Chapter 22

By the time they reached the market street where the embroidery shop was located, nearly half the stores were shuttered, leaving the street desolate.

Yet, this desolation was mild compared to the rice shops, produce markets, dry goods stores, and butcher shops, which had been packed with people for days, with shoving and brawling occurring frequently.

Li Lanxin led Li Mian quickly through the back door. The embroiderers had already taken their wages and gone home, leaving the shop empty save for Cheng Laosan, who was keeping watch. The stock had already been sold off by eighty or ninety percent, and Li Lanxin did not intend to let Cheng Laosan stay for the sake of the remaining portion.

"Laosan," she called out.

Cheng Laosan turned around and hurried from behind the counter into the back room. "Mistress! You've arrived."

Before she could speak, Cheng Laosan wore a troubled expression and spoke first, "Fewer and fewer people are buying clothes or fabric these days. I fear what remains in the shop..."

Li Lanxin waved her hand, signaling him to sit. "It doesn't matter. If it doesn't sell, it doesn't sell. We are closing the shop today."

"Closing today?" Cheng Laosan asked. "But the stock isn't sold out yet."

"Whatever is left—take the good pieces home to your family. I will take the rest back to Qingluo Lane," Li Lanxin said. Seeing his hesitation, she immediately added, "Laosan, don't refuse at a time like this. Have you not noticed that the city is beginning to fall into chaos? It is only fabric. Take it home. Once the shop is closed today, you should return home quickly as well."

Given the circumstances, Cheng Laosan could no longer stall. He gathered the remaining inventory to organize it. He tried to set aside only the defective items, but Li Lanxin sighed and began helping him select pieces. When Cheng Laosan started to demur again, Li Lanxin caught Li Mian’s eye; the latter immediately ushered Cheng Laosan away to tend to the storefront.

Li Lanxin worked efficiently, sorting the goods and placing all the high-quality fabrics into the trunk intended for Cheng Laosan. His legs were not suited for long-distance travel, so he usually traveled by ox cart, making it easy to stow the trunk on the carriage bed. The remainder was wrapped into a bundle for them to carry back to Qingluo Lane.

Cheng Laosan had a crippled leg and had never married, but when he followed the army in the Southwest, he had adopted a refugee orphan amidst the chaos of war, and he also cared for an elderly mother at home. Dragging an old woman and a child, and occasionally offering aid to other disabled veterans, he lived a life that was far from wealthy, though they did not starve.

By the time the goods were sorted, the storefront had been secured. Li Mian and Cheng Laosan returned through the back door, bringing the essential items from the counter that they would take with them.

Li Lanxin closed the trunk and unfastened a pouch from her waist, handing it to Cheng Laosan. "Laosan, once the shop closes, I don't know when we will be able to open again. Take this money."

Cheng Laosan didn't even need to weigh it in his hand; a single glance told him it contained a significant sum. He refused without hesitation. "Mistress, I took the fabric because I was shameless, but I truly cannot take this! You have already paid my wages!"

Li Lanxin ignored him, placing the pouch on the trunk and setting a serious expression. "I told you to take it, so take it. Tell me, a few days ago, I told you to buy more supplies for home before the prices at the rice and produce markets soared. Did you buy them?"

"I did! I did!" Cheng Laosan exclaimed.

"How much did you buy? Is it enough to last a few days?"

"Uh..." Cheng Laosan fell silent.

Li Lanxin sighed, giving him a look of frustration. "You, really. What time is this? The more you try to save, the more you lose. If not for yourself, think of the child and the elder at home. We just went to buy rice and meat today, and it is terribly expensive. Take this money and buy more for your family, and send some to the families of your old brothers-in-arms."

These veterans were all men who had followed Xu Yu in the past; she would help them where she could.

Cheng Laosan froze, then tears welled in his eyes. He nodded heavily and accepted the money.

Everything settled, it was already mid-afternoon. Li Lanxin urged Cheng Laosan to go buy his supplies. After muttering a few more words of reluctance, he steered his ox cart, swaying slowly out of the market.

Li Lanxin locked the back gate, walked out through the alley, took one last look at the shop’s sign hanging high, and headed home with Li Mian.

