These days Zhou Shaojin had been frequently coming and going at Jiashu Hall. She had also changed from her former shyness. Though she didn’t go so far as to greet people at Jiashu Hall warmly, she would nod and exchange pleasantries, quickly winning the affection of everyone up and down at Jiashu Hall.
As soon as she walked into Jiashu Hall, maids and pozi greeted her from afar.
Zhou Shaojin responded to each one with a smile.
By the time she reached the main room, Si’er even personally came out to lift the curtain for her, saying, “Second Miss, you’ve arrived! Just now the old madam was wondering why you hadn’t come yet! You’re a bit later than usual today!” Then she informed her in a low voice, “There’s someone in the old madam’s room. It’s Nanny Shi from Hanbi Mountain Lodge.”
Zhou Shaojin turned this name over several times in her mind before remembering that this person was the most capable and trusted pozi by Old Mistress Guo’s side.
She paused slightly and said in a low voice, “What is she doing here?”
In her previous life, she had dealt with this Nanny Shi a few times, but it was always when Nanny Shi came to the fourth branch on Old Mistress Guo’s orders to find Old Madam Guan for business. In her impression, Nanny Shi was someone very easy to talk to, but she couldn’t remember exactly what she looked like.
Si’er said quietly with a smile, “Isn’t it about the Buddha Bathing Festival on the eighth of the fourth month—the old madam had barely sent Nanny Wang over with one hundred taels of silver when Old Mistress Guo immediately sent Nanny Shi to bring the old madam several bolts of fine kudzu cloth.”
Fine kudzu cloth was excellent material for making summer clothes.
Zhou Shaojin thanked Si’er with a smile and followed her into the hall.
Old Madam Guan was sitting on the short couch talking with an old woman wearing an autumn-fragrance colored plain Hangzhou silk vest.
Hearing the sound, the old woman turned her head.
Her hair was jet-black without a single silver strand, neatly combed into a round bun with a pair of gold-mounted jade double-happiness hairpins inserted. She had a round, full face, a plump figure, fair skin, and laugh lines at the corners of her eyes and brows—she looked extremely kind and amiable. Anyone who didn’t know her background would surely think she was the matriarch of some wealthy household and would never imagine she was merely a serving pozi by Old Mistress Guo’s side.
Without waiting for Old Madam Guan to speak, she stood up steadily and curtsied to Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin knew this was Nanny Shi and quickly turned slightly aside, accepting only half her courtesy.
Old Madam Guan’s smile revealed some satisfaction as she introduced them to Zhou Shaojin: “This is Nanny Shi from Hanbi Mountain Lodge. When you go there to copy sutras, you’ll surely need to trouble Nanny Shi. Please take good care of her—my granddaughter has an introverted personality and doesn’t talk much.” This last sentence was directed at Nanny Shi.
Nanny Shi hurriedly said, “The old madam gives me too much credit. Second Miss is of noble status and comes from your household—where would there be any place for me to speak? This old servant merely relies on serving by Old Mistress Guo’s side and is more familiar with Hanbi Mountain Lodge. If Second Miss has any matters in the future, just give orders to this old servant. I dare not accept the old madam’s words about ‘taking care of’ her.”
Zhou Shaojin was not very good at social pleasantries to begin with, much less after seven or eight years of living in seclusion at the Daxing estate refusing visitors. Sometimes she simply didn’t know what to say in these situations. Fortunately, she was also aware of this shortcoming, so when she didn’t know what to say, she would just smile kindly at the other person, which hadn’t led to any mistakes.
This time she also just smiled at Nanny Shi, though she smiled more sweetly than usual.
A flash of amazement passed through Nanny Shi’s eyes.
Old Madam Guan knew that Zhou Shaojin wasn’t good at conversation and didn’t expect her to say anything. She spoke directly with Nanny Shi: “You’re an old hand by Old Mistress Guo’s side, so there’s no need to say such things. I’m entrusting my granddaughter to you—you must take good care of her.”
Nanny Shi repeatedly answered “Yes.”
Zhou Shaojin had Chun Wan present the sutras she had already copied.
Old Madam Guan was somewhat surprised and said with a smile, “Just now Nanny Shi was saying to me that she didn’t know when you would finish copying the second volume of the Lotus Sutra so they could set a date for you to go to Hanbi Mountain Lodge. I don’t think we need to go back to Old Mistress Guo—just have Shaojin go early tomorrow morning. The Buddha Bathing Festival is approaching.”
“That would be wonderful,” Nanny Shi said with a smile, praised Zhou Shaojin a few times, exchanged pleasantries with Old Madam Guan for a moment, then stood up to take her leave.
Old Madam Guan didn’t keep Zhou Shaojin, telling her to go back and prepare so she could go to Hanbi Mountain Lodge early the next morning.
Zhou Shaojin respectfully acknowledged the instruction, but after leaving Jiashu Hall, she couldn’t help feeling somewhat nervous, wondering what clothes to wear that wouldn’t seem shabby yet wouldn’t be ostentatious either.
As a result, on her way back to Wanxiang Residence, she ran into Cui Huan.
She had come on Cheng Jia’s orders to ask Zhou Shaojin why she hadn’t gone to Jing’an Studio for classes.
Since Cheng Sheng had gone to the capital and Zhou Chujin had followed Madam Mian to learn household management, there were only Cheng Jia and Zhou Shaojin as female students at Jing’an Studio. Now that Zhou Shaojin had taken leave, Cheng Jia was alone and constantly watched by the female teacher, unable to make a single mistake—how could she sit still?
Zhou Shaojin could imagine the classroom situation, but since she had decided to keep her distance from Cheng Jia, she couldn’t accommodate her feelings in every way as before.
“Grandmother asked me to help Old Mistress Guo copy sutras,” she said indifferently to Cui Huan. “I may not go to Jing’an Studio for some time. Tell your young miss not to wait for me.”
Cui Huan couldn’t hide her astonishment.
For some reason, Zhou Shaojin felt a faint sense of satisfaction.
But she didn’t think deeply about it. She turned and left the corridor, returning to Wanxiang Residence.
When Zhou Chujin learned she would go to Hanbi Mountain Lodge early the next morning, she became as nervous as Zhou Shaojin: “What clothes are you planning to wear tomorrow? What jewelry? Also, remember to bring some silver ingots for rewards. After all, this is your first time going to Hanbi Mountain Lodge… I wonder what their customary reward amounts are? They’re very strict about rules there—lavish rewards may not necessarily earn the respect of those servants…” She seemed somewhat at a loss.
This kind of sister was one Zhou Shaojin had never seen before.
She couldn’t help pursing her lips in a smile.
It seemed her sister wasn’t naturally calm and composed, unfazed even when Mount Tai collapsed before her.
She felt a bit more intimacy and a bit less awe toward her sister.
“How about wearing this one?” Zhou Shaojin picked out a pink ice-plum patterned lake silk vest from an open trunk. “Would it look good with that dark green eight-panel skirt?”
Zhou Chujin highly approved, saying, “Tomorrow just wear a double hanging bun and a pearl headband.” To look more lively.
Zhou Shaojin nodded with a smile. She went to bed as soon as it got dark, but couldn’t fall asleep no matter what. Images kept flashing through her mind: now the pair of dark green cloud-patterned blessing shoes under the rose tree, now the uneven, moss-covered ceiling of the Taihu rock cave. Sometimes she told herself these were all matters from her previous life that hadn’t happened yet, not to frighten herself or dwell on the past anymore. Other times she thought that in her previous life she had stabbed Cheng Lu once, which could be considered revenge. Then she wondered why Cheng Lu had treated her that way and whether he knew what consequences his actions would have… She simply couldn’t fall asleep.
This wouldn’t do!
After thinking for a moment, she simply sat up and instructed Shi Xiang, who was on night duty: “Light a stick of the calming incense that sister made. I can’t sleep.”
Shi Xiang, who would be serving Zhou Shaojin when she went to Hanbi Mountain Lodge tomorrow, was also too nervous to sleep. She had been lying in bed repeatedly thinking about what might have been overlooked. Hearing this, she breathed a long sigh of relief and hurriedly got dressed to light the calming incense.
