◎ Apricot Blossoms ◎

Wang Yiran’s brow twitched. Bracing herself against the arm of her chair, she rose, meaning to come over herself, but the maid beside her, rushing to support her, only ended up tangling her feet instead.

Qu You heard her voice, a little hurried: “There’s no need for such formality, my lady. Actually, I ought to have come to see you myself after you fell ill with that cold the other day. That you’ve come today is a great honor to me—please, sit, sit.”

Unexpectedly, Wang Yiran seemed remarkably solicitous. If she were truly of one mind with Wu Fen, she should have been the one trying to put Qu You in her place.

As Qu You thought this, she lowered her arm and slowly lifted her face.

The hall, so lively just moments before, fell utterly silent.

The older women and unmarried young ladies alike had long been curious about this visitor from the capital, but despite several invitations, she’d never once shown up—today was the first time anyone had actually laid eyes on her.

The newly arrived vice prefect was young, not yet twenty-five. His wife, it was said, had been married to him for only a year and wouldn’t turn nineteen for a few more days yet—the very prime of youth.

Everyone studied her closely. She wore her hair in an elaborate Chaoyun-style updo—in Ruozhou, only the most experienced nannies, brought in specially for a bride’s wedding day, could manage such an intricate, beautiful hairstyle. But for her, it seemed to be nothing more than the simplest of everyday adornments.

Elaborate as the hairstyle was, she wore no particularly costly jewelry—just a few small jade fan-shaped hairpins and delicate silk flowers, not so lavish as to seem overdone, yet not so plain as to seem careless either. The balance was exactly right.

Zuo Hui stared blankly at Qu You as she entered, feeling a bitter pang rise in her chest, wave after wave.

Her gaze drifted from the elaborate hairstyle up to the woman’s face.

The first thing Zuo Hui noticed was a pair of beautiful, expressive eyes. Qu You’s eye makeup was applied lightly, giving her irises the shimmer of clear autumn water; when her gaze swept past, it carried an unintentional hint of soft, moist allure.

Beyond that, every other feature of her face was equally flawless—slender, delicately arched brows, lips faintly rosy at the center.

Her skin was as fair as freshly fallen snow, her bearing dignified yet touched with a certain spirited charm. The fabric of her dress was of some material Zuo Hui couldn’t place—its color warm and lustrous, without a single crease, in a shade close to peach-pink but a touch lighter, not garish or gaudy in the least, but elegant and refined instead.

Zuo Hui instinctively touched her own sleeve—she’d worn an orange-red dress embroidered with the eight auspicious treasures today for good luck, made from what she’d believed was the finest fabric in all of Ruozhou. But next to what Qu You wore, it instantly looked garish and provincial by comparison.

It made sense, really—whatever fabrics were fashionable in Ruozhou were probably styles that had gone out of fashion in the capital ages ago.

Wang Yiran studied her for a long moment before finally breaking the silence in the hall. “Oh my, I’d long heard that my lady was a great beauty, and seeing you today, it’s every bit true—like something flown straight out of a painting of immortals. My lady, please, come here.”

Qu You was seated in the chair nearest at hand. Being unfamiliar with everyone present, she could only smile politely and say little. Wang Yiran began introducing the other women to her one by one; the moment she reached the plump “Madam Lieutenant General” from earlier, the woman leaned in familiarly and began stroking Qu You’s cool jade bracelet again and again.

“We were just saying, out here in poor, remote Ruozhou, we’ve never once seen a young lady raised in the comfort and luxury of the capital—today, we’ve finally been treated to the sight! Just look at this bracelet, everyone—so cool and smooth to the touch, the kind of fine piece that money can’t even buy. Oh dear, the gift I brought suddenly feels rather embarrassing by comparison.”

Qu You glanced at her calmly and gently withdrew her hand.

This “Madam Lieutenant General” seemed outwardly bold and guileless, but her words carried an unmistakable edge—casually implying that her own trinket could outshine even the gift given by the wife of her husband’s superior, verging on overstepping her place.

