Chapter 47 Great Harmony

A few coughs came from inside the room. After quite a long while, a refined and thin middle-aged man finally opened the door and walked out.

He paused at the doorway, squinted to recognize who had come, and then stepped forward to unlatch the slightly ajar wooden fence.

The wooden picket gate was only waist-high, and the courtyard wall was also very low, allowing anyone outside to easily see into the courtyard.

The courier from the postal agency clearly recognized him. Seeing him approach, the courier grinned broadly, "Master Pan, you've got another letter. This one was sent from Guangxin Prefecture in Jiangxi."

Pan Hong thanked him. As he took the letter, he tried hard to recall what friends or relatives he might have in Guangxin Prefecture.

As usual, he corrected the courier, "Just call me by my name directly. Don't call me Master. If you don't mind, you can call me Uncle Pan instead."

The courier responded with a smiling face, yet he would still address him the same way the next time.

Their manager had given strict instructions to treat customers with courtesy, especially those people in the exile village. Although most of them were disgraced officials and their family members, as long as they weren't facing capital crimes, who knew when they might be summoned back and reinstated?

Therefore, it was better to smile more and bow deeper than to inadvertently offend someone, which could result in losing business or even one's head for no apparent reason.

After seeing the courier off, Pan Hong walked back into the room while carefully examining the envelope in his hand.

His brows furrowed deeply as he found the handwriting on the envelope extremely familiar. Why did it look so much like his youngest daughter's script?

Uncertain, Pan Hong unfolded the letter while comforting himself that it was probably just a coincidence in handwriting and shouldn't be his youngest daughter.

As the letter opened, a thin banknote remittance slip fluttered out. He glanced at it and saw it was for a hundred taels.

Without taking time to inspect it further, he hurriedly turned his attention to the letter.

As he unfolded the letter and read more of the words, his heart turned cold. He glanced at the beginning of the letter and skipped directly to the signature at the end.

His heart sank—it truly was Yun'er.

After reading through the entire letter, tears were welling up in Pan Hong's eyes. "Why did she go to Guangxin Prefecture alone? And practicing Daoism... What about the second brother's family? Could my affair have implicated the second brother after all? And what about Mother...?"

Unable to help himself, Pan Hong stamped his foot, cried out "Oh dear!", and paced back and forth in anxiety.

Regrettably, his youngest daughter was in a state of feigned death; otherwise, he could have openly replied to ask or written to other relatives and friends.

The child used many metaphors in her letter—was it because of this very concern?

With no news of the second brother's situation, whom should he ask about this matter?

"Practicing Daoism at Mount Sanqing? Could she have left with those two Daoist priests she met back then?" For a moment, various possibilities flashed through Pan Hong's mind.

Had his own troubles implicated the second brother's family, causing his youngest daughter to escape, encounter the two Daoist priests, and be taken away by them?

Or perhaps the second brother's family, fearful that the youngest daughter's involvement would be exposed, handed her over to the two Daoist priests to take away?

Surely it couldn't be that his daughter possessed a natural talent for Daoism, caught the eyes of the two priests at first sight, and was spirited away to become a Daoist cultivator?

Yet, back then, he had merely asked them to look after the Pan family and ideally escort them back to Changzhou Prefecture, not to turn his own daughter into a Daoist practitioner!

Pan Hong suffered internal torment, both worrying that his daughter might genuinely have become a Daoist nun and hoping for the third scenario, which would mean Pan Yun's situation was at least not the worst-case scenario and implied she had the second brother's family as a backing behind her.

He read her letter carefully once more, then looked back at the remittance slip, his mind racing even further. As a mere child, where on earth had she gotten so much money?

She even wrote that if he encountered any difficulties, he should write to her and she would figure something out.

At that moment, even more thoughts swirled in Pan Hong's mind.

"Dad—Second Uncle has sent us a letter and some things!" Pan Yu, dressed in short-sleeved work clothes, ran in carrying a bundle, followed by Pan Yue, who was shouldering a large parcel.

Pan Hong hurriedly stood up. "Where is the letter?"

Pan Yue put down the hemp sack from his shoulder, drew the letter from his bosom, and handed it over.

The moment he touched it, Pan Hong knew the letter had been unsealed and inspected.

His expression changed slightly, but he said nothing.

Such was the fate of exiled officials, especially those like him who had offended the Embroidered Uniform Guard; the authorities would periodically inspect the letters and items sent to and from him.

Although they acted covertly, who was Pan Hong? He had formerly been a Censor-in-Chief and was well-acquainted with these practices.

Pan涛 (Pan Tao) had returned to his ancestral home in Changzhou Prefecture.

The very first thing he did upon settling down was to write a letter to Pan Hong. Omitting any mention of Pan Yun, he detailed all the major events of the past month without avoiding the surveillance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

These matters could be easily verified by investigation; he was merely stating the facts to his elder brother, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard could do nothing to him.

The letter stated that ever since Pan Hong's exile, their family could hardly make ends meet in the capital and had already decided to return to their hometown.

