Just a Wet Nurse, Just a Plaything? Everyone Wept After My Death - Chapter 68
Chapter 68
The woodshed was as silent as death. The only sound was the cold wind whimpering through the broken lattice window like the low sobs of a ghost.
Shen Yingyue lay sprawled on a heap of cold, damp, rotting straw, her body twisted into an unnatural, rigid position.
After several hours in the freezing cold, the blood from the wounds on her back had frozen her clothes firmly to her flesh. Even the faintest breath tugged at the torn skin, sending excruciating pain boring deep into her bones.
Any ordinary woman subjected to such torture and then thrown into a place cold enough to freeze dripping water would have long since perished, or lost consciousness from a raging fever.
But Shen Yingyue had not.
She was awake.
Not only was she awake, but her mind was clearer than it had ever been before. Terrifyingly clear.
Before Liu Ruyan left, she had said, “Tomorrow morning, sell her to the traffickers outside the city. They can break her arms and legs and make her beg.”
Those words had struck Shen Yingyue like the most powerful stimulant, dragging her back from the gates of death by force.
She could not die.
At the very least, she absolutely could not die tonight.
Shen Yingyue slowly opened her eyes.
Those eyes, once as limpid and tender as autumn waters, were now utterly dry. Her tears had run out, replaced by a web of bloodred veins. The tiny vessels had burst under the crushing force of her grief and rage, turning the whites of her eyes into a crimson sea.
In the gloom of the woodshed, those bloodshot eyes radiated a chilling ferocity.
“Huff… huff…”
She gasped for breath. Enduring the agony, she inched her numb right hand toward her waist.
Her clothes were torn, but hidden inside a fold in the innermost layer of her sash was something precious.
It was the last valuable possession she had risked her life to bring with her when she left the marquis’s residence in the capital: a Phoenix-Head Hairpin made of pure gold.
Throughout her journey, even when she and Nuannuan had been reduced to begging, even when they had been so destitute that she had to sell her embroidery just to survive, she had never touched the hairpin. It was the only keepsake her mother had left her, and she had intended to save it as Nuannuan’s future dowry.
But now, to save Nuannuan’s life, she would give up far more than her mother’s keepsake. She would willingly surrender her own life.
Her fingers brushed against cold, hard metal.
Summoning every last shred of strength, Shen Yingyue tremblingly pried out the gold hairpin, now warmed by her body, and clenched it tightly in her palm.
Gold.
In these chaotic times, within the profit-driven walls of the General’s Manor, only gold and silver could buy her a path to survival.
“Cough… cough…”
She deliberately let out two muffled, painful coughs, then scraped her fingernails across the flagstones, producing a harsh, grating sound.
Outside the door, the old servant assigned to guard her was dozing off.
Her surname was Wang. Old Servant Wang was notorious throughout the manor for being greedy and snobbish. She routinely skimmed the other servants’ monthly wages and would even scrape every last bit of grease from the kitchen’s slop buckets. Assigned to guard a woman who was nearly dead, she had spent the entire night grumbling, huddled by the door in a tattered padded coat.
“What doomed wretch is in there scratching at her coffin lid? Not dead yet?”
Hearing the noise from inside, Old Servant Wang cursed impatiently. Still muttering under her breath, she took out the key and opened the woodshed’s rickety door.
Wind and snow rushed inside.
Carrying a dim oil lamp, Old Servant Wang covered her nose in disgust and took a few steps closer.
“Goodness, you still haven’t breathed your last? Stop struggling and save your strength for dying. Tomorrow morning, they’ll roll you up in a mat and throw you out. At least that will spare me some trouble.”
Lying on the floor, Shen Yingyue struggled to raise her head.
In the murky yellow lamplight, the sight of her face caked in blood and filth, along with those ghostly crimson eyes, made the lamp in Old Servant Wang’s hand jerk violently.
“Merciful heavens! A corpse has come back to life!” Old Servant Wang stumbled back in fright.
“Granny… Granny Wang…”
Shen Yingyue’s voice was hoarse and broken, like two sheets of rough sandpaper grinding together. Every word seemed steeped in blood.
“Do you want… to make a fortune?”
Old Servant Wang froze, then scoffed, her face full of disdain. “Make a fortune? With you? There isn’t a single patch of unbroken skin left on your body, and all your wages have been docked. What could you possibly have to make me rich? Your life?”
