When feelings flowed between both hearts,
That time of green plums.
Shadow of Lanterns – Chapter 1: The Silk-Washing Maiden
Summer days broke early. Before the sun had leaped above the horizon, the sky was already tinged with orange dawn clouds.
The back door of the Huanhua Dyehouse creaked open as more than ten young maidens with their hair in maiden buns emerged, carrying bamboo baskets while chattering and laughing as they made their way to the riverside.
At the banks of Huanhua Stream, the maidens took out the dyed silk threads from their baskets. Working in pairs, they lifted and shook out the threads before placing them in the water to rinse.
Being in their tender years, they were naturally lively. The laughter of the dyehouse maids rang like morning birdsong, clear and delightful.
Green grass grew thickly along the shore, and lotus flowers bloomed in delicate beauty. Skeins of silk thread undulated in the water, their myriad colors turning the clear stream into what seemed like flowing brocade.
Just then, one sharp-eyed girl noticed a maiden standing alone at the far end, diligently washing silk threads by herself. Puzzled, she called out, “Lü’er, why are you working alone?”
Lü’er replied glumly, “Young Miss took Xiang’er to burn incense at Zhulin Temple again today.”
The young maids burst into envious chatter, discussing the temple’s vegetarian meals.
Zi’er forcefully threw her silk threads into the water, saying angrily, “Young Miss always takes Xiang’er whenever she goes out! That little minx barely speaks three words, yet somehow she’s caught Young Miss’s eye!”
A skein of silk sank heavily into the water, splashing Lü’er. Already irritated from washing a large basket of silk alone, getting splashed was the last straw. She strode over to Zi’er and shoved her hard. Zi’er screamed as she fell into the water. Lü’er stood with her hands on her hips, sneering, “If you’re so capable, get Young Miss to take you along instead. What’s the point of taking it out on me?”
Falling into the water, Zi’er was soaked through. Feeling both embarrassed and wronged, she lunged at Lü’er with a cry.
The two fought from the shore into the river, frightening all the other maids into dropping their work to break up the fight. In the commotion, the skein of silk Lü’er had been washing drifted away with the current. Sharp-eyed Lü’er watched as the silk unraveled and floated to the middle of the river. Thinking of how much wages it would take to repay for it, she ignored everyone’s attempts to stop her and grabbed at Zi’er, crying, “Get the silk back! Or I’ll beat you to death!”
“Are you two asking for a beating?”
Overseer Mother Ji hadn’t expected to find such chaos by Huanhua Stream after leaving just a moment late. She grabbed her washing paddle and ran over, her stout body swaying as she shouted.
By the time Mother Ji pulled Zi’er and Lü’er from the stream, their hair was disheveled and their clothes were soaked through, making quite a sight. The other maids silently resumed washing the fabric, ears pricked to hear Mother Ji’s fury.
The broad-shouldered Mother Ji never held back. She swung her arm-thick washing paddle at Zi’er and Lü’er’s backsides.
Just one strike had both maids falling from their knees to their stomachs, crying out in pain and begging for forgiveness.
“Mother Ji, I was wrong!”
“Mother Ji, I’ll never dare again!”
Zi’er and Lü’er cried and pleaded as Mother Ji gave them each three harsh strikes before stopping. Pointing at them, she scolded, “No wonder Young Miss doesn’t take you out! Always fighting to be first, how can you compare to Xiang’er’s gentle obedience?”
Zi’er bit her lip, her hatred for Xiang’er growing until she burst out, “How is it about Xiang’er being obedient? Young Miss is going behind Madam’s back again to learn about dyes and dyeing techniques! She just picks Xiang’er because she’s too timid to tell!”
Mother Ji was shocked. “What? Young Miss has been sneaking into the dyehouse again? Well! You worthless girls must be keeping it from Madam to curry favor with Young Miss, aren’t you?”
Compared to fighting and losing silk thread, letting Young Miss into the dyehouse secretly would anger Madam far more. Zi’er and Lü’er trembled. Lü’er responded quickly, “It was Xiang’er who took Young Miss there!”
Zi’er hastily added, “That’s why Young Miss only takes Xiang’er when she goes out.”
Mother Ji had no patience for the little maids’ scheming. As part of Madam Ji’s dowry servants, her loyalty was to her mistress. Upon hearing that Young Miss had been sneaking into the dyehouse again, she forgot about scolding them and grabbed one girl in each hand, carrying them like chickens as she hurried home.
As soon as Mother Ji left, the riverside maids grew excited again, placing bets: “I bet ten copper coins Young Miss gets locked in the ancestral hall for at least three days!”
“I bet Madam will make Young Miss embroider ten handkerchiefs and confine her for a month!”
Hong’er, the oldest, snapped irritably, “Still in the mood to bet on Young Miss? We’re down three people with two extra baskets of work! If we don’t finish by noon, we won’t even get to eat!”
Her rebuke dampened everyone’s spirits, and they buried themselves in work, quietly grumbling about the troublemaking Zi’er and Lü’er.