Sure enough, the eyes watching from around the hall now held, alongside envy, a distinct flicker of anticipation for a show.

But Qu You paid no attention to the hostility directed her way—she still had business to attend to.

“He Xing,” Qu You said, not responding to the woman’s remark, simply calling out with a smile. She took the small box He Xing handed her and stood. “Having only just arrived, I wasn’t sure what the prefect’s wife might like, so I made some inquiries beforehand… As it happens, I had a piece of uncarved jade on hand, and had a craftsman carve it into this. I hope the prefect’s wife will accept it.”

Wang Yiran took the box, and her expression changed the instant she glanced inside—she quickly closed it again, though seemingly with some reluctance, then opened it once more, studying it closely. Her eyes reddened as she took Qu You’s hand, her voice choked, as though greeting a long-lost family member. “Thank you, my lady. I… I’m very fond of it.”

The “Madam Lieutenant General” tried to catch a glimpse but failed, only vaguely making out that the box contained some piece of jade. Everyone in the hall, seeing Wang Yiran’s sudden, genuine display of emotion, began whispering among themselves, thoroughly curious.

What on earth had the young vice prefect’s wife given her, that it could win Wang Yiran’s regard so instantly?

Qu You studied her expression and knew at once that her guess had been correct.

According to what Zhou Tan had gathered over the past couple of days, Wang Yiran, despite it being her birthday, had seemed gloomy all day because of an old matter weighing on her.

She had married Wu Fen back when Wang Juqian happened to save him just outside Ruozhou city.

At the time, Wu Fen had still been serving under Peng Yue. Only after Peng Yue left Ruozhou to take up a post in the capital had Wu Fen risen to the position of prefect. The two of them had now been married for over ten years, yet Wang Yiran had never borne any children.

Wu Fen’s current three sons and one daughter were all children of his concubines and other women in the household.

It wasn’t that Wang Yiran was incapable of bearing children, either—years ago, she’d had a son of her own. At around three or four years old, he’d tragically drowned, falling into the lake in the back garden.

And that day had happened to be Wang Yiran’s birthday.

Ever since, for six or seven years, she had never once celebrated her birthday again.

These past two years, she had begun to come to terms with it somewhat, and this year marked a significant milestone, so Wu Fen had thrown a grand banquet in her honor. Wang Yiran still felt inward resistance to it, but couldn’t bring herself to say so and dampen her husband’s enthusiasm.

Upon hearing of what had happened, Qu You had found a craftsman to carve that piece of uncarved jade into the shape of a little boy.

Her birthday falling on the anniversary of her son’s death—though everyone assumed Wang Yiran had long since made peace with it, she’d had only that one child in her entire life; how could she not still grieve? Qu You had taken something of a gamble here—if it worked, she’d win Wang Yiran’s genuine trust; if not, she’d simply have to think of another approach.

Seeing Wang Yiran so absorbed in holding Qu You’s hand and talking, the other women paused for a moment before resuming their chatter and laughter, and the hall soon grew as lively as before.

Zuo Hui glanced at Qu You several times, then muttered resentfully to her mother, “Father always said… that officials from the capital are the most fickle sort, and that the moment they laid eyes on a beauty like me, they’d forget their own wives back home entirely. I never expected she’d actually come along with him—and that she’d be such a great beauty besides. Forget about being a co-wife—even as a concubine, she might not even look twice at someone like me.”

Madam Zuo tugged at her hand, saying stubbornly, “What do you know? Men only crave novelty. There are plenty of women like her in the capital—you grew up out here on the frontier, how could you possibly compare to them? Just look at that bracelet on her wrist, how magnificent it is—clearly, even demoted, this Zhou family still has a fortune to their name… With looks and bearing like yours, why don’t you have any ambition of your own?”