***

It was the end of summer, and a cool breeze had begun to stir at night.

In the dead of night, without warning, a fine, drizzling rain began to fall from the sky, growing more intense as translucent beads of water tapped rhythmically against the window lattice.

Behind the dark curtains, the person lying quietly on the bed suddenly awoke with a start, her whole body trembling.

Li Lanxin opened her eyes, dazed. It took a long time for her to regain her senses. As she sat up, she vaguely recalled a dream: she had been walking down a wide road when, suddenly, a hand appeared from nowhere, pressing against the small of her back and guiding her to turn. She could not see who was behind her, but she was pushed, as if by a ghost, to the edge of a bottomless cliff. Dazed and trance-like, she leaned her body halfway over the edge, her feet about to leave the ground—

The next moment, she returned from the dream to reality.

Li Lanxin sat for a long time, unable to fathom the meaning of the dream. Since she could not interpret it, she simply shook her head and stopped thinking about it.

The sound of rain outside was growing louder. Li Lanxin pushed aside the bed curtains, stepped down, and closed the window gaps tighter.

Just as she was about to return to sleep, the bedroom door suddenly rattled with a loud pounding, startling her.

"Mistress, Mistress!" Li Mian’s anxious voice came from outside.

Li Lanxin threw on a thin robe, grabbed an oil lamp, and hurried out of the inner room, pushing the door open. "What is it?"

Before Li Mian could answer, as soon as Li Lanxin stepped out, the chaotic, wretched screams and the sound of galloping horses, previously muffled by the wind and rain, were no longer held back.

Her complexion changed instantly. She looked at Li Mian, whose face was as pale as paper.

"Mistress, I... I got up in the night, and then, then I heard... is that outside..."

Li Lanxin immediately took her hand, gripping it tightly. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

"Go stay in my room." She pushed the girl inside without another word.

She turned and headed to the right, where an oil-paper umbrella stood in the corner. Pulling her robe tighter, she first checked the room where the other two maids slept; seeing that Xing'er was still sound asleep, she felt relieved and walked toward the direction of the growing noise.

Finally, she stopped at the back door of the residence. Although their two-courtyard house had a back door, it was rarely opened because behind it lay only a narrow, slippery, and difficult-to-navigate bluestone path, bordering a small branch of the city's main river. It was useless for passage.

Li Lanxin stood behind the door. Instead of opening it, she stepped aside and reached out, slowly removing two loose bricks from the wall.

Peering through the small gap, she looked outside.

The night was dark, and her eyes were not the best, yet on the opposite bank of the small river, many fires had been lit, defying the rainy night. They were likely shielded by umbrellas, illuminating the entire riverbank.

Beneath the torches, many dark shadows were crawling on the ground.

Before long, the torches began to sway in unison, their light flickering violently. The motionless dark figures lying on the ground were kicked mercilessly into the river.

The thick, pungent smell of blood was washed by the rain, drifting in wisps across to her side of the bank.

Li Lanxin clapped a hand over her mouth, her grip slackened, and the oil-paper umbrella dropped to the floor.

***

Northwest Army Camp.

The tents were brightly lit, and the soldiers stood in grim silence.

He Chengzhen stepped into the main tent and knelt to report: "Your Highness, Prince Chen has started the uprising!"

Zong Lin stood by the sand table, his eyes cast downward. "I see. Rise."

"Your Highness, then we..."

"It is not yet time." Zong Lin cut him off.

He Cheng opened his mouth, then said, "...Understood."

Outside the tent, the sound of the watchman calling the hour echoed throughout the camp.

He Cheng glanced outside, then looked back at his master, staring intently. After a moment, he said cautiously, "Your Highness, please rest early tonight."

"...Please, stop using that calming wine. The physician said that if it is used too much, it will harm your body and spirit."

Since they had left the capital to lie in wait, his master had not slept well for many days. If it weren't for the fact that his master had inherited the robust health of the old Prince, anyone else would have collapsed long ago.

Zong Lin cast a cold glance at him, and He Cheng immediately stiffened.

"Get out," Zong Lin said in a frigid voice, turning back to the sand table.

"...Yes." Knowing he had overstepped, He Cheng answered reluctantly and slunk out of the main tent.