CH 17

What’s the use of keeping you?

***

There were only a few days left before the end of the year. On this day, Jiafu accompanied her mother to the Zhen family’s shipyard.

The shipyard was not merely a place where ships were constructed and repaired, but it was equivalently an expansive area where shack-dwellers had taken root. The Zhen family had been benevolent and virtuous since time immemorial; here, their ancestors had built houses for the destitute sailors who sailed the sea in their employ so that they could have a home to return to once they came ashore. Those men later married wives and started families. More and more shack-dwellers established residence in the area, and the population gradually increased in number. When time came for Jiafu’s father to take the reins, over a hundred households had already settled here. The families of sailors who had voyaged with her father and never returned were now still under their tutelage. Widows devoted their days doing odd jobs in the shipyard, and although life for them was no longer so easy, they at least had a roof over their heads that sheltered them from wind and rain, as well as means to support themselves and their children. In the past few years, at the end of each year, Madam Meng would personally rove around to distribute rice and meat to orphans and widows, and each family would be allotted two strings of coins1 to welcome the New Year with.

Jiafu adhered to her mother every year, and this year was no exception. Upon leaving the shipyard after visiting orphans and widows, she suddenly remembered the boy she had brought back for treatment on that night a few months prior, wondering if he had survived. She thereby paused in her tracks and made inquiries to one of the shipyard’s stewards nearby.

As the shipyard was home to numerous men tasked with miscellaneous errands, the steward primarily had no recollection of him, but a while later, he knocked his head and exclaimed, “I remember! That lad Steward Zhang had brought over! He is faring well. He has recovered from his ailment, and he now does manual labor at the shipyard. Should I call him over and have him kowtow to you, Young Lady?” 

Jiafu replied, “Good to know that he is well. I remembered him all of a sudden, so I thought I should ask. No need to call him over for such a thing.”

The steward responded with a smile, “Young Lady is so kind to actually remember him. That lad was also quite lucky to have encountered you on time, Young Lady; otherwise, he would not have survived. Had it been the Jin family, perhaps he would have been buried in some fish’s belly by now.”

The speaker meant no ill in his words, but the listener harbored some sentiments. The phrase “buried in some fish’s belly” had struck a nerve with Jiafu, reminding her of her father, and her mood instantaneously dropped. The steward immediately realized his slip of the tongue and slapped his own mouth, bowing in a panic to make amends, “I have spoken rubbish. Young Lady, please do not take offense.”

Jiafu was aware that it was merely unwitting blabber and assured him with a slight smile. She turned around and saw that her mother and her entourage had reached the shipyard entrance. Her mother turned her head to peek at her, prompting Jiafu to gather her skirt and to briskly tread over.

The shipyard was close to the harbor where the sea breeze was consistently fierce, and the wind at the entrance was even fiercer. Just as Jiafu passed by a roadside where a row of racks containing piles of logs were erected, a gust of wind blew past.

The racks had been standing there for quite a long time. The ropes at the joints had been battered by time and had already rotted, but they had yet to be replaced. As soon as the wind blasted, the racks creaked and wobbled. Without warning, the ropes snapped. A pile of logs towering over Jiafu crashed and tumbled down, rolling towards her.

The logs had just been shipped a few days ago and were ready for use, only that they had not been transported away in time. They were not very thick with only a diameter the size of a bowl. Even so, with so many logs toppling all at once, if someone were to be trampled underneath them, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Jiafu was looking down at the road and initially had not paid attention to the fluctuations at the side. When she realized that the situation was amiss, she had no time to react and simply froze in place.

Madam Meng was standing at the shipyard’s main entrance, conversing with Zhang Da and several others while waiting for her daughter to arrive. Suddenly, she heard a strange noise behind her. When she whipped her head around to check, her soul escaped from her body. Zhang Da and the rest were also able to detect it and immediately sped over in response, but they were too late. They watched with dread as Jiafu was about to be pummeled by a pile of collapsing logs. At the time of imminent peril, a boy clothed in tatters dashed from the side diagonal to them so unexpectedly, his physique looking almost like he was flying as he sprinted to Jiafu’s side at lightning speed. Just before the first log rolled to Jiafu’s feet, he grabbed her waist and hurtled her to the side to dodge it. The two tumbled to the ground together.

