Chapter 1

In the water town of Jiangnan, Wu’an County.

After three or four consecutive days of drizzling autumn rain, the sky finally cleared. Early in the morning, the vast blue sky signaled a bright and sunny day.

The autumn rain brought a chill, marking the time to put away the thin summer quilts. As she got up, Scholar Zhu’s wife, Madam Jin, removed the quilt covers from both her and her husband’s bedding. While doing so, she muttered to herself about taking the covers and the accumulated dirty laundry to the river for washing today.

Zhu Chang, standing on the ground as he fastened his belt, glanced at his wife upon hearing this. With a serious expression, he asked, “Last night, you mentioned going to the market in the south of town today. If you’re going, then who will wash all these quilt covers and clothes?”

Madam Jin pursed her lips, yanked at the covers with even more force, and glared at Zhu Chang. “Of course, Shuangshuang and A-Jiao will wash them together. Do you really need to ask about such a trivial matter? Or do you think I’ll dump all the work on your precious niece?”

Zhu Chang glared back. “You’d better do as you say. If I find out you took Shuangshuang with you and left all the hard and dirty work to A-Jiao again, don’t expect me to hand over the tuition money in the future.”

Madam Jin bit her lip, ultimately not daring to argue further with her husband.

While she busied herself indoors, Zhu Chang stepped out.

The Zhu family was not wealthy. Initially, they had only three rooms on the north side. Later, after Zhu Chang passed the scholar’s exam and earned some prestige, he took up a teaching position to earn tuition fees, allowing the family’s situation to improve slightly. Over time, they added east and west wing rooms to the courtyard— the east wing was given to their daughter, Zhu Shuangshuang, while the west wing was for their son, Zhu Shiyu.

After returning from Huayue Brothel, A-Jiao moved into the east wing with Zhu Shuangshuang.

As Zhu Chang opened the main hall’s door, he saw his niece A-Jiao sweeping the courtyard with a broom. She wore a slightly worn green dress, her body slightly bent as she quietly swept fallen leaves. Her long, jet-black hair cascaded over her shoulders, revealing half of her delicate, fair face. With her arched brows and rosy lips, she looked as radiant as a blooming rose on a summer wall, so strikingly beautiful that one couldn’t help but take notice.

Hearing the door open, A-Jiao lifted her head. When she saw Zhu Chang, she broke into a soft smile and greeted him in a gentle voice, “Uncle, you’re up.”

Just moments ago, the stern-faced private tutor who had been cold to his wife now smiled like a spring breeze. With a kind gaze, he said to his niece, “Jiaojiao, why are you up so early again? I told you, leave these chores to your aunt. There’s no need for you to do them.”

A-Jiao continued sweeping as she replied, “Aunt works hard managing the household. Since I’m free anyway, it’s no trouble.”

Zhu Chang knew his niece was diligent and sensible, and persuading her would be futile, so he left to relieve himself.

Inside the house, Madam Jin overheard their conversation. However, she didn’t believe A-Jiao was doing it to help her—she was just putting on a show to curry favor with her husband.

The thought of her husband’s guilt and protectiveness toward A-Jiao made Madam Jin feel stifled.

She paused her work, and her mind drifted back to that incident.

Five years ago, Zhu Chang had left for the provincial capital to take yet another round of the academy examination. Meanwhile, she, a lone woman, stayed home, struggling to care for their two children and A-Jiao—the orphaned niece who had come to seek refuge with them after her parents’ passing.

Misfortune struck when their son, Zhu Shiyu, suddenly fell seriously ill. The doctor said that at least ten taels of silver were needed for treatment.

But most of their money had been taken by her husband. Desperate, Madam Jin tried borrowing from relatives and neighbors, but they all looked down on their poverty. None believed her husband would ever pass the exam, fearing their money would never be repaid. No one was willing to help.

She begged everyone she could, wore out her lips pleading, yet only managed to collect a few dozen copper coins.

In utter despair, she set her sights on A-Jiao.

Although the girl was only eleven at the time, she was extraordinarily fair and delicate—one could search the entire neighborhood and not find a girl prettier than her.

Saving her son’s life was the priority. Gritting her teeth, Madam Jin tricked and coaxed A-Jiao into going with her to Huayue Brothel.

The madam of the brothel was delighted with A-Jiao and handed over ten taels of silver.

To this day, Madam Jin could never forget that rainy day.

When A-Jiao realized she had been sold, she cried heartbreakingly, clutching her aunt’s legs and begging not to be abandoned.

It was the first time Madam Jin had ever done something so cruel. The more A-Jiao cried, the more unbearable it felt, and the more she wanted to escape. So she pried the little girl’s hands away, rushed out into the pouring rain, and didn’t even take her umbrella.

The downpour roared in her ears, drowning out the sound of A-Jiao’s sobs.

And so, Madam Jin used those ten taels of silver to cure her son, while A-Jiao became a girl of Huayue Brothel.

Not long after, her husband returned from the exam. When he learned what had happened, he slapped her across the face, grabbed her by the collar, and dragged her to the brothel to reclaim A-Jiao.

But they never even got to see her.

The madam of Huayue Brothel, backed by several guards, sneered at them and said, “Once a girl enters Huayue Brothel, she belongs to us. You want to take her back? Impossible. You can redeem her, but the price is one thousand taels. Can you afford that?”

The Zhu family didn’t have that kind of money.

Even if they wanted to borrow, no one would lend it.

Reporting it to the authorities was useless—the contract was signed and sealed. It wouldn’t matter if Zhu Chang became a scholar or even a provincial graduate; there was nothing he could do.

For half a year after that, Zhu Chang gave his wife the cold shoulder.

It wasn’t until her father passed away and she cried bitterly at her family’s loss that he finally softened toward her again.

Madam Jin had thought the matter was buried, that her husband would never hold it against her again.

But fate is unpredictable.

Last year, Huayue Brothel’s madam was implicated in a major case and arrested. The brothel was raided and shut down.

After several months of interrogation, the madam and a few accomplice prostitutes were executed. Those not involved in the crimes were released and sent back to their families.

Among them was A-Jiao.

It had been years since they last saw her. The scrawny little girl who had only her pretty face to rely on was now an entirely different person.

Rumor had it that Huayue Brothel trained its girls to be as refined as noble daughters. The madam even hired retired palace maids to teach them etiquette, literacy, music, and singing. The girls were pampered until their skin was soft and delicate before being given to patrons.

When Madam Jin saw A-Jiao again, if not for the sight of her husband clutching A-Jiao’s arm, both of them teary-eyed, she would have thought he had brought home a noblewoman.

Her first thought was: Such a beautiful girl must have been defiled long ago.

But when she subtly inquired, she learned that A-Jiao had been lucky.

The madam had scheduled her deflowering for the sixth of August. But just days before, on the first, Chief Constable Zhao led a raid on Huayue Brothel.

In other words, A-Jiao had lived in the brothel for years, eating, drinking, and learning, yet emerged untouched and was now a commoner again.

When Zhu Chang discovered his niece was still a virgin, he knelt before their ancestral tablets, thanking their ancestors, and personally vowed to find her a good marriage.

Madam Jin thought that given A-Jiao’s past, marrying into a respectable family was impossible. But she was beautiful—surely, she could still marry a poor or rough man.

That was when A-Jiao quietly revealed a shocking truth.

Before her planned deflowering, the madam had made her drink a sterilization potion. Terrified of resisting, she had obediently swallowed every drop.

She had suffered stomach pains for days afterward. Most likely, she had been rendered completely barren.

Men marry for heirs. No matter how beautiful she was, who would want a woman who could never bear children?

Women who came out of a brothel, even if they claimed to be innocent, were rarely believed. And being barren on top of that only made things worse.

Madam Jin sought out various matchmakers, but no respectable family was willing to take A-Jiao as a wife.

However, a few wealthy men expressed interest in making her a concubine, purely for her beauty. When Zhu Chang inquired about these men, he learned that they already had multiple concubines, constantly scheming and fighting amongst themselves. Without hesitation, he rejected every offer, refusing any amount of betrothal gifts. He declared that he had already failed his niece once—he was determined to find her a proper husband.

