Chapter 45

Shen Qing thought long and hard before finally making up his mind. He found Xiao Wanling and said in a low voice, “I’m leaving.”

Xiao Wanling knew that Yin Sheng had been injured and that Shen Qing had been constantly summoned. She guessed he was in a difficult position. “Don’t go. At least wait a little longer.” Just two more months until the pregnancy was stable.

It was hard for Shen Qing to reject her. He avoided her eyes and said, “I’ve asked the supervisor and Madam Zhang to look after you.”

Xiao Wanling felt a pang of foreboding in her heart. “You’re really going?”

Shen Qing hesitated. She had never asked anything of him before. Seeing her pale face, he asked, “Are you feeling unwell again?”

Xiao Wanling said, “Yes.”

Shen Qing couldn’t bear it, as he hadn’t taken proper care of her due to being so busy. She must have fallen ill from exhaustion. He planned to go apologize to Yin Sheng.

Yin Sheng had waited at home for a long time, but Shen Qing never showed up, so he couldn’t sit still. “I’m going to find Deputy General Shen!”

Lu Dahai stopped him. “You just barely survived!”

Just then, the general arrived with his men. One of the new recruits pointed at Yin Sheng and said, “It’s him—he disobeyed your orders, General!”

The general sneered, and a group of soldiers rushed forward and pinned both Lu Dahai and Yin Sheng to the ground. Realizing things were going badly, the others ran to find Shen Qing.

Shen Qing arrived to see Yin Sheng’s leg slashed, blood pooling around him. A pouch containing five taels of silver was thrown on the ground.

The general glanced at Shen Qing and said, “Five taels of silver for his life!” Then raised his sword to strike down on Yin Sheng.

Shen Qing drew his sword and blocked it. “If you’ve got guts, settle this on the battlefield!”

He really couldn’t understand how someone like this could be a general.

Shen Qing pressed forward with increasing force. The general sensed things were going wrong and retracted his sword, barely steadying his footing. Before leaving with his men, he said coldly, “Shen Qing, your entire squad’s name has been submitted—none can be left out!”

****

Xiao Wanling woke to find a money pouch and a bolt of fine cotton cloth on the table. On top of the fabric was a piece of paper with just three words: I’ve left.

Realizing Shen Qing was gone, she rushed out in pursuit. Climbing to the top of the slope, she saw an armored general giving a speech. Shen Qing stood among the soldiers, easy to spot at a glance.

Just as she was about to call out, a soldier grabbed her arm.

Shen Qing turned but only saw a retreating back. He shook his head, thinking it was just his imagination.

“Move out!”

When Xiao Wanling heard that command, she shook off the soldier’s hand and ran further up the slope.

Shen Qing turned his head sharply, eyes wide—there she was, standing on the hill. Lu Dahai stepped nervously in front of Shen Qing. “Deputy General Shen, there’s no turning back now. If you leave, we’ll all be finished!”

Yin Sheng nearly dropped to his knees. “Deputy General Shen!”

The general drew his sword and looked at them coldly. He shouted, “Deserters will be executed!”

Xiao Wanling heard the words and swallowed down what she had wanted to say. She regretted not telling him earlier. She shook her head. What could she say now? Let others die just to keep him here?

Seeing that Xiao Wanling didn’t follow, the soldiers hurried to catch up to the unit.

Xiao Wanling sank to the ground, tears streaming down her face. In that moment, she didn’t want him to stay either—not if it meant he’d be torn in both directions.

She wiped her tears, composed herself, and slowly began walking home.

From a distance, Sister-in-law Lu saw her and rushed over to support her. “Deputy General Shen had no choice! When he comes back, you can give him a good scolding.”

Xiao Wanling pulled at the corner of her lips, but no smile came. She looked down at the ground, thinking a good night’s sleep would fix everything. She gently placed her hand on her belly. “Sorry,” she whispered to the child not yet formed.

Sister-in-law Lu busied herself heating water, bringing a basin to wipe Xiao Wanling’s face. She helped her lie down, covered her with a quilt, and brewed hot tea to have ready when she woke.

Xiao Wanling’s grief slowly settled. Her head throbbed. Forcing herself, she finally drifted to sleep.

****

The next day, Xiao Wanling appeared before everyone as usual, as if nothing unpleasant had happened.

At the teahouse, they sold wine-fermented sweet rice balls with osmanthus. Taro tricolor dumplings made with a bit of milk were especially popular among the children.

Gu Yaofang and Jiang Ting stood nervously at the pastry shop, carefully handling the peach blossom pastries, afraid they might break. Even walnut crisps sold for twenty cents a portion were being bought.

Behind the pastry shop was a small courtyard. Xiao Wanling made pastries there, wrapping red bean paste in flaky dough, then cutting them into five equal parts and shaping them into peach blossoms.

The walnut crisps were a modified version of palace-style peach pastries, made with roasted walnut pieces. They were shaped into round disks, placed into special iron pans, covered with iron lids, and topped with charcoal.

Several pans could cook at once, yielding four batches in half an hour. Each batch had twenty pastries and eight per serving. As soon as the hot walnut crisps were brought out, customers bought them up, with three supervisors stopping by to show support.

Xiao Wanling also made green rice cakes, using dried mugwort ground into powder. The fillings included red bean paste, jujube paste, and five-nut mixtures. She packed them in custom wooden boxes and handed them to Jiang Ting.

