Song Xiaozhou didn’t know how he got back. All he could think about was the name Lu Heng.
Although Song Xiaozhou had been at the slave market for three years, it was a place with all kinds of people, and the Lu family was a powerful local family, so they were often mentioned in idle chatter. The Lu Heng that people spoke of was a shining moon, a brilliant young talent who was sadly brought low by a long illness that kept him bedridden for years. After the old master of the Lu family passed away, Lu Heng’s illness worsened, and he moved to Jing’an Courtyard to recover, where he stayed for two years. Until last month, when the Lu family held a funeral, Lu Heng had died of his illness.
Song Xiaozhou stood there in a daze for a while until a gust of wind blew the rain onto his face, snapping him out of his trance. He scrambled over the low wall with his hands and feet. He was so frantic that his limbs were still a bit weak, and he slipped, landing squarely on the ground. Song Xiaozhou’s backside almost split in two from the pain, and he winced.
He could still feel pain, so it wasn’t a dream. He was still alive.
Song Xiaozhou felt his heart settle. He took a sharp breath, rubbed his backside, and got up. “What bad luck. A bad start to the day. I should have checked the almanac next time.” He shook the mud from his filthy clothes, cast a bold glance at the rain-shrouded silhouette of the distant back mountain, and bolted as though his life depended on it.
Jing’an Courtyard was where Lu Heng recuperated. It was quiet and refined, but perhaps because there were so few people there, Song Xiaozhou always found it inexplicably eerie. Now, however, he felt a sense of familiarity.
He turned a corner and was startled when someone called out, “Young Madam.”
Song Xiaozhou jumped. He saw the old woman standing a few steps away and let out a sigh of relief, muttering, “Nanny, why do you walk without making a sound, too?”
The old woman seemed a bit dazed. “Young Madam, it’s time for dinner.”
Song Xiaozhou looked at her. He had heard that Nanny Lin had been taking care of Lu Heng and was an old servant of the Lu family. Maybe she was just old, a bit slow, and had a poor memory. After three days under the same roof, Song Xiaozhou was gradually settling in. A smile appeared on the young man’s lips, his wide eyes brimming with an innocent, captivating charm. “I know, Nanny. Let’s go eat.”
Nanny Lin slowly shifted her gaze to him and said in a matter-of-fact tone, “Young Madam, your clothes are dirty.”
Song Xiaozhou’s eyes flickered. He subconsciously remembered what had happened on the back mountain and said vaguely, “Oh, I fell. I’ll go change first. Nanny, you go eat. Don’t wait for me.”
The room Song Xiaozhou was staying in was the one Lu Heng had lived in.
Originally, Song Xiaozhou hadn’t thought much of it, but now it was different. After washing up and changing clothes with hot water, he looked around the room. The bed was where Lu Heng had once slept, and the desk, set with brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, held the items he had used. Even the clothes in the closet were neatly folded, as if the person had just gone on a long trip.
Suddenly, an image of Lu Heng holding an umbrella and looking down at him flashed in front of Song Xiaozhou’s eyes. He was momentarily dazed, thinking to himself that the Lu family’s eldest young master was truly good-looking.
But this person was clearly dead. The whole city knew he had been buried. What was this thing he had seen today? A ghost? Song Xiaozhou’s mind was in turmoil.
How could a living person not be afraid of ghosts? Song Xiaozhou was scared too. In old tales, ghosts had ferocious faces and ate people, but Lu Heng… he didn’t look like a ghost at all.
As Song Xiaozhou’s mind wandered, he remembered that the nanny was waiting for him, so he went directly to the front hall for dinner.
Jing’an Courtyard was a desolate place, with only Song Xiaozhou and Nanny Lin.
Although Nanny Lin was old, she was a good cook. However, with so much on his mind, Song Xiaozhou had no appetite and distractedly ate a few bites. He hesitated and then asked, “Nanny, have you ever seen… seen anyone else here?”
“Who else would be here?” She said, as she thought of Lu Heng, her expression became more animated. She made a bitter face and mumbled, “My poor young master… he was so sick… All those vile and snobbish servants disappeared. Only I served him, and my young master was so lonely…”
Song Xiaozhou hesitated for a moment, then asked, “What kind of illness did the Eldest Young Master have?”
“…Illness. What kind of illness? What did the physicians say?” The nanny looked up, her expression sad. “I don’t know, the physicians didn’t know either. The Young Master was very ill…”
She put down her chopsticks and stood up. Song Xiaozhou quickly asked, “Nanny, where are you going?”
Nanny Lin turned to look at Song Xiaozhou and said, “To decoct medicine. I need to decoct medicine for the Young Master. If he takes the medicine… he’ll get better.”
Song Xiaozhou was stunned and said nothing more as he watched Nanny Lin’s hunched figure slowly disappear into the darkness. This wasn’t the first time this had happened.
Nanny Lin was muddled. Sometimes she was lucid, but sometimes she would forget that Lu Heng was already dead.
The first time Song Xiaozhou had experienced this was the day after he was sent to the bridal chamber. The nanny had brought him a bowl of porridge and told him to take it to the young master, saying it was the young master’s favorite lotus seed and white fungus soup.
Song Xiaozhou was terrified and asked in a daze, “Take it… take it to where?”
The nanny said, “To the Young Master’s room. He’s resting.”
Only later did Song Xiaozhou realize that the nanny had simply forgotten.
