The Sixth Year of Shenchu
Awaiting Orders
“Why are you back alone? Where’s my mother?!”
When Alai returned to the Xie residence, battered and breathless, the first thing that greeted her was the sharp, scolding voice of the Sixth Lady.
“Fourth, Fourth Aunt hasn’t come back?”
“I’m asking you, and you’re questioning me instead? My mother went out with you, where is she now? And what’s with your face and clothes? Did you fall into a pigsty? You’re filthy! Ugh! Don’t come near me!” The Sixth Lady pinched her nose and waved Alai away in disgust.
Alai was genuinely panicked, too flustered to bicker with the Sixth Lady. Fourth Aunt had indeed asked someone to help carry a basket when she left Taoyuan Temple, indicating she was heading to the Wang family. But she wasn’t at the Wang family, nor at the temple. Alai had kept an eye out along the way but saw no sign of her.
The city was in turmoil due to the refugee riots, and Fourth Aunt was usually very cautious, unlikely to risk a confrontation with the refugees. Moreover, with two monks from Taoyuan Temple accompanying her, they should have been able to handle any danger. Perhaps they were just temporarily trapped and couldn’t get away.
As Alai hurried through the inner corridor that was reserved for the servants of the Xie residence, her mind raced with thoughts, constantly coming up with reasons why “Fourth Aunt must be safe.”
She pushed open the wooden door and called out for her mother, only to find not just her mother, Xiaoshi, but also Lord Yunmeng in the room. They stood facing each other, seemingly in conversation. When her mother turned to look at her, the icy glare in her eyes pushed Alai back a step.
She had never seen her mother like this before. And why was she alone in a room with Lord Yunmeng? A vague suspicion formed in Alai’s mind, but she quickly dismissed it.
Without time to ponder further, Alai recounted everything that had happened to Xiaoshi. After listening, Xiaoshi angrily said:
“Why did you stay out there searching for so long after something like this happened? Do you know how much time you’ve wasted? After the incident, you should have come back immediately to report it. With the number of people in the Xie residence, we could have covered most of Qixian by now. But instead… You’re always sharp-witted when causing trouble, yet you get muddled at critical times!”
Xiaoshi, who had spent years working the fields, was tall and broad-shouldered with sun-darkened skin. The years had roughened her features, but traces of her youthful beauty could still be seen. She rarely scolded Alai so harshly, but when she did, her furrowed brows and stern demeanor were truly frightening.
Alai knew that her mother was anxious and had spoken more harshly than usual. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“I know I was wrong, Mother. Please don’t be angry.”
Lord Yunmeng remained silent, fanning himself as he prepared to leave.
“Lord Yunmeng, please wait,” Xiaoshi called out to him.
Lord Yunmeng turned to look at her. Xiaoshi seemed to ponder something, and after a moment, as if having made up her mind, she said, “Alright, I agree to your terms.”
“Oh?” Lord Yunmeng raised an eyebrow slightly, appearing somewhat surprised.
“But, in exchange, you must promise me one thing as well.”
After Lord Yunmeng left, Xiaoshi took the still-dazed Alai and went together to find the mistress of the house to report the matter of Fourth Aunt as soon as possible.
Supporting her limping mother, who was drenched in sweat, Alai kept urging her to slow down and be careful not to fall.
They paid a late-night visit to the mistress of the house, explaining everything about Fourth Aunt in detail. Mistress Yao, sensing the gravity of the situation, immediately put down her cheese and ordered a maid to summon Xie Suishan. She also instructed that all the household staff, advisors, and servants be gathered in the rear courtyard.
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Xie Suishan had been anxious all day because of the refugee situation. He was tossing and turning in bed, wondering if the unfortunate county magistrate’s clerk had left yet. The sudden, frantic knocking on the door startled him, making him jump out of bed. A household servant explained the situation and urged him to quickly go see his mother.
Annoyed and flustered, Xie Suishan hastily threw on his clothes, not even bothering to straighten his cap, and rushed to meet his mother. Mistress Yao ordered him to mobilize everyone in the Xie household to search for Fourth Aunt.
“You must bring her back alive. Otherwise, you know the consequences.”
Before he left, Mistress Yao gave her son a stern admonition. Though it seemed like a reasonable warning given the current circumstances, the deeper meaning was clear only to Xie Suishan.
