"Returning to Before Husband's Castration" 《回到老公自宫前》Chapter 32
Wei Cai Wei was anxious to follow Ding Ru Kui, she had no time to answer Wang Da Xia’s series of questions, she hurriedly used her crutch to chase after him saying: “Ding Wu said, he buried a jar of shaoxing wine with you under the peach tree outside the study window, there will be a day he’ll dig it out with you and get drunk with you on it.”
The sound of leg-irons being dragged suddenly stopped.
Wei Cai Wei looked at Ding Ru Kui’s back full of expectation, Ding Wu had told her about this, only him and his father knew about it.
Ding Ru Kui heard these words, he ought to believe her.
However the sound of irons dragging started up again, Ding Ru Kui didn’t respond to Wei Cai Wei, he directly followed the jailor in the direction of the underground prison.
Wei Cai Wei was about to give chase again, the jailor stopped her, “Lord Lu has ordered, anyone who goes down to see prisoner Ding must have his written order, please don’t make things difficult for us.”
Wang Da Xia grabbed her sleeve, “He’s simply ignoring you, it’s not viable for you to carry on, let’s just go.”
Her last resort had not influenced Ding Ru Kui, Wei Cai Wei was very dispirited, her health was currently poor, this journey had really tired her out terribly, there were stone weights in the courtyard for soldiers to train their arms with, she sat on the weights to rest, she remained perplexed by Ding Ru Kui’s indifference.
In her last life, after Lu Bing died, Ding Ru Kui still didn’t die despite losing Lu Bing’s protection, it was because Wei Cai Wei secretly protected him, she was the most trusted person of the favoured concubine Shang Shou, the most popular person in the palace.
It was even easier for Wei Cai Wei to act in the palace than Lu Bing, every year when emperor Jia Jing reviewed the death sentences, she would use concubine Shang Shou’s influence to get the eunuch to put Ding Ru Kui’s file to the bottom, using the reviews loophole to stop Ding Ru Kui’s execution.
That’s why, year after year, the prisoner Ding Ru Kui outlived Lu Bing who had put him in the prison, he even outlived his enemy Yan Song who had made him a scapegoat and his son Yan Shi Fan, he was still alive and well!
Up until emperor Jia Jing’s death, Wang Da Xia then relied on the fact he helped prince Yu become emperor and after the new emperor ascended the throne, he helped Ding Ru Kui reverse his sentence, pushing the blame back on the father and son, Yan Song and Yan Shi Fan, under the new emperor’s decree, Ding Ru Kui was released as innocent, he was even conferred the position of an official, his son Ding Wu was also reinstated with a household register, returning from the exiled and of Tieling, the father and son reunited.
In this life, why would Ding Ru Kui reject me?
Wang Da Xia was completely ignorant of Wei Cai Wei’s thoughts, he still continued to ask the five questions about Ding Wu.
Who is he? How old is he? Is he handsome? Who is more handsome, me or him? What is your relationship?
It irritated Wei Cai Wei who asked in return: “Wouldn’t a normal person ask me why I know a prisoner awaiting execution? Besides what does an exiled official who can never leave Tieling have to do with you, the son of a Qianhu in the capital? Why are you asking irrelevant questions!” Wei Cai Wei was ruthless enough to leave Wang Da Xia speechless from her questions.
That’s right, what was wrong with me? As soon as I heard another man’s name I became agitated, I forgot he’s in exile, besides Wei Cai Wei always said she only had her deceased husband in her heart, she’s a widow, her deceased husband is Wang Erlang, it was clearly not Ding Wu.
So it didn’t matter how old Ding Wu was, whether he was handsome or not, none of it mattered.
Wang Da Xia closed his mouth, the summer night returned to peace, there was only the soft sound of summer insects calling out.
Wei Cai Wei calmed down, no matter what, she had passed along Ding Wu’s words, she had tried her best, whether Ding Ru Kui believed her or not, it was out of her control.
However, how should she tell Ding Wu about this? Should she tell him the truth that she had been turned down tonight, or deceive him, tell him that his father was very happy hearing from him, he needed to work hard to survive and wait for their reunion in the future?
Wei Cai Wei struggled in her mind.
