Chapter 3: Life is Truly as Lonely as Snow

During Wen Sheng's convalescence, the Jiang woman visited frequently. She was eloquent and persuasive; in just a few visits, she smoothed over all the grievances in Lady Li's heart, and the two sisters-in-law became as close as before.

At that time, the injury to Wen Sheng's throat had not yet fully healed, making it difficult for her to speak, so she could only observe coldly from the sidelines.

She had already seen through it: in this house, there were only she and Lady Li. As for the father, Gu Er, based on what she had heard, he had not returned home for many years and was completely missing. Lady Li had no parents above her; for all these years, she had relied on the support of the few acres of fertile land she received during the family division to make ends meet. Lady Li had a soft temperament, and whenever it came to dealing with outsiders—whether hiring people to farm or selling grain—she had to rely on the Jiang couple. It was no wonder she would say, "I've relied heavily on Sister-in-law's help all these years."

Gu Da not only had fields at home but also served as a shopkeeper in a clothing store, owned by that Merchant Zhao.

The clothing store mainly dealt in women's attire, specifically employing several skillful older women to introduce styles to female customers and take measurements for custom tailoring.

The reason the predecessor had thought so poorly of life that she committed suicide by hanging was because one day, the Jiang woman had taken her out, saying that the shop had a few pieces of clothing that had accidentally been made too narrow and couldn't be altered, so they intended to sell them cheaply and asked her to see if they fit. Who could have known that on that day, Merchant Zhao happened to visit the shop to inspect it? For some reason, all the shop assistants were out, and with no one to greet him, he walked straight into the inner chamber, only to stumble upon the young girl in a state of disarray.

To Wen Sheng, this was nothing more than a filthy farce, but to the predecessor—a young girl who had never stepped foot outside her courtyard—it was as if the heavens had collapsed, and only death could prove her innocence.

By now, Merchant Zhao had compensated her with ten taels of silver. It seemed as though the matter had passed, but Wen Sheng knew this was merely because he saw her attempting to die and did not dare to press her too hard.

She wondered if Tian Ben's rebellion had been quelled, and how many members of the Gu family had survived that catastrophe.

As long as the rebel army did not reach Lishui City, where she currently resided, inner-court women like the Jiang woman and Lady Li would not care about such great worldly affairs, and she had no way of learning about the state of the war from their idle chatter.

In the years before her death, she had read many travelogues and had personally visited many places; for some reason, she had never heard of a small seaside town called Lishui.

If her uncles, aunts, and brothers had all met with misfortune, it would be difficult for her to gain the recognition of the clan with this body. Even so, she was unwilling to live on behalf of this fifteen-year-old girl.

Even without the incident with Merchant Zhao, according to Lady Li's constant ruminations, she only wanted her to marry early into a prosperous household, manage a husband and raise children, and live a quiet life within the inner quarters for the rest of her days.

With Wen Sheng's former life and the final wishes of her grandfather, Gu Heng, how could she possibly fulfill Lady Li's desires?

Once Wen Sheng had mostly recovered, Lady Li indeed found a girl to keep her company. The new girl was named Cui'er, the youngest daughter of the family's cook, Mei Shi. She was two years younger than Wen Sheng. It was said to be "serving" her, but in reality, Cui'er just came daily to assist Mei Shi and keep Wen Sheng company with conversation to stave off boredom. It was agreed that no extra wages would be paid, but Mei Shi would receive an extra sack of grain every month.

Cui'er was young, fond of talking and laughing, and whenever she was around, Wen Sheng's ears were filled with her incessant, lively chirping.

"Miss, the weather outside is wonderful. Let me help you sit in the courtyard for a while."

"Miss, would you like some pomegranate? I see the pomegranates on the tree have turned red."

Wen Sheng shook her head. She looked up at the azure, cloudless sky, where birds occasionally flew from the eaves over the high walls.

The house consisted of only three rooms facing south, with the kitchen built in the backyard; Mei Shi should be busy in the kitchen right now.

"This courtyard is truly spacious. My home isn't even half as big as this, yet my parents are discussing building another room in the east wing. My second brother should be getting married next year."

Wen Sheng smiled faintly. To her, this house could hardly be called "spacious." It was true that the family was not prosperous; with the male head of the household missing, Lady Li could only rely on her. If she could return, she would certainly arrange for Lady Li's future life.

"My second brother said the temple fair on Chengwang Street yesterday was so lively! Several troupes were performing big operas, and there were acrobats. Later, people from the General's Mansion distributed a lot of food to the beggars, and it didn't disperse until dark. If the soldiers hadn't been watching, those poor beggars would have fought to the death."

"The General's Mansion..." Wen Sheng was stunned. To be called a General, one must surely command armies, much like Tian Ben.

Could it be that the Imperial Court had promoted a newcomer living in Lishui to suppress the rebels?

"How is the war? Has it ended?" she couldn't help but ask.

Cui'er scratched her head. "Aren't they still fighting in the south? The Dongyi people are too cunning. I heard my father say that the tens of thousands of enemies we killed in Zhangzhou a while ago were all sea pirates..."

Wen Sheng's heart jolted, and she looked toward Cui'er's face.

The war Cui'er described was entirely different from what she had imagined. Zhangzhou—another unfamiliar place name. Unlike this small seaside town of Lishui, a place with tens of thousands of enemies would surely be a strategic battlefield. If she were truly ignorant and had never heard of it, then it would be highly unusual that she had never heard of the other side of the conflict, the "Dongyi."

Cui'er's father was a cart driver and knew quite a bit about outside affairs. Seeing the strange expression on Wen Sheng's face, Cui'er thought she had been frightened by her words and quickly comforted her: "Don't be afraid, Miss. Our Lishui is located to the north and is the hometown of General Ji; the Dongyi bandits certainly wouldn't dare come here."

Wen Sheng said bitterly, "Since the Dongyi lost the battle, have they made any move?"

It was far too easy for Wen Sheng to fish for information from Cui'er; in less than half a day, she learned everything she wanted to know from the girl's mouth.

It was like a basin of ice water being poured over her head, chilling her to the bone.

Wen Sheng never imagined that the place she currently resided in was not the same world as her seventeen years of former life. There were no Tian Ben rebels here, nor was there her vast clan; instead, there was an empire called Great Liang. Originally, Great Liang had unified the world, but three hundred years ago, King Nanyuan's rebellion failed, and he retreated to the Feiyun River, occupying a corner of the south to declare himself emperor, which became Nanchong, and consequently, Great Liang became Northern Liang.

As for the warring Dongyi, they referred to the Eastern Sea Islands. It was said that the people there lived on raw meat and blood, were extremely savage and cruel, and spent their days dreaming of attacking from the sea to seize the magnificent lands of Northern Liang.

Her wandering soul had somehow crossed through vast time and space to become a tiny subject under the rule of Northern Liang.

The sun, moon, and stars here looked no different from her homeland, yet the Gu family, which had once been known throughout the world, had never appeared here. The places she stayed and the people she met were all different; the world had changed so much that even every face was a stranger, and there was no one left to whom she could recount her past seventeen years of experiences.

Wen Sheng suddenly felt an emptiness in her heart, a loneliness that seeped into her very marrow.

For several days, she felt lost and dazed. Before she could decide what to do next, her aunt, the Jiang woman, came to the door again, intending to propose a marriage match for Wen Sheng.