Yang ChengWan still couldn’t walk properly because his leg was not fully healed, but as soon as he had received YangYue’s letter, he’d immediately traveled to Xinhe City, not listening to Xie Baili’s words. When he arrived at Chun Yumin’s residence, he immediately saw Jinxia and Lu hugging each other. It seemed like the situation had turned out to be worse than he thought.
“Master, master, why are you here?” Jinxia said in excitement, “Is your leg healed?”
YangYue was standing behind Yang ChengWan, and quickly signalled Jinxia not to say anything.
Yang Chengwan didn’t answer at all, because according to their statues, he had to greet Lu Yi first. “Lu Daren, this useless disciple of mine has behaved rudely, I hope you can forgive me for not teaching her well.”
Lu Yi looked fixedly at Yang Chengwan, and asked, “Superior Yang, why are you in Xinhe City?”
“I received a letter talking about how bad the pirate situation was, and because of these two children of mine, I had to come and check out if everything was alright.” Yang ChengWan faced Jinxia, “Xia’er, you come with me.”
“Oh.”
Jinxia didn’t dare to argue, and followed after him. She quickly glanced at Lu Yi, smiled at him and then continued to follow Yang ChengWan back to YangYue’s room.
***
“Xia’Er, do you know what you did wrong?!” Once seated, Yang ChengWan immediately raised his voice at Jinxia and then looked at YangYue, “Kneel down!”
YangYue knelt down right away, but Jinxia still didn’t understand what she had done wrong, but because of her friendship with YangYue, she knelt down with him.
“Before going on this trip, I’ve told you to take care of Xia’Er, is this how you do your job?” Yang ChengWan asked.
Jinxia couldn’t help but interrupt, “Master, I’m fine, you see, my hands and feet are still here. Da Yang took really good care of me.” Although she felt that letting Yang ChengWan see them together was a bit awkward, in her heart, there was nothing to hide so she didn’t feel guilty.
“You still dare to speak? Earlier—earlier, what you did, are you shameless? Do you know what status Lu Yi has? How can you do that?” Yang ChengWang was so angry that his body trembled, “You acting like this, how can I talk to your mother?”
While speaking, someone knocked on the door outside; the two of them remained on their knees not daring to move, until YangYue saw his father nod his head, then he quickly got up and opened the door.
It was Mrs. Shen.
Yang Chengwan who saw Mrs. Shen was immediately stunned and for a moment he didn’t know what to say.
Having last seen each other a while ago, their farewell had ended in bitterness without needing to say anything. Yang ChengWan was different now, with his forehead full of wrinkles. In addition, he’d spent time in prison and broken his leg. Although he didn’t suffer as the Superior of LiuShamen, that was because his position was useless and, compared to the passionate and young Yang Li, they seemed completely different.
“Aunt!” Since Yang ChengWan didn’t say anything, Jinxia didn’t dare to stand up, and she yelled out from afar. “This is my Master, the one I always talk about.”
Hearing Jinxia so straightforwardly saying the word ‘aunt’, Yang ChengWan’s body stiffened. He slowly muttered his words, “She…What does she call you?”
Mrs. Shen walked in the room and said, “That’s right, she called me aunt.”
“You’re still alive?” Yang ChengWan said, “Back then, when I heard you risked yourself entering the palace to kill Yan Shifan, I thought you were dead.”
Tears formed up at the bottom of her eyes, then she shook her head, “No, someone helped me escape. Then, I went to the Capital to look for you, but I heard you got arrested and I thought you would never survive it… How did you get out of prison?”
The two of them asked and answered each other, leaving the confused Jinxia and YangYue on the side.
“Aunt, do you know my Master? Are you guys old acquaintances?” Jinxia asked in surprise.
Mrs. Shen turned her head to look at Jinxia, and couldn’t help but caress her face, while looking at Yang ChengWan. “On behalf of my sister, thank you for taking care of her, and teaching her so many skills.”
Jinxia who heard it was even more confused. “What?”
Yang ChengWan kept shaking his head. “She could’ve learned even more, but I didn’t have the ability to help her.”
