Trouble at Home
Feng Yu Heng pocketed the very valuable 20 taels and returned to Xi Ping village. The value of this money was retrieved from a memory belonging to the body’s original owner. In a mountain village, a family of three can survive for a month on one tael of silver, thus 20 taels is truly very valuable.
The sky was already quite bright when she reached the village. On her way home, she had picked up plenty of medicinal herbs and mushrooms then wrapped in leaves and vines to carry home. Since she had gone in to the mountains to collect medicinal herbs, it would not do to return empty handed.
Following the path taken in her memories, she headed home. Before she reached her home, loud sounds reverberated. The sounds of a shrill housewife shouting abuse, a child crying, and a woman begging for forgiveness filled the air.
She quickened her pace. As expected, the trouble was at her home.
Xu shi, who had not been burnt to death last night at the mass grave, was dragging a woman by the arm out of the courtyard. On the side, was little boy around five or six years old. He was crying while supporting the woman who had fallen to the ground.
Xu shi deftly kicked the boy away. “Scram! You must move out of this house today. I want to reclaim this house. If you want to continue living here, then you need to pay one year’s worth of rent!”
The woman on the ground’s body was extremely weak; how could it handle being dragged like this? She curled up on the ground and bitterly begged: “Please wait for our family’s A-Heng1 to return. Even if we must move, we need to wait for that child to return!”
“Your family’s A-Heng? She ran away long ago! I heard she entered the mountains to pick herbs. She has been gone for two days. If she hasn’t run away, then she’s been eaten by wolves. What other hopes do you have!”
“My sis won’t be eaten by wolves!” The little boy yelled loudly, “My sis won’t be eaten by wolves!”
“A-Heng wouldn’t leave us behind!” The woman also refuted Xu shi’s words. “I beg you wait one more day. One day is enough.”
“One day is not ok! I want you to get out!” Xu shi raised her leg, aiming to kick the woman in the chest.
But before her foot could reach its target, a sudden pain sprung forth in her calf. It hurt so bad that she could not stay steady, and she fell on her butt.
The odd happenings of the previous night reverberated in Xu shi’s mind, as something similar had just occurred. They were quick and sudden attacks that both hurt and caused her to feel frightened. She couldn’t avoid it even if she wanted to.
Xu shi let out a weird “Wa Wa” cry. Her eyes slowly shifted looking out of the courtyard. There she saw the girl that she and her husband had thrown in to the mass grave. She froze in shock, as the girl slowly walked toward her.
“Sister!” Feng Yu Heng had just entered the courtyard, but the little boy dove straight in to her. His face covered in tears, he tightly hugged her. “Sister finally came back. They said you didn’t want Rui’er or mother. *sob*…” The child started sobbing. His thing arms wrapped around her body so tightly it hurt a little.
“Rui’er don’t worry.” She patted his back and lifted his very miserable-looking face and looked him in the eyes. Her heart skipped a beat.
Feng Zi Rui was the brother from the same father and same mother of the body’s original owner. But… Why was it that he looked exactly like her little brother who died at the age of six in her previous life?
Feng Yu Heng’s heart trembled. Letting down her guard for an instant, her heart ached greatly.
That year, she was ten years old and her little brother was six. That year, he developed a kidney disease. The Feng family was well-known in the field of Chinese medicine. Both their father and grandfather were among the best practitioners of Chinese medicine. But even with these abilities they were immensely proud of, they could not save his life. It was that year that her grandfather allowed her to give up on inheriting the family business to learn Western medicine.
While Chinese medicine does get to the root of the problem, Western medicine is faster acting. In the face of emergencies, Western medicine had immediately visible results. Chinese medicine’s effects were much slower.
Slowly regaining control of her thoughts, Feng Yu Heng looked at the child buried in her waist. A feeling of belonging, that she had not felt since awakening last night, washed over her heart. This unfamiliar era, could it be that she is not the only one?
She then set her eyes on the woman on the ground. It was the mother of the body’s original owner, Yao shi.
Feng Yu Heng mentally did some calculations. Her mother in her previous life had died giving birth to her little brother. As many years had passed, her memory of her mother was already slowly becoming blurry. But today, after slowly forgetting over the course of many years, she saw Yao shi.
She suddenly let out a laugh.
Thank the heavens. This reincarnation was truly a most considerate arrangement.
“A-Heng.” Realizing that laughing at such a time is wildly inappropriate, Yao shi felt slightly panicked. “Did something happen?”
Pulling her brother along, she helped Yao shi up. While dusting her clothes off, she softly whispered: “It’s ok, mother. Don’t worry. With A-Heng here, noone can bully us.”
Yao shi finally relaxed. Her A-Heng had always been a girl with ideas. In the years since being kicked out of the Feng residence, A-Heng had been very reliable. If not for her, the three of them might not have lived to this day.
She just felt it was a pity that at such a young age, she would need to bear this much responsibility. Seeing the things Feng Yu Heng had brought back, the tears in Yao shi’s eyes rushed forth.
“Mother, don’t cry.” She caressed Yao shi’s hand. Then she put Feng Zi Rui’s hand in Yao shi’s hand. She then walked over to Xu shi and squatted down. “Miss Xu’s hand injury is not light.”
As she spoke, her eyes looked towards Xu shi’s exposed wrist. It appeared that she had already received some basic treatment, but the burns were still shockingly visible.
Xu shi quivered and subconsciously moved to block with her sleeve; however, this brushed against her burn and caused her great pain.
“Yesterday, I went in to the mountains to collect medicinal herbs and stayed the night, but for some reason, I heard a terrible wailing noise. It sounded like the voices of countless innocent spirits, what was it again… Oh right, spirits who had been burnt unjustly.” Feng Yu Heng’s voice was very quiet, but spoke very directly. It was like she was telling a story.
However, this story would cause some people to feel a great deal of pressure. Xu shi scrambled backwards until she let out a shriek in fear, getting up to escape.
However, as she stood up to run, a small hand grabbed her from behind. Xu shi lost her mind and flailed behind her, loudly yelling: “Let me go! You’re the evil spirit! You are the one who died unjustly!”
“Thank the lucky stars, Feng Yu Heng truly did die.” Feng Yu Heng continued to speak in a soft voice. “But King Yama did not accept me.”
These words held a hidden meaning. That meaning being that the original Feng Yu Heng had already been killed by the strike and the medicine. Unfortunate for her, the current Feng Yu Heng had been to King Yama’s palace for a walk and been sent back to this era.
Naturally, Xu shi did not pick up on this meaning, but she knew that she had done some evil deeds. Additionally, the events of the previous night were indeed abnormal. She was so terrified, she did not want to think about it. Originally, she had wanted to kick Yao shi and Feng Zi Rui out of Xi Ping village today in hopes of never seeing the family again, so that she could forget about the matter. She never considered that Feng Yu Heng might return.
“A year ago, my mother fell sick.” Feng Yu Heng followed along the original’s memories and began to collect her debts. “Of the money given to us by the Feng residence, there were 50 taels of silver left. My mother gave all of it to you, yet 50 taels only became three sets of medicine. Aunt Xu, let’s properly take care of these accounts.”
“Tha- That medicine was extremely expensive.” Xu shi did not dare look Feng Yu Heng in the eyes. This girl used to be likeable. She did not talk much to the other villagers. At worst, she was unsociable, but why was it that today, her eyes were very frightening?
Without waiting for Feng Yu Heng to reply, she desperately ran towards the courtyard exit.
Feng Yu Heng’s small hands had no hope of keeping her still, but she also had no desire to do so. She just wanted to frighten her a little, while reminding her that she had not forgotten of the evil deeds that were committed.
Watching Xu shi run away, Feng Yu Heng lightly picked at her lips, then loudly shouted: “Your children are also watching! There is retribution in this world, you best believe it!”
Hearing these words, Xu shi’s mind became even more frantic, causing her to fall with a thump. However, she did not stop. She continued to flee by crawling in the direction of her home.
Before she could crawl two steps, a horse-drawn carriage came head-on in to view. The carriage was flying by, drawing up the dust in to the villagers’ eyes. It continued all the way until it reached Xu shi. The carriage driver lashed out with a whip, forcefully bringing the steeds neighing to a stop.
“Are your eyes blind!” Xu shi was so frightened, she turned white. She narrowly avoided being trampled to death by the horses.
Paf!
The driver did not speak again and directly lashed out with the whip at full strength. This left Xu shi bloody and bruised.
As if that wasn’t the end, he continued with a second and third lash. Xu shi was left sprawled on the ground mumbling.
“This village lady is bold!” The driver loudly laughed. “Why not open your eyes a little. Owning this quality of carriage, do you think you can afford to offend them?”
1: A- or Xiao are added to close friends’ or family members’ names.