Zhang Da and the rest hurried to where they were. They arranged the logs and rescued the affected people, rendering the shipyard entrance into a scene of chaos.

Madam Meng’s face was dreadfully pale in fright. She rushed closer and separated the crowd. Seeing the young man lying on the ground firmly protecting her daughter beneath him, she bolted towards them in a flurry and cried out, “A’Fu! A’Fu! Are you alright? Are you alright? Don’t scare your mother, ah!”

The boy had moved with such alacrity that Jiafu inevitably felt a bit lightheaded, especially with him shielding her underneath him. Right this instant, she regained her senses. Hearing her mother’s voice, she opened her eyes and replied, her voice quivering, “Mother, I’m alright…… I’m fine……”

The boy hastily got off of her and squeezed himself out of the throng of people. Madam Meng and Zhang Da fussed over Jiafu, so they primarily had not taken notice of him and chiefly assisted Jiafu up from the ground. Once they had ascertained that not an inch of her body had been harmed, save for the mud that had stained her clothes and her pallor turning deathly pale from fright, they breathed a sigh of relief.

Madam Meng was still in a state of shock as she embraced Jiafu——just how many times she had chanted to Buddha, no one knew. As she listened to Zhang Da admonishing the shipyard’s steward for relaxing his vigilance, she suddenly recalled the boy who had just saved her daughter. She darted her eyes to his direction and found that he was drifting farther and farther away. She quickly bid someone to assist Jiafu up and to lead her in the carriage to rest. She then strode over, called to the boy, and observed him. He wore decrepit clothing on such an icy winter day, and his feet only had a pair of straw sandals with holes in them. Dirt had smeared his face, but he had a rather handsome countenance if one appraised him carefully. Not minding the filth on him, she grabbed his hand and said, “Good child, we’re lucky you’re here today! What’s your name? Which household’s child are you from?”

Zhang Da had caught up with them. He studied the boy’s appearance and felt that he was somewhat familiar, but he could not conjure any memory of their acquaintance. But since the boy was right here, he was naturally a worker in their shipyard. The boy was hopelessly taciturn, so he turned to the shipyard’s steward.

Perceiving that his negligence had almost incurred a catastrophe, the steward was ashen-faced. He lurched forward and explained, “He was the boy Young Lady had sent over a few months ago. He had been at the brink of death at that time. I recall Young Lady and the steward instruct to always treat him with great care and to assign him minor tasks in the shipyard upon his recovery.”

Zhang Da then summoned up memories of that happenstance, glanced at the boy, and briefly recounted to Madam Meng their fortuitous encounter. Madam Meng was grateful beyond words and could not cease praising him. After some remarks, she noticed that the boy was short of the sharpness he possessed when he had rushed out earlier, and instead stood there motionless with his head hung, bereft of speech, his expression rather vapid. She shot an inquisitive glance at the steward.

The steward replied, “Reporting to Madam, this boy is a simpleton incapable of speech. Perhaps his ailment had rendered him foolish. He also normally isn’t so agile.” After which, he yelled at the boy and prodded him to greet Madam Meng with a salute.

Madam Meng accepted the greeting, her sympathy for the young lad intensifying. She quickly thwarted the steward, sighing as she said, “This child’s sincerity is evident. He is not of sound mind, but the fact that A’Fu had saved him is still etched on his memory, so he wanted to repay the favor by rescuing her with little regard for his life. Looking at him now, I find him rather handsome. If his parents were still around, who knows just how this precious child would grow up to be! I suspect that he had been kidnapped and turned out this way as a result. Poor thing!” Following which, she bid the steward to promptly bestow him a generous amount of new clothes and shoes, relentlessly exhorting him to treat the boy well and to quit bullying him in the future. The steward assented.

