My Heart for You, My Lady - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shen Yi was a very strange person.

She looked frail and delicate, and no one ever saw her lift a knife or a gun, yet everyone in the stronghold was a little afraid of her.

Maybe it was the indescribable air of authority that clung to her.

She didn’t let me sleep in. I had to be up after the rooster crowed three times.

She didn’t let me smack my lips while eating, didn’t let me wipe my nose on my sleeve, and didn’t let me spout curse words.

The scariest part was that she taught me to read.

With no books, she used a tree branch to write in the sand.

“The heavens are dark, the earth is yellow; the cosmos vast and wild.”

I grabbed a branch and drew something that looked like ghostly scribbles.

“This character looks like a mosquito coil, and that one looks like a turtle! They’re too hard to write!”

I threw the branch away and threw a tantrum.

“I’m done learning! I’m going to the back mountain to collect bird eggs!”

Shen Yi didn’t get angry.

She just watched me quietly and said softly, “Xiaoman, don’t you want to know what was in that letter your father received yesterday?”

I froze. “What letter?”

“Sent up from the foot of the mountain. It’s said to be from your late birth mother, left for you. You can only read it once you learn to read.”

I jumped up. “Really?!”

I had never met my birth mother. There wasn’t even a portrait.

My father said she was the best of women, but she died in childbirth when she had me.

“Really,” Shen Yi nodded.

“If you don’t learn, that letter will just rot at the bottom of a chest.”

I picked up the branch again, grinding my teeth. “I’ll learn!”

Only later did I find out that the letter never existed.

But I didn’t know that at the time.

For that lie, I struggled through the Thousand Character Classic, the Three Character Classic, and even started on the Analects.

Days passed.

I realized Cangwu Mountain had changed.

Before, mealtime was a feeding frenzy; now everyone actually learned to line up.

Before, when people had money they’d gamble and visit brothels; now they started clearing land on the back mountain to farm, raising chickens and ducks.

Shen Yi said, “Sitting idle and eating up your resources is no long-term plan. In chaotic times, grain and fodder come first. Only by self-sufficiency can we survive the government’s sieges.”

My father’s attitude toward Shen Yi had gone from initial lust (though he’d never admit it) to complete obedience.

Even with a touch of… awe.

One night, I got up to use the bathroom and passed by my father’s window.

I heard Shen Yi’s voice from inside.

“Yan Tieshan, your saber technique is fierce, but it has too many flaws. If you meet a true master, you’ll be defeated in under ten moves.”

“Madam, you’re right to scold me… Uh, could you put down the needles first? Don’t poke me! It hurts!”

“Bear with it. Your old injuries have built up. If they aren’t treated, you won’t live past forty.”

“Ouch, easy… Madam, what exactly did you do before? How do you know everything?”

“…I taught.”

“A teacher who knows military strategy? Medicine? And can keep a hundred rough brutes in line?”

A long silence followed.

Then Shen Yi said quietly, “Because there was a time I too wanted to set this world right. But… the world didn’t need me.”

In that moment, moonlight fell on the window paper.

I saw Shen Yi’s silhouette, ramrod straight, yet radiating an indescribable loneliness.