Ah Da kicked the rickety wooden door open, and they all rushed into the yard, immediately hearing a man’s vicious voice: “Old hag, where’s the banknote hidden? If you don’t tell me, I’ll send you to your grave right now!”
“Such wickedness—!” came Granny Zhou’s heart-wrenching cry from inside. Qian Jiaoniang’s heart clenched, and she lifted her skirts to run in at once. Xing Muzheng reacted quickly, following at her side and shielding her with his body. They entered the main room first and saw Granny Zhou on the floor, pounding her chest and wailing. A burly, scar-faced man was jabbing a kitchen knife in her face, while a fat woman stood beside him, baring her teeth and cursing. Seeing strangers barge in, both were startled. The scar-faced man glared, ready to curse at the intruders—then, noticing their fine clothes and guessing they were people of wealth, forcibly changed his tone: “What business brings the two honored guests to our humble home?”
Granny Zhou, still shaken, reached toward Qian Jiaoniang for help. “Jiaoniang, my son is trying to kill me!”
It turned out that the man who had kicked Granny Zhou to the ground was none other than her younger son, Zhou Laoer.
At these words, Qian Jiaoniang hurried forward, grasped Granny Zhou’s hand, and helped her up. Zhou Laoer twitched the hand holding the knife—but before he could act, Xing Muzheng’s foot shot out, kicking the man, all one hundred eighty jin of him, flying—knife and all.
Zhou Laoer’s wife bulged her eyes and shrieked, “Murder! Lawlessness!”
Qian Jiaoniang helped Granny Zhou sit in a chair, holding her trembling hands and speaking softly to calm her. Only after quite a while did Granny Zhou stammer out the whole story.
It turned out that Granny Zhou still held some hope for her younger son and daughter-in-law. That very night, she asked the neighbors to fetch her younger son home, but she waited the whole night without seeing him. Early the next morning, she asked the neighbor to call him again. Only then did Zhou Laoer and his wife come, impatient and annoyed.
Granny Zhou spoke to them kindly, saying she had received a banknote from a benefactor—worth a full one thousand taels of silver. If they would only serve her until her final days, buy her a coffin, and give her a decent burial, she would give them all the silver.
The moment Zhou Laoer and his wife heard “one thousand taels of silver,” greed clouded their eyes. The two secretly calculated—why wait until she died to get the money? Wouldn’t it be better to take the banknote now and be done with it?
So they first tried coaxing her, persuading her to take out the banknote so they could see if it was real. But Granny Zhou knew their nature all too well. No matter how they wheedled and deceived, she refused to give in, repeatedly saying she didn’t have more than a year or two left, and asking them, as her own son and daughter-in-law, to care for her.
But the two, whose consciences had long been eaten by dogs, when persuasion failed, the daughter-in-law roughly searched the old woman from head to toe. Zhou Laoer even picked up a kitchen knife, shouting threats—if she didn’t hand over the banknote, he would “send her off” immediately.
Ah Da could not stand anyone being unfilial. When he heard this, he swung his fist and gave Zhou Laoer a brutal beating. Apart from the shrieks of the daughter-in-law, no one tried to stop him. Even Granny Zhou, who had always put her son and his family first, said nothing—her once warm heart had been chilled to the bone by this wolf-hearted couple. Tears streamed down her face, and she looked utterly pitiful.
Qian Jiaoniang took her hand and was about to speak when Xing Muzheng said, “Granny Zhou, I am Xing Muzheng. I’ve learned that you once showed great kindness to my wife and child. I am deeply grateful. My wife and I no longer have any elder to care for—if you are willing, we would be honored to look after you for the rest of your days.”
Though her eyes were dim with age, Granny Zhou could still tell at a glance that Xing Muzheng was no ordinary man. She was so startled she stopped crying. “How could this old and useless woman dare let a great person serve her? That would be my undoing!”
Qian Jiaoniang looked up at Xing Muzheng, but he only smiled at Granny Zhou and said, “Your kind heart saved my only son during the chaos of war, and just days ago you took in my wife. I truly cannot thank you enough.”
“You—you don’t blame me?” Granny Zhou had thought Qian Jiaoniang was fleeing from a cruel husband, imagining him to be a fierce and vicious man. She never expected someone so dignified and refined.
