Perfect Match – CH 005

Chapter 5

At Liumingxuan courtyard.

Xiuniang’s eyes reddened. “Could it be that the Dendrobium officinale sprouted wings and flew away, and we can’t find it anywhere?”

The room was empty. Deng Ruyun pulled out the book she had hidden in a corner.

As she flipped through the pages where she had seen it last time, she said to Xiuniang, “We’ll find it. The Dendrobium officinale should be found soon after the General leaves.”

Xiuniang’s eyes widened, but they reddened even more. “How can this be? In the General’s eyes, you’ll always be a petty thief.”

Petty thief, cunning, shallow, ignorant, foolish…

Deng Ruyun paused, then clicked her tongue. “You know what, I hear those chickens in the kitchen and vegetable garden making a lot of noise every day. Maybe we should steal one someday?”

Liumingxuan’s vegetable garden was the closest to all the Teng family’s courtyards, and Xiuniang had complained about the rooster several times already.

But what they were talking about now was hardly the rooster. Seeing that her mistress still had the mind to joke, Xiuniang didn’t know what else to say.

It was completely dark, and the small lamp in the room offered little light. Seeing that her young mistress was engrossed in her book, Xiuniang could only refrain from mentioning what had just happened.

“It’s too dark in the room. Let me light another lamp for you, Miss.”

*

That night, Teng Yue slept in the outer courtyard.

Deng Ruyun was already used to sleeping alone in this room and felt no discomfort. However, the rain had been drizzling for half the night, and the autumn chill was gradually creeping in from under the stone slabs.

Deng Ruyun also ate breakfast alone at Liumingxuan that morning. Xiuniang didn’t eat with her but went out for a walk and brought back two pieces of news.

She said one was good and the other was bad, asking her which she wanted to hear first. Deng Ruyun initially wanted to hear the good news first, but after a moment’s thought, she said, “Tell me the bad news first.”

Xiuniang pursed her lips slightly. “I heard that the General stayed in the outer courtyard yesterday, and this morning he didn’t even go to Canglang Pavilion before leaving home.”

“Hmm? We angered the General so much that he left home?” Deng Ruyun feigned shock.

Xiuniang stamped her foot. “Miss, you’re talking nonsense again. He left home, not ran away. And it might not even be because we angered him.”

Upon hearing this, Deng Ruyun smiled.

“Then that’s settled, isn’t it? This isn’t bad news at all; it might even be good news.”

Seeing her talking nonsense again, Xiuniang wanted to be angry with her but didn’t know why, yet she felt a pang of unease and couldn’t help but secretly glance at her.

The young lady would never have said such things before.

Back then, when they were still in their hometown of Jinzhou, the General was only a centurion in the Jinzhou Qian Hu Garrison.

Every time she heard him enter the city with his troops from afar, the girl would prick up her ears like a rabbit, rushing out of her house at the sound of his approach.

She would run, adjusting her clothes and hair, asking, “Sister Xiuniang, quickly check if it’s messed up.”

If she said it wasn’t, she would run even faster until she reached the main road, squeezed into the narrow gaps in the crowd, and gazed up at the young general on horseback.

She would watch until her face flushed, follow his horse halfway down the street, and linger until he entered the military headquarters, not leaving until a moment later.

Then she would clench her hands, a mixture of helplessness and grievance in her voice, and softly murmur, “What should I do? I can’t help but like him today…”

The past vanished like smoke in the gaps of time, distorting and misaligning everything.

Xiuniang was momentarily dazed, quickly wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

She said there was more good news: “Miss, a small pharmacy is willing to buy our medicine!”

She said that Deng Ruyun’s previous batch of children’s wind-dispelling pills was quite good, but because it was made by a new, unknown pharmacy, “they want us to put down thirty taels as a deposit.”

Thirty taels was just a pittance for Old Madam Lin, but it was a considerable sum for Deng Ruyun.

However, she said it was fine: “Then take thirty taels and write a receipt. Our medicine isn’t substandard; we’ll get those thirty taels back sooner or later.”

