In the evening, the setting sun still lingered in the western sky, yet Xie Xuanying had already returned early. Today, the dust had settled. He had already gone to inspect the sand boats. Quite a lot of property had been lost, but fortunately the boats were undamaged – a great blessing in the midst of misfortune.
As soon as he entered the door, his steward hurried forward with small steps to report the day’s affairs.
First, he said that Yan Hongzhi was much better today, also more spirited, and had even made a special point of visiting the severely injured guards. The guards’ injuries had also improved somewhat, and those who had been feverish were now much more lucid.
Finally, he vaguely named a few prominent families that had sent maids to pay their respects.
The principle that even Nanny Zhang understood was not something Xie Xuanying would fail to understand. Surprised, he said, “They want to see Miss Cheng?”
The steward nodded, his expression subtle.
After a few breaths, Xie Xuanying suddenly understood, but did not dare ask whether it was him or his teacher – either way, it was not a good thing. But this also genuinely revealed a problem.
If Cheng Danruo was an unmarried young woman and remained at the side of the teacher and student, her reputation would easily become subject to gossip.
“I understand,” he said. “Let me first pay my respects to my teacher.”
It was still early. When Xie Xuanying entered the room, Yan Hongzhi had just finished dinner, and the lamps had only just been lit in the room.
“You are early today,” Yan Hongzhi said. “It seems the matter is nearly settled.”
Xie Xuanying nodded and reported the outcome concisely.
Yan Hongzhi said, “I already know.” He picked up the letter on the table. “This is Zhixin’s letter. Take a look.”
Xie Xuanying took it, scanned it at a glance, and nodded, saying, “What Senior Brother Lin says is most true. Given your condition, it would be best to rest and recover in Jinling for a few days.”
Yan Hongzhi was eager to return to the capital to see his eldest grandson sooner, but now that his health was poor, he naturally could not rush along the road for the sake of the younger generation, and so he had no objection. Moreover, Xie Xuanying had just wiped out the Black Abacus gang. If the news spread to the sea, who knew whether some great pirate might take it into his head to attempt a kidnapping? On the vast ocean, there would truly be nowhere to turn for help.
Therefore, whether for the sake of his health or for safety, going to Jinling and switching to the water route was the most prudent course.
The two discussed the matter, and then Yan Hongzhi asked, “Why do you look as if you have something on your mind?”
Xie Xuanying hesitated for a moment, then told him what had happened earlier and said, “In your view, what should be done?”
After hearing it, Yan Hongzhi could not help shaking his head and sighing, “Miss Cheng’s only disadvantage is that she has no elders.”
The so-called propriety that men and women should not touch each other also depends on the circumstances. When traveling abroad, there are many inconveniences. When one encounters a widow and orphan on the road, whether it is a merchant caravan or a scholar, most are willing to offer some care and looking after.
This is “propriety,” and also “benevolence.”
If Cheng Danruo had any elder at all, she would not have come to this pass.
But she happened to have none.
In ancient times, a married woman was already considered inferior to a man, and an unmarried young girl was not an independent person at all.
The world defined her, and what was spoken of was never Cheng Danruo herself. In the past, she was “Dr. Cheng’s daughter” or “the relative of Vice Commissioner Chen’s household,” and now she was merely the object of the most common sort of speculation.
Fortunately and tragically, at her most difficult moment, she had used her own life to earn the respect of two men who had a voice.
Yan Hongzhi appreciated her decisiveness and courage, and was also grateful for her having saved him several times. After pondering for a moment, he smiled.
“In a melon patch or under a plum tree, neither of us has any intent to treat her lightly, yet it is hard to guarantee that petty men will not slander her,” he said. “Resolving this matter is not difficult.”
Xie Xuanying breathed a sigh of relief. “You agree?”
“Miss Cheng is keen and eager to learn, and though poor, she does not flatter. If she were a man, I would certainly take her as a disciple. Ten years later, perhaps she would be another newly successful metropolitan graduate,” Yan Hongzhi sighed. “But you know my concerns. This matter is absolutely impossible.”
Li Wu had taken female disciples, and the students of the School of Pure Sincerity had once not been averse to taking female disciples either. However, the fact that their honored teacher had been framed and slandered, forcing him to take his own life in prison to prove his innocence, was the greatest pain of all his students.
Since then, the School of Pure Sincerity had never again taken a female student.
Success came from Li Wu, and failure came from Li Wu as well.
