Sixth year of Longwu, Wei Mansion.
Suddenly, the estate was a scene of utter chaos, a small figure darting through the halls and around columns at breakneck speed. The butler was hot on his heels, constantly calling out, "Slow down, slow down, hey! Little Master, little ancestor! If you take a tumble, wouldn't that be the end of me?"
The boy was Wei Yuan, and though he was only just three years old this year, he was unusually tall. Children from the rural farms tended to be smaller and thinner, so he already appeared taller than many seven- or eight-year-olds in town.
At this moment, the aroma of food wafted from the main hall, captivating the running Little Wei Yuan as if a fishing line had caught him mid-air, and he suddenly changed direction.
Inside the main house, Wei the Great and the wives from both his rooms were seated at the table, with the meal already laid out. There were two clay pots on the table, one containing several rice cakes and brown mixed grain buns, the other filled with yellow Mixed Grain Porridge. Four plates of dishes were set out, including pickled beans, salted radish, stir-fried shredded turnip, and a small plate of pickled wild chicken.
This was the midday meal at Wei Dashan's house in the county.
Little Wei Yuan, who was famished, broke open a bun almost as large as his own head, stuffed it with chicken, then buried his head and ate with gusto, cleaning the plate in no time. One bun was not enough; he ate two rice cakes and a bowl of porridge before finally feeling full. After eating, he hopped down from the stool, paid his respects to Wei the Great and the two Madams, and then dashed out of the house.
Wei the Great and the two Madams had barely touched their chopsticks, only starting their meal after Little Wei Yuan had left. Third Madam then said, "Yuan'er is really growing fast; he eats as much as an adult now and understands manners too. It's just that he doesn't like to talk. If Fourth Sister were still..."
Second Madam quickly pulled at her sleeve, and Third Madam immediately stopped and kept silent.
Outside, Little Wei Yuan paused for a moment in his step, then continued running toward the front courtyard as if he hadn't heard anything. Along the way, the old maids, serving girls, and lower servants he encountered all made way and greeted him, but from a distance, the servants' quiet whispers reached Wei Yuan's ears.
"The young master is growing so fast, he eats more than an adult, it's just a pity he has no mother."
"Lower your voice! The master said not to let the young master know about this."
"What's there to hide? Who doesn't know that shortly after giving birth to the young master, the Fourth Madam ran off with someone? The master just said the Madam was dead and even went through the motions of erecting a grave. But who can really be fooled by that?"
Little Wei Yuan kept walking without stopping and left the back house to enter the front courtyard. The front courtyard was bustling with noise from the long-term workers, kitchen workers, and house servants moving back and forth.
He made his way to a training ground in the front courtyard, where stone locks and staffs were placed, a place normally used for drills by the hospital staff. As soon as he entered the ground, he heard more whispering.
"The young master does have a fine appearance, it's just that he doesn't much resemble the master."
"You think, could it be that Fourth Madam bore a child with someone else..."
"Keep it down!"
"What are you afraid of, there's no one nearby, who would hear us?"
Wei Yuan wanted to shut out those voices from his mind, but he could hear everything crystal clear. The house servants gossiping about ten paces away were speaking softly, and under normal circumstances, they certainly wouldn't be overheard, but Wei Yuan could hear them clearly. In fact, he could hear most of the noises from the large half of the mansion no matter where he stood.
Wei Yuan remembered that at a very young age, he suddenly began to hear these sounds, and after listening for a while, he quickly understood the majority of their meaning.
The countryside was crude, and the servants' private discussions about their masters were naturally not pleasant to hear.
After he began to understand, Wei Yuan became more and more reticent. Although he could comprehend what others were saying, he didn't understand why they said those things.
As usual, Wei Yuan came to the side of the stone lock that he often played with and picked up the ten-pound lock. But after lifting it a few times, he felt an itch inside his body, a kind that seemed to crawl out from the crevices between his bones and only eased somewhat with running or bearing weight. However, the stone lock in his hand now felt too light to relieve his discomfort.
Little Wei Yuan then walked over to a much larger stone lock nearby, which weighed a hefty fifty taels and was the heaviest piece used by the house servants for practice. He grabbed it with both hands and gave it a heave, and the stone lock began to lift off the ground.
Just then, Wei Youcai's voice suddenly echoed from afar, "Put it down, put it down quickly!"
Little Wei Yuan turned his head to see Wei the Great hurrying over, saying repeatedly, "How can you dare to lift such a heavy stone lock? What if you hurt your muscles or bones? Knowing you like to play with these, I had someone make a special one for you."
With that, Wei Youcai presented a small Han White Jade stone lock, delicately crafted and weighing about one tael.
Little Wei Yuan reluctantly accepted the Jade Lock.
Even though it felt nearly weightless in his hand, Little Wei Yuan could sense his father's concern. So, despite his reluctance, he left the heavy stone lock and pretended to be enthralled with the small Jade Lock.
Wei Youcai wiped Wei Yuan's sweat, the ordeal having made him all sweaty himself. Squinting, he looked up at the sky where a cloudless expanse stretched above them, the scorching sun hanging in the middle, casting its fiery light and heat onto the earth.
Wei Youcai told Little Wei Yuan to go play by himself, then called the butler over and asked, "Today is the Start of Summer, isn't it?"
"Master, yesterday was the Start of Summer," the butler replied.
Wei the Great frowned and said, "It's Start of Summer already? How are the crops in the fields?"
With a pained expression, the butler replied, "The crops are at the time of ear formation, but there has been only one rain in the past two months. It's not enough to keep them alive! The fields by the mountain have already failed, and those close to the Tong River are somewhat better. Yet drawing water from the river is also a life-threatening task; two people from the villages below have already died from exhaustion!"