Chapter 305: Delivering the Book to Uncle

“There’s no escaping the death penalty.”

Whether it’s escaping with shackles or injuring someone beyond recovery, the original crime is compounded.

It’s currently August, and the day of the autumn executions¹ is fast approaching.

If it were any other large prefecture, the documents would need to be reported to the Ministry of Justice, which might delay the execution until the following year.

But Guanzhou is Prince Ying’s fiefdom, so it only needs to be reported to the Prefectural City. Once the Prefectural City verifies everything, the execution can proceed.

Zhang Xuan has committed a crime at this time, leaving him with no chance for reprieve.

Yan Huaiwen hesitated for a moment but eventually explained to Xiao Er what the autumn executions were, what the Month of Slaughter² was, and the prohibition of executions on the ten fasting days³ each month.

As Yan Yu listened to her uncle, she calculated the days in her mind.

The first, fifth, and ninth months are the Months of Slaughter.

The first, eighth, fourteenth, fifteenth, eighteenth, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth are the ten fasting days, also known as the forbidden days for executions.

From the start of October, any of the remaining twenty days could be Zhang Xuan’s day of death.

“Uncle, will that little girl survive?” Yan Yu asked.

She wasn’t one to get stuck on things. Zhang Xuan had sought death himself, and the current result was just him getting what he asked for.

Instead of dwelling on when he would die, it was better to care about the sick little girl.

Yan Huaiwen paused, not wanting to deceive her with lies.

“The doctor said she’s had a fever for too long. Even if she survives, she might have some lasting ailments.”

Yan Yu remained silent for the rest of the journey.

Once home, she washed her face and hands thoroughly, changed into fresh clothes in her room, warmed herself in the kitchen for a while, and then entered her parents’ room.

As soon as she entered, she climbed onto the kang like a frostbitten eggplant⁴, using both hands and feet to find the warmest spot by the wall, sitting cross-legged.

Li Xuemei looked at her with curiosity. Her daughter rarely behaved this way.

Daya followed her in. “Xiao Er, shall I bring your meal in here for you to eat?”

She had been instructed by their father to keep an eye on her sister.

Just hearing their father mention it briefly, Daya couldn’t hold back her tears.

Yan Huaiwen: …

Daya had been acting so normal lately that he almost forgot his daughter’s eyes were shallow and she cried easily.

At this moment, Daya’s eyes were red and slightly swollen, her smile forced.

Li Xuemei looked at her, then at her daughter, and got off the kang.

She pulled Daya outside to find out what had happened, got a sense of the situation, and sent Daya back to rest.

Li Xuemei brought the saved meal from the kitchen and set it on the kang table.

“Eat while it’s hot.”

Yan Yu moved over, took a sip of mung bean porridge, and then a bite of Granny Rong’s pickles. The taste revived her spirits.

Her appetite gradually returned, and Yan Yu’s chopsticks moved skillfully, scraping the bowl of porridge clean.

“I want more,” Yan Yu said playfully, holding out her bowl to her mother.

Li Xuemei got up and served her another bowl.

Watching her daughter finish another bowl of porridge, Li Xuemei said, “Now is the perfect time. You should take the prescriptions I copied and give them to your uncle.”

Yan Yu looked up and asked, “Should I give one or all three?”

“It’s up to you.” Li Xuemei left the decision to her daughter.

Yan Yu took a bite of her bun, filling her mouth, and chewed vigorously.

After swallowing, she said, “No matter how many I give, with Uncle’s intelligence, he will figure out that we have medical books. We should just be honest. Is now the right time?”

They hadn’t planned to keep it a secret forever, but they needed to find the right moment to reveal everything.

Today? Now? Wasn’t it a bit rushed?

“It doesn’t matter when. As you said, your uncle will find out eventually, so it’s better to tell him sooner.

When the plague hit Crouching Tiger, we could say we didn’t think of it at the time. We were just settling in, and everything was chaotic. But now the house is built, and the family is stable.

With Madam Cui’s illness in the past and your recent experience with the feverish little girl in Crouching Tiger, it’s the right time to explain.”

Yan Yu hesitated, “Wouldn’t it be better for Dad to explain? Uncle is more tolerant of him.”

The rose-tinted view was strong.

“No, it’s not suitable,” Li Xuemei disagreed. “Precisely because your uncle is so good to your dad, if he feels your dad intentionally hid it, it would hurt him.

You revealing it allows us to say your dad forgot about those old books.”

Li Xuemei repeated the story they had agreed on: “The books were something your dad collected long ago and probably forgot about. When we were packing to move to Guanzhou, I found them and packed them. When we settled here and decided to make paper, we remembered and copied them. The old books were then put in a bag and turned into pulp in the river.

So, all we have are the prescriptions you copied.”

“I copied?” Yan Yu pointed to herself.

“Yes, you copied.” Li Xuemei took out some paper and placed it in front of her. “Copy them now. This will explain why you remember them and give a legitimate reason, to practice your handwriting.”

“I got tired of copying serious books, so I copied some old ones,” Yan Yu joked.

Li Xuemei smiled, knowing her daughter could adjust herself. Her eldest was not one to get stuck on things.

…

“Uncle, may I come in?” Yan Yu peeked in from the doorway.

Hearing a response, she glanced at the notebook in her hand, straightened her posture, and entered her uncle’s room.

Yan Huaiwen was writing something using their homemade paper.

“Uncle, I have something for you to see.” She handed over the bound notebook.

Yan Huaiwen put down his pen, looked at the content, and raised an eyebrow.

“Where did this come from?”

Yan Yu recited the speech she had rehearsed countless times in her mind: “It’s from our family. I copied it from a book.”

“Where is the book?” Yan Huaiwen asked.

Yan Yu displayed her nervousness vividly.

“Uncle, please don’t be angry. The book… was made into paper.” Before her uncle could speak again, she quickly explained, “It wasn’t intentional. Dad never mentioned it, and he might have forgotten. The books were tattered, with missing pages and wormholes…

We didn’t know they were useful, so since we had copied them, and we were making paper, we… tied them in a bag and threw them in the river!”

Yan Huaiwen flipped through the notebook again.

Indeed, Yan Yu hadn’t followed her mother’s advice to bring only the selected three pages. Instead, she brought the entire notebook of prescriptions she had copied.

Both she and Li Xuemei had such notebooks.

She was grateful she hadn’t been lazy back then and had followed her mother’s advice to copy the books.

Yan Huaiwen asked, “Did your dad bring them home? Where did he get them?”

“Mom said they’ve been at home for years. She’s not sure when Dad brought them back. She didn’t dare touch his things, and when we moved to Guanzhou, she saw there was writing on them, so she packed them up,” Yan Yu said cautiously.

Yan Huaiwen pondered for a moment. It did seem like something Tianyou would do.

(End of Chapter)

---

Translator’s Notes

---

1. autumn executions: In imperial China, ‘autumn executions’ (qiuzhan 秋斩) refers to the traditional practice of carrying out death sentences during the autumn and winter months. This was rooted in the ‘Five Elements’ theory, where autumn—a season of decay and falling leaves—represented the natural time for death and punishment, whereas spring and summer were seasons of growth and mercy. Most capital crimes required a final review by the central government (Ministry of Justice) before the ‘autumn execution’ period, though certain administrative regions or fiefdoms had more autonomy. ↩
2. Month of Slaughter: The ‘Month of Slaughter’ (duantuyue 断屠月) refers to specific months in the lunar calendar (traditionally the 1st, 5th, and 9th months) during which the killing of animals and the execution of criminals were prohibited. These periods were influenced by Buddhist and Taoist beliefs regarding mercy and the accumulation of merit. Combined with ‘fasting days,’ these prohibitions created a legal calendar that restricted when the state could legally carry out a death sentence. ↩
3. ten fasting days: The ‘ten fasting days’ (shizhairi 十斋日) are specific days of the lunar month (1st, 8th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 23rd, 24th, 28th, 29th, and 30th) derived from Buddhist tradition. On these days, it was believed that heavenly officials inspected the mortal realm to record good and evil deeds. Consequently, secular law often forbade executions and the slaughter of livestock on these dates to avoid bad karma and show reverence to the divine. ↩
4. frostbitten eggplant: The phrase ‘frostbitten eggplant’ (shuangda de qiezi 霜打的茄子) is a common Chinese idiom used to describe someone who looks listless, dejected, or drooping. Just as an eggplant wilts and loses its firmness after a frost, the term vividly illustrates a person who has lost their energy or spirit due to a setback or emotional exhaustion. ↩