WSMTATMC C169

Chapter 169

The Liu residence had prepared living quarters for the two in advance; Chen Qingyan’s bedchamber was adjacent to Liu Changyi’s, while Ma Zhandong was assigned to stay with the Liu household servants.

Upon entering the room, Chen Qingyan saw his luggage already arranged; he latched the door and prepared to slip into the test plot for a look around.

On the way here, he hadn’t had a chance to enter the plot at all—Liu Changyi had clung to him the entire journey, eating and lodging together throughout.

If not for knowing that he and Qingyun were truly affectionate, Chen Qingyan might have suspected this fellow of having a penchant for cut sleeves.

Now at last separated, he hurried to check the plot, and by the way leave a note for A Ying.

As he entered, he casually picked two cucumbers; the off-season cucumbers were crisp and sweet, with a fresh fragrance—delicious to eat as they were.

A few notes lay on the table, all left by Wang Ying over these days.

Reading them in sequence, he froze at the first: war had broken out in the Northwest, and Marquis Wuping had ridden out with troops to support the front.

War in the Northwest? Not a whisper had reached them along the way! The news was so abrupt it felt unreal.

The second note read: “Li Mu plans to have Qing’er acknowledge Lin Sui as foster father. He doesn’t trust the Li clan. It seems the Northwestern campaign must be pressing.”

The third: “No word from you these days; not sure if the road is treating you well. All is well at home. If you have a moment, leave me a note.”

Two days later: “Yuanbao has been thinking of you terribly these days. If you have time, could we meet once?”

A sharp ache rose in Chen Qingyan’s chest. When returning from Yangzhou, he’d promised Yuanbao never to part again.

Yet upon entering the prefectural academy, he could only return every ten days; now with the capital ahead, it might be at least two months before he could come back—his son would surely feel his word meant little.

The last note, from the past day or two: “Li Mu’s guess was right. Not ten days after he left, the Li family stirred up trouble—took Qing’er back to live in their estate. I have to accompany Lin Sui to the Li household to bring the child back.”

Frowning as he finished, Chen Qingyan took up the brush and wrote a few lines beneath.

“We have safely arrived in the capital and just settled in at Lord Liu’s residence. All is well; do not worry.

No word of the Northwestern campaign was heard along the way. I will make inquiries in the capital these next few days; if I learn anything, I will leave a note in the plot.

I miss Yuanbao greatly as well. If there is time at night, bring him in for a reunion. As for the Li household matter, since the Marquis has entrusted Qing’er to Younger Brother Sui, we must indeed help care for her well. If trouble arises, inquire at the barracks—surely the Marquis has given instructions; do not act on your own.”

He blew the ink dry, read it over, then added: “Take care of your health; do not overwork. Wait for my return from the metropolitan exam.”

—

Far away in Jizhou, Wang Ying had no time to check for the letter, for something grave had happened—Qing’er had contracted smallpox.

It began three days earlier, when he and Lin Sui were selling vegetables at the shop. A woman rushed in, breathless. “Which one is Lin Sui?”

Lin Sui stepped forward. “I am he—what matters press?”

With a thud, the woman knelt. “Xiaolang(young gentleman), please—save Qing’er. She has been taken away by Madam Li!”

Lin Sui’s heart lurched. He had sent Qing’er back to the Li household only yesterday, yet now she had been fetched away. “When did this happen? Did the Old Madam not stop them?”

Choking up, the woman said, “Just this morning. The Old Madam wished to stop them, but in name they are Qing’er’s grandparents, and she could not help it.”

Wang Ying’s heart sank; no wonder the Marquis had entrusted the child to Lin Sui—he had known from the start his mother could not be relied upon.

Madam Luo had been thoroughly schooled by feudal rites; in her heart, she was forever a concubine of the Li family. Even if her son was now a marquis, she could not dare stand equal to the principal lady. So when they came to fetch Qing’er, she spoke a few words and then let them take the child.

The wet nurse knew the Li household would not treat Qing’er kindly; hence her frantic plea to the young husband.

“I’ll go at once to the Li household to fetch her!” Lin Sui said, anxious.

Wang Ying caught him. “Don’t rush. With our status, we might not even be let in—best think of another way.”

Lin Sui recalled the Marquis’s words before leaving. “He said that if anything happened, we could seek General Zheng at the barracks—I’ll go now!”

Tian Ju hastily drove him to the barracks. Half an hour later, Zheng Guang returned with four or five men, following Lin Sui. “Go—fetch the child from the Li household.”

Wang Ying climbed aboard as well. At the Li residence, they knocked a long time before anyone opened. “Who do you seek?”

Lin Sui stepped up, but the porter sized him up and said, “And who is the girl to you?”

“Li Qing’er.”

At that, the porter slammed the door. The master had ordered that no one was to be admitted to fetch the child today.

The knocking grew louder. “Go back,” came the voice within. “Qing’er is a young lady of our house with no blood relation to you—leave.”

