This month the thing in Chang’an that holds every eye is without question the Red Plum Banquet. Grand Princess Heyang has invited the young men of the highest houses far and wide to her birthday banquet. I wonder which of the well-born young ladies will be able to seize the chance and find themselves a good husband?
—Zhuyan Book Pavilion: Nanzhi Que, the eighth day of the twelfth month, the fourth year of Xihe
Inside Grand Princess Heyang’s residence, a dense row of icicles hung under the eaves. The small window was half open, and outside it only the snow-covered red plum trees still stood in the whiteness.
“Have you all seen the new thing Nanzhi Que wrote?”
The little newspaper from Zhuyan Book Pavilion had been crumpled into a ball, and it rolled over to the side of the brazier.
The charcoal fire in the hall was burning hard. A slender figure leaned against the soft pillow behind her, a Xiangfei-red shawl over her arms half fallen to the floor, pretending to admire the “Winter Plum in Snow” spread out on the table.
“Second Miss Yu, this County Princess is asking you.”
Yu Nanzhi looked up at the voice. The richly dressed girl in front of her lifted her chin slightly, and the arrogance she could not hide was there for anyone to read in those phoenix eyes.
“County Princess Wanquan, you haven’t finished reading it, so how could any of us—” She glanced at County Princess Wanquan’s expression, her lips moved, and she swallowed the rest of the words back down. Silently she picked up the ball of paper from the floor.
County Princess Wanquan was Grand Princess Heyang’s only daughter and was much favored by the Empress Dowager. Among the noble young ladies of Chang’an her word was law. If Yu Nanzhi offended her, she would find every door in noble-lady circles shut against her.
Yu Nanzhi unfolded the ball of paper and smoothed it out on the table. She lowered her eyes and read the lines about the Red Plum Banquet closely. She hesitated a long while before she raised her head and said slowly, “County Princess, compared with the account of Xianghong Mountain he wrote last month, this time Nanzhi Que is only telling the plain truth.”
Grand Princess Heyang was the Sage’s only full younger sister, and she had married into the Cui clan of Qinghe, so that even the imperial sons and imperial consorts fell far short of her. When she held a birthday banquet, no one of the imperial clan dared not come and show support, and the young masters of the great families would attend as well. It could be called the best occasion in Chang’an for the daughters of the city to choose a husband.
The many noble young ladies resting in the hall had all come for this. If one of them could win the favor of some prince or young nobleman, the second half of her life would be secure.
Before her words had died away, Yu Nanzhi suddenly raised her head and found that everyone was looking at her. Only then did she realize that the first half of what she had said had touched County Princess Wanquan’s rawest nerve [1]trodden right on her sore foot (tòng jiǎo, 痛腳) (Metaphor), the one subject a person cannot bear to hear mentioned jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3109920_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3109920_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Last month Nanzhi Que had named the five most talented young ladies of the Autumn Moon Banquet at Xianghong Mountain, and had left out County Princess Wanquan, the host of the banquet, of all people.
Thinking of this, County Princess Wanquan wrung her handkerchief in anger. She turned back and saw Yu Nanzhi with her head down, staring at the floor, the look on her pretty face vacant, lost in who knew what thoughts. She snorted coldly.
“Just now, when we were doing linked verse, Second Miss Yu did not say a word. Everyone knows you have no learning in poetry, but by the rules you lost. What do you all say her punishment should be?”
As soon as County Princess Wanquan said this, the seven or eight young ladies present could not help leaning over to look at her, their eyes full of sympathy.
The anger had been shifted onto her.
Yu Nanzhi’s expression froze. She looked around carefully and blankly, and met County Princess Wanquan’s gaze.
Her eyes were slightly red, and standing there dazed like that, she looked like a small deer that had been frightened and wronged.
County Princess Wanquan looked away without letting it show. She had been full of anger, but seeing Yu Nanzhi so timid she did not dare make a sound, the anger was gone.
She curled her lip and thought to herself that Yu Nanzhi would never amount to anything [2]there is no making anything of her (méi chū xī, 沒出息) (Slang), spiritless and unambitious, a good-for-nothing jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3109920_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3109920_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. No wonder that after nearly two years since she had been brought back to Chang’an, the one the Duke of Zhenguo’s household valued most was still Yu Qiuzhi, that fake heiress.
County Princess Wanquan hesitated and could not decide. Fourth Miss Li, who had been sitting to one side, raised her head, thought for a moment and said, “Why not ask Second Miss Yu to break off a few plum branches? Everyone knows the flowers in the princess’s residence are at their fullest right now. It would let us all feast our eyes.”
Hearing this, Yu Nanzhi was somewhat moved. She knew Fourth Miss Li was giving her a way out. So beautiful and so kind-hearted, she was worthy of being a talented lady named by Nanzhi Que.
She thanked her at once, speaking as if Fourth Miss Li were her benefactor.
Fourth Miss Li only shook her head and signaled Yu Nanzhi to go quickly. She had no great ill feeling toward Nanzhi Que. Not long after the Autumn Moon Banquet, she and one of the talented young men Nanzhi Que had personally named had taken to each other. She had spoken up to defuse things because she could not bear to watch a young lady of the Duke of Zhenguo’s household suffer trouble she had done nothing to deserve.
The maid waiting at the door draped a snow-white fine-fur cloak over her, and watched Yu Nanzhi push the door open and go out.
As Yu Nanzhi walked along the covered corridor, she pricked up her ears, listening to who knew what.
【Ah—do you know? Just now the Marquis of Wu’an’s household took a liking to the third son of the Vice Minister of Revenue.】
【Ninth Miss He requires her future husband to be at least six chi tall.】
The chattering voices came into her ears. Yu Nanzhi stopped walking and raised her eyes to stare at the plum trees outside the corridor.
They really did talk a lot.
Over these two years, her reaction to the voices of these flowers, birds, fish and insects had gone from the disbelief of the beginning, when she suspected she was imagining things, to the calm she felt now. She could even listen to them with interest, as entertainment.
She held up the hem of her skirt and walked carefully, and still nearly stumbled. She went down the steps and headed straight for the edge of the plum garden, where one plum tree was in full bloom.
Suddenly the plum tree’s murmuring vanished from her ears. The girl’s steps halted. She turned her head and saw, beyond the crimson plum grove, a young man sitting upright. He wore a plain white robe, his black hair was tied high, and two jade ribbons hung down and fell against a collar embroidered with golden cranes. He sat with his eyes closed, deep in thought, as if he had merged into the vast snowfield.
Whose son was he?
Why did the plum trees stop talking the moment he appeared?
Yu Nanzhi grew curious. She turned her steps and walked deeper into the plum grove. As that figure came nearer and nearer, somehow the heart in her chest beat faster and faster. But before she got close, she was startled.
“Who’s there?” The voice was cold and clear, like the moon on a faint zither string.
Caught the very first time she peeked at someone, Yu Nanzhi felt her face burning hot.
The girl hesitated a moment, pushed aside the plum branch in front of her and came closer. She curtsied and gathered her courage. “This humble girl has long admired the plum garden of the princess’s residence, so she came here to break off some plum. I carelessly disturbed you, my lord. Please forgive me.”
The young man raised his head at the voice. His nose was narrow and straight, his features clean-cut and striking, and he held a snow-white cat in his arms. The moment Yu Nanzhi met those amber eyes, she felt her heartbeat skip half a beat.
She stared blankly for a few breaths before she realized with a start that she was being rude, and quickly lowered her eyes and stopped looking at the young man. But her gaze was immediately caught by the cat in front of her. What a beautiful cat, far better behaved than Daju (Big Orange) at her own house, who knew nothing but eating and sleeping.
Yu Nanzhi looked at the cat lying obediently in the crook of the young man’s arm, and before she knew what she was doing she stepped forward [3]sent by ghosts and dispatched by gods (guǐ shǐ shén chāi, 鬼使神差) (Idiom), acting on an impulse one cannot afterwards explain jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3109920_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3109920_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, reached out and scratched the cat under the chin, then carefully stroked its soft fur. Her heart was melting.
That soft feel, that snow-white coat, and the mismatched eyes, one red and one blue, it could be called the finest of cats. But when she leaned close and listened carefully, all she heard was the cat’s contented purring, not the human voice she heard from her own Daju. Could her ability really have stopped working?
The young man said nothing, only let her rub the cat’s head, and there was even a certain indulgence in the way he acted.
He lowered his head and observed the girl playing with the cat. The fine soft fur collar hid most of her face. Judging by the cloth of the cloak alone, crimson foreign satin with gilt threads of a hundred butterflies passing through flowers, a material only the households of princes and dukes were allowed to use, he already had some guess as to who she was.
“Is the cat cute?” There was a gentleness in the young man’s tone that was hard to place.
Yu Nanzhi came to herself with a jolt and realized what she had just done was even more of an offense. Petting someone’s cat without asking the owner, what sort of thing was that? She withdrew her hand awkwardly and tried to explain herself.
“This cat’s eyes… are strangely lovely. Looking at them makes one feel tender toward it, so this humble girl could not help herself for a moment and offended it,” Yu Nanzhi said each word with great sincerity.
The young man smoothed the cat’s fur and lowered his head, thinking seriously. “Felt tender toward it, and therefore offended it.” It was the first time he had heard such an amusing explanation.
“Oh? When I first kept Yunu, I did indeed choose her for her eyes. But I do not know, which household is the young lady from?”
The young man’s gaze was too sharp. Yu Nanzhi instinctively took a few steps back, but she saw her own face reflected in those pupils, which held a chill like snow on a high far mountain. The wind and snow of the twelfth month drifted down, mixed with red plum petals that fell all over her, and left her heart in complete disorder [4]blew the pool of water in her heart into ripples (chuī luàn le yī chí xīn shuǐ, 吹亂了一池心水) (Metaphor), to throw a settled heart into turmoil jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3109920_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3109920_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.
“Then… who are you, my lord?” Yu Nanzhi asked in return.
“You don’t know me?” The young man touched his lips without thinking and stared at Yu Nanzhi in disbelief.
What surprised him was that at today’s Red Plum Banquet there was actually someone who did not know him. Although he was not often in Chang’an, he was a young talent who had been praised by many great scholars and even by the Sage.
Even if she did not know his reputation… but she…
Could it be that she did not remember?
Seeing that he had not answered for a long time, Yu Nanzhi thought that a man who did not even dare give his name was surely not a proper sort. She quietly put herself on guard, then gave the young man a small smile to show she meant no harm. “Is it hard to answer?”
The young man’s words had just reached his lips when a maid in blue came running up in small steps.
“Miss, the Old Madam has waited a long time and has not seen you, so she sent this servant to find you and bring you to the main hall.”
“Mm.” Yu Nanzhi came to herself at once. “Hanying, let’s go now.”
With that, Yu Nanzhi bowed respectfully to the young man, lifted her cloak, and went unsteadily toward the main hall of the princess’s residence.
Yu Nanzhi followed Hanying onto the covered corridor and asked, “Did you bring that plum blossom painting of mine?”
“The Eldest Miss sent someone to take it away.” Hanying’s face was long. Relying on the elders’ fondness for her, Yu Qiuzhi had done this sort of thing more than once.
Afraid Yu Nanzhi would be angry, Hanying quickly moved to her side and smoothed the fur collar on her. “Miss, don’t fret. You are the Duke’s own daughter after all. Or this servant could tell the Grand Madam later.”
“Don’t.” Yu Nanzhi stopped Hanying quickly and said quietly, “Hanying, go to the carriage and fetch my box. There is another plum blossom painting inside.”
Hanying was taken aback. “Miss, you’re just going to let her?”
Yu Nanzhi shook her head gently and said no more.
Yu Qiuzhi had been raised by the Duke of Zhenguo’s household for seventeen years. Even after the matter of the fake heiress came out, the elders of the household had still borne the pressure and kept her in the Duke’s house. Compared with that, Yu Nanzhi’s two years of feeling were really far too thin.
Hanying nodded unwillingly, turned, and ran toward the gate of the princess’s residence.
Yu Nanzhi went around the carved glazed screen wall, crossed the snow-covered garden, and came to a building with vermilion pillars and green tiles. She looked up and saw the three large characters “Fengyi Pavilion” written on the lintel, and knew that this was the main hall of the princess’s residence.
Brocade robes and perfumed hair, wealth on show wherever you turned, was every person of power in all of Chang’an here?
Yu Nanzhi had been in Chang’an this long, and this was the first time she had seen so grand an occasion. She looked into Fengyi Pavilion without thinking.
Inside, the Grand Madam of Zhenguo sat in the seat of honor talking with Grand Princess Heyang, and Yu Qiuzhi stood attending beside them. Seeing Yu Nanzhi arrive, she frowned slightly, but quickly put on a face full of smiles.
Yu Nanzhi took off her damp cloak, and once she was standing properly she bowed stiffly to each of the people in the room.
The Grand Madam of Zhenguo swept a cool glance over her and looked away. “Good that you’re here. Hurry and pay your respects to Her Highness.”
Yu Nanzhi at once lowered her head and bowed. “This subject, Yu Nanzhi of the Yu family, respectfully wishes Your Highness boundless fortune and years beyond counting [5]fortune as vast as the Eastern Sea, long life to rival the Southern Mountains (fú rú dōng hǎi, shòu bǐ nán shān, 福如東海，壽比南山) (Idiom), the stock formula for wishing someone … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3109920_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3109920_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”
The birthday phrase was one you heard on every street corner [6]rotting all over the street (làn dà jiē, 爛大街) (Slang), so common that it has lost all worth jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3109920_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3109920_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, far inferior to the Eldest Miss’s birthday poem. The Grand Madam of Zhenguo shook her head. This granddaughter had been lost among the common folk for fifteen years and fell short after all, and she was a little too timid in dealing with people. She said helplessly, “Since you’re here, stand behind me.”
Yu Nanzhi bowed and withdrew unhurriedly to behind the Grand Madam, letting out a breath of relief.
The others had been talking before Yu Nanzhi entered Fengyi Pavilion. Now that everyone was seated again, the Grand Madam hurriedly picked the earlier topic back up. “Your Highness, what do you think of my eldest granddaughter? For your birthday this child went out of her way to find a winter plum painting by Yu Xi.”
Before the Grand Madam had finished, Yu Qiuzhi lowered her head with a shy face, raising it now and then to steal a look at the Grand Princess’s expression. Her hopes were all there without a word being said.
Yu Qiuzhi was seventeen now, just the age for talk of marriage. If the Grand Princess acted as matchmaker, she would surely be able to shake off her awkward status and marry into the house of a duke or a marquis.
Everyone present knew there was something fishy between the two Yu sisters [7]cat grease (māo nì, 貓膩) (Slang), a hidden catch or piece of shady business jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3109920_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3109920_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. They all pricked up their ears, waiting for the Grand Princess to speak.
The Grand Princess glanced at the gentle, refined Yu Qiuzhi and beckoned her to come closer.
“She looks like a good child, and her poems are well made. By the way—” The Grand Princess remembered something. “Why have I not seen your name in Nanzhi Que’s reviews?”
Grand Princess Heyang was a faithful reader of Nanzhi Que and had not missed a single issue of the little newspaper.
Yu Nanzhi raised her eyes and saw that Yu Qiuzhi’s face had gone dark, the corners of her mouth held up by force. Yu Nanzhi laughed to herself. Of course Nanzhi Que would never have any review of her.
The Grand Madam was also somewhat embarrassed. She paused, then went on speaking well of Yu Qiuzhi. “Perhaps my Eldest Miss does not like to compete, and so her name is not known. At my age, all that is on my mind is the marriages of the young ones.”
Thinking of her own troublesome son, the Grand Princess felt the same deeply. “I worry about nothing else, only about Zixu. With a temper like his, I really don’t know whose daughter could put up with him.”
As it happened, the Grand Princess had only just mentioned Cui Zixu when a maid’s announcement came from outside the door. “Your Highness, the Prince has arrived.”
The door opened lightly, and the howling north wind rushed into the room with a cold scent of plum. Yu Nanzhi raised her head and, through a carved screen, saw a tall, upright figure, a pair of long hands parting the beaded curtain.
At first sight of the newcomer, the whole hall seemed to brighten.
The young man paid no attention to the stunned crowd. He stepped into the hall, lifted his robe and knelt. “Your unfilial son Cui Zixu respectfully wishes Mother long joy in her chambers and many cups raised to her years.”
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