Granny Turtle

Late at night, Granny Turtle trembled as she took out her treasure basin, lining up the coins inside. The two oldest Kaiyuan Tongbao coins were from the Tang Dynasty. She'd been a girl then, during endless wars. Her family had wanted to sell her, and she didn't blame them. She could still feel her mother's scalding tears falling on her hands as she pressed those two coins into them before the buyer dragged her away. She'd vowed that if she ever became a mother, she'd never be separated from her children. Next to them lay Tiancheng Yuanbao... once her home. During the Later Tang, when the government suddenly raised housing taxes, she and her husband had sold their decent home for these coins, moving to the Forsaken Quarter. The Tian Fu Yuanbao coins... she'd sent her eldest son to war with pride, only for a bag of mismatched coins to return in his place. Her husband had wanted to use them to buy a new house, but she'd refused. They were for Yingying, her daughter. She'd vowed Yingying would marry properly, not be sold like she had been. These coins would be her dowry, enough to open a shop and spare her poverty. But then the Khitans came. They'd demanded the coins, blood money from her son's death, and she'd rather die than give them up. Her meek husband had suddenly fought like a demon to protect her and Yingying. After the fire, they'd returned to ruins, finding only his cold, bloodied body still clutching a Tian Fu Yuanbao. The rest were Tang Coins. These past two years, earning Song Coins had been hard. She'd risen before dawn and worked till dusk, only to watch the Tang Coins lose value faster than she could earn them. But she'd never lost hope, until Yingying... She remembered when Zhou Taizu's army entered the city, shouting "Massacre!" and "Loot!" Yingying had tried to protect the Tian Fu Yuanbao, running out... and come back pale, lifeless, covered in wounds... No, Yingying was here now, safe. Her eldest son would return from war soon. She'd read his letter telling them to stay alive for their reunion. Wiping her eyes with a calloused hand, Granny Turtle dropped the coins back into the treasure basin, listening to their clatter. For a moment, hope flickered again.