Chapter 6: Lilac

Ding Zhao said, "Everything just now was just our speculation. What if the child's family likes her and had no choice but to put her in a box? How about this: I'll go check Yinfeng Street again. If someone is looking for the child, or even reports it to the officials, we will explain why the child was hidden in a wooden box and return her. If they don't even dare to look for her after losing her, then something is fishy. Returning the child would likely lead to disaster, so we'll keep her."

Mrs. Zhang was extremely reluctant, but she eventually nodded.

Although Xun Xiang was disappointed, she couldn't help but admire that this couple were good, law-abiding people who truly loved this foundling. If she lived in this family, even if they were poor, she wouldn't suffer. In the ancient era where boys were favored over girls, even biological daughters were often subjected to abuse.

She believed that the old hag Xun wouldn't dare to search for the child so ostentatiously. She hoped no more accidents would happen and that she could settle into this home.

Ding Zhao hurried out the door.

Mrs. Zhang checked Xun Xiang's urine, placed her back on the heated kang, and went to the kitchen to boil some rice water for the child to drink.

Xun Xiang was both sleepy and hungry; she didn't dare cry and once again drifted uncontrollably into dreamland.

Xun Xiang was gently nudged awake by Mrs. Zhang. "Baby, wake up, it's time to eat."

The tone was gentle, truly as if speaking to her own biological daughter.

Xun Xiang sniffed and smelled the pleasant scent of the rice water. She was so hungry that a silver thread of saliva slid from the corner of her mouth.

Mrs. Zhang smiled as she picked her up and sat her by the table, using a handkerchief to wipe her saliva clean. She then scooped a spoonful of rice water, blew on it, and tested it against her own lips. Only when she felt it wasn't hot did she feed it to Xun Xiang's mouth.

Xun Xiang no longer cared if the rice water contained Mrs. Zhang's saliva; she gulped it down in large mouthfuls.

She was starving.

Sip after sip, she finished nearly half a bowl in a short amount of time.

Mrs. Zhang murmured to herself, "This child looks so easy to raise and worry-free. It would be wonderful if no one came looking for her."

A knock sounded at the door. Mrs. Zhang placed Xun Xiang back on the kang to open it.

Ding Zhao's expression was solemn. Ignoring the questioning look in Mrs. Zhang's eyes, he whispered, "Let's talk inside."

After entering the room and closing the door, Ding Zhao said gravely, "We cannot return the child."

"What happened?" Mrs. Zhang wrung out her handkerchief and handed it to Ding Zhao.

Wiping his face, Ding Zhao said, "There really are two people on Yinfeng Street looking for a wooden box. An old woman in her fifties and a youth around seventeen or eighteen. They said they lost a carved nanmu wooden box containing treasures, and whoever returns it intact will be rewarded with two hundred taels of silver."

"When others asked what kind of treasures were inside, they wouldn't say, only that they were treasures. Zhiniang, they didn't even dare to say it was a child. There must be a problem; returning the child would likely lead to disaster."

He walked to the kang, picked up Xun Xiang, and said softly, "Good child, we are destined. From now on, you are my daughter. Although our family is not very wealthy, we will not hurt you. We will make sure you are fed and clothed, and we will raise you safely into adulthood."

He then turned to Mrs. Zhang and said, "The Bodhisattva must have seen our devotion and granted us a daughter in this way. Everything is prepared; we set off for our hometown as scheduled the day after tomorrow. Aside from telling Father the truth, tell everyone else that this child is yours."

Mrs. Zhang let out a happy, light laugh and said, "Looking at the child's size, she should be about a month old. We'll say I gave birth to her on the twentieth of the seventh month."

Finally confirming that she would not fall into a wolf's den again and would not be killed, Xun Xiang's long-held anxiety finally eased, and her small face bloomed with a smile.

*If you take me in, you will be blessed.*

Mrs. Zhang added, "The water is boiled. Let's give the child a bath; her clothes and hat can't be used anymore."

After stripping her clothes, the naked Xun Xiang was placed into a large wooden tub, and Mrs. Zhang briskly bathed her.

She praised her aloud, "This child is so fair and tender, much prettier than Lichun or Liren. No wonder Father-in-law wants a granddaughter every day."

Ding Zhao laughed, "Those two boys are dark and ugly; there's no comparison."

Mrs. Zhang said guiltily, "The child is so beautiful, she doesn't look like our daughter at all. Won't people be suspicious?"

Ding Zhao replied, "Just say the child looks like her grandmother. My mother was just as beautiful. My father hoped for a granddaughter every day because he wanted one as beautiful as my mother. If she looked like him or me, my father wouldn't care."

A long-forgotten, blurry face surfaced in Ding Zhao's mind. Fair skin, a pointed chin, almond eyes... It was a pity that he, his two sons, and his younger brother's children all took after his father and didn't look like her at all.

Mrs. Zhang laughed, knowing he was right; she often heard her husband and the village elders talk about how beautiful his late mother had been.

Her face suddenly froze. She sniffed, lowered her head to smell again, and said in surprise, "Husband, this child's scent isn't coming from her clothes; she has a natural fragrance herself."

Ding Zhao raised an eyebrow. *Such a strange thing?*

He quickly knelt down to smell. First came joy, then seriousness, as he felt the burden on his shoulders grow a little heavier.

"This child is beautiful and has a fragrance. We must watch over her closely so that bad people don't eye her... Oh, I've thought of a name. Let's call her Ding Xiang."

Mrs. Zhang smiled, "Ding Xiang, Xiangxiang. A good name."

Xun Xiang liked this name too. She truly was destined with this couple; their chosen name for her was the same, and even the birthdate they spoke of was only one day apart.

From now on, she would be called Ding Xiang.

In her past life, she had loved lilac flowers—their pale purple, their faint fragrance, and that poem, "Rainy Alley"... She hadn't expected to bear this name in this life.

Ding Xiang happily waved her tiny fists.

Ding Zhao laughed, "Xiangxiang likes the name too. Tomorrow I'll go to the pharmacy to buy some medicinal herbs, turn them into pills, and put them in a sachet for Xiangxiang to wear at all times to mask her scent."

Mrs. Zhang asked, "Why not make scented pills?"

"We are country folk; where would we find scented pills for a small child? We'll just say the child has a deficiency and must carry medicinal pills to treat it."

Mrs. Zhang laughed, "How does this child look like she has a deficiency?"

Ding Zhao looked at Ding Xiang; she was indeed fair and plump, with excellent health.

He laughed as well.

After a moment of thought, he added, "We'll say that when Xiangxiang was half a month old, she suddenly cried loudly one night and couldn't be comforted. The next day, we invited a Taoist priest to look at her, and he said the child had lost her soul and needed pills to steady her. The pills must be worn until she is fifteen... Hehe, once the girl grows up, she can switch from medicinal pills to scented ones and still suppress her natural fragrance. This matter can only be told to Father."

Mrs. Zhang looked at her husband with admiration. "I can't believe you thought of that. Fine, we'll say that."

The joy of the couple also infected Ding Xiang. Even though she was being seen naked, she was happy and her little arms waved incessantly. She originally wanted to kick her legs, but remembering that doing so while naked was unseemly, she gave up.

Mrs. Zhang liked her even more, giving her little cheeks or bottom a gentle pinch after every few washes.

Ding Zhao also happily pinched Ding Xiang's little face.

After drying Ding Xiang and placing her on the kang, Mrs. Zhang wrapped the child in her own inner garment and covered her with their thin quilt.