The day after attending Cui Jiu and Lady Sun’s wedding, Mei Zhuyu still woke up early. Wu Zhen, however, was scooped up by Mei Zhuyu for breakfast after the third bell, only to return to bed like a wandering spirit to continue sleeping.
Usually, she would sleep until late morning, but today, someone came to deliver an invitation.
Wu Zhen knew many people, not just ordinary folks but also various spirits. People often sought her out, and those who followed etiquette would first send an invitation to indicate a visit or invitation. To facilitate communication, Wu Zhen would give special seals to close friends. Invitations bearing these seals would be prioritized by Wu Zhen.
Today’s invitation was such a case, bearing five or six seals. The doorkeeper had been instructed to deliver such invitations directly to Mei Zhuyu if they appeared urgent. Mei Zhuyu took the invitation without opening it and went to find Wu Zhen in their room.
Wu Zhen was scooped up from the bed by her husband. She first stretched lazily, sprawling on the bed for a while before using two fingers to pluck the invitation from Mei Zhuyu’s hand, casually opening it to read. As she read expressionlessly, she rubbed her slightly sore waist.
Mei Zhuyu watched her movements, wanting to massage her waist for her, but looking at his own hands, he withdrew them, lacking confidence.
After reading the invitation, Wu Zhen carelessly tossed it to the ground, showing a slightly depressed and helpless expression. It was the subtle expression of someone who didn’t want to do something but had no choice, resulting in a poor mood.
Mei Zhuyu had never seen this expression on her before and asked, “Is there something wrong? Do you need my help?”
Wu Zhen lay on the bed, her black hair cascading over one shoulder. She pounded the bed and said with frustration, “A group of friends invited me to a gathering!”
Mei Zhuyu didn’t understand why she would show such an expression for a gathering. Hadn’t she often gone out with friends before?
Wu Zhen, seeing his thoughts, gritted her teeth and grumbled, “This kind of gathering happens twice a year. It’s so annoying. My dear husband, if you’re free this afternoon, would you like to come with me?”
Mei Zhuyu nodded, not thinking much of it. On the contrary, seeing Wu Zhen’s reluctant yet obedient demeanor, he was quite curious about what this gathering entailed.
The invitation specified the time as this afternoon, with the location being Mei Garden. As the name suggests, Mei Garden was a garden full of plum blossoms, a popular spot for nobles to enjoy snow and feasts in winter. However, in summer, the garden had neither flowers nor snow, only lush greenery. Few people visited Mei Garden at this time, making it quite peaceful and secluded.
When they arrived, there was hardly anyone in Mei Garden. Wu Zhen pointed at the trees along the way, saying, “We can come here to see the flowers this winter. This area’s plum blossoms are particularly lush, though not as fragrant as the green plums in the small garden.”
“Come this way,” Wu Zhen ducked into the nearby woods, leading Mei Zhuyu through the lush branches and leaves, taking a shortcut to a small lake. She pointed at about a dozen plum trees by the lakeside, saying, “These are fragrant snow plums. Their flowers are pale green, and when they bloom, you can smell their fragrance from the pavilion over there.”
Mei Zhuyu followed her finger and saw a corner of a small pavilion nestled in the greenery on the opposite shore.
Wu Zhen’s mood had improved considerably, and she smiled as she walked with Mei Zhuyu towards the pavilion, saying, “It’s pointless to just tell you now. You’ll have to experience it yourself to understand. When it snows this year, we’ll choose a day to reserve this garden and come here to appreciate the plum blossoms.”
Although the plum blossoms weren’t in bloom, with the green trees and clear water, the couple walked along the lakeside in the gentle breeze, quietly talking. Mei Zhuyu naturally began to look forward to this year’s snowfall.
Upon reaching the pavilion, Wu Zhen arranged for Mei Zhuyu to sit in a room on the second floor. Opening the window there provided a view of the flower hall below. Wu Zhen leaned against the window and said, “It’ll get too crowded and annoying downstairs later. You don’t need to go down. Just wait for me up here. I’ll try to finish early.”