Pa! Wang Da Xia abruptly slapped his nape, killing a mosquito, and waved his large hand in front of Wei Cai Wei sitting on the weight, his hand was like a tornado, her thoughts were broken off like that mosquito squashed on the back of Wang Da Xia’s neck.
Wei Cai Wei looked at Wang Da Xia waving his hand in the air, “What are you doing?”
“I’m helping you chase away mosquitoes.” Wang Da Xia waved his hand, “Just now one bit me.”
Wang Da Xia stood walking on a tightrope over a cliff each day, when he was about to fall he would steady himself, tiltering.
Was I too harsh on him just now? Wei Cai Wei sighed, taking the pouch from her waist, she took out a spice bag, “I’ll give this to you, mosquitoes won’t bite you after you wear it.”
Wang Da Xia took the spice bag, hanging it on his belt, “Is it effective?”
“It can repel normal mosquitoes, but if you deliberately walk to the greenery by the edge of waters where mosquitoes nest, then it won’t work.” Wei Cai Wei said: “Also it’s only effective for five days, the effectiveness decreases each day, you have to replace it after five days.”
Wang Da Xia immediately felt the spice bag around his waist wasn’t fragrant, “So you only gave me a trial product, then after a few days I’ll need to buy another one from you.”
Wei Cai Wei said: “I’m not giving it to you, fifty coins, I’ll make a note of it, when you have time you can deliver the money to my home, a small business, from this randomly calamity, I won’t be able to practice medicine for at least ten days, if I can make a bit of money then I’ll make a bit of money, please understand second young master Wang.”
Wei Cai Wei said this as she stood up using the crutch, her legs were weak and she felt dizzy, fortunately there was the crutch, she didn’t sway as badly.
Wang Da Xia half squatted, he patted his back, “Forget about it, I do a good deed every day, I’ll carry you on my back.”
Wei Cai Wei said: “I’m fine, I have the crutch.”
Wang Da Xia remained in the half squat position, “Don’t force yourself, hurry up, it’s not easy to walk at night, what if you fall over while limping? Then I would have to carry you home.”
Wei Cai Wei was indeed out of strength, she sprawled on Wang Da Xia’s back, one hand holding the crutch, the other around his neck.
Wang Da Xia held her legs and stood up, this time Wei Cai Wei had some strength so her entire body wasn’t lying paralysed against him, she kept her back straight, leaving as much room as possible between her chest and his back.
The questions about Ding Wu had been chased away by the “deceased husband Wang Erlang”, Wang Da Xia’s jealousy wasn’t as strong as before, finally he asked the main question, “What did you say about adoption just now, losing your family in the chaos of the war, you came to the capital alone to find your lost relatives.”
Wei Cai Wei gave an en, of course that wasn’t true, my family are already dead, I came to take revenge, the year she escaped from that nest of devils at Xiesanlihe where her sister died, she had ran away in a panic not knowing where she was going, to avoid Chen Qianhu and his son’s pursuit, she deliberately headed where there were no roads, she almost fed herself to the wolves in the forest.
Later she changed directions and headed north, her little bundle was stolen by a beggar, there was a huge downpour, she who had fallen ill was lying in the mud, she thought she was going to die, in her confusion an umbrella covered her from the cold rain.
It was precisely Wei Nan Shan and his wife who had followed Ding Wu to the north in exile, they were on their way to Tieling.
The couple had a seven years old daughter who died prematurely, seeing Wei Cai Wei who was the same age as their own daughter, they stopped and took pity on her, saving her.
Then at the relay station, Wei Cai Wei ran a fever for three days, after she woke up, Wei Nan Shan and his wife were concocting medication outside, before her was the exiled young man Ding Wu.
Ding Wu asked her, who are you?
Of course Wei Cai Wei wasn’t going to say she was an escaped official slave. Because official slaves were considered personal property, if you found an “official slave” and didn’t return them to their owner, appropriate them for oneself, it would be considered stealing money from someone else.
Simply on this point no one would be willing to take her in, they would return her to the Chen family.
Wei Cai Wei blankly shook her head, she said: “I don’t remember, I only remember the war, a lot of people died, there was the sound of crying, someone told me to run, so I ran and the bad people couldn’t catch me, I ran and ran until I couldn’t move.”