“Master, aunt, what exactly are you guys talking about?”
Seeing that Yang ChengWan didn’t deny it, at this point Mrs. Shen was really sure of Jinxia’s identity. She couldn’t control the tears, they flowed down her cheek as she said to Jinxia, “Kid, I’m your aunt! Your real aunt.”
Jinxia froze, saying in surprise, “My mother’s family does have two brothers and sisters, but I’ve never met them before. Did someone take you away when I was young?”
“Stupid child, I’m not talking about your adoptive parents. Your biological parents, those that gave birth to you. I am your mother’s sister, and the one that was taken away was you.” Mrs. Shen explained to her.
“……..” It took Jinxia a while to understand the meaning of her words. “Master, is this true? Did you already know?”
This matter had been buried and hidden by Yang ChengWan for so many years, until today, that seeing Jinxia and Mrs. Shen together, he couldn’t help but nod. “Back then, your mother trusted me, asking me to take care of you.”
Jinxia still didn’t dare to believe it. “But, you’re not the one taking care of me…”
“Brother Yang, what actually happened at that time, why did they put you in prison?” Mrs. Shen asked.
Yang ChengWan took a deep breath, and then slowly remembered the event from several years ago.
-flashback-
Ten years ago, Yang ChengWan was a JinYiwei, along with Shen Lian under Lu Bing. At that time, Yang ChengWan was still very naive, courageous, arrogant and ambitious, always working very hard to earn his promotion. Although he was not aiming for Lu Bing’s position, at least he was hoping for something that would make him valuable for the palace court.
Yang Chengwan and Shen Lian were different. Shen Lian had previously been a county official. He was honest and always received rewards for his high integrity, and never tried to bribe any superiors for his promotion. It was actually the opposite, because of his blunt and straightforward temper, he had sometimes carelessly spoken in front of other officials and got himself demoted. Even though he’d been demoted, his character had remained the same. Yang ChengWan had always felt that he was too stubborn, and the both of them became incompatible with each other.
Until one day, when the Xia family got in trouble. Even though Yang ChengWan disliked Xia Yan and Xia Zhangqing, he definitely did not expect this to happen, especially when ‘she’ was now Xia Zhangqing’s wife. Many crimes committed by Yan Song were caught by Xia Yan, who had quickly reported those crimes. Later on, Yan Song found an excuse to go to Nanjing and find Xia Zhangqing and his wife and gave them a warning, and that was also the day Yang ChengWan first met Jinxia. Xia Zhangqing realized the current situation could lead to the total annihilation of his family, but the thing that worried him the most was his five year old daughter. At that time, he decided to consult with Yang ChengWan.
The plan was that, at the beginning of the autumn lantern festival, they would take the child out and arrange someone to take her away, to temporarily hide her somewhere, but would pretend she would be kidnapped. At least this way, if something did go horribly wrong with the Xia family, he would ask Yang ChengWan to secretly take the child Madam Xia’s younger sister so that she could care for their daughter. If nothing happened, then they would bring the child back home.
This plan would have been very great, but something unexpected happened in the palace court. Yan Song received notices that there were a few people reporting him, saying he had secretly met with Xia Zhangqing, and the first person that came mind was Yang ChengWan, therefore, he decided to threw Yang ChengWan in prison and tortured him. Yang ChengWan knew that Yan Song didn’t have any evidence to prove this accusation, so he decided to endure all tortures and remained quiet.
Suddenly, Shen Lian came forward and confessed to Lu Bing that he was the one reporting Yan Song. Refusing to listen to Lu Bing’s advice, he reported Yan Song for all the crimes he investigated, which included him having private properties, inconsistently managing state affairs, misused of war funds and neglecting war preparation, which led to the increase of pirates. Shen Lian asked a harsh punishment to be placed on Yan Song for his actions, and to re-establish the ‘The Law of Public Morality and Shameful Corruption’.
