After saying this, he reached for the silver note, but Zhang Rui tucked it into his bosom and clasped his hands, saying, "Thank you, Second Sister. Please take good care of my wife for me."
After saying this, he was about to leave. Zhenshu wanted to stop him, but Zhenyuan stopped him, saying, "Let him go. He's been drinking all day long here, and the smell is making me feel terrible."
Winter brings a lack of vegetables, and this village, being a rural area, offers little more than chickens for nourishment. Liu Mama, an old woman unsophisticated, couldn't even cook the finer things brought from the capital. Zhenyuan, however, was heavily pregnant and had a voracious appetite; a large bowl of soup wasn't enough, she wanted another. Zhenshu ate a bowl with her, and seeing that dusk was approaching, she cleared away the dishes and took the short-legged kang table to the kitchen to wash them. Liu Mama came in and took the table, saying, "How could I trouble you, young lady? I can wash them myself."
Zhenshu returned to the kang (heated brick bed), and the two remained silent. Suddenly, Zhenyuan asked, "I heard in your last letter that the old lady's lost silver had been found, is that true?"
Zhenshu said, "It's true. Fourth Aunt shook out tens of thousands of silver notes from under the quilt. We all misunderstood Zhenxiu."
Zhenyuan said, "That's right. She's my sister by blood. It's no wonder she's never been happy, since we doubted her so much."
As the two were talking, someone outside suddenly called out, "Second Miss Song!"
Zhenyuan smiled and said, "It's Young Master Liu. What brings him here?"
Zhenshu also laughed: "I happened to run into him earlier. He said he was going to visit his godfather. He must be back now."
Zhenyuan turned and opened the window, her head drooping as she and Zhenshu looked out. They saw Liu Wensi, still wearing his new silk clothes, carrying a fat chicken and a large duck in each hand, and a sheep on his back, as he entered the kitchen. Zhenshu smiled at Zhenyuan and said, "He's here to prepare New Year's goods for you."
Zhenyuan shyly patted Zhenshu's head and said, "I'm afraid it was prepared for you when you came."
The two were laughing by the window when Liu Wensi brought out a basin of water to rinse it. Zhenshu called out from the window, "Young Master Liu, since you're here, come in and say a few words."
Zhenyuan quickly covered Zhenshu's mouth and said, "How could you let him in?"
Zhenshu pried Zhenyuan's hand away and said, "Young Master Liu, come quickly."
She turned around, jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed), put on her clothes, smoothed out the corners of the kang, swept them twice with a brush, and tidied up the chairs and tables on the floor before dusting them clean. Liu Wensi had already entered with a smile, lifting the curtain. Zhenshu lit two lamps, one on the kang and one on the floor, invited Liu Wensi to sit down, poured him a cup of tea, and asked, "Were those all bought at the market?"
Liu Wensi said, "That's right."
They were all young men and women from the same village, now grown up. But being far from their hometown on such a cold night, a sense of closeness arose between them. Liu Wensi looked at Zhenyuan and asked, "Did you vomit again today?"
Zhenyuan glanced at Zhenshu, saw that she was smiling with a hint of mockery in her eyes, and covered her mouth with a handkerchief, saying, "No."
Liu Wensi nodded and said, "That's good, that's good! I was afraid you would still vomit, so I got some medicine to stimulate your appetite from the doctor at the market and gave it to the kitchen. I also told Liu's mother to brew it for you twice a day."
Zhenshu noticed that the two seemed to be speaking for the first time, and Liu Wensi looked more like the child's father than Zhang Rui. A deep regret welled up within her; she wished she could return to Wen County a year ago and arrange their marriage herself. But back when they went to the capital, Madam Su was ambitious, determined to find Zhenyuan a high-ranking husband; she would never have considered Liu Wensi, a son of a nouveau riche. She rose and curtsied, saying, "I still need to go outside to check on the horses and the people who came with me. Elder sister, please sit with Young Master Liu for a while."
Without waiting for a reply, she left the room and went to the outer courtyard. She saw Mei Xun sitting upright on a small stool under the eaves of the west room in the outer courtyard. She went over and curtsied, saying, "Sir, have you eaten yet?"
Mei Xun nodded but did not reply.
Zhenshu then said, "Why don't you go back to the inn in the market tonight and come pick me up tomorrow morning? It's the same thing."
Mei Xun did not answer again and remained sitting there. Seeing that he refused to speak, Zhen Shu pointed to the room behind her and said, "I asked Liu Mama to make up your bedding, so you can rest here tonight."
He then got up, grabbed a stool, and went inside.
Zhenshu shook her head and said, "What a strange person."
She personally checked that the gate was properly secured and the livestock were safe. She also prepared fodder for the night. She and Liu Mama cleaned and washed all the wolf foals that Zhang Rui and the others had placed in the main room of the second courtyard. Only then did she wash her hands and feet and tiptoe up to the west room. Inside, Liu Wensi and Zhenyuan were talking about something, with Zhenyuan giggling. Zhenshu smiled as well, moved a small table under the eaves of the main room, and sat down to gaze at the moon in the night sky.
The moon here is as round and bright as the one at Caijia Temple. How many times has she sat under the eaves gazing at the moon in the night sky, having countless sweet dreams of young love, how many times has she quarreled with Zhenxiu, and how many times has she wandered freely on the sandy beach of the Wei River under such a night sky?
But in the end, it was all in vain; the young girl's dream would eventually end. Zhenyu sent her maid to Dou Keming's arms, Zhang Rui disregarded his pregnant wife for the sake of the imperial examinations and his future, and Tong Qisheng lived a life of debauchery under the delicate feet of a prostitute. These were the only good, virtuous, and high-ranking husbands they could find. It seemed that no one could escape the net of reality; the innocent girl would eventually wake up from her dream and become worldly, nagging, and complaining women.
Liu Wensi lifted the curtain and came out. He saw Zhenshu sitting on a small table, her hands supporting her chin as she gazed at the night sky. He came over, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I, Liu, will take my leave."
Zhenshu quickly wiped the coldness from her face, stood up, and asked, "Where do you live?"
Liu Wensi pointed to the west and said, "I live in the next courtyard."
He walked to the west corner of the wall and pointed to a small door in the corner, saying, "These two courtyards are connected, but Young Master Zhang nailed this door shut because he was afraid of complicated people coming and going. If you need anything, just call out over the wall and I will come immediately."
Zhenshu agreed and saw him to the gate, locking it tightly from the inside before entering the west room. Zhenyuan was already in bed and asked when Zhenshu came in, "He's gone?"
Zhenshu hummed in agreement, climbed onto the kang (heated brick bed), pulled up a quilt, and lay down on the other side. After a long while, she said, "When we were on our way to the capital, we passed through Hanjiahe. Liu Wensi once said: 'If you see your eldest sister, tell her that I asked her. If she hears this, I will have lived a worthwhile life.'"
After a long pause, Jung-won finally said, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Zhen Shu said, "I also have many things on my mind, but I forget them afterward."
“We can’t go back!” Jung-won suddenly sighed. “In the end, we can’t go back.”
Her mother urged her to hastily find such a good-for-nothing man, but while heavily pregnant, she met a good man she both liked. In the end, there was no going back.
Zhenshu's mind, however, was filled with thoughts of Yu Yichen. From their first encounter upon leaving the capital, to Wanshou Temple, and then to the inn, from every little detail of their acquaintance to their time together last night. She wasn't afraid that Yu Yichen would deceive her; she could sense his humble and desperate love for her, and she herself felt the same way. His politeness and restraint had lowered her guard, and the net woven by his gentleness had finally ensnared her, slowly drawing her into this twisted love affair, until last night, when those gentle spiderwebs finally bound her, leaving her unable to escape.
Chapter 71 The Gentleman
Does this mean I'm really going to marry Yu Yichen?
Zhenshu suddenly became clear-headed and was immediately plunged into distress from which she could not extricate herself.
Zhenshu woke up very early because of the barking of dogs and crowing of roosters outside. She got up early to wash and clean herself, set up a stove under the stove to boil a large pot of water, scalded the fat chicken that Liu Wensi had brought yesterday, plucked its feathers, removed its internal organs and cleaned it, put the whole chicken in a sandpit and stewed it on the fire, and then started another stove to cook porridge for breakfast.
Liu Mama came out from the next room and saw that Zhenshu had already prepared the kitchen. She put her hands in her pockets and said, "Second Miss, why bother? I can do these things."
Zhenshu smiled and agreed, serving a bowl of porridge and a few steaming hot flatbreads. He then picked out a few chopsticks of pickled vegetables from the jar, carried them to the west room on a short-legged kang table, and put them down for Zhenyuan. Only then did he prepare another table and carry it to the outer room. He knocked on the door of the west room and asked loudly, "Sir, are you up?"
Mei Xun opened the door and saw Zhen Shu smiling as he carried a table full of breakfast. Although his face was expressionless, he still invited him into the room. Zhen Shu didn't stand on ceremony and placed the food on the kang (a heated brick bed) for him, saying, "Eat it while it's hot."
Mei Xun had just picked up the bowl of porridge when Zhen Shu said, "You have to go back by yourself this morning. The carriage is still here. I'm staying here to keep my older sister company while she prepares for childbirth."
Afraid that the two apprentices outside would hear, she lowered her voice and said, "Tell your father-in-law that I have to wait until the imperial examination is over before I can return to the capital."
Mei Xun lowered his voice and said, "No!"
Zhen Shu heard his unpleasant voice and lowered her voice even further, saying, "I really can't leave. I have to stay here to take care of my sister. Go back and tell Yu Yichen, he will listen."
Mei Xun shook his head again: "No."
Zhen Shu gritted her teeth in anger, but fearing others would overhear their argument, she stormed out of the house and into the courtyard, where she saw Liu Wensi just walking in from outside the gate. She smiled and asked, "Young Master Liu, you've arrived early today?"
Liu Wensi said, "How dare I call myself 'Young Master'? If you don't mind, could you call me 'Big Brother' in the future?"
Zhenshu replied, "Brother Liu!"
The two entered Zhenyuan's west room together. Zhenyuan was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) eating porridge with her hair and face disheveled. When she saw Liu Wensi come in, she quickly covered her face and said, "Zhenshu, I haven't washed up yet. How can you let him in?"
Liu Wensi said, "It's nothing. You're feeling unwell right now. I'll go to the kitchen and get some hot water for you to wash your face, okay?"
After saying this, he lifted the curtain and went out.
A moment later, she brought a basin of hot water and placed it on the ground. She wrung out a handkerchief and handed it to Zhenyuan. Zhenyuan wiped her face with the handkerchief, then wrung it out again in the basin to dry. Zhenshu watched all this, and how could she not be moved?
Liu Wensi took a basin outside and splashed water before loudly proclaiming from the outer room: "The vent behind this house has been kept open because of the charcoal brazier when it's cold. Now that the brazier has been removed, if it's not sealed up, I'm afraid you'll catch a cold at night. I'll have those two boys build a ladder, and I'll go seal up the vent."
In rural houses where charcoal braziers are used year-round, a vent is often left high up to prevent smoke inhalation. This vent is opened in winter and sealed in spring. Liu Wensi is here to seal this vent.
Zhenyuan closed her eyes and asked Zhenshu to comb her hair. Suddenly remembering something, she opened her eyes and asked, "Where did the swordsman you brought to drive the carriage yesterday come from?"
Zhenshu lied and said, "He's just Uncle Zhao's friend."
Zhenyuan looked up at Zhenshu and said, "Last night, Liu Wensi said that the man looked somewhat familiar, like a servant from his godfather's household. I heard that his godfather is a eunuch. How could Uncle Zhao know such a person?"
Now that others say Yu Yichen is a eunuch, Zhenshu has a different feeling about it, and it sounds very grating to her. But she can only patiently explain, "Uncle Zhao and Father were both in the capital back then. How could we know what kind of people they knew? This is not your concern. Sit up straight and I'll give you a nice haircut."
Zhenshu combed the downy hair on her forehead back to make it fluffy, then combed all the hair at the back of her head high and tied it up with a jade hairpin. She then decorated her hair with a false hairpin, and adorned it with mother-of-pearl and pearl hairpins. She then took the peony-colored spring shirt that she had brought for her yesterday and put it over her inner garment, and tied a moon-flower skirt for her. Only then did she help her get off the kang and say, "Come on, let's go to the courtyard and take a look."
The spring sunshine was beautiful today, and Zhenyuan was still wearing her usual long woolen coat over her clothes before stepping out of the house. The sunlight outside was so bright that she could barely open her eyes. Zhenshu took the coat from her and said, "Why are you wearing this on such a nice day?"
Zhenyuan was already fair-skinned and beautiful, and wearing this peony-colored spring dress made her face appear even more radiant, like the moon and the goddess Chang'e. She herself was a little shy, and Zhenshu asked Liu Wensi, who was perched on the roof beam, "Brother Liu, do you think I look good?"
Liu Wensi nodded and smiled, "It looks very good."
Zhenyuan noticed that Liu Wensi's eyes were fixed on her, and fearing that he might slip and fall, she quickly waved her hand and said, "Watch your step, watch your step."
Liu Wensi had already blocked the vent, and slid down the ladder to wash his hands at the kitchen sink, his eyes constantly glancing at Zhenyuan. Zhenyuan seemed to be moved, and was quietly sighing in her heart when she suddenly saw Mei Xun standing at the gate of the second courtyard saying, "It's time to go."
Zhenshu got up early but couldn't persuade him. She was planning to go and persuade him later, but when she saw him come to the second gate to urge her, she was afraid that Zhenyuan would be suspicious if she saw him. So she quickly ran out and pushed Meixun, saying, "Sir, please go first. I really have to take care of my sister and can't leave."