“Out of the way,” Zheng Guang said. “Let me.”

He tightened his belt and gave the side gate a kick; it flew off its hinges.

The porters in the courtyard yelped and ran.

“Search the grounds,” Zheng Guang ordered. “Once you find the young lady, bring her out.”

“Yes!” More than a dozen soldiers scattered into the Li courtyards.

Soon, Lord Li and Madam Li rushed out. “What is the meaning of this—are you sacking my house? I will report you to the yamen!”

Smiling, Zheng Guang cupped his hands. “What are you saying, my lord—we are searching for a thief. We heard of a disturbance in your household. The general specially instructed us to protect you and your lady, so we entered without leave. Do not take offense.”

“You—” Lord Li clutched his chest, coughing.

Madam Li glared daggers at Lin Sui. “Meddlesome wretch. That is my own granddaughter—how could I harm her? Her father has gone to war; I feared she’d be bored at home, so I brought her to play a few days. Must you make a grand spectacle of it?”

Lin Sui bit his lip and said nothing. He dared not stake Qing’er’s safety, for Li Mu had said the Li clan wished him dead—how could they be kind to Qing’er?

After half a quarter-hour, the soldiers found Qing’er in a broken-down back building and hurried out with her.

At the sight of Lin Sui, tears welled instantly; she stretched both hands out to be held.

It was as if Lin Sui’s heart had been wrung. He took her into his arms.

“Why are your hands so cold? Your face so chilled? Why only a single garment?” He stripped off his own cloak and wrapped her tight.

A soldier said, “They shut the young lady in a storeroom with no brazier. When we found her, she was huddled up from the cold.”

Lin Sui’s temper flared. Timid as he was usually, a mother—or a father—becomes strong. Pointing at Madam Li, he cried, “So this is your claim—you would not harm her? Brought to ‘play’ a few days? Had we come two days late, would the child still live?”

Madam Li muttered, “Perhaps the servants failed in their care.”

Furious, Wang Ying said, “If you cannot care for her, then do not—lest something happens, and when the Marquis returns, it will be a shameful scene.”

Madam Li grumbled under her breath, “Who knows if he’ll make it back…”

Zheng Guang’s voice cracked like a whip. “Mind your words, madam. The Marquis was personally sent by His Majesty to guard the Northwest. Treasonous talk like that, heard outside, invites beheading!”

Face dark, Madam Li waved a hand. “Take the child—do not step into our Li residence again!”

Zheng Guang cupped his hands. “Farewell.”

They bundled into the carriage. Qing’er was clearly terrified and clung to Lin Sui, afraid that if she loosened her grip, she would be snatched again.

Stroking her hair, Lin Sui felt knives in his heart. Had he known the Li family would be like this, he would never have sent her back.

At last home, he changed and bathed Qing’er. She wore a grimy hand-me-down of unknown origin—he threw it out at once.

There were no clothes of hers at home, so he wrapped her in his own, planning to fetch changes from the Marquis’s estate later.

Once she was settled, she fell asleep. Lin Sui tucked her in and stepped out.

“How is she?” Wang Ying asked in the outer room.

“Frightened badly. She cried even after we returned—just lulled to sleep.”

“This Li family is truly heartless, to torment a child so small.”

“I did not expect them to dare snatch her right after the Marquis left,” Lin Sui said. “No wonder he warned me.”

“As long as the child is safe. Let her stay here for now and send her back when the Marquis returns.”

“Mm.” Lin Sui had the same thought. The Old Madam was too unreliable—he dared not send Qing’er back.

It seemed the matter was settled—but that night, Qing’er suddenly spiked a fever. Lin Sui hurried to fetch a physician.

At first, it seemed a simple chill, and a few packets of cold remedies were prescribed, which were fed to her.

By the second day, the fever worsened—and red pox erupted on her face and neck. Terrified, Lin Sui called Wang Ying in.

Though no doctor, Wang Ying had seen much. One look at the eruptions, and he said, “Could this be smallpox?”

Lin Sui’s heart turned to ice. Smallpox—how could she have caught such a fatal disease?

There was no time to lose. Wang Ying fetched the physician again. One look—and the man bolted for the door. It was indeed smallpox; he urged them to make funeral preparations and told the family to avoid contact.

On his knees, Lin Sui begged, “Please, save her—she is the daughter of Marquis Wuping!”

The physician hesitated. Save her—and risk contagion; refuse—and if the Marquis returned and laid blame, he could not bear it.

“Rise, young master. It’s not that I won’t save her—I’m powerless. Instead of pleading with me, go to Qingfeng Monastery and beg Daoist Qingxu; it’s said he has treated smallpox cases.”

“Truly?” Lin Sui cried.

“Truly—I dare not lie.”

“Then, please, write a few more prescriptions,” Wang Ying said. “We will also go to Qingfeng Monastery—no delays on either end.”

The physician wrote two more packets of heat-clearing and warming tonics, slung on his medicine box, and hurried away.