It was hard to tell who I saw in the dream, the scene felt somewhat modern, and I woke up with a flood of water.
The night of the Wu Dynasty, the mosquito net, the indescribable feeling, his lower body felt like he was surrounded in soft water. In the haze, he heard the sound of a faint cough, and it took him a long time to react, the sheet that slightly rumbled in the darkness, Xiaochan's body, and then Xiaochan half-sitting up, lifting the blanket, and in the vague light, quite a bit of bitterness and embarrassment puffing out his cheeks with something in his mouth, and then glancing downward in bitterness, as if he was about to cry out. Looking again towards Ning Yi's face, his throat moved with difficulty, and then he bent down again.
Again in the water ...
Ning Yi closed his eyes. The person underneath him was again careful, moving slowly.
After a while, Xiaochan Fang quietly drilled out from the thin blanket, she glanced at Ning Yi, pulled on the thin blanket, and went down from the edge of the bed.
The little maid was clearly nervous, but her expression wasn't overly complicated. At the foot of the bed, she slipped on her clothes, fastened the buttons, and quietly left the room. Shortly afterward, faint splashes of water came from outside—likely her washing her face, hands, and rinsing her mouth. In the stillness of the night, the chirping of crickets filled the air. Xiao Chan slipped back in, carefully closed the door, removed her shoes and clothes, and climbed into bed. As she nestled back into Ning Yi's embrace, she brought with her the fresh scent of water.
"This… isn't quite right," Ning Yi murmured softly.
"Master…" Xiao Chan shrank her neck slightly, her body stiffening.
Ning Yi chuckled. "There's no need for this…"
"But… but… this is what Xiao Chan is supposed to do. And… Master is uncomfortable…"
Her voice was soft as she spoke. Ning Yi gently ruffled her hair. "Where did you learn such things?"
"B-before the wedding, a few aunties brought some pictures and said… they said…"
She must have summoned courage when doing it, but now caught red-handed, she couldn't continue. She turned slightly in Ning Yi's arms, her forehead resting against his chest. After a long silence, she quietly asked, "Master… do you think Xiao Chan is inconsiderate or unfilial? About my father…"
Ning Yi laughed. "Why would you say that?"
"Well… my mother, brother, and sister-in-law all think Xiao Chan has already… already… uh, with Master… Actually, when they said Xiao Chan would share a room with Master, Xiao Chan was… kind of happy. And when Father passed away, Xiao Chan… didn't feel very sad."
Her voice softened as she spoke. Ning Yi held her closer and remained silent for a long time.
"I can't speak for others, but I'm glad."
"Hmm?" Xiao Chan blinked in confusion.
"You joined the Su family when you were four, right?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"You feel the Su family is more important, that you're their maid. You think… you think I wasn't feeling well. That makes me happy. Although, for you, it might not seem fair…"
The young girl in his arms didn't fully understand. She looked up at Ning Yi, blinking in slight frustration. "But… that's just how it is. Xiao Chan is supposed to do these things. Besides…" She leaned closer, lowering her voice shyly, "Xiao Chan likes Master…"
"Liking me is good," Ning Yi said with a smile.
"Then… what Master said earlier…"
"Ah, forget about it," he chuckled, patting her shoulder. After a while, he added, "Still, some things don't need to be rushed. For the next few days… no need to do this."
"Okay," Xiao Chan replied obediently. After another moment, she hesitantly said, "But if… if Master feels uncomfortable…"
"I can endure. Your Master has great self-control. Why else would I be called Ning Yi?"
"But Xiao Chan doesn't like seeing Master endure…"
"I said it's fine, so it's fine! Don't argue!"
"Oh…"
Silence fell between them. Then Xiao Chan's soft voice broke through.
"…Is Master enduring right now?"
"…" Ning Yi opened his eyes and let out a long sigh.
"Fine, I'll go take a cold shower."
"I'll take Master there!"
"Stay put! Don't move!"
"Uh…"
"I know where to go."
"But…"
"Stay put! Go to sleep!"
After firmly reprimanding the overly helpful Xiao Chan, Ning Yi put on his clothes and left the room. As he closed the door behind him, he smirked under the eaves. "A small test of will."
Taking a few steps, he shrugged to himself and muttered, "After all the storms I've weathered, what do I have to fear?" Then, with a bold stride, he headed toward the room at the end of the corridor.
Before long, Ning Yi sighed, somewhat speechless, and walked back into the bedroom. Xiao Chan was lying neatly on the inner side of the bed, her hands crossed over her belly on top of her innerwear, her eyes shut tightly as if she were a mummy, sleeping peacefully.
Ning Yi sighed again. "Xiao Chan, where's the well? There's no water left—I need to go fetch some."
Xiao Chan stayed still, her eyes closed, and after a moment, her voice came out in a deliberately cute tone, "Xiao! Chan! Is! Asleep!"
"..."
Ning Yi stood frozen for a while, then spread his hands helplessly. How could such a night be simultaneously sad, awkwardly sensual, and absurd?
Later that night, under Xiao Chan's guidance, they found a small stream fed by water from an upstream well, where Ning Yi managed to take a cold bath. Strictly speaking, "guidance" might be too generous. Master and servant had snuck out stealthily, careful not to alert Guard Geng and Dong Zhu in the neighboring yard, only to end up fumbling around in the dark after Xiao Chan's hazy memory of the well's location turned out to be off the mark.
