As winter approached, the flowers and trees in the courtyard withered. The lush greenery of summer had disappeared, leaving only a clump of bamboo still dark green, giving the yard a somewhat desolate appearance.
Wu Zhen, being a refined person who appreciated poetry and wine, couldn’t tolerate such a barren courtyard. So when Mei Zhuyu returned home, he found that winter-blooming trees like plum and camellia had been added. Remembering how Wu Zhen had once earnestly declared that the courtyard was fine as it was and needed no changes, and then recalling the various flowers and trees she had quietly transplanted over time, Mei Zhuyu stood by the window, looking at the budding plum blossoms, and shook his head with a smile, saying nothing.
Wu Zhen waddled over, her belly protruding. Seeing him looking at the plum blossoms, she approached and said, “When the flowers bloom, I’ll cut a few branches for you to put in a vase.”
After saying this, she seemed to remember something and clapped her hands in realization. “Oh, that’s right! Didn’t I say earlier that we’d go to the Plum Garden for a day when the plum blossoms bloomed this year? They’ll be blooming soon.”
“In winter, when the plum blossoms are in bloom, they invite a chef from Changzhou who’s skilled at making plum blossom feasts. The flavors are exquisite, and that jade plum wine…” At this point, Wu Zhen smacked her lips and then patted her belly with a sorrowful and regretful expression.
Since being told that drinking alcohol was harmful to the baby, she had temporarily given up alcohol. However, this was proving to be quite painful. She couldn’t remember how long it had been since she’d tasted wine – it felt like at least ten years. Regretfully thinking that she wouldn’t be able to taste the first newly opened plum wine this year, she couldn’t help but pat Mei Zhuyu’s arm and say, “My dear since I can’t drink then, you must drink extra for me.”
Mei Zhuyu shook his head. “No, I won’t drink either.” Otherwise, when Wu Zhen smelled the wine but couldn’t drink it, only able to watch, she would surely feel even more distressed.
Before the plum blossoms had opened, one day Wu Zhen had someone bring back two pots of green flowers. These flowers had bulbs like garlic, thick green leaves, and white petals with yellow stamens. Most remarkably, the flowers were exceptionally fragrant. Placing one pot indoors filled the entire room with waves of delicate fragrance.
“Isn’t it fragrant? These are called ‘narcissus,'” Wu Zhen explained enthusiastically while placing one pot on Mei Zhuyu’s desk. “I haven’t been out much lately, but today I felt like taking a stroll and came across a Persian merchant in the West Market. I bought these from him. They’re said to be imported. I’ve never seen these flowers before.”
Mei Zhuyu watched her walk briskly with her increasingly large belly, his heart rising to his throat. He involuntarily paused his movements, holding his breath as he watched her set down the pot of flowers, only then letting out a soft sigh of relief. Wu Zhen seemed to sense his concern and suddenly jumped up and down on the spot, causing a vein to throb on Mei Zhuyu’s forehead.
Wu Zhen leaned against the desk, teasing him, “What are you worried about? I’m fine. It’s not like I’ll jump the baby out.” She had forgotten who it was that often worried about jumping the baby out during the initial stages of pregnancy.
He couldn’t bear to scold her, and even if he said a few words, it would have no effect. Wu Zhen would just giggle and lean in to kiss him while making sweet promises – which she would forget as soon as she made them, only to scare him like this again next time.
Wu Zhen had turned into a cat again and was playing with the gosling in the courtyard. Since moving freely into the yard, the gosling had claimed this place as its territory, strutting around daily with its sleek, fluffy chest puffed out, disdaining everyone except Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu.
The first time Wu Zhen turned into a cat and jumped into the yard right under the gosling’s nose, it didn’t recognize her as the mischievous owner who had nearly plucked all the feathers from its bottom. It charged over aggressively to defend its territory, only to be knocked into the pond by Wu Zhen’s cat-paw punch. Still undaunted, it came forward to fight.
Mei Zhuyu heard the commotion and opened the window to look. He saw the big-bellied tabby cat leaping through the air and landing on the gosling’s head. His pupils contracted in fright, and he immediately dropped the book in his hand, jumped out of the window, scooped up the tabby cat with one hand, and grabbed the gosling’s neck with the other, forcibly ending the battle.
Afterward, the extremely bored Wu Zhen deliberately turned into a cat again to provoke the gosling, chasing it around the yard. But after many times, the gosling realized who she was and, with a strong sense of self-preservation, voluntarily abdicated its position as the yard’s overlord. Unable to find amusement, Wu Zhen would occasionally transform into a cat and perch on the gosling’s back, letting it carry her around the yard on inspection tours. The sight was incredibly amusing. Even though Mei Zhuyu worried that the gosling might throw the fat tabby cat off its back, he couldn’t help but smile at the scene.
The newly transplanted plum trees in the courtyard were well cared for, and before long, the first flower trembled open in the cold wind. Wu Zhen was dozing in bed when she vaguely smelled the plum fragrance through a crack in the window. Yawning, she sat up and opened the window to look. Seeing the plum blossom on the branch and not finding Mei Zhuyu nearby, she raised an eyebrow and reached out to pluck the newly opened flower.
That day, as usual, when she turned into a tabby cat to nap at the Ministry of Justice, she brought this plum blossom branch with her.
