After traveling for more than two hours, the mule cart arrived at Zhulin Temple.
Ji Yingying jumped down from the cart and handed Ji Fu three copper coins with a sweet smile. “Uncle Ji, have some tea at this stall to quench your thirst. I’ll take Xiang’er to burn incense. We’ll return after having the vegetarian meal.”
This was their usual routine, so Ji Fu thought nothing of it. He took the money and sat at the tea stall outside the temple to rest.
Ji Yingying gave a sly smile and led Xiang’er up the hillside.
Zhulin Temple was built on a low slope before the mountain. A vast grove of blue-green bamboo spread before the temple, hence its name. The temple wasn’t large—just a square courtyard compound. Through the temple gate, there were three main shrine halls directly ahead. On either side were two rows of meditation rooms, the kitchen, and the woodshed.
However, through the back door, a small path led directly into the rear mountain. The mountain was home to madder, persimmon trees, holly, and various other plants useful for dyeing. In Ji Yingying’s eyes, even rice seedlings and rapeseed flowers sparked thoughts of dyeing possibilities, let alone the mountain’s diverse flora. Every time she came to Zhulin Temple, she would slip out the back door to gather flowers, herbs, and minerals from the rear mountain.
Zhulin Temple was known for its accurate divination lots, attracting many devotees seeking blessings. The three small shrine halls were covered with red cloth offerings from grateful worshippers.
Seventeen-year-old Ji Yaoting had been betrothed to Manager Zhang’s Fourth Miss last month. Miss Zhang would become a bride by year’s end. Madam Ji had made a wish at Zhulin Temple earlier, and now, delighted at securing a daughter-in-law who appeared capable of bearing children, she was overjoyed. With the dyehouse recently taking several orders requiring her presence, Madam Ji had sent Ji Yingying to hang the red cloth and fulfill the vow.
At the temple entrance, Ji Yingying looked back. She could still see their mule cart in the distance, knowing Ji Fu would be sitting at the tea stall. Once she and Xiang’er entered the temple, she chuckled and instructed Xiang’er: “Go hang the red cloth and burn incense. Also, donate fifty copper coins for oil.”
Though obedient by nature, Xiang’er dared not refuse, pinching Ji Yingying’s sleeve between two fingers, unwilling to let go.
“Alright, alright, I know. We’ll wait for Uncle Ji to have the vegetarian meal together. I’ll be back early.” Ji Yingying pried away Xiang’er’s fingers, lifted her skirts, and ran toward the back door. “If Uncle Ji comes, tell him I went to the privy!”
Several worshippers in the temple burst out laughing. It was unheard of for a young lady to loudly announce going to the privy. Fortunately, the Shu region’s customs were liberal, and women were known for their bold, straightforward nature, so the worshippers just laughed it off. Otherwise, Ji Yingying’s reputation would have been ruined. Xiang’er was too embarrassed to lift her head as she hurriedly took the basket to find a monk to hang the red cloth.
Ji Yingying entered the mountain forest, deliberately treading lightly and peering around searching for someone.
Almost every household in Yizhou Prefecture was involved in brocade weaving. Since the Han Dynasty, it has earned the elegant name “City of Brocade Officials.” The Zhao family, who lived near the Ji family along the Three Canals, was also a major brocade producer, competing annually in Yizhou’s brocade competition for the glory of Brocade King. The Zhao family was also a longtime customer of Huanhua Dyehouse. Ji Yingying and Zhao family’s second son, Zhao Xiuyuan, had grown up together as childhood sweethearts.
As they grew older, meetings became inconvenient. But what could stop young lovers? Their homes weren’t far apart. From the Zhao family tower, one could see Ji Yingying’s chambers in the distance. When Ji Yingying went to Zhulin Temple to burn incense, she would place a poinsettia on her windowsill the day before. Zhao Xiuyuan would find an opportunity to come to Zhulin Temple the next day. This wasn’t their first secret meeting.
Ji Yingying spotted a corner of light crimson floral brocade clothing behind a Chinese parasol tree and smiled knowingly. She looked around and plucked a foxtail grass with a brown-yellow caterpillar about an inch long clinging to it. She tiptoed behind the tree, suddenly extending the grass, gleefully waiting to hear Zhao Xiuyuan’s startled cry.
Her wrist was instantly caught, and Ji Yingying was pulled against a broad chest. Without looking up, she buried her face against him, hugging his waist coquettishly: “Really now, you scared me! How come you’re not afraid anymore?”
