Chapter 2: Returning Home

The green hills stretched on, the valley was serene and secluded, and a deep pool shimmered under the sunlight, its depths unfathomable.

The jade-like surface of the water suddenly rippled, and a person emerged, startling a small deer that had been drinking at the water's edge into scattering in flight.

A-Heng wiped her face and looked around. Upon seeing the familiar scenery, her expression shifted, and she covered her face and wept.

She was back. The gentleman hadn't lied to her; she had truly returned!

Without time to think, A-Heng’s first instinct was to go home. No sooner had she stepped onto the bank than a thunderous crack echoed, and a bolt of lightning struck the water directly. This was followed by rolling thunder, and a torrential downpour began, accompanied by streaks of lightning that tore across the sky.

A-Heng took off running toward home, the thunder and lightning chasing closely behind her. A strange thought occurred to her: it was as if this lightning had come specifically to strike her.

Why? This was her home, the place where she belonged!

A surge of anger rose within her, slightly suppressing the excitement of her return, and A-Heng quickened her pace.

In the curtain of rain and lightning, the young girl moved as swiftly as the wind, skimming across the mountain path; had anyone seen her, they would surely have suspected a ghost.

The outline of houses finally appeared ahead, and A-Heng slowed her pace.

Her home was the closest to the mountain pass; it was right there.

Perhaps due to the sudden rain, no one was seen moving about the village, which brought a sense of relief to the drenched A-Heng, until she reached her front door.

Why... was there a white funeral banner hanging at the entrance?

A-Heng stared fixedly at the home she had longed to return to, feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

A thunderous boom shook the very earth, and lightning struck like a ferocious dragon.

Pulled back to reality, A-Heng pushed the door open with trembling hands, and an urgent cry reached her ears: "Mistress, Mistress—"

It was Fangzhou’s voice, and the one Fangzhou would call "Mistress" was her mother!

A-Heng stumbled into the house.

The young girl who had been clutching the woman’s arm and weeping looked toward the door upon hearing the commotion. She froze, then a look of immense surprise erupted in her eyes as she rushed over: "Miss, you’ve returned!"

A-Heng seemed not to hear the girl’s cries; she rushed straight to the bedside and took the woman’s hand: "Mother—"

The woman, whose eyes had been tightly shut, fluttered her eyelids. She struggled to open them, and as she saw the person before her, a glimmer of life returned to her deadened eyes: "Heng'er, Heng'er, you’ve returned!"

A-Heng nodded repeatedly, her voice choked with sobs: "Mother, I’m back. What happened to you?"

The sallow-faced woman managed a difficult smile: "Mother is fine, Mother was just worried about you..."

A-Heng’s heart felt as if it were being pierced by a knife.

Her mother was far from fine; she clearly looked like a lamp that had run out of oil...

"Fangzhou, did you not call a doctor for Mother—"

Before A-Heng could finish, the woman began to cough violently, gasping for air as if she were a candle flame flickering in the wind.

"Mother—" A-Heng cried out in terror, patting her mother’s back.

The woman gripped her hand tightly, gasping as she asked, "Heng'er, where did you go? Were you hurt? Why did it take so long to come home?"

"I... how long have I been gone?" A-Heng asked, suppressing her racing heart.

"The Miss has been missing for ten days!" Fangzhou interjected.

"Ten days?" A-Heng’s face turned pale, and she muttered to herself.

She had been pushed into the deep pool by a friend and had spent ten years in the shattered Great Xia of thirty years later.

Her one year, it seemed, was but a day to her mother and the others... But why had her mother fallen so deathly ill in just ten days? And why was that funeral banner hanging at the door?

A chill seeped into her marrow. A suspicion was on the verge of surfacing, but A-Heng dared not ask, fearing it would agitate her dying mother: "Mother, please rest. I will go call a doctor for you—"

"No doctor, don't call a doctor!" In her agitation, the woman suddenly sat up, her expression one of sheer terror.

"Alright, alright, no doctor." A-Heng soothed her mother softly, her heart filled with heavy doubts.

Why did her mother react so violently to the mention of a doctor?

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

*Knock, knock, knock*—the thunder had stopped, and the knocking was clear.

A-Heng glanced at Fangzhou.

Fangzhou ran out and pulled the door open, pausing in surprise: "Who are you?"

Standing outside were two people holding umbrellas, a man and a woman dressed in silk. The woman smiled and asked, "May I ask if this is the home of Chen Qiao, Master Chen?"

Chen Qiao was the name of A-Heng’s father.

Fangzhou grew wary: "Who are you people?"

"We are from the capital. We have come to ask Master Chen some questions."

"My master has passed away. You should go back—"

Fangzhou was about to close the door when a sound came from behind her—the clatter of a coarse ceramic bowl hitting the floor.

A-Heng stepped out quickly, ignoring Fangzhou’s worried look, and stared at the woman: "You come from the capital?"

The woman’s pupils dilated the moment she saw A-Heng: "She looks like her, so much like her!"

The man, who appeared to be a steward, was much calmer than the woman. He scrutinized the girl and couldn't help but nod.

She did indeed look like the late Third Mistress, but why was she soaking wet and not changing her clothes?

"Ahem." The man coughed to remind the agitated woman, "We should clarify things first."

The woman regained her composure and fixed her gaze on A-Heng: "Miss, do you remember anything from your childhood—"

A-Heng frowned: "Please state your purpose directly. My family is in mourning; I have no heart for guessing games."

The woman, now calm, opened her mouth but didn't know how to proceed.

