Playing With Knives

The Third Young Mistress of the Guan family, Guan Wan, was a cute young lady.

She was 13 this year, with a round face and round eyes. Her chin was especially pretty, and she liked to laugh with a hand over her mouth. When she smiled, her eyes would look like crescent moons, and her slight dimples would show.

She looked rather adorable, and she was a sweet person too.

When she heard that Song Caitang was coming home, she didn’t welcome her at the gate. Instead, she went straight to Song Caitang’s residence, prepared warm water, got the fireplace ready, asked for clean beddings, and even asked for fresh flowers. Her maid had been busy all morning from all her instructions.

But thanks to her arrangements, Song Caitang did not have to return to a cold and neglected room. The room was warm; she had warm water to wash her face, she had warm tea to soothe her stomach, and the room was filled with the lovely fragrance of almond blossoms…

This was the first time Song Caitang felt like this was home.

“Wow…you’ve really gotten better…”

Guan Wan cupped her chin and just stared at Song Caitang for a long while. But when her eyes met Song Caitang’s, her face suddenly reddened, and she looked away because she felt like she had been rude. Yet, she couldn’t seem to hold back her curiosity and started staring again after a short while.

Like a timid little bunny.

Song Caitang immediately took to this adorable girl and smiled as she patted her head, “I thought you were quite confident just now, making sure everything here was tidied up nicely, like I was a very important guest?”

“That…there was nobody else around just now…”

Guan Wan’s voice was soft, and her face became even redder.

Song Caitang saw that this little girl was very genuine but very shy, so she poured her a cup of tea and stuffed a sweet into her hand.

Guan Wan wasn’t so nervous anymore after that.

She inhaled deeply as though she was mustering her courage, then said, “Eldest Sister…did she make you angry by saying some…not very nice things?” She took a quick glance at Song Caitang, then said hurriedly, “Don’t blame her. Her personality’s like that. Her words aren’t the most pleasant, no matter who she talks to, but she’s a good person inside! I’m serious!”

Song Caitang broke into a smile when she noticed that Guan Wan was still very nervous, “Do I look like I’m angry? Do I?”

Guan Wan’s face reddened again as though she was upset with herself for not explaining things well. She bit her lip and bent her head,

“Grandmother has suddenly fallen ill, and her condition is very serious. Eldest Sister and I are very worried, so we’ve been taking turns to take care of her and ended up neglecting you in the process…we didn’t know that…that First Aunt had those intentions. She initially tried to arrange for Eldest Sister’s marriage, but Eldest Sister refused to listen to her…”

Her voice grew softer, “Grandmother’s illness is really serious, and she’s not getting better after taking medicine every day. In fact, her condition is only worsening by the day. Eldest Sister didn’t know what else to do, so after hearing that praying at Tianhua Temple is very effective, she decided to go there. In order to show how sincere she was, she decided to stay one night at the temple. I…I couldn’t do anything either, so Eldest Sister instructed me to just look after Grandmother and not bother about anything else. In the end, First Aunt ended up agreeing to marry you off all of a sudden…”

“Something happened at Tianhua Temple yesterday…Eldest Sister should have returned yesterday afternoon, but she was delayed and ended up only returning after sunset. She said…”

She glanced quickly at Song Caitang again, “She said…someone got murdered. She didn’t let me ask her any questions, but based on her expression, she looked fine on the outside, but she was probably scared inside. We both slept the night in Grandmother’s room and didn’t check on you. Then when we woke up in the morning, we heard what happened to you from the servants.”

“Eldest Sister went to the second gate to welcome you, while I came here to help tidy up the place…”

“I know that nothing we do now can make up for how you’ve suffered, and Eldest Sister’s words are also so…but we really didn’t mean to let this happen to you.” Guan Wan’s face was pale, and her large eyes were teary as she looked at Song Caitang, “Don’t be angry, please?”

Song Caitang finally realized what must have happened.