Xiao Chan, after all, had only returned to Nanting Village a handful of times and couldn't pinpoint the well's location at night. So, master and servant wandered through the dark until they stumbled upon the stream, where Ning Yi could finally bathe. With Xiao Chan keeping watch nearby, there was no chance for any further indulgence. The next morning, Ning Yi woke up feeling like he might have developed dark circles under his eyes.
Returning to their room without incident was already a stroke of luck.
For Xiao Chan, perhaps two layers of emotions resided within her heart.
One was tranquil and melancholic. Sold to the Su family at the age of four, her heart had long since settled there. As for the Nanting Village household that others referred to as her "home," she called them father, mother, brother, and sister-in-law, sent money back every year, and occasionally brought gifts and checked on them. But the depth of her emotional connection? It was hard to say.
In the twelve years she'd been away, she had spent barely ten days total in their company. For a girl nearly sixteen years old, whether she thought about returning to this family one day or entertained notions of "falling leaves returning to their roots," such thoughts were likely faint, if they existed at all. Her life revolved around the Su family—being their maid, serving the young mistress and master. That was her main responsibility. Returning to her family was a task she might take on during spare moments, but it was far from a priority.
If her emotions could be divided into tiers, the Su family would undoubtedly occupy the most important layer, while Nanting Village was likely just a footnote. Her sadness over her father's passing was genuine, but it belonged to a less significant layer of her feelings. It was as though she'd heard a poignant or amusing story in the midst of dealing with important matters—she'd feel the emotion briefly and then quickly move on.
Ning Yi felt this was unfair to her, but in this era, people like Xiao Chan might see it as entirely natural. Only someone like him, who understood the rare treasure of having someone's undivided care and devotion, would find it regrettable.
Someday, if Xiao Chan grew old and life turned difficult, she might reflect on notions of "returning to her roots" and wonder what it might have been like to stay with her family. But Ning Yi had no intention of letting her have that opportunity. Words like "lifetime" might seem distant and fleeting in the future, but what could be done now was tangible and far more meaningful.
On the fourth day of mourning, daily rituals of guarding the coffin and hosting visitors began to feel monotonous. During the daytime, Ning Yi joined Guard Geng and Dong Zhu to visit local households, delivering gifts to thank them for their care of Xiao Chan's family. His polite demeanor, combined with a reserved but approachable air, left the villagers full of praise after his visits. Reflecting on it, Ning Yi joked to himself that if he ever tried courting village girls, success would be guaranteed.
"…My sister-in-law told my brother today that the gift we sent to Aunt Mu's family was too extravagant. She suggested returning some of it to help with household expenses. But since she didn't feel comfortable telling me directly, and my brother didn't want to lose face, he ended up mumbling about it instead. I just pretended not to understand..."
That night, still sharing a room with Xiao Chan, she lay on the bed, swinging her bare legs and chatting about various happenings.
The villagers assumed Xiao Chan had a relationship with Ning Yi, and he didn't bother correcting them. Yet all they did was sleep—nothing more. It was challenging to endure, but Ning Yi simply resigned himself to the situation. Sharing conversations like this felt pleasant enough. At night, he divided the bed, marking the boundary with a rolled-up blanket.
"You sleep on the inside, I'll take the outside," he said, arranging the makeshift divider. "Want to hear a story?"
"Mm-hmm," Xiao Chan murmured, shuffling further in.
"Once, deep in the mountains, a young scholar visited a girl's home during a rainstorm. With no place else to stay, he asked to spend the night. The girl agreed, but there was only one bed. To avoid impropriety, they placed a rope in the middle as a boundary. The girl warned him, 'If the rope is moved by morning, you're no gentleman.' She was very beautiful, so the scholar endured the night, determined not to cross the line. The next morning, he proudly woke up, only for the girl to slap him!"
"That boy's sneaky. He must've messed up the rope and then fixed it again," Xiao Chan quipped.
"Nope. The girl scolded him, 'You're worse than a beast!'"
Ning Yi shrugged as Xiao Chan burst into laughter.
By the next morning, Xiao Chan was clinging to him like an octopus, sprawled across his back. Ning Yi shifted slightly, worried he might have squashed her, but she squirmed like soft cotton candy, wriggling out from behind him and groggily climbing onto his chest, where she continued to snooze.
The blanket-divider was nowhere to be seen.
By the afternoon of the fifth day, most of the visits had been completed. All that remained was to get through the next two days until the coffin would be buried. Meanwhile, back in Jiangning City, near the willow-lined riverbank, Nie Yunzhu paused by an elderly man's chess stall. She had exchanged pleasantries with him before, and when he waved her over with a smile, she returned the gesture and approached politely.
After a brief conversation, the old man invited her to sit. Over tea under the willow shade, their talk eventually turned to a man named Ning Liheng, who was currently in a remote mountain village.
The first chess piece was placed on the board.
At that same moment, Ning Yi stood outside the smoky, cluttered village kitchen, catching the scent of a large pot of meat stew cooking inside. Though it was the best dish the villagers could prepare, its smell turned his stomach.
He could endure hardships and maintain a smile while eating such food, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. After sniffing the air with a strained smile, he turned away.
"That's the best cook in our village!" someone said, mistaking his expression for approval.
"Haha… sure…"
Two more days. Just two more days.