The two of them spent the entire day strolling through the streets, but the feeling was strange—these things appeared to have been purchased, yet not entirely so.
As evening approached, Di Yiqiu said, “There’s a place called Qiaoshe Hall in the inner city that specializes in telling tales of the mystical sects. They have stories about you too. Shall I take you there to listen?”
That sounded fine. Huang Rang was quite curious—everyone wants to know what they look like in others’ eyes. Moreover, Huang Rang had never been particularly indifferent to fame and fortune in the past.
Di Yiqiu pushed her wheelchair all the way to Qiaoshe Hall.
It was a two-story building that resembled a teahouse inside, providing wine, tea, and refreshments.
As soon as Di Yiqiu entered, someone came forward to greet them: “Jianzheng, what brings you here today?”
“Just passing by to have a look,” Di Yiqiu replied perfunctorily, then lifted Huang Rang up. The person immediately helped carry the wheelchair and followed behind. Di Yiqiu carried Huang Rang up the spiral staircase to a private box.
This seat faced directly toward the storytelling platform in the center.
Occasionally, curious glances came their way, but everyone kept their mouths shut and said nothing.
Once seated back in her wheelchair, Huang Rang’s view became quite expansive. The sea of heads downstairs was clearly visible. The storytelling platform was brightly lit with candles, presumably so everyone could see more clearly.
Someone brought over tea and refreshments, along with a booklet. Di Yiqiu flipped through it for a while, and Huang Rang glanced over as well, discovering it was a catalog of stories. It seemed they wanted him to choose first. After turning a few pages, Di Yiqiu used a brush to circle “The Legend of Huang Rang.”
Huang Rang found it quite novel and naturally felt somewhat expectant.
However, Di Yiqiu then rapidly wrote rows of names on the paper beside it and instructed the Qiaoshe Hall attendant: “Immediately send someone to Zhuque Si to fetch these things for me.”
Seeing the urgency, the attendant dared not delay and left at once.
Qiaoshe Hall wasn’t far from Zhuque Si to begin with, so the attendant’s trip was quick. Within the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he had already delivered everything.
Huang Rang glanced over and saw rouge beetles, pearls even smaller than grains of rice, and such. There were also some strange tools like small files and small scissors. What were these for?
She looked toward Di Yiqiu. He sat down beside her, then took her hand and began using the small file on her… fingernails!
What are you doing?!
Huang Rang wanted nothing more than to withdraw her hand, but at that moment, the curtain on the storytelling platform was drawn back. The storyteller in his long robe had already taken his seat at the front.
With a sharp crack, the master on stage struck his wooden gavel and began his tale. He recited a few opening verses, and Huang Rang immediately became quite excited. She no longer bothered about Di Yiqiu filing her fingernails.
—Fine, whatever.
“Today’s tale is ‘The Legend of Huang Rang.’ Distinguished guests, do you know that two hundred and twenty years ago, in Immortal Tea Town, there lived an extraordinary woman named Huang Rang?” The master’s words were crystal clear, his pace neither too fast nor too slow. “Huang Rang was born of humble origins. Her father, Huang Shu, held no prestige among the earth spirits. He had dozens of children. Distinguished guests, consider this: how could a country spirit, a weak woman, come to be renowned throughout the world and honored by the immortal sects as Immortal Lady Xuandu? And how did she marry into the Yuhu Xuanzong to become the wife of the sect master of the foremost immortal sect? Don’t be impatient, listeners—allow me to tell you today!”
While listening to the story, Huang Rang lowered her gaze to glance at her own hands.
Di Yiqiu was trimming her fingernails.
Huang Rang had always cherished her nails. She always felt that a woman’s beauty began with her hands, and the beauty of hands began with fingernails. So she had once studied all kinds of patterns that could be painted on fingertips.
Now she had forgotten what designs were currently on her fingertips. However, after ten years, whatever had been painted there should have long since faded, just like herself.
Di Yiqiu carefully trimmed all ten of her fingers, then mixed colors and began painting her nails. So you have this skill too? Huang Rang couldn’t see what he was painting. Well, hopefully his taste in nail art wasn’t too bad.
“Now, Huang Rang was clever and quick-witted from childhood, displaying extraordinary talent. Not only was she stunningly beautiful, she could also compose poetry. Her talents were already evident at a young age…” On stage, the master’s tale continued.
