The Double

Trader Zhang watched Jiang Li with some distraction.

He knew these two young girls, had recognized them for years now, ever since hearing they were daughters of a noble family sent to this temple after making some mistakes. But judging by their clothing, it was really hard to believe they came from a rich household. The maidservant seemed more lively, and the young mistress was prone to anger. Every time Trader Zhang finished selling his goods, he would hastily leave. This was actually the first time he saw Jiang Li speaking to him so pleasantly.

Now that she spoke in such a gentle manner, she really did resemble a lady from a noble family. But saying she was from the Chief Minister's Family was a bit too much.

Despite his doubts, Trader Zhang was in a hurry to get to another place. He originally thought Jiang Li was just joking and would not really spend all her money on cakes. After all, anyone could see that the lives of the two servants here were anything but affluent. A typical wealthy family spending forty strings of copper coins on cakes was of course no problem, but for two children barely able to keep warm, it seemed quite unreasonable.

"If you buy so many cakes, they'll spoil if you can't finish them," Trader Zhang couldn't help but remind her.

"It doesn't matter," Jiang Li said. "We'll finish them."

With the conversation at this point, Trader Zhang stopped saying anything else. The copper coins were someone else's, after all. Jiang Li had bought nearly half of the cakes he carried, so he could get down the mountain and return home earlier. He was too happy to worry. Why should he?

However, Tonger, although confused by Jiang Li's words, presumably never disobeyed Jiang Li's orders. She suppressed her anxiety and waited until they returned with a huge drawer of cakes. Passersby nuns dressed in gray would glance at her from time to time, making Tonger worry they might try to snatch them, so she clutched the cakes even tighter.

Once back in their damp room, Tonger placed the basket of cakes on the table, closed the door, and finally couldn't hold back her question: "Miss, why did you buy so many... these?"

Jiang Li did not look at her. She pushed open the window, which faced the rolling hills of Green City Mountain, with its peaks undulating. The snow from winter had already melted away, and the peach blossoms scattered across the usually solemn mountains colored them with a layer of rosy clouds, as if a beauty of tender grace and ultimate allure.

"Look," she pointed to something in the distance for Tonger to see.

Tonger came closer and saw, on a peach tree in the distance, a palm-sized monkey with a curled tail, enthusiastically munching on a fruit.

"It's a monkey," Tonger said, puzzled. "What's so interesting about a monkey?"

Green City Mountain had many monkeys, which were mischievous on a regular basis. The monkeys here generally got along well with people, especially around Helin Temple, where worshippers came and went endlessly. Sometimes, when they saw monkeys playing in the trees, they would throw them peanuts, sweets, and such like. Food was scarce in the winter so the monkeys begged more frequently from visitors. In spring and summer, they had plenty to eat and didn't bother the visitors, content to play on their own.

But at the nunnery, it was usually quiet, and it was rare for monkeys to come here—places with no food were not fun or enticing.

"Go get some cakes," Jiang Li instructed.

Tonger obeyed and brought back a few pieces of walnut cakes.

Jiang Li broke the walnut cakes into small pieces and waved them from afar towards the monkey in the tree. Perhaps the cakes from Trader Zhang were indeed delicious, as the fragrance of the walnuts quickly attracted the little curled-tail monkey. It scampered to the window in a few bounds, eyeing the walnut cakes in Jiang Li's hands warily, hesitant to approach.

Jiang Li then reached out a little further, and finally, the monkey could not resist the temptation of the walnut cake. It touched a piece, turned and ran, eating the cake behind a rock away from Jiang Li's view. After finishing, it turned back to look at Jiang Li, seeing her still smiling and standing by the window with some broken cakes in her hand, and its courage grew. It turned back to Jiang Li to find more to eat.

After a few goings back and forth, once the monkeys had felt all around Jiang Li's hands for any food and found none left, Jiang Li clapped her hands at the bold, curled-tail monkey to indicate she had nothing more. The monkey reluctantly glanced at Jiang Li's palm for a while before it left with its tail held high.

Tonger, who had witnessed the whole process, asked, "Miss, did you want to feed the monkeys? Why use pastries? Wouldn't wild fruits picked from the mountains be better? These pastries are expensive, not worth it."

Not to mention the personal maid of the Grand Secretary's daughter, even when Jiang Li or Xue Fangfei had been young ladies in Tongxiang with their own maids, they would never have regretted a few pastries. If others saw this, who knows how much they would sigh. Jiang Li reached out and rubbed Tonger's head, smiling, "But compared to wild fruits, monkeys prefer tasty treats, don't they?"

Tonger had more to say, but Jiang Li had already turned and sat down at the table. There was only one stool in the room, which Tonger had made herself from some wood she found outside, and even that had unsteady legs. "Tonger," Jiang Li said, "starting tomorrow, you'll take these pastries to feed the monkeys."

Tonger's eyes widened in surprise. "Miss, why would you do this? I don't understand."

People can barely get enough to eat, yet we've to care for monkeys? What kind of reasoning is that?

"I need these monkeys to do something for me," Jiang Li chuckled, "think of these pastries as the fee for their services."

"But..."

"They're only a few pastries," Jiang Li interrupted, "when we return, the kitchen can make new ones for you every day, don't worry about these few."

Tonger fell silent. Talking about returning to the capital must have been even sadder for Jiang Li than for her; Tonger dared not say anything that might upset Jiang Li.

"These pastries," Jiang Li tapped the basket containing them, filling the room with their fragrance. Every day, their meals were only thin porridge and pickled vegetables, the aroma had long since stoked their hunger. Suppressing the hunger in her own belly, Jiang Li said, "divide these pastries into fifteen portions and feed the monkeys one portion each day until the nineteenth. After that day, you don't need to feed them anymore."

Tonger was puzzled but still replied obediently, "I understand."

"Helin Temple is half a shichen's journey from here," Jiang Li said, "Since I cannot leave the nunnery's gates during the day, you must go. Leave every day during the Hai Hour, bring the pastries to the woods behind Helin Temple, and feed the monkeys there until the nineteenth. That evening, you don't need to go anymore."

It seemed as if Venerable Master Jing'an might have been instructed by someone else. Jiang Li was not allowed to step beyond the gate, with every move being watched by others. But Tonger was free to wander around, chopping wood in the mountains by day. After six years on Green City Mountain, Tonger knew the paths exceedingly well and was not afraid of getting lost.

The mountain was often visited by noblewomen coming to offer incense, ensuring safety was paramount, and bandits were rare, making it very safe. Otherwise, Jiang Li would have worried about Tonger venturing out at night.

After hearing all of Jiang Li's instructions, Tonger suddenly asked, "Miss, are you doing all this because you're planning to return to the capital?"

Jiang Li looked at her with a smile, "Are you scared?"

At her question, Tonger wasn't frightened at all; instead, she appeared eager and enthusiastic, with a great deal of boldness and willingness to go through with the plan. She clenched her fists eagerly, "Not scared! I've been wanting to do this for a long time!"

"Very good," Jiang Li nodded in approval, "Let's begin tonight."