Having finished speaking, the ladies exclaimed and discussed: Listening to Master Lu’s tone, he actually admitted that Great Wei was inferior to Jiangzuo!
Actually, this matter wasn’t particularly significant. The world already knew that Great Wei had carved out its territory with iron cavalry and established the nation through military might, and was indeed inferior to Great Liang in classical scholarship tradition. However, having it pointed out so clearly in this situation really made people feel somewhat uncomfortable. Moreover, just now the Duke’s wife, who was from Liang, had quarreled with the Grand Astrologer’s wife, which made the Wei people feel even more uncomfortable.
For a moment, some ladies who had gotten worked up forgot about currying favor with Duke Yanguo for their husbands’ career prospects, and spoke in roundabout ways: “Great Liang’s Qi Ying is indeed worthy of his reputation, showing that Great Liang’s scholarly tradition is very formidable. However, seeing the envoy lord’s eloquent bearing today, there’s no sign whatsoever of the cold symptoms mentioned the other day. I wonder if his not going to play polo with our Great Wei young men that day was actually because he feared losing and being embarrassed?”
Such remarks drew many to agree, and another lady added: “This matter does follow a pattern: Who doesn’t know that those Jiangzuo aristocratic families have many extravagant and absurd practices? That five-stone powder came from Jiangzuo, and I’ve heard this envoy also loves to consume that substance. Over time, his body would naturally deteriorate and not match the robustness of our Great Wei young men. To avoid losing embarrassingly on the polo field, wanting to avoid it is human nature.”
Those ladies whose anger hadn’t gotten the better of them quietly looked at the Duke’s wife’s expression upon hearing this, only to see that usually fairy-like beautiful face tinted with some cold mockery, both contemptuous and showing anger, quite frightening. They thought this lady was about to lose her temper, but first heard another woman say: “Absurd! If your skills are inferior, so be it—why must you slander people like this? That Qi Jingchen is a hero of troubled times, a famous minister of Jiangzuo, and brother Wenruo’s lifelong rival. Speaking of him this way—do you also look down on brother Wenruo?”
Everyone looked carefully and saw that the speaker was Xue Yuan.
They saw this twenty-three-year-old woman still waiting to be married, this calamitous figure of Shangjing, now angry with her almond eyes wide and round, having risen from her seat with imposing momentum, leaving only her poor mother and aunt pulling at her from left and right, urging her to sit down, but she wouldn’t listen. It was truly laughable—she kept calling another woman’s husband “brother Wenruo” and eagerly spoke in defense of that person’s homeland. What kind of calamity could make this noble lady say such shameless words!
Everyone was both shocked and angry, momentarily unable to speak. Lady Zhong, seeing this, hurried to make up for her earlier failure to mediate, immediately standing out very appropriately and gracefully, smiling at the ladies: “The servants have reported that the lords in the front courtyard have begun drinking wine and critiquing poetry and painting. I was thinking we could also drink some wine and chat—we mustn’t let their leisurely enjoyment outshine us.”
Such thoughtful peacemaking naturally required everyone to give face, and upon hearing this they all expressed approval. The servants of the Imperial Censor’s household, probably having been influenced by their mistress’s daily influence, were indeed more understanding than those of other families. Seeing the situation, they needed no prompting and brought forth fragrant tea and soft pastries. When even the servants worked so hard, the nobles naturally couldn’t bear to slight Lady Zhong’s face, so they all devoted themselves to creating harmony. For a time, the back courtyard was filled with laughter and conversation, as if those unpleasant moments from earlier had never occurred.
Lian Zi and Wan Zhu followed at Shen Xiling’s sides, exchanging glances, both feeling uneasy in their hearts.
Earlier, their mistress had quarreled with those ladies in the back courtyard, probably still feeling unhappy inside. At this moment, she had found an excuse to leave the gathering and was now strolling leisurely in the Imperial Censor’s garden.
Their mistress losing her temper was very unusual. The two had served at their mistress’s side for five years and had never seen her quarrel with anyone. Even when she had just married over five years ago, when many nobles in Shangjing City spoke rudely and said very harsh and unpleasant things, their mistress could laugh it off and had never truly gotten angry.
But today she had gotten angry, and not only gotten angry but also quarreled face-to-face with someone, which made Lian Zi and Wan Zhu very worried. Especially since the General was tied up with military camp affairs and couldn’t spare time, so he hadn’t accompanied their mistress today, which made them even more worried, fearing their mistress would suffer losses.
Lian Zi glanced at Shen Xiling, who was leaning against the artificial mountain watching butterflies, and after long consideration said: “Madam has been out for quite some time now. If we delay further, it might look bad at the gathering. Should we… go back?”
Shen Xiling made a sound of acknowledgment but neither responded nor got up. Lian Zi and Wan Zhu couldn’t gauge her meaning, looked at each other again, and Lian Zi, fearing delay, urged her a couple more times.
Fortunately, their mistress listened to advice. After a moment, she got up intending to return, but the direction she walked was somewhat wrong—she was clearly heading toward the front courtyard. At first, Lian Zi and Wan Zhu couldn’t determine where she was actually going, thinking she was just strolling casually, but as they continued walking, they reached the vicinity of the stone gate of the back garden. If she crossed that gate, it would be the territory of the front courtyard.
Although Great Wei had open social customs and past banquets and entertainment often included men and women together, today’s situation wasn’t quite appropriate. If their mistress crossed over, it might harm her reputation, so Lian Zi could no longer care about other things and hurriedly said to Shen Xiling: “Madam, that’s the front courtyard over there. It wouldn’t be proper for us to go over.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Xiling’s steps stopped, but her eyes still looked in that direction. After a while, she seemed to smile, but very faintly—even Wan Zhu, such an unknowing girl, could see some bitter meaning in it. She said quietly: “Yes, not proper.”
She repeated this “not proper” twice. Then Wan Zhu heard Shen Xiling ask her about the hairpin in her hair, with an expression that didn’t reveal joy or anger. Feeling somewhat panicked, she could only submissively tell the truth. After hearing this, Shen Xiling said nothing but slowly reached up and took the golden hairpin from her hair, playing with it in her hand. After a while, she put it away in her sleeve and instructed Lian Zi: “Go tell Lady Zhong that I’ve lost my hairpin and ask her to help me look for it.”
Both Lian Zi and Wan Zhu were stunned upon hearing this. Then Shen Xiling looked toward them, and Lian Zi felt startled in her heart, quickly agreeing. She had just hurried out a few steps when Shen Xiling called her back.
She turned around and saw her stunningly beautiful mistress looking back at her, the red beauty mark between her eyebrows having a distinctive charm.
She said: “Tell the lady that the hairpin was given by the General, and I treasure it greatly.”
Lian Zi lowered her head and said very submissively: “Yes.”
On the other side, Lady Pingjing was burning with anger, cursing to her sister-in-law and niece: “That Shen Xiling! Earlier she quarreled at the gathering making everyone uncomfortable, and now she’s making everyone search for a broken hairpin. She’s enough to anger someone to death!”
Half an hour ago, the ladies had heard that the Duke’s wife had lost her hairpin—precisely the one Duke Yanguo had previously won for her. When Lady Zhong heard this news, she immediately sent servants to look for it, but after searching for quite a while, there was still no trace of the hairpin. Then some ladies suggested that perhaps it had been taken by servants with unclean hands.
When Lady Zhong heard this, she naturally felt very uncomfortable, deeply fearing that the noble wives and ladies of Shangjing City would look down on her from then on, earning the reputation of lax management and incompetent handling of affairs. She even personally joined the search, leading the servants to look throughout the entire residence.
At this time, the ladies also heard that the lords in the front courtyard had caused trouble too. It was said that Prince Jing had gotten drunk and was so intoxicated he didn’t recognize anyone, wildly shouting “Jiangzuo is truly romantic,” completely losing the dignity of Great Wei’s imperial family. It was said that more than half the lords present were drunk, and even several old scholars were somewhat intoxicated. Half of the male guests who couldn’t hold their liquor were lying drunk in the hall, while the other half asked the Imperial Censor for guest rooms to rest. Only some unruly young men from aristocratic families remained, who in their drunkenness mistakenly broke into the back courtyard, startling all the ladies. Thus the tea gathering became a complete mess. Lady Zhong was unable to be everywhere at once, and lacking three heads, six arms, or a thousand eyes, could only watch helplessly as this carefully arranged gathering completely fell into chaos. The male guests from the front courtyard mixed into the back courtyard, while the ladies from the back courtyard scattered to avoid them, disappearing to unknown locations.
This… this was truly a calamity!
When Shen Xiling dismissed her maids and walked alone through the many pavilions and corridors, finally seeing Bai Song from afar, there was a moment of complete silence in her heart.
That man who had been familiar to her many years ago was casually leaning against the door of a guest room in the Imperial Censor’s residence, holding his sword, with a bamboo leaf in his mouth. Hearing someone approaching and seeing it was her, he seemed somewhat surprised.
He raised an eyebrow, straightened up a bit, his expression flickered, then he smiled at her. The shallow scar right in the middle of his left eyebrow was exactly as she remembered.
Wei was in the north and didn’t have Jiangzuo’s pleasant climate. Shangjing City’s winters were quite long, but wealthy families were very particular, imitating Jiangzuo customs by liking to plant bamboo in their courtyards, asking gardeners to carefully tend them—survival was quite difficult. Lady Zhong’s management of domestic affairs was naturally infinitely thoughtful. Even this small guest house’s little courtyard had bamboo planted, and though not very lush, it had charm. The green bamboo casting shadows with gentle breezes created a hazy overlap with that courtyard deep in Shen Xiling’s memory, making her momentarily feel somewhat dazed.
This couldn’t be blamed on her confusion—it was really because an old friend was here, inevitably making one uncertain of the present moment. Moreover, the years seemed to have left no traces on Bai Song’s face. After so many years, he was almost the same as when Shen Xiling first saw him—tall, taciturn, but not cold.
She also smiled at him, then stepped forward to walk toward him.