It seemed that from this day on, Mei Zhuyu often heard his colleagues talking about the Plum Garden – which high officials and nobles had reserved for the day, which famous musicians had been invited to perform there, how the prices for the plum banquet had risen again this year, and how the precious snow-white plums were blooming late this year.
Last winter, everyone had talked about these things too, but he had no recollection of it. This year, probably because Wu Zhen had mentioned it early on, Mei Zhuyu always seemed to hear related news, and only then did he realize how popular the Plum Garden was in winter.
Most of the plum blossoms in the Plum Garden had opened, but Wu Zhen, who had earlier said she wanted to go there with him to appreciate the blossoms, seemed to have forgotten about it and hadn’t mentioned it again. Mei Zhuyu naturally wouldn’t urge her to go out, and looking at Wu Zhen’s big belly, he couldn’t help but think it was better not to go. Every time Wu Zhen went out and about like this, he felt very worried and concerned.
Wu Zhen was a person of refined taste, and she had been thinking about this since the beginning of winter. The reason she hadn’t brought it up until now was that she felt that plum blossom viewing should be accompanied by snow. Without snow, it would lack a certain charm, so she was waiting for it to snow.
Finally, when the first snow fell in Chang’an, Wu Zhen personally went to the Plum Garden to check. Finding the scenery satisfactory, she fulfilled her promise and gracefully went to the Plum Garden with Mei Zhuyu, even having Dr. Mei specifically request leave from the Ministry of Justice for the occasion.
They had grandly reserved the entire Plum Garden for a day, so on this day, the garden lacked its usual festive atmosphere of banquets and music. There were only vast plum groves silently blooming in the snow. It had been snowing all night, and snow had accumulated on the plum branches and the ground. The white snow on the branches blended with the snow-white plum blossoms, making it difficult at first glance to distinguish whether the silvery white covering the trees was snow or flowers.
Fine snowflakes were still falling gently from the sky as Mei Zhuyu held an umbrella, walking with Wu Zhen through the center of the plum grove. The snow here was soft and untrodden, as Wu Zhen had specifically instructed that it not be cleared away. Now, as the two walked on the snowy ground, their feet sinking into the soft, pristine snow, their noses filled with the clear, crisp scent of plum blossoms, there was a sense of serene comfort despite the cold weather.
Mei Zhuyu held Wu Zhen’s hand to prevent her from slipping on the snow. Today, Wu Zhen wore a red dress with a matching cloak. Although she preferred the comfort and simplicity of men’s Hu-style clothing, since her belly had grown too large for the belt to fasten, she had switched back to loose dresses.
“That patch ahead is red plum blossoms,” Wu Zhen said, very familiar with the Plum Garden. In previous years, she had been a regular at the drinking parties held here, so she knew the scenery well. This time, she was specifically accompanying Mei Zhuyu, guiding him to appreciate the scenery she found noteworthy and showing him over a dozen varieties of plum blossoms in the garden.
“I don’t know what flowers you like, but since your surname is Mei, I assume you don’t dislike plum blossoms.”
Mei Zhuyu had never really paid attention to these things before, or rather, he had never cared about any of life’s pleasurable interests. His previous life had been simple to the point of monotony. Apart from exorcising demons and evil, there was nothing particularly interesting to mention. But Wu Zhen was different. In her world, everything seemed interesting and worth taking time to savor and appreciate. Although Mei Zhuyu hadn’t cared before, she did, and unconsciously, he began to see through her eyes, remembering these “trivial” matters that he had previously considered unworthy of note.
He came to know the taste of wine, and the blooming of flowers in four seasons and perhaps would come to know much more.
The wind and snow suddenly intensified, making the plum grove even colder. Before Mei Zhuyu could suggest going to the pavilion to take shelter from the wind, Wu Zhen touched his hand with concern and said, “The wind has suddenly picked up. Are you cold? Let’s go inside to eat something and warm up. The food they prepared should be ready by now.”
With that, she took the lead and walked forward.
Mei Zhuyu silently supported her, guiding her steadily through the wind and snow, while at the same time feeling that peculiar sense of having his words taken away.
Wu Zhen keenly sensed something and squeezed his fingers, smiling, “I’m a few years older than you, so of course I should take care of my young husband. Why don’t you call me ‘elder sister’ and let me hear it?”
She said jokingly, not paying attention to her feet, and accidentally slipped.
Mei Zhuyu steadied her, then suddenly picked her up, lowering his head to say, “…I’ll carry elder sister for this stretch of the road.”
Surprised that he called her ‘elder sister,’ Wu Zhen was stunned for a moment before breaking into earth-shattering coughs, her cheeks reddening. Even so, she didn’t forget to wrap her arms around Mei Zhuyu’s shoulders and tease him: “Cough cough! My young husband is so obliging, I might not be able to help but push my luck!”
“Say it again, let elder sister hear it once more!”
Just now, Mei Zhuyu had suddenly, for some unknown reason, blurted out ‘elder sister,’ as if possessed. But now, coming to his senses and seeing Wu Zhen’s eyes curved in laughter, he refused to say it again, silently heading towards the small pavilion across the Plum Garden. Wu Zhen teased him until he finally couldn’t take it anymore and pressed her face against his chest. Wu Zhen could only let out muffled laughter, temporarily letting the matter go.
The small pavilion was warmed by incense burners and charcoal basins, with curtains hung everywhere and fur rugs on the floor, making it as warm as spring. Entering suddenly from the icy, snowy outside, they felt their entire bodies relax at once.