Huang Rang, however, felt extremely embarrassed listening to this. What nonsense! She had been stupid as a child, small in stature, and constantly bullied by her siblings. Later, after being beaten enough times, even a little spirit gained some wisdom and naturally stopped being so clumsy.
“In the first year of the Chengyuan era, the Si Tianjian calculated that Yuzhou would experience a great drought the following year. The court sent people to Immortal Tea Town to seek help from Huang Shu, requesting that he cultivate drought-resistant grain seeds. Huang Shu immediately refused. Distinguished guests, please consider: no matter how drought-resistant crops may be, they must still absorb water to live. Could there possibly be crops that bloom and bear fruit on parched land stretching a thousand miles? Clearly, such acts against heaven cannot be undertaken.” The master spoke with much head-shaking and nodding, and the audience below actually listened attentively.
Someone said in a low voice, “I know of Huang Rang. My family still grows orchids she personally cultivated.”
The master on stage actually heard this and immediately said, “The orchids came later. At that time, Huang Rang was still young, yet she readily agreed to undertake this task. The court envoy, seeing her youth, feared she was unreliable and originally wanted to seek another expert. Who could have imagined that this young Huang Rang would declare, ‘If I cannot do it, then no one in the world can. You need not seek other experts.'”
Oh… oh. Huang Rang finally recalled this incident.
“As a result, distinguished guests, guess what happened?” The storyteller deliberately built suspense, whetting the audience’s appetite.
The storyteller took a sip of water and continued: “This young lady Huang Rang, though she knew this task was difficult, she knew even more that this undertaking would benefit the common people and bring merit for a thousand years. After accepting this heavy responsibility, for the next six months, she never once stepped outside her door. Day after day, she pondered deeply, forgetting food and sleep…”
If Huang Rang weren’t in her current condition, she would certainly have laughed out loud already.
What nonsense! Back then, it was simply because the court offered a generous reward, and she was afraid of losing the business opportunity, so she took on the job.
The court pressed urgently, and Huang Rang had no time to optimize further, so she delivered a type of beam millet seed. This thing was drought-resistant because its leaves were thick and fleshy, storing water from birth. Even if the earth cracked for a thousand miles, it could still grow and produce seeds relying on the water in its body. But… this thing tasted absolutely terrible!
During disaster years, common people relied on it to stave off hunger, but in normal times they used it to feed livestock.
“Six months later, young lady Huang Rang truly lived up to expectations and cultivated a type of beam millet. This rice had short stalks and thick, fleshy leaves. Not only was it drought-resistant, it also had extremely high yields… Upon receiving these seeds, the court hastily distributed them, ordering the people to plant immediately. Who knew that once this was done, it would provoke universal condemnation from the people.” The storyteller’s voice rose and fell in an orderly manner, like pearls and jade.
Huang Rang completely understood though—after working so hard to grow this stuff, I’d curse too.
This thing was so coarse it practically scratched your throat. Even wealthy officials and nobles feared it would tear their gullets when swallowing it.
“The beam millet was rough and difficult to swallow. The people all accused Huang Rang, and even court officials submitted memorials requesting His Majesty punish Huang Rang for her crime. Yet young lady Huang Rang remained silent on this matter.” The storyteller was quite moved.
—This is utterly absurd. Of course I could only remain silent! Because I knew all too well how terrible that stuff tasted! It simply wasn’t fit for human consumption. Even donkeys would want to practice fasting if fed too much of it. After the court spent such a huge sum and only got this thing, what could I say about receiving some scolding? Huang Rang was speechless.
“Who knew that the following year, the great drought arrived exactly as predicted! The people quickly discovered that all crops had withered and died, but the beam millet young lady Huang Rang had cultivated not only didn’t wither, it actually grew more vigorously! During extreme water shortage, the roots, leaves, and stems of that beam millet actually saved countless lives.” The storyteller was deeply moved.
This… Huang Rang also felt quite moved listening to this. This… who could have predicted this? The roots and leaves of beam millet… they ate that stuff and didn’t get sick? As far as I know, it was all used as fodder later, wasn’t it?
Huang Rang felt embarrassed to listen to the praise that followed.
—This place is nice. Next time, we’re definitely not coming back.
Di Yiqiu was still painting her nails. He worked on them one by one, extremely carefully. Quite a few people had already looked their way, but he paid no attention at all.
After a long passage of praise, the storyteller began recounting how Huang Rang cultivated the medicinal herb Bitter Lotus. Previously, external injury medicines were extremely scarce, expensive, and had minimal effects. Huang Rang cultivated Bitter Lotus for Baigu Cliff, greatly enhancing its medicinal properties. And this Bitter Lotus yielded three harvests a year, so naturally the price was much lower.