Xiuniang agreed.

They received news in just one day, showing that the young lady used ample ingredients and the workmanship was solid; even experts would appreciate the quality of her medicine.

This gave them confidence in establishing themselves in Xi’an Prefecture.

The two were talking about making and selling medicine when suddenly their family came looking for them.

It was Changxing, a servant of the Deng family. He had collapsed in the Deng family’s medicinal herb field one day and was found by Xiuniang and Aunt Juan. When they first found him, he was only twelve years old. Three years had passed, and he had grown much taller, but he couldn’t remember anything from before, so he had stayed with the Deng family ever since.

Changxing usually stayed home to look after Linglang, taking her to and from school. Why had he suddenly come looking for her today?

Deng Ruyun was uneasy and told Xiuniang to quickly go and find out what was going on.

Xiuniang quickly returned, her face pale.

She said that Linglang had been bullied by the boys at the private school. “Those boys somehow found out she was a girl, and they were trying to kick her out. They even beat her ear!”

… …

When Deng Ruyun arrived, a group of elementary school students was gathered at the entrance to the private school teacher’s mansion, throwing stones, twigs, and wild fruits through the half-open door. One chubby boy shouted,

“How dare you lie? A little girl like you dares to come to the school! We’ll beat you up, we’ll beat you up!”

As they spoke, the group of boys threw what they were holding into a corner of the courtyard.

Deng Ruyun stepped forward, her gaze sweeping over the boys’ faces until they took two steps back. She coldly uttered two words:

“Get out of the way!”

Xiuniang rarely saw her so stern. The boys, who had been so arrogant, were now terrified and vanished in a flash.

Deng Ruyun then pushed open the door and saw the little girl standing in the corner. A chill ran down her spine.

She was shorter than the boys, even smaller than most girls her age. She sat huddled in the corner, her clothes covered in mud, her hair disheveled, and several red claw marks on her once fair face.

Most heartbreakingly, her right ear was slashed open, and blood was still seeping from it.

“Linglang?!”

Deng Ruyun called out. The little girl, who had been barely standing in the corner, grimaced the moment she saw Deng Ruyun. Tears welled up in her large eyes and streamed down her face.

“Auntie… Auntie!”

Deng Ruyun rushed forward and bent down to embrace her. The little girl cried pitifully, her body trembling, burying her head in Deng Ruyun’s arms.

As if hearing the commotion, the private tutor and his wife came out of their room and told Deng Ruyun everything.

They said that everything had been fine before. Although the boys didn’t talk to Linglang much, they hadn’t bullied her. Today, they heard somewhere that she was a little girl mixed up with them and wanted to pull her hair.

This started a fight. At first, Linglang tried to avoid them, but they then tried to pull her clothes. The little girl panicked and started fighting with them. By the time the teacher noticed, Linglang was already in her current state.

Deng Ruyun was speechless with grief.

Those boys, some six or seven years old, surrounded Linglang with stones and clenched fists. How terrified and helpless the little girl must have felt!

The teacher’s wife apologized profusely, and the teacher said he had already disciplined the boys. However, children of that age who could attend school usually came from wealthy families, so the teacher could only reprimand them and couldn’t very well use a ruler to punish them severely.

Deng Ruyun would never let Linglang attend such a private school again.

She told Xiuniang to collect Linglang’s writing materials and books. The teacher sighed deeply and returned the extra tuition fee Deng Ruyun had paid.

Looking down at the little girl sobbing softly in her arms, Deng Ruyun saw that the tutor’s wife had already bandaged her ear. She carefully retied the girl’s disheveled hair and wrapped her in a cloak.

“It’s alright, Linglang. No one will hit you anymore. Auntie will take you away.”

She carried her away from the private school.

Just outside the school gate, she saw a woman in brocade talking to the chubby boy who had been yelling earlier.

The boy’s face was smeared with scratches. “Mother, a brat got into the school and scratched my face!”

The woman spat at him disdainfully. “Can’t even handle a brat! You’ve wasted eight years!”

