Chapter 5 – Mother, From Now On An’an Will Stay With You

The well water was freezing cold, and the house lacked firewood, so Tang Chaoyang could only wash herself as quickly as possible with the icy water.

Life here was tough, and since they didn’t have any silver on them, they had no choice but to endure some hardship.

It was thanks to Doctor Li that she could live in this small courtyard instead of an abandoned temple.

She had shared with him the acupuncture method she’d used to treat An’an.

It was a mutually beneficial exchange.

Once she had finished washing, Tang Chaoyang changed into a plain, worn-out outfit—one of Doctor Li’s wife’s old dresses that she no longer wore.

The little boy who had just been wrinkling his nose and complaining that she smelled stinky now clung to her leg, rubbing his head against it affectionately.

In the past, she and An’an hadn’t been so close.

Back then, there were wet nurses and servants to care for him—she never needed to personally take care of anything.

And her heart had been entirely occupied with chasing after Fei Yan, so naturally, there had been little left for her son.

From now on, no one would take precedence over her son in her heart.

“An’an doesn’t think Mommy stinks anymore?”
Tang Chaoyang smiled gently, her fingers lightly nudging his head. “Mommy’s going to steam some buns.”

Fei An’an held his head where she’d pushed him and followed her like a chubby little bear into the small kitchen.

While Tang Chaoyang tended the fire, Fei An’an sat on a small stool.

The atmosphere between mother and son was warm and cozy.

“An’an, tomorrow we’re leaving here and going back to the capital. From now on, you’ll live with Mommy, okay?”

Tang Chaoyang looked at her son hopefully.

Sometimes the way they both looked at each other—with wide, expectant eyes—made them look so alike.

“Just the two of us, Mommy?” Fei An’an tilted his head.

He’d already overheard the servants whispering about how Daddy had taken a new wife and abandoned Mommy.

He hated that Daddy married a new woman.

Those gossiping servants even said he would grow up to be a poor little orphan.

“Mommy, from now on An’an will stay with you,” he promised, puffing out his round little chest.

He was bundled up in so many layers that he looked like a roly-poly dumpling.

Tang Chaoyang cupped her son’s chubby cheeks and kissed his forehead.

Hearing those words from her son made her heart ache.

As long as he was with her, she feared nothing—not even returning to the capital.

When the buns were ready, mother and son each ate one.

Compared to the lavish meals of the past, even a simple bun now made them feel happy and content.

“When we get back to the capital, once Mommy earns some silver, I’ll buy you lots and lots of delicious things.”

Tang Chaoyang stroked his head. She would do whatever it took to give her son a good life.

Fei An’an chewed on his bun and mumbled, “An’an won’t eat too much. We’ll save the silver.”

Tang Chaoyang’s eyes instantly welled with emotion.

Clearly, all the suffering they’d endured had left its mark on An’an’s little heart.

“Alright, we’ll save the silver.”

This time, she planned to stay at the Su family’s residence only temporarily, just long enough to help her maternal grandparents recover their health. After that, she’d settle in Su family’s ancestral home in Hangzhou.

In her past life, her grandparents had doted on and protected her, and she never forgot their kindness.

She frowned as she recalled how, just before she attempted to assassinate Fei Yan, the entire Su family had been implicated in treason and nearly executed.

Who had framed them?

—

At dawn the next morning.

Granny Zhao instructed the servants to knock on the door.

When it opened, Tang Chaoyang stepped out, holding Fei An’an’s hand.

She had only a small bundle with her.

Granny Zhao’s gaze flickered at the sight of the pitiful pair.

This was once a young lady who wore only the latest fashions—now she was dressed in the tattered clothes of a peasant woman.

How fickle fate was.

Their clothes were even worse than what the servants wore.

“Granny Zhao, go to the apothecary on West Street first,” Tang Chaoyang said as she walked past, “Buy me some medicinal herbs: ginger, perilla leaves, cinnamon twig, schizonepeta, forsythia, burdock seed, honeysuckle, mulberry leaf.”

She paused, then added, “Also buy notoginseng, angelica root, and safflower.”

Tang Chaoyang didn’t know whether someone would get sick or hurt on the road, so she wanted to prepare some herbs just in case.

Granny Zhao was briefly stunned by the long list. “Young Miss, what are you buying so many herbs for?”

Tang Chaoyang didn’t let any servant assist her. She personally lifted Fei An’an and got onto the carriage, leaving Granny Zhao with only two words:
“They’re useful.”

There was no sign of Guard Cheng today. It seemed they had already left.

Tang Chaoyang lowered her eyes in thought and stepped onto the carriage using a small stool.

—

On the way from Hancheng to the capital, when they passed Guangping Village, Tang Chaoyang asked for a rest stop there.

Granny Zhao, riding in another carriage, heard the servant’s report and her face turned sour.

If they kept going, they could reach the county seat before nightfall and rest there. But the young lady insisted on stopping at the village.

There was no inn or restaurant in a village like that.

They’d have to ask villagers to lend a room, and the conditions would be poor.

Granny Zhao got down from the carriage and approached Tang Chaoyang, speaking respectfully,
“Young Miss, if we travel just a bit farther, we’ll reach the county town where there are inns.”

Tang Chaoyang replied calmly, “We’re stopping here.”

Granny Zhao: “…”

Utterly unreasonable.

Unable to argue with her, Granny Zhao had someone go find the village head.

Tang Chaoyang’s eyes were fixed on the tall mountain in the distance.

The reason she insisted on stopping here was because, in her previous life, a drunkard had once found a four-hundred-year-old wild ginseng on that mountain near Guangping Village.

That ginseng had later been bought by Dong Xinrui and gifted to Fei Yan.

During the emperor’s birthday celebration, Fei Yan had presented the ginseng to the emperor.

Delighted, the emperor asked what reward he wanted, and Fei Yan requested a favor on Dong Xinrui’s behalf.

Fei Yan was a trusted court official.

For those close to the throne, it was common for the emperor to reward their families to show his favor. The wild ginseng was a perfect pretext.

As a result, Dong Xinrui was granted the title of First-Rank Imperial Madam.

Tang Chaoyang hadn’t been eligible to attend the birthday banquet, but her grandfather had mentioned the title upon returning home.

That title meant even if Dong Xinrui committed a crime, local officials had no right to judge her—her case would have to be presented to the emperor for a verdict.

Tang Chaoyang stared deeply at the mountain in the distance.

In her past life, it was Dong Xinrui’s carriage that had run over and killed her beloved nursemaid on the street.

But because Dong Xinrui was both a First-Rank Madam and the Prime Minister’s wife, the case ended with a simple silver compensation.

Tang Chaoyang sneered and looked away from the mountain.

The group entered the village.

A four-hundred-year-old wild ginseng was nearly impossible to come by.

That drunkard had used the silver he received to abandon his wife and children and marry a younger woman.

Now, Tang Chaoyang intended to claim that ginseng for her maternal grandparents.

Her grandfather had guarded the borders of Jin for decades, and the accumulated ailments had taken a toll on his lifespan.

Her grandmother was also quite elderly.

As for what Fei Yan and Dong Xinrui would offer the emperor in the future—that was no longer her concern.