The Seven Treasures Alliance dared to disrespect the Wang family in such a manner. Wang Yueniang was determined to teach them a lesson.
“Sister Yueniang, why are you leaving so soon?” Shen Cui called from behind Wang Yueniang.
Wang Yueniang turned and glared at Shen Cui. “Shen Cui, don’t be so smug. Who knows how you managed to be selected?”
Shen Cui bristled at these words. “What do you mean, Wang Yueniang? Your selection is justified, but mine is questionable. Are you out of your mind?”
“We both know the truth,” Wang Yueniang retorted before walking away, leaving Shen Cui fuming on the spot.
“This is outrageous! How dare she!” Shen Cui wailed.
“Alright, alright. You knew she was upset, yet you still provoked her,” Ji Lan consoled Shen Cui.
“She provoked me first! Why can’t I retaliate? Mother, are you afraid of the Wang family too?” Shen Cui retorted.
Ji Lan was at her wit’s end with Shen Cui. “Cui’er, how can you speak like that?”
Shen Cui snorted coldly, knowing she couldn’t talk back to Ji Lan in front of others. Instead, she vented her anger on Ji Cheng. “You sycophant! Didn’t you just say how formidable Wang Yueniang was? Now you know who’s truly formidable, don’t you?”
Ji Cheng felt utterly innocent. She even sympathized with her aunt. Perhaps it was because of such a daughter that her aunt desperately wanted her to become the next “Consort Wang.” Shen Cui was just like Wang Yueniang; without “Consort Wang” backing her, she would eventually be ruined by others.
“Shen Cui!” Ji Lan was truly angry now. Her daughter was so ignorant of her place, becoming arrogant at the slightest success.
Whether intentionally or not, Ji Lan and her daughter seemed to ignore Su Yun completely. Su Yun dejected from her defeat, kept her head lowered without saying a word.
Ji Cheng had been quietly observing Su Yun, knowing there were no words of comfort she could offer, especially since she was partly responsible for the situation.
Upon returning to the Shen residence, Ji Cheng recounted the day’s events to Shen Yuan, asking her to comfort Su Yun, lest the young girl develop any issues from bottling up her emotions.
As night fell, with the moon setting and stars sparse, Ji Cheng found herself unable to sleep again. She rose, put on a robe, and opened the window to gaze outside. Time was merciless, yet she continued to waste it. Despite being in the capital for so long, there had been no progress in her marriage prospects. Although she told herself not to rush, how could she not feel anxious? She would turn sixteen after the new year.
While Ji Cheng fretted over her marriage prospects, she noticed Su Yun also seemed unable to sleep, quietly slipping out alone.
Seeing Su Yun dressed thinly and without her maid, Ji Cheng worried about her safety. Having witnessed this, she couldn’t ignore it, so she quietly opened her door and followed.
Ji Cheng trailed behind Su Yun, noticing her quick, purposeful steps. It was clear she wasn’t just wandering due to insomnia; Ji Cheng grew suspicious. When she realized Su Yun was heading towards the Nine Li Courtyard, her steps faltered.
Cousins could easily develop feelings for each other, and given Shen Che’s notorious reputation—Ji Cheng had seen him being intimate with a widow on the Dragon Boat Festival—she couldn’t help but think the worst.
Realizing that witnessing such private matters would do no good, Ji Cheng immediately turned and took a different path. Since the night was still cool and she was already out, she decided to walk around Qing Garden, heading towards the mountain-hugging corridor.
When Ji Cheng reached higher ground, intending to admire the magnificent view of Qing Garden’s West Lake Grotto Heaven, she saw that Su Yun wasn’t in the Nine Li Courtyard at all. Instead, she was sitting on the Cloud-Gathering Jade-Piling Bridge east of West Lake’s winter scenery.
The Cloud-Gathering Jade-Piling Bridge was strategically located, being the necessary path from Qing Garden to the Nine Li Courtyard. Su Yun’s intentions were clear, but Ji Cheng wondered how she could be so certain of encountering Shen Che there. Perhaps they had a prior arrangement? Being far away now, Ji Cheng felt less concerned about observing; after all, girls do enjoy watching such “midnight trysts between talented scholars and beautiful ladies.”
Su Yun was dressed lightly, and beneath the bridge, waves churned and mist scattered. Sitting alone by the water, she had the grace of a peony. Now, by the water’s edge under the moonlight, she appeared as beautiful as a cloud reflecting the moon from afar.
Ji Cheng thought that although Su Yun’s intentions were a bit too obvious, her choice of clothing color was excellent, and her posture was well-arranged. She mentally took note of these details.
Whether it was Su Yun’s luck or a prearranged meeting, it wasn’t long before Ji Cheng saw Shen Che and his entourage appear in the distance.
Ji Cheng’s interest in watching the scene waned immediately; if this were truly a lover’s rendezvous, Shen Che wouldn’t have brought his young servants.
As Shen Che walked onto the Cloud-Gathering Bridge, Su Yun seemed to hear his footsteps and turned around. Ji Cheng saw her stand up quickly, tilting her head shyly and swiftly wiping away tears with her handkerchief. Normally, if Ji Cheng had witnessed this, she would have approached to ask, “Cousin, why are you sitting here alone crying?” However, the notorious playboy of the Shen family acted as if he hadn’t seen anything. From a distance, Ji Cheng saw him give Su Yun a slight nod before continuing toward the Nine Li Courtyard without stopping.
According to Shen Che’s later explanation, he did this to avoid embarrassing the young lady. When a young girl cries alone, she usually has her sorrows, and since he had stumbled upon her by chance, it was best to pretend he hadn’t seen anything to prevent mutual embarrassment.
At the time, however, Ji Cheng could only sigh for Su Yun as she watched this scene unfold. Her plan had failed. Yet Ji Cheng couldn’t help but wonder how the supposedly unrestrained Second Young Master could remain so unmoved in the face of Su Yun’s exceptional beauty.
In comparison, the young widow she had seen with him earlier could only be considered a wild chrysanthemum next to Su Yun’s peony-like beauty.
Of course, Ji Cheng knew that men’s attraction to women wasn’t based solely on appearance. For instance, her second brother had always favored Hu women. Although Ji Cheng didn’t have much prejudice against Hu women, as a Central Plains person, she still considered them somewhat inferior.
Yet her second brother had been attracted to Hu women since he came of age. Ji Cheng had once overheard him chatting with his friends, saying he preferred the voluptuous figures of Hu women to the washboard-like bodies of Central Plains girls.
Regardless, Ji Cheng felt that Shen Che’s character seemed different from his outward reputation.
After Shen Che left, Su Yun appeared to be in a daze, sitting motionless on the Cloud-Gathering Jade-Piling Bridge for a while longer, until Shen Che’s headmaid, Nieshang, came to escort her back to her room.
Seeing that the show was over, Ji Cheng naturally had to return as well. Since it was still midsummer, they were still staying in Qing Garden after returning from Jing Garden, with their rooms close to each other. Ji Cheng took a shortcut to return before Su Yun, avoiding detection.
In just two short days, the “Pò Zhèn Zi” that Shen Cui had sung at the Middle Altar Selection had become widely known. Anyone with a bit of literary knowledge was eager to recite it, saying that this “Pò Zhèn Zi” no longer carried the powdery fragrance of contemporary poetry circles, but instead opened up a bold and unrestrained style, truly a rare masterpiece of the age.
Everyone was trying to find the author of this ci poem.
Ji Cheng could be considered Su Qingzhi’s benefactor, and it was feasible to use Su Qingzhi to highlight herself a bit. However, she felt uncertain deep down, mainly because Su Qingzhi’s behavior was sometimes refined and sometimes crude, and his background was unclear. This made her seriously doubt whether Su Qingzhi was the true author of those poems.
Moreover, just based on the three ci poems—”Red Soft Hands,” “You Live at the Head of the Yangtze River,” and “Pò Zhèn Zi”—Ji Cheng felt that the styles were too different to have been written by the same person.
Therefore, fearing that she might not catch the fish but instead end up smelling fishy herself, Ji Cheng had Liuye’er give Su Qingzhi a hundred taels of silver as a reward and respectfully sent him on his way.
Su Qingzhi had been enjoying good food and comfortable living in Orchid Alley these past few days, feeling so content that he didn’t want to leave at all. He tried many ways to stay, even saying he had many more ci poems he could write for Miss Ji, but Ji Cheng didn’t soften her stance. She had already achieved her goal of getting Shen Cui into the Middle Altar performance.
As for Shen Cui, she vaguely knew her shortcomings but was too proud to consult Ji Cheng. She couldn’t even bring herself to ask other sisters for advice. Instead, she shut herself in her room, discussing with Ji Lan and a few maids about what to perform on the day of the final competition.
Ji Lan felt like slapping Shen Cui to wake her up. This child had little talent but an ego as high as the sky, and she was incredibly stubborn. If she were to perform at the Middle Altar like this, everything would likely fall apart.
Ji Lan had to patiently advise Shen Cui: “As the saying goes, ‘Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang the mastermind.’ Why don’t you discuss with your cousin Cheng to see if there are any better ideas?”
“What ideas could someone from such a remote place have?” Shen Cui replied impatiently.
“Even the sage said, ‘When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teachers.’ Have you forgotten even the words of the sages?” Ji Lan said coldly.
But Shen Cui hemmed and hawed, unwilling to seek help. She was afraid Ji Cheng would steal her glory, fearing that in the future, people would say it was all Ji Cheng’s ideas. Moreover, from what she understood from her mother Ji Lan, Ji Cheng wanted her to perform with many others. How could that be acceptable?
Shen Cui, having just won once, felt invincible, her confidence soaring. Why couldn’t she perform alone like others?
Seeing Shen Cui like this, Ji Lan felt a headache coming on and could only wave her hand, gesturing for her to go away.
Meanwhile, Wang Yueniang finally discovered the reason for her defeat to Shen Cui. It was all because of that “Pò Zhèn Zi” ci poem. The Seven Treasures Alliance found it fresh and wanted to see if there would be more surprises during the formal Middle Altar performance, which was why they chose Shen Cui.
Wang Yueniang also learned that Mr. Su who wrote this ci poem was the one rescued by Ji Cheng. Upon hearing this, Wang Yueniang immediately flew into a rage. “This is outrageous! Fourth Sister, why is this Ji girl always haunting us? I feel she’s been sowing discord between us and the Shen family. Not only has Sister Qian grown distant from us, but even Han Lingze has been won over by Ji Cheng. Just wait and see, I’ll teach her a lesson she won’t forget, or I won’t be able to swallow this anger.”
Fourth Miss Wang sneered, “Aren’t you just picking the softest persimmon to squeeze? Even if Shen Cui’s ci poem was fresh, if she didn’t have a wealthy merchant for a mother, she probably wouldn’t have beaten you.” Fourth Miss Wang’s words hit the nail on the head.