The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 5

When Zhao Li woke, it was already the following afternoon.

She stared at the blue cloth canopy overhead, her mind still muddled.

“Miss Zhao, you’re awake?”

A thin woman stood awkwardly in the room, apparently wary of something.

“Are you thirsty? I’ll pour you some water.”

Zhao Li’s mouth tasted bitter and strange. She moved her lips but could not produce a sound, so she nodded.

The woman quickly poured a cup from the table, then supported Zhao Li by the shoulders and helped her sit up.

The water was still warm. The moment it touched her lips, it stung the cracks there.

Zhao Li drained the cup before the burning in her throat finally eased.

“Auntie, where am I?”

“These are the officials’ family quarters at the Pacification Office.”

After helping her drink, the woman lowered her back onto the pillow.

When Zhao Li looked as if she wanted to ask more questions, the woman shot to her feet.

“I’ll go see if your medicine is ready!”

Zhao Li watched her flee, uncertain what was going on. She caught her breath, then began taking stock of her condition.

She wore an inner robe. Someone had given her a simple wash, and layer after layer of bandages covered her arm.

She lay on an elaborately carved canopy bed made of excellent materials.

The air, however, smelled damp and moldy. No one had lived here for a long time.

Now that the mortal danger had passed, Zhao Li lay back and reviewed everything that had happened since her arrival in this world.

After a long while, she whimpered and buried her face in the thin quilt.

Gone! It was all gone!

After graduating from the Institute of Spiritual Studies, she had worked as an exorcist, risking her neck to deal with supernatural anomalies and traveling from place to place.

She had pinched and saved every cent and only just bought an apartment in an upscale residential complex in the capital.

A quiet, peaceful life had finally been within reach.

Now everything she had worked for had vanished, and overnight she had been thrown back into this godforsaken feudal society.

Two tears welled in Zhao Li’s eyes. She sniffed.

What was the greatest tragedy in the world?

Her money was still there. Her apartment was still there. *She* was the one who was gone!

More importantly, the line art for the erotic comic on her worktable was still unfinished.

Just imagining the secret identity of a well-known, hard-core adult-comic artist being exposed…

Not to mention all the questionable reference material on her bookshelf and computer…

As if physical death were not enough, she now faced social death as well!

Zhao Li lay flat in utter despair as two tears rolled from the corners of her eyes.

The woman returning with a tray saw this and drew a subtly mistaken conclusion.

The most explosive news in the capital that day was that the Vice Minister’s daughter had severed ties with her father through three claps of the palm.

Vice Minister Zhao had been impeached for failing to govern his household, and the emperor had ordered him to reflect upon his conduct.

By the moral standards of the age, however, Zhao Li’s behavior as a daughter was rebellious and deeply unfilial.

But perhaps there was more to the story.

The woman’s heart softened as she watched the young woman weep in hopeless silence.

What delicate young lady would do such a thing unless she had suffered some unbearable wrong?

Her voice gentle now, she said, “Miss Zhao, it is time to take your medicine.”

Besides a bowl of pitch-black medicinal brew, the tray held a bowl of noodles in clear chicken broth and a small plate of candied fruit to chase away the bitterness.

The woman intended to feed her, but Zhao Li disliked the idea and insisted on getting out of bed to sit at the table.

“Thank you, Auntie.”

Her injury was not enough to leave her bedridden. She was merely weak from blood loss. Zhao Li tilted her face up and thanked the woman.

She was a beautiful girl. Her cheek was pale and hollow, a scabbed gash running across it, while tears clung to her lashes. Anyone would feel sorry for her.

Zhao Li was polite and unpretentious, and Madam Zhang gradually relaxed. She sat down at the table with her.

The hand-rolled noodles soaked in bland chicken broth were hardly delicious.

Zhao Li ate them with great relish. After going a day and a night without food or water, she was ravenous.

Holding her chopsticks in her uninjured hand, she asked Madam Zhang questions as she ate.

Unfortunately, Madam Zhang was merely a hired servant for the family quarters.

After Zhao Li was brought to the Pacification Office the previous night, Steward Li had assigned Madam Zhang to care for her.

Most of what she knew came from gossip overheard among the kitchen servants.

When Madam Zhang mentioned that an imperial censor had submitted a memorial impeaching Zhao Huai, Zhao Li quickly lowered her head to hide the glee in her eyes.

Madam Zhang mistook the gesture for grief.

She offered a few clumsy words of comfort, promised to bring breakfast the next morning, then carried the empty bowls away and closed the door behind her.

She crossed the small courtyard and walked for some time. The moment she reached the main kitchen, she heard excited chatter from within.

“Have you heard about Vice Minister Zhao’s family? Tsk, tsk.” A plump woman shook her head as she picked through vegetables.

“Of course we have! The whole city is talking about it!” someone cut in before she could finish.

It was time to prepare food for those working at the government office, and the kitchen women had gathered for their daily round of gossip.

As Great Jing’s intelligence service, the Jingning Guard was remarkably efficient at spreading information as well.

Rumors about the Zhao family had already swept through the markets and neighborhoods of the capital.

Some people despised the Zhao family’s conduct. Others condemned Zhao Li as rebellious and unfilial. Even more either doubted the story or simply followed the crowd.

“That’s enough!” The thin Steward Li entered from outside and stopped them. Then he summoned Madam Zhang. “Come with me.”

They stopped beneath a large tree outside the kitchen. Only then did Steward Li ask, “How is Miss Zhao?”

“In fair spirits. She just took her medicine.” Madam Zhang was somewhat nervous around him.

Steward Li did not take offense. He had chosen her to care for Zhao Li precisely because she was honest.

“Be attentive to her needs,” he instructed.

After all, Lord Shen had personally carried Miss Zhao back.

No one could ever be certain what that lord was thinking. Better to take the matter seriously than invite trouble.

Madam Zhang hesitated. “But… is it truly wise to let Miss Zhao stay in that room?”

Steward Li glared at her. “What is wrong with it?”

The officials’ family quarters were full. That was the only empty room.

Where else could he place her? In the long barracks with a crowd of rough men?

Madam Zhang faltered. Steward Li had only arrived a year ago and did not know the old story.

There was a reason that courtyard had always stood empty.

After struggling with herself, she said, “A young lady once hanged herself there in her wedding robes.”

“Afterward, people often saw the figure of a woman at night, sitting by the window and combing her hair.”

“Later, a registrar’s entire household—all nine of them—died violent deaths in Fragrant Orchid Courtyard.”

Madam Zhang lowered her voice. Dusk had fallen, and when a gust of wind swept past, Steward Li shuddered violently.

“What nonsense are you spouting?” he scolded. “This is the Pacification Office. What wandering ghost would dare cause trouble here?”

After being reprimanded, Madam Zhang closed her mouth in dismay.

Steward Li might have dismissed her aloud, but inwardly, he decided that he would arrange a new place for Zhao Li the next day.

Meanwhile, the badly weakened Zhao Li soon fell asleep again after drinking her medicine.

But the chill in her body made her sleep fitful.

A woman’s sinister voice whispered beside her ear.

“You’re lying on my hair.”