“How could I be angry? My wife was alone out in the world—it was her good fortune to be sheltered by you. Jiaoniang, have someone help Granny Zhou pack her things. She will come with us.”
Qian Jiaoniang murmured her assent.
Zhou Laoer, lying on the ground with a bruised and swollen face, was in a daze. He had no idea where this “great man” had come from who actually knew his mother. After eavesdropping for a while, he suddenly remembered Qian Jiaoniang—it was that woman years ago who had left her young son in their home for a few days without returning! He had wanted to sell the child, but his mother had fiercely stopped him. Who would have thought she’d return now to repay the favor? And her husband was clearly a high official. Wait—just now, that man had introduced himself as Xing Muzheng? Wasn’t that the name of the famed Grand Commander?
He had already heard in recent days that an important official was staying in Baohua County, but never imagined it was Xing the Great General! And Qian Jiaoniang—she was his wife? That boy was his only son?
For someone never known for quick wits, Zhou Laoer suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He scrambled to his feet, trying to rush toward Xing Muzheng, but Ah Da blocked him with one arm. So Zhou Laoer shouted over, “General Xing! I—I—it was me! My mother wanted to sell the young master, but I stopped her, I didn’t let her!”
Granny Zhou’s vision went black, and she almost fainted. Her son was truly a beast! “Jiaoniang, don’t you believe his words—”
“Don’t worry, Granny. How could I believe his lies? But since your own son even took a knife to kill you, he’s worse than a pig or a dog. Come with us, and have this unfilial son and daughter-in-law hauled to the yamen.”
Granny Zhou sighed, grief and sorrow mingled. “No, no. As much as I hate him in my heart, he is still my son. I cannot watch him go to prison. If you don’t mind having an old woman along, let me go with you instead!”
Life alone in that shabby hut had been nothing but bitter hardship. If she stayed, she might die without a proper burial.
Hearing this, Qian Jiaoniang quickly helped her pack. In truth, apart from a few worn clothes, the old woman had nothing of value—anything worth a little money had long been taken by Zhou Laoer’s wife when they moved.
As they were leaving, Ah Da gave Zhou Laoer another thrashing. Since he did not hit women, he spat fiercely at the daughter-in-law instead. But even after leaving, he was still unwilling to let it go. He said to Xing Muzheng, “Master, are we really going to just let those two beasts off?”
Xing Muzheng glanced at Qian Jiaoniang, who was up ahead helping Granny Zhou into the carriage. “Go ask my wife—she probably has an idea.” Jiaoniang was no doubt holding in a bellyful of anger; best to let her vent it.
Sure enough, Ah Da found a chance to ask her. Qian Jiaoniang sneered, “How could we let them off so easily?” She whispered a few words to him. Ah Da’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Can it be done?” she asked.
“Of course it can!” Ah Da grinned. “The Marquis said you’d have an idea, and he was right!”
Qian Jiaoniang started at the title, lifted her eyes toward Xing Muzheng in the distance, then quickly looked away.
Ah Da happily went to carry out the task.
Thus, after Dingxi Marquis’s party left Baohua County, Zhou’s Steamed Bun Shop suddenly caught fire. The blaze consumed everything to ashes. Zhou Laoer and his wife wept in the street. Returning home, they found the place had been completely ransacked—every valuable stolen, even the silver ingots the wife had hidden under the floor tiles pried up and taken. The shock of losing everything overnight made her roll her eyes and faint dead away.
That night, Ah Da and his brothers who had “done a good deed” rejoined the main group at the post station. Qian Jiaoniang only gave him a glance, not asking for details—his smug look said enough.
She urged Granny Zhou to eat more, then turned her head, looking for Xing Pingchun. The boy had not been seen all day; she had stayed in the carriage with Granny Zhou, and he never came to her of his own accord. When they reached the post station and got out of the carriage, she glimpsed his shadow for a moment before he disappeared again. Even when called to eat, he didn’t show for a long while.
Li Qingquan and Hongjuan went to arrange the night’s lodging. When they came back, they reported that the relay station had two fewer vacant rooms than expected. Before they could finish the next sentence, Qian Jiaoniang said, “Then I’ll share a room with the Marquis—wouldn’t that free up another one?”
With a clatter, Xing Muzheng’s chopsticks fell onto the table.
