The morning mist from the croton fields clung like a ball of moldy cotton wool, tangled with the stench of earth and unripe bean pods, clinging to Liu's tattered skirt. She huddled beneath the cracked ridge of the field, dark brown dirt wedged between her fingernails—a mixture of blood and mud from the gravel she'd scratched her fingertips on the previous night while stealing croton seedlings. In the distance, the cowhide boots of patrolling yamen officers crunched on the frozen soil of the bean fields. Her cloudy eyes rolled in their sockets, her dry lips quivered, and the fifth planned escape plan rolled into a curse on her tongue: "That little bitch, Chen Weiwan... When I get out, I'm going to peel the skin off her face and use it as a toilet mat!"
The spit she spat out caught the croton powder floating on the wind, choking her and causing her to hunch over and cough violently. The ragged cuff of her sleeve brushed against the corner of her mouth, revealing half her blackened teeth and rotten gums. The old prisoner, Wang Pozi, who was sifting through bean sprouts nearby, rolled her eyes and said through gaping teeth, "Liu, save yourself some time. Last month, the bean cart carrying it was pulled out of the bean pile by yamen runners with three bunches of prickly bean pods hanging from its rear end. It looked as disgraceful as a castrated boar. You'll never get out again!"
Liu let out a low, hoarse growl, like a crow whose tail has been stepped on, and pulled a half-frozen steamed bread from her moldy skirt. The bran pricked her gums, causing them to bleed. Crumbs of the bread fell onto her patched skirt, quickly covered by the croton powder carried by the wind. "You know shit!" She pointed at the yamen runners carrying food baskets in the distance, her cloudy eyes gleaming like a hungry wolf staring at a lamb. "The food buckets are big enough today. I can hide at the bottom and get out of this place!"
After three clapper strikes, Liu darted into the roadside thorn bushes like an arrow. The yamen runner delivering her food hummed a newly composed ditty: "Liu from the Croton Fields is a madwoman, trying to steal beans but ended up eating shit instead." The bucket on the shoulder pole jingled, and the croton powder floating on the surface shimmered eerily in the morning light. While they turned to divide the steamed bread, Liu dove for the bucket like a molting crow. As she pushed her head into the bottom, a hand like an iron clamp grabbed the back of her collar, and the rough cloth ripped with a crackling sound.
"Thinking of running away through your pants again?" The yamen runner grabbed her tattered clothes, laughing so hard that the croton stains on the front of her collar trembled. "Last month you hid in the bean pile, this month you hid in the water bucket, and next month I'm afraid you'll have to hide in the toilet and squat with dung beetles!"
As Liu was dragged through the croton fields, her trouser legs scraped against the pods, making a crisp "crunch." She stared at the plump green beans inside, her stomach rumbling hollowly. Since being exiled to this barren croton field, she hadn't had a full meal. Every day, she'd gnawed on frozen steamed bread that jarred her teeth, or munched on raw croton beans. The spiciness numbed her tongue, but it couldn't stop the hollowness in her gut.
"Let me go! I'm the second wife of the General Guardian's Mansion!" She kicked her bony legs, the chilblains on her ankles cracking and oozing blood, but the yamen runners kicked her into the drafty adobe cell. The musty smell mixed with stale croton powder assaulted her face, and she slumped to the cold ground, her hand rubbing her rumbling stomach, her gaze glued like a hook to the tender bean pods swaying in the breeze on the ridge of the field.
As the sun dipped low, Liu slipped out of the cell with unsteady steps. The setting sun cast an oily sheen on the tender pea pods. Trembling, she plucked a handful and stuffed them into her mouth. The spiciness brought tears and snot to her eyes, and the juice dripped down her chin onto her tattered shirt. "Pah! Even spicier than that little bitch Shen Weiwan's heart!" But before she could finish her curse, a sharp, stabbing pain shot through her abdomen. Clutching her stomach, she stumbled towards the toilet, crouching on the rotten planks, gnashing with pain as her nails dug deep marks into the wood.
"You damned girl! You've made me suffer in this damn place..." Before she could finish her sentence, she heard a dense buzzing sound from under her crotch. Looking down, she saw countless dung beetles swarming out from the cracks in the toilet, a dark swarm pouring in like a tide. Their tentacles rubbed against her cracked ankles, leaving wet, sticky marks on her skin.
"Ah—bugs!" Liu screamed, pulling up her pants and running. Her legs, weakened by diarrhea, limped like a hen with a broken wing. A swarm of dung beetles buzzed around her, a black mass slamming into the back of her neck, some even burrowing into her tangled hair. Panicking, she slipped and fell with a plop into the nearby cesspool.
Manure splashed three feet high, the stench making her retch instantly. The raw croton seeds in her stomach, mixed with acid, surged up. Dung beetles circled the pit excitedly, their antennae reaching for the floating dung bubbles. Occasionally, a bold insect landed on her hair bun. Liu thrashed in the manure, her untied white hair stained with brown fecal matter, and a dying dung beetle rested on her head, its six legs flailing wildly in front of her forehead.
"Chen Weiwan! I'm not done with you—" Her cries were interrupted by the wild laughter of patrolling yamen runners. Two runners squatted by the pit, clutching their stomachs. One of them laughed so hard he slapped his thigh: "Oh my god! Liu, you're amazing! Dung beetles chasing you and jumping into the pit, this show is more exciting than the opera troupes in the city!"
When the news reached the Prince's Mansion, Chen Weiwan was pinching the croton flour bun wrappers. When she heard Chuntao laughing so hard that she fell backwards, the steamer lid fell to the ground with a clang, startling the sparrows that were pecking at the croton flour on the windowsill.
"Miss! No, Princess!" Chuntao panted, leaning against the edge of the table. Tears of laughter washed away the croton powder makeup between her brows. "Liu has escaped from prison again! This time, she was chased by a dung beetle and jumped into a cesspool. There was even a bug on her head, like she was wearing a diamond-studded hat!"
The bun filling in Shen Weiwan's hand fell onto the chopping board with a "plop". She laughed so hard that she slapped her thigh, and the croton powder pouch on her waist jingled: "Why doesn't she go to heaven? Last month she was hidden in the bean pile, this month she fell into the manure pit, and next month she will probably be hidden in the swill bucket in the imperial kitchen of the palace?"
Xiao Yu came in, his dark brocade robe still stained with red lacquer from the palace walls. He shook his head helplessly when he heard this, and wiped the croton powder off the tip of her nose with his fingertips: "Madam, your aunt is a rare genius who only appears once in a century. She has made the prison escape so exciting."
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