Chapter 43

Liu Zhi was badly startled by the sounds coming from the house. He clutched tightly onto Chen Xu’s sleeve. Once his mind cleared, he immediately pushed Chen Xu. “Go see what’s happening, quickly!”

Chen Xu helped him sit down by the roadside before running towards the Song house. He saw Shen Qiao, beaten within an inch of his life, and Tian Yao, furious, throwing punches that looked likely to beat Song Yao to death.

Chen Xu knew how strong Tian Yao was. If Tian Yao kept hitting him much longer, even if Song Yao survived, he’d be half-dead. He quickly grabbed Tian Yao. “Check on Shen Qiao first! Shen Qiao first!”

Tian Yao came back to his senses a little at that. Ignoring Song Yao, he bent down to look at Shen Qiao lying on the ground. There was practically no uninjured patch of skin on Shen Qiao’s body. His eyes were black and blue, his neck bore purple strangulation marks. Tian Yao’s gaze shifted to the side – a hemp rope lay discarded on the floor.

Shen Qiao had already fainted. Tian Yao carefully picked him up from the ground, cradling him. Song Yao, ignoring his own injuries, blocked Tian Yao’s path. “What business is it of yours if I beat my own husband?! Put him down for me, or I’ll beat you up too!”

Tian Yao frowned. “Just try hitting me.”

Song Yao was already struggling to stand. He knew Tian Yao, a ger, had previously blocked those vicious refugees all by himself. He’d also heard that one refugee sent to the County Yamen had died from his injuries before even arriving, those injuries being too severe.

Chen Xu didn’t know what to say, only urging Tian Yao, “Get a physician for him, quickly!”

Tian Yao was worried about the severity of Shen Qiao’s injuries. He glared fiercely at Song Yao. As he walked out the door, he stomped hard on Song Yao’s foot, then carried Shen Qiao out.

Seeing Shen Qiao carried out horizontally, Liu Zhi nearly fainted from shock. “What happened? How did Brother Qiao end up like this?”

Tian Yao’s strides were huge. Chen Xu picked up the discarded basket, then hurried to support Liu Zhi. “Song Yao beat him.”

Liu Zhi’s eyes widened. Just like Tian Yao, he wanted to go back and kick Song Yao a few times himself. Chen Xu quickly grabbed him. Chen Xu thought it was a good thing he had come along today. If this incident had happened without him, Liu Zhi really could have been in danger – either his pregnancy would be disturbed, or he’d go into premature labor.

When Yu Nian returned from teaching and didn’t see any sign of Tian Yao, the stove was still cold. Little Gray was keeping watch by the chicken coop. There were fresh digging marks in the bamboo grove. He asked, “Did Little Dad go out?”

Little Gray barked once.

Yu Nian paid it no more mind and went inside to start cooking himself.

He had just lit the fire when he heard hurried, chaotic footsteps.

Going out, he saw Tian Yao carrying someone and was startled. “What happened?”

Tian Yao’s brow was furrowed. “Yu Nian, come take a look, quickly.”

Yu Nian hurriedly wheeled himself closer and saw Shen Qiao, covered in wounds. He remembered this was a male wife from the village whom Tian Yao was fairly close to. Yu Nian’s impression of Shen Qiao wasn’t deep; his only association was that Shen Qiao was good friends with Tian Yao.

Tian Yao laid the person on the bed. Only then did Yu Nian come over to take his pulse. The pulse was chaotic; chronic ailments had settled deep within the body.

Yu Nian frowned and asked Tian Yao, “What exactly happened?” He then looked Tian Yao up and down. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

The anger hadn’t faded from Tian Yao’s face. He told Yu Nian about today’s events. “Last time, at Tian Wen’s banquet, I already saw bruises on Brother Qiao, but I didn’t pay close attention. That time you were taking me to town, I heard sounds too, but I didn’t connect the dots. Today, when I went to deliver bamboo shoots, that’s when I saw him beating Brother Qiao with my own eyes.”

