Song Mu stood across a bluestone pathway paved with cash-coin patterns, exchanging pleasantries with Zhou Shaojin: “When did you arrive in the capital? I heard you have an older sister who married into the Liao family of Zhenjiang—when will your nephew have his full moon celebration? The Great Xiangguo Temple holds temple fairs on the first and fifteenth of every month. Has Miss Zhou had a chance to visit yet?”
How could Young Master Song be so familiar with her circumstances?
Zhou Shaojin wondered silently, though her face showed nothing as she answered each question gracefully and generously.
Seeing Zhou Shaojin’s gentle expression without the slightest trace of displeasure, Song Mu breathed a huge sigh of relief. His ears, however, burned bright red despite himself as he continued: “The capital actually has many interesting places to visit. Besides the Great Xiangguo Temple and White Cloud Temple, Shichahai is also quite enjoyable—you can skate on the ice in winter and go boating in summer. South of the city there’s a place called Goldfish Lane that specializes in selling fish and birds. There’s also a place called Fengtai that sells flowers and plants—they say even the palace buys its flowers there. Especially in winter, they can cultivate flowers that bloom in spring and summer. Every household goes to buy several pots for the New Year, and business is so good that the carriages can barely move…”
Zhou Shaojin already knew all of this.
But out of respect for Song Mu, she still sat there smiling and listening.
This not only made Song Mu feel that Zhou Shaojin was very virtuous and demure, and extremely pleased with this marriage arrangement, but also gave him great courage and encouragement. He paused slightly in his speech before continuing: “Second Miss, I have a younger sister. Because I haven’t become engaged yet, even though she’s found a suitable match, she hasn’t been able to get engaged either. My mother is planning to take her to the Great Xiangguo Temple to offer incense in two or three days. I’ve heard that Second Miss is very devout in her Buddhist worship—perhaps your mother could accompany my mother and sister to visit the Great Xiangguo Temple together. The Great Xiangguo Temple is a former imperial temple from the previous dynasty, and the current emperor also holds it in high esteem. Last year in the twelfth month, he even went there to offer incense, so the incense offerings are extremely abundant. Outside the temple, many trinkets are sold. Every time my sister and mother go, they bring back a whole pile of things…”
The more Zhou Shaojin listened, the more something felt wrong.
Song Mu… was trying to arrange an outing on his mother’s behalf… but how could such a refined gentleman do such a thing?
She looked toward Song Mu.
Song Mu’s gaze was clear and proper, yet carried a trace of shyness and anticipation.
Zhou Shaojin’s heart skipped a beat as a bold thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.
The main branch of Jiuru Lane had always had the custom of viewing potential matches when marrying off daughters… Could it be, could it be that she had also encountered this?
But why hadn’t her sister told her explicitly?
She looked at Song Mu’s broad-shouldered clothing, the Shoushan stone Four-Faced Buddha seal hanging at his waist, and the embroidered silk purse with an ascending lotus pattern. She suddenly realized that Song Mu was also the son of a prominent family… while her family was merely that of a fourth-rank prefect… so they needed to view each other first… otherwise once the marriage was settled, it would be absolutely impossible to reverse… Uncle Chi must be afraid she wouldn’t be satisfied… which is why he arranged it this way…
For a moment, Zhou Shaojin’s hands and feet turned ice-cold, and it took her a long while to recover her senses.
She suddenly stood up, her actions somewhat crude, nearly knocking over the teacup on the tea table beside her.
Song Mu, who was about to speak, didn’t know what had happened and quickly stood up as well.
Zhou Shaojin’s face had turned somewhat pale. She took a deep breath to steady her mind before smiling at Song Mu: “Young Master Song. I, I just remembered something. Please sit here for a moment—I’ll be right back.”
Song Mu grew suspicious, but as this concerned a young lady’s affairs, he couldn’t very well ask. He smiled and cupped his hands in salute.
