Following Lanqin's suggestion, Chen Shou bought a house near Princess Tomb. It wasn't very big, but it was a detached house, enough for an ordinary family to live in.
The seller was in a hurry to sell, and seeing that the visitor could afford the money, he readily followed Chen Shou, handing over the money with one hand and going to the yamen (government office) to change the property deed.
Having accomplished all this, Chen Shou dared not rest and immediately hired a carriage to head towards the address Lan Qin had given him. The coachman, seeing that he had been given enough money, naturally did not dare to delay and sped off towards Cui Niang's old home in Yanjiao.
As darkness fell, the carriage arrived at a quiet little mountain village. This was deep in the Yanshan Mountains. Some of the villagers were long-time residents, while others were ordinary Manchu bannermen who had followed the Qing army into the Central Plains. These bannermen were originally poor people, but because of their social status, they were considered superior to the original Han Chinese inhabitants and naturally occupied the best land. The Cui family were among the original Han Chinese residents. Most of their children were sent to the palace or sold to wealthy families as maids; it was certainly better than staying in this remote mountain village and suffering the humiliation of the bannermen.
"Sir, we've arrived at the place you're looking for. I'll wait for you here. The village roads are all ups and downs, making it difficult for the carriage to travel," the coachman said from outside the carriage. Chen Shou had already agreed on a price with him and told him to wait there. If all went well, he and his men would return in his carriage immediately.
“Alright, you can rest here. I’m going to find my relatives. If I don’t come back today, I’ll let you know. Don’t go ahead on your own.” Chen Shouyi lifted the curtain and climbed out of the carriage.
"Don't worry, I'd be happy to take you back again, and we can earn some more money. This place is too remote, and I can't find any other business here." The coachman was quite honest.
Chen Shou was pleased and laughed, "Alright, you wait and see."
The last rays of sunlight were almost disappearing into the clouds, and the small mountain village would soon be shrouded in darkness. The coachman, however, carried a gas lamp, so he could travel even at night.
Chen Shou quickened his pace and hurried into the village. Upon entering, he found a local and asked where the Cui family lived. Fortunately, the villagers knew each other well; they worked together every day, so there were almost no strangers.
When Chen Shou arrived at the Cui family's gate, he saw that it was a house built of mud bricks. The house looked quite large, and there were probably three rooms inside. Chen Shou looked through the wooden gate and saw chickens and ducks running around in the yard. When the dog saw someone outside, it immediately became alert and started barking.
Soon, a burly man came out of the main house. He was wearing a gray, tattered coat, clearly a farmer, with a braid wrapped around his forehead.
"What's your name? Who's standing outside?" The big man was about to scold the dog, but when he saw a person standing outside the gate, he immediately asked.
"Excuse me, are you the eldest brother of the Cui family?" Chen Shou was no stranger to families like this; his own family was in a similar situation.
"I am, who are you?" Cui's son saw that Chen Shou's clothes made him look like he wasn't a farmer, but he didn't recognize him.
"Is Cui Xiaoyun your daughter?" Chen Shou immediately gave Cui Niang's name.
Upon hearing this, the burly man trembled and quickly walked to the door of the woodshed, saying to Chen Shou, "Who are you? Did she send you?"
Chen Shou quickly said, "Brother Cui, don't ask who I am yet. I'm just an errand boy. Aunt Cui is very concerned about you in the palace and sent me to deliver a letter. You'll understand once you read it."
Chen Shou quickly took out the letter in Cui Niang's handwriting that Lan Qin had given him from his bosom and handed it to the big man through the wooden gate.
“I can’t read.” The burly man took the letter. In fact, Cui Niang was also illiterate before entering the palace; she only learned to read after entering the palace.
Upon hearing this, Chen Shou became anxious and quickly said, "Open it and take a look first; perhaps you can recognize it."
The burly man opened the envelope, unfolded the paper, and looked at it. He saw a drawing on the paper. After looking at it, he excitedly said, "It really is my sister. Come in quickly."
At this moment, several more people came out of the house. They looked like the big man's wife, and there was also an old woman who was holding the hand of a three- or four-year-old girl.
"Ming'er, who is this? Why is someone standing outside?" the old woman said.
"Mother, Xiaoyun has written a letter!" the burly man exclaimed excitedly. Although Cui Niang would send some money home every year through someone, she hadn't returned since entering the palace at the age of twelve. No one in the family was literate, and the characters she had learned weren't enough to write a letter. For over a decade, it had been as if she had vanished without a trace.
The old woman didn't react for a moment and said, "Xiaoyun, which Xiaoyun?"
The burly man thrust the letter toward the old woman and said gruffly, “My sister, your daughter. If this is the letter she wrote, isn’t this the cloth tiger that I fought with her over when we were little? It was made by my mother.”
The old woman then realized what was happening, staring in disbelief at the drawing on the paper, and gradually began to cry, "What's wrong with Yun'er? Is she coming back?"
Chen Shou walked over to the old woman and said, "Grandma, don't cry. Aunt Cui instructed me to come and pick you up. She has prepared a house for you in the capital and is taking your whole family there. Brother, why don't you pack your things and come with the whole family?"
At this moment, the rest of the Cui family was also attracted by the commotion outside and all came out. It turned out that Old Man Cui had passed away a few years ago, probably from some illness. Old Mrs. Cui had given birth to two sons and two daughters. Both sons were married, and Aunt Cui was the second daughter. The youngest daughter was only thirteen years old this year. The family lived here and made a living by farming.
The second son of the Cui family said, "Are you really the person my eldest sister sent to pick us up?"
Chen Shou's arrival was unexpected; the family hadn't seen their daughter for over a decade, and he came to say he wanted to take them away.
"Brother Cui, look at your whole family, why would I lie to you? It really was Aunt Cui who sent me. Besides, there's something else going on. You all just need to come with me quickly. Don't bring anything, you don't need anything. Just bring your clothes and money." Chen Shou didn't mention Lanqin. When talking to this group of country folk, he couldn't complicate things, otherwise it would be even more difficult to explain.
“Brother, you suddenly came here and said you wanted us to go with you. How can we just leave with our whole family like this?” Old Cui said with difficulty. “Look, we still have these chickens and ducks to raise, and we still have grain outside. How can we just leave?”
For farmers, food is their life.
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