Chapter 9 A Brother Lin Fell From the Sky
Lin Yu smiled, her eyes crinkling, and put her arm around He Ji's shoulder, instructing him to heat up the sesame cakes together.
He Ji glanced back at Lin Yuan in the green screen with lingering affection: "Why don't you go alone?"
"You're good at tending the fire. People whose element is wood are different; wood generates fire. So, your skill in decocting medicine is also excellent; it's innate."
Old He was completely taken aback by his coaxing, and they all went to the kitchen together.
Lin Yuan chuckled to herself. Her brother was skilled in both literature and martial arts, proficient in all six arts, but he was afraid of fire.
The room quieted down, and dusk fell. She took a short nap.
When I opened my eyes, all I saw was a misty haze. A sesame cake had split into two halves, one large and one small, in the hot mist, revealing the diced meat and lard inside.
Behind them is Lin Yu's smiling face.
"The big one is for you, the small one is for me."
The one who smiled was nine-year-old Lin Yu.
After New Year's Day, Lin Yuan turned seven. The black snow in Chang'an stopped falling, and her pigs slowly returned to their original coat color.
Lin Yuan and her mother lived together in a thatched hut outside the city.
Every now and then, someone would pass by and shake their head, saying:
"Raising pigs consumes too much grain."
"People aren't even getting enough to eat."
"This pig is quite big."
The person speaking was thin and bony, with a pale and sickly face.
Lin Yuan wouldn't listen; she protected the pig and gave it half of her own stewed rice and beans.
There is also water.
People and livestock would contract diseases if they drank water from the Feng River, causing everyone to live in fear.
My mother said it was because of that heavy black snowfall. Some people also said it was because there was a large lake upstream of the Feng River where many people had been soaked.
Lin Yuan didn't know whether the Feng River had turned black or red. She suspected that people who soaked in the water might have turned into water monsters, so every day she would go with her mother to fetch water from the mountain stream several miles away.
The mother carried the large bucket, while she carried the small bucket.
Even so, there still weren't enough pigs to eat or drink.
The people didn't complain when they were hungry, but the pigs squealed loudly, which annoyed the group of people living in the thatched hut. They started talking all at once:
Let's just kill him.
As they talked, they decided which family would eat the pig's head, which family would eat the pig's trotters, which family would eat the pig's knuckles, and which family would eat the pig's lungs.
As they talked, they began discussing how to smoke pig's head, how to blanch pig's trotters, and how to fry pig's ears.
They argued about whether the pig's tail should be roasted or grilled.
Another argument arose over whether to add scallions or wasabi when stewing pig's trotters.
Lin Yuan cried uncontrollably and threw herself into her mother's arms.
The mother sighed, stroked her head, and said weakly, "When stewing pig's trotters, you naturally need to add scallions to remove the gamey smell."
At that moment, they heard the death knell of a collapsing mountain.
The pig, which the neighbors and the mother had long since thought would have been torn to pieces, survived because the emperor had gone to heaven to become a god and the slaughter of animals was strictly forbidden.
Lin Yuan felt a sense of gratitude towards the emperor who had passed away in time.
After the emperor ascended to heaven, the sun grew warmer day by day.
The grass grew back, the trees sprouted new buds, and the Feng River gradually became clean again, no longer red or black.
Lin Yuan even suspected that the Feng River had never changed, just like the Chang'an city she had seen.
The sky over Chang'an was a deep, clear blue, so blue it seemed like water could drip from it.
Every day she went to the banks of the Feng River to gather pig feed and dig up wild vegetables. Every day, her body and hands were covered in mud, turning her into a mud-covered figure.
During her rest, she would look towards the city along the Feng River and sometimes wonder if burning wheat straw all winter would make the soil more fertile.
Because it's almost time to sow wheat seeds.
One day, this dirty mud figure was stopped by an even dirtier person who held it high in his arms.
His arms were filled with mud, grass roots, and bits of iron filings.
It's Father!
Father is back too!
He also brought back Lin Yuan's older brother.
Lin Yuan scratched her head.
She had no idea that she had an older brother!
Lin Wu narrowed his eyes and scolded, "Before, when we asked you if you wanted a younger brother or a younger sister, didn't you say you only wanted an older brother? Now that your older brother has arrived, why aren't you happy?"