After Madam Meng threw a few more phrases, she loosened her grasp on the boy’s hand, turned around, and boarded the carriage. She told Jiafu, “Poor child. He cannot speak, and his mind isn’t very bright.”

Jiafu had been resting in the carriage for a while. The others had gradually settled down after the great shock they had just witnessed. She had watched as her mother released the boy’s hand. He turned around, lowered his head, and continued to plod forward——Jiafu surveilled his rear figure and noticed that his pace was somewhat stiff. He had a slight limp to his gait, as if he was a different person from the one who had brandished his agility when he rushed out to save her just then. She hesitated, told her mother to wait a moment, and alighted the carriage. She briskly picked up her pace and barred the boy’s way. 

The boy raised his eyes and saw her approaching. He appeared as though it had slightly startled him, yet his face was still void of emotion.

Jiafu smiled at him and softly inquired, “Does your foot hurt? I noticed you limping a little while you were walking.”

The boy responded with silence.

”Can you understand what I’m saying?” Jiafu’s voice grew ever so tender as she drew closer to him. “If you are hurt, just say it. Do not be afraid.”

She leaned forward. The boy caught a faint whiff of the delicate fragrance her body was emanating. She seemed to have not worn any perfume, yet her scent gently penetrated deep into his lungs. It was a world apart from the relatively salty air dominating this place that he had gradually become inured to, and it was even more distinct from the opulent fragrances, rouge, and powder pervading the splendid boudoir he had once been familiar with.

His ears slightly reddened without him noticing. Fortunately, his face was daubed in mud and dirt, so she could not perceive it.

He shook his head and lowered it to evade her, and he then darted past her.

Jiafu turned her head and shifted her sight to his feet. She saw bright red blood oozing out of the soles of his shoes, which had already been worn down to just a layer of straw.

”Stop right there!”

She called out to him once more.

Zhang Da hastened over and took off the boy’s shoes.

A bamboo stick the length of a pinky finger pierced deeply into the sole of his foot like a sharp knife.

Confronted with the concerned gaze Jiafu had cast, the boy’s eyes, which seemed to have been shrouded by an indelible tinge of gloom, revealed an imperceptible radiance to them.

He gently shook his head and gave a feeble smile.

It was but a flicker of an ephemeral expression that she alone was able to espy.

……

The eve of the New Year on the third year of Yongxi’s reign had just passed. The year had already ended, yet the people of Quanzhou city were still beating gongs, banging drums, and performing the dragon and lion dances. It was only the third day of the first month when Jiafu caught wind of certain news.

Men from the Quanzhou yamen came to relay an order from above, stating that the Zhen family must report a list of every unregistered settler they had employed over the years, especially teenage boys who looked to be between thirteen to fourteen years of age, every single one accounted for. If they failed to report even one and the authorities found out, there would be severe repercussions.

Zhang Da and the man who delivered the report had a close friendship. After relaying the order, he dismissed the servants and whispered to Zhang Da’s ear, “The one above isn’t just some boss——it’s the Jinyiwei…… A man surnamed Wang came, and I heard that this figure has quite a powerful background. I haven’t the slightest clue what they had discussed, but when our lordship came out, I saw him turn green in the face. The Jin family has countless workers in their boats and shipyard. They failed to report a few men because they had assumed that it was a matter they could simply brush off, completely unaware of how ferocious that person is. Unfortunately, those few men were called away last night. While those unregistered persons kept their lives, some were banished to the army after an interrogation. I also heard that two teenage boys employed in their shipyard had been beaten to death, to the extent that their guts spilled all over the ground when they were yanked out. These are matters I normally wouldn’t disclose to anyone, but your Zhen family has a large business. It’s been inevitable for you to employ a few unregistered workers over the years. I cannot bear to witness you suffer such a calamity, so I’m telling you these things. But bear in mind, you never heard these words from me!”