This guy's head is as dead as a club.
Sure enough, Liu Wensi helped Zhenyuan out. Seeing that Zhenshu looked anxious and didn't know what to say, Zhenyuan quickly said, "If there is an emergency in the capital, you should go back quickly. With Brother Liu here to take care of things, I won't lack anything."
Zhen Shu said, "Nothing happened. I went to send him away and came back."
Seeing this, Liu Wensi pulled Zhenshu aside and whispered, "You can go ahead. I've decided not to participate in the imperial examination this year and will stay here to take care of your sister."
Zhen Shu said, "The imperial examinations only come once every three years. If you don't go, how will your parents agree? How will you explain it to them when you go back to Hanjiahe?"
Liu Wensi said, “Actually, you don’t know this. My meager education isn’t even enough to pass the imperial examinations for a student. It was only through my father’s efforts to bribe my godfather that I was able to pass the provincial and metropolitan examinations and get into the capital. Now, with the spring examinations approaching, I still need my godfather’s help to get me a Jinshi degree. I’m just a farmer with a few basic characters. How could I dare to dabble in literature? I already told my godfather yesterday that I wouldn’t take the exam, and he agreed. Last time, I didn’t dare to take a single step further in Hanjiahe, which led to your sister’s current predicament. If I still can’t help her in this situation, then my love for her would be utterly ridiculous.”
Zhenshu was filled with respect and admiration for his words, and after a long while, she clasped her hands in a fist and said, "Brother Liu is a true gentleman. Then I entrust my sister to you."
Liu Wensi glanced at Mei Xun behind him and said, "I didn't get a good look at him yesterday, but I realized it when he spoke today. He's a very capable man under my godfather. Why would he be driving for you?"
Zhen Shu thought to herself: Now the whole capital will know.
He still tried to cover it up by saying, "He's a friend of my Uncle Zhao. He came to see me off because he had something to ask of me."
Liu Wensi nodded, but still said, "Go quickly. If I can't take care of the young lady here, you can come and complain next time."
Zhenyuan also came over and said, "Since there's something going on in the capital, you should leave quickly, otherwise I'll be worried sick if you stay here."
Zhenshu had no choice but to agree. She went back to the kitchen and explained how to make soup and how to clean the mutton to prevent it from being gamey. She also explained how to preserve the remaining mutton. After cleaning herself up and combing her hair, she bid farewell to Zhenyuan and Liu Wensi and left Liu Family Village for the market.
Yu Yichen reined in his horse and held the whip, waiting outside Liujiazhuang Village. Seeing Mei Xun approaching in his carriage, he frowned and asked, "Why did it take so long?"
It was already nearly noon.
Mei Xun dared not say more and stopped the car. Zhen Shu jumped out of the car and angrily pouted, complaining, "I need to take care of my sister at the estate, but this man under your command is very unreasonable and insists on taking me out."
Sun Yuan had already brought a horse. When Yu Yichen saw Zhenshu, he had no temper left. He jumped down, helped her onto the horse, and rode the one Sun Yuan had brought. He handed the whip to Zhenshu and said, "He was just following orders."
Zhenshu glanced at him and said, "So you told him yesterday to bring me back no matter what?"
"Yes," Yu Yichen said with a smile, "I'm afraid that once you go, you won't want to come back."
Her angry expression was still endearing, with her almond-shaped eyes brimming with autumn water, her delicate lips, and her graceful figure. Yu Yichen smiled warmly, his eyes fixed on Zhenshu, and said softly, "I got up before dawn and waited here, afraid you wouldn't come out."
So, in fact, before she even served breakfast, he had already sent people several times to urge Mei Xun to get up.
He gently patted Zhenshu's horse, and the horse spurred its horse forward with a long neigh. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd behind him, he spurred his horse to catch up. Once both horses were far away, he stood up, took one foot out of the stirrup and placed it on the other side. When the two horses were very close, he leaped and mounted Zhenshu's horse.
Zhenshu was startled by his kiss. She turned around and was about to open her mouth when his lips covered hers. He kissed her passionately, as if he wanted to crush her, until they were both blushing, their hearts pounding, and they were breathless. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist and laughed loudly.
Zhenshu muttered, "You're a madman."
She loosened the reins and turned to find his lips, letting the tears in her eyes be blown away by the wind, and murmured, "Me too."
He reined in his horse and rode into the market. He galloped through the deserted streets to the inn before dismounting. Before Zhenshu could dismount, he scooped her up in his arms, kicked open the inn door, ran inside, and went up the stairs. He kicked open the door to the guest room, threw Zhenshu on the bed, and then pounced on her, showering her with kisses.