Volume One, Spring Lock in the Garden, Chapter Seven: Where Does the Winter Snow Return?
Dongxue, Dongqin, and Dongmei were locked together in the woodshed in the outer courtyard. Dongmei was terrified, speechless, only tears streaming down her face. Dongqin, on the other hand, kept cursing, first Dongxue, then Ruanbi, then the First Madam, then the injustice of Heaven, the inability to distinguish right from wrong. After cursing Heaven, she began cursing Dongxue again…
Suddenly the door to the woodshed opened, and Granny He came in, glaring at her fiercely, and said, "If I ever hear you swearing again, I'll have someone sew your mouth shut with a needle."
Dongqin was so frightened that she begged for mercy repeatedly, saying, "Granny, save me! Dongxue usually follows Fifth Miss around. Only Dongxue knows what Fifth Miss does. Dongmei and I know nothing about it."
Granny He sneered and said, "Just based on the vicious insults you just hurled, selling you is not unjust at all."
Dongqin kowtowed again, saying that she was just angry and would never curse normally.
Granny He was too lazy to pay attention to her anymore and said, "Dongxue, come out now."
Dongxue paused for a moment, then followed her out of the woodshed and into a small side room next door, where she saw Granny Zheng pacing back and forth.
"Godmother," Dongxue called out, her voice choked with sobs, and the tears she had just stopped flowing back down her cheeks.
Granny Zheng gave her a reassuring look, then took Granny He's hand and said, "Sister He, thank you this time."
Granny He said, "Sister Zheng, you're too kind. All I can do is let you talk. But please keep it short and don't say anything irrelevant. If Madam finds out, I'll be in trouble too."
Granny Zheng said, "Sister understands, so please rest assured, younger sister."
Granny He nodded, closed the door, and left.
Dongxue knelt down with a thud, sobbing uncontrollably, "God...mother...save me."
Looking at her disfigured face, Granny Zheng's eyes also reddened. "We just talked a little while ago, and you were perfectly fine. How did this happen in such a short time?"
"I have no idea."
"It must be because of your master. You silly girl, how many times have I told you that Fifth Miss is a complete wretch, following her will only bring you trouble, but you wouldn't listen, and now you're getting your comeuppance..."
With tears streaming down her face, Dongxue said, "Godmother, I was wrong, please save me."
“It’s not that your godmother doesn’t want to save you, but I’m truly powerless to do so. I just went to see the First Madam, and she said that this time it was the Old Madam’s idea. All I can do now is ask Granny He to find you a good family to marry into…” As she said this, Granny Zheng’s tears also fell.
“Godmother…” Dongxue collapsed to the ground, her cries weak and feeble.
Looking at her, Granny Zheng thought of her own daughter who had died young, and her heart ached with grief. She slapped her thigh and said, "My life is so bitter. You all came and went. I've wasted my love and care on you."
The mother and daughter, one sitting and the other kneeling, were both in tears.
After crying for a while, Granny Zheng calmed down a little. Suddenly, she remembered that Dongxue had come to see her before dusk and asked, "When you came to see me then, did you know that something bad was going to happen to you? Why didn't you tell me? If you had told me earlier, I might have been able to think of a way out?"
Dongxue also remembered that Ruan Bi had asked her to come and beg Zheng Mama early in the morning. She stopped crying and said, "At that time, I didn't know that something bad was going to happen. It was Fifth Miss who told me to come to you and asked me to beg you to protect me."
Granny Zheng paused for a moment, then said, "Why didn't you say so back then?"
Dongxue said, "When I saw my godmother, she said that the old lady was fine. I thought that the fifth young lady was overthinking it."
"You silly girl." Granny Zheng sighed, recalling what Dongxue had said, and then became curious, "You said that Fifth Miss sent you to find me, begging me to protect you?"
Winter Snow nodded.
Granny Zheng asked in surprise, "Did the Fifth Miss foresee that something bad would happen?"
Dongxue thought for a moment and said, "It's vaguely true."
Granny Zheng became curious, walked to the door and glanced outside, saying, "Silly girl, tell me what exactly happened, just tell me the important parts."
Dongxue briefly recounted her encounter with the group of noble youths during the purification ritual, saying, "Madam has truly wronged Fifth Miss. We were originally going to leave, but it was that guy named Gu Xiaobai who pushed us out."
"So that's what happened." Granny Zheng suddenly realized. "Silly girl, whether you're wronged or not, what happened today has really ruined the reputation of our Ruan family. Those young men aren't from ordinary families, no wonder the old lady and the first lady are so angry."
Dongxue was stunned for a moment, then said, "Then... what will happen to Fifth Sister?"
Granny Zheng frowned and said, "You still care about her? She's hurt you badly enough. If you had listened to me and left her long ago, things wouldn't have come to this."
Dongxue clutched the handkerchief in her arms, feeling confused. It wasn't that she felt no resentment, nor that she hated Ruan Bi to the core. Especially when she thought that Ruan Bi had meant well in saving her, and that it was her disobedience that had caused the trouble, and when she recalled the tearful exchange of handkerchiefs at their parting, that little bit of resentment faded away. "Godmother, I want to ask you for a favor."
"What's up?"
Dongxue said, "After my daughter leaves, Fifth Sister's life will probably be even more difficult. I beg my godmother to help her out of respect for my daughter."
