Chapter 4 Since that day when Wei Yin was inexplicably broken...
Since the day Wei Yin was inexplicably burned by a broken incense stick, she couldn't tell her husband, so she kept it to herself. She couldn't sleep well at night, and sometimes He Wenqing would wake her up in the middle of the night to have sex with her. As a result, Wei Yin had dark circles under her eyes every day and was very listless.
Unable to bear it any longer, she planned to secretly invite Master Juehui of Huguo Temple to take a look when He Wenqing was away.
But just the day before she was to send Cuiwei to Huguo Temple, a letter arrived from Huangzhou.
It was said that He Wenqing's father was critically ill and he needed to return home to handle the funeral arrangements.
The Zhou Dynasty had a rule that any official whose parents died must resign and return home to observe mourning for twenty-seven months, in accordance with the court's mourning rites.
He Wenqing immediately wrote a memorial to the emperor to resign his post and return to his hometown. He was now just a minor official, and although the emperor valued him, the court did not need him. So the emperor granted his request, and the next day he packed his bags and set off for Huangzhou with Wei Yin.
Huangzhou is located in the north of the Zhou Dynasty, and is somewhat close to the northern barbarian lands. It is dry with little rain all year round, and in previous years, when the drought was severe, it would always cause a drought.
Wei Yin was already troubled by the strange events that had recently occurred, and upon entering the desolate state, the thought of her mother-in-law, Madam He, made her eyes even more heavy with worry.
Here's what happened: He Wenqing's mother, Madam He, had an orphaned niece named Chen Xuanhua. She and He Wenqing were childhood sweethearts and cousins. It's said that the two were originally going to get married, but due to Madam He's opposition, He Wenqing ended up marrying Wei Yin instead.
However, in the past two years, Madam He and Wei Yin have been at odds. Seeing that Wei Yin has not conceived after several years of marriage, she has been hinting that she wants He Wenqing to marry Chen Xuanhua.
Later, unable to discern anything from He Wenqing, he assumed that Wei Yin was behind it all, so he vented his anger on Wei Yin. He wondered what kind of attitude Wei Yin would give him after being away for so long to observe mourning.
Upon thinking of this, Wei Yin felt a surge of anger and subconsciously pinched the thigh of He Wenqing, who was sitting beside her with his eyes closed, as he was resting.
The carriage jolted and swayed, and He Wenqing opened his eyes in pain: "What are you doing?"
Wei Yin closed her eyes and ignored him.
Although He Wenqing was angry, he noticed that Wei Yin had been in a daze these past few days, and today she was unusually lively, so he didn't pursue the matter further. Seeing that Wei Yin was sweating, he picked up a silk fan and fanned her.
"It's been hot these past few days, so please bear with it in the car. We'll be home soon."
The desolate state in July is much hotter than the capital. Wei Yin grew up in the capital and is not very adaptable to the climate of the desolate state.
As soon as He Wenqing finished speaking, the carriage suddenly jolted violently.
He Wenqing quickly reached out to support Wei Yin and asked outside, "What happened?"
The groom's voice immediately came cautiously from outside: "Sir, I don't know what's wrong with this horse, it suddenly started trembling all over and refused to walk."
"Perhaps it's because of the heat."
He Wenqing pondered for a moment and told Wei Yin to rest in the carriage while he led the coachman down to check on the horses.
The horse had indeed suffered from heatstroke, but fortunately it wasn't serious, so He Wenqing asked the groom to fetch water.
Wei Yin was sitting alone in the spacious carriage, feeling very stuffy. Seeing that he couldn't leave anytime soon, he got out of the carriage to get some fresh air.
The place where they stopped was a large village called Hezhuang on the outskirts of Huangzhou City.
There was a mountain path in Hezhuang that was very close to the He family's residence. They were in a hurry to get back, so after entering Huangzhou City, they took this shortcut. Once they passed Hezhuang, they would reach the He family's old residence in Huangzhou.
By this time, it was already getting dark, and in the distance, one could see smoke rising from the chimneys of about a hundred households in Hezhuang as they prepared their evening meals.
On the dark mountain path, only a farmer returning late from gathering firewood was carrying a load of dry firewood down the mountain alone.
Wei Yin looked around listlessly.
The farmer had only walked a few steps when he put down the woodpile, panting, and sat down by the roadside, taking out a pipe and smoking it.
He inhaled deeply, his gaze fixed on a direction near the village entrance.
Wei Yin followed his gaze and could vaguely see a small stone house built near the river.
The square stone house didn't look particularly special.
Wei Yin lazily withdrew her gaze, preparing to turn her head to look at the scenery elsewhere.
But just as she was about to turn her head, she caught a glimpse of a pale figure that had suddenly appeared beside the farmer.
At first, she thought it was just another farmer returning home late and didn't pay any attention.
But after a while, she realized something was wrong.
The figure was nearly ten feet tall, almost inhuman. Even the tallest and strongest farmer could not have such a height. He looked very young. Although he was only wearing a simple coarse cloth long gown, he wore a blue cloth turban with a pair of ribbons hanging down the back, the kind that only scholars usually wore.