Zhou Shaojin curtsied, then hurried out of the courtyard with Chun Wan, leaning against the osmanthus tree in front of the moon gate, no longer having the strength to move another step.
Chun Wan grew extremely anxious, saying repeatedly in a low voice: “Second Miss, what’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell somewhere? Your face is terribly pale…”
“I’m fine.” After a long while, Zhou Shaojin finally said, “I just thought of something.”
Her voice was somewhat hoarse, as if she were about to cry.
Chun Wan quickly stepped forward to support her.
Only then did Zhou Shaojin’s emotions slowly calm down.
The urgent matter at hand was to figure out exactly what the current situation was… and to understand the situation, the key lay in the letter her sister had asked her to deliver… but how could she know what her sister had written in the letter?
Zhou Shaojin bit her lip and instructed Chun Wan: “Go quietly and ask Lang Yue to come here—I have an urgent matter!”
Chun Wan didn’t dare delay and hurried off to find him.
Fortunately, the residence wasn’t large, and soon Lang Yue came hurrying over with Chun Wan.
Zhou Shaojin pleaded with him: “My sister asked me to bring a letter to Uncle Chi with a Buddhist prayer bead bracelet enclosed.” As she spoke, she removed the prayer beads wrapped around her wrist. “After I looked at it, I forgot to put it back. Could you quietly help me return it later?”
Lang Yue agreed with a smile, even consoling her: “It’s all right—even if Fourth Master knew, he wouldn’t be angry.”
Second Cousin Miss could do many things in front of Fourth Master that others couldn’t. It was just quietly looking at a letter Second Cousin Miss’s own sister had sent to Fourth Master—even if Fourth Master knew and got angry, Second Cousin Miss could joke around a bit and it would pass.
Zhou Shaojin nodded absentmindedly and described the letter’s appearance to Lang Yue.
Seeing how worried she looked, Lang Yue didn’t dare delay. He took a tea tray and went to the study.
Cheng Chi was talking with Old Master Song: “…I appreciate the Grand Secretary’s good intentions. As you said, we’re not doing this for fame and recognition, so why would we seek such attention? If the court intends to dredge the Yellow River and gives me a few sections of waterworks to manage, that would be proper work. But governing the river itself—forget it! I can neither endure that tedium nor suffer that hardship. This time, your good intentions have actually caused trouble.”
Old Master Song earnestly tried to persuade him: “You can’t just drift through your whole life like this, can you? People live for a purpose—even if you don’t want to leave your name in history, you should at least want to do something truly beneficial for the country and its people, shouldn’t you? I don’t know how your family has arranged things, but watching you like this fills me with regret. After I finish this matter, I’m planning to personally visit Jinling to see the Old Madam and have a proper discussion with her about your situation…”
Cheng Chi suddenly realized he’d lifted a rock only to drop it on his own foot. Naturally, he didn’t notice that Lang Yue’s eyes had been rolling around for quite a while before his gaze finally landed on the letter Cheng Chi had casually tossed into the waste basket. Then, when Cheng Chi wasn’t paying attention, Lang Yue picked up the letter, looked at it, put it back in the basket, and walked out with a pretense of composure before breaking into a run toward the moon gate.
Zhou Shaojin’s spirits lifted when she saw him.
But Lang Yue, breathing heavily and looking rather flustered, returned the prayer beads to Zhou Shaojin and stammered: “Second Cousin Miss, the letter you mentioned is, is in the waste basket… it hasn’t been opened… I didn’t dare put anything in there…”
He didn’t know what Second Cousin Miss wanted him to do.
But asking him to take things from Fourth Master’s room—he absolutely didn’t dare do that.
Zhou Shaojin was stunned: “The letter hasn’t been opened? Thrown in the waste basket? Impossible! Could you have seen it wrong?”
Lang Yue also found it strange: “I shouldn’t have seen it wrong! It clearly said ‘To Uncle, Respectfully’ on the outside. The handwriting was delicate and graceful—obviously a woman’s hand. I even felt it—thin and crumpled into a ball… it didn’t seem like anything was enclosed inside…”
Could it be that nothing was written in that letter at all?