Ding Wu listened and fell silent for a moment, he said: “Your accent seems the same as us, you must be someone from the capital. Your family must live on the outskirts of the city and experienced the Gengxu revolution.”
Wei Cai Wei pushed the boat with the current, tacitly agreeing.
Wei Nan Shan and his wife took pity on her, and considered she was the same age as their deceased daughter, besides at their age it would be difficult for them to have another child, thus they adopted Wei Cai Wei bringing her with them to Tieling, treating her just like their own daughter, passing on their medical knowledge so that she became the successful Wei Cai Wei of today.
The will of heaven is unknown, the word “Wei” can be taken apart to form the three words “He female ghost”, because the fever had affected her brain, she couldn’t remember her name, Wei Nan Shan and his wife gave her their daughter’s nickname “Ban Xia”.1
Ban Xia was the name of a herb, their deceased daughter was born in summer in the middle of June, so her nickname was “Ban Xia”.
When Wei Nan Shan and his wife passed away, she inherited the family property, when Ding Wu helped her establish a female household, she chose a name for herself—Wei Cai Wei, to remind herself not to forget about revenge.
However, Wei Cai Wei never thought, her future husband’s name also had a “Xia” in it.
In the last life, when the popular female official in the harem Wei Cai Wei chose an eunuch as a meal partner, Wang Da Xia had used his name to make Wei Cai Wei remember that young eunuch who had just graduated from the inner book hall and added him to the list of candidates…
Now, having started this life again, Wang Da Xia asked if she came to the capital to find her missing family. Actually losing contact with her family was a lie to give an excuse for her to come to the capital to practice medicine.
Wei Cai Wei came for revenge, she had carefully planned each element to prevent people from suspecting her, she gave a consistent story which could absolve her of suspicion.
Wei Cai Wei said: “My family probably died in that calamity ten years ago, I only have a little bit of memory about my family yelling at me to run, don’t look back, carry on running, they probably died at the hands of the enemy. But, even though I know this, I’ve always wanted to come to the capital in my lifetime to take a look, a fallen leaf still wants to return home, let alone a person.”
Wang Da Xia on hearing this sighed repeatedly over Wei Cai Wei’s experiences, he said: “Before I suspected you were the second young lady He, I’m still suspicious now, back then the second young lady He ran away and the Chen family never found her, could you be that girl but you lost your memory from the fever?”
Wei Cai Wei listened then said: “I don’t know, the only parents I know are my adopted parents, they were very good to me, they used to be Ding Ru Kui’s retainers, they went to Tieling to look after the exiled Ding Wu, Ding Wu always thought about his father, but as an exiled person, he doesn’t have the freedom, he will be trapped in Tieling for the rest of his life. He entrusted in me that after I arrive in the capital I need to find a way to see his father, tell him that everything is fine.”
Wang Da Xia said: “What you said just now, Ding Ru Kui heard it so it can’t be considered you went back on your word, why are you so dejected. It’s up to him whether he believes it or not, there’s no use for you to inwardly blame yourself. But, you just said Ding Wu will be trapped in Tieling for the rest of his life, why did you say the father and son will be reunited in the future, dig out the buried Shaoxing jar and get drunk and so on. That is someone else’s father, if my father saw me drinking, he would kick the jar of wine over, then beat and curse me.”
Wei Cai Wei said: “Of course there’s hope, there’s always tomorrow so there will always be hope, a lot of prisoners can’t stand it and take their lives in prison, as long as you’re alive there’s a chance of a reunion.”
In her last life Ding Ru Kui had outlived all his enemies, coming out of prison alive, his official status and family property were restored, he returned home with his son Ding Wu, digging out the buried wine jar from under the peach blossom tree— the wife and husband Wei Cai Wei and Wang Da Xia even shared a cup!
The two of them spoke on their way back, Wang Da Xia had just put Wei Cai Wei on the day bed when a guard came to find them, “Lord Lu has woken again, he’s speaking with difficulty, he wants to see doctor Wei, immediately.”
Wang Da Xia was happy, “Hey must want to reward you generously, with the money you can rest for a year without worry.”
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