The sweet fragrance permeated the inner chamber. The two gradually fell asleep. If Zhou Chujin hadn’t come to wake her the next day, Zhou Shaojin would certainly have been late for Hanbi Mountain Lodge.
Fortunately, when they arrived at Jiashu Hall, Nanny Shi hadn’t yet arrived. Old Madam Guan gave her instructions for quite a while. When Nanny Shi came over and saw Zhou Shaojin looking like a tender pink dumpling, she suddenly changed her original intention and decided to personally escort Zhou Shaojin there.
Nanny Shi was very surprised, though her face showed no sign of it. She accompanied Old Madam Guan to Hanbi Mountain Lodge with a smile covering her face.
Having lived two lives, this was Zhou Shaojin’s first time going to Hanbi Mountain Lodge. She couldn’t help observing the scenery around her.
Leaving through the black lacquered corner gate of Jiashu Hall, there was a long corridor. The corridor was entirely paved with blue and yellow cobblestones in patterns of octagons, hexagonal ice cracks, herringbone designs, and so on. On both sides, trees formed green shade, with occasional craggy strange rocks standing upright or long benches built of bluestone. Low shrubs of camellias, winter jasmine, redbud, hosta, and others grew there, blooming in yellow, red, white, or purple flowers—brilliantly colorful and very beautiful. After turning a corner, they were suddenly greeted by a vast expanse of lake scenery—a nine-turn stone bridge, a pavilion in the heart of the lake, a waterside pavilion, boat docks, and weeping willows on both shores were all clearly visible. In the distance were verdant mountain peaks; nearby one could see the pointed tips of lotus leaves emerging from the lake surface. Come summer, this place would obviously be a lake full of lotus fragrance with green leaves stretching to the sky.
Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
An unknown floral fragrance floated in the air.
What a wonderful place.
She had never seen such scenery before. This should be the private garden of the main branch or Hanbi Mountain Lodge.
It seemed the depth of Jiuru Lane was much greater than she had known—otherwise there couldn’t be such a garden here.
Zhou Shaojin looked a couple more times. When she raised her head again, deep gray upturned eaves and snow-white horse-head walls could be seen peeking through the dense greenery ahead.
Nanny Shi turned her head with a smile and said to her, “Just a few more steps and we’ll reach Hanbi Mountain Lodge.”
Zhou Shaojin smiled, but inwardly she calculated—so it only took about the time to drink a cup of tea to get from Jiashu Hall to Hanbi Mountain Lodge.
They turned another corner. Now all kinds of bamboo were planted on both sides of the corridor. Besides the commonly seen green bamboo, moso bamboo, square bamboo, and noble consort bamboo, there were also rare purple bamboo and tall, thick mature dragon bamboo, as well as slender, graceful golden bamboo. At a glance one could tell they were quite old, all planted together. The wind from the lake blew past, making them dance and sway like a wave of green rushing over. Before even entering Hanbi Mountain Lodge, there was a sense of deep coolness—quite chilly.
Zhou Shaojin tightened her collar and saw ahead a black lacquered auspicious cloud gate. On the lintel was a bluestone auspicious cloud head pattern with the four large characters “Hanbi Mountain Lodge” carved in Han clerical script. The characters were simple, refined, and ancient, vast and substantial, with faint traces of wind, frost, rain, and snow remaining—this was not a newly inscribed plaque.
This inexplicably made her breathe a sigh of relief.
Entering Hanbi Mountain Lodge, they were greeted by a potted green pine taller than a person. Its branches and leaves spread out about four feet long, blocking their view. The enormous purple clay pot rim was like stone steps, able to seat two or three people.
Zhou Shaojin had never seen such a gigantic potted plant. Curious, she walked around the bonsai. The corridor became bluestone slabs, which, though worn smooth and glossy from long-term treading, had no patterns or designs. On the sides were all tender green, onion green, bean green, jade green, oil green… various shades of green in every depth.
Not a single flower, not a single other color.
She was astonished.
Could this be how “Hanbi” got its name?