Lin Yuan said she wasn't unhappy, but, but—she thought blankly, for example, the older sister next door had an older brother, but she had an older brother from birth. Li Shun also had an older brother from birth, but he didn't have one later.
So she asked, "Then why didn't I have any older brothers before?"
The father said, "That's because the elder brother has always been raised outside."
Where is it outside?
“Yanzhou,” Father said. “Back then, our family was poor. The imperial court was fighting the Xiongnu year after year, and we had to pay a lot of taxes. The harvests were also bad those years, and we couldn’t even afford to eat wild vegetables. Brother, you were sent to Yanzhou by your father and mother when you were very young, to your mother’s maternal uncle’s house. At that time, you were still—still young!”
"If we go to Yanzhou, will we no longer have to eat Huo Geng?" Lin Yuan also thought Huo Geng was not tasty.
There was little firewood in the thatched shed, so the soup was coarsely cooked, and the bean leaves were so spicy that they hurt the mouth. Even so, the mother couldn't bear to add any salt.
“People from Yanzhou don’t eat broad bean soup,” the father said, licking his chapped lips. “They eat bean rice.”
Lin Yuan no longer envied her brother for going to Yanzhou. The bean rice wasn't good either; it was too dry, and drinking too much water would make her stomach ache.
She frowned: "Why didn't my father and mother tell me before that my brother was in Yanzhou?"
The father mumbled, "How could I not have told you? You were so happy that day, I even coaxed your mother into making you a plate of honey bait."
Was it that day two years ago? Or that day three years ago?
Lin Yuan touched her nose in frustration; all she could remember was the honey bait.
She still has a problem.
Why has my elder brother returned from Yanzhou now?
The father said, "Because this is where my elder brother truly belongs."
Looking at the desolate thatched huts, he said, "Home is where there are people."
Lin Yuan nodded solemnly.
I just feel it's a bit of a pity.
Their original house was much better than this thatched hut.
There was a main house, a kitchen, and a bedroom. The firewood in the kitchen was piled up as high as two of her.
The rice bowl was full; it contained millet, not quinoa or foie gras.
The high roof had one or two bamboo baskets hanging from it, swaying in the wind, which captivated the little kite.
Inside were honey pots, fine white wheat flour, and sugar. During festivals, they would be turned into rice cakes or honey-filled treats, which were fragrant and sweet.
The elder brother, however, had neither a place to stay nor food to eat.
My mother cried all night that day. Her lips were clearly turned up, but tears kept falling, so she could only turn her head away.
Lin Yuan asked, "Is Mother unhappy?"
The mother wiped her face without turning her head and said, "These are tears of joy. I was so happy to see my son who has grown up so much, that's why I'm crying."
It seems my older brother also cried all night.
He buried his face in the quilt, and Lin Yuan only saw that the quilt trembled all night.
But it's not so cold at night anymore.
Lin Yuan didn't dare ask him, but instead asked her father.
Father changed into a clean set of clothes, and his body smelled of soapberry, just like Mother's.
He held Lin Yuan in his arms and stroked her head. He didn't say why, only that, "Ah Yuan, you have to make your brother happy."
Lin Yuan actually really liked this older brother who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
In particular, he looked a bit like a little fairy who could conjure up a piece of candy for her.
Although the boy was dressed in silk and jade, and smiled brightly, her brother, dressed in brown, with eyes full of sorrow, could not conjure up any candy.
Lin Yuan felt a little regretful. But the next day, when she was gathering pig feed, she picked a handful of colorful wildflowers and gave them to her brother.
Mother made delicious sesame cakes, and Lin Yuan generously gave the larger half to her brother.
She became like a chattering bird, calling out to her brother repeatedly. She said to her brother with great emotion, "The aroma of Mother's cakes can be smelled for miles around. You haven't had any for so many years. From now on, I'll give you the bigger half of everything."
She pointed to her neighbor Li Shun, who was a year older than her, and said, "Brother, look! Shun came running over as soon as he smelled this aroma. His mouth was watering even before he arrived!"
My brother finally smiled. His smile was gentle and refined; it was truly beautiful.