“Gu family in Xianhe Village—three servings of green cakes, two of walnut crisps. Already paid.”

“Qin family in Fuhu Village—ten of wine-fermented sweet rice balls, ten of walnut crisps! Payment received!”

Jiang Ting nodded, picked up the food boxes, and walked out quickly. Sister-in-law Lu had packed the wine balls into bamboo tubes and placed them in a basket. Jiang Ting secured the boxes and the basket with rope and set off with the oxcart.

Xue Cui watched Jiang Ting with envy. She knew how Xiao Wanling made those pastries and tea. Since Madam Xiao wouldn’t hire her, someone else eventually would. She went home, dug out the money she’d saved for a long time, packed her bundle, and set off, hoping to catch a ride on Jiang Ting’s oxcart.

She ran with all her might. Seeing the cart in the distance, her heart lifted. But in the blink of an eye, it vanished. Xue Cui was confused. Wasn’t Jiang Ting heading to the city? Why take the side road? That path went through dozens of miles of mountain roads, and her legs were already aching.

Tired and hungry, she suddenly spotted a man in luxurious clothes—wasn’t that the kind gentleman who had once given her a ride to the city? She waved excitedly, but the man acted like he didn’t see her and rode right past.

Crushed, Xue Cui brushed the dust from her face. “Is he heading to Qishan Village?” Worried she’d miss her chance to reach the city, she picked up her pace.

But Jin Jiaran didn’t go to Qishan Village—he turned into a side path and vanished from sight.

****

Back at the shop, Xiao Wanling saw all the pastries sold out. When Jiang Ting returned, she told her to order two more cooking pots. Jiang Ting agreed and left right away.

Xiao Wanling poured oil into the flour. Hearing footsteps behind her, she asked without turning, “Back so soon?”

“You can’t go in!” Gu Yaofang’s panicked voice rang out. “Who are you?”

A man dressed like a servant said nothing and handed a letter to Xiao Wanling. She took it and asked, “You’re from the Jin family?”

The servant said nothing and left in silence.

Gu Yaofang, guilty, clutched at her sleeves. “There were customers buying pastries, so I couldn’t stop him in time. I asked Sister-in-law Lu to help watch the front.”

Xiao Wanling replied, “It’s fine. Go back to work.”

Even if she had wanted to stop him, she couldn’t. The letter was from Madam Ji, saying she’d gained a bit of weight lately and wanted to try something new.

Wanting to lose weight again? Madam Ji was still in the capital. Sending fresh diet food wasn’t feasible. Xiao Wanling thought of konjac tofu or perhaps devil’s tongue jelly. Known for cleansing the digestive tract, it was perfect for someone like Madam Ji. And it could be made into a delicious dish.

But konjac wasn’t common yet, and she hadn’t seen it around. She’d have to try her luck in the mountains.

Madam Zhang had written in her letter that there were rumors in the city that Madam Ji had fallen out of favor. Prince of Jin had returned to his fief, and Madam Ji hadn’t followed, perhaps hoping to win back the emperor’s affection.

Xiao Wanling cared only about the number of orders. But rumors had people unsettled. Some who had come to rely on the Prince of Jin, without having time to officially register, had disappeared overnight with families and all. When some left, more followed.

Each day, fewer stalls appeared at the market. Customers had dropped by ten percent.

One day, people from Xianhe Village came asking about wedding banquets. They’d heard that Xiao Wanling’s banquets rivaled those in the city and wanted to hire her.

Xiao Wanling, being pregnant, recommended they buy hot pot soup base instead.

Boil the base, toss in meat or veggie balls, and it would all be delicious. But she needed to make the soup base first, and the dual-sided hot pot the restaurant had ordered still hadn’t been made.

She had the customers leave their names, addresses, and deposits. Jiang Ting would deliver it in two days.

Suddenly, hot pot soup base became popular across nearby villages. Whether it was a wedding or a funeral feast, people came to buy it. Easy, tasty, and convenient.

Seeing how quickly the herbs from her two garden plots were used up for hot pot base and how expensive store-bought spices were. A piece of fresh ginger cost eight wens, while the hot pot base cost only about twenty wens, which was really not cost-effective.

Xiao Wanling thought of building a greenhouse. Daytime temperatures were fine, but at night the mountain chill would freeze the seedlings.

She decided to coat linen with tung oil and drape it over a curved frame, forming a tunnel greenhouse. She gave the farm supervisor ten taels of silver and asked him to help purchase the materials.

“You want tung oil cloth?” he asked, assuming she planned to set up a temporary stall in front of her shop due to lack of space indoors.

“I want to try growing vegetables in winter!” she said. The two corn seedlings she had planted had been frostbitten. She wasn’t sure they’d survive.

Without another word, the farm supervisor hitched up the oxcart and headed for the city.

No matter what, he had to get her what she needed. If she could grow vegetables in winter, that would be pure silver. Even in the palace, the emperor’s vegetables were yellowed and wilted in the cold.

Tl’s Food Notes:

Wine-fermented sweet rice balls with osmanthus:

Taro tricolor dumplings:

green rice cakes:

walnut crisps:

puff pastry: 

konjac tofu: 

devil’s tongue jelly: