Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Handkerchief

Fu Ming didn’t leave Mei Yinghan much paper, but fortunately, Mei Yinghan’s painting style was different from the current popular meticulous technique.

He didn’t care much about detailed lines. Occasionally, if he made a mistake, he simply used ink to blot out that area. But anyone who looked at his paintings couldn’t say they were done carelessly. Even Fu Ming had to admit, “You can tell the things that Old Wang said earlier.”

However, he didn’t quite agree with them.

Unlike Fu Ming, whose writings were filled with exclamations of "the death of Huang Shi was well-deserved," Wang Shi’s words were more of a lament about the difficulties faced by a woman managing a household.

She had to get up before dawn to fetch water, cook breakfast, and then head out to work the fields... The little figures on the paper vividly showed them rubbing their backs, and by the end of the day, their once straight spines had become hunched.

Wang Shi also lamented that Liu Shi had bad luck with people.

She imagined herself as Liu Shi’s mother. Considering the age difference, Wang Shi’s daughter was about the same age as Liu Shi. It was easy for her to imagine, and as she spoke, she even choked up with tears, “As a mother, all one hopes for is that their child is safe and sound. Whether rich or poor, that comes second.

“If my eldest daughter encountered such a thing, even if I had to give up my life, I would fight to get her justice.”

Bai Zhengliu patted her comfortingly.

Wang Shi sighed deeply, “Sigh... I just thought, with this incident happening to Liu’s daughter, none of the servants or housekeepers even mentioned what her parents must have thought. It seems they never treated Liu’s daughter well. Bai Lang, just thinking about this makes my heart ache.”

Bai Zhengliu was silent for a moment. “A Jie, I’ve never had parents. Some of what you’re saying, I can understand, but some of it’s hard for me to comprehend.” His parents, had they abandoned him because they loved him and wanted to keep him safe? Or was it because they didn’t expect his birth and thus abandoned him in the wilderness?

Bai Zhengliu didn’t know.

“…But I think, any elder who truly cares for their child would surely have the same thoughts as you. When I was young, I was mischievous, and since I had learned martial arts, I was always daring enough to face any dangerous situation. My master first saved me, and then he wanted to smack my palm.”

Tears were still in Wang Shi’s eyes, but hearing this, she smiled faintly and sighed, “Poor parents everywhere.”As they were talking, Mei Yinghan finished his final stroke.

Since Fu Ming and Gu Miao were present, Wang Shi actually kept her words restrained. She didn’t scold Miss Huang, nor did she mention Lord Chang even once.

She simply repeated, “Liu’s daughter has a hard life.”

Hearing this, Fu Ming and Gu Miao frowned. They didn’t quite agree with Wang Shi’s perspective. Liu Shi had a hard life, but shouldn’t they, the group, be seeking her forgiveness and not cursing and condemning Miss Huang with her? Merely repeating her misfortune, and especially the part where Wang Shi kept talking about her own daughter—it all seemed like a waste of effort.

Even if Liu Shi could hear it, she’d probably find them repetitive.

With these thoughts, Fu Ming remained silent.

He felt it was better for him to not speak up for now. In the end, when Bai and Mei realized that bringing Wang Shi in had been useless, wouldn’t they still turn to him for help?

He wasn’t the only one thinking like this.

Gu Miao whispered to him, “At most, later we can ask Senior Brother to draw a few more pictures, just depicting the eighteen ways Liu Shi might torment Miss Huang. She’ll become the true madam, and Miss Huang will be her servant.”

Fu Ming casually replied, “Let’s wait and see.” He appeared composed, but in his heart, he was thinking the same thing.

His feelings for Bai Zhengliu faded once again, and the affection and sympathy he felt for Gu Miao surged back. Yes, in fact, from everything that had happened earlier, it was clear: he and Miao Miao were the ones who could sit down and play chess, drink tea, write poetry, and paint together. Bai Zhengliu didn’t understand their frivolous matters, nor did he understand why a good tea or a fine ink could be worth a thousand taels of gold.

The two had never been on the same wavelength. They had only come together because of the shared sorrow over Gu Miao and Mei Yinghan.

Ahead, Bai Zhengliu inserted three incense sticks into the burner, which was placed in front of the sealed-up well.He bowed several times with a serious expression, then signaled for the others to join him.

