Ji Cheng wore a purple robe, which contrasted beautifully with her black hair, snow-white skin, and cherry lips. Young girls often appeared older in such dark colors, but Ji Cheng created a breathtaking beauty. Her skin seemed as white as snow reflecting sunlight, and her pink lips were like the moon embracing cherry blossoms. The contrast of deep and light colors strongly etched her beauty into one’s eyes.
It was already mid-September, with winter approaching. Most people wore padded jackets, inevitably appearing bulky. Even Shen Yuan and Su Yun looked somewhat fuller.
Only Ji Cheng, being naturally tall and slender, with her clothes carefully tailored, and her good constitution less susceptible to cold, wore a thinner padded garment. This made her appear graceful and slim. Every step she took was full of elegance. To those watching with interest, her mere walking seemed like a mesmerizing dance.
Chu Zhen could hardly contain himself and stood up, intending to go meet her. It was as if he, dry grass for sixteen years, had suddenly caught a spark and burst into flames. Being in the hot-blooded years of youth, his mind easily heated up. His sudden movement startled those nearby. Ji Yuan glanced at him and asked, “What’s wrong, Zhen?”
Chu Zhen then realized his loss of composure, but fortunately, he had the foresight to say, “I think I saw your sister and the Shen family’s cousin.”
Ji Yuan, who had been engrossed in watching the song and dance performance, hadn’t noticed Ji Cheng and the others. Hearing Chu Zhen’s words, he also stood up and indeed saw Ji Cheng’s group approaching Jiashan Hall. He turned to Chu Zhen and said, “I’ll go down to greet them.”
Chu Zhen responded with a “Mm,” and said, “I’ll go find my sister.”
The South Duke’s wife had only this one son, Chu Zhen. He had two older sisters who were already married, and the only unmarried sisters left were his two half-sisters, who were acting as hostesses today, welcoming the young ladies from various families.
When Ji Yuan approached Ji Cheng’s group, he inadvertently glanced to the side and saw that Chu Zhen had also followed, with his panting third sister, Chu Ling, trailing behind him.
Chu Ling had always been afraid of her brother. Earlier, when Chu Zhen called her to entertain the young ladies from the Shen family, he had turned and walked away with large strides as soon as he finished speaking, forcing Chu Ling to abandon her conversation with the Li family’s daughter and run to catch up with him.
As soon as Shen Qian saw Chu Zhen approach, she immediately blushed and lowered her head. Her admiration for Chu Zhen was obvious at a glance.
During a break in her conversation with Ji Yuan, Ji Cheng took a moment to look at Chu Zhen. He still had a dark, expressionless face and showed no particular reaction to Shen Qian. But as a man, he stood abruptly in front of them without speaking, while his timid half-sister stammered beside him. Was this to make a scene for his sister?
It didn’t seem so. Ji Cheng thought to herself, could it be that this Young Master Chu was experiencing the first stirrings of love?
As Ji Cheng was lost in thought, she noticed Chu Zhen looking her way. Their eyes met briefly, and although Chu Zhen quickly averted his gaze, Ji Cheng couldn’t help but feel a jolt in her heart.
Women are sometimes particularly sensitive to admiration from men. Although Chu Zhen hadn’t expressed anything and Ji Cheng knew she had little interaction with him, she just felt that Chu Zhen treated her differently.
Ji Cheng sneaked another glance at Chu Zhen. He was expressionlessly looking at Shen Qian. Ji Cheng thought she must be overthinking things, just like when she had been fooled at Qi Zheng’s place last time.
At that moment, maids came to invite the guests from Jiashan Hall to move to the banquet. The male guests went to “Yingzhou Fengfan” east of Jiashan Hall, while the female guests headed to “Oude Xiang” to the west.
The Chu royal family was famously extravagant. Princess Anhe had constant song and dance performances at Qing Garden, and it was no different at the South Duke’s mansion. Not only did Jiashan Hall invite dancers from Leyun Tower to perform all day, but “Oude Xiang,” where the female guests were seated, also had dancers from Lile House to entertain during the meal.