As she spoke, a servant brought in a table of wine and dishes. The portions weren’t large, but the aroma was enticing, and everything looked exquisite. Wu Zhen sat at the table but didn’t eat, saying, “The main reason I brought you with me today is that the food here tastes excellent, and I wanted you to try it. Also, this plum wine is brewed here in Mei Garden. It’s not sold outside, so you can only drink it here. The flavor is rich and lingering, which should suit your taste.”
Recently, the couple had been enjoying a few drinks together under the moonlight in the evenings. Mei Zhuyu’s alcohol tolerance had improved, and Wu Zhen, seeing that he had finally developed a taste for it, was more eager to share various good wines she liked with him.
After a few words, the flower hall below became lively, with people continuously arriving. Someone called out loudly, “Has Fifth Brother arrived? And where’s Wu Zhen? They haven’t come yet!”
Wu Zhen glanced out the window, shook her sleeves, and said to Mei Zhuyu, “Take your time eating. I’m going down now.”
After Wu Zhen left, Mei Zhuyu didn’t eat. He listened to the sound of Wu Zhen going downstairs and sat by the window to look down, just in time to see Wu Zhen enter the flower hall.
Five or six men were already seated in the flower hall, and as Wu Zhen entered, three more men arrived together. They all seemed to have known each other for a long time. After exchanging greetings, they sat casually around the table, which was laden with sumptuous food and wine. There were three empty seats.
They didn’t wait for everyone to arrive before starting the feast. Someone began pouring wine and drank a cup.
These men ranged in age from the oldest looking in his thirties to the youngest appearing to be twenty-four or twenty-five. Most were handsome with distinguished demeanors, including frail scholars, wealthy young lords, and sturdy, brave men. They all seemed to be of high birth.
This group of handsome and talented young men showed no joy or excitement typical of a friendly gathering. Even if there was initial pleasure at seeing friends, now that everyone was gathered, their faces slowly took on expressions of sighing and depression.
The man who first drank said, “Brothers, I’m truly suffering!”
He sighed deeply, took another sip of wine, and propped up his head, “My wife did such a face-losing thing a few days ago. Now my colleagues are all laughing at me. Ah! If I had known this would happen, I would never have married that woman!”
The frail scholar sitting next to him patted his shoulder, “Brother, I understand your difficulties. We are both fallen men in this world!” He sighed and even wiped his reddened eyes with his sleeve, presenting a sorrowful image of a man holding back tears.
“A Tao and Wen Zhong, don’t be like this. Quarreling with your wife is just a small matter. Why lose your composure?” A tall, lean man said loudly, “Some time ago, I was sent to Guang’an by that superior and suffered greatly, but I wasn’t like this.”
An older, kind-looking man approached, poured him a cup of wine, and said softly, “Dou Qi, don’t say that. They’ve been wronged lately.”
“Ah, yesterday my father scolded me for no reason. It’s bad enough that he looks at me with displeasure at home, but he doesn’t give me any face in court either.”
“Think positively. You and your father work in the same place. Being scolded by your father is better than being scolded by other superiors, right?”
“You don’t understand. His tone was truly hateful. He treats me like this only because he favors my half-brother!”
“Your brother, apart from being somewhat incompetent, isn’t bad. Look at my younger brother, he truly gives me no peace. He causes trouble every day, yet my mother and grandmother insist on protecting him. Last time he caused trouble, they made me clean up his mess, giving me nothing but grief.”
Somehow, the group of men began pouring out their grievances to each other. One spoke of discord with his wife and constant arguments, another of parental favoritism and troublesome siblings. Some mentioned dissatisfaction with work and recent bad luck, while others talked about their sisters’ marriage difficulties beloved horses dying of illness, and so on.
This group of men, all of good status and appearance, barely touched the food on the table, focusing on drinking as they shared their woes, sighing together before raising their cups for another toast.