The result of Shen Lian’s actions was that he was lashed ten times, demoted to become an administrative officer of the general to serve the people. Whereas Yang Chengwan, with a broken leg, was released from prison. Lu Bing felt uneasy and regretful; he planned to restore his position, but was respectfully rejected. Later on, because of Qiu Luan’s accusations, Xia Yan was beheaded and all of the Xia family’s properties were confiscated. The person that was responsible for taking Jinxia away, due to fear of being caught and being involved with the Xia family, so he decided to sell Jinxia to the human trafficker. After a long investigation process, Yang ChengWan was about to find Jinxia, but that was when she had already been adopted by the Yuan family.
That day, when he saw the young Jinxia on the street, a huge weight was lifted off his chest. He looked at Jinxia with tears. Several years later, he was seen teaching Jinxia kung fu and various investigation skills.
After hearing all the long and tortuous stories, it was as if she was hearing what had happened to someone else’s family. Jinxia stayed emotionless for a long time. She was silent for a while, then she hesitantly asked, “Master, what do you mean daughter? The Xia family’s daughter, is it me?”
“Are you sure it’s me?” Jinxia finds it impossible to believe, “The former Chief Secretary was my grandfather? Do I look like someone who would be the granddaughter of the former Chief Secretary?”
“You are!” Mrs. Shen lifted Jinixa’s head, and pointed at the scar under her chin, “Do you remember how you got this scar?”
Jinxia touched it, and shook her head. “I don’t remember. I often fight with people, so having a scar isn’t a big surprise.”
“Your mother said you were very naughty, so when you were little, you fell and hit your chin against the flower pot.” Mrs. Shen said to her, “Besides, all your facial features are very similar to your mother.”
Yang ChengWan said to Jinxia, “You don’t have to doubt. I met you at the Xia family during that time, of course I’m sure it’s you.”
“Is it really me?”
This matter for Jinxia was honestly a bit scary. She took a deep breath, then exhaled deeply, more than once then turned to YangYue: “Da Yang, did you know?”
YangYue shook his head. “I’ve also just found out.”
“Oh.”
Jinxia was still very lost, especially learning that she is Xia Yan’s granddaughter, for a moment, she didn’t know what to do with this information. After a while, she turned to Yang ChengWan and asked: “Yan Song harmed Xia Yan, who is my grandfather, does that mean Yan Song is my family’s enemy?”
Yang ChengWan nodded his head.
“It turns out that I have enemies.” Jinxia mumbled to herself. She doesn’t remember anything at the age of five or six, or anything about her family. Suddenly, a bitter feeling rushed over her.
“When Xia Yan was sentenced, not only did the Xia family suffer, but everyone that’s related or have a relationship with the Xia family was all executed.” Mrs. Shen said to her, “At that time, our Lin family was in Quanzhou, we were well known for our physician skill, but in one just one night, all of us were annihilated. The living are dead, the missing are forever lost…If your grandfather was alive, he would be very fond of you.”
“Is that true?” Jinxia’s eyes immediately brightened, “What was my family like? What kind of person was my mother? Was she pretty?” Jinxia have never met her biological parents before, therefore she couldn’t help but throw all the questions at Mrs. Shen.
She asked about everything, from her mother to her father, grandparents and everyone related to the Xia family. Jinxia asked what type of books her mother read, what they do during their free time and more. Each question was answered one by one by Mrs. Shen. Yang ChengWan stood outside and listened to their conversation, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh as he recalled all the memories.
As Jinxia listened to Mrs. Shen describing her family, she started to picture her mother’s figure, her voice and their face features. Everything was slowly becoming alive in her imagination.
“On the 15th of every month, your maternal grandfather would give you check-ups and medicine. Whenever a typhoon hit the village, he would always run over to help them.” Mrs. Shen continued.
*[Maternal grandparents = mom’s parents, paternal grandparents = dad’s side, TN]
Jinxia heard it while imagining the past, and couldn’t help but praise him: “My grandfather is so generous. He’s truly a hero in my heart.”
That night, Jinxia and Mrs. Shen slept in the same room. She listened to all of Mrs. Shen’s stories until midnight, when they both finally fell asleep due to exhaustion.