Qingqiao was a lowly maid, so while she could see what was going on, she didn’t know why.

Based on the timeline, this Madam Zhang must have thought of marrying her off a long time ago, but didn’t have the opportunity to do so. Then, the day before, Guan Qing happened to go to Tianhua Temple, while Guan Wan was too timid to do anything else besides take care of her grandmother as her sister said, so Madam Zhang took this chance to hand her over to First Madam Wu. But First Madam Wu couldn’t convince Qingqiao to let go of her but didn’t want to kill her because it would be bad luck for her son’s marriage, so she ended up throwing them both into the coffin home.

Qingqiao was terrified but managed to hold herself together. It had been hard for her to wait and hope that Guan Qing would come and rescue them by nightfall after returning home, but very unfortunately for her, Guan Qing was involved in a murder case and was very unsettled, so she did not ask after Song Caitang at all.

Until this morning.

Song Caitang wasn’t someone who would scold others even when she had the right to; plus, she was actually an outsider in this house, so she didn’t really have that much of a right to blame someone else for what happened.

But Guan Wan was so nervous she felt like Guan Wan wouldn’t believe her even if she said she was fine and it didn’t matter. So, she smiled and changed the topic, “Aren’t you afraid that your sister would scold you for describing her like this?”

Guan Wan was a lot more relaxed talking about her own biological sister. She covered her mouth with a hand and said, “She can go ahead and scold me all she wants. If she doesn’t scold me a few times a day, she won’t have the appetite to eat.”

She had an annoyed look on her face, but it was clear that she still loved her sister dearly.

Song Caitang took the chance to ask more about Guan Qing.

Guan Wan ended up telling her a lot of things.

Song Caitang put this new information and what she heard from Qingqiao together. She now knew the family at a much deeper level.

The most important thing of all, a point that Guan Wan emphasized many times, was never to offend Madam Zhang’s son, Guan Lang.

Guan Lang was the only male descendant of the family. There was nothing bad about him, but he was Madam Zhang’s lifeline, so she was very sensitive and suspicious of everyone around him. Guan Wan warned Song Caitang to be careful around him. But he wasn’t in Luanze right now, so this wasn’t an issue at the moment.

In any case, there was one point she wanted to bring across no matter what happened.

“If you get bullied, look for my sister immediately!” Guan Wan instructed Song Caitang with a stern look on her little face.

Song Caitang didn’t think it was necessary to do that, but she still smiled and nodded in response anyway, “Got it.”

Before long, the tailors that Guan Qing had called for arrived. They came with clothing and accessories for Song Caitang, as well as various bright-colored fabrics that were most suitable for a young lady like herself.

Song Caitang knew that she was mostly in a daze before this, and the priority was helping her to get well. Even if she got any new clothes, they would all be plain fabrics. But now that she was well, she could dress up and socialize, so she had to dress appropriately. It was too late to get new clothes tailored right now, so she sent her some first. Guan Qing’s concern for her was very evident.

The doctor that had been called for in a hurry arrived soon after. He checked her pulse, then stroked his beard as he smiled and nodded. Her condition was excellent, and she would fully recover after taking a bit more medicine and resting.

He went to get the medicine, and the servants quickly prepared it…

There was a flurry of activity in her residence the whole day.

It was evening by the time the whole place quietened down again.

Qingqiao rubbed her arms, “It’s finally quiet again…Young Mistress, you’ve been busy all day. Perhaps you might like to turn in early for the night?”

Song Caitang thought that was an excellent idea. She was quite tired from being busy all day and yawned, “I’ve eaten dinner already anyway. I’ll go to bed now.”

Qingqiao moved at lightning speed, getting water for Song Caitang to wash up, tidying the place, and getting the bed ready. Song Caitang was able to go to bed in no time.

Song Caitang fell asleep almost from the moment her head hit the pillow. She hugged the blanket that carried the smell of the sun and went into a deep sleep.

At first, everything was normal.