He was the one who had allowed the refugees into the city, making him the main culprit behind the current chaos. Unexpectedly, the repercussions had come so quickly to the Xie family, and it was none other than Fourth Aunt, his father’s favorite concubine, who had been caught up in it. His father would be returning soon. If anything happened to Fourth Aunt, how would his father punish him? Recalling the time his father had beaten him mercilessly with an iron rod when he was a child, Xie Suishan felt a chill down his spine.
Unable to bear his mother’s stern gaze for even a second longer, Xie Suishan mounted his horse and galloped off, his followers sprinting behind him. They charged into the curfew-bound Qixian with great momentum. Upon encountering refugees, they would knock them to the ground and forcefully interrogate them about Fourth Aunt’s whereabouts.
Alai wanted to join the search for Fourth Aunt, but before Xiaoshi could say anything, a maid from Xie Suishan’s quarters stopped her.
“The young master has instructed us to keep an eye on you. You are not to go anywhere until he returns.”
“Keep an eye on me? Why?” Alai asked, puzzled.
“Ask the young master yourself when he returns.”
Xiaoshi pulled her back and shook her head, signaling that there was no need to press further.
“Will Fourth Aunt be okay?” Alai asked, her mind heavy with worry as she and her mother sat on the kitchen steps. “It’s all my fault. If only I hadn’t left…”
“Even if you had stayed with her, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Stop blaming yourself.”
“But I could have…” Alai began, but stopped herself, knowing her mother disliked her showing off her martial skills in public. The Golden Cicada Knife was absolutely forbidden to use.
“Alai,” Xiaoshi said, gently patting her daughter’s head, her usual kind and gentle demeanor returning. “There are some things we can only do our best with. You need to understand that in this world, no matter how hard you try, some things can’t be changed. The hardest lesson to learn is not how to be a hero, but how to let go.”
Her mother had secrets.
Since she could remember, Alai had lived with her mother in the Xie household. Apart from tending to the garden and farming tools, her mother had never left the Xie estate. Yet, she knew about the world, able to recount countless strange tales from ancient times to the present, and she secretly taught Alai martial arts, though she never allowed her to show them.
The Golden Cicada Knife, as thin as a cicada’s wing, could kill invisibly when hidden between the fingers. Though her mother had passed the skill on to her, she forbade Alai from using it. The thing she said most often to her daughter was:
“Only by laying down the knife can you live a peaceful life.”
Mother was not an ordinary person, and her conversation with Lord Yunmeng today further confirmed Alai’s suspicions.
A subtle sense of panic crept into Alai’s heart.
The life she was accustomed to, the “peaceful days” her mother often spoke of, might soon be shattered.
Xie Suishan had been riding all night without a moment’s rest. His legs trembled, and his lower back ached, yet there was still no sign of Fourth Aunt.
He had almost scoured the entire Qixian, with only the undeveloped wasteland to the east of the city left unsearched. The eastern outskirts, desolate and empty, were the perfect place for nefarious activities. Xie Suishan ordered the other servants to continue searching the city and detain any vagrants they encountered, while he led a squad to the eastern outskirts.
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The eastern outskirts at night were even more barren than he had imagined. A soldier lit a torch and handed it to Xie Suishan. He reined in his horse to slow down, the torchlight illuminating patches of the night.
Behind a frost-covered pile of hay and rubble, a foot was faintly visible. Xie Suishan ordered the soldier to investigate.
“Young Master, it’s a monk.”
“A monk?” Xie Suishan’s expression changed. “Is he still alive?”
“He’s already gone.” The soldier turned over the monk’s blood-soaked, tattered robes. The sight beneath was gruesome: the body seemed to have been gnawed by wild beasts, the flesh torn to shreds, and bones exposed in several places. The soldier felt a wave of nausea but forced it down. Just then, another shout came from nearby:
“There’s another monk here! Also dead!”
Two monks.
Xie Suishan paced his horse hesitantly, unsure whether to proceed.
Could these be the two monks who left Taoyuan Temple with Fourth Aunt? If they were dead, then what about Fourth Aunt…
“Young Master! Young Master!”
Xie Suishan was startled by a soldier who rushed up to him, shouting frantically. Just as he was about to scold him, the soldier said:
“Young Master! We’ve found Fourth Aunt!”