Yang ChengWan still couldn’t walk properly because his leg was not fully healed, but as soon as he had received YangYue’s letter, he’d immediately traveled to Xinhe City, not listening to Xie Baili’s words. When he arrived at Chun Yumin’s residence, he immediately saw Jinxia and Lu hugging each other. It seemed like the situation had turned out to be worse than he thought.
“Master, master, why are you here?” Jinxia said in excitement, “Is your leg healed?”
YangYue was standing behind Yang ChengWan, and quickly signalled Jinxia not to say anything.
Yang Chengwan didn’t answer at all, because according to their statues, he had to greet Lu Yi first. “Lu Daren, this useless disciple of mine has behaved rudely, I hope you can forgive me for not teaching her well.”
Lu Yi looked fixedly at Yang Chengwan, and asked, “Superior Yang, why are you in Xinhe City?”
“I received a letter talking about how bad the pirate situation was, and because of these two children of mine, I had to come and check out if everything was alright.” Yang ChengWan faced Jinxia, “Xia’er, you come with me.”
“Oh.”
Jinxia didn’t dare to argue, and followed after him. She quickly glanced at Lu Yi, smiled at him and then continued to follow Yang ChengWan back to YangYue’s room.
***
“Xia’Er, do you know what you did wrong?!” Once seated, Yang ChengWan immediately raised his voice at Jinxia and then looked at YangYue, “Kneel down!”
YangYue knelt down right away, but Jinxia still didn’t understand what she had done wrong, but because of her friendship with YangYue, she knelt down with him.
“Before going on this trip, I’ve told you to take care of Xia’Er, is this how you do your job?” Yang ChengWan asked.
Jinxia couldn’t help but interrupt, “Master, I’m fine, you see, my hands and feet are still here. Da Yang took really good care of me.” Although she felt that letting Yang ChengWan see them together was a bit awkward, in her heart, there was nothing to hide so she didn’t feel guilty.
“You still dare to speak? Earlier—earlier, what you did, are you shameless? Do you know what status Lu Yi has? How can you do that?” Yang ChengWang was so angry that his body trembled, “You acting like this, how can I talk to your mother?”
While speaking, someone knocked on the door outside; the two of them remained on their knees not daring to move, until YangYue saw his father nod his head, then he quickly got up and opened the door.
It was Mrs. Shen.
Yang Chengwan who saw Mrs. Shen was immediately stunned and for a moment he didn’t know what to say.
Having last seen each other a while ago, their farewell had ended in bitterness without needing to say anything. Yang ChengWan was different now, with his forehead full of wrinkles. In addition, he’d spent time in prison and broken his leg. Although he didn’t suffer as the Superior of LiuShamen, that was because his position was useless and, compared to the passionate and young Yang Li, they seemed completely different.
“Aunt!” Since Yang ChengWan didn’t say anything, Jinxia didn’t dare to stand up, and she yelled out from afar. “This is my Master, the one I always talk about.”
Hearing Jinxia so straightforwardly saying the word ‘aunt’, Yang ChengWan’s body stiffened. He slowly muttered his words, “She…What does she call you?”
Mrs. Shen walked in the room and said, “That’s right, she called me aunt.”
“You’re still alive?” Yang ChengWan said, “Back then, when I heard you risked yourself entering the palace to kill Yan Shifan, I thought you were dead.”
Tears formed up at the bottom of her eyes, then she shook her head, “No, someone helped me escape. Then, I went to the Capital to look for you, but I heard you got arrested and I thought you would never survive it… How did you get out of prison?”
The two of them asked and answered each other, leaving the confused Jinxia and YangYue on the side.
“Aunt, do you know my Master? Are you guys old acquaintances?” Jinxia asked in surprise.
Mrs. Shen turned her head to look at Jinxia, and couldn’t help but caress her face, while looking at Yang ChengWan. “On behalf of my sister, thank you for taking care of her, and teaching her so many skills.”
Jinxia who heard it was even more confused. “What?”
Yang ChengWan kept shaking his head. “She could’ve learned even more, but I didn’t have the ability to help her.”