Mei Yinghan and Wang Shi stood on either side of Bai Zhengliu. Although Fu Ming and Gu Miao were reluctant, they still moved over.

Once everyone had finished bowing, Bai Zhengliu took the mourning text—mourning picture—from Mei Yinghan’s hands and lit it with a match.

The flames burned fiercely, lighting up Bai Zhengliu’s face.

Beside him, Mei Yinghan and Wang Shi began throwing the red fruits and gold ingots they had folded earlier into the fire.

The smoke swirled up into the courtyard, and Bai Zhengliu sighed lightly, saying, “Liu’s daughter, we have heard of your situation. Although we are outsiders, we truly feel your hardship.”

It was fine when he remained silent, but as soon as he spoke, Wang Shi could no longer hold back and began to shed tears, saying, “Good girl, your life was hard, but it wasn’t your fault. In the next life, may you be born into a good family, with harmonious parents, a considerate husband, and a filial child.”

Perhaps there would still be poverty and hardship, and even a day when they couldn’t have a full meal, having to survive on watery soup. But for ordinary people, that would already be the best life.

Mei Yinghan also spoke, “If it is like that, then it would be the best.”

Behind the three of them, Fu Ming and Gu Miao: “…What? Why are you still going in circles with these few lines? Have you really forgotten the most important person, Miss Huang?”

No one had forgotten.

But Wang Shi, who was wholeheartedly angry at Lord Chang, was of course not bothered. Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan, although they felt that both Lord Chang and Miss Huang had done wrong, if Liu Shi were still alive, they would have made sure to take Lord Chang and Miss Huang to the authorities to get a fair judgment.

If even the judge protected the two of them, the sword and knife wielders would have to make their own justice.

However, they also knew one basic thing.The group stood there to plead for Liu Shi to spare them. By continually bringing up Miss Huang, they would only stir up Liu Shi’s anger and resentment, which would be of no benefit to them.

Instead, it was better to stand in Liu Shi’s shoes, thinking about how lonely and sorrowful she must be. They should imagine what kind of good life she could have in her next life, and persuade her to lay down her weapon. That would be the better choice.

As they were thinking these things, Fu Ming and Gu Miao had completely different thoughts.

Just as the smoke continued to rise and the courtyard remained otherwise still, the two were about to speak.

But they didn’t get the chance.

Because at that moment, a muffled “glub” sound suddenly came from the well in front of them.

...

...

“Glub…”

“Splash!”

“Splash, splash!”

No one could see what was happening in the well.

However, based on the sounds around them, everyone could imagine the scene unfolding.

The vengeful ghost, hearing their voices, crawled up from the bottom of the well, wanting to say something to them.Unfortunately, the well's opening was sealed too tightly. Not only could the vengeful ghost not emerge, but even the sounds she made were muffled by the sealed well, making them sound dull and distant.

The group in front of the well became quiet for a moment. Bai Zhengliu's eyes were fixed firmly on the well’s opening, and one of his hands instinctively reached for the knife at his side. However, he restrained himself.

— With the reaction speed of a swordsman, even if the female ghost truly broke through the well's seal, he would be able to grab the "Twenty-Eight Generals" sword in an instant.

So there was no need to rush.

Their sympathy for Liu Shi was genuine. If Liu Shi was drawn by this, they couldn’t allow her to sense any murderous intent from their group.

Considering this, Bai Zhengliu forcibly turned his hand in another direction and began picking up the golden ingots and red fruit from the side.

The golden and red paper burned in the flames, first the edges turning black and disappearing, and then the entire shape was consumed.

With Bai Zhengliu leading, Mei Yinghan and Wang Shi also began to continue burning the offerings.

Fu Ming and Gu Miao were frightened to their core. They wanted to run, but they knew that Liu Shi was intentionally brought here. If they ran now, wouldn't it be all for nothing?

The two braced themselves and continued burning the paper.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

A few golden ingots and red fruit were tossed in, and the sound from the well grew louder again!

Gu Miao, who had been muttering "We have no grievances or grudges in the past or present," glanced toward the well's opening.

He let out a startled cry!The others were drawn to Gu Miao's movements and turned their heads to look.

They saw Gu Miao shakily raise his hand, pointing at a spot on the well's opening. His speech was stammering, and his tone sounded as if he was crying, "Water, water!"

He shouted.

"The water is leaking out!"

As his words fell, everyone’s heart suddenly sank.

