On the third day after the floodwaters receded, the Shuntian Prefecture finally sent officials to comfort the people. Each household in Tongluo Alley received ten liters of grain, a handful of pepper, two feet of fine cloth, and three packets of medicine to prevent epidemics. Tenants were given a one-month rent reduction.
Two people drowned by the riverbank, and one in Tongluo Alley. These deaths were reported to the authorities.
"Don't mention the person in the west room to the officials," Ying Xiaoman instructed Zhi. "The west room is a big problem. We can't talk about it."
Zhi nodded, bewildered.
Indeed, it was a significant problem.
The person had been unconscious for days, with a persistent high fever. Occasionally, they would open their eyes in a daze, unresponsive to light or speech, only to fall back asleep moments later.
Doctor Li came to examine the patient and said, "The water inhalation was a temporary symptom. The cold from being submerged in icy river water during this unseasonable spring chill, combined with infected wounds, is what's life-threatening. Fortunately, the patient is young and strong. The medicine will induce sweating and expel the cold. They'll have to fight through it with their strong constitution!"
The pepper given by the government as relief aid was a rare commodity. Ying Xiaoman carefully wrapped it up and took it to Doctor Li's house to settle their recent debts. She then brought back three packets of medicine and placed them by the stove.
Her adoptive mother exclaimed happily, "He gave us so much at once? Is the doctor willing to give us credit for medicine?"
"It's not on credit this time; it's a gift," Ying Xiaoman explained. "I settled our debt today and mentioned our plans to move. The doctor felt bad and insisted on giving us a few packets of medicine."
After the recent flood, they had experienced a great scare. No matter how cheap the house in Tongluo Alley was, they didn't dare to renew the lease. Her adoptive mother had mentioned moving several times.
However, moving not only involved a lot of hassle but also required a large sum for the new deposit. Her adoptive mother sighed daily at the empty hanging basket.
Ying Xiaoman pondered whether to use the fifty taels of silver her adoptive father had given her before his death.
Her adoptive father had said it was precious money to be used only at a crucial moment.
After successfully seeking revenge in the capital, she was supposed to use these fifty taels to find a tavern called "Yuqing Tower" near the famous Great Xiangguo Temple in the capital. There, she should tell the shopkeeper, "An old friend has come to return fifty taels of silver." Someone would then guide her out of the capital.
Ying Xiaoman thought to herself that it was easier to make a living in the capital, and she and her mother didn't plan to return to their hometown. So, there was no need to spend money leaving the capital. Although revenge was far from certain, moving house seemed crucial now, and fifty taels of silver would be just right for that purpose.
The room was filled with a strong scent of bitter medicine. The decoction simmered over a low fire was ready. Lost in thought, Ying Xiaoman absent-mindedly poured the black medicinal liquid into a bowl and carried it into the west room.
For the first two days, the patient couldn't even drink the medicine. They had to pry open the teeth with a porcelain spoon and pour it down the throat through the gaps. Today, there was a noticeable improvement. With a gentle pry of the porcelain spoon, the patient began to swallow on their own.
"Hey," Ying Xiaoman waved an oil lamp in front of the patient's eyes, "Are you awake?"
But there was still no response. The eyes remained tightly shut. The pupils beneath the eyelids only occasionally moved slightly. Clearly, the patient was still in a deep stupor and not fully conscious.
Ying Xiaoman felt a bit disappointed, though it was within her expectations. As she continued feeding the medicine, she muttered,
"I'm going out later to look for a new house. If all goes well, we'll move within a month. You'd better wake up soon. We won't be able to take you with us when we move next month."
It was raining again outside. She put on her rain hat and oilcloth, said goodbye to her adoptive mother, and headed straight for the north of the city.
She remembered the tea doctor from last time mentioning that the Yan family lived in Changle Alley in the north of the city.
Spring rain drizzled steadily, shrouding the capital in mist.
Near noon, Ying Xiaoman was standing across from the tree-lined Changle Alley, peering in from a distance.
The sprawling mansion occupying half the street was indeed easy to find.
