Chapter One: Upheaval

“Elder sister, can this be eaten?”
Twelve-year-old Chunyan ran up to Chunnuan, clutching a handful of green leaves and tiny yellow flowers, and asked.
“No, that’s called Heartbreak Grass,” Chunnuan replied, ending the conversation. “Throw it away quickly and wash your hands thoroughly by the stream.”
There was no other way. Her eldest sister was already married, so at fifteen, Chunnuan was the oldest at home. She led Chunyan to the stream, watching her wash her hands clean. Just as they stood up, behind them, Chunshu presented a foul-smelling peony blossom.
“Elder sister, what flower is this? Can it be eaten?”
“Smell it. Do you think you could eat it?”
They couldn’t recognize anything and needed to ask her about everything. She had to look after their safety—afraid they might fall, get bitten by insects or ants, or, worst of all, unwittingly shove some poisonous herb into their mouths and wipe out all twelve members of the family in a single pot.
Taking two novices up the mountain to gather wild vegetables—she felt it was a punishment.
They weren’t afraid of hardship or dirt, which was good, but perhaps next time she wouldn’t bring them.
“Elder sister, are we really useless?”
A string of setbacks left the two young girls crestfallen and dispirited. “Grandmother said we used to learn music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but now that disaster has struck, none of it is useful. The whole family relies on you to forage for wild vegetables to stave off hunger.”
“Chunyan, Chunshu, every inch has its purpose, every ruler its flaw. This simply isn’t your strength.” Chunnuan pulled out dandelion and fish mint from her bamboo basket and handed them to her sisters. “Each of you take one. If you find anything that looks and smells the same, dig it up.”
“Alright, elder sister, we understand.”
The two girls regained their fighting spirit and continued searching for tonight’s meal.
Chunnuan watched their figures and felt her nose sting inexplicably.
Who could have imagined that, just a month ago, they were granddaughters of Imperial Physician Xiao, the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau in the capital? Not quite heiresses, but certainly ladies of distinguished families. They learned music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, and cooking from their female tutors, waiting quietly to grow up and marry into families of equal standing as young noblewomen.
Chunnuan herself was once promised to the legitimate second son of Lord Zhang, an official at the Court of Judicial Review, with the wedding planned for August 19th. But who could have foreseen it—her grandfather was implicated in the emperor’s favorite concubine’s false pregnancy scandal, executed at the Meridian Gate, and every male member over twelve exiled to the northern desert, forbidden from taking the imperial exams for three generations. Thanks to the Empress Dowager’s mercy, the women were allowed to return to their ancestral home in Shu under Grandmother’s care. The Zhang family broke off the engagement, and the Xiao family had nothing to say. If her elder sister, Chunying, hadn’t been pregnant, she would likely have been repudiated by the Wu family as well.
They had hoped that their grandfather’s years of kindness to the clan would grant them sanctuary.
Yet, Grandmother couldn’t even enter the Xiao clan’s gates; the clan leader expelled their branch altogether.
Grandmother fainted in anger right then and there.
Fortunately, her aunt kept her composure. She pawned their best clothes for a few taels of silver, rented a rundown courtyard behind the town, and settled the whole family. The silver barely covered rent, household necessities, and a few pounds of coarse grain before running dry.
The household truly had nothing. If it weren’t early summer, all twelve would freeze to death.
With no food, Chunnuan joined the neighborhood girls and young wives to forage for wild vegetables. Having never cared much for music, chess, calligraphy, or painting, she had always preferred reading and tinkering with herbs—now she was the pillar of the family.
Chunyan and Chunshu, seeing how hard their elder sister worked, volunteered to come along. In hindsight, bringing them was just another burden.
From the moment her grandfather fell, the Xiao family’s path became nothing but hardship and peril.
With a sigh, Chunnuan continued her search.
Yes, she wasn’t just gathering wild vegetables; she hoped to find medicinal herbs to prepare and sell at the pharmacy, earning a little extra for the household.
“Elder sister, look, is this the same?”

Chunyan called out to her from the stream. Chunnuan hurried over to look.
“Smell it—does it have the same scent?”
“Mm, it does, though it smells bad.”
“Bad-smelling or not, it's still a wild vegetable. There’s a good patch here, dig carefully and don’t hurt your hands.”
Chunnuan crouched down and used a wooden stick to pry up the fish mint. They didn’t even have proper tools for foraging—everything had to be improvised.
Chunshu, hearing there were plenty of wild vegetables, hurried over as well. The three sisters sweated together, finally managing to fill a small basket.
“Elder sister, is this enough for tonight?”
“This can keep for a few days. Keep searching; I’ll wash what we’ve found.”
Chunnuan crouched by the stream to wash the fish mint, thinking that crystal-clear water never harbors fish. Surely this stream wouldn’t… Wait, what was that?
A huge crab.
Chunnuan tossed the fish mint aside, kicked off her embroidered shoes, rolled up her trousers, and carefully crept toward the stone where the crab hid: Tonight’s meal would have an extra dish!
She moved the stone aside, startling the crab, which tried to escape.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Chunnuan chased after it relentlessly, pouncing again and again, ignoring the water soaking her clothes, until she finally caught it.
“Ah!” Her finger throbbed with pain, and she couldn’t help but cry out.
“Elder sister…”
Chunyan and Chunshu rushed over, alarmed. “Elder sister, what happened?”
“My hand—my hand!”
The creature wouldn’t let go, no matter how she shook it!
Chunnuan slammed her hand against a roadside stone, but the crab held on stubbornly.
“Elder sister, what do we do, elder sister…” Ten-year-old Chunshu was so frightened she cried out for help: “Someone, someone, please help my elder sister!”
And indeed, a group of young men came running over.
“Hahaha, got pinched by a crab!”
“Look, they’re so scared they’re crying.”
“Whose young ladies are these, catching crabs in the river?”
Four or five youths stood by the stream, laughing and watching the commotion.
Chunnuan was furious, embarrassed, and in pain, unsure how to respond.
“Miss, if you put your hand back in the water, the crab will let go on its own,” called out Zhao Minghua, who’d been watching from afar and couldn’t help himself.

“No, if I let it go in the water, it’ll escape.”
Chunnuan actually knew this solution, but she wasn’t confident she could catch the crab again if it got away. She couldn’t take that risk.
“You…” Zhao Minghua was stunned: She seemed like a fine young lady, but was she foolish?
“Is the crab more important, or your fingers?” Zhao Minghua pressed, “If it keeps pinching, your fingers will bleed.”
He had a point.
But she couldn’t let the crab pinch her for nothing.
Seeing the little bamboo basket nearby, she quickly dumped out the fish mint, put her hand and the crab into the basket, then submerged it in the water.
Sure enough, the crab released its grip as soon as it felt the water.
Ignoring her pain, Chunnuan hurriedly pulled the basket out.
“Thank goodness—it’s still here.”
“Elder sister, are you alright?”
Chunshu, her cheeks streaked with tears, ran over to check Chunnuan’s hand.
“I’m fine,” she assured her gently, wiping away Chunshu’s tears. “Don’t cry; tonight we can have an extra dish.”
“Elder sister?”
“Look, a crab—we can cook a soup tonight.”
“Elder sister,” Chunyan’s eyes reddened too.
“No matter, let’s go home.”
Chunnuan slipped on her embroidered shoes, divided the clean fish mint into five portions, letting each sister grab a handful, while she took the rest in her left hand, bamboo basket in her right, often glancing at it to make sure the crab hadn’t climbed out.
Passing the group of young men, Chunnuan paid them no heed.
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil—their gawking at her embarrassment was their own lapse.
As she walked past Zhao Minghua in the distance, Chunnuan nodded and thanked him softly.
“Thank you, young master, for your kind words just now.”
“No need for thanks.” After the three sisters had passed, the youth suddenly called out, “Are you relatives of Imperial Physician Xiao from the capital?”