Zuo Hui said angrily, “Father wants me to be a co-wife to Prefect Wu, of all things—he’s old and coarse, is that supposed to be ambition? And who’s to say this Zhou fellow isn’t equally hideous…”

Madam Zuo said, “Where in Ruozhou will you find anyone wealthier and more distinguished than these men? If you keep being so picky, do you want to marry some poor nobody and go live outside the city gates eating nothing but northwest wind?”

The two of them were still arguing quietly when several maids arrived at the hall to invite everyone to the main dining hall for the meal. Qu You followed along, chatting and laughing with Wang Yiran. Just as they reached the corridor, she noticed it had begun to drizzle at some point, a fine mist of rain.

Heavy rain was rare in Ruozhou, but such a fine, continuous drizzle was common enough in spring—it came quickly and passed just as fast.

Wang Yiran immediately had someone sent to fetch umbrellas. Before long, a white figure could be faintly seen approaching through the garden.

Zhou Tan walked calmly through the misty rain, holding an oiled paper umbrella.

Qu You had already dazzled the room once; now Zhou Tan’s sudden appearance left even Wang Yiran momentarily stunned. Zuo Hui and a few other unmarried young women at the back of the group rose on their toes to look, and the moment they caught sight of him, their faces flushed red.

Women of the capital were pampered and delicately raised; though the other women envied Qu You, they could at least have guessed at such refinement beforehand. But out here in the Western Frontier, a young man as gentle and elegant as fine jade, like Zhou Tan, was truly a rare sight—even the most handsome young men one usually saw out here lacked that particular noble, refined air cultivated only by a household steeped in scholarship.

There were simply too few scholars in the Western Frontier, and fewer still who were this handsome—seeing him for the first time felt almost like witnessing something otherworldly.

Several of the older women stared, eyes practically glowing, wishing they’d been born twenty years later.

Zhou Tan, holding the faded yellow oiled-paper umbrella, draped the outer robe he was carrying over Qu You’s shoulders, then bowed politely to Wang Yiran. “Greetings, Madam Wu. The rain is a little chilly, and my wife hasn’t fully recovered from her cold these past few days—she shouldn’t be exposed to the wind. I’ve come ahead to fetch her. There are many ladies present here; I hope my intrusion isn’t too presumptuous, and I apologize for it.”

Qu You had actually noticed that the boundaries between men and women in Ruozhou were nowhere near as strict as in the capital—unmarried young women could even dine in the same hall as men, with no screen separating them. But Zhou Tan’s tone and bearing were enough to make even Wang Yiran grow somewhat more formal, and she returned his bow respectfully. “Young Lord Zhou is too courteous. It’s no trouble at all.”

And so Zhou Tan, holding the umbrella in one hand and Qu You’s shoulders with the other, walked off toward the front hall under the eager gazes of all the assembled women, leaving them behind to continue waiting.

After they’d walked quite some distance, Qu You glanced back and could still see everyone’s eyes fixed intently on them.

Her vanity thoroughly satisfied, she happily reached up and wrapped her arms around Zhou Tan’s neck, though she said, feigning annoyance, “Whatever possessed you to come fetch me yourself? The way those women under the corridor were looking at you just now, they looked ready to devour you whole. Aren’t you afraid that after today, they’ll all come knocking on our door offering up their daughters as your concubines?”

Zhou Tan said coolly, “Still nothing compared to my wife. I only walked past the hall with my face half-covered, and it was enough to set their imaginations running wild.”

Qu You paused, and before she could respond, Zhou Tan stopped walking and looked up. “Look—the apricot blossoms have bloomed beautifully.”

Qu You followed his gaze and saw, above their heads, a tree in full bloom, white and fragrant. She stared up at it, a little lost in thought, thinking that the apricot tree transplanted into the Zhou residence back home must be blooming by now too—it was a shame they couldn’t see that first bloom in person.

Just as a faint wistfulness for the passing of spring began to stir in her, she heard Zhou Tan say, thoughtfully, “This residence may be a little smaller than what we’re used to, but there’s still enough space by your window for an apricot tree… In a few days, once this Wu residence no longer has a master, I’ll have someone move this very tree over there. What do you think?”

Qu You: ?