Madam Fang felt irritated and depressed, but in front of Madam Yun, who always treated her like an older sister, she couldn’t let her true feelings out. She pursed her lips and swallowed the drop of blood from her lower lip.

It was full of a fishy smell, slightly salty, and a hint of rust.

“It’s okay. I’ve been feeling congested over the past few days. It’s probably just the weather. It should be better once the weather clears up,” Madam Fang said with a smile. “By then, I’m afraid I’ll have to take your work.”

“If you’re capable, go ahead and take it. I’m not afraid of you taking it, I’m just afraid of you not taking it.” Madam Yun felt a little relieved when she saw Madam Fang’s smile return.

She still had a lot of work to do, so she didn’t dare delay too much and just went about her business.

Madam Fang perked up a little, and the needle in her hand pierced the embroidery cloth.

Shopkeeper Du from Linglongfang came over and raised his hand to Madam Fang, “Come here.”

Madam Fang put down the needle in her hand and walked over, “What do you want to see me for, shopkeeper?”

“I remember you embroidered a birthday screen with a hundred blessings on it for someone before. The customer praised you highly, and for that, I even gave you an extra two cents of silver as a reward.” Shopkeeper Du stroked the tuft of goatee on his chin and said, “Today someone came to order a screen, also saying it’s for a birthday, and they also want it embroidered with a hundred blessings pattern. I remembered that you had experience last time, so I’ll give this job to you. If you embroider it well this time, I’ll be generous and give you an extra two taels of silver as wages!”

“Thank you, shopkeeper.” Madam Fang bowed.

“But this man brought some silk thread, saying he got it with great difficulty, mixed with silver. He thought he’d embroider it later; it’d look beautiful with its silver sheen. Come with me to see if it’s genuine, whether it’s usable, and how it feels, so I can ask for the price.”

Shopkeeper Du said, already raising his feet. “The guest is in the hall right now. Come with me.”

Madam Fang hurriedly followed, and they walked to the hall.

But the hall was empty.

“Where’s the guest?” Madam Fang wondered.

“Maybe he went ahead? Wait here, I’ll look for him.” Shopkeeper Du looked around and walked forward.

Madam Fang stood there waiting.

A moment later, someone arrived, but it wasn’t Shopkeeper Du, who had brought the guest, but Qu Zhiwen, dressed in official attire, leading a group of yamen runners. They stood before Madam Fang.

“I… I greet you, sir.” Madam Fang quickly knelt and bowed.

“Are you Madam Fang from Linglong Pavilion?” Qu Zhiwen asked.

“Yes,” Madam Fang nodded. “I wonder what you, my lord, are looking for me for?”

“A while ago, a male corpse was found in a well in Bayou Alley in Hedong Prefecture. Upon investigation, the body was found to be Wei Youshan, a scholar from Jiangnian County. Do you recognize him?”

Madam Fang lowered her head, a flicker of panic crossing her face. After a moment, she shook her head. “No, I don’t recognize him.”

“Okay, then I’ll ask a different question.” Qu Zhiwen said, “I’ve carefully questioned everyone in Linglong Pavilion, and I heard that you were very happy every day two months before the Yuànshì two years ago. You rushed to do embroidery work every day to make money, and you also occasionally mentioned that you wanted to buy a dowry for yourself. I would like to ask Madam Fang, who did you want to marry at that time?”

Madam Fang bit her lip and said nothing when she heard this.

“Since you refuse to speak, this official will ask another question. More than three months ago, you requested leave from the Linglong Pavilion, saying that an elder in your family had passed away and you needed to return home for the funeral. But this official has investigated: your parents both died when you were twelve; you were at odds with your Second Shu’s family and came to Hedong Prefecture to make a living precisely because you wished to have no further dealings with them. As for your mother’s family, you have long since lost all contact. So I wish to ask—whose funeral was it that you claimed to attend? How old was that person? How did they die, by which road did you travel back, and who saw you along the way?”

“I will ask you again. Wei Youshan went missing more than three months ago, and the neighbors heard a quarrel in his yard. It happened to be the day you asked for leave. And on the day Wei Youshan was killed or injured, I learned from Linglong Pavilion that you were going in and out frequently during those days and didn’t do your embroidery work well. Later, you asked for a few days off due to illness. Since then, you have been listless all day long. Why is that?”

“Also, the garment Wei Youshan was wearing was brand new, unworn, and a bit too long. It didn’t look like something he’d worn while alive, but rather something he’d worn after death. I’ve had someone carefully compare the garment, and the material is a printed fabric, available only at Linglong Pavilion in Hedong Prefecture. The embroidery is incredibly similar to yours, practically identical.”

“This official suspects that the one who killed Wei Youshan and threw him into the well was you, Madam Fang!”

Faced with Qu Zhiwen’s repeated questions, Madam Fang, who had been kneeling upright with her head bowed, felt as if her spine had been ripped out. She could no longer straighten herself, collapsing to the ground.

After a long pause, she stammered.

“I thought that by disfiguring his face and making his identity unrecognizable, I wouldn’t be suspected…”

It seemed she had been discovered after all.

In the end, paper could never wrap up a fire—just as Wei Youshan thought he had already deceived her completely, without realizing that he had attached himself to the Qiao family and was about to become the Qiao family’s son-in-law.

Unfortunately, the Qiao family, doting on their daughter and valuing Wei Youshan as their future son-in-law, had arranged for him to come to Linglong Pavilion and purchase a wealth of fine goods.

And it was she who had taken on the embroidery task.

Seeing the Qiao family’s daughter and wife speaking of Wei Youshan with such joy and pride, she was shocked, her heart aching with pain.

When Wei Youshan first arrived in Hedong Prefecture, he was a destitute and down-and-out tongsheng; his clothes were covered in patches, and his meals were coarse and hard to swallow. Yet he was a man with considerable ambition—for even while making a living in the marketplace by copying books and transcribing letters for others, he never forgot his pursuit of study and learning.

Seeing such a diligent individual for the first time, she felt a strong sense of hope in Wei Youshan’s future, and she often went to support him.

At first, it was one or two pancakes, a bowl of wontons, then a coat, a pair of shoes, and later she rented a yard for him so that he had a place to stay, enough food to eat, and could concentrate on studying.

Even when she couldn’t go back to Linglong Pavilion on a rainy night, she gave him intoxicating tenderness.

In order to support Wei Youshan’s huge expenses for studying, she had to work desperately on embroidery. She suffered from back pain, sore eyes, and even her hands were always covered with scars.

When Wei Youshan looked at her, his gaze was full of gratitude and pity. He always said that once he passed the exam for xiucai and entered the county school, after settling down, he would bring her to Jiangnian County. After the two were married, he would devote himself to his studies while she did embroidery work to supplement their living expenses. Then, when he passed the juren examinations and entered official service, he would make her a true official’s wife.

(End of this chapter)

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