“My life… is worthless.”
Shen Yingyue curled her lips into an unnerving smile. Slowly, she opened the right hand she had kept tightly clenched.
Beneath the dim oil lamp, a dazzling golden gleam instantly pierced the darkness of the woodshed.
Old Servant Wang’s eyes flew wide. As though drawn by a magnet, her gaze locked on the exquisitely crafted Phoenix-Head Hairpin of solid gold resting in Shen Yingyue’s palm.
“Good heavens… Is that… pure gold?!”
Old Servant Wang swallowed. Her greedy nature instantly overwhelmed her fear and revulsion. She rushed over in three quick strides, crouched down, and reached out to snatch it.
“You little wretch! So you’ve been hiding something this valuable all along! Since you’re going to die anyway, you might as well give it to your Granny Wang. I’ll burn a couple bundles of joss paper for you later!”
Just as her filthy hand was about to touch the gold hairpin, Shen Yingyue abruptly pulled it back and pressed it tightly against her chest.
“Give it to me!” Old Servant Wang snapped, reaching over to pry her fingers open by force.
“If you dare take it…”
Shen Yingyue stared at her, a ruthless resolve to destroy them both blazing in her eyes.
“I’ll swallow it before I let you have it!
“And I’ll scream at the top of my lungs and summon the personal guards on patrol. Once they find out about it, this gold hairpin will be confiscated. You won’t get a single copper coin, and you’ll be punished for failing in your duty as my guard!”
Old Servant Wang’s hand froze in midair.
She was certainly greedy, but she was just as afraid of trouble. Huo Xiao maintained strict discipline. If he discovered that she had pocketed a condemned prisoner’s property, she would undoubtedly receive a vicious beating. Besides, one glance was enough to tell her that this gold hairpin was worth a fortune. It had to be worth at least several dozen taels of silver, enough for her to buy a small courtyard in Yanzhou City and live out her old age!
“Then… what do you want?”
Old Servant Wang withdrew her hand, her eyes darting about as her tone softened. “You’re already half-dead. I doubt you’ll last the night. You’ll only take that thing into your coffin, so why not…”
“I want you… to do something for me.”
Shen Yingyue gasped for breath, every word seeming to drain the last of her strength:
“It’s simple… I don’t need you to save me, and I don’t need you to bring me medicine.”
When Old Servant Wang heard there was no risk involved, her mind began racing. “Let’s hear it.”
“This gold hairpin weighs a full two taels, and it was made by one of the finest craftsmen in the capital. If you pawn it outright, you’ll get at least fifty taels of silver.”
As Shen Yingyue spoke, she watched the greed steadily deepen on Old Servant Wang’s face.
“All you have to do is deliver a message for me… and this hairpin is yours.”
“Deliver a message? To whom?”
“To… the hunter Zhang Dashan, who lives in Southern Slum Alley.”
Shen Yingyue gritted her teeth, fighting to keep herself from passing out.
“You only need to tell him one thing…
“Tell him that at dawn tomorrow, someone will be selling my daughter outside the West City Gate. He must… get her back at all costs!”
Old Servant Wang frowned. “That’s all?”
“That’s all.” Shen Yingyue nodded. “Once you’ve delivered the message, the gold is yours.
“Zhang Dashan is an honest man and fiercely loyal to those he cares about. If you don’t trust me, you can break off half the hairpin and take it now. Once you meet him and deliver the message, he’ll naturally be grateful to you.”
Old Servant Wang’s mind raced.
She had heard of Zhang Dashan. He was a skilled hunter. He might live a bit far away, but what was a little legwork for dozens of taels of silver? Besides, no one would ever know about this. Whether the child was rescued or sold, what did it have to do with her?
All she cared about was getting paid!
“Fine! I’ll take the job!”
Old Servant Wang rubbed her hands together, her wrinkled face splitting into a grin. “But we’ll need to put it in writing, just in case you’re lying to me…”
“Take the hairpin.”
Without the slightest hesitation, Shen Yingyue handed over the gold hairpin, though it was valuable enough to buy several lives like hers.
She was gambling.
Gambling on human greed.
Old Servant Wang took the hairpin and bit down on it hard. Once she confirmed it was genuine soft gold, her face lit up with delight. She immediately forgot all about getting anything in writing.