His hands were still trembling, hating that he hadn’t punched Song Yao a few more times.

“First, check how many more injuries he has. I’ll go boil water and prepare some medicinal powder. You apply the medicine for him.”

Tian Yao nodded. Seeing Yu Nian leave the room, he reached out and unfastened Shen Qiao’s clothes. When he took them off, Tian Yao’s nose stung with acid. Shen Qiao’s body was covered with new wounds layered over old ones; there wasn’t a single patch of unblemished skin left.

Tian Yao’s eyes grew sore. He sniffled. The people around him – his Little Dad had been strong and independent, cherished like a precious treasure by Father; Liu Zhi had a bright, spirited personality, and Chen Xu would never bear to lay a finger on him. And himself… forget whether Yu Nian was that type of person or not, just with his physique, no one could touch a hair on his head. He had never imagined that right beside him, there was a ger suffering like this.

Yu Nian knocked on the door, leaving the hot water outside. After he’d moved away, Tian Yao opened the door, brought the hot water in, and began wiping Shen Qiao down.

Wherever the cloth touched areas that were flayed and bloody, Shen Qiao’s brow would furrow tightly in pain. Tian Yao had no choice but to lighten his touch even further, but still, Shen Qiao broke out in a cold sweat from the pain.

In the other room, Yu Nian used medicinal herbs to prepare some powder. Once done, he left it at the door again. After Tian Yao finished applying the medicine to Shen Qiao, he found one of his own inner garments and dressed Shen Qiao. But Shen Qiao was so thin, unable to fill out Tian Yao’s somewhat larger clothes. Tian Yao looked at Shen Qiao, nearly swallowed by the fabric, and sighed.

The smell of medicine now filled the courtyard. Tian Yao finally went out.

“Yu Nian, why would he beat Brother Qiao like this?” Tian Yao sat beside Yu Nian, resting his head on his hand, watching Yu Nian’s slender fingers adding firewood to the stove.

“I’m not sure either.” Yu Nian knew Tian Yao wasn’t really expecting an answer from him. After all, Yu Nian had been in Huailing Village for less than a year; naturally, Tian Yao knew the village’s affairs better than him.

Tian Yao didn’t have a deep impression of Song Yao. He’d never interacted much with the men of the village. He only remembered Little Dad saying Song Yao’s mother was mean and not to let Tian Yao get too close to their family. He never imagined Song Yao was this kind of brute.

Yu Nian asked him, “What do you want to do?”

Tian Yao shook his head. He truly didn’t know what to do. He could help Shen Qiao for a moment, but he couldn’t help him for a lifetime. Even now, he didn’t know what to do when Shen Qiao woke up.

“Tell me, why does this happen?”

Tian Yao had never encountered something like this. He had always believed that people who married were surely in love. Even if they couldn’t love each other, after spending so long together, deep feelings should develop. How could a couple end up beating each other like this?

Yu Nian stroked his hair. “We can only figure out what to do once he wakes up.”

Tian Yao sighed. “How was it at school today?”

He finally remembered it was Yu Nian’s first day. “Those little brats didn’t give you trouble, did they?”

Yu Nian shook his head. “No, they were all very respectful.”

From the moment he accepted this responsibility, Yu Nian had already decided what to teach them. He didn’t expect these children to become top scholars some day. He just hoped that in the future, they could read and write, won’t be tricked when traveling because of illiteracy. What he most wanted to teach them was arithmetic.

If they learned arithmetic, they could find lighter, easier work in the future. This dynasty valued scholarly pursuits over martial ones and particularly valued skilled scholars. Learning arithmetic meant never being looked down upon anywhere.

The few children who came still couldn’t instantly change some bad habits, but at least they generally listened to Yu Nian and did as they were told. Right now, for Yu Nian, it was like painting on a blank canvas; whatever he taught, these children would learn.

Hearing what Yu Nian said, Tian Yao finally felt relieved.