But as she spoke, her gaze flickered to Deng Ruyun holding the child, and she chuckled.

“A poor family like yours wants to be like a noble lady, sending a little girl to a private school to learn to read and write. Don’t you even know your own limitations? It’s laughable.”

As soon as she said this, Deng Ruyun noticed Linglang in her arms tremble slightly.

She stopped, looked down at Linglang, and suddenly chuckled.

“Auntie will tell you a joke, alright?”

She gently stroked Linglang’s reddened face with her fingertips, her voice carrying comfortably.

“Linglang was four years old and could read with five- or six-year-olds; she’s incredibly clever. But some people are eight years old, reading with them, and still can’t learn. Why is that? Guess what?”

She clicked her tongue. “Well, it turns out, they’re just a blockhead reincarnated, with a blockhead’s head.”

Before Deng Ruyun finished speaking, Xiuniang burst out laughing; even little Linglang forgot her pain and covered her mouth to laugh.

The boy who had bullied Linglang froze, while the woman in brocade widened her eyes. “You!”

Deng Ruyun, however, didn’t bother to say another word. She gave a soft snort, picked up Linglang, and turned to leave.

The wind was strong, making the gravel on the alleyway rustle against the walls.

However, the woman was right about one thing.

Daughters of noble families indeed didn’t attend private schools to learn to read. They either followed the proper clan school of wealthy families or had private tutors at home. Even Deng Ruyun’s parents had hired a scholar to teach her at home.

It was just that she lacked the ability to send her brother’s and sister-in-law’s youngest daughter to a private school, which led to this mishap.

Deng Ruyun felt as if her heart was being torn apart, and she held Linglang even tighter in her arms.

But this only made little Linglang more uneasy. She peeked her face out from under her cloak at her aunt, her little hands clutching Deng Ruyun’s sleeve tightly, a hint of anxiety in her eyes.

“Auntie, I’m so sorry. It’s all Linglang’s fault. I shouldn’t have fought with them. Now I can’t go to school…”

These words broke Deng Ruyun’s heart.

She immediately said no, “How could it be your fault? It’s clearly your classmates at school who are bad!”

She was poor, and life was difficult, but she couldn’t let her child suffer any longer.

“Auntie will hire a tutor for you when we get back to teach you at home. Would Linglang like that?”

Little Linglang paused, taken aback.

Deng Ruyun thought she would cheer up, but instead, she lowered her head.

“But that will cost a lot of money, Auntie will have to make a lot of medicine, and she’ll be very busy and tired…”

Deng Ruyun stopped, her voice suddenly hoarse.

“But it’s alright; Auntie is earning money. Auntie has earned a lot of money, enough to hire a tutor for Linglang.”

However, the little one in her arms still shook her head.

“No, Linglang will not! Auntie’s too tired. I can learn by myself…”

Deng Ruyun could no longer hold back; tears streamed down her face.

Xiuniang also covered her face and sobbed.

Deng Ruyun closed her eyes tightly.

The vast Xi’an Prefecture, the ancient capital of a dynasty hundreds of years ago, had seen countless people come and go.

Many were wealthy, living in luxury, and able to manipulate events at will.

But so many others were without money or power. Without money, they had to bow their heads; without power, they had to be subservient; without support, anyone could bully them.

The small body nestled obediently in her arms, motionless.

Even though she was smaller than other children her age, she was four years old, and Deng Ruyun could no longer hold her as easily as before.

Her arms began to ache, and her slender back could no longer straighten, yet she couldn’t bear to put her down for even a moment. She carried her through the crowds of the ancient capital, draped in brocade and silk, walking and walking.

But the path ahead was blocked by the throng of people.

Before Deng Ruyun could see anything clearly, the little one on her shoulder suddenly sat up.

“It’s Uncle!”

Uncle… …

Deng Ruyun was slightly startled. Looking past the crowd, she saw a man riding a tall horse in the distance.

In the bustling street, he rode a black-brown steed, wearing a dark red brocade robe embroidered with floral patterns, galloping through the street.

