Her letter
Zhangjiacun, Ancheng, Jiangnan.
Before dawn, Lee Soo-man, along with Jang Chun-chun and Xiao Jiu, set off in a dilapidated horse-drawn carriage.
Xiao Jiu was still wearing her winter coat when she glanced at the Zhang family's gate.
"Brother, are we really leaving?" Xiao Jiu asked Li Xiuman. When Zhang Chunfeng introduced Li Xiuman and Zhang Chuntian to Xiao Jiu, he did not specify that the two were husband and wife. Xiao Jiu assumed that they were brothers from the same family and called Li Xiuman "brother".
Lee Soo-man also glanced at the Zhang family's residence. According to the agreement he made with the Lee family, he should have left several months ago, but he has been delayed for seven months, and it is already too late for him to leave now.
"But I really don't know why we have to leave. Lingnan is so far away!" Xiao Jiu really liked the Zhang family's place and the Zhang family, especially since Zhang Chunfeng had told her that they would be family from now on.
Xiao Jiu asked, slightly aggrieved, "Could it be that Sister Chunfeng is going to take up an official post in Lingnan after passing the imperial examination? Should we go and meet up with her?"
Li Xiuman froze, the name Zhang Chunfeng burning like hot coals, making him feel pain all over.
Looking into Xiao Jiu's innocent eyes, Li Xiuman took a deep breath and said, "My mother has relatives in Lingnan, so we'll have someone to look after us if we go. As for Chunfeng..."
Xiao Jiu stared wide-eyed at Li Xiuman with a pitiful look.
“Brother, is Sister Chunfeng in Lingnan or not? If she’s not there, even if Mother’s relatives are in Lingnan, we won’t go. What if Sister Chunfeng comes back and we can’t find her? Brother, I’m from Lingnan. That place is damp and rainy, and full of miasma. Even if Mother’s relatives come to help us, it’s not as easy as staying here.”
Xiao Jiu spoke with utmost sincerity. In the past seven months, she had truly treated Li Xiuman like family in the Zhang family. At first, Li Xiuman was worried that the twelve-year-old girl would have difficulty taking care of Zhang Chuntian, and felt that if Zhang Chuntian soiled her pants, it would be inconvenient for a girl like her to handle such a dirty matter.
However, Xiao Jiu truly took excellent care of Zhang Chuntian. When Li Xiuman worked in the fields, Xiao Jiu not only kept an eye on Zhang Chuntian, but also didn't mind changing his pants when he soiled them. Sometimes, when there was nothing to do at home, Xiao Jiu would take Zhang Chuntian with him to help Li Xiuman with the work in the fields.
Unfortunately, Zhang Chuntian's mind is now so muddled that he can't distinguish between weeds and rice, and he can only do manual labor. Gradually, Zhang Chuntian has come to regard Xiao Jiu as his younger sister, calling her "sister" clearly every day.
Lee Soo-man hesitated for a moment, unsure how to tell Xiao Jiu the cruel reality.
Zhang Chunfeng will never come back, never.
"Perhaps Chunfeng hasn't passed the exam yet and needs to stay in Kyoto to prepare for it again. Let's go first, and we'll talk to Chunfeng about it once things are settled." Lee Soo-man found a rather poor excuse.
Xiao Jiu frowned. "Brother, we really can't find out if Sister Chunfeng passed the imperial examination in the village. We can go to the yamen to ask. There are officials there who will definitely know about her."
After a moment of hesitation, Li Xiuman had no choice but to tell the truth, "Xiao Jiu, Mother has a reason for sending us to Lingnan. Let's go first, and everything will become clear then."
Xiao Jiu pouted. Although she was illiterate, based on her experience of traveling alone from Lingnan to Jiangnan, she still felt that this matter was really inappropriate.
But Lee Soo-man had already prepared the carriage, so Xiao Jiu had no choice but to get on.
Just as the three were about to leave, a villager happened to come by carrying a basket of things on his back.
"The Zhang family," the village head called out.
Li Xiuman quickly stopped the carriage, only to see that the village head's box was full of letters!
"The letter from Chunfeng! Oh dear, the journey from Kyoto to here is truly long and arduous. The letters were not sent on time and all arrived at once. This is exhausting for this old man!" the village head exclaimed, handing the basket directly to Li Xiuman.
Lee Soo-man glanced at it briefly; there seemed to be a hundred letters in the box.
She truly did as she said, writing to him every day! Li Xiuman felt a surge of bitterness in his heart. He took the box and saw the familiar three words "Zhang Chunfeng" on the outside of each letter envelope, and he felt so heartbroken that he couldn't breathe.
Li Xiuman didn't have the courage to open the letter. He was afraid that if he just glanced at it, he would change his mind and be unable to control himself from going to Zhang Chunfeng.
