In April, nearing the summer solstice, there was still half a month until the Dragon Boat Festival. The Marquis Xuan’s Mansion was once again bustling with activity as the servants busied themselves with gathering mugwort leaves, twisting ropes, and preparing various materials for making zongzi. On this day, just after a morning rain shower, the sky was washed clean with azure clouds, and the delicate peach petals, struck by raindrops, fluttered down and drifted into the lake. And like these fallen petals, those lives that quietly disappeared were swiftly swept away, quickly forgotten, leaving no ripples in people’s hearts.
But Yuanxi remembered. She remembered the beautiful and young corpse, the ugliness she witnessed with her own eyes, and the unfathomable depths of human nature behind that ugliness. She also remembered vividly that since the day of her marriage, Xiao Du had never visited her room again. On one hand, this relieved her greatly, but on the other hand, it also made her somewhat sad. Perhaps this was her fate, from her father to her newlywed husband, destined not to receive any favor.
She stared blankly at the petals spinning in the wind, feeling as if she was no different. From birth to marriage, nothing seemed to be her own choice. And in this life, was there anything she could truly control?
She felt a pang of sadness in her heart, unable to help but let out a soft sigh. Suddenly, she remembered that day in the deserted courtyard, when the deranged Yunniang pointed at her and screamed, “This is a curse! A curse!” Her heart jumped suddenly. Since she entered the Marquis’s Mansion, too many strange things had happened, and even her husband had never truly seen through them.
And she always felt that all of this had not ended, but rather, it was just the beginning. This thought made her feel uneasy, almost suffocating. She quickly shifted her gaze away from the outside, gently closed the paper window, and turned to Nanny Li to ask, “What time is it now?”
Nanny Li glanced at the water clock and replied, “Madam has been asleep for almost an hour. It’s already past the hour of the Rabbit.”
It was time to start bookkeeping again. Yuanxi rubbed her temples, feeling helpless, and decided not to indulge in these strange thoughts anymore. She asked again, “Where are Anhe and Rongqiao?” Rongqiao was a maid newly appointed by Aunt Wang to serve her personally. Aunt Wang said that as the wife of the Marquis’s Mansion, she had too few attendants by her side, and Anhe was too young. She needed someone more agile, so she sent a maid from her room.
As Nanny Li combed her hair, she smiled and said, “I saw you falling asleep just now, so I let them rest in the outer room. I’ll call them in now.”
Nanny Li finished arranging Yuanxi’s hair bun, then called out to bring in two maids. Surprisingly, Aunt Wang also entered the room. Yuanxi was puzzled as to why Aunt Wang came to her room at this hour, and hurriedly invited her to sit down, instructing Anhe to fetch some tea and snacks.
Sitting down, Aunt Wang smiled and said, “I’m here today to discuss something with the Young Madam. The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, and the Marquis feels that the ancestral hall is too old-fashioned. He wants to renovate it before the festival, and I thought it would be a good idea to renovate the Buddha Hall as well. This will undoubtedly be a big project, with limited time, so I rushed over to discuss a plan with Madam.”
Yuanxi widened her eyes, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “But I don’t understand any of this. I haven’t even finished sorting out the accounts you gave me last time.”
Aunt Wang continued to smile, “That’s alright. How about this, I’ll take care of this matter. All personnel arrangements and financial transactions will be reported to Madam for your review. Only after you’ve checked them can they be finalized.”
Yuanxi wanted to say that even if she checked them, she wouldn’t understand, fearing she might only cause further delay. But since Aunt Wang was so considerate, she didn’t want to refuse. She reluctantly agreed and said, “Then I’ll trouble Aunt Wang to take care of it.”
Seemingly relieved, Aunt Wang grasped her hand and said, “Since the Marquis has spoken and asked the Young Madam to take charge, as her aunt, I naturally have to cooperate. So, you’ll be in charge of the renovation of the ancestral hall and the Buddha Hall, while I’ll assist with everything else.” Yuanxi felt that Aunt Wang’s words were somewhat strange, but she couldn’t figure it out for the moment, so she just smiled and agreed.
After sitting for a while and carefully inquiring about Yuanxi’s preferences, Aunt Wang finally said she needed to deliver a message to the Marquis and hurriedly left.
Yuanxi finally breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that time was getting late, she instructed Anhe and Rongqiao to bring the account books and stationery and walked to the nearby Qingzhi Courtyard. Passing through a water pavilion bridge, she saw several lush gardenia trees with a few stone benches and a stone table underneath.
There were gardenia trees planted near Yuanxi’s chamber in the mansion. She had loved reading amidst their fragrance since she was a child. A few days ago, she had stumbled upon this secluded spot surrounded by gardenia flowers. She felt both surprised and nostalgic, and since her room felt too stuffy, she decided to come here every afternoon to review the account books.