The Huanhua Dyehouse belonged to the Ji family. Their Shu red silk and Huanhua silk were unique in Yizhou Prefecture. The Shu red silk was essential for weaving tribute brocade. Unfortunately, the Ji family had few descendants. In this generation, they still had only one son and one daughter. Though Master Ji and Madam knew one son couldn’t bring glory to the family name, Master Ji still refused to take concubines.
The family of four had lived wealthy and harmoniously. But fate is unpredictable—Master Ji hadn’t even reached thirty when he succumbed to a cold, leaving behind his heartbroken wife and two young children.
The Tang Dynasty was open-minded and didn’t forbid widows from remarrying. At the time, Madam Ji was only twenty-four and beautiful. She held a dyehouse famous throughout Yizhou Prefecture. Most importantly, she knew the Ji family’s centuries-old secret dyeing techniques for several colors of silk. Thus, as soon as the mourning period ended, matchmakers had worn down the threshold of Huanhua Dyehouse.
The Ji family’s dyeing secrets were passed to sons, not sons-in-law; to daughters-in-law, not daughters.
If Madam Ji remarried, Huanhua Dyehouse would change surnames, and the Ji family’s dyeing secrets couldn’t be protected. Madam Ji steeled herself against remarriage, focusing entirely on raising her son.
As a widow with a modest dyehouse, the Ji family had few servants. Though small, everything was in order with everyone performing their duties.
The family servant Ji Fu drove carts and ran errands; his wife was Mother Ji.
Mother Ji managed fifteen female servants and more than ten young maids in the dyehouse.
Three other elderly servants had come with Madam Ji’s dowry. Mother Li had vowed to remain unmarried and served Madam Ji, helping with accounts. Mother Tian managed the kitchen and married the doorman Tian Gui. Mother Wu had married the dyehouse manager, Ji Fu’s brother Ji Gui. She managed the maids in the Ji family’s back courtyard and nursed both Ji Yingying and young Master Ji Yaoting.
It was thanks to these capable servants that Huanhua Dyehouse ran smoothly after Madam Ji became a widow. It wasn’t easy for her to conduct business in public. She was frugal with household expenses. Ji Yingying had been helping with household duties since she was ten. Her maid was called Ling’er. But since Ling’er’s contract was held by Madam Ji, Ji Yingying’s every move was under her mother’s watch.
Ji Yingying didn’t dare use Ling’er. Whenever she went out, she always found ways to send Ling’er on errands, then took the obedient and tight-lipped Xiang’er instead.
Let’s set aside how Madam Ji questioned Zi’er and Lü’er. Meanwhile, Ji Yingying, like a freed bird, had already left the county with Xiang’er.
The mule cart traveled along the official road. On both sides, the green rice seedlings in the fields stretched like emerald carpets to the horizon, interspersed with patches of rapeseed fields, their yellow flowers blooming vibrantly.
Ji Yingying gazed at the scene in delight before having a sudden thought: “Uncle Ji, do you think rice seedlings could make this shade of green dye? And could these tender rapeseed petals make the same yellow?”
The cart driver Ji Fu’s family had served the Ji household for generations. Gentle-natured, he was especially fond of the young mistress. Looking at the deep green and bright yellow landscape, he chuckled, “This old servant doesn’t know. Young Miss is clever, perhaps… hehe.”
He swallowed the “you could try” that almost followed. The Ji family’s dyeing techniques weren’t passed to daughters—how could he, a mere servant, encourage Ji Yingying to experiment? He could only laugh awkwardly.
“If brother had such ideas, Mother would be overjoyed. Why won’t she let me learn dyeing techniques? Do I have no choice?” Ji Yingying had long been at odds with her mother. Her clear black eyes rolled as she thought of a solution: “Mother forces brother to memorize color formulas and learn to dye all day. I’ll just have him try it and tell me how it goes.”
Ji Fu laughed heartily, “Good idea!”
Xiang’er also smiled quietly.
Both she and Ji Fu were thinking the same thing. The Ji family had few descendants. It was a pity that though the young master was intelligent, he couldn’t compare to even half of Young Miss’s ability.
But Young Miss was sixteen now, of age for marriage arrangements. The Ji family couldn’t keep her. Nor could they let her take the Ji family’s secret dyeing techniques to another family. Thinking of this, it was understandable why Madam Ji wouldn’t let Ji Yingying enter the dyehouse or touch the dyeing techniques.
Ji Yingying couldn’t think so far ahead. She only knew she loved dyeing, loved combining different minerals and herbs to make various bright dyes. Whenever she saw those colorful silk threads, she felt especially satisfied. They wouldn’t let her learn? But she had figured it out on her own!
If Mother knew that their brother’s recent vats of dyed silk were her handiwork, she’d probably run to the ancestral hall and cry before Father’s spirit tablet again.
But could she be blamed? When brother dyed, the results were dog-brown or dung-yellow, while she could achieve bright yellow. Ah, if only she could switch bodies with her brother. Though she had sworn never to dye fabric or silk for other families after leaving the Ji household—she would never touch the Ji family’s secret techniques for Shu red silk and Huanhua silk—Mother still didn’t trust her.
Thinking of this made Ji Yingying indignant. They won’t let me learn? Then I’ll learn!