The lights at the Xie residence had been on all night. No one in the household, from top to bottom, had dared to sleep. They were all waiting for news of Fourth Aunt.
It wasn’t until the sky began to lighten that Xie Suishan and his party returned. As soon as she saw her son enter the gate, Mistress Yao rushed forward, followed by a group of maids who quickly gathered around. Alai and her mother stood at the back of the crowd, anxiously peering inside.
Mistress Yao exchanged a glance with Xie Suishan, whose face was etched with tiredness and worry. Seeing her son in such a state, she had a foreboding sense of what had happened. When three soldiers emerged from behind Xie Suishan, carrying something tightly wrapped in white cloth, she didn’t even need to look closely; her mind was already racing with other thoughts.
Standing next to Mistress Yao, the Sixth Lady pointed at the vaguely human-shaped bundle on the ground. Her fingers and voice trembled like cloth strips fluttering in a fierce wind. “This… this, is…”
“It’s Fourth Aunt,” Xie Suishan replied heavily.
His words made the Sixth Lady’s vision go dark. She hesitated before stepping forward, summoning all her courage to lift the cloth.
A round object rolled out.
Even though the Sixth Lady had braced herself, the reality far exceeded her worst fears. When she realized that the round object was an eyeball, it felt as if a searing tongue of fire had suddenly licked her, causing her to jump back two steps. Those two steps, unfortunately, gave her a full view of Fourth Aunt’s horribly mutilated remains beneath the blood-soaked cloth.
The Sixth Lady stood there, stunned, her gaze fixed as if glued to the sight. When her maid tried to comfort her, she turned and began to vomit uncontrollably, spilling her stomach’s contents onto the ground.
The accompanying advisor mentioned that Fourth Aunt had likely been assaulted by starving refugees before her death. These refugees, driven by hunger, had even eaten many children from the city. Fourth Aunt had the misfortune of encountering these fiends.
The Sixth Lady broke into uncontrollable sobs.
Already terrified, now hearing that her mother had been defiled by those wretched scoundrels, the grief of losing her mother sparked a towering rage within her. She spun in circles, stomping her feet, desperate for an outlet for her fury. Suddenly, she found a target, her eyes sharp, and charged straight at Alai.
“You wretched slave! How dare you abandon your mistress and run home by yourself! Why is it my mother who died and not you! Give me back my mother!”
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The Sixth Lady yanked on Alai’s hair, pulling her close, and began kicking and hitting her relentlessly.
Alai couldn’t fight back; she could only loudly explain, “It was Fourth Aunt who sent me back first! Later, I heard the bandits had rioted, and when I went to find Fourth Aunt, she had already left Taoyuan Temple! I even went to the Wang family looking for her!”
“You dare talk back! You wretched slave! You wretched slave! I’ll beat you to death and make you atone to my mother!”
The Sixth Lady knew all too well that Fourth Aunt had died on the way to the Wang family. If it weren’t for Fourth Aunt’s obsession with marrying her into the Wang family, she wouldn’t have gone there in the first place. The root of this tragedy lay with Xie Suishan. But Xie Suishan was the legitimate eldest son, set to inherit the Xie family fortune. Even with ten times the courage, Liu Niang wouldn’t dare confront her legitimate brother. All her anger could only be vented on the servant, Alai.
The Sixth Lady sobbed and screamed, tearing at Alai, demanding she pay with her life for Fourth Aunt. Xiaoshi couldn’t bring herself to pull the Sixth Lady away, so she used her own body to shield Alai, taking the blows herself. The other household servants watched coldly, waiting for the mistress and young master to give their orders.
Mistress Yao, her head throbbing from the Sixth Lady’s shrill cries, raised her hand and said, “Enough! What kind of lunatic behavior is this? Pull her away immediately.” Hearing their mistress’s command, the servants quickly moved to pry the Sixth Lady off Alai and her mother. The Sixth Lady’s hair was disheveled, and her eyes were swollen from crying, but she still struggled, forcing them to send her back to her room.
Xie Suishan pointed at Alai and Xiaoshi, saying, “Lock these two wretched slaves in the woodshed and keep a close watch on them until further notice!”
Servants: “Yes, sir!”
LP: Of course, punish and blame a servant for following orders? Classic!