Lile House consisted of official women who had been punished and confiscated by the Imperial Music Bureau. They were under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Music Bureau and specialized in palace music or performed for foreign envoys. Their status was not more noble than that of courtesans. Those courtesans could still buy their freedom if they saved enough money, but the women of Lile House could only spend their entire lives there.
However, the dancers from Lile House were originally from official families, so they had less of a powdered appearance and were less coquettish. It was considered appropriate for them to perform in front of female guests.
With song and dance accompanying the wine, even Ji Cheng was intoxicated by the music and drank a few more cups, though she remained clear-headed.
The banquet would last from nightfall until the third watch of the night, with guests free to enter and leave as they pleased. Ji Cheng felt a bit dizzy and told Shen Cui beside her that she wanted to go to the restroom. Shen Cui also felt stuffy and decided to go out with her.
The garden of the South Duke’s mansion was quite large, with dense trees and secluded flowers. Candles were scattered among them, creating a flickering, irregular pattern that complemented the bright moon in the sky, presenting a scene of worldly opulence that would make even immortals envious.
Ji Cheng and Shen Cui walked aimlessly. In the night, they couldn’t discern the paths clearly and didn’t know which pavilion they had reached. The surroundings were quiet, with candles lit inside the pavilion and occasional laughter coming from within.
Ji Cheng looked up and saw the silhouettes of a man and a woman in the lamplight inside the pavilion. The man was embracing the woman and kissing her, while the woman’s clothes were half-open, her collar slipping down to her elbow.
Ji Cheng immediately realized what scandalous act she was witnessing. She quickly turned to look at Shen Cui, intending to pull her away, but to her surprise, Shen Cui let out a small gasp and hurriedly covered her mouth.
Puzzled, Ji Cheng turned back to look again and saw that the silhouettes in the lamplight had changed from one man and one woman to two men and one woman.
Ji Cheng felt her eyes hurt and, without thinking, covered Shen Cui’s eyes with her hand. “Let’s go quickly.”
Only then did Shen Cui reluctantly allow Ji Cheng to drag her away. She shook off Ji Cheng’s hand and complained in a low voice, “You’re making a fuss over nothing.”
Ji Cheng was stunned. She was making a fuss over nothing?
Oh, right. Ji Cheng recalled a miscellany she had read recently about the previous emperor’s era. It mentioned that young nobles in the capital like Chu Xiang, Zheng Yu (son of Princess Hui’an), Guo Baoheng (grandson of the Duke of Jin), and more than a dozen others disregarded propriety and behaved as if no one was watching. Every spring, they would select three to five beautiful women, ride in small calf-drawn carriages, and head to secluded gardens and ponds. There, they would lie naked on the grass, remove their headdresses, shout, and make noise, calling it “crazy drinking.”
Ji Cheng had originally thought that the people of Jin were more unrestrained, but now, hearing Shen Cui’s “making a fuss over nothing” and recalling that miscellany, she had to admit that she truly was “inexperienced” when it came to the activities of these princes and nobles. The royal family’s decadence had reached such a state.
Among the two men and one woman earlier, Ji Cheng thought the fat man’s figure looked quite familiar, very much like Chu De, who often appeared in public with Shen Che. If Chu De was so vulgar, Shen Che probably wasn’t much better. Birds of a feather flock together. They might talk nicely, but who knew if the profits from the arms trade would be used for the benefit of the country and people in the future?
Ji Cheng and Shen Cui turned the corner ahead. Ji Cheng needed to use the restroom, but Shen Cui said she wanted to go back, so they parted ways.
Shen Cui, on the other hand, was secretly blaming Ji Cheng for overreacting. In the past, she would have found such a scene disgusting, but now it was different.
Last time at Su Yu Mountain, Qi Zheng had kissed her, saying he couldn’t help himself. Whenever Shen Cui recalled Qi Zheng’s words and the warmth of his hand, she felt her face flush and her heart race.