Yan Hongzhi could not overcome his own inner demon, and so could only settle for the next best thing. “If Miss Cheng is willing, I shall take her as my nominal adopted daughter.”
Since the late Yuan Dynasty, the practice of adopting nominal sons had flourished throughout the world.
Military officials loved to take nominal sons; once sent down into the army, they became one’s own direct subordinates. Eunuchs also loved to take nominal sons, to continue their line of descent, to wear mourning and weep before the spirit tablet. Even emperors had taken nominal sons.
Although nominal daughters were fewer, they were not rare either. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when beacon fires rose on all sides, if a colleague died in battle, a superior would adopt his daughter and choose a marriage for her, which was also considered an act of grace and righteousness.
Furthermore, there was a slight difference between a nominal daughter and an adopted daughter. Among the common people, most adopted daughters were taken into the household from childhood and raised there. Apart from the few who were genuinely loved and treated as one’s own, most were meant to serve as child brides for sons, or were given to powerful officials and nobles as a means of currying favor.
The so-called “thin horses of Yangzhou,” when spoken of, were all adopted daughters as well.
Nominal daughters were different. If a nominal son or nominal daughter was written into the family genealogy, they could thereafter obtain partial rights of inheritance. This was how eunuchs’ nominal sons received property.
However, whether nominal daughters or adopted daughters, either kind could be good or bad. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty bestowed the title of princess even on adopted daughters, and many eunuchs’ nominal daughters were likewise subjected to torment.
The treatment of nominal sons and nominal daughters depended on the character of the adopter and whether they were acknowledged by the clan.
Yan Hongzhi wished to take Cheng Danruo as his nominal adopted daughter, which of course was not the kind written into the clan genealogy. It was merely to give her a status under ritual law and to protect her reputation.
Xie Xuanying thought it over and found it not unacceptable. “In that case, there is nothing to worry about.”
Thinking further, he realized that today’s matter had probably become known to everyone, high and low alike. Rather than let the subordinates make it a topic of gossip, it would be better to settle her status as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary complications. So he personally invited Cheng Danruo over.
Yan Hongzhi said kindly, “Miss Cheng, back at Tianxin Temple years ago, we were fortunate to have your help. This time you have again settled matters for everyone, high and low, and have labored much.”
Cheng Danruo quickly said, “You are too serious. This is nothing. Anyone else would have done the same.”
Her not claiming credit for herself undoubtedly made her more likable. Yan Hongzhi said with genuine sincerity, “You and I may be said to have a bond of fate. It happens that I have only two sons and no daughter, which has often made my wife and me regretful.”
Cheng Danruo caught the implication and immediately became suspicious.
“My wife suffers from illness, and in this life I fear there will be no more joy of a daughter’s birth.” Yan Hongzhi’s words were not a pretext; he truly felt deep regret. “If you do not mind my advanced age, how about acknowledging me as your nominal adoptive father?”
The prediction came true, yet Cheng Danruo did not know how to answer.
She had done her utmost, half from a doctor’s sense of mission to save the dying and heal the wounded, and half indeed from utilitarian motives, hoping to cultivate good relations with them and pave the way for the future.
But the gratitude she had imagined was money, promotion, help in settling down.
Not becoming her father.
Still, recalling today’s misunderstanding, Cheng Danruo had some measure of understanding, and said, “Sir, your great kindness should not be declined, but I come from humble origins and am shallow in talent and learning. I fear I would disappoint your expectations.”
This was the customary modest refusal, and no one took it seriously. She paused, then added, “Moreover, the pure are pure of themselves. I ask myself whether I have ever done anything against my conscience. Why should I pay heed to others’ groundless conjectures?”
Yan Hongzhi could not help being surprised, and carefully scrutinized her expression.
On Cheng Danruo’s face there was no fearful, flattered surprise, nor any reserved modesty, but genuine perplexity. Her refusal came from the heart, without any pretense.
This… He stroked his beard and pondered, and for a moment did not know what to do either.
After all, one could not force someone to become one’s daughter.
“Ahem.” Xie Xuanying suddenly spoke. “It is already late. You have been ill for a long time, sir, and has not recovered. You should rest earlier.”
With the excuse given, Cheng Danruo and Yan Hongzhi cooperated very smoothly to play it out.
“What Young Master Xie says is right. You should retire earlier.”
“San-lang, see Miss Cheng out.”
The two young people moved outside to talk.