She dragged her brother to splash water and play, pulled pigweed with him, and ran wildly along the banks of the Feng River.
The spring breeze was getting warmer and warmer. They ran along the Feng River all the way to the western suburbs of Chang'an.
Mother is right.
Burning wheat straw throughout the winter fertilized the soil, creating thousands of hectares of new farmland and mountains in Chang'an. They were no longer refugees.
They registered their names in Yonghe Village, Dongping Township, on the western outskirts of Chang'an, and were granted a residence.
After they regained their land, no one would say, "Let's kill and eat Lin Yuan's pigs!"
If anyone brings it up again, her father will snap back, and her brother will stand in front of her and say no!
At someone else's blacksmith shop, her father forged a knife for cutting pig feed for Lin Yuan.
The elder brother also found several pieces of warm and smooth jade, so the knife came to have a jade handle.
Their luck is getting better and better.
Lin Yuan straightened her back, and the pigs she raised also grew fat and strong.
When autumn harvest came, the wheat and millet yields increased by 30% compared to previous years, and the silkworms spun more silk.
And her pig gave birth to twenty piglets in one litter!
The previous year, the Fengshui River brought an epidemic that killed many livestock, so these piglets suddenly became more valuable.
At the end of that year, her father regained his blacksmith shop, and the house they lived in was also repaired, larger and more spacious than the one Lin Yuan had lived in before.
The elder brother now has his own room.
He bought so many books that he filled all the walls there.
Lin Yuan's eyes widened in surprise when she learned that her brother could read.
She looked at Lin Yu as if he were a monster, or as if he were a deity.
Lin Yu felt embarrassed by her gaze, so she took her hand and taught her how to write the two people's names.
An elm tree.
A kite.
The kite is a bird, and the elm is a tree. When the birds get tired of flying, they perch on the elm tree.
They really are the names of siblings!
Lin Yuan smiled sweetly.
"Here, the big one is for you." Lin Yu's smile appeared from the rising steam of the sesame cake. "Eat more when you're sick, so you can get better soon."
Lin Yu always had a way of giving Lin Yuan the larger share.
"You are sick," or "You are too thin," or "There is a thousand bushels of grain in the book; I am half full just by reading every day."
Therefore, Lin Yuan no longer declined.
However, later on, her mother would make many flatbreads each time, just in case Lin Yu didn't have enough to eat.
Even the millet described in the book isn't as fragrant as my mother's cakes.
Yes, even He Laosi forgot that the pancake in his hand had been cut with a knife used for cutting pig feed, and he ate it with great relish.
Lin Yu reached out and wiped away the sesame seeds stuck to the corner of Lin Yuan's lips, teasing He Lao Si about it.
He Ji chuckled, burping as he comforted himself, "Pigs are just like people, they eat grains and vegetables. So what if I've cut pig feed? As long as I haven't shed any blood, it's fine."
*
Lin Yuan clearly saw several drops of blood roll across the black iron blade.
She was trembling, and her whole body was white.
"Put your clothes on," Xiao Xun said as he walked out. After taking two steps, he stopped, turned around, and picked up the small knife. He walked to the other side of the screen.
Seeing the bloodstains on the blade, Xiao Xun realized with a start that the back of his hand had been cut.
Fortunately, she wasn't hurt.
She shouldn't have been hurt.
He looked at the knife, recalling the face reflected on its blade, and felt somewhat dazed. He murmured, "I did not take advantage of anyone in distress."
The sound seemed to only reach the screen before being cut off.
However, after standing there for a while, he heard a sob mixed in with the rustling of fabric.
The hall grew increasingly dim. Xiao Xun walked forward to the lattice lamp beside the screen, intending to light the candles on it. Just as he raised his hand, he realized that the screen, carved with flowers and birds, might cast the woman's figure in the lamplight.
He then withdrew his hand.
The woman quickly emerged from behind the screen. She had dressed, but was still trembling.
After she came out, she knelt down in front of Xiao Xun, her voice barely audible: "Your Majesty, I'm so sorry, did I hurt you?"
Xiao Xun glanced at her, ignoring her words: "Go and close the window."
"Yes," she replied, her voice trembling, then lowered her head and walked to the open window with straight latticework.