—The one who should be praised here is clearly Miao Yunzhi—he’s the one who paid the silver! Huang Rang was speechless.
Then came the matter of cultivating the plum blossom Nianjun’an. Nianjun’an has remained, even to this day, the flower of romantic commitment between men and women. Of course, mentioning Nianjun’an meant another person had to be discussed.
The storyteller turned and said: “Young lady Huang Rang united her siblings, showed filial piety to her father, was diligent and frugal, and her fine reputation spread far and wide, attracting the attention of one particular person. This gentleman is none other than someone you’ve all surely heard of—the current sect master of Yuhu Xuanzong, Xie Hongchen.”
United her siblings? Hearing the beginning of this passage, Huang Rang wanted to laugh out loud. But hearing the end, she fell silent again. Xie… Xie Hongchen…
“At that time, Xie Hongchen had just succeeded to the position of sect master and was in his proud youth. Upon hearing of young lady Huang Rang’s great reputation, he immediately went in person to Immortal Tea Town to propose marriage to young lady Huang Rang’s father.” The master’s voice gradually rose, showing some excitement.
“Young lady Huang Rang was beautiful and intelligent—wouldn’t she and the master of the foremost mystical sect be a match made in heaven? Naturally, no one opposed this marriage… Rumor has it that on the day Sect Master Xie left Immortal Tea Town, young lady Huang Rang reluctantly saw him off for ten miles. Finally, young lady Huang Rang broke off a branch of plum blossoms she had personally cultivated and gave it to him, naming this plum blossom Nianjun’an—’Remembering Your Safety.'”
Listening to the master on stage telling these half-truths, Huang Rang could only hear what amounted to a talented man matched with a beautiful woman. But who could truly explain the hearts and calculations outside the story, those dust-covered sincerity and schemes?
Di Yiqiu finally finished painting Huang Rang’s nails. He raised Huang Rang’s hands a bit higher so they entered her line of sight and asked, “Do they look good?”
Huang Rang glanced at them. He had trimmed her nails a bit shorter. The base color was painted silver-pink, with orange-gold maple leaves painted on top, each nail showing only half a leaf. The edges of the maple leaves were outlined with particularly tiny pearls. The beads were so small that ten of them together wouldn’t equal half a grain of rice.
It must have been difficult for him—such tiny beads, all of uniform size and similar color. She really didn’t know how he had found them.
But they were very beautiful. She liked them very much.
He carefully blew on her fingertips to dry them, saying, “Your hands are truly beautiful.”
Of course they are. It’s a pity I can’t move now, otherwise I wouldn’t mind sharing my maintenance formula with you. This formula was personally given by Xie Hongchen…
Never mind… never mind. Her initial enthusiasm faded, and in the end, Huang Rang’s heart held only silence.
On stage, the master rambled on and finally reached the end of the story.
“This young lady Huang Rang, though legendary, after marrying into the immortal sect, her personally cultivated superior varieties became difficult to find in the marketplace. The title of sect master’s wife elevated her status but also wasted her talents. Now, she has been ill for ten years and has not appeared before others. Today, as we close this tale and sigh over the pages, ultimately we must lament: the immortal sect gained one more wife, but the mortal world lost one great master.”
Ah… Huang Rang had taken this biographical tale as mere entertainment, yet unexpectedly received such a concluding statement.
In a daze, she suddenly recalled that dream, where Di Yiqiu asked, “What I’m asking is, do you regret leaving Immortal Tea Town?”
Old matters from so many years came flooding back. She was born in Immortal Tea Town, but only she knew what kind of place it truly was. It was her quagmire, where she schemed and plotted, fought openly and covertly, never daring to relax for a moment.
What father-daughter affection, what blood kinship—in the Huang family, how cold and shattered those were!
She spent half her life calculating, and when she finally met Xie Hongchen, she made her choice. She decided to marry, using matrimonial alliance to jump out of that mire. But her momentary greed merely meant jumping from one swamp into a cage woven of golden threads.
Now, she thought again of the wild huts and farmlands of Immortal Tea Town. Back then, as a youth admiring strength, she wanted to traverse the mortal world and pluck the moon from the sky, so she resolutely cast aside fleeting fame without any attachment. And now, with no shore behind her, only an endless sea of suffering remained.