"You silly girl, you don't worry about your own future, but you're worrying about hers. She's a mistress, after all. At worst, she won't end up like you, not even knowing where she'll be sold off to. You should worry about yourself. In the future, you need to learn your lesson and avoid trouble. Don't be a fool and become someone else's scapegoat..." Zheng Mama choked up and couldn't continue.
Dongxue nodded, sniffling, and said, "Godmother, I'm afraid we'll never meet again after I leave. Sit down and let me kowtow to you three times."
Granny Zheng nodded and accepted three thumps on her head. Then she helped her up, took off a silver bracelet from her wrist, and put it on Dongxue. "I was in a hurry when I came out, so I didn't get anything good. This bracelet was a gift from the old lady when I was a young lady. I'm giving it to you as a keepsake."
"Thank you, godmother." Dongxue looked at the silver bracelet that gleamed faintly under the oil lamp, and suddenly remembered something else. "Oh, right, godmother, I have another favor to ask of you."
Granny Zheng patted her hand and said, "Tell me, tell me."
“Previously, Fifth Sister asked me to bury her silver and jewelry. I buried it in a hole next to the old locust tree on the west side of the wall. Now that I’m leaving, I’m afraid I won’t see Fifth Sister again. Please ask my godmother to pass on this message to her.”
Granny Zheng was startled again. Having lived in this grand mansion for decades, she was worldly-wise. Just now, when Granny He mentioned that two lowly maids from the outer courtyard were staying in the east wing of Liaoyuan to look after the Fifth Miss, she guessed that the Fifth Miss had been imprisoned. Imprisoned girls lived a life far from human; they were often starved and cold by the maids and servants, and most of their belongings were usually looted by the servants. Judging from Dongxue's words, the Fifth Miss had clearly already guessed her predicament…
Just now, Dongxue said that Ruan Bi had asked her to come find her, and she thought it was a coincidence. Now, hearing this, it's clear that Fifth Miss had anticipated this all along. But in her memory, Fifth Miss had always been a timid and hesitant person, indecisive about important matters and prone to throwing tantrums over trivial things. After thinking for a moment, Zheng Mama asked again, "Daughter, has Fifth Miss done anything else?"
"Nothing much," Dongxue said, taking out a handkerchief from her bosom. "Just now, when I left, she exchanged handkerchiefs with me and apologized, saying that she had implicated me." Handkerchiefs are private items in a boudoir and cannot be exchanged casually; exchanging them signifies a close friendship.
Granny Zheng glanced at the handkerchief and said, "I didn't expect her to be such a kind and righteous person."
Dongxue nodded and said, "Miss has always treated me well."
Granny Zheng rolled her eyes at her and said, "She doesn't even know how to regret it when she's about to die." Although she said that, she didn't completely deny Fifth Miss's feelings as she used to.
There was a knock at the door. Granny Zheng opened it, and Granny He came in, saying, "Sister Zheng, the human traffickers are here..."
Upon hearing this, Dongxue's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.
Granny Zheng pulled Granny He out of the side room and whispered, "Sister, I want to ask you for a favor."
Granny He said, "Sister Zheng, if it's about where Dongxue is going, I will find her a good place even if you don't ask. But if it's something else, I'm afraid I'm powerless to help."
Granny Zheng said, "Dongxue's face is damaged, so I'm afraid she won't be able to sell to a good place. I'd like to ask you to allow her to recover before selling her."
Granny He shook her head with difficulty and said, "This is difficult, the madam has given orders."
Granny Zheng said, "What's so difficult about that? There's a good reason right here. You just need to tell Madam that Dongxue's facial injury is serious, and we're afraid that taking her out will damage the reputation of our Ruan family. Let's wait until she recovers before selling her."
Granny He's eyes lit up. This was a brilliant idea! It would satisfy Granny Zheng's demands and also make a good impression on the Madam. However, Granny Zheng must have ulterior motives for coming up with this plan. What if her scheme failed? Wouldn't that implicate her? She looked at Granny Zheng hesitantly.
Granny Zheng naturally knew what she was thinking and said, "Sister, I do want to save that girl, but I won't risk myself. If things don't work out, I certainly won't implicate you."
After thinking about it, Granny He agreed, and nodded in agreement.
Granny Zheng thanked her and went back to say goodbye to Dongxue. Fearing that things might not go well and that she would only give Dongxue hope only to be disappointed, she didn't mention her plans at all. After leaving the small side room, Granny Zheng returned to the inner courtyard. She first went to the First Madam's room to express her gratitude, and then went around to the big locust tree under the west wall. She found the cave that Dongxue had mentioned, took out the jewelry and silver wrapped in her handkerchief, looked at them, and then put them back in the cave.
To the east of the big locust tree was the Liaoyuan Garden. Granny Zheng walked over and went to the east wing. A woman surnamed Tang was guarding the door. She recognized her and said with a smile, "Honored guest, honored guest, what brings you here at this hour?"
Granny Zheng said, "I am here to see the Fifth Miss on the orders of the Old Madam."
Knowing that she was a favorite of the old lady, Granny Tang naturally had no suspicions and invited her in courteously. Once inside, she dismissed the two rough maids.
Granny Zheng scrutinized Ruan Bi. In the dim light of the solitary lamp, she sat reading by candlelight, dressed in a slightly worn light blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), her demeanor calm and composed, neither surprised nor frightened. Seeing that she could still concentrate on her book in such circumstances, Granny Zheng was increasingly astonished. Her mind raced, unsure of where to begin.
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