In Shuming Court of the Duke of Zhenguo’s household, the dark tiles and grey stone were dressed all in white, and the weeping willow and the strange rocks in the yard were covered with a thick layer of snow.
Hanying lifted the soft blue silk curtain and came in. Beyond the beaded curtain, Yu Nanzhi sat upright at the dressing table, slowly taking off her hairpins and rings before the bronze mirror.
Hearing Hanying’s footsteps, she turned her head with a smile. “Didn’t you go to the kitchen for pastries? Why are you back in less than half a cup of tea’s time?”
Hanying lifted the beaded curtain and came forward. “Halfway there I saw that the household had called in a physician. They say the one in Lanxi Court fell ill as soon as she got back.”
Lanxi Court was where Yu Qiuzhi lived.
Yu Nanzhi raised an eyebrow slightly, took off her lotus-jade earrings, said “Oh” carelessly, and asked, “What are her symptoms this time?”
Hanying gave a muffled snort. What else could they be?
She had been caught stealing the Miss’s painting, had disgraced herself at the birthday banquet and been scolded by the Grand Madam. She could not save her face and was afraid of being punished when she got back, so she pretended to be ill and played pitiful.
Hanying rolled her eyes and said with a cold laugh, “That one has used the same trick eight hundred times. The same as always, badly frightened, wind-evil entering the body. Miss, are you going to look in on her?”
Yu Nanzhi looked up at the darkening sky and said with the corners of her mouth turning up, “No. After I go out later, shut the courtyard and put out the lamps in the rooms too. I am the injured party. Whoever heard of the injured party going to watch the one who started it all put on a great show of dying [1]hunting for death and groping for life (xún sǐ mì huó, 尋死覓活) (Idiom), to make a melodramatic display of wanting to die jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253948_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253948_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });?”
This struck Hanying exactly where she wanted to be struck. She answered happily and was about to go and close the courtyard gate when she suddenly stopped. “But if Miss doesn’t go and the Third Young Master hears of it, he’ll come making trouble again.”
The Third Young Master, Yu Shutang, was born of the Duke of Zhenguo’s second wife and had always been close to Lanxi Court, which was why he came again and again to pick on Yu Nanzhi.
Yu Nanzhi did not care in the least. Whatever else, she was Yu Shutang’s elder sister and had a natural advantage over him. If he carried it too far, he could look forward to the family rod the next day [2]eating the family law (chī jiā fǎ, 吃家法) (Slang), to be punished under household discipline jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253948_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253948_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.
As they were speaking, a boy suddenly burst into Shuming Court. He wore a bright red round-collared robe with gold embroidery, and behind him came a page of about the same age. He shouted the moment he was through the gate. “Yu Nanzhi, get out here!”
Hanying was about to block the door when she saw Yu Nanzhi wink at her. She understood her Miss’s meaning at once and hurried out to fetch reinforcements.
Yu Shutang’s face was black and both hands were clenched into fists. Thinking of how weak Yu Qiuzhi had looked coughing until she could not catch her breath, his face filled with anger, and the temper flaring up in him burned higher and higher. He strode toward Yu Nanzhi’s room.
There was no lack of sweeping maids in Shuming Court. When Yu Shutang charged furiously into the courtyard, the maids saw that his expression was wrong and hurried up to block him. “Where has the Third Young Master come from? Does the young master want the Miss? The Miss has already gone to bed.”
Yu Shutang pushed the maids aside. “Out of the way!”
He was a master, and the maids did not dare offend him. They hesitated for a moment, and he got into the room.
He saw Yu Nanzhi the moment he entered. She was sitting on the soft couch, drinking a bowl of milk curd by herself.
“Third Brother.” Yu Nanzhi put down the bowl.
Yu Shutang’s face grew darker. He pointed at Yu Nanzhi and said angrily, “It’s only a painting. What would be wrong with giving it to Eldest Sister?”
She had already taken away even the name of the Duke’s noble daughter, why was she still not satisfied? She had been raised by country people after all, and she was rotten through to the core [3]her heart had long gone black right through (xīn zǎo jiù hēi tòu le, 心早就黑透了) (Metaphor), thoroughly malicious underneath jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253948_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253948_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. She looked soft and delicate and spoke in a thin little voice, and everyone said she had no scheming in her, but in fact it was just as Eldest Sister had said: it was all an act!
The maids outside heard Yu Shutang accusing Yu Nanzhi. They had seen it before, but they were still struck speechless, standing at the door unable either to go in or to withdraw.
The air was stiff.
【Hanying is coming with the Second Young Master.】 An orange cat jumped onto Yu Nanzhi’s lap and rubbed against her palm.
Yu Nanzhi cast a cool glance toward the door.
“Third Brother, where did you hear this?” Her brows drew together slightly and her tone was timid and shrinking. “I am your elder sister. You come in and accuse me at once. Have you ever let me argue back? Do you have any proof?”
Yu Shutang opened his mouth wide and had nothing to say, but in his eyes Yu Nanzhi harbored treachery, so he still set his jaw and refused to budge, and snorted coldly. “It’s no use however well you act. I have already seen through your true face!”
From outside came a rising and falling chorus of calls. “The Second Young Master is here!”
Yu Shutang shivered with fright and his whole body slumped. He made as if to run. Every time he came to Shuming Court to make trouble, his cousin from the other branch, Yu Shuhuai, would come, give him a scolding and take him away.
Yu Shuhuai came into the room like a gust of wind, his face dark. He walked up to Yu Nanzhi and Yu Shutang, who were at a standstill, and what he saw was his cousin with tears still on her face and a pair of weeping eyes swollen like walnuts. Putting it together with the stir in the household, he guessed what had happened. It was one thing that his third cousin did not like to study, but if he could not even tell right from wrong, how was he to become the head of a household in years to come?
There was a crack.
Yu Shutang covered the half of his face that had gone red and swollen and stared at Yu Shuhuai in disbelief. Yu Nanzhi, her eyes brimming with tears, took hold of Yu Shuhuai’s hand. “Third Brother is still small and understands nothing. It is all my fault for making him misunderstand. Second Brother, let him off.”
Yu Shuhuai’s expression was cold. He trained in martial arts every day to keep his body strong, so lifting his small cousin took no effort at all. “You read all those books of the sages, and you don’t even understand the principle of brotherly affection.”
He turned to Yu Nanzhi. “Second Sister, I will discipline him. Rest early. Tomorrow I will make him apologize to you respectfully.”
Seeing Yu Shutang taken away, Yu Nanzhi did not even bother to dry her tears. She fell back on the soft couch and laughed until she was doubled over. “Hanying, did you see that? That is what you call never learning your lesson.”
Hanying laughed until she cried too, but inwardly she wondered what method her Miss had, that she always knew where the Second Young Master was and could send her to fetch him.
After she had laughed, Yu Nanzhi changed into a black close-fitting outfit, lowered her head to tighten her wrist guards, and told Hanying, “Go and bring my draft papers.”
Hanying dug them out and handed them to her, craning her neck for a couple of glances. “Has Miss written something to send to Zhuyan Book Pavilion?”
Yu Nanzhi nodded, the corners of her lips curving. “After the Red Plum Banquet, how could there be no news from Nanzhi Que?”
She put on her veiled hat, told Hanying to guard the door, pushed open the window and leapt out. She soon disappeared into the wind and snow.
The night was deep and quiet, and a bright moon hung overhead.
A black figure suddenly appeared on the wall of the Duke of Zhenguo’s household in Buzheng Ward.
She was wrapped in black, lying behind a thin tree crown, her whole body on guard. Behind the veiled hat, a pair of eyes that could not be seen clearly looked out, searching for something.
【The ward patrolmen will be here any moment.】 The withered branch trembled in the wind, and Yu Nanzhi heard it murmuring in her ear.
Orange-red firelight fell on the white wall, so bright it was hard to keep one’s eyes open. From not far off came footsteps in step with one another. She quickly lowered herself, and saw a dozen or so ward patrolmen in short brown coats and iron armor, holding blades and torches, coming one after another into the narrow lane outside the wall.
Chang’an kept a night curfew, and after dusk no one was allowed to move about outside the wards. If she were caught by the patrolmen, the Duke of Zhenguo’s household would have to go to the Jingzhao Prefecture office to collect her.
Yu Nanzhi saw the patrolmen suddenly stop and thought she had given herself away. She tensed her body until even her breathing could barely be heard. She stayed tense for a good while and only heard the clang of a gong. She looked closely and saw that the patrolmen had turned and gone into another lane.
She let out a long breath, pushed off the wall with the sole of her foot, and with a light leap shot two or three zhang away. She soon slipped into another ward.
Inside Zhuyan Book Pavilion in Liquan Ward, a tall figure sat by the window, head lowered, pouring the water, mixing the paste and whisking the tea.
She wore a jade-green ru skirt with cloud patterns. She was a little full in figure, with a lovely, approachable face. This was Liu Ruyan, the owner of Zhuyan Book Pavilion.
She poured two cups of tea, and when she looked up at the moon she saw a black shadow flash past the upper floor.
That was clearly a person!
She moved nimbly, and with a few flips she was inside the upper floor.
The figure in black climbed through the window with practiced ease, sat down straight across from her, and lifted off the veiled hat.
Seeing that familiar face, Liu Ruyan smiled. “I thought you weren’t coming. Was it lively at Grand Princess Heyang’s residence?”
Yu Nanzhi nodded, picked up the teacup on the table and drank a few mouthfuls, and her dry throat was finally a little wetter.
“Nearly every official in Chang’an, great and small, named and nameless, went. By the way—” There was some excitement in her voice. “Let me tell you, among the talented ladies and gentlemen I reviewed at the Autumn Moon Banquet, a third pair… came together today.”
Liu Ruyan had grown up together with Yu Nanzhi from childhood and was of course happy for her good sister. She reached out and tweaked the tip of Yu Nanzhi’s nose. “You make quite a good anonymous matchmaker.”
Yu Nanzhi’s fair face reddened a little. She raised her cup and touched it against Liu Ruyan’s. “I have your Zhuyan Book Pavilion to thank for that too. Tea in place of wine, a cup to you.”
Suddenly Liu Ruyan’s eyes turned and she thought of something. “So when will you tie a red thread for yourself?”
As soon as Liu Ruyan brought up her marriage, Yu Nanzhi wilted where she sat [4]like an aubergine caught by the frost (dǎ shuāng de qié zi, 打霜的茄子) (Metaphor), suddenly limp and dispirited jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253948_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253948_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, holding her teacup and saying nothing.
Liu Ruyan knew her temperament. She put on this face only because she did not want to hear anyone go on about it.
This time Liu Ruyan would not indulge her. She set her cup down on the table and, once started, could not be stopped [5]as if her word-box had been opened (dǎ kāi le huà xiá zi, 打開了話匣子) (Metaphor), to begin talking and be unable to leave off jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253948_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253948_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, listing the unmarried young masters of Chang’an one after another, then stressed that Yu Nanzhi’s own conditions were rather good. She concluded, “Zhizhi, with the Duke’s household behind you, your marriage certainly won’t be a poor one. But with your ability, finding someone you like yourself isn’t hard either.”
“Mm.” Yu Nanzhi gave a light laugh and took Liu Ruyan’s hand. She knew Liu Ruyan was thinking of her.
From childhood she had soaked it up simply by being around it, following her foster mother, who was an official matchmaker, and she was very keen on tying red threads. But in these two years in Chang’an she had watched the great houses force many unsuited people together into resentful couples for the sake of marriage alliances, and it left her sighing inwardly. So she had become Nanzhi Que under an assumed name and supplied news in the little newspaper, so that young ladies and young masters could meet people of like mind and avoid unhappy marriages.
She rarely made herself put up with things, and certainly not in marriage. She thought for a moment, then leaned to Liu Ruyan’s ear. “I have a fair guess which households’ young masters they have chosen for me. I intend to test them.”
Liu Ruyan thought privately that an arrangement like this was far more suitable than what she had had in mind. She was quiet a moment. “That’s good too. But how do you intend to test them?”
Liu Ruyan had thought Yu Nanzhi would not answer, but she paused, her gaze going past Liu Ruyan to the scroll in the room inscribed “Zhuyan Book Pavilion,” and a hint of a smile came to her lips. “There are a great many poetry gatherings and banquets in Chang’an before and after the new year. As for the timing and the method…”
She and Liu Ruyan exchanged a look, and each understood the other perfectly. “Just have Zhuyan Book Pavilion print my articles on time, and the gentlemen will walk into the trap of their own accord [6]invite the gentleman to step into the jar (qǐng jūn rù wèng, 請君入甕) (Idiom), to catch someone in the very snare they helped devise jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253948_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253948_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”
Seeing how completely she had it all worked out, Liu Ruyan felt laughter rise in her. “At your service, then. And I wish Xiaoqueniao (little magpie) may find the one in her heart.”
As she spoke she knocked over the box on the table by accident. When she opened it, her dark brows drew together slightly: inside sat a stack of letters.
“These are all addressed to you. There’s even a threatening letter sent by County Princess Wanquan.”
Yu Nanzhi was taken aback. “A threatening letter?”
Liu Ruyan nodded.
Yu Nanzhi frowned, took the box and put it away, then handed the draft papers from her sleeve into Liu Ruyan’s hands.
Liu Ruyan skimmed what was on the papers and understood Yu Nanzhi’s meaning, but on second thought she felt some worry. “I hear County Princess Wanquan pursues a grudge to the bitter end. Surely a few nice words from you won’t put her off.”
Thinking of what she had heard from Daju before she left, Yu Nanzhi was quite certain. She gave a small smile. “Don’t worry. As for County Princess Wanquan, I have a scheme up my sleeve already [7]the mountain hermit has his own excellent plan (shān rén zì yǒu miào jì, 山人自有妙計) (Idiom), a jokey boast that one is already holding a clever plan jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253948_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253948_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”
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