Zhang Da sent the man away and swiveled around to report to Old Madam Hu. Old Madam wore a solemn expression and promptly ordered him to create a roster of all their unregistered workers, including ship runners, dock workers, porters, as well as craftsmen and handymen in the shipyard——to note all of them, keep an eye on every person, and exclude not a single one.

Madam Meng had been right by her side that very moment. After she returned, she apprised Jiafu of the circumstance and lamented, “I have not an inkling of what’s happening, but I am terribly perplexed and exhausted. You ought to keep an eye on your brother these days, lest he wanders about and gets into unnecessary trouble.”

After Madam Meng finished speaking, she hurriedly left. Jiafu was also a little uneasy.

According to the shipyard steward, not only was that boy mute, but he was also not very bright in the head.

But Jiafu had a hunch that that boy might not be the half-wit he was believed to be.

When the boy had hauled her away and tumbled to the ground with her on that certain day, their eyes had met for a fleeting instance. Not to mention, his agility then was supposedly uncharacteristic of him.

She had been lightheaded and her limbs had been in disarray, but she had noticed when he looked at her squarely in the eyes. She had committed that incident to memory, so she just knew.

There was also that feeble smile he expressed after they had discovered the injury on his foot. His eyes had shone like the sun, and even his muddy visage could not conceal the brilliance and gleam within them.

To say that he was stupid, Jiafu truly did not think so.

If he had been merely putting on an act, then what was it for? What was the mystery behind this boy? The year had just passed, and the authorities already executed such movements. Did it have anything to do with this boy?

Jiafu called to mind Xiao Yintang’s inexplicable arrival, as well as the scene they had witnessed after passing by Fuming Island. The imagery of those young novice monks bound by iron chains was vivid in her mind.

She could not discern if that group of Jinyiwei and this Lord Wang who had come to Quanzhou were of similar association.

After heeding her grandmother’s command, Zhang Da would definitely include this boy on the list.

Out of an explicit feeling that was difficult for her to explain, Jiafu wanted no such thing to happen. She suddenly felt concerned for the boy.

However, she was also aware that her grandmother’s methods were without fault. The Jinyiwei were as ruthless as beasts, and their reach was extremely pervasive. If the Zhen family dared to pull even the slightest of tricks, once they were discovered, the consequences they would face would be too horrible to contemplate.

Jiafu wanted to tell him the news so that he could furtively escape as soon as possible. Yet, she had apprehensions.

After a night of contemplation, she finally could not help but seek out Zhang Da the following day with the pretense of inquiring about the wound on the boy’s foot.

Zhang Da glanced at Jiafu and carefully elaborated, “Young Lady, I’ve been busy the past few days, so I forgot to inform you. That kid passed away on New Year’s Eve. Someone saw him walk to the shore by himself and dive down, but he never came up. There also haven’t been any traces of him in the shipyard the past few days. His beddings and clothes had all been scattered about, as if he had woken up in the middle of the night, gotten up, and walked away in a daze. From the words of the person who slept beside him,2 the sound of firecrackers must have frightened him so much that he went out without a thought and jumped off the sea……”

Jiafu was dumbfounded, and grief overcame her.

She had originally been anxious about the likelihood of his life being in danger, but never did she imagine to learn that he had perished on the eve of the New Year.

For some reason, the abrupt death of this boy, a stranger whom she had saved by chance, so deeply afflicted her.

Perhaps her empathy stemmed from when the boy’s eyes had conveyed a determination to live as he was nearing his demise on the day she had rescued him——or perhaps it was from when he had exerted his frail body to shield her from peril a few days past. When he had trod away in silence afterwards, that lonesome back figure that slightly tottered with every step was impossible for her to forget.

She stood there blankly for a little while. Suppressing the sorrow that welled up in her heart, she expressed, “Uncle Zhang, please ask someone to burn two sticks of incense for him.”

Zhang Da replied, “This old uncle will do so. Young Lady, don’t be so sad.”

Jiafu gave a dim smile and nodded her head.

