Chapter 7: The Courtesan
The twenty-ninth day of the first lunar month, the hour of Hai.
The scholar was still alone on the boat, facing the northwest wind, thinking hard. He felt something flash on the gangplank beside the boat. He looked again, but it was pitch black, as if there was nothing.
At this time, all the boatmen were fast asleep, and snoring could be heard coming from the cabin. In the distance, there were shadows in the woods, and it was clear that a group of people were coming over.
The scholar walked to the gangplank to check. In the shadows, two figures rushed to the front. They were actually two women. One of them was wearing a veil and a thin veil covering her face. The other was about thirteen or fourteen years old, with a delicate and clever appearance. She had her hair tied up like a maid and carried a guqin on her back.
"Sir," the maid said in a low voice, "we are being chased by bad guys. We will die if we are captured."
After she finished speaking, she looked nervously towards the woods on the shore.
"oh oh."
The scholar was somewhat at a loss. There were indeed torches flickering behind the woods, and there were faint sounds of dogs barking. It seemed that a group of people were coming. He didn't know what to do for a moment. He only caught a glimpse of the silent lady. Although the veil blocked his view, he could not see clearly, but from what he could see vaguely, it was a very iconic face. At this moment, she was looking at him with her eyes wide open and pitiful. For a moment, the scholar forgot that he could actually choose not to.
"The bad guys are here as soon as we hear the sound of the words. Sir, please save us. If we fall into their hands, my lady will..." The maid grabbed the scholar's clothes and begged.
"Okay, you guys hide in the cabin first, the second to last door at the stern, and don't make any noise to wake up the boatman. I'll take care of those people myself."
The scholar decided to take part in this muddy water. The two women quickly got into the cabin, leaving the scholar alone standing at the bow, pretending to admire the moon with his hands behind his back, wondering anxiously what to do.
In a blink of an eye, several men holding torches emerged from the woods, with the leader leading a dog. They each held a stick or a rope in their hands, and were dressed neatly. Rather than being robbers , they looked more like farmhands, without weapons in their hands. The next to come out was an old man, who was supported by two young men, panting and hunched over.
Surrounded by this group of people, the old man walked to the bottom of the boat. Without making any noise, he just looked around. When he finally looked up, he unexpectedly met the scholar's eyes.
The old man bowed and saluted from under the boat: "Sir, I am sorry to have disturbed you so late at night with these young men."
"Don't be so polite, sir." The scholar returned the greeting to the old man condescendingly.
"We are not bad guys, we are just farmhands from a nearby farm, and we are chasing two escaped...female thieves. May I ask if you saw any strangers walking nearby just now?"
"Oh, I have been here all night appreciating the moon and reciting poems. I haven't finished the poem yet, but I haven't seen anyone."
The scholar replied.
"Is that so?" The old man hesitated a little and glanced at the boat.
The scholar's heart was in his throat, fearing that he would not be able to stop them from coming up the springboard.
"Jiu Gong, I think the dog is going to run north," said the big bearded man who was holding the dog, which was looking up in the air for a scent . "I think it's probably going north along the river. We don't have time to waste time here with irrelevant people."
The old man hesitated for a moment and bowed to the scholar: "Since I haven't seen you, I'll take my leave."
The group followed the dog and chased it along the bank of the canal.
"It seems that it's all thanks to this stupid dog."
The scholar heaved a sigh of relief and turned to go into the cabin. There were large cabins on both sides, and the bunks inside were full of boatmen and merchants, who were snoring one after another. In the front were several single cabins, and the one with the lights on was his cabin. He hoped that the two women would not make the wrong choice.
He opened the hatch and headed in excitedly, but saw the girl dodge to the side with great agility. He only saw a flash of cold light in her hand, and she was holding a dagger in reverse. When she saw that it was the scholar coming in, she quietly put the dagger into her sleeve. The scholar was also startled, thinking to himself, did he really save a weak woman? But the dignified lady was sitting under the lamp, and at this moment she had taken off the veil with gauze.
"Don't be afraid, benefactor. Jin'er is also on guard against bad guys coming in."
The scholar nodded repeatedly, and only then did he see how beautiful the lady was. Just now it was dark and she was only seen through the veil, but now under the lamplight, she was truly a stunning figure, about seventeen or eighteen years old, but she looked unusually tired and pale.
"Please take a seat, benefactor." The lady took the initiative and said, "I haven't asked for your name yet."
"Your Excellency does not deserve this. I am...Shen Kuo, a minor official from Shuyang."
"It turns out to be Mr. Shen. My name is Xiao Ping, and I am here to pay my respects to you, my benefactor."
The woman stood up and bowed, and her maid quietly went out of the cabin, probably to check whether there was really no one on board.
