I, Wen Yanchu, am the granddaughter of Wen Zhenfeng, a Grand General Who Guards the Nation.
Every member of the Wen family, male or female, is a military commander. For generations, they have guarded the northern frontier. My grandfather and grandmother, Liu Lingshu, raised five sons together, and my father, Wen Chengshuo, was the youngest.
Once all five sons were married, my father was the only one to have a daughter: me. My four uncles all had sons.
My mother, Shen Jingyu, was born in Jiangnan. She died in battle when I was three, so my father sent me and my cousin Wen Yanxun, the son of my fourth uncle, to Jiangnan to be raised by my maternal grandparents. In truth, it was my fourth aunt who worried I would be lonely and sent my fourth older brother to grow up with me. From then on, I lived with Wen Yanxun in Jiangnan.
My father, my fourth uncle Wen Chengxiao, and my fourth aunt Lu Rongshu traveled all the way from the frontier to Jiangnan once every year to visit me and my cousin.
I was still so young that I would sit on my grandfather's knee, swinging my short little legs, when I was betrothed to Xiao Yuzhen, the sixth son of the current emperor.
Jiangnan's scenery is uniquely beautiful, naturally imbued with a gentle, poetic charm. Its little bridges and flowing streams, white walls and dark-tiled roofs look most enchanting through a veil of misty rain.
Spring brings peach blossoms and green willows, summer brings moonlight over lotus ponds, autumn brings showers of osmanthus blossoms through the lanes, and winter brings cold snow against pavilions and terraces.
A black-canopied boat glides gently along the waterways. Every step reveals a new scene, soft and elegant wherever the eye falls.
My maternal grandfather, Shen Qinghe, was a private-school teacher. His family was not well-off, and all they had was a modest two-courtyard home.
My father sent many banknotes through messengers, again and again, hoping my grandfather would buy a larger house. But my stubborn, nostalgic grandfather never agreed.
My fourth older brother, Wen Yanxun, was only half a year older than me. In the days of our childhood, his small figure and mine were always darting through Jiangnan's crisscrossing alleys.