Because his back was to her, Wei Yin couldn't see the other person's face, but she vaguely sensed that the young man was a bit strange.
Because he seemed to appear out of thin air.
Seeing the farmer still sitting there smoking as if he didn't see anything, Wei Yin wanted to speak up and remind him.
Before she could utter a sound, the boy who had been standing with his back to her seemed to sense something and turned his face towards her first.
It was an extremely pale face, with brows and eyes that carried a hint of gloom, and a very high nose bridge due to its excessive thinness.
When Wei Yin saw the person's face clearly, he froze on the spot, unable to move, as if he were a candle frozen on the ground by someone using molten wax, unable to move his feet no matter what.
But soon, the boy turned away on his own and then gradually disappeared like a wisp of mist.
Only the farmers, still silently smoking, remained.
There was also a misty wisp of smoke rising from the mountains.
It was as if no one else had ever been there.
He actually followed me all the way to the desolate state!
Wei Yin stared blankly for what seemed like an eternity before finally finding her footing. The first thing she did upon regaining her senses was to call out in a trembling voice, "My lord!" But she quickly realized that He Wenqing was still by the carriage. She hurriedly lifted her skirt and rushed to He Wenqing, who was still feeding the horses water. "My lord, let's... let's turn around and take another route..."
He Wenqing was completely bewildered by her question: "Why?"
Wei Yin was about to say that she had seen Lu Hun, but then she realized that the man wouldn't believe her at all, so she could only make up an excuse: "This mountain road is a bit bumpy, and I'm very dizzy. Why don't you take the main road instead, my lord?"
He Wenqing was taken aback. Seeing that she looked frightened again, he was a little suspicious, but after thinking for a moment, he nodded.
"Then let's change our route after the horses have rested."
...
They had to detour back to the main road to return to the He family's old residence, which would take them more than ten miles. By the time they arrived, it was already past 7 PM.
When Liu Mama, He Wenqing's wet nurse, heard that the eldest young master was coming home tonight, she waited at the back door after dinner.
This Granny Liu was an extremely kind old woman. She was personally selected by Old Madam He to come into the mansion to feed He Wenqing when Old Madam He was still alive. She had been in the He family for many years. Because she was chosen by the old lady and was respected by He Wenqing, she usually held a certain position in the mansion. Even the strong-willed Madam He did not dare to say anything to her easily. However, she liked Wei Yin, the young mistress, very much and often protected Wei Yin in front of Madam He.
Seeing Wei Yin looking haggard and being helped down from the carriage by He Wenqing, she asked in surprise, "What's wrong, young mistress?"
"I don't know what happened to her, but when she got to Hezhuang, she said the mountain road was too bumpy..." He Wenqing said.
"What? Eldest son, you actually came back from the river village?" Granny Liu's expression suddenly changed after hearing his words: "What? Didn't Madam and the others tell you in their letter that you couldn't take the shortcut back from there?"
Wei Yin was slightly taken aback upon hearing this: "What do you mean by that, wet nurse?"
"It's a long story," Granny Liu sighed deeply before explaining, "As you probably know, our desolate state is always prone to drought. This year is another year of severe drought. We wealthy families are still doing alright, we can still survive, but the farming families are suffering terribly. Not to mention how many crops have withered and died, even the people themselves are almost out of drinking water. They have to spend a lot of money to buy water. And He Village is the village that has been hit the hardest by the drought. It's practically barren. They're about to sell off all their savings."
"Later, a farmer with many children could no longer make a living. On his way to the River God Temple to worship the River God, he heard about a sorcery from somewhere. It was said that as long as he married his unmarried virgin to the River God, he could pray for rain."
"Marrying off a daughter to pray for rain?" Upon hearing this, He Wenqing's brows immediately furrowed in displeasure: "This is utter nonsense!"
"Big brother, let this old woman finish speaking first." Granny Liu gave him a disapproving look. "How will the marriage take place? A stone house will be built by the dry riverbank, sealed on three sides with only one door. On an auspicious day, the bride will be dressed in her wedding gown and locked inside. No food or water will be given until seven days later when a rain-praying ritual is performed outside the stone house. Only then can the door be opened."
Wei Yin immediately remembered, "Is the stone house by the river in He Village that the wet nurse was talking about?"
"That's it." Granny Liu gasped as if she had seen something horrifying: "That farmer was really foolish to believe it and forced his eldest daughter, who was only thirteen or fourteen years old, to marry the River God. Seven days later, when the rain-praying ceremony ended and the door was opened, the child's ten fingers were covered in blood from scratching the stone wall. She had starved to death like that!"
"Strangely, on the day of the child's burial, it actually rained. But whether it was because the child died with resentment or something else, the mountain path in He Village became unsafe from then on. People would often fall down the path and die or get injured. What's particularly strange is that those who died were otherwise fine, but their hands were covered in blood and flesh, just like when that little girl died..."
Granny Liu anxiously pulled Wei Yin aside to look at her: "Did you and Da Lang get hurt when you came back from that place?"
"My husband and I... just returned from the main road."
Wei Yin felt a chill run down her spine. She couldn't help but think that if she hadn't seen Lu Hun frightened and dragged He Wenqing back from the main road, who knows what might have happened...
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