Madam Jin, on the other hand, did not want to keep an idle person in the household. The guilt of what she had done to A-Jiao made her uneasy, and every time she looked at the girl, she suspected that beneath her obedient demeanor was a heart full of resentment, waiting for the right moment to take revenge.

For all these reasons, Madam Jin wanted A-Jiao married off as soon as possible—whether as a wife or a concubine, it didn’t matter to her.

Since her husband was so stubborn, she tried persuading A-Jiao to accept the proposal of one of those wealthy men.

Unexpectedly, despite always acting so meek, A-Jiao was cunning when it mattered. She simply clasped her hands together and said, “I will follow Uncle’s decision.”

Madam Jin was nearly driven mad with frustration.

When persuasion failed, she attempted to wear A-Jiao down with chores. If she made A-Jiao suffer enough, surely the girl would be desperate to leave and agree to any match just to escape her harsh aunt. But the moment she ordered A-Jiao to prepare a meal, Zhu Chang scolded her, forbidding her from assigning A-Jiao any task that she wouldn’t also ask of her own daughter.

Madam Jin wept, argued, and pleaded in private, but nothing worked. That wretched man—he treated his niece even better than his own mother!

From last year to now, Madam Jin had endured A-Jiao’s presence for a whole year!

A-Jiao was already sixteen, yet still had no suitors. The older she got, the harder she would be to marry off. Was she planning to stay in the Zhu household forever?

Zhu Chang might be willing to support his niece for life, but Madam Jin was not!

======

After stripping the bedding, Madam Jin swallowed her frustration and went to prepare breakfast. She had wrapped wontons with minced vegetable and meat filling the night before, so all she needed to do now was boil some water to cook them.

The household had five members. She filled large bowls to the brim for Zhu Chang and their son, Zhu Shiyu. As for herself, her daughter Zhu Shuangshuang, and A-Jiao, she served each of them a small bowl with exactly eight wontons—no more, no less—so that Zhu Chang wouldn’t scold her for unfair treatment.

When Zhu Chang sat down, he subtly glanced at the three smaller bowls. Seeing that his wife hadn’t shortchanged his niece, he finally began to eat in silence.

A-Jiao sat beside her cousin, Zhu Shuangshuang, quietly picking up her bowl and eating at a slow pace.

Her cousin, Zhu Shiyu, stole a few glances at her.

A-Jiao noticed but pretended not to.

Suddenly, Madam Jin spoke up, assigning a task to the two girls. “I’ll be going to the market later. Since the weather is nice, after breakfast, A-Jiao and Shuangshuang, take the bedding and laundry to the river to wash. I’ve already set everything in the yard. Each of you has a bucket—wash everything thoroughly and don’t slack off.”

A-Jiao set down her bowl and nodded.

Zhu Shuangshuang pursed her lips but didn’t complain. She knew her scholar father didn’t like it when she talked back.

After breakfast, Madam Jin whispered a few words to her daughter before loudly urging the girls to head out quickly, warning that if they were late, all the good spots by the river would be taken.

By then, Zhu Shuangshuang had already gone to the courtyard.

When A-Jiao stepped outside, she saw two knee-high wooden buckets placed under the eaves, each stuffed full. However, the one Zhu Shuangshuang picked up contained brightly colored bedding, clearly belonging to the two of them. Meanwhile, the remaining bucket was filled with darker, heavily stained bedding—the ones used by Uncle, Aunt, and Cousin Zhu Shiyu.

A-Jiao turned her gaze to her cousin.

Zhu Shuangshuang looked smug.

Expression unchanged, A-Jiao picked up the wooden bucket.

Zhu Shuangshuang walked ahead, while A-Jiao followed behind. As they stepped out of the Zhu family courtyard, A-Jiao turned slightly to close the door. Lifting her head, she spotted a figure emerging from the neighboring Zhao household.

It was Zhao Yanping, Officer Zhao.