Seventh Young Master continued eating while arranging the chicken bones.
After finishing the fragrant half lotus leaf chicken, the chicken skeleton on the table was arranged in the shape of half a chicken. Yan Seventh Young Master got up to wash his hands and praised, "A rare delicacy in the Capital City, I wonder if I'll have the chance to taste it a second time."
Unable to get a clear answer from her daughter, the Adoptive Mother asked Yan Seventh Young Master through the window.
"Have you and my child cleared up the matter from your last argument? Is she willing to let you in now? As long as you can come in, we have plenty of lotus leaf chicken at home, you can eat it whenever you like."
Yan Seventh Young Master replied: "Tonight's visit and eating half of the Ying family's lotus leaf chicken deserves repayment. Madam Ying, the past experiences of Xiaoman's deceased adoptive father are related to the fundamental reason for my argument with Xiaoman. If you trust me enough to answer face-to-face tonight, please speak frankly."
The Adoptive Mother coughed a few times: "The old man is already in the ground, what wouldn't I dare to answer? Seventh Young Master, please persuade the child not to dwell on the revenge her father stubbornly insisted on before he passed. Living a peaceful life is better than anything else."
Yan Seventh Young Master: "We still need to get to the bottom of this."
So one asked and one answered through the window.
The Adoptive Mother wasn't clear about the past events of Ying Xiaoman's deceased adoptive father when he was young in another place.
When she married into the Ying family, the adoptive father had already settled in the village for four or five years, at that time he was in his early thirties. Although he had a lame leg, it wasn't a problem for him to make a living by going into the mountains. But his fierce appearance scared most villagers away. The Adoptive Mother's family was large and poor, unable to even feed themselves, so she made the decision to marry herself off.
They were unable to conceive for five years after marriage. The Adoptive Mother suggested adopting a child several times.
"Our family was poor then. Your father had a lame leg after all, he couldn't go to the steeper deep mountains, and couldn't hunt fierce beasts in the outer mountains. Being able to drag out a yellow goat was considered a big income. To be honest, when I suggested adopting a child, I initially thought about adopting a boy, to leave an heir for your father. After all, your father was getting old."
She brought it up several times, but the adoptive father never responded. After a few months passed like this, when the Adoptive Mother had almost forgotten about the adoption suggestion, the adoptive father suddenly asked her, "How about a girl?"
The Adoptive Mother asked him, "It's not easy to add a child to the family. Adopting a boy would be leaving an heir for your Ying family. What are you thinking about adopting a girl?"
The adoptive father said, "You don't like girls?"
The Adoptive Mother then answered honestly: "Girls are obedient. I actually prefer girls. It's just that I was thinking about leaving an heir for your Ying family—"
The adoptive father didn't care.
"This life, hands and body covered in blood everywhere, hard-lived and not taken by the King of Hell, I've lived enough. Who cares about leaving an heir or not. If we have a girl in the future, we'll raise her well."
Seven or eight days later, the adoptive father went hunting in the mountains.
When he came down, he brought back a newborn baby girl less than a month old. It was Ying Xiaoman.
Ying Xiaoman sat under the lantern-hung osmanthus tree, her eyes welling up with tears at the words "If we have a girl in the future, we'll raise her well."
Yan Seventh Young Master, however, keenly grasped another angle of the incident.
"Madam Ying mentioned adoption several times, but Xiaoman's adoptive father never responded. Until he first responded a few months later, he clearly proposed raising a baby girl. Seven or eight days later, he indeed brought back a baby girl from the mountains. At that time, the baby girl was not yet a month old."
"It's unexpectedly coincidental. The family decided to raise a baby girl, and just seven or eight days later, an abandoned baby girl appeared in the mountains. The vast mountain, where abandonment could happen anywhere, anytime the baby could be carried off by wild beasts, and it just happened to be found by your adoptive father on his way up the mountain. It's almost as if asking for an official position and getting it, asking for wealth and receiving it, even the Mountain God Temple isn't so efficacious. Logically speaking, when there are too many coincidences, it's often not a coincidence at all."
The window opened.
Four eyes from the mother and daughter sitting inside and outside the room stared over.
"What do you mean?" the Adoptive Mother asked.
"Is it possible that it wasn't a coincidence, but a prearranged adoption?" Yan Seventh Young Master pondered and said:
"After Madam Ying brought up the adoption, Xiaoman's adoptive father secretly searched for a suitable family. It wasn't until a few months later when that family had a baby girl that he explicitly mentioned adoption to Madam Ying. By this time, the adoption had already been decided. That's why he said with such certainty, 'If we have a girl in the future.' Just seven or eight days later, Xiaoman, not yet a month old, was adopted and brought home, under the pretense of being found in the mountains."
Ying Xiaoman thought in confusion for a moment.
Does this mean she wasn't abandoned in the mountains by her birth parents, but was directly adopted from her birth parents' home to the Ying family through a prearranged agreement? Either way, it was still abandonment, what's the difference? In any case, she only recognizes her own parents.
Ying Xiaoman grumbled inwardly and gave Seventh Young Master a push, "Stop talking, my mother's eyes are tearing up."
Indeed, the Adoptive Mother was teary-eyed in the room, constantly wiping her reddened eyes.
"Now that Seventh Young Master has explained it this way, my heart is at ease."
Ying Xiaoman: ...?
The Adoptive Mother wiped her tears and spoke of last year's events.