And Wu Zhen, the only woman among this group of men, didn’t seem out of place at all. Instead, her presence felt natural. However, her face didn’t show the same complaints and sighs as these men. She listened with raised eyebrows as they spoke. When a man pulled her aside to pour out his troubles, she would listen, offering either words of comfort or mockery when he finished. If someone annoyed her with their talk, she would pour them a large cup of wine and simply say, “Drink!”
The man with a bellyful of woes would then drain the cup in one go, his face red and bitter as he continued his lamentations.
As they comforted each other, sighed together, and occasionally cursed in unison, two more people arrived. They were also handsome and dignified young men who quickly joined the sea of grievances. One of them grabbed Wu Zhen and began crying, a nine-foot-tall man wiping tears as he spoke of his wives and concubines fighting, making his life miserable these past few days.
Wu Zhen, somewhat gloating, casually said, “You could marry another one. That way, at most two out of three would be arguing, and you could go to the remaining one. At least you’d have somewhere to rest.”
Wu Zhen was joking, but after pondering for a moment, the man clapped his hands and exclaimed, “As expected of you! To come up with such a good idea, it’s worth trying!”
The last man arrived quite late after the table had been replenished with wine. He sat in the empty seat next to Wu Zhen. Wu Zhen put her arm around his shoulder and suddenly slapped his protruding belly hard, making the man clutch his stomach and smile bitterly, “Ouch, ouch, you can’t hit me like that.”
Wu Zhen, unconcerned and showing disdain in her eyes, spoke bluntly, “Second Brother, you used to be such a dashing young man. How did you end up like this after being posted to Qing’an for two years?”
This man she called Second Brother shook his head with a bitter smile and sighed, “I’m getting old, can’t compare to the young ones anymore.”
“That’s right, Zhen. We brothers at this age can’t compare to our younger days,” said another man who also looked to be in his thirties, smiling bitterly as he patted his slightly protruding belly.
Wu Zhen pursed her lips and pointed at their bellies angrily, “Disgraceful! You should find time to go horse riding with me. Riding a big circle around Nanshan, you definitely wouldn’t grow such big bellies.”
“Ah, no, no, no, we can’t handle it. Work is tiring enough every day, we don’t have the energy,” the man who spoke earlier waved his hands repeatedly.
From this, the group went on to discuss issues of lack of energy leading to disharmony in the bedroom and consequently marital discord, all sighing deeply. Wu Zhen, mixed among them, joined in their lamentations, and no one found it strange.
After several rounds of drinks, some drunken men were already crying with their heads on the table, wildly shouting poetry like “Good timber is not used for building, while clay dogs pile up on the walls” and “How can a talented person bear being abandoned by a wise ruler!”
Mei Zhuyu watched from above as this group of men, who had been well-dressed and elegant earlier, now lost all composure, wailing and howling.
Several of these men looked very familiar to Mei Zhuyu. If he wasn’t mistaken, the man crying about wanting to divorce his wife was the son of the Minister of Justice; the man cursing his superior was the Vice Minister of War, who had publicly beaten the Minister of War a few days ago, causing quite a stir. Mei Zhuyu had heard colleagues talking about this audacious Vice Minister of War just two days ago.
The older man whose belly Wu Zhen had slapped seemed to be the newly recalled Magistrate of Xuanzhou, who had also been granted the title of General Lingwei.
The man who had drunk too much and crawled under the table was a professor from the Imperial Academy. Mei Zhuyu had seen him before at his uncle’s mansion. He was a refined and very popular gentleman, but now he was like a limp vegetable, having lost all meaning in life, mumbling something incomprehensible.
Mei Zhuyu didn’t recognize the others, but they were not ordinary people. Looking at Wu Zhen, who was impatiently pouring drinks for others while pounding the table and glaring, Mei Zhuyu suddenly understood.
It seemed that this group of men were friends who had once played and socialized with Wu Zhen. Thinking of young men like Cui Jiu and Mei Si, and then looking at these older brothers, Mei Zhuyu suddenly felt the cruelty of time.