“Master, aunt, what exactly are you guys talking about?”
Seeing that Yang ChengWan didn’t deny it, at this point Mrs. Shen was really sure of Jinxia’s identity. She couldn’t control the tears, they flowed down her cheek as she said to Jinxia, “Kid, I’m your aunt! Your real aunt.”
Jinxia froze, saying in surprise, “My mother’s family does have two brothers and sisters, but I’ve never met them before. Did someone take you away when I was young?”
“Stupid child, I’m not talking about your adoptive parents. Your biological parents, those that gave birth to you. I am your mother’s sister, and the one that was taken away was you.” Mrs. Shen explained to her.
“……..” It took Jinxia a while to understand the meaning of her words. “Master, is this true? Did you already know?”
This matter had been buried and hidden by Yang ChengWan for so many years, until today, that seeing Jinxia and Mrs. Shen together, he couldn’t help but nod. “Back then, your mother trusted me, asking me to take care of you.”
Jinxia still didn’t dare to believe it. “But, you’re not the one taking care of me…”
“Brother Yang, what actually happened at that time, why did they put you in prison?” Mrs. Shen asked.
Yang ChengWan took a deep breath, and then slowly remembered the event from several years ago.
-flashback-
Ten years ago, Yang ChengWan was a JinYiwei, along with Shen Lian under Lu Bing. At that time, Yang ChengWan was still very naive, courageous, arrogant and ambitious, always working very hard to earn his promotion. Although he was not aiming for Lu Bing’s position, at least he was hoping for something that would make him valuable for the palace court.
Yang Chengwan and Shen Lian were different. Shen Lian had previously been a county official. He was honest and always received rewards for his high integrity, and never tried to bribe any superiors for his promotion. It was actually the opposite, because of his blunt and straightforward temper, he had sometimes carelessly spoken in front of other officials and got himself demoted. Even though he’d been demoted, his character had remained the same. Yang ChengWan had always felt that he was too stubborn, and the both of them became incompatible with each other.
Until one day, when the Xia family got in trouble. Even though Yang ChengWan disliked Xia Yan and Xia Zhangqing, he definitely did not expect this to happen, especially when ‘she’ was now Xia Zhangqing’s wife. Many crimes committed by Yan Song were caught by Xia Yan, who had quickly reported those crimes. Later on, Yan Song found an excuse to go to Nanjing and find Xia Zhangqing and his wife and gave them a warning, and that was also the day Yang ChengWan first met Jinxia. Xia Zhangqing realized the current situation could lead to the total annihilation of his family, but the thing that worried him the most was his five year old daughter. At that time, he decided to consult with Yang ChengWan.
The plan was that, at the beginning of the autumn lantern festival, they would take the child out and arrange someone to take her away, to temporarily hide her somewhere, but would pretend she would be kidnapped. At least this way, if something did go horribly wrong with the Xia family, he would ask Yang ChengWan to secretly take the child Madam Xia’s younger sister so that she could care for their daughter. If nothing happened, then they would bring the child back home.
This plan would have been very great, but something unexpected happened in the palace court. Yan Song received notices that there were a few people reporting him, saying he had secretly met with Xia Zhangqing, and the first person that came mind was Yang ChengWan, therefore, he decided to threw Yang ChengWan in prison and tortured him. Yang ChengWan knew that Yan Song didn’t have any evidence to prove this accusation, so he decided to endure all tortures and remained quiet.
Suddenly, Shen Lian came forward and confessed to Lu Bing that he was the one reporting Yan Song. Refusing to listen to Lu Bing’s advice, he reported Yan Song for all the crimes he investigated, which included him having private properties, inconsistently managing state affairs, misused of war funds and neglecting war preparation, which led to the increase of pirates. Shen Lian asked a harsh punishment to be placed on Yan Song for his actions, and to re-establish the ‘The Law of Public Morality and Shameful Corruption’.