They followed Gu Miao’s pointing direction. Indeed, just a moment ago, they were lamenting how tightly sealed the well was, but now, they saw a trace of dampness appear at the well’s opening!

Bai Zhengliu’s finger trembled as he stared at the damp mark, yet still didn’t draw his sword.

He watched as the dampness spread. From the size of a soybean to about the width of a finger, it took nearly five breaths. But then, the well suddenly emitted a wild "whoosh" sound, and the wet mark spread rapidly!

It grew palm-sized!

It was the size of a human head!

It kept growing, and the dampness began to stretch downward—

In an instant, it reached right in front of Bai Zhengliu!

Bai Zhengliu’s finger rested on the "Twenty-Eight Generals" sword. At any moment, he could draw his blade.But he ultimately didn’t do so.

As everyone was immersed in the tense atmosphere, and as Mei Yinghan and Gu Miao each reached for their weapons, Bai Zhengliu revealed a rather strange expression.

He slowly slid his fingers away, lowered his head, and took something out from his sleeve.

As that object was pulled out, a large wet stain appeared on Bai Zhengliu’s sleeve. The item he had taken out was even more soaked, and when he wrung it, water came out.

Wait, “wrung”?

Everyone couldn’t help but feel that Bai Zhengliu’s movement looked familiar.

Upon careful thought, wasn’t this the same motion he made when An Bo arrived at the garden earlier?

But at that time, he hadn’t had the chance to inspect the item carefully, as An Bo’s arrival had interrupted his train of thought. Now, with An Bo gone and Liu Shi specifically pointing out this item, they could see it clearly.

All eyes landed on the small piece of cloth in Bai Zhengliu’s hand.

Bai Zhengliu’s expression remained serious as he unfolded it with one hand.

The five pairs of eyes quickly scanned it up and down.

Wang Shi muttered, “This fabric is really nice! It’s smooth and glossy; I’ve never seen anything like it. The embroidery is good too, the threads are even and dense.”

Fu Ming and Gu Miao then said, “It’s probably for some young lord, the bamboo embroidered next to it represents ‘gentleman’. I have a few of these handkerchiefs myself.”

Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan remained silent. However, their gazes both fell on the corner of the handkerchief.The handkerchief not only had patterns, but also two characters.

"Zhong De."

Bai Zhengliu’s finger gently traced over the handkerchief.

He summarized everyone’s remarks: “This is a handkerchief embroidered by someone with good embroidery skills for a man named ‘Zhong De’?” After saying this, he turned to Fu Ming and Gu Miao, “What do you both think? How are these two characters written?”

Fu Ming: “...I can only say it’s average.”

He was still bothered by Bai Zhengliu’s earlier attitude towards him, and his tone seemed a little colder.

Bai Zhengliu didn’t pay any attention and looked towards Gu Miao.

Gu Miao agreed with Fu Ming’s opinion and added, “After all, it’s embroidered, so we can’t really tell what the original brushstrokes were like. But at first glance, I can only say it’s neat, though it doesn’t have any grandeur to it.”

Bai Zhengliu lowered his gaze and looked at the two characters on the handkerchief. He didn’t understand much about calligraphy, but he vaguely felt the handwriting was soft and elegant.

He said, “Alright. Since Liu Shi probably can’t read, this handkerchief was most likely not embroidered by her.”

Fu Ming disagreed, “That’s not necessarily the case. Those maids and servant women only need to trace the design when they embroider a handkerchief, there’s no need for them to be literate, right?”

In this matter, indeed, Prince Nine had more experience.

Bai Zhengliu conceded, “So, we can’t be sure who embroidered this handkerchief.”

Mei Yinghan analyzed, “The clue is only in the content above.”Bai Zhengliu muttered, "Zhong De... who could it be?"

This seemed like a question that didn’t need much consideration.

Given Liu Shi’s status, which man would she come into contact with to keep a handkerchief embroidered with his name?

Fu Ming and Gu Miao were certain: "It must be Old Master Chang!"

The others also felt the same. But this led to a new question.

Zhong De, Zhong De—did Old Master Chang have an elder brother named "Bo De"?

"Speaking of which," Bai Zhengliu folded up the handkerchief, "we still haven’t paid a visit to Old Master Chang yet."

Author's note:

Eh~ seems like a little mystery has popped up.

Let’s have Little Bai and Little Mei dig into it and see!