Li Yuangui suddenly stood up, strode to the central hall, first glanced at the dining table, then went to the door to lift the wooden lid of the water vat. Wei Shufen also walked to the entrance of the thatched wall and saw Li Yuangui sigh, bend down, and reach his arm into the vat to grab the ladle. He scooped up a ladleful, looked at it, shook his head, and poured it outside the door.
The vat was nearly empty, with too much sediment settled at the bottom—the scooped water couldn’t be drunk directly. The pot on the stove was also dry, though there were wooden buckets outside. Li Yuangui stepped out the door, just about to call out, "Yang—" when he abruptly swallowed his words.
What was wrong? Wei Shufen also walked to the door and peeked outside. Early that morning, after finishing the millet porridge, the two elderly women had called Yang Xinzhi to the vegetable garden—among the three newcomers, Yang Xinzhi was the one who got along best with the old women—and he hadn’t returned since. Was Li Yuangui trying to call his guard to fetch water from the well over there?
Following his gaze, Wei Shufen understood why he had stopped. Yang Xinzhi’s burly figure was busy with the two old women near… the manure pit. Though it wasn’t clear what they were doing, calling him back now would mean the fetched water wouldn’t be drinkable either.
The Tang prince heaved another heavy sigh, picked up the carrying pole leaning against the wall, and hooked two wooden buckets onto it. Wei Shufen hesitantly asked, "Fourteenth Young Master?"
Was he planning to fetch water from the well outside himself? Though the distance wasn’t far—just a few vegetable plots away—Wei Shufen doubted Li Yuangui had even witnessed servants fetching water or carrying loads more than a handful of times in his life, let alone performed such menial labor himself.
But with only the two of them in the house, it was clear Li Yuangui couldn’t expect her, the daughter of a chancellor, to do this work—especially since she was still injured. If he couldn’t bear his thirst, there was no other choice.
Wei Shufen leaned against the doorframe, watching Li Yuangui’s tall, slender figure sway unsteadily as he carried the buckets along the field ridges toward the well. The well had a wide mouth, its stone rim level with the ground, with a windlass frame above it. Li Yuangui set down the pole, took one bucket, and hung it on the rope hook dangling from the windlass, then turned the wooden handle to lower the bucket into the well.
Not bad—his movements were quite practiced. Wei Shufen assessed inwardly. After all, he was working on his own estate; putting in some effort wasn’t unreasonable.
Then things at the well took a turn for the worse… Across the vegetable plots, Wei Shufen couldn’t see clearly, but she noticed Li Yuangui first struggling with the windlass handle, failing after a few attempts, then letting go to grab the rope hanging into the well. He swayed back and forth, and it was unclear what he was doing.
His gaze fixed solely on the well, his body leaned forward, tilting further and further until Wei Shufen felt a pang of alarm. Just as she was about to shout for him to be careful, a startled cry rang out—the young prince’s slender frame plunged headfirst into the well.
"Ah—help!"
Wei Shufen screamed and sprinted toward the well. Paying no heed to the mud staining her shoes and socks, she lifted her skirts and stumbled her way to the well’s edge. There, she saw Li Yuangui already flailing above the water, one hand pressing down on the bucket while the other tugged at the rope, trying to climb up. But the rope was wound tightly around the windlass—each pull from inside the well only caused it to unwind further.In truth, there weren’t many loops of rope left on the pulley. Wei Shufen grew impatient and reached out, wanting to pull Li Yuangui up herself. She was considerably shorter than him, with shorter arms, and standing at the edge of the well, she could barely grasp the rope. Bending slightly forward—
"Get back!"
The shout echoed up from the well. Wei Shufen looked down and realized she was about to fall in herself. She quickly steadied herself and stepped back. If she fell in now and landed on Li Yuangui, it wouldn’t help at all. In such cold weather, if the two of them stayed soaked in the water for long, they’d both fall seriously ill once pulled out.
"Go find Yang Da!" Li Yuangui’s muffled voice continued from the well. Wei Shufen thought, Right! and immediately turned to run toward the manure pit at the other end of the garden. Rounding the outhouse, she saw Yang Xinzhi, who had already heard her earlier scream, sprinting toward her. She mustered all her strength and shouted:
"Fourteenth Young Master fell into the well—!"
...
"Why didn’t you shout any louder…"
After Yang Xinzhi and the others hastily pulled Li Yuangui out of the well with the rope, they first stripped off his soaked outer robe and helped him back into the house to lie on the heated brick bed. An old woman found a tattered felt blanket to wrap around him, while another exclaimed, "Heavens, we must boil water quickly for him to wash!" The three of them hurried out—some to fetch water, others to gather firewood—leaving Wei Shufen to tend to Li Yuangui inside. He lay sprawled on the bed, coughing and spitting up water for a long while before finally catching his breath. Weakly, he muttered:
"Louder… loud enough for the Supreme Polarity Hall to hear…"
Even in such a wretched state, he still cared about saving face. Wei Shufen shot him a glare as he quietly explained how he’d fallen into the well—he had lowered the wooden bucket, but it refused to cooperate, drifting aimlessly on the water’s surface and failing to scoop any water. He shook the rope vigorously a few times, only for the hook to slip free from the bucket handle. The rope slid slickly upward in his grip. In his panic, he tried to loop it back around—only for his feet to slip on the wet stone well edge, sending him tumbling in. Achoo!
This was bad. He needed a hot bath, fast.
Wei Shufen walked to the main door and peered outside. Yang Xinzhi and one of the old women were busy by the well, while the other hadn’t even reached the firewood shed yet. The large stove in the main room was cold, though flint, a fire steel, and dry tinder lay on its surface.
I should start the fire first, add a little water to the pot, and once they bring back more firewood and water, we can add it in. That’ll be faster, Wei Shufen thought. She grabbed some straw and wheat stalks from behind the door and stuffed them into the stove’s mouth. Crouching down, she ignored the pain in her left arm and struck the flint to light the tinder.
During family outings, she and her younger brother had learned fire-starting from their father and had practiced it many times. She successfully ignited a small flame, but the stove’s chamber lacked airflow. The fire only licked weakly at the straw, failing to catch the wood, and soon began to dwindle, on the verge of going out.
Growing impatient, Wei Shufen imitated the maids at home who tended the stove—she lay flat and blew hard into the stove’s mouth.
A burst of sooty smoke whooshed back into her face, choking her.
What now? Coughing and rubbing her eyes in frustration, she noticed a small earthen jar on the stove, its rim greasy. Peering inside, she caught the distinct fragrance of sesame oil. Fine. Let’s be extravagant for once. A Tang prince’s life is worth more than a jar of oil… The prime minister's daughter, Miss Wei, found an excuse for herself. She picked up the oil jar, crouched low, and splashed its contents toward the stove opening while leaning her face forward, ready to blow on the flames again.
With a "whoosh," bright flames burst from the stove mouth, filling her entire field of vision.
#####This chapter's annotation explains how people typically started fires in ancient times before matches or lighters existed. For accompanying images, please visit the author's Weibo account. Search for ID "Tang Dynasty Tour Guide Forest Deer" on Sina Weibo. Welcome to discuss!
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