Then, Song Caitang started to dream. All sorts of strange, unexplainable, messy dreams.

All sorts of people, things, and incidences appeared in her dreams. Some she had seen and experienced, others she hadn’t. They bared their claws and fangs, pouncing at her without hesitation.

When she woke up with a start, all those frightening images disappeared without a trace. She couldn’t recall them no matter how hard she tried.

The moonlight shone onto her bed and illuminated her face through the thin green curtain.

The light wasn’t gentle. It was cold and lonely.

She couldn’t sleep, so she pulled a coat over herself, snuck past her soundly sleeping maid, and walked out of the room.

The corridor was filled with moonlight.

It was faint, peaceful, and glowed, like a thin layer of mercury…

It also resembled the lake waters she saw when she noticed the pavilion beyond her courtyard.

The lake water…

Song Caitang smiled faintly as she walked down the corridor, leaned against a pillar, and sat down.

The moonlight cast a shadow on the corridor, making her look like she was lying in the water.

It warmed her heart.

It made her feel safe.

She shut her eyes and exhaled slowly.

Qingqiao got a shock when she woke up.

Her Young Mistress had gotten up without her knowing and was reading next to her bed already!

Instead of serving her Young Mistress, she had slept in!

That was unforgivable as a maid!

She used her knuckles to knock her head several times, making her face scrunch up. Then, she ran to apologize to Song Caitang.

“The sun hasn’t even risen yet, so you’re not late. I’m the one who woke up too early.” Song Caitang flipped the page, “Perhaps it’s because I slept too early the night before.”

Qingqiao quickly made her a pot of hot tea in the hope of redeeming herself.

“Young Mistress, what are you reading?”

Song Caitang took the teacup from Qingqiao and took a sip, “Oh, some travel diaries. They’re quite interesting.”

She then picked up a stack of papers next to her that she had drawn on and passed them to Qingqiao, “Once the sun rises, find a blacksmith and ask them to make these for me.”

Qingqiao took the drawings from her and stared at them in shock.

What in the world were these things?

There were some knives, scissors, needles, pliers, hammers, and a whole pile of strange-looking things with very weird designs. They were too small to be cooking utensils but unnecessary for embroidery.

Also, she wanted them in such high quantities. She wanted more than ten of those tiny knives!

“What…what are these for?”

Song Caitang just smiled at her and didn’t say anything.

Of course, these were for dissecting bodies.

She was a coroner by training, so if possible, she would love to return to her old trade. Her experience in the coffin home had given her much confidence. She felt that her capabilities would certainly do this line of work justice.

But Qingqiao was scared of these things, so it was better not to tell her what they were for.

“Oh, and I want a box too. The design is on the bottom-most sheet. Get a carpenter to make it for me. Order those ceramic containers for me too.”

Qingqiao took a look at the bottom-most sheet of paper. The box was a little strange, but definitely still looked like a box. However, the containers it was meant to store… Containers for ginger, wine, vinegar, spring onions, pepper, and salt made sense since those were commonly used in cooking. But what did she want a fermenter and dried white plum blossoms for?

And why was she buying this much black atractylodes rhizomes and Chinese Black Locust plants? What were they for?

What were these other herbs on the list?

She didn’t know a lot of words!

Song Caitang was amused by the shocked look on her maid’s face, “There’s also white atractylodes rhizomes, licorice, musk, wild ginger, spikenard, Szechuan lovage, keruing, frankincense…everything listed on this sheet are herbs, and I’ve also stated the amounts clearly. Just show it to the staff at the medicinal hall and tell them to follow this sheet exactly.”

She was stuck in an era where she didn’t have the help of technologically advanced equipment on hand, so she had to use ancient methods instead.

This was a moment when Song Caitang was so grateful to herself for studying Song Ci’s Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified very seriously.

Qingqiao frowned and looked at Song Caitang for a very long time before finally uttering, “It’s not that I’m not willing to get this done for you. It’s just that…it’s a bit difficult to do this.”