Yang Jingyuan raised his arms to avoid touching her. He looked down at the young lady nuzzling his chest and couldn’t help but laugh.
“My lady, is it proper to throw yourself into embraces like this?”
Not Xiuyuan-ge? Ji Yingying’s heart nearly stopped in fright. She forcefully pushed away from the man before her and pretended to be blind, reaching out with both hands: “You’re not my elder brother! Brother, where are you? Brother!”
I was hugging my brother… surely this way, there won’t be any misunderstandings?
Ji Yingying was so mortified she wanted to find a crack in the ground to disappear into.
What convincing acting, tsk tsk. Yang Jingyuan shook his head watching Ji Yingying’s face suddenly burn crimson. She didn’t think he was blind too, did she?
For some reason, he suddenly wanted to tease this young lady. He bent down to pick up the leaf with the caterpillar and blocked Ji Yingying’s path: “Oh my, what a misunderstanding. So you’re a blind young lady looking for her brother!”
You’re the blind dog! Daring to pull a young lady into your arms without even knowing her, shameless! Ji Yingying cursed silently, watching the caterpillar come closer and closer to her nose, near enough to see its brown-yellow fuzz writhing.
Ji Yingying wasn’t afraid of caterpillars, but she didn’t like them touching her face. Her eyes grew round as coins as she clenched her fists. If he dared let the bug touch her face, she’d make his face bloom like peach blossoms with her fists.
Still, pretending? Yang Jingyuan didn’t believe it. He bent down close to peer into Ji Yingying’s eyes, seeing his reflection in her clear black and white pupils. Drawing near, he noticed her delicate nostrils quivering slightly with nervousness, a faint peach blossom fragrance emanating from her, stirring his heart.
Yang Jingyuan straightened up somewhat embarrassedly, noting that Ji Yingying still stared without blinking, pretending to be blind. Her expression showed she would maintain the pretense to the end. He refused to believe it. Raising the leaf higher, he muttered: “I wonder what it feels like to have a caterpillar fall into one’s hair?”
Who would enjoy a caterpillar crawling in their hair? Ji Yingying instantly broke down and dropped the act. She turned her head away, quickly stepping back, and pointed at Yang Jingyuan’s nose as she berated him: “Who told you to lurk suspiciously behind trees? Was it my choice to mistake you for someone else? Putting caterpillars in a young lady’s hair—is that how a gentleman behaves? You accuse me of throwing myself at you, but I merely mistook you for someone else. I gave you an out, but you had to expose me. Don’t think that because you’re wealthy enough to wear Huanhua brocade and have good looks you can openly harass respectable women in broad daylight! Now I understand what they mean by ‘horse dung wrapped in shiny paper’!”
Yang Jingyuan only saw her lips moving up and down, spouting a long stream of words without pause. He casually tossed away the leaf and folded his arms: “Are you finished?”
“Want to hear more?” Ji Yingying matched his stance, arms folded, glaring at him.
Yang Jingyuan’s previously gloomy mood suddenly lifted: “Keep going. If you get thirsty, I’ll buy you a large bowl of tea.”
“Pah!” Ji Yingying spat and turned to leave. “Thinking you can hear this lady’s stories for just a bowl of tea? No chance!”
“Pop!” A money pouch landed at her feet.
“Fifty taels of official silver—is that enough to listen?”
Currently, one tael of silver was worth a thousand copper coins. A moderately wealthy family’s annual expenses were only twenty or thirty taels. Huanhua Dyehouse, working hard all year, earned only three to four hundred taels. And he casually offered fifty taels!
In all her life, Ji Yingying hadn’t saved fifty taels in private funds. Madam Ji feared she would buy dyes to learn dyeing techniques, questioning every copper coin she requested. Seeing such a large sum of silver today that she couldn’t keep for herself, Ji Yingying grew angry. She kicked the pouch back forcefully: “Prices have gone up! Five hundred taels for half an hour of chitchat!”
With that, she ran off, muttering: “Some people’s wealth is enough to make you die of envy! In the future, I’ll earn lots and lots of silver, and buy whatever dyes I want.”
Yang Jingyuan, trained in martial arts since childhood, had excellent hearing. Catching Ji Yingying’s words on the wind, he couldn’t help but smile. What an adorable young lady.
His heart stirred—if she were just a poor family’s daughter, marrying someone he fancied could satisfy his stepmother’s demands. What was he worried about? He refused to believe he couldn’t find someone to his liking in all of Yizhou city. He didn’t care whether he received help from his wife’s family. It was better than his domineering stepmother finding him a troublemaker for a wife.