"Brother, sister's letter, please open it and read it to me!" Xiao Jiu immediately took a letter out of the box and handed it to Li Xiuman.
Lee Soo-man's fingertips trembled as he clutched the letter as if it were a burning hot taro. Xiao Jiu looked at him again with that same longing gaze.
"Thank you, village head. I'll take the letter home first," Li Xiuman said hurriedly, dumping the letter into a cabinet in the house, slamming it shut, and then carrying the basket back to the village head.
The village head took the basket and looked at the carriage with a puzzled expression.
"Where are you headed? To the capital to find Zhang Chunfeng?"
Before Lee Soo-man could speak, Xiao Jiu immediately chimed in, "Yes, we're going to find my sister. Uncle, do you know if she passed the imperial examination?"
Xiao Jiu is a primary school student and learns things quickly. In the past seven months, he has already mastered most of the local dialect of Jiangnan.
"I don't know either. News from Kyoto doesn't reach our village that quickly. It takes two months just for letters to travel. Let's wait and see," the village head said, and slowly walked away.
Xiao Jiu turned to Lee Soo-man and asked, "Brother, why aren't you opening the letter?"
"No need to look, I already know what it is. Chunfeng also wants us to settle down in Lingnan." Li Xiuman said, pulling Xiao Jiu onto the carriage, cracking the whip again, and the old horse trotted off.
Xiao Jiu still didn't believe it. "Why does Sister want us to settle down in Lingnan? Does she really want to become an official in Lingnan?" Xiao Jiu didn't know what the rules were for those who became the top scholar. She only knew that officials could be transferred. For example, the county magistrate in her hometown of Lingnan came and went. One by one, they left and came and left. So she assumed that Zhang Chunfeng would also go to Lingnan after becoming the top scholar.
"Xiao Jiu, we'll know when we get there." Li Xiuman patted Xiao Jiu's head, feeling a pang of sorrow in his heart. He had not only hurt Zhang Chunfeng, but also deceived Xiao Jiu.
But if it's not like this...
As Lee Soo-man closed his eyes, the image of Lee kneeling at his feet, scissors in hand pointed at her neck, was still vivid in his mind. Between him and Zhang Chunfeng lay Zhang Chuntian's life and Lee's death, an insurmountable barrier of life and death, making it seem as if they would never see each other again.
The ragged horses rolled on the ground, creating a scene reminiscent of the four seasons.
Spring, summer, autumn, and winter come and go. Xiao Jiu stands on the side of the street in Lingnan, tending to the freshly steamed Longjing cakes while counting the days in her mind.
I left home in the third month of spring in the first year of Shangwu, and today is exactly the spring of the second year of Shangwu.
It's been a year! Why hasn't my sister arrived yet!
After selling all the Longjing cakes, Xiao Jiu calculated her earnings and found she only had fifty copper coins. Lingnan was rife with miasma, and Zhang Chuntian was now infected; this amount of money was truly insufficient to buy medicine. Xiao Jiu realized that she and Li Xiuman had only eaten thin porridge for a week.
She was still growing and was truly starving. If she were in Jiangnan, where her family farmed and fed themselves, she probably wouldn't have to worry about going hungry. But now that she was doing business here, she was truly at the mercy of the weather!
Xiao Jiu was hungry, but even more bitter inside. That year, she pestered Li Xiuman to teach her to read, simply because she couldn't believe that the letter Zhang Chunfeng had sent actually asked the three of them to come to Lingnan to settle down.
Zhang Chunfeng clearly said they were all family back then, so why would he abandon her now? Xiao Jiu just felt that Li Xiuman was lying to her!
She packed her things and was getting ready to go home.
Suddenly, soldiers sounded gongs to clear the way, forcing pedestrians to stand in corners. Xiao Jiu was also pushed back, protecting her belongings as she watched people around her craning their necks, seemingly waiting for someone.
Thirteen-year-old Xiao Jiu truly had the heart of a child. She hadn't grown much in the past year, but people in Lingnan were indeed short, and Xiao Jiu could see the scenery on the street clearly from among them.
With gongs and trumpets being sounded, the spectacle resembled a wedding procession.
Xiao Jiu also went to see, but the person who came to see was not a delicate and beautiful lady, but a man riding a tall horse and wearing golden armor.
"Oh my, isn't this General Duan who quelled the bandits for us? And he's so handsome!"
Xiao Jiu listened intently as someone mentioned General Duan. Although she didn't know who he was, the bandits in the mountains had been rampant these past few months, and the imperial court had sent people to suppress them. It turned out that this was the same person.
