Fu Jiuxin stood in front of Dou Akou's door and knocked.
"Knock knock knock".
Dou Akou curled up in the blankets and then remained motionless.
Fu Jiuxin was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "Miss, do you want to set up plum blossom stakes?"
Dou Akou woke up with a start and jumped out of bed. It turned out that her husband had come to pick her up.
"Oh dear! Mr. Fu is outside, I'm so shy!" Tang Xunzhen also got up, wrapped in the quilt and excitedly exclaimed.
Dou Akou, disheveled and covered with a blanket, went to open the door for Fu Jiuxin.
Fu Jiuxin stood tall and elegant outside the door. Because of the cold weather, a puff of white mist came out of his mouth and dissipated into the air.
He calmly glanced at Dou Akou from head to toe: "Miss, appearance. Is fifteen minutes enough?"
Dou Akou instantly woke up, closed the door, combed her hair, washed her face, and got dressed. By the time she was done, Tang Xunzhen was also dressed.
Tang Xunzhen went to open the door for Fu Jiuxin first: "Good morning, Mr. Fu!"
"Hmm," Fu Jiuxin responded, but his eyes were fixed on Dou Akou.
"Let's go home," he said succinctly.
Tang Xunzhen's family also sent people to pick her up. They shouted loudly from afar at the mountain gate: "Miss, we have prepared sweet rice balls and freshly made rice cakes at home, just waiting for you to come back. Come quickly, the sedan chair is ready for you."
Tang Xunzhen reluctantly moved a few steps. Such a warm greeting, but it didn't sound sincere at all. It was like a New Year's painting, which looked lively and festive, but was ultimately just something in a painting.
She looked back at Dou Akou and Fu Jiuxin with envy.
Dou Akou followed behind Fu Jiuxin: "Sir, I also want to eat sweet fermented rice balls."
"Um."
"There's also freshly made rice cake, soft, white, and plump."
"Um."
Fu Jiuxin glanced back at her. He thought to himself, Dou Akou herself is like a steaming, plump rice cake.
They arrived at the mountain gate and passed by the Purple Bamboo Grove. A little sparrow was hopping around the edge of the well in the middle of the grove, but the person who used to wash dishes was nowhere to be seen.
Dou Akou suddenly stopped in her tracks: "Sir, please wait for me, just for a moment."
Before Fu Jiuxin could respond, she ran away.
Panting, Dou Akou searched for Xu Liren in Qingyong City. She didn't know which dormitory Xu Liren had been placed in by Jiurou Sanren, so she had to search one by one. Finally, she found him in the most remote house in Qingyong City.
Xu Liren was sunbathing at the door of the house. In such cold weather, he was only wearing a thin linen garment, which made Dou Akou shiver.
Hearing footsteps, Xu Liren glanced lazily over, saw it was Dou Akou, then turned back to continue sunbathing, as if she hadn't seen her at all.
"Xu Li, how are you going to spend the New Year?" Dou Akou didn't seem to care about his coldness at all.
Xu Li chuckled and said, "So be it."
Dou Akou looked around with a troubled expression. There were probably only a few of them left in Qingyong City. In such a large city, Xu Liren would be spending New Year's Eve all alone. Dou Akou felt sad just thinking about it.
She said, "Why don't you come home with me?" Seeing Xu Liren's surprise, she turned around abruptly and stared at her, then added, "Anyway, you were bought by my master, so you're... you're one of my people."
Xu Li stared at her for a long time, so long that Dou Akou became uneasy. Only then did he sit up, pat his clothes, and say, "Let's go."
"ah?"
"Let's go to your house, Fatty Dou Sprout."
Fu Jiuxin had been waiting at the mountain gate for a while. When he saw Dou Akou's figure bouncing and skipping in, the smile in his eyes seemed about to overflow. But when he saw the person behind Dou Akou, the smile in his eyes disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Dou Akou ran fast and quickly reached Fu Jiuxin. She looked at Fu Jiuxin with a guilty conscience, because she vaguely sensed that her master didn't really like Xu Liren. She rubbed her fingertips together and said, "Master, it's so pitiful for Xu Liren to spend the New Year alone..."
Fu Jiuxin stared at her quietly, staring at her intently until Dou Akou couldn't help but lower her head and look away.
His and Xu Liren's eyes met for a fleeting moment in the air before quickly looking away.
Fu Jiuxin didn't say anything, turned around and left.
Dou Akou breathed a sigh of relief, which meant that although her husband was unhappy, he still gave her permission.
