By the fifth day of Qiu Xinran setting up her divination stall on the street, there was finally some progress. That morning, a bearded man circled around her stall, passing by many times. By the fourth time, Qiu Xinran finally couldn’t resist calling out to him: “Does this elder brother want a fortune told?”
The bearded man hesitated, touching his head, but ultimately sat down at her stall: “How does this work?” His Chinese was somewhat stiff, and his appearance didn’t seem Han Chinese either. Qiu Xinran couldn’t help but look at him curiously a few more times. The bearded man had a good temperament and seemed already accustomed to such scrutiny. He even proactively explained: “I’m a Diyue person. I’ve been living in Lingzhou for three years. My Chinese isn’t good enough yet.”
How could a Diyue person be in Lingzhou? That person saw through her thoughts at a glance: “After Diyue and Dali stopped fighting these past two years, things have been much more peaceful. We Diyue people come to your Dali to buy grain for winter, and you Dali people also go to Juanfu to buy our jade and horses. Miss is from out of town, yes?”
Qiu Xinran touched her nose embarrassedly: “What does elder brother want divined?”
“I don’t know what you Han people’s divination arts are like,” the man said curiously. “Can you divine anything?”
“You’re my first customer today, so why don’t I give you a free reading?” Qiu Xinran gestured for him to spread his palm open on the table. “I’ll read your palm for you.”
The man’s large hands were rough and powerful, reddened by the sun, with a layer of calluses on his palms—clearly someone who practiced martial arts.
Qiu Xinran looked for two glances, not raising her head as she said, “From your palm lines, your birth circumstances weren’t bad. Your relationships with people should also be good—you don’t lack friends around you. The first half of your life won’t experience any major setbacks. But around age thirty, the palm lines diverge, indicating you experienced some hardships. Fortunately, afterward things returned to smooth sailing. However, you had some injuries and illnesses when young. You must pay more attention going forward, otherwise you’ll suffer from illness and pain in the future.”
The man’s eyes lit up: “You divined all this? You seem even more formidable than the Royal Court’s National Preceptor.”
Qiu Xinran smiled, then asked, “Do you have a wife, but have been separated from her?”
The man was startled, then heard her continue, “Though I don’t know what reason caused your separation, she may still be waiting for you. If you cherish her, you should go find her soon. Otherwise, this connection is weakening with the passage of time, and eventually it may disappear completely.”
“You’re saying Rishan is still waiting for me?” The man stared at her dazedly, suddenly grasping her sleeve. His expression grew faintly agitated. “You… is what you’re saying true?”
Qiu Xinran was startled by him. Only then did he realize his impropriety and hurriedly released his grip, forcing himself to calm his emotions. After a while, he finally said, “My name is Keya. I was originally a guard for the Royal Court. In earlier years, there was internal strife in the court, and I took advantage of the chaos to escape the royal city. Rishan is my wife. After I fled to Lingzhou, I worried about implicating my family, so I never went back. After Prince Mani ascended the throne, many times I wanted to return to find her, but so much time has passed. I worried she already had a new life, and that my return would shatter everything…”
His eyes were red. It was the first time confiding all this to a stranger, and he couldn’t help but speak at length. Qiu Xinran sat before the stall quietly listening to him recount everything. After a moment, she said, “You might be able to go back and see. Regardless of whether she’s already started a new life, I believe she would certainly hope to learn that you’re still alive and well.”
When Keya left, he placed his hand over his heart, bowing deeply and performing the salute of a Royal Court guard. Qiu Xinran understood that what he was thanking her for wasn’t telling him that someone in his homeland might still be waiting for him, but rather that in countless nights of wandering away from home, he had finally obtained from this divination the courage to return home.
Qiu Xinran sat alone before the stall, lost in thought for a while.
In Chang’an, her divination reputation preceded her. Those who came to have their fortunes told were mostly nobles from the capital, and what they asked about was mostly marriage prospects or career advancement. Arriving in Lingzhou, she saw for the first time a different world. The frontier fought wars year after year, but in Chang’an, she could never imagine what war was actually like.
Over the following days, she no longer stayed only in the marketplace.
When Zhang Rong rode to find her that day, she was watching a Hu dancer perform. The dancer on stage wore gauze veils and had silver bells tied to her feet, spinning rapidly on stage, eliciting continuous cheers from below. She sat behind a divination stall to the side, and when the performance reached exciting moments, she also applauded loudly along with everyone.
Zhang Rong watched her from across the street for quite a while. When the dance on stage ended, people threw money toward the stage one after another. She also happily whistled and tossed coins onto the stage. The Hu woman spun in circles to the front of the stage, removed a hairpin flower from her hair and tossed it to her, smiling and winking at her. In that moment, one felt that if such a person weren’t in the mortal world, the mortal world itself would feel lonely.
Qiu Xinran noticed the gaze from across the street and turned to look over. Seeing the young man standing at the roadside holding his horse, she was slightly startled, then grinned and waved at him.
As Zhang Rong walked toward her, her face still carried a few degrees of excited flush. She asked him curiously, “How is General Zhang here?”
Zhang Rong looked at her with gentle eyes: “I came specifically to find Miss to repay the meal I owed from before.”
Qiu Xinran glanced at the sky. It was indeed mealtime, so she stood up readily: “Wonderful. General Zhang keeps his promises—naturally I have time whenever.”
Zhang Rong led her to a wine house. Qiu Xinran felt this place looked somewhat familiar. Looking up, she discovered it was precisely the Penglai Pavilion that Xia Xiuyan had brought her to a couple days ago. Even the location of the private room on the second floor hadn’t changed.
It was the same server as last time. Zhang Rong ordered a few dishes and additionally ordered a pot of peach blossom wine.
The server’s gaze swept over the two of them, stopping when it landed on Qiu Xinran. He clearly recognized she was the customer who had just come a few days ago. Looking again at Zhang Rong across from her, he wasn’t the male companion from last time. His expression became strange for a moment. Qiu Xinran raised her head just in time to see him looking at her somewhat resentfully. She felt completely baffled, thinking: This wine house was otherwise impeccable—only this server was truly strange in his conduct.
Before long, after the wine and dishes were served, Qiu Xinran shook the wine in her cup. Last time she hadn’t gotten to taste this wine. This time, before she could pick up her chopsticks, she wanted to first lower her head and take a sip.
“Wait…”
Qiu Xinran was startled and looked up uncomprehendingly. She saw Zhang Rong’s expression was slightly embarrassed: “I want to say a few words to Miss first.”
Qiu Xinran then put down the cup again, adopting an attentive listening posture.
Zhang Rong suddenly became somewhat nervous. He cleared his throat: “I must first toast Miss with a cup of wine to apologize for my rash offense against Miss in the palace back then.”
Qiu Xinran hadn’t expected he also remembered that incident. Somewhat surprised, she couldn’t help but smile: “I obtained my position through the Six Lines divination technique, which indeed wasn’t honorable. General was only a sixteen or seventeen-year-old young man at the time—straightforward in temperament with clear likes and dislikes. I didn’t take the matter to heart.”
Zhang Rong shook his head: “I first listened to rumors and repeatedly offended Miss in the palace, then nearly took your life by the Qujiang River. But not only did Miss not hold it against me, you even helped me. For this second cup, I must thank Miss.”
Qiu Xinran hadn’t finished her first cup when in the blink of an eye his second cup was already drunk. Somewhat dumbfounded, she hurriedly tried to follow and drink her wine. But Zhang Rong reached out to stop her, smiling: “No rush. Miss has shown me the great kindness of tying grass and holding a ring. It truly cannot be repaid by toasting just one cup of wine.”
He had kept these words in his heart for a long time, always remembering he still owed her an apology. Now finally having the opportunity to say all this to her face as Zhang Rong, he only felt relieved, as if he could finally set out anew.
Qiu Xinran could sense this transformation in him, like a phoenix reborn from ashes. Sitting across from him, she accepted his thanks.
Zhang Rong poured himself a third cup of wine: “As for this third cup… I just received an imperial edict. His Majesty has appointed me as Commander of Qingzhou. In two more days, I must leave here to take up the post in Qingzhou.”
“Has General received a promotion?” Qiu Xinran congratulated him. “First, I wish General a bright future in Qingzhou.”
“Many thanks.” Gripping the wine cup, Zhang Rong became nervous again. This third cup of wine he wasn’t in a hurry to drink. Instead, he looked at Qiu Xinran and asked, “Lingzhou’s peach blossom wine has a story behind it. I wonder if Miss has heard it?”
·
When Gao Yang arrived at Xia Xiuyan’s study, he saw him standing by the desk looking at a jar of wine placed on the desk surface, as if he had just entered the room. Seeing him, he turned back and asked, “Who sent this?”
Gao Yang stepped forward to take it and look, then smiled: “A couple days ago Zhang Rong’s appointment documents arrived. Before leaving, he wanted to treat the brothers in camp to drinks. This morning Penglai Pavilion delivered three large carts—they’re all stacked in the back. This bottle was probably set aside for you by the kitchen.”
Wine from Penglai Pavilion?
Xia Xiuyan’s heart paused: “Where is Zhang Rong?”
“He probably made an appointment with someone. I saw him wash and groom himself early this morning before going out.”
After Gao Yang withdrew from the room, Xia Xiuyan sat back down by the desk. During his time away from Lingzhou, quite a bit of military affairs had accumulated on his desk. In a few days he would have to go to Juanfu—he was truly too busy to spare any attention. But at this moment, looking at the documents on the desk, he sat for a long time without reading a single word.
What Qiu Xinran had said in the wine house a few days ago still echoed in his ears. She said she hadn’t yet figured out why she studied divination—the world was so vast, she wanted to travel everywhere.
Those words he wanted to say in his heart—he hadn’t spoken a single one aloud.
Over the following days, he regretted it several times, yet told himself in his heart: You yourself were once trapped in Chang’an. It was she who helped you break free from the cage. How can you now, for your own selfish reasons, confine her here?
But now another person had invited her to Penglai Pavilion. Thinking that she might drink that cup of peach blossom wine, he couldn’t help but think: If she leaves this time, do you know when you’ll meet again? It could be years.
He suddenly made up his mind and walked outside. Gao Yang was right outside when he suddenly heard the person in the room push open the door, coldly ordering: “Prepare my horse!” Gao Yang turned back—outside the courtyard gate remained only a hurriedly departing figure.
When Xia Xiuyan dismounted outside Penglai Pavilion, he could still maintain a few degrees of composure, only silently chanting in his heart: Just consider this as checking whether Qiu Xinran’s Dao heart, which still has no destination, is steadfast or not. If she truly agreed to go to Qingzhou with Zhang Rong… Thinking this far, he bit down on his back molars, immediately rejecting this notion: Impossible. Wherever she goes, she shouldn’t go to Qingzhou!
The server recognized him at a glance. Before he could speak, the server proactively informed him: “If Young Master is looking for the young lady who came with you the other day, she’s currently still in the private room on the second floor.”
Xia Xiuyan glanced at him and saw his expression carried some barely concealed excitement. Frowning slightly, he turned and walked toward the second floor without looking back.
The door to the private room on the second floor was ajar. Pushing it open, he discovered only Qiu Xinran sitting alone by the window lost in thought, wondering what was on her mind. But on the table sat a white porcelain wine cup—precisely his establishment’s most famous peach blossom wine.
Hearing him enter, the person lost in thought was startled and turned to look: “My Lord? How did you…”
Xia Xiuyan noticed the empty wine cup at the seat across from her, then lowered his head to glance at the wine cup before the woman. His pupils contracted slightly—he saw the cup was completely empty, with only a bit of pale red wine liquid at the bottom indicating the cup had once held wine.
She drank it? Knowing what this wine signified, she drank it?
The man suddenly raised his head to look over, his gaze concealing anger. He pressed closer to her by two steps, his fingers beginning to tremble slightly. A tremendous surge of jealousy seized his heart, making him forget everything he had thought about on the road.
Qiu Xinran stood up. Xia Xiuyan was too close to her, making her instinctively raise her hand to block. Instead, he grasped her wrist. His body still carried the heat from dismounting the horse, yet the hand gripping hers was ice cold, as if he were forcefully suppressing his emotions, to the point of unconsciously using force.
Qiu Xinran sensed his unusual emotions. Seeing his eyes hold what seemed like a dense ink that couldn’t dissipate, staring fixedly at her, after a long while his voice taut, he leaned his head close and asked her: “What did Zhang Rong say to you?”
“General Zhang…” Qiu Xinran was startled by his abnormal appearance and reflexively answered, “He apologized to me, said he’s about to go to Qingzhou, and also said… also said he wants to repay me by tying grass and holding a ring.” After she finished speaking, she felt pain in her wrist. Xia Xiuyan laughed coldly by her ear: “You merely passed along a message for him and he plans to repay you by tying grass and holding a ring?”
Jealousy was like wildly growing grass tightly winding around his heart, making his heart feel sour, yet he couldn’t help but be angry. Almost indiscriminately speaking harshly in his agitation, he said: “Then should I pledge myself to you to properly repay you?”