The result of Shen Lian’s actions was that he was lashed ten times, demoted to become an administrative officer of the general to serve the people. Whereas Yang Chengwan, with a broken leg, was released from prison. Lu Bing felt uneasy and regretful; he planned to restore his position, but was respectfully rejected. Later on, because of Qiu Luan’s accusations, Xia Yan was beheaded and all of the Xia family’s properties were confiscated. The person that was responsible for taking Jinxia away, due to fear of being caught and being involved with the Xia family, so he decided to sell Jinxia to the human trafficker. After a long investigation process, Yang ChengWan was about to find Jinxia, but that was when she had already been adopted by the Yuan family.
That day, when he saw the young Jinxia on the street, a huge weight was lifted off his chest. He looked at Jinxia with tears. Several years later, he was seen teaching Jinxia kung fu and various investigation skills.
After hearing all the long and tortuous stories, it was as if she was hearing what had happened to someone else’s family. Jinxia stayed emotionless for a long time. She was silent for a while, then she hesitantly asked, “Master, what do you mean daughter? The Xia family’s daughter, is it me?”
“Are you sure it’s me?” Jinxia finds it impossible to believe, “The former Chief Secretary was my grandfather? Do I look like someone who would be the granddaughter of the former Chief Secretary?”
“You are!” Mrs. Shen lifted Jinixa’s head, and pointed at the scar under her chin, “Do you remember how you got this scar?”
Jinxia touched it, and shook her head. “I don’t remember. I often fight with people, so having a scar isn’t a big surprise.”
“Your mother said you were very naughty, so when you were little, you fell and hit your chin against the flower pot.” Mrs. Shen said to her, “Besides, all your facial features are very similar to your mother.”
Yang ChengWan said to Jinxia, “You don’t have to doubt. I met you at the Xia family during that time, of course I’m sure it’s you.”
“Is it really me?”
This matter for Jinxia was honestly a bit scary. She took a deep breath, then exhaled deeply, more than once then turned to YangYue: “Da Yang, did you know?”
YangYue shook his head. “I’ve also just found out.”
“Oh.”
Jinxia was still very lost, especially learning that she is Xia Yan’s granddaughter, for a moment, she didn’t know what to do with this information. After a while, she turned to Yang ChengWan and asked: “Yan Song harmed Xia Yan, who is my grandfather, does that mean Yan Song is my family’s enemy?”
Yang ChengWan nodded his head.
“It turns out that I have enemies.” Jinxia mumbled to herself. She doesn’t remember anything at the age of five or six, or anything about her family. Suddenly, a bitter feeling rushed over her.
“When Xia Yan was sentenced, not only did the Xia family suffer, but everyone that’s related or have a relationship with the Xia family was all executed.” Mrs. Shen said to her, “At that time, our Lin family was in Quanzhou, we were well known for our physician skill, but in one just one night, all of us were annihilated. The living are dead, the missing are forever lost…If your grandfather was alive, he would be very fond of you.”
“Is that true?” Jinxia’s eyes immediately brightened, “What was my family like? What kind of person was my mother? Was she pretty?” Jinxia have never met her biological parents before, therefore she couldn’t help but throw all the questions at Mrs. Shen.
She asked about everything, from her mother to her father, grandparents and everyone related to the Xia family. Jinxia asked what type of books her mother read, what they do during their free time and more. Each question was answered one by one by Mrs. Shen. Yang ChengWan stood outside and listened to their conversation, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh as he recalled all the memories.
As Jinxia listened to Mrs. Shen describing her family, she started to picture her mother’s figure, her voice and their face features. Everything was slowly becoming alive in her imagination.
“On the 15th of every month, your maternal grandfather would give you check-ups and medicine. Whenever a typhoon hit the village, he would always run over to help them.” Mrs. Shen continued.
*[Maternal grandparents = mom’s parents, paternal grandparents = dad’s side, TN]
Jinxia heard it while imagining the past, and couldn’t help but praise him: “My grandfather is so generous. He’s truly a hero in my heart.”
That night, Jinxia and Mrs. Shen slept in the same room. She listened to all of Mrs. Shen’s stories until midnight, when they both finally fell asleep due to exhaustion.