What should have been a heartwarming scene became somewhat awkward due to Xu Liren's sudden arrival.
Fortunately, the Dou family's residence was not far from Qingyong City. After descending the thousand steps of Qingyong City and traveling for most of the day, they arrived at Ziwei Qingdu as darkness fell.
Ziwei Qingdu was the capital of the Huang Dynasty. The Dou family lived on Qingyun Street in Ziwei Qingdu, with two stone lions at the entrance and a plaque in the middle that read "Dou Mansion".
Dou Akou hadn't been home for almost a year. When she saw the two familiar lions, she ran over excitedly and touched one of them first: "Agua, I'm back."
Then he ran up to another lion and patted its head, saying, "Ah Jin, I'm back."
Fu Jiuxin was unsurprised, but Xu Li stared in disbelief for a moment before scoffing, "Idiot." Then he looked up at the plaque and thoughtfully pursed his lips.
Fu Jiuxin entered the Dou residence first. Master Dou and several concubines were already waiting in the flower hall. Upon seeing the three figures, Master Dou couldn't resist. He swayed his chubby body and rushed over with small, pigeon-toed steps, calling out, "Akou, my precious daughter!"
Dou Akou was petted by Master Dou like a dog for a while, then she broke free in frustration: "Dad, I'm so old now."
Master Dou chuckled and patted Fu Jiuxin's shoulder with a sigh: "Jiuxin, you've had a tough year. Our Akou—hey, who's this?"
Dou Akou followed Dou Jincai's gaze and saw Xu Liren. She quickly introduced him: "Father, this is the musician my master bought. His name is Xu Liren. I felt sorry for him spending the New Year alone, so I brought him back. Anyway, we need someone to play music to entertain guests during the New Year."
Dou Jincai didn't listen at all; only one thought remained in his mind: Xu Liren—Xu Li—the surname of the Huang Dynasty.
Xu Liren was unusually humble: "Master Dou, my surname is Xu and my name is Liren. Miss Dou is kind-hearted and considerate of her servants. I, Xu, will do my best to serve your household."
Dou Jincai couldn't help but look him up and down several more times. Emperor Huang Taizu of the Huang Dynasty had two sons, Crown Prince Xu Lichi and Second Crown Prince Xu Liqian. However, it was rumored that the Second Crown Prince had been frail and sickly since childhood and lived deep in the palace, making it difficult for the officials to see him. Even after being a royal merchant for so many years, he had never seen this Second Crown Prince.
Xu Liqian is a forgotten person.
Dou Jincai thought it over and over, and felt that the possibility of Xu Liren being the second prince was very low, so he nodded haphazardly and said, "Alright, Jiuxin, take him downstairs and make arrangements later. Akou, let's go in. You and your father can have a good talk about what you've learned this year..."
Before Dou Akou could even glance at Xu Liren, she was surrounded by several of Dou's concubines.
"Oh my, Akou, your clothes are too plain. Tomorrow I'll take you to Qiluo Pavilion and buy some satin."
"Akou, you will be of marriageable age tomorrow. Your aunt has some hairpins and rings to give you."
The family surrounded her warmly and crowded into the flower hall.
When everyone had left, Fu Jiuxin turned to look at Xu Liren. Xu Liren had prepared what Fu Jiuxin would say to him—perhaps sarcasm, perhaps ridicule, or more likely a warning. Unexpectedly, Fu Jiuxin said nothing, but simply led him to the servants' quarters of the Dou residence.
Xu Liren became secretly wary; this gentleman from the Dou family was no ordinary person.
That very night, Dou Akou had a change of heart and asked Master Dou for the snow lotus ointment bestowed by the emperor. She carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief and sneaked under Fu Jiuxin's study.
It wasn't that she suddenly had an epiphany; she simply understood deeply that angering Fu Jiuxin was tantamount to going against herself. For the sake of white rice, braised pork, and plump rice cakes, Fu Jiuxin was someone she absolutely couldn't afford to offend.
The light was still on in Fu Jiuxin's room. Dou Akou tiptoed under Fu Jiuxin's window and saw the silhouette of Fu Jiuxin holding a pen reflected on the window, which was quite beautiful.
She was crouching under the window, clutching the snow lotus ointment, lost in thought. Suddenly, the window creaked open, and Fu Jiuxin's calm voice came from above: "Miss, among the things I taught you, there was no such thing as crouching in a corner."
Dou Akou cheered inwardly; the fact that the person was willing to talk to her meant that the situation wasn't serious.
"Oh my!" she exclaimed happily as she pushed open the door and entered the room. "Sir, you have such good hearing."
