To my husband, Qian Duo, It is I, Yunniang. The days have turned colder of late, and snow has begun to gather…
To my husband, Qian Duo,
It is I, Yunniang. The days have turned colder of late, and snow has begun to gather in the courtyard. I do not know whether it lies thicker or thinner than the snow in the north. Father and Mother take good care of me, yet they speak of you every day, never knowing when you may return.
Life away from home is hard. Now that the weather has turned cold, do remember to add more clothes and eat hot food. Do not neglect yourself. They all say the north is in turmoil, though I do not know how grave it truly is. Only keep this in mind: your master never wished for anyone to avenge him. He only wished that you and your senior brother might both live well. I think the same. When you have the chance, do pass along my regards to Brother Jin Zhong as well.
Not long after you left, I learned that I was with child. Soon, we shall have a child of our own. These past few nights, whenever I sleep, I keep feeling the child stir within me. Even the doctor laughs and says it has only been a short while, and that he has never heard of a child moving so early. Yet I know it must be our child, bright and quick in all things.
Yesterday, I cut a plum branch tipped with snow from the courtyard and set it in a vase. Each time I look at it, I feel as though I can already glimpse the good days to come. My dear husband, would you bring me another flower or sprig of grass from the banks of the Hutuo River? When you return home, I will bind them together, yours and mine, and make of them a pair of joined branches, never to be parted again.
Yunniang