Now that Shen Cui had reached an age where she understood such matters, her heart fluttering with first love, she naturally became curious about these things. At home, she was kept under strict supervision with no chance to learn about them. Tonight, suddenly seeing such an act, she couldn’t help but want to see more. She had become quite bold and thick-skinned, sending her maid to fetch her cloak while she returned to the pavilion from earlier, watching those people’s intimate play from afar.
Ji Cheng’s luck was poor. After leaving the restroom with Yugian’er, she had only walked a few steps when she nearly disturbed another pair of “wild mandarin ducks” behind the flower bushes in the courtyard.
Ji Cheng sighed inwardly, patting her chest. No wonder the Old Madam didn’t usually associate with these royal relatives. The Shen family’s customs were considered good in comparison. However, she had heard that the South Duke’s wife had personally come to invite them this time, so the Old Madam couldn’t refuse her.
After encountering the “wild mandarin ducks,” Ji Cheng no longer dared to venture into the quiet parts of the garden. Instead, she went to the brightly lit area of the front garden, where curtains and seats had been set up specifically for viewing chrysanthemums.
Those rare and exotic chrysanthemums were planted in pots and placed on high tables. Behind the tables were screens, with lamps reflecting off them. The flowers in vases and pots complemented each other beautifully. These nobles truly knew how to enjoy themselves.
“This is the ‘Jade Feather Pipe,'” Chu Zhen’s voice sounded beside Ji Cheng.
Ji Cheng turned her head to look at Chu Zhen.
Chu Zhen was also looking at her. In the night, her purple robe seemed to blend into the darkness, leaving only a soft, enchanting silhouette. The curves of her body were more striking than during the day. Chu Zhen recalled the dreams he had been having for the past half-month, and his face suddenly flushed red. He quickly averted his gaze.
Perhaps because Chu Zhen’s skin was so dark, Ji Cheng didn’t notice his blushing. But given the rumors that “Black-faced Chu” usually avoided women like the plague, his sudden appearance and pointing out chrysanthemum varieties to her made even the slow-witted Ji Cheng sense something was amiss.
Moreover, the way Chu Zhen had just looked at her was very intense, just like Brother Ziyun had looked at her before.
Ji Cheng’s first thought was that Shen Qian liked Chu Zhen. If Chu Zhen had any intentions toward herself, who knew how that big demon Shen Che would deal with her? From Shen Cui’s situation, Ji Cheng could see that Shen Che was extremely protective of his own. Even though he didn’t particularly favor Shen Cui, because she bore the Shen surname, Shen Che wouldn’t allow outsiders to bully her. How much more so for Shen Qian, who was his full sister?
Where there’s a disadvantage, there might also be an advantage. Ji Cheng had learned a bit about the South Duke’s mansion today. They were rising in power, and Emperor Jianping valued his cousin, the South Duke, highly. If she could marry Chu Zhen, what could Shen Che do to her then?
Ji Cheng lowered her eyes slightly, weighing the pros and cons. However, this dream of marrying Chu Zhen could only remain a daydream. If she had such thoughts, as long as Shen Che revealed even a little about her past deeds, Chu Zhen would probably run away as fast as he could.
Unless Ji Cheng could make Chu Zhen fall head over heels in love with her. On this point, Ji Cheng had little confidence in men.
While Ji Cheng was lost in thought, Chu Zhen looked at her again. Her dark-colored clothes didn’t stand out, but precisely because of this, all attention was drawn to her face.
In the candlelight, Ji Cheng’s skin appeared delicate, translucent, and lustrous, as if light was flowing beneath it. It was clear and crystalline like the jade-snow flesh of southern lychee, sweet and refreshing.
Chu Zhen swallowed hard. “Miss Ji, I…”
Chu Zhen wasn’t a coy man. Since he liked her in his heart, he wanted to tell Ji Cheng. If she had similar feelings, he would inform his father, the Duke, and his mother, the Duchess, and marry her.