While the alley itself was quiet with few people, the entrance presented a different scene. Dozens of armored guards, armed with swords and spears, stood watch solemnly, strictly examining everyone entering or leaving. Ordinary civilians in plain clothes and shoes weren't even allowed into the alley.
Ying Xiaoman stood at a distance, observing for a while. Pink peach blossoms from within the Yan family compound peeked over the walls. In the misty rain, the pavilions and towers partially hidden by the flowers created a beautiful scene.
She skillfully found a teahouse open for business on the diagonal opposite street and stood under its long eaves to shelter from the rain.
She chatted casually with the idle tea doctor by the door.
"What's happening at the Yan family? Why are there so many soldiers?"
"Who knows," the tea doctor readily replied. "Anyway, since a few days ago, many imperial guards have been stationed at the Yan family gate. Everyone entering or leaving the alley needs to have their identity checked. Who knows what big event might have occurred in their household."
Ying Xiaoman nodded, "I've heard that the Yan family has been officials for generations, with two prime ministers in their ancestry."
"That's right. The second Prime Minister Yan was the grandfather of the current head of the Yan family, a story from thirty years ago. The current head of the Yan family holds a position in the Ministry of Justice. At such a young age, he's already a fourth-rank vice minister. Who knows, maybe he'll become another Prime Minister Yan in the future?"
Ying Xiaoman's spirits lifted, "Is the current head of the Yan family considered a high-ranking official in the capital? Is his reputation as an official good or bad?"
The tea doctor laughed out loud: "Young miss, you really dare to ask. He's definitely a high-ranking official, but as for his reputation, well, it's hard to say."
Ying Xiaoman was a bit confused. "Good is good, bad is bad. How can it be hard to say?"
"Let me put it this way. Among the civil and military officials in the capital, the easiest to gain a good reputation are the censors from the Censorate. As for those most likely to get a bad reputation—" the tea doctor nodded towards the Yan family residence:
"It would be the position in the Ministry of Justice that the current head of the Yan family holds. The Ministry of Justice handles hundreds or thousands of serious criminal cases each year. Naturally, there are many who praise him, but there are also plenty who curse him."
...Listening to his speech was as good as not listening at all.
Ying Xiaoman's head buzzed with confusion. The capital's tea doctors seemed to enjoy speaking in roundabout ways, one more than the other. She couldn't figure out whether this speech was praising or criticizing the Yan family.
Faced with the tea doctor's subtle and profound smile, she could only silently marvel, "The capital is really complicated."
As the rain gradually lessened, she put on her oilcloth and walked about half a mile, giving the Yan family mansion a wide berth.
Following the tea doctor's enthusiastic directions, she went to find a well-known and reputable property agent nearby. She explained her family situation and rental requirements in detail to the agent, arranged to view houses in two days, and then headed home.
She pondered over the new information she had gathered today all the way back.
Just as she was approaching Tongluo Alley, her steps suddenly halted.
The "head of the Yan family" who held a "high position in the Ministry of Justice," according to the tea doctor, finally connected in her mind with the two-story official boat that had once stopped in the middle of the river in front of their house, with a lantern bearing the words "Ministry of Justice" hanging high above it.
Ying Xiaoman was startled as she suddenly remembered—
On the morning when the old procuress dragged her to the riverside, the weather was fine. From the elevated position on the boat, that noble person who examined her as if selecting fresh fish—she had actually seen his face clearly across the river.
He looked to be in his early twenties, with a haughty and aloof expression, wearing an elegant fire fox fur coat and a sword at his waist.
He was tall and well-built, with handsome features, yet he seemed unable to use his hands and feet. He stood motionless at the bow of the boat, only opening his mouth to give orders, making the dozen or so servants around him bustle about.
Ying Xiaoman's mind began to race.
Could that noble person who had scrutinized her from the Ministry of Justice's official boat that morning be the head of the Yan Family, Yan Rongshi, whom the Tea Doctor had mentioned as a "high official of the Ministry of Justice"?
She had unknowingly already seen her enemy!