"My lady, those bad guys were fooled away by just a few words from me."
"Can you see where they are going, benefactor?"
"Follow the dog and go north along the river."
"Followed the dog?" Xiaoping smiled slightly.
The maid Jin'er walked without making any sound. She returned to the cabin again and still did not let Shen Kuo discover her in advance. She nodded to the lady to confirm that it was safe.
"Madam, can you tell me...what kind of bad guys are those?"
"Mr. Shen, have you seen the old man who led the group?"
"Yes."
"Hey... this old man is actually my father-in-law."
"Ah..." Shen Kuo was shocked.
"I have a miserable life," the woman sighed and burst into tears, as if recalling the unbearable past. "I was married to my husband's family for only half a year when my short-lived husband died of illness. Ordinarily, one's life is determined by fate, not by man. But my husband's family is so difficult to deal with. They put the responsibility of his death on me and made things difficult for me in every way."
"So you want to escape?"
"At first I didn't think much about it. I just wanted to get a divorce from them and part ways amicably. I had some savings and didn't want a penny from them. I just wanted to let them let me pursue my own career and we wouldn't owe each other anything. But I didn't expect this family to be so unreasonable. They falsely accused me of having an affair with an adulterer and angered my husband to death. They even wanted to put me in a wooden cage and drown me in a deep pond according to the clan rules."
"How can this be possible? In such a bright and clear world, how can there be such a thing that is so harmful to the heaven and earth?"
"Luckily, Jin'er was the maid I brought with me when I got married. She overheard their plan outside the ancestral hall and saw the farmhand making a wooden cage. She risked her life to tell me. My master and I fled overnight and tried to find a boat to return to Tokyo, but we missed the deadline... If it weren't for my benefactor's rescue, I would have drowned in the wooden cage if they had taken me back."
As the woman spoke, she suddenly bowed to Shen Kuo, and the maid Jin'er beside her also bowed.
Shen Kuo quickly helped him up and said, "Since you have read the books of sages, how can you stand by and watch someone die without helping?"
In fact, Shen Kuo was also somewhat puzzled. The story told by this girl was a bit bizarre. Although he had seen stories of adulterers and adulteresses drowned in miscellaneous books and travel notes, most of them were in remote and wild places. This place was only a few hundred miles away from the capital, and it was a civilized area. How could there still be such a bad custom?
"Such an evil act, why don't you report it to the authorities?"
"Your Excellency really doesn't know that I was born in a family of brothels in Tokyo Bianliang. I met my future husband in a brothel. He and I fell in love. He first married me and then helped me get out of the house. He then took me home as his wife and mistress. We loved each other. It's a pity that he died young, which made me suffer. My parents-in-law were country people who didn't know right from wrong and didn't understand reason. They just believed the gossip of my relatives and falsely accused me of having an affair with a servant. They also fabricated some frivolous poems and letters to frame me for having an affair with my old lover in Tokyo. If I go to see the officials, I am not born here, but their family is a big family in the local area, and they have always been infiltrated with officials and have connections with each other. There are also relatives and neighbors who have bribed and circumstantial evidence. I can't speak up to resist so many tongues of slander. Moreover, I was born a prostitute, not a good family. If the master in the court is also stupid and conscienceless, how can he be willing to stand up for me? "
"Oh, so that's the reason," Shen Kuo realized that the woman he saved had a very complicated background. "So, big sister, do you want to go there?"
"Alas. I originally wanted to live a comfortable life by marrying a good husband, but unfortunately, things did not go as I wished. Now, after thinking about it, I have no choice but to return to Tokyo to seek refuge with my aunt and resume my old job while I am still young and beautiful. It's also my fate..."
She was already in tears after she finished speaking.
There was nothing suspicious about these words. Judging from the things they brought, they were nothing more than a few musical instruments. They really looked like women who made a living by singing and playing in a brothel. The only thing was that the dagger this little maid carried with her was a little strange, especially the way she hid the blade with her backhand just now, which was quite neat.
"Sister, this ship is heading north to Tokyo. I think those who are chasing you are also heading north. However, you are safe on the ship. Just don't make a sound or show up. Tomorrow I will discuss with the ship owner on your behalf to vacate an empty cabin away from the idle people ahead. You will be safe in a few days."
"Thank you very much, benefactor."
Xiaoping and Jin'er bowed together.
"Tonight, you guys stay here first... I'll go outside to admire the moon. Remember, don't go on ."
Shen Kuo said this and turned to leave. Xiao Ping seemed a little embarrassed and wanted to keep him but ultimately didn't say anything.
Shen Kuo strode to the front deck, the cold wind blew across his face, and his heart was like a fire. Although he was a scholar, he also had the heart of a warrior, although the weak woman looked more and more complicated.