This was just an excuse her sister and Uncle Chi had agreed upon to send her here!
Zhou Shaojin’s body went soft. If Chun Wan hadn’t been quick-eyed and supported her, she would have made a fool of herself.
Seeing that her reaction didn’t seem false, Lang Yue said quietly: “Second Cousin Miss, could you have remembered wrong… the letter that Madam Liao gave Fourth Master doesn’t look like that…”
Zhou Shaojin said bitterly: “Then have you seen a second letter with delicate, graceful handwriting?”
“No, no I haven’t.” Lang Yue awkwardly scratched his head.
Zhou Shaojin said: “It’s fine. You go attend to your duties. I’ll speak to Uncle Chi about it myself later.”
Lang Yue nodded and walked away, looking back every three steps.
It took Zhou Shaojin quite a while to calm her heart.
Chun Wan asked worriedly: “Are, are you all right? Has something happened?”
She knew that Zhou Shaojin had never opened that letter from beginning to end.
Zhou Shaojin shook her head, thought for a moment, then told Chun Wan her speculation.
Upon hearing this, Chun Wan was immediately overjoyed, only regretting that she hadn’t looked more carefully at Song Mu earlier: “The Elder Madam is really something—why didn’t she tell you clearly? Such a good match—could she possibly be afraid you wouldn’t be willing? If I’d known earlier that Second Miss was here to view a potential match, I should have dressed you up properly… I’m not saying your current appearance isn’t good… our Second Miss is naturally beautiful—even wearing old clothes, you’d attract more attention than those women who dress up carefully… I mean, if you’d been properly dressed up, you’d definitely make Young Master Song unable to forget you after seeing you… Oh dear, what should we do!” She paced anxiously in circles. “Fourth Master doesn’t have any female relatives here either, so there’s nowhere to borrow anything from. If I rush back now to bring some fragrant powder and jewelry, I don’t know if there’d be time…”
Despite such a joyous situation, Zhou Shaojin couldn’t smile.
She asked: “Do you think this is a good match?”
“Of course it’s good!” Only then did Chun Wan notice Zhou Shaojin’s mood. Her smile faded slightly as she said seriously, “Does Second Miss not find it satisfactory? That Young Master Song is Madam Song’s stepson, right? But he’s still the Grand Secretary’s son—I just don’t know if he has any scholarly achievements. But his birth is no worse than Young Master Xu’s… and he’s quite handsome too. Hasn’t Madam Yuan been wholeheartedly trying to marry the Min family’s eldest miss as her daughter-in-law? Our Second Miss is no worse than that Min family eldest miss—you could equally marry into the Grand Secretary’s family as a daughter-in-law…”
Zhou Shaojin suddenly found Chun Wan rather irritating and interrupted her somewhat displeasedly: “What does it matter to me whom Cheng Xu marries? Why should I compare myself to him!”
Chun Wan quickly closed her mouth.
Zhou Shaojin stood under the osmanthus tree for a long while before saying to Chun Wan: “Let’s go in. Uncle Chi asked me to help entertain Young Master Song—we can’t just leave Young Master Song sitting there unattended.”
Hearing this, Chun Wan’s face lit up again as she said eagerly: “Exactly, exactly. Young Master Song is a guest after all—leaving him there like that would be too discourteous.”
Zhou Shaojin made no comment and slowly walked back inside.
Song Mu picked up his teacup then set it down again.
The teacup had long been empty of tea, yet no one had come to refill it.
He wondered where Miss Zhou had gone. It had been such a long time without her appearing—could she be dissatisfied with him? But Miss Zhou clearly seemed like a well-bred young lady of a great family with excellent upbringing. Even if she were dissatisfied with him, she couldn’t possibly just leave him sitting here unattended… It seemed he was even more satisfied with this marriage arrangement than he’d anticipated—otherwise why would he be feeling so anxious about gains and losses?