In the light drizzle of the early evening, Ying Xiaoman splashed through puddles on her way home, humming a tune.
Her adoptive mother was busy organizing chests and boxes at home. Hearing the light, cheerful splashing footsteps entering the courtyard, she glanced out from the main room, then quickly looked again.
"What's got you in such a good mood today?"
"I now know my enemy's name, where he lives, and what he looks like."
Ying Xiaoman happily broke open a freshly baked hot flatbread from a nearby shop and shared half with Zhi. "Mother, I'll be able to take my revenge soon."
Her adoptive mother was shocked. "Don't say such things in front of the child!"
She picked up Zhi and sat her on the kang bed in the room. Returning to the main room, she quietly asked, "Are you sure he's the villain?"
Ying Xiaoman, biting into the flatbread, said, "I saw his face by the river. He looks like a villain!"
The once-distant words "revenge" suddenly seemed imminent, and the hidden worries in her adoptive mother's heart instantly surged, her voice beginning to tremble:
"How do you plan to take revenge? As the saying goes, a life for a life. Even if he's a great villain, it's not for a young girl like you to take action. Your father was foolish!"
"Don't be afraid, Mother. I'm a newcomer to the capital, and I don't know anyone in the Yan Family. As you said, no one would suspect me."
The more Ying Xiaoman thought about it, the more it made sense. She exclaimed admiringly, "My father was truly a wise man."
Her adoptive mother felt something was amiss but couldn't pinpoint what exactly. She frowned and went to prepare dinner.
After enjoying a bowl of spicy soup to whet the appetite and ward off the cold, and helping to clean the table, Ying Xiaoman sat at the table with the flatbread in her mouth and began to slowly sketch from memory.
During a break from sweeping, her adoptive mother came over to take a look and asked in surprise, "Are you drawing a person or a wildcat? A round head with a square face, a long oval nose in the middle, two long lines for squinting eyes, and look, it's even giving a sidelong glance."
Ying Xiaoman put down her brush and looked closely, not entirely satisfied herself. In her usual drawing practice, she had mostly drawn birds, beasts, fish, and insects from the mountains, rarely people.
Pointing at the "wildcat" drawing on the table, she described it thus:
"This is what my enemy looks like—narrow eyes with single eyelids, wheat-colored skin, thick black eyebrows, handsome features, but with a gloomy gaze."
Her adoptive mother pondered for a while, "It does sound rather fierce. Like the face of a villain."
There was another drawing hidden beneath the "wildcat" sketch. Curiosity piqued, her adoptive mother brought it closer to examine in the light, instantly revealing an expression of amusement mixed with restraint:
"Who is this one supposed to be? Another round head with a square face, but with two bright black eyes. Oh my, a fox with double eyelids."
Ying Xiaoman blushed and snatched the drawing back. Looking at the "fox" sketch, she described:
"A broad forehead, thick long eyebrows, fair skin, and large eyes with double eyelids.—This one is of the person in the west room."
Her adoptive mother asked curiously, "How do you know the person in the west room has large eyes? He hasn't even woken up; his eyes have been closed."
"He has large eyes with double eyelids," Ying Xiaoman insisted. "He woke up for a brief moment, and I saw them."
As mother and daughter were whispering, Zhi came running into the main room, exclaiming excitedly, "Elder Sister, come quickly! The brother in the west room seems to be waking up!"
The young man who had been lying unconscious on the kang bed in the west room for three or four days was struggling between consciousness and delirium. His eyes were neither fully open nor closed, his thick black eyelashes occasionally twitching, his eyelids sometimes opening a crack only to close again, stung by the bright light in the room.
Her adoptive mother was on high alert. She quickly carried Zhi back to her own room and pulled her daughter back, shielding her as she cautiously approached and asked, "Young sir, are you awake?"
The mother and daughter in the room stared wide-eyed for a long while, but the person on the bed didn't move.
Ying Xiaoman said disappointedly, "He's not awake."
Just as she spoke, his eyelashes and eyelids twitched noticeably again.
The man on the kang bed gave a slight, labored nod.