She glanced for a while, then looked up to see Anhe and Rongqiao, who were serving beside her, had already prepared the ink. They both seemed bored and drowsy. Yuanxi felt a bit sorry for them and said softly, “I still need to look at these for a while. You two go outside and play.”
Anhe’s eyes brightened upon hearing this, while Rongqiao seemed hesitant. But seeing Anhe excitedly thanking Madam and pulling her to leave, Rongqiao had no choice but to bow to Yuanxi and say, “We’ll play outside by the corridor. Madam, just call us if you need anything.”
Yuanxi smiled and nodded. As she lowered her head to continue reviewing the account books, she had no idea that behind the largest gardenia tree, a window was open, and Xiaodu was sitting there, listening with a troubled expression as Zhou Jingyuan listed the arrangements and arrangements for the Dragon Boat Festival before and after.
Xiaodu leaned against the window sill, listening reluctantly for a while. Seeing that Zhou Jingyuan showed no signs of stopping, he said, “Uncle Zhou, you can handle these matters. What opinions could I possibly have?”
But Zhou Jingyuan insisted firmly, “How can that be? The Master instructed that the Dragon Boat Festival this time is a major event in the mansion. The Marquis is now the head of the household, so everything must be reported to him.”
Xiaodu smiled perfunctorily, suppressing the urge to yawn, and shifted his gaze outside the window. Suddenly, he sat up straight, amused to find his newlywed wife sitting under the shade of the gardenia trees, earnestly staring at the account book in her hands.
Yuanxi looked a bit listless, but her posture was upright as she furrowed her brows, diligently memorizing the numbers in the book. Xiaodu remembered that the servants had reported to him that Aunt Wang had asked her to memorize all the accounts of the mansion from the past few years. He found it quite interesting and couldn’t help but focus his attention on her, ignoring the incessant chatter beside him.
In the afternoon after the rain, beams of bright sunlight penetrated through the thin clouds and dappled onto her golden silhouette through the gaps in the flower leaves. Her gaze was serious yet bright, and her fair face was bathed in a delicate halo of light. After a while, she seemed unable to continue, so she rubbed her eyes helplessly and then took out pen and paper to copy the accounts diligently.
Xiaodu couldn’t help but curl his lips, impressed by her ingenuity to force herself to remember those boring numbers. He remained leaning against the window frame, lost in his thoughts, until he was repeatedly called, “Marquis! Marquis!”
Snapping back to reality, he met Zhou Jingyuan’s gaze, which carried a hint of displeasure, as if his absent-mindedness was greatly frowned upon. Xiaodu guiltily cleared his throat and covered his lips, putting on a sincere smile, “I’m listening, Uncle Zhou. Please continue.”
Zhou Jingyuan suspiciously glanced at him before taking out another piece of paper to list the items needed for the upcoming ritual. Xiaodu hastily diverted his gaze again and noticed that Yuanxi seemed to be facing some difficulty at the moment. She furrowed her brows, biting the end of her pen, her eyelashes fluttering under the halo of light.
Her childish behavior amused Xiaodu, but he dared not disturb Zhou Jingyuan, who was earnestly speaking. Suddenly, he had an idea to tease her. He got off the couch, grabbed a handful of pine nuts from a porcelain plate on the table, hid them behind his back, and approached the window. When Zhou Jingyuan wasn’t looking, Xiaodu swiftly threw the pine nuts at the leaves above Yuanxi’s head.
After the heavy rain earlier, the leaves were laden with raindrops. With his skillful aim honed from military training, Xiaodu effortlessly hit many leaves, causing the rainwater to splash down like fine threads, directly onto Yuanxi’s head and body.
Thinking it was raining again, Yuanxi stood up in a panic, about to call for Anhe and the others, only to realize that the sun was shining brightly with no sign of rain. Perplexed, she looked around and stared at the ink on the paper that had already smudged, her brows furrowing as she pondered for a while, unsure of what had just happened.
Seeing her looking in their direction, Xiaodu quickly closed the window and hid in the shadow, unable to suppress the smile that crept onto his lips at Yuanxi’s bewildered expression. Meanwhile, Zhou Jingyuan had noticed something was amiss but didn’t want to lose his temper. He could only suppress his anger and call out again, “Young Master!”
Xiaodu realized he had perhaps gotten carried away with his mischief. He turned around to pacify Zhou Jingyuan, but just then, a servant rushed in anxiously and whispered something into Xiaodu’s ear. His expression changed instantly, and the good mood he had moments ago vanished. With a stern face, he said, “I’ll go immediately.”