Xiao Jiu's eyes scanned the man, and he truly had phoenix eyes, a high nose, and was eight feet tall, with extraordinary bravery. Before she could finish looking at him, another gasp came from the crowd.
Behind the general, soldiers were carrying two dead tigers!
The man-eating tigers had long terrorized the surrounding villages and towns. Unfortunately, the tigers were truly formidable; their size rivaled that of several adult men, and the government had dispatched several capture teams without success. But General Duan actually killed both tigers in the mountains.
The onlookers, who had never seen a tiger before, craned their necks to see. Xiao Jiu was also amazed; the tiger was indeed enormous!
"General Duan is truly a god! He killed two tigers and wiped out the bandits!"
"Yes, yes, he's a truly benevolent official who brings good fortune to the people."
As everyone was talking, Xiao Jiu suddenly heard a man dressed as a scholar snort coldly.
"You bunch of ignorant fools, he's not really doing what's best for us common people; he's just here to kill tigers!"
Xiao Jiu looked at him with a puzzled expression, and someone retorted, "Coming here specifically to hunt the tiger is also for our benefit! It's for our own good!"
The scholar scoffed again, "His father is the Grand General who commands the three armies. Do you really think our bandits can summon a Grand General? Let me tell you, I have connections in the court. His attack on the tiger is all for Minister Zhang's birthday banquet this autumn."
"Minister Zhang? Who is this?"
"You don't even know this person! Truly utterly ignorant!" The scholar deliberately spoke in riddles, attracting the attention of those around him who urged him to hurry up.
He slowly began to speak, “A cup of wine in the spring breeze, ten years of lamplight in the rainy nights of the rivers and lakes! Minister Zhang is none other than Zhang Chunfeng, the top scholar in the imperial examinations last year! In just one year, he repaired the Yellow River and opened up canals, leveled roads and revitalized Shangluo, rising from a compiler in the Hanlin Academy to Minister of Personnel! It is said that Minister Zhang not only has a photographic memory and is exceptionally talented, but he is also as handsome as an immortal descended to earth, with a celestial appearance!”
Clang! All the pots and pans in Xiao Jiu's arms fell to the ground because of this person's words.
She could hardly believe her ears. Minister Zhang! Zhang Chunfeng! Last year's top scholar!
"You said Minister Zhang's name is Zhang Chunfeng! But is he Zhang Chunfeng from a family in Jiangnan?" Xiao Jiu grabbed the man's sleeve and asked.
Seeing that Xiao Jiu looked poor and shabby, the man immediately broke free from his grasp.
"Why are you so agitated! Judging by your appearance, you're a local from Lingnan. Minister Zhang is indeed from Jiangnan, but he has absolutely no relation to you! He's not even a relative of yours!"
Ignoring the man's sarcastic remarks, Xiao Jiu picked up the pots and pans and ran home as fast as she could.
Her heart was pounding. Her sister had passed the imperial examination! Not only had she become the top scholar, but she had also become a high-ranking official! Even the great general was preparing a birthday gift for her!
My brother must not know, which is why he led me here!
This means that if the elder brother goes to the capital, he can not only see his sister, but also perhaps cure Zhang Chuntian's malaria! No, he can just ask the government for money!
The family's home in Lingnan was even more dilapidated and smaller than the Zhang family's. At least the Zhang family's home was their own, with three rooms and a courtyard. This place, however, was rented, with only one room, and the three of them had to squeeze onto a bed to sleep at night.
"Brother!" Xiao Jiu shouted before even entering the room. The room was extremely damp, and Zhang Chuntian was lying on the bed in pain, constantly grimacing and crying.
Because it was a rented house, and there were other people next door, Zhang Chuntian's loud crying always disturbed the other family's children, causing both families to cry, and even prompting the neighbors to come to the door several times.
Lee Soo-man was wiping the cold sweat from Jang Chun-chun's forehead with a handkerchief. He had also been feeling unwell yesterday, which was why he had let Xiao Jiu set up his stall today.
Upon seeing Xiao Jiu return, Li Xiuman quickly helped her put her things down.
Because she hadn't grown tall enough, Xiao Jiu still looked thin and pitiful. Some girls in other families had already grown into graceful young women and married by the age of thirteen. Xiao Jiu tied her hair up, but she didn't look like a woman at all; she looked like a poor little boy.
She was so thin and small, yet she carried a carrying pole and pots and pans on her shoulders, making a clanging and clattering sound all the way. Li Xiuman saw this and felt a pang of heartache.
"Why are you so excited?" Lee Soo-man poured tea, which Xiao Jiu drank in one gulp.
"Brother, do you know what I heard on the street today?!"
"What?"
"Sister Chunfeng became the top scholar in the imperial examination last year! This year she has become a high-ranking official!" Xiao Jiu shouted excitedly.
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