Upon seeing the sword stuck in the window frame, Xiao Xun knew without turning around that she was clearly startled.
After a moment, he heard the soft knocking of the window frame.
The sound of rustling snow in the hall had ceased, leaving only Lin Yuan's tense breathing.
"Turn the lights back on."
"Here you are."
Lin Yuan's hands trembled as she tried twice before she finally lit the bean lamp on the side of the table.
The light came on, and blood was still seeping from the wound on the back of Xiao Xun's hand.
The cut I made just now wasn't shallow.
Actually, such an injury is nothing to him.
He grew up listening to stories of his father's battles and the founding emperor's conquest of the empire, which he took pride in and regarded as role models.
However, as the youngest prince and raised by his mother, he was neither diligent nor enthusiastic about these things.
Riding horses, shooting arrows, wielding swords, playing games like pitch-pot and cricket fighting—it seemed no different from any other activity. After ascending the throne, he became more diligent. Later, he was almost never idle.
In the Xuan Room, there were no gambling tools, no cricket carts, no crickets, and no one to play with. He himself had long since lost interest.
On the contrary, the galloping horses, longswords, and arrows, as he heard them whistling through the air, seemed to carry away some of the pent-up frustration in his heart.
Seeing Lin Yuan with her head down, the fear on her face reflected in the black iron blade on the table, he chuckled lightly, "I was practicing my sword just now and accidentally cut my hand. Do you have a handkerchief?"
A flash of surprise crossed Lin Yuan's face, and she quickly said, "Yes, yes."
She pulled a plain handkerchief from her sleeve.
Xiao Xun reached out his hand, and she understood, hurriedly bandaging the wound.
"Your name is Lin—"
"……kite."
"The 'yuan' in 'yuanyang' (mandarin ducks)?"
"It is the kite of a bird of prey."
"You're a good match for me."
Xiao Xun flicked his sleeve, covering the wound. "But a fierce bird has its own sharp teeth and claws. Why should it lie dormant, waiting for the sword to be drawn?"
Lin Yuan did not understand what he said.
After all, her knife had no sheath. And she herself had no fangs or claws.
She had been asleep for a long time because she had been drugged, not because she wanted to remain dormant.
But His Majesty's words didn't seem to be directed at her. He was looking at himself.
She saw Xiao Xun slowly get up and walk to the window with the sword stuck in it. His own face was reflected on the silver blade.
The only thing she understood was that it was unlikely her knife would ever return to her hands.
When she took her leave of the hall, she saw the sword drawn and held in the young monarch's hand.
The wind, carrying snow, surged in again through that window.
The snowy wind blew against Xiao Xun's face.
It brought his thoughts back from the second year of Jinghe.
He had just seen Su Chan leaning against the couch in the inner chamber of the Moon Chamber Palace, her black hair falling to her neck, the silk curtains hanging down, and a section of her snow-white arm extending out, waiting for the imperial physician to take her pulse. For some reason, he kept thinking about the old events from two years ago.
So he came out of the sleeping quarters and stood on the steps of the palace, enjoying the breeze for a long time.
"His Majesty."
"Sister, why are you out here?"
Upon hearing the voice, Xiao Xun turned around and stepped into the hall. "The imperial physician said you have caught a cold. Go inside and rest."
"When I am alone in the inner palace, I always think of the days when I lived here with my mother. Back then, I never felt that this place was empty."
Su Chan walked over step by step, her gaze slowly sweeping over the carved beams and painted rafters of the hall, tears welling up in her eyes.
The wind blowing in her face clung tightly to her sky-blue robe, making her appear even more forlorn.
Xiao Xun hurriedly ordered the palace doors to be closed.
But a voice came from the crack in the closing palace door: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Carriage Attendant is already waiting in the Xuan Room."
"His Majesty--"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xun turned around and looked at Su Chan. After hesitating for a moment, he said to the guard, "Let's summon her for an audience tomorrow."
A note from the author:
----------------------
Kite: According to the Shuowen Jiezi (a Chinese dictionary), it is a bird of prey. It belongs to the family Accipitridae.
The Gongche Ling (公车令) was an official under the Commandant of the Guards during the Han Dynasty. His main responsibility was to guard the Sima Gate, which was the gate of the Han Dynasty palace.
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