Not long ago, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had broken into their home under the pretext of searching for concealed family members of criminals... Life in the capital had become truly unbearable, so Pan Tao had decided to take their elderly mother and return to the ancestral home in Changzhou.

Pan Tao did not know how to tell Pan Hong that their little niece had vanished without a trace shortly after leaving, leaving her fate currently unknown, let alone how to explain the miraculous occurrences surrounding her.

Fearing that Pan Hong, far away in Datong, would worry, he could only tell him against his conscience that everything at home was well and that, despite twists and turns, arrangements had been made both inside and out, so there was no need for anxiety.

Having finished the letter, Pan Hong had already regained his composure. He looked at the remittance slip again; such a large sum of money would not be easy to produce, even for the second brother.

Yun'er was merely a child who had left home alone—where on earth did she get so much money?

Pan Hong said to his two sons, "Bring me the brush and ink; I need to write a letter."

Seeing the remittance slip, Pan Yu's eyes lit up. He stepped closer and asked, "Dad, which uncle sent this? He's so rich!"

Pan Hong, who had intended to hold onto the remittance slip without using it temporarily and wait for Pan Yun's reply, raised his head and caught sight of his younger son's emaciated, sunken face. His throat instantly felt as though it had been sealed with cement, and it took a long time before he found his voice.

"It... it was sent by a friend. I'll tell you about it later, don't go shouting about it." He handed the remittance slip to his eldest son and said, "You and Yu take a trip to the money shop later and draw out the money. We want ninety taels in banknotes, all in small denominations. As for the rest, exchange it for scattered silver or copper coins. Bring the money back first, and when we have time another day, we'll go purchase supplies."

Pan Yue agreed, taking the remittance slip and putting it away safely.

"The code phrase for withdrawing the money is 'The frosty bamboo defies the biting year's cold.' Go quickly, before the village head comes looking around."

Pan Yue was surprised upon hearing the code phrase, and Pan Yu let out a direct exclamation, "Dad, isn't this Little Sister's name?"

Pan Hong waved his hand at the two of them. "Enough nonsense, go quickly."

Pan Yue pulled Pan Yu outside. Feeling that something wasn't quite right, Pan Yu tugged at his eldest brother and asked, "Who is this? Why are they using our little sister's name as a code phrase?"

"Talk less once you step out the door."

This exile village was a mixed bag of dragon and snake, and with their little sister's peculiar situation, it was best for them to mention her as little as possible.

Pan Yu had no choice but to swallow his words back into his heart.

The two of them, clutching the remittance slip and the code phrase, headed to the money shop to draw the funds. This was by far the largest remittance slip they had ever received.

Even when their second uncle sent them money for the very first time, it hadn't amounted to this much.

Ah, what a pity they hadn't been able to keep that money either; it had all gone to benefit others. Afterwards, they could only tell their second uncle to send goods and provisions instead of money.

Despite these instructions, whenever Pan Tao sent them letters and items, he would still slip in a few small-denomination banknotes or silver bills, hoping that at least one or two might fall into their hands.

The people inspecting the letters seemed to know better than to drain the pond to catch the fish, always leaving behind one or two bills to entice their benefactor into continuing to send money.

They and their second uncle knew full well that those funds were simply "lost" after being checked by the yamen runners. Though furious, they couldn't possibly stop receiving shipments altogether.

Exiled officials had even their avenues for lodging complaints completely sealed off; if they dared to appeal upward, they would be subjected to the executioner's staff.

Neither their father nor the two brothers were in a physical state to withstand that currently.

As long as it only involved a small personal interest, the father and sons could endure it.

Pan Yu thought that anyone capable of sending such a large remittance slip—and actually letting it reach their hands—must possess unimaginable influence.

"To think Dad has such connections! It's amazing, simply amazing..."

Pan Yue said, "Just talk less. Aren't you hungry?"

"I'm starving. Big Brother, once we withdraw the money, let's buy some steamed buns to eat, bring some back for Dad, and buy a lot more rice and flour..."

They had been escorted all the way to Datong under guard, and as soon as they arrived, they fell ill. Yet, there was no time given for recuperation; they were immediately hauled off to the fields and military camps to do hard labor.

In all his fourteen years of growing up, Pan Yu had never suffered hardships like the ones he swallowed in one go this year.

He had never known that reclaiming wasteland and farming could be so exhausting, let alone that military corvee labor was not only grueling but also full of grievances.

In less than three months, the once robust and lively youth had been reduced to a bag of bones. His formerly chubby face now possessed sharp, angular features—one touch, and it was all bone.

Pan Yue felt a pang of heartache for his younger brother. After withdrawing the money according to their father's instructions, he led him to buy steamed buns to eat and purchased plenty of rice, flour, and cooking oil to take back.

Although their father had specified coming back tomorrow, they were currently under tight surveillance and could be summoned at any moment for military service or farm work. Their time was completely inflexible, so it was far better to buy the supplies now while they had a window of free time.

The two of them lugged back large and small packages. Meanwhile, Pan Hong had already finished writing two replies.

Pan Yu immediately stepped forward with enthusiasm, "Dad, let me go post the letters for you."