……

The thirteenth day of the first month was still two days before the Lantern Festival. In Quanzhou City, however, lanterns were already hung in every household’s front door. When night fell, the colorful lanterns and the bright moonlight enhanced each other’s beauty and candor. The city brimmed with a festive atmosphere.

In stark contrast to the scene within the city walls, outside of it was a quiet and deserted port.

It was the dead of night, and the moon was up in the cloudless sky. A teenage boy was perched up on the seawall all alone, his frame engulfed in the shadow of the night. The sea breeze was grazing his face, yet he remained motionless as he confronted the languorous rise of the night tide, painting a melancholy silhouette.

All of a sudden, he cast off his clothes and shoes with great expedition, and he jumped, plummeting like a piece of rock plunging into the night tide.

A few moments later, as a faint splash broke the water surface, the boy’s head emerged from underneath. He swung his arms forward and struck the water a few times, then leaned against the dam with an object in his grip.

This object was the shape of a square nestled in a soft leather pouch, its dimensions spanning the hollow of one’s palm. As it was completely soaked, water ceaselessly trickled down from within the boy’s clasp.

Most days were damp and chilly in this Quanzhou winter, yet this boy seemed to be immune to the piercing cold of the frosty seawater. He slowly untied the leather strap and fixed his gaze at the object resting in his palm.

It was an imperial jade seal with an etching of five interconnected dragons, engraved with the characters, “Having received the Mandate from Heaven, may (the emperor) lead a long and prosperous life.”3 Its entirety was void of even a speck of dust. Under the bright and clear moonlight, its glittering jade color cast a reflection on the boy’s translucent, pale skin.

This was the heirloom seal of the realm passed down way back from the Qin Dynasty, an indispensable treasure of the state. From time to time, it would suddenly disappear, only to appear again; so monumental was it that people had deemed it the mandate of heaven for certain emperors to have it in their possession. When it disappeared, they would conclude that the incumbent sovereign was not meant to be in power. 

When Great Wei was founded, the Great Ancestor discovered the imperial jade seal by a stroke of luck. Overcome with divine ecstasy, he had tucked it away deep in the ancestral palace hall. Whenever a worship ceremony was underway, he would proffer the stamped seal on the imperial edict to the heavenly worship, signifying that his reign had been mandated by heaven.

The reason why voices of doubt continued to escalate in the beginning of the Yongxi Emperor’s ascension to the throne was that he did not have the imperial jade seal, which symbolized imperial power, to bequeath to the next generation.

It was said that after the Young Emperor Xiao Yu fell off his horse in the hunting grounds and met his end, this imperial jade seal had also vanished as if by magic.

People often traversed this side of the dam during daytime, but no one could have guessed that, in the past three years, this seal had been wrapped in leather and hidden underneath the dam inside a cavity the seawater had eroded.

The tide ebbed and flowed day by day. Guarded by the darkness, the object was quiet and solitary, reminiscent of its owner, this teenage boy.

The boy looked vacantly at the jade seal in his hand for a good while when, suddenly, the corners of his mouth curled up in derision. He thus soliloquized, “What’s the use of keeping you? Throwing you into the tide would be for the best. From here on, travel the world unfettered instead of staying hidden here and never seeing the sun ’til the end of time!”

He climbed back up the seawall, stood tall, and flung his arms back with great vigor, set on hurling the jade seal in his hand to the night tide under the moon’s glow.

Once it entered the sea, the raging tides would swallow it. This thing would forever sink into the ocean depths, never to resurface.

Translator’s Note:

Sorry I was gone for so long. My mother passed away, and my grandma shortly after. The grief was too hard for me to bear, but I’m slowly picking myself back up.

Please know that this story is close to my heart, so I won’t be dropping it!

Footnotes:

1 It’s a string of 1,000 coins, equivalent to 1 silver tael.

2 Servants usually slept together in one huge room

3 It looks like this. (Source: Heirloom Seal of the Realm – Wikipedia)