Yan Hongzhi, while taking off his shoes and soaking his feet, pricked up his ears to listen.
Xie Xuanying first explained the route ahead, saying they would go to Jinling and then north.
Cheng Danruo responded, “Understood. Thank you for informing me.”
Xie Xuanying then said that for the next period of time she would have to travel together with him and his teacher. The time would be too long, and he feared people would gossip, which would harm her reputation.
Therefore, there were now three options: temporarily entrust her to his senior brother Lin Xin, who was going to take up his post with his wife and would find it convenient to look after a female companion, and when the time was right, send her to the capital; or send her back to Songjiang, and wait until the Chen family returned to the capital to report on their duties, then go to the Chen residence to fetch her.
The third option he did not mention, which was obviously the status of nominal adopted daughter.
Cheng Danruo’s feelings were truly hard to describe in a word.
What had she done to actually harm her reputation? She had neither met a man in secret, nor fallen into the water and been rescued, nor exchanged love tokens with anyone.
She had merely been gossiped about by outsiders, and now she had to think of every possible way to avoid suspicion?
What were the ancients thinking?
“I do not understand.” She asked with genuine feeling, “Young Master Xie, what have I done wrong?”
In fact, Xie Xuanying also believed that the pure are pure of themselves and the muddy are muddy of themselves. So long as one behaves uprightly and sits properly, there is no need to care about outside criticism. If it were him, he would certainly disdain explaining to others, and he admired Cheng Danruo’s backbone.
But most people in the world are ignorant. Many mouths make gold, and three men make a tiger. Were there few people who had to prove their innocence with their lives?
He was silent for a moment, then said, “Miss Cheng, do you know of Patriarch Li?”
Cheng Danruo shook her head.
So he told her of Li Wu’s death.
Cheng Danruo suddenly understood, and sighed, “The elder’s painstaking kindness, yet I presumptuously failed it.”
These words were half true and half false.
There were many reasons for refusing Yan Hongzhi: first, it was merely that the matter had not been made clear and had caused misunderstanding. In her view, there was no need to acknowledge a father to avoid suspicion. Second, with her status, acknowledging Yan Hongzhi as a “nominal adoptive father” would inevitably be called reaching too high.
And most importantly, acknowledging a father had many drawbacks. On the surface, her status would be raised somewhat, but having enjoyed the benefits, she would have to make sacrifices.
There are no benefits in the world gained for nothing. Since she could make a living by her medical skill and be a guest of the Yan family, why should she find herself a father?
But now the situation was somewhat different.
With the status of father and daughter, it would be good for everyone. If she did not accept, it would not be self-awareness, but failure to appreciate favor. Cheng Danruo was not a pretentious person. If refusing would bring more harm than good, then she would accept.
So she said directly, “If he does not disdain my stupidity, I am willing to serve him with filial piety.”
“That is the best.” Xie Xuanying’s heart suddenly felt lighter.
He did not know why, but every time he spent time with Miss Cheng, he felt very relaxed and could speak naturally, no different from ordinary conversations with men. It was not like with cousins such as Gu Lan-niang or Princess Rong’an, where he always had to keep his heartstrings taut and not let his gaze stray.
If she were like them, although he would still make the same arrangements, he would not go to such trouble.
It was too tiring.
Fortunately, Miss Cheng was not bound by trivial formalities.
Xie Xuanying thought this way, still not realizing what this truly meant.
In the seventeenth year of Taiping, pirates invaded Yancheng in Huai’an and intruded into the county office. Xuanying led thirty soldiers, annihilated more than fifty of the enemy, beheaded the bandit leader, and captured more than a hundred.
- History of the Xia, Biography 91
In the seventeenth year of Taiping, Danruo arrived in Huai’an, killed two bandits and treated several people. The famous scholar Yan Hongzhi was pleased by her decisiveness and took her as his daughter.
- History of the Xia, Biography 91-
“The Beauty Loved” Act Two, Scene Four, “Bowing to Father in the Hall”
Dan: I was originally a plantain by the road, free in the wind and yet still medicinal. If I become a wealthy golden peony, I will be neither flower nor grass.
Jing: The thatched studio often has wildflowers blooming, but many descendants ruin the family, which is most sorrowful. I wish to have a good daughter without startling talent, whose heart of benevolence may comfort an old man’s heart.
Dan: Since it is so, Father above, receive your daughter’s bow.
Jing: Good daughter, rise for now.
