Fergus view
When we arrived at the estate, Mum instructed me to take the smelly trader in to have food, a bath, and clean clothes, which the man was to keep. So, I helped the man out and took him to the kitchen. Ying was there with 'Grandma' cooking food for everyone.
"Ying, we are home," I greeted her with a kiss.
She pushed me away, "There's no time for that, you silly man!" she said with a smile while putting down the tea towel that she had been holding when we had come in, "I take it, Mum wants me to take the kids?"
"Probably," I said, "All I know was I was sent here to feed this man."
Ying looked at him in horror, "Oh, you poor man!" she exclaimed, "Come in and sit down. Grandma will feed you. I have to go get the children out of the palanquin for Mama." and she sat him down on the stool, placing a bowl of water in front of him.
Seeing his confused look, "It's to wash your hands, dear," she said in explanation, "Fergus, you take over the explanations. I need to help your Mama as soon as possible. You know she always comes back in a terrible state after shopping! I do not know why she insists on doing these things. First, I better tell Xin that she is home."
"Ok," I agreed and stepped back out of her way. It continually astonished me that I was treated as a man when in my time, I was a kid - probably considered an irresponsible teenager. Here, as soon as I had been found to be General Fang's adopted son, women began to throw themselves at me. It was too much for me to handle.
When I had brought my concern to Mum, she suggested getting engaged to Ying, so I did. To my surprise and relief, the announcement of our engagement stopped all the women throwing themselves at me, enabling both Ying and I to grow at our own pace. At first, it was one of convenience for both her and me, but now it had turned to genuine affection between us.
I could imagine spending my life with her.
I just wanted to feel like a man first. At present, I still feel like a boy, very dependent on my friend's mother.
I sat down on the stool next to the man and ate with him what Grandma had brought over for us. I only ate so that he would not feel so awkward being the only one eating. It seemed to bring the man comfort.
"When do you think I could show my wares?" the man asked as he stuffed his mouth full of food.
"Oh, when Mum gets up again, I guess," I responded, "First, she wants you to settle in here by eating, then bathing and changing clothes."
"There's no need," the man objected, "I just cleaned myself with that basin water, and the clothes I am wearing still have plenty of life in them."
I smiled, "No, Mum wants you to have a proper bath. Pretend you are royalty while you are here, as everyone is required to bathe each day. Usually, though, three people share a bath, but today you will have one all to yourself. After that, you will be the third person after two family members.
We also have a standard of dress, and your rags do not fit it. Everyone who comes here is given clothes if the ones they wear are not suitable. And yours, I am afraid, are too worn. They are clearly overworn. If you really want to keep them, you can, but you will be expected to wear the pair of clothes given to you while you are here."
Bao Li view
"Pair of clothes?" I repeated in awe. I was to be given not one but two pairs of clothes! Mind you, I had not seen them yet, but after seeing all the people who had been in the yard, I imagined that the clothes they would provide would be high quality.
"Yes," the young red-haired man nodded, "For how else can they be washed each day?"
"What? Our clothes are washed each day too?" I asked. Not in all my years of assassinating had I ever been shown such kindness.
"Yes," Fergus nodded, "The women wash them after we have had our baths, and they get hung up in the breezeway or drying room to dry. Come on then; I will show you to the bathing room. It seems you have finished eating now."
I nodded and followed him. To my surprise, the bathing room was behind the kitchen. I had never seen such a setup. It seemed like the water appeared like magic out of a round hole that had a tap like was seen on wine barrels, except in a metal I had not seen before. The taps on kegs tended to be wooden.
Steam was coming out of one of the taps as if it was hot water. It must have been as when Fergus felt the water, he nodded and said, "That should be cold enough. Come on then, take off your clothes and get in. Here's a cloth to scrub yourself with. There's a towel over there. Only use one of them." He waved to a pile of towels that had been laid out, "and over there is the change of clothes you can change into." he indicated to a single clean pile of clothes that were blue in colour.
"What material is that?" I asked him, as it was not the traditional material that was known for poor people, and it was not silk either.
"It is called cotton; it was something Mum chased down, especially for our family. Most of us are considered common folk, but General Fang is of noble birth."
"I see," I nodded thoughtfully, "It looks nice." I had undressed by then and lowered myself into the pleasantly warm and fragrant bath. "What is this smell? It smells familiar," I asked, knowing that this was a scent I should know, but as I could not afford to bathe often, I could not place the smell.
"It's chamomile and vanilla," The red-haired man said with a smile, "Mum makes us use this when we are particularly dirty. It helps soothe the itch caused by the removal of the layers of dirt."
"Hmmm, no wonder the scent was familiar," I murmured. I had drunk it in tea, but I would never have imagined its use in a bath. I leaned back and relaxed in the water.
"I will leave you to it then," he said, "When you are finished, put everything in the baskets over in the corner, the clothes in one and the towel in the other. Grandma will show you where to come after that."
"Thanks," I murmured but had a sudden thought, so I sat bolt upright and looked at him, "You're Mum, is she alright? I take it by how people were fussing she isn't."
"You're right, she is not in good health, and there is nothing we can do for her, but we love her anyway."
"I see," I said and leaned back again thoughtfully.
"If that is all, I will go. I need to help Ying look after my brother and sister," he said.
I sat up in surprise again, looking at him, "You mean those kids are General Fangs?"
"Yes," He nodded, "Mum nearly died having them."
"They are to his wife?" I questioned, still astonished at such an occurrence.
"Well, yes... who else would they be to? He can't stand women, you know," he said.
"I know, so who is his wife?" I wondered as I did not think it could have been that lovely lady who picked me up. I figured the Mama's that had been spoken by those kids were out of courtesy or something as she was too young looking to possibly be the old hag that was described to me.
A confused look filled the young man's face, "I do not understand the question. You travelled with her in the palanquin."
"Uff," I exclaimed and dunked myself in embarrassed contemplation. By the time I surfaced, the young man had gone, the door closed behind him, leaving me to my bath.
Fang Xin's view
I was out the back cutting wood for the many fireplaces, a job that never seemed to get done satisfactorily, but somehow come winter, we had cut and stored enough for the season. I had been worried all morning about Xinye as she never travelled well. This exercise was the best thing for me to occupy my thoughts and practice my martial arts.
Ying came mid-afternoon to fetch me, "Mama is back." she said. She had started calling Xinye Mama after becoming engaged to Fergus. Although she was not of noble birth, she was a good match. There was no deceit in her, only the want to please the family she was marrying into.
I hurried out to the palanquin, worried at the state in which I would find her.
"Mama, we are here," Ying called.
"Oh good," a pained sigh came out, "Go play with your sister-in-law Ying, Jaun and Li Wei. Be good."
"Yes, Mama!" the pair chimed as they climbed out, "Baba!" they squealed, seeing me. Li Wei threw herself at me. I nearly missed catching her as her trust in me was so great she just jumped.
"Li Wei," I scolded her, "How many times have I said to wait?"
"But you always catch me, Baba!" she giggled, kissing my face before wiggling to get down.
"Juan's turn!" she demanded, leaving way for her brother to jump.
"It's ok," Juan said from beside Ying, "Ying got me down, besides which Baba needs to help Mama. Mama needs to go rest." surprising me with his maturity.
Li Wei's face scrunched up, "Yes, Baba, help Mama. We will go with Ying."
"Ok, dear ones," I smiled at them as they walked away before turning my attention to Xinye, "Xinye? Do you need help to get out? or can you get out?
"I can get out, but it isn't going to be pretty." I sighed. It meant she wouldn't be able to walk well. How I wished I could spare her the indignity of her disability and pain. "But before I move, I must tell you, I have promised the Blacksmith and his family that our family would go back for them today and bring them to be looked after here. They are too sick to look after themselves."
"Where will they sleep?" I asked. I wondered as all our family rooms were now full.
"In the main hall," she said, "Just set up the cots we had there for when we treated everyone with the variolation technique." she paused for a bit as if she was thinking, before saying, "I am wondering when we should do our babies. I do not know what age a good age is to do it, but I feel they are too young yet. Perhaps when they are 7?"
"Let's go with that then," I said, trusting her judgement. We, as a community, had been spared from the last smallpox wave as she had vaccinated everyone via variolation. Everyone in the town was initially hesitant at the idea, but as she had been so kind to everyone in that town, they put their faith in her and had done it. It just meant that we were caring for the town in waves. When we were caring for them, we had cots made, and they were placed in the main hall.
We only did the variolation according to the number of cots we had made up. Thankfully we had enough water and food to do it. Afterward, the town folk tended to give us food and items for free, but we always paid them back in another way since they would not accept the currency. In a way, we were in a circle of thankfulness, and I felt blessed because of it.
Xinye crawled out and swung her feet over the edge. I was so pleased to see her. I took her into my arms and kissed her, "I love you, Xinye!" I said with a thankful smile, "I do not know what I would do without you!" and with that started carrying my now furiously blushing wife to our room.
"You!" she said, smiling at me with her arms wrapped around my neck, "I do not know how I would be without you now too." She frowned then, "Will you look after the blacksmith's family for me?"
"Yes, my love," I assured her, hoping to see her sunny smile again, and my assurance worked as her face lit up in relief.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said, kissing my face all over, causing me to nearly drop her.
I laughed, "Careful silly." and she stopped, laying her head on my shoulder and closing her eyes.
"I don't think I will be up again till tomorrow," she murmured, "sorry for leaving you so much work."
"It's ok, my love. I will take care of everything," and I took her to our bed and gently placed her on it before closing the door to our room, undressing her, and redressing her in her night clothes. From experience, when she said things like that, her predictions were accurate.
Once I had done this for her, I sat briefly, tenderly stroking her hair out of her face, tidying it up so it would not get messy and knotted before I kissed her goodbye to hurry off to carry out her request.
🍀A/N If you enjoyed this chapter, please take the time to vote by pressing the star. Please let me know if you see any errors, as this is unedited.