Fu Jiuxin didn't react to her childish flattery, nor did he even look up. He got up and used his brush to stir the charcoal fire in the stove. A spark lit up and a small fire suddenly appeared.
He slammed the ledger shut in his hand: "Speak, what is it?"
"Sir, sir, the weather is so cold, and you have to write and grind ink. Can your hands handle it?"
Fu Jiuxin looked calmly at Dou Akou: "Speak plainly."
Dou Akou grinned foolishly at him for a while, then took out the snow lotus ointment with a fawning expression: "Sir, this is for you. It's very effective for rubbing your hands in winter."
Fu Jiuxin took it without saying a word, simply playing with the porcelain bottle.
Dou Akou watched as the celadon porcelain bottle twirled between the gentleman's slender, jade-like fingers. Although it was beautiful, she felt a little apprehensive. She focused intently on studying Fu Jiuxin's facial expression, but the gentleman's expression was only one: expressionless.
After a long silence, Fu Jiuxin asked, "What made you think of giving it to me?"
Dou Akou explained, saying things like the weather was cold, she would be turning 18 tomorrow, she had grown up, she was sensible, and so on. She went on and on, but when she realized that Fu Jiuxin didn't react at all, she awkwardly shut her mouth.
Fu Jiuxin said calmly, "Tell the truth."
Dou Akou shuddered and lowered her head, saying, "Last time I helped Xu Li wash the dishes, I realized that water is so cold in winter. I remembered that when I was in Qingyong City, my dishes were always washed by you, sir, so I... well, sir, I wanted to thank you for everything you've done for Akou, so I brought this."
Clearly, Fu Jiuxin's attention wasn't on what Dou Akou was thinking. He nodded and said, "Oh, you're helping Xu Liren wash the dishes."
You still call him Xu Li.
Dou Akou nodded happily: "Yes, sir, didn't you teach me that the greatest virtue of a gentleman is to do good to others? I feel that I have done a good deed."
Fu Jiuxin no longer wanted to talk to Dou Akou. He waved his hand and said, "Get out."
Dou Akou said "Oh" and left inexplicably.
Fu Jiuxin watched Dou Akou disappear through the door, then tossed the porcelain bottle into the flowerbed outside the window, watching it roll onto the dirt. He stood by the window for a moment, then suddenly strode to the door, pushed it open, squatted down, and searched through the flowers. Finally, he picked up the bottle, stared at it for a while, wiped it clean, and tucked it into his pocket.
Willow
The next morning, Dou Akou was dragged out of bed by her aunts to get ready. The aunts said that today was a big day for the girl, and they couldn't be careless. So Dou Akou spent an hour just getting ready.
After everything was settled, the concubines quickly disappeared again. They were very busy today. Many people would be attending Dou Akou's coming-of-age ceremony, including Dou Jincai's close colleagues and important officials from the imperial court. The Dou family's banquet had to be grand and impressive, so the entire Dou family was extremely busy.
Before leaving, they instructed Dou Akou: "Make sure you stay dressed up and don't go out wild again. You can lose your head, but you can't mess up your hairstyle; you can die, but you can't get your clothes dirty."
So Dou Akou, trembling with fear, wearing a head full of hairpins and holding her skirt, moved her feet stiffly, looking quite comical.
She went to ask for a birthday present. Neither hairpins nor silk robes could stop her from wanting one.
Dou Akou found Fu Jiuxin in the backyard of the Dou family.
The Dou family mainly dealt in flowers and trees. Emperor Taizu of the dynasty enjoyed tending to flowers and plants in his spare time, especially bonsai. The Dou family was responsible for procuring all the flowers and trees in the palace. As a result, there were many bonsai in the backyard, each with a different shape. According to Emperor Taizu's preferences, most of them were simple and elegant, and they conveyed auspicious meanings.
"Good morning, sir!" Dou Akou greeted him happily.
Fu Jiuxin was tending to a five-needle pine tree when he heard this, and turned to look at her, his eyes darkening.
It must be said that the Dou family's concubines had excellent taste. With their careful dressing, Dou Akou possessed the charm of a young woman approaching marriage, and her clothes were also appropriate, giving her a voluptuous beauty.
Unfortunately, she gave herself away as soon as she opened her mouth: "Sir, today is my birthday."
How could she hide her little scheme from her husband? She was subtly asking him for a gift.
After Fu Jiuxin had looked at her thoroughly, he slowly took out something wrapped in a handkerchief from his pocket and said, "Take this."