At the memorial hall during her adoptive father's seventh-day vigil, a woman from the Zhang family in the neighboring village insisted on taking Ying Xiaoman away, saying she was the child the Zhang family had abandoned in the mountains and now wanted to reclaim. The Adoptive Mother fought desperately with them at the time, fearing that these strangers would take away the daughter she had raised for fifteen years, worried they wouldn't treat her well, afraid Xiaoman would be sold off after being taken back to the Zhang family.
But Xiaoman truly stayed with the Ying family, yet the Adoptive Mother often couldn't sleep soundly at night from then on.
Sometimes she would wake up in the middle of the night and wonder, could Xiaoman really be the daughter of the Zhang family from the neighboring village? Was that woman who barged into the memorial hall and tried to snatch her away really Xiaoman's birth mother? By bringing Xiaoman to the Capital City, had she prevented a family reunion? Would she be judged for this sin when facing the King of Hell in the underworld...
Until today, when Seventh Young Master's words dispelled her doubts.
Xiaoman's adoption was too coincidental, most likely not picked up from the mountains. But prearranged with a family and directly adopted.
If so... Xiaoman wasn't the unfortunate baby girl abandoned in the mountains by the Zhang family?
The Adoptive Mother, with tears of relief, launched into a tirade against the shameless Zhang family. She got up and rummaged in the room for a while, then brought out the swaddling clothes from that year.
"I knew it! Although the Zhang family from the neighboring village had a few acres of land and property and weren't considered poor, how could people who would throw their own daughter into the mountains afford to use such good material for swaddling clothes!"
The Adoptive Mother proudly brought out the faded red old fabric from the room and displayed it to the wind, "Child, take it over and show Seventh Young Master. Those who would use such good material for swaddling clothes must have cherished their own daughter. My child's birth parents must be good people!"
Ying Xiaoman held the pink old swaddling cloth that had wrapped her when she was two feet long, and after so many years, she seemed to still smell the milk stains. Her ear tips turned slightly red with embarrassment: "It's fabric from so many years ago, Mother, quickly take it back to the room. What's there to show Seventh Young Master..."
Yan Seventh Young Master had already reached out to take it.
He indeed held it up to the light, unfolded it in the wind, and examined it carefully.
"It is indeed good material," he rubbed it between his fingers, "Thick jacquard brocade. It doesn't look like fabric commonly used by ordinary rural families, but more like what wealthy urban families would use."
Yan Seventh Young Master held up the swaddling cloth and was about to negotiate with the fabric owner, "Xiaoman, could I borrow this swaddling cloth for a few days? I'd like to take it to an experienced weaver to have a look—"
Ying Xiaoman snatched it away and held it close, refusing to give it to him.
"Don't meddle. I don't care if they're rich or poor, I only recognize my own parents and no one else. This swaddling cloth is something my mother insisted on keeping. If you ask me, it would be best to dig a hole and bury it." She took it to the room and instructed her mother to keep it safe and not bring it out again.
Once inside, she didn't come out for half a day.
When her adoptive mother heard her daughter's resolute statement "I only recognize my own parents," the worry about the Zhang family that had been weighing on her heart for half a year finally dissipated. She immediately burst into tears that wouldn't stop, holding her daughter tightly.
"My child, the Ying family is poor and humble, we can't provide you with good food and clothing like your birth parents could. You've suffered these years..."
"I haven't suffered at all in the Ying family. You are the best parents in the world!" Ying Xiaoman cried too.
The lamplight cast the shadows of two figures inside the room onto the window. Mother and daughter sobbed as they embraced each other.
The lamplight flickered. Little Zhi, who had been sleeping soundly on the kang bed, was awakened by the noise.
"Auntie, Sister, why are you crying... wah wah wah..."
Soon, a small shadow joined the others on the window. Without hesitation, Zhi joined in, crying first and asking questions later. The three of them – mother and daughters – embraced in a huddle, sobbing together.
Seventh Young Master stood under the tree, fiddling with the neatly arranged chicken bones on the table.
A sentence his adoptive mother had inadvertently mentioned earlier caught his attention.
[This life, hands and body stained with blood everywhere.]
For a hunter who made a living by hunting, this statement was correct.
For bandits who gathered in the mountains and robbed travelers, this statement was equally true.
At twenty-five, he had come to the village by the Han River to make a living, dragging a lame leg. At thirty, he married. At thirty-five, he adopted Xiaoman.
The "Zhuang Jiu" recorded in the document, skilled with iron claws and only twenty years old, didn't have a lame leg.
Between the ages of twenty and twenty-five, in that short span of five years, where had Ying Xiaoman's adoptive father been? Had he silently stayed in the Capital City, working as a guard for some official's household, becoming lame in a fight?
As his thoughts wandered, the chicken bones on the wooden table, which had been taken apart, were reassembled into a skeleton. The crying gradually subsided. Seventh Young Master glanced at the shadows of the mother and daughters still embracing inside the room.
Based on experience, they would need to hug for a while longer.
His thoughts jumped to another matter. The one that had been interrupted by Yan Erlang while they were eating cold tangyuan.
Many years ago, the only case that fell into his grandfather Minister Yan's hands that resulted in the execution of all male members of the guilty official's family and the exile of the entire clan for a thousand miles—
It was a case of high treason similar to the current situation, involving the smuggling of newly developed advanced weapons from the Ministry of War to enemy countries.
Back then, Northern spies were active in the Capital City, using large sums of money to persuade several department chiefs and outer court officials of the Ministry of War to copy weapon blueprints from the ministry's archives and leak them. However, the plot was exposed just before it could succeed.
—His grandfather, Minister Yan, had followed the trail and uncovered the entire nest of Northern spies!