Though the soldiers bound for Xiahe County set out overnight and hurried as fast as they could, they only reached the Zheng Household's courtyard the following afternoon.
Zheng Yiming and his mother had not left. With Yu Xinmei's help, they were hiding in a tree outside the house.
Watching the soldiers search their home and proclaim Zheng Yiming's status and crimes as a wanted criminal throughout the village finally shattered the last trace of hope in his mother's heart.
They stayed in the tree until nightfall before climbing down. Zheng Yiming tore the seals off the courtyard gate and led his mother back into their home. Once inside, she could no longer hold back her sobs.
The courtyard was relatively untouched, but the house had been turned upside down. Tables and chairs lay overturned, pots and bowls smashed everywhere. Anything worth money and easy to carry had been taken, and all the poultry and livestock were gone from their pens. Even the old yellow ox had been led away.
"They weren't searching for anyone. They were bandits plundering our home..."
Zheng Yiming's mother spoke through tears, forced to keep her voice low. He had been prepared for this, but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth. The home he had grown up in was gone.
"Mother, we'll come back!"
"Don't make grand promises, child. Staying alive is enough... Immortal Lady Yu, living Bodhisattva, please take us somewhere the Imperial Court can't find us. All we ask is to live under other names."
His mother turned to Yu Xinmei, pleading and bowing, and she hurried to support the old woman.
"Please don't do this, Auntie Zheng. I'll do everything I can."
After straightening up, his mother went back into the house, hoping to find something else they could take.