She couldn't just tell a young girl, "We suspect you are the child our family lost many years ago, so we came to your door."

They still needed to speak with the adults of the house.

As the woman pondered, Mother Chen’s voice came from inside: "Heng'er, Heng'er—"

A-Heng turned and hurried back into the room.

Mother Chen was half-propped up against the folded quilts, looking as if she had regained some spirit: "Heng'er, who is outside?"

"A man and a woman claiming to be from the capital. Mother, don't worry about them, just rest well."

Mother Chen’s expression changed abruptly: "How could people from the capital come to our house? Your father... are they here for your father? Heng'er, leave quickly, go!"

Seeing her mother so frightened, A-Heng quickly said: "Don't be afraid, they shouldn't be here for Father. That auntie said I looked like someone she knew and asked if I remembered my childhood..."

Mother Chen listened blankly, then suddenly jolted and shouted toward the door: "Fangzhou, invite the guests in!"

Following Mother Chen’s orders, Fangzhou led the two inside.

The woman was startled to see the gaunt Mother Chen. She bowed and stated her purpose: "Are you Mistress Chen? We are from the Qiu family in the capital. Ten years ago, our Sixth Miss went missing while out with her elders to see the lantern festival... Last month, a relative passing through this area to visit a nephew staying in a Taoist temple met your daughter and found her to be the spitting image of our Third Mistress. After returning to the capital, they sent word to our family, and the master ordered the steward and me to come and confirm..."

A-Heng listened, stunned.

Though ten years had passed for her, perhaps the Great Xia soaked in blood had been so bitter that her past, happy memories had become deeply ingrained.

Last month, when she went to see Brother Bai, she had indeed met a woman of extraordinary bearing who kept staring at her.

"Cough, cough, cough." Mother Chen coughed incessantly, but her eyes were startlingly bright: "You mean to say my Heng'er is the daughter your family lost? Can you... can you remember what your daughter was wearing when she went missing?"

"When our Miss went missing, she was only five years old. She was wearing a red jacket and skirt, with colorful butterflies embroidered on the cuffs and hem... Oh, and there was a sachet with the character 'Heng' embroidered on one corner—it was our Miss's name..." The woman looked at A-Heng as she spoke.

Not only did she look like her, but she was also named Heng'er. Such a coincidence was impossible.

With reddened eyes, Mother Chen instructed Fangzhou: "Go to the west room and bring the box pressed at the very bottom of the cabinet."

Before long, Fangzhou returned with a wooden box and opened it at Mother Chen’s signal.

The jacket, skirt, and sachet inside were stained and old, but they were exactly as the woman had described.

"Miss, it really is the Miss!" The woman wept, taking A-Heng’s hand. "Miss, do you remember your nursemaid? It’s me..."

A-Heng remained silent. Mother Chen spoke softly of the past: "Ten years ago, Heng'er’s father and I found Heng'er on a mountain path in the Dingzhou region. At the time, she was silent, neither crying nor making a fuss, as if she had been terrified. Not far away lay a male corpse with a broken head; he must have been struck by falling rocks..."

The woman and the steward exchanged glances.

Dingzhou was adjacent to the capital. It seemed the kidnapper had met with an accident shortly after leaving the capital with the Sixth Miss.

"We brought Heng'er home. Because there was a 'Heng' character on the sachet she carried, we guessed it was her name, so we kept it."

"Mistress Chen, I thank you on behalf of my master for your kindness. We have come to take the Sixth Miss back. Please, name your terms."

Mother Chen smiled faintly: "As long as Heng'er has someone to cherish her, I am content."

"Mother—"

Mother Chen held A-Heng’s hand, but her eyes were on the woman: "I would like to have a few private words with Heng'er."

The woman and the steward retreated to the main hall.

Mother Chen looked deeply at A-Heng: "Heng'er, go change out of your wet clothes. Mother has something to tell you."

A-Heng silently changed her clothes, wrapped her wet hair in a floral cloth, and returned to Mother Chen’s side.

"Heng'er." Mother Chen raised a hand to touch her daughter’s cold cheek, her eyes filled with love: "Your father met with an accident a few days ago and passed away, and Mother... Mother is not long for this world either. Fortunately, my Heng'er is blessed and still has family... Wait—wait, you must go with them. Go to the capital and live a good life... the life my Heng'er was always meant to have..."

A-Heng’s tears fell like rain, and she shook her head repeatedly: "I won't leave you..."

"Silly child, Mother is going to find your father... Listen to me, you have an older sister. She is our biological daughter, and she was about your age when she went missing... I had intended to take this secret to the grave, but I never expected your family to find you... I am greedy, hoping that perhaps your sister is still alive, and perhaps Heng'er might meet her..."

"Mother, I will find my sister."

"Mother doesn't want you to make such a promise; I only fear that if you sisters ever meet, you won't recognize each other. Heng'er, promise Mother, do not go out of your way to look for her. It is like searching for a needle in a haystack—" Mother Chen squeezed A-Heng’s hand hard: "Promise Mother!"

Seeing her mother’s face flush and her breathing become rapid, A-Heng quickly said: "I promise you!"

Mother Chen smiled. She could no longer see her daughter’s face clearly, but she suddenly thought of something and gripped A-Heng’s hand even tighter: "Heng'er... your father met with his accident on the way to the city to call a doctor for me... No... it wasn't because he was looking for you..."

Her voice, filled with love and reluctance, gradually faded: "Heng'er, do not blame yourself..."

The hand that had been gripping her daughter’s so tightly suddenly went limp.