The Spring of Dahua - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I was a butcher woman. On a good day, I could slaughter five pigs, and folks had given me the nickname Pigbane.

Pigbane had no springtime romance to speak of. I’d only been sweet on that pretty young man for a year before he rolled up my butcher knife and all my silver and ran off with the lot.

He didn’t leave me a single coin.

All he left behind was a daughter who loved playing in the mud: Zhu Xiaocao.

But I never imagined that even my daughter was not truly mine.

When the noble lady arrived, I happened to be on my slow way home, carrying a parcel of dried braised meat.

Xiaocao came running from far off to meet me, tugging at my sleeve the whole time.

I found it mighty strange. “What, you’ve got time to come meet me today?”

Xiaocao looked listless and said nothing, only urging me to go home and see.

Tch. Why insist I go home? Who exactly was in my house?

Well, the moment I got back and took a look, sure enough, someone was there!

The woman moved with graceful, swaying steps. Her cloudlike hair was piled high, her lips were red, her teeth white. Gold and silver ornaments adorned her, and the light hem of her silk dress trailed behind her.

She lifted her eyes toward me, like a delicate lotus too precious for this world.

Unlike me. I spent my days battered by wind and sun, rough as old tree bark.

The woman introduced herself as the prime minister’s wife. Her surname was Cui.

“Madam Zhu, that year, we both gave birth at the Bodhisattva Temple. A concubine in the household harbored evil intentions and switched our daughters.”

“Now that the matter has been fully investigated, it is time for Xiao… Xiaocao to return home.”

Madam Cui’s voice was very calm, without the slightest ripple, except for the pause when she said Xiaocao’s name.

I supposed a name like that was too plain. Coming from Madam Cui’s mouth, it sounded like a clean cloud in the heavens had been smeared with mud.

But even mud had times when it refused to yield.

I stared into her eyes and said, “Xiaocao loves rolling around in the mud. One tumble and her clothes are filthy.”

Madam Cui said mildly, “That is no matter.”

I said, “Xiaocao talks in her sleep. Sometimes she even gets up and sleepwalks in the middle of the night.”

Madam Cui said, “That is no matter.”

I thought it over, then added, “Xiaocao doesn’t like studying. After all this time, she can only write her own name.”

Madam Cui frowned.

My heart leaped with joy. But then her gaze swept over me, and she still spoke in that slow, gentle tone.

“Madam Zhu, I am the prime minister’s wife. I did not come here today to negotiate with you.”

My heart sank straight to the bottom.

That was a threat.

But this whole switched-at-birth mess was not my fault. Why should I be the one to give in?

Though, to be fair, she had no need to deceive me either.

Before I could figure out what chance a commoner had against an official, Xiaocao let go of my hand and ran to Madam Cui’s side.

“Mother, please let me go with my birth mother!” Her fine brows drew together, making her look as if she and Madam Cui had been carved from the same mold. “I’ve had enough pork, and I don’t want to be a butcher’s daughter anymore.”

I stood rooted to the spot, dazed for a long, long while.

In the end, they still left, tossing down a purse of coins.

The grand carriage rolled away, raising dust that covered my whole face. I chased after it from behind, but no matter what, I could not catch up.

By the time I returned home again, the dried braised meat had gone cold.

It was Xiaocao’s favorite, and it had cost me three taels of silver.

What a rotten day.