Several young women stood around him, making a noisy commotion. Someone nearby seemed to tease him, and he looked slightly embarrassed.

But the dark red brocade robe shone brightly in the bright sunlight. As he reached the center of the street, he looked like a groom being escorted to his wedding.

More and more young girls gathered, some running past Deng Ruyun with shy smiles, all heading towards the street corner he had passed.

Deng Ruyun looked at him from afar, but before she could react, the little girl in her arms looked at him, her small face lifting, her eyes still wet with tears, shining brightly.

The surging crowd stirred the little girl’s excitement; she forgot the pain in her ear and couldn’t help but call out towards the street.

“Uncle!”

The general surrounded by everyone was her uncle!

If those naughty children at the school knew this was her uncle, let’s see if they dared to bully her again!

Her call made Deng Ruyun’s heart skip a beat; her gaze was fixed on him.

But the “uncle” on horseback seemed not to hear her, nor did he turn around to look at her.

The crowd surged like a roaring tide, and Deng Ruyun’s slightly paused heartbeat quickly returned to normal.

She didn’t move, but little Linglang was stunned. “Auntie? Isn’t that Uncle?”

The little girl’s eyes were full of disappointment and confusion. She was still waiting for her uncle, the great general on his tall horse, to recognize her on the street.

But Deng Ruyun raised her hand and patted her little head, shaking her head.

“No.”

Little Linglang blinked in confusion. “No? Then who is it?”

She clearly saw him on her aunt’s wedding day.

Deng Ruyun looked up again. The man, surrounded by the crowd, had already ridden his black-brown horse to the edge of her sight, showing no further intention of looking back.

She said Linglang had mistaken him for someone else. She lowered her eyes and smiled faintly.

“That’s just… someone else’s uncle.”

Someone else’s uncle.

A gust of wind suddenly arrived. The wind whipped up fine sand and gravel, whipping it across the walls and eaves. People in the streets and alleys cried out, covering their heads and faces as they ran away.

Deng Ruyun immediately covered Linglang’s face, but she herself was left exposed.

The sand and dust stung her eyes.

Ignoring her own pain, she quickly called out to Xiuniang, shielding her eyes from the blowing sand, and hurried towards another path.

Not far away, on horseback.

Teng Yue, his head also turned by the wind, suddenly saw a somewhat familiar woman’s figure.

He focused his gaze briefly, and through the sand and dust and the crowd, he could only vaguely make out that the woman was walking quickly away, her back turned, carrying a child of about four or five years old in her arms.

She was not plump, and the child in her arms weighed down her slightly, bending her back. The wind and sand made her stagger. With nothing to lean on, she couldn’t run away like the lighter-weight passersby. She could only struggle to keep going, carrying her child, until she disappeared into the sandstorm.

Her figure resembled his wife at home. For a moment, he considered going to look at her.

But Madam Deng was too lazy to even entertain guests or eat with her mother. Why would she be on the street, struggling to walk in the wind with her child?

Thinking of this, Teng Yue didn’t look again. He withdrew his gaze, turned, tightened the reins, and rode away.

*

Someone hid under the banner of the tavern at the crossroads. He watched Teng Yue until he was far away before letting out a sigh of relief. His gaze then shifted to Deng Ruyun, who was walking away quickly.

He was wearing a neat short-sleeved shirt and had a gourd of wine tied at his waist, and his breath still reeked of alcohol.

“Tsk tsk, the woman the client is looking for is quite interesting. She rushed out as soon as she heard about the child’s accident, but when she saw her husband, she acted as if they were strangers and didn’t even come up to say a word.”

His henchman beside him scratched his head, puzzled, but seeing Deng Ruyun almost gone, he quickly asked, “Should we still follow her?”

“Yes, of course we should.”

He said, turning back to his henchman, “Go back to the stronghold first and tell the chief that we’ve got our eyes on her, but we haven’t had a chance to act yet.”

“Have your brother talk to the client who hired the hitman. For a covert murder, you can’t rush it if you want to do it cleanly.”