Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Miss, You’re Awake

More than a month earlier, by the riverbank.

After Chun Zhi jumped in, she sank and then swam hard for the shore, but the storm that day was too strong. Waves rose in layers, and the swift current carried her downstream, where a large boat rescued her.

When she woke, she was already lying in a cabin.

The first person she saw was a young man in his early twenties. He wore a blue robe, his features were finely drawn, and his manner was gentle as he spoke: “Miss, you’re awake.”

Chun Zhi braced a hand on the bed to sit up, when a sudden pain gripped her belly. She quickly pressed a hand to it: [My child…]

“Miss has been unconscious for two days, so do not get up,” the young man said in a warm voice, adding: “You were exhausted and soaked in the water for a long time. If you want the child to be safe, you must rest.”

Hearing that the baby in her belly was still there, Chun Zhi calmed a little. She looked at him, unsure, and asked: “You are…?”

The young man answered gently: “My surname is Song, given name Chengxuan, courtesy name Anlan. Two days ago the river carried you to my boat, and the boatmen pulled you up…”

As he spoke, he began to cough. He turned aside and covered his mouth with his sleeve, and only after a while did he settle.

Chun Zhi slowly sat up and said softly: “Thank you for saving me, Young Master Song.”

He said: “It was the boatmen who saved you. I only had someone change you into clean clothes.”

A young maid came in with a bowl of medicine and happened to hear them, and she said: “Not just that. Our young master told the boatmen to pull you up, took your pulse, wrote the prescription, and even cooked the medicine himself. For two days, day and night, he watched over you without rest…”

“Qing Ye,” Song An Lan called.

The maid named Qing Ye stopped at once and said: “I know, we do good without asking for thanks.”

Song An Lan smiled and spoke to Chun Zhi with a touch of apology: “Qing Ye is blunt. Please do not mind her, Miss.”

Chun Zhi said: “Young Master saved me, and Qing Ye has been caring for me. I am very grateful. How could I take offense?”

Qing Ye set the medicine by the bed and said: “Miss, please drink the medicine first.”

“Thank you,” Chun Zhi said, lifting the bowl to drink.

At the first sip, she almost spat it out.

She forced it down, but for a moment she did not dare take a second sip.

The medicine was far too bitter, and she frowned.

She had not taken medicine in years. After a serious illness at nine, her body had been strong. Even with pregnancy, she felt little discomfort.

But after learning that Huo Zheng had treated her as a plaything, it was like a sickness of the heart. Then came the storm and the river. Now body and mind were worn out, and she had to take medicine whether she liked it or not.

“I have been sick a long time and learned some healing arts, but my skill is poor,” Song An Lan said kindly, adding as he took a small paper packet from his sleeve and opened it: “This brew is far too bitter. I’m sorry to trouble you, Miss. Here are a few candied fruits. After you finish the medicine, eat two and your mouth won’t feel so bitter.”

Gritting her teeth, Chun Zhi drained the bowl. Her tongue went numb from the taste, and tears almost came. Speechless, she grabbed two candies and put them into her mouth.

The sweet taste quickly chased away the bitterness. She chewed slowly until it faded.

Qing Ye took the empty bowl, poured a cup of water at the table, and handed it to Chun Zhi.

Chun Zhi swallowed the candies and said: “Thank you,” then took the cup and sipped the water.

“Miss has not eaten for two days. You must be hungry,” Song An Lan said as he gave an order: “Qing Ye, bring the porridge.”

“Yes,” Qing Ye answered, and left.

Chun Zhi leaned against the bed and sipped her water.

The cabin was quiet.

Only the sound of water moving came from the hull.

She was still on the river.

Holding the cup, she called softly: “Young Master Song.”

He answered: “If you have anything to say, please do.”

She asked: “Do you still have the clothes I wore before?”

She had been forced by Huo Zheng to jump, with no time to grab her bundle.

A hundred taels of gold and many banknotes were in that bundle. On her person she had only the three hundred taels in notes that Lu Jing Yun had given her.

“Your clothes are here,” Song An Lan said, “but the banknotes were soaked and torn to pieces…”

At this, Chun Zhi let out a breath and thought: [Money comes easy and goes easy.]

She would have to earn her living with her own hands again.

When he had her pulled aboard, Song An Lan saw her plain clothes and knew those notes must matter to her. So even though they were in shreds, he did not throw them away; he had someone keep them.

As they spoke, he ordered at once for her old clothes and the ruined notes to be brought.

Seeing the shredded notes, Chun Zhi felt her heart shred with them and thought: [That was a full three hundred taels.]

Seeing her stricken and silent, Young Master Song said gently: “I have some family wealth. If you need it, I can give you some silver and gold. You have only just woken and are still unwell. Please do not worry over money.”

Chun Zhi answered quickly: “Money is outside the body. You cannot bring it when you are born or take it when you die. If the notes are ruined, they are ruined. Getting my life back is already a blessing.”

“Speaking of that,” Song An Lan asked, “Miss is with child. How did you fall into the river?”

Chun Zhi could not tell a man she had just met about Prince Chang’an, especially not someone who knew she was pregnant.

But she did not want to lie to Song An Lan, so she fell silent, looking troubled.

Seeing this, he understood she had a secret she could not share and said at once: “If it is not convenient to say, I will not ask.”

His kindness only made Chun Zhi feel more ill at ease.

He even said: “If you have nowhere to go yet, you can come home with me for now. We have many houses but few people. I also have a sister who is thirteen and has long lacked a companion. If you would keep her company, that would be best.”

Every word protected Chun Zhi’s dignity. He spoke as if bringing her to his home would be doing him a favor.

In truth, Chun Zhi had nowhere to go and not a coin to her name.

“Then I will trouble you, Young Master Song,” Chun Zhi said. “I can do any kind of work. I will not eat and live in your house for free.”

Song An Lan smiled and said: “Miss, there is no need to be so polite.”

Only after she followed Young Master Song back to the Song Clan did Chun Zhi learn how modest he had been when he said he had some wealth and many houses.

The young man who looked like a scholar from the heavens turned out to be the richest man in Dongzhou, the Patriarch of the Song Clan.

When they arrived at the Song Clan, the thirteen-year-old Miss Song led people out to greet them, stared wide-eyed at Chun Zhi, and asked Song An Lan in amazement: “Elder Brother, is this the sister-in-law you brought back for me?”