The Butcher’s Daughter

The day Scholar Shen placed third in the palace examinations, he sent me a letter breaking off our engagement. “How could a butcher’s daughter ever be worthy of the third-place scholar?” The whole city laughed at my foolish daydreams. That night, I carried my bone cleaver into his residence. The tip of the blade traced his trembling face. “Have you forgotten, husband, where your scholarly honors came from?” “When my father was gored open by a wild boar trying to save you, you knelt and swore you’d spend your life working as a butcher in his place.” Blood dripped onto the imperial wedding robe he had just put on. I smiled softly. “Now it’s your turn to inherit my family’s trade.”