“Heh, Lady Shen, you certainly don’t waste time!” Old Servant Wang quickly tucked the gold hairpin deep inside her clothes, afraid someone might see it. “Don’t worry. I took your money, so I’ll handle your problem. I may be greedy, but I still keep my word.
“I’ll go right now! No one’s checking posts in weather like this anyway!”
With that, she picked up the oil lamp and turned to leave.
“Wait…”
Shen Yingyue suddenly stopped her.
“What now?” Old Servant Wang asked impatiently.
Struggling, Shen Yingyue tore off a piece of her blood-soaked hem. While Old Servant Wang had not been looking, she had secretly bitten her finger and written a message in blood.
Only two crooked, bloody words marked the strip of cloth:
“West Gate. Save her.”
“Give this… to Zhang Dashan.”
Shen Yingyue held out the bloodstained strip, her gaze cold as ice.
“He knows my handwriting. Once he sees this, he’ll risk his life.”
“Granny Wang, you’re a clever woman.”
“You’ve taken my gold. If you fail to do what I asked… then even if I, Shen Yingyue, die and become a vengeful ghost, I’ll crouch beside your bed every night and come for your life!”
Her sinister voice, coupled with the blood streaming from her eyes, made her especially terrifying on this stormy winter night.
A chill crawled over the back of Old Servant Wang’s neck. She shuddered and snatched the bloody strip of cloth.
“I know, I know! Stop nagging! I’m going right now!”
With that, she blew out the lantern and fled into the snowstorm, stumbling through the drifts as though running for her life.
The woodshed door closed once more.
As soon as Old Servant Wang left, the last spark in Shen Yingyue’s eyes receded like the tide.
Thud.
She collapsed heavily onto the pile of straw. Her entire body burned like a furnace, and her consciousness began to fade.
The rest was up to fate.
Zhang Dashan… Sister Li…
Please.
You have to save Nuannuan.
She’s innocent.
If there is another life, I, Yingyue, will serve you in any way I can to repay this great kindness.
The snowstorm raged harder.
In the front hall of the General’s Manor, music and revelry continued as wine flowed freely. Huo Xiao accepted toast after toast from his guests, listening to their fawning blessings as he basked in the false splendor of a harmonious family and a hall full of friends.
…
Half an hour later.
Southern Slum Alley.
The charcoal fire in Zhang Dashan’s dilapidated home burned feebly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Urgent knocking jolted the sleeping couple awake.
Zhang Dashan threw on his tattered padded coat, grabbed his hunting fork warily, and cracked open the door.
A tightly bundled old woman stood outside, shivering from the cold. Without a word of explanation, she shoved a blood-scented scrap of cloth into his hand.
“Someone asked me to give you a message!”
Old Servant Wang had already been paid and wanted nothing more than to leave, so she came straight to the point.
“At dawn tomorrow, someone will be selling Lady Shen’s daughter outside the West City Gate. You must go and take her back!”
“Message delivered. I’m leaving!”
With that, she turned and ran, vanishing into the night.
Zhang Dashan stared blankly at the strip of cloth in his hand. By the faint moonlight, he made out the two horrifying words written in blood.
“West Gate. Save her.”
“This is… Yingyue’s handwriting!”
Lady Li leaned closer for a look. She immediately covered her mouth as tears streamed down her face.
“Damn it all! That’s blood! What terrible suffering must Yingyue have endured?”
Bulging veins instantly covered Zhang Dashan’s honest, weather-darkened face. He tightened his grip on the hunting fork, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.
“That damned official Huo Xiao! I never should’ve let Yingyue leave with him!”
“Dashan, what do we do? Dawn tomorrow… Isn’t that around daybreak?” Lady Li paced frantically.
“We save her!”
Zhang Dashan took down the heavy bow he used for hunting bears and strapped a quiver of iron-tipped arrows to his back. His voice was as unyielding as iron.
“Sister Yingyue has placed her life in our hands. Even if it costs me my life, I have to help her!
“Wife, stay here and guard the house.
“I’ll go get Ergou and Tiezhu from next door. First thing tomorrow morning, we’ll head to the West City Gate…
“and take the girl back by force!”
Amid the howling snow, the killing intent in the hunter’s eyes was fiercer than the bitter wind.