“I have a responsibility to them. I hope to teach them well.”

This also gave Yu Nian a sense of purpose he’d found here in Huailing Village.

“Right, this afternoon, their families came by wanting to give tuition and such. I didn’t dare accept.”

Yu Nian thought for a moment. “Accept them. It’s part of the proper ceremony, and also a promise made to them.”

“Mm,” Tian Yao acknowledged. “I told them to come back when you’re free.”

The two chatted for a while before hearing movement from the bedroom. Tian Yao told Yu Nian to deal with the bamboo shoots he’d dug up and went into the room himself to check on Shen Qiao.

When Shen Qiao saw Tian Yao enter, his gaze flickered with shyness before he gave a somewhat awkward smile. “Yao Ge’er.”

His smile was more painful to look at than crying, making Tian Yao’s heart ache. “Brother Qiao, if you don’t want to smile, then don’t.”

The curve on Shen Qiao’s lips then fell. “Sorry you had to see something like that.”

“Why does he hit you? And it clearly wasn’t the first time!” Tian Yao didn’t dare touch him for fear of hurting his wounds, but his voice was agitated.

Leaning against the pillow, sitting up, Shen Qiao finally began telling Tian Yao about those matters.

Shen Qiao was the eldest in his family, with three younger brothers beneath him. Their age gap wasn’t large. Because they had to raise four children, the family was desperately poor. So as soon as Shen Qiao reached marriageable age, his family started looking for a match for him, their only concern being which family would offer the highest betrothal gift.

At that time, Shen Qiao had a good relationship with a childhood neighbor from the same village. In his youth, he had also fantasized about holding hands and growing old together. But the Song family from Huailing Village offered a considerable betrothal gift. Shen Qiao’s parents, without even notifying him, married him off to the Song family of Huailing Village.

Those youthful dreams turned to dust. Shen Qiao accepted his fate, planning to live a good life with Song Yao. However, this Song Yao had lost his father early and depended solely on his widowed mother. From the moment Shen Qiao married into the Song family, he suffered all kinds of torment from his mother-in-law. Because of the five taels of silver Song Yao had paid as the betrothal gift, he endured it all in silence. He was filial to his mother-in-law, obedient to Song Yao in every way, and life passed tolerably enough like that.

Last spring, his mother-in-law passed away. Shen Qiao thought his days of suffering were finally over. But then, during the New Year’s visit to his parental home on the second day of the year, that neighbor from next door returned. He went to Shen Qiao’s house and asked Shen Qiao’s mother for his hand in marriage, and it happened right when Song Yao was there.

At the Shen house, Song Yao didn’t say anything and acted normally.

But once they returned home, Song Yao said he had to go away for a couple of days. Winter work was hard to find; he was a bricklayer by trade and had been asked to help someone repair a house. The day he returned home marked the beginning of Shen Qiao’s dark days.

Starting from hearing that neighbor’s marriage proposal, Song Yao believed Shen Qiao had betrayed him. Especially when he was drunk, the slightest disagreement would lead to him beating Shen Qiao half to death. He didn’t just beat him; he also tormented him endlessly in the bedroom.

“Brother Qiao, have you never thought about how to resolve this?” Tian Yao nearly jumped up. “Are you just going to let him beat you again once your injuries heal?”

Shen Qiao merely gave a helpless smile. “What else can I do then? My maiden family would definitely never stand up for me. Could I possibly divorce him?”

Tian Yao was completely choked up, at a loss for words.

Shen Qiao shifted to sit up straighter, wincing from the dense pain of pulled wounds. Tian Yao pressed him back down. “You’re planning to go back now?”

Shen Qiao nodded. “I can’t spend the night at your place.”

Tian Yao’s home only had this one bedroom. Should Yu Nian go sleep in the storage room?

Tian Yao froze. He watched helplessly as Shen Qiao stood up, shakily and unsteadily put on his clothes, and then, holding onto the doorframe, walked out of their home.