Readers, a young man who passes the examination rides with hurrying hooves. Today’s third recommendation among the fine talents of Chang’an is the fourth son of Vice Director Liu. His bearing is dignified and refined, his family line pure and distinguished. He is fond of quiet, and admires above all the calligraphy of Wang Youjun. In last year’s spring examination he placed thirty-second. He wishes to find one who knows his tune and to stay by her till both their heads are white. If any reader has someone else to recommend, you may write to Zhuyan Book Pavilion.
—Zhuyan Book Pavilion, Nanzhi Que, the twelfth day of the twelfth month, the fourth year of Xihe
For three days running, Nanzhi Que had added a section at the end of the little newspaper reviewing young masters, all selected and listed according to the requirements Fifth Miss Feng had set out. There were five of them now.
As for Fifth Miss Feng’s side, no particular news had come through yet.
That day Yu Nanzhi slept until the third quarter of the chen hour before she got up.
It was a rare warm sun for winter, and the wind had died down. A few gossamer wisps of cloud hung at the edge of the sky. The snow-covered bare branches showed something of the glossy color of jade, and the icicles hanging from the eaves caught the clear light and scattered it like broken gold over the girl waiting beneath them.
“Good morning, Second Brother.” Yu Nanzhi bowed slightly, and the lotus embroidery at the collar of her wrap swayed with the movement.
The Duke of Zhenguo’s house had risen through military merit. Even though Yu Shuhuai had entered service by the civil path, he had not slackened his training in the martial arts. Every day, unless there was heavy wind, heavy rain or heavy snow, he would go to the garden for a round of practice.
“What brings Second Sister here?” Yu Shuhuai stopped, his voice a little hoarse, a thin film of sweat between his brows. He drew the wooden sword up lightly and set it behind his back, and the wind of the blade knocked a few grains of leftover snow from the front of the corridor.
Yu Nanzhi answered, “I ate a bit too much at the morning meal, so I came out for a walk to help it down.”
Yu Shuhuai instructed her, “Then remember to have the servants boil you a bowl of apple and hawthorn water later, so you don’t really get indigestion and feel wretched again.”
“That stuff tastes awfully sour. I really don’t like it. Oh, by the way—” Out of the corner of her eye Yu Nanzhi caught sight of something like a sheet of paper in Yu Shuhuai’s left hand and craned her neck to look. “What is Second Brother holding? Zhuyan… or was it Bamboo something?”
She narrowed her eyes and slowly made out the signature showing at the end of the sheet.
Yu Shuhuai corrected her. “It is Zhuyan Book Pavilion.”
“So it’s Nanzhi Que’s little newspaper!” Just the right degree of surprise spread in Yu Nanzhi’s eyes, and she put on the look of someone for whom the fog had just cleared. “But I remember Second Brother never paid any attention to this sort of useless gossip before. It is only young ladies like us who like to pass the time with it.”
Suddenly Yu Nanzhi realized with alarm that she had let something slip in what she had just said. She lowered her lids at once, her fingertips twisting the scrolling-vine pattern of her embroidered handkerchief tighter and tighter, and her voice gradually dropped.
Seeing her like this, Yu Shuhuai spoke to comfort her. “Read it if you want to. It is nothing serious. You are a daughter of our Duke’s household. You may well learn from the other girls of Chang’an and be more open. There is no need to hide whatever you like.”
“Like… County Princess Wanquan… and the rest of them?”
“Yes.”
“No… I couldn’t.” Yu Nanzhi shook her head hard and fast, somewhat dispirited. “I can’t learn to act like that. I had better stay quietly tucked away.”
“Ah—” Yu Shuhuai sighed helplessly. He understood that this sister had been found too late and that her nature was already set, changing it would not be the work of a single day. “If you feel at ease, then any way is fine. This afternoon the Marquis of Pingyuan’s household is holding a banquet. Go with my mother and stay together with Qiuchi. Don’t wander far.”
Looking like such a little rabbit, he was truly afraid that with one moment’s inattention some wolf from who knew where would carry her off in its jaws.
“Is the Duke’s lady not going?”
That was what Yu Nanzhi said, but in fact she knew the reason perfectly well. Three days ago Yu Shutang had taken a hard beating outside Cuiwei Hall, his backside was a mass of split welts [1]his backside had burst into flower (pì gu kāi le huā, 屁股開了花) (Slang), beaten until the flesh is broken open jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253953_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253953_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, and he still lay on his stomach in bed unable to get up. Madam Zhou, who doted on her son, had been keeping watch at his bedside herself for days.
The Grand Madam was on in years, and a marquis household’s literary gathering was not enough to trouble her. That left Madam Ji of the second branch as the only woman of the Duke’s household presentable enough, and for her to take the two young ladies Yu Nanzhi and Yu Qiuchi to the banquet was entirely correct and proper.
“Um… Second Brother still hasn’t answered why he has started reading this thing…” Yu Nanzhi pointed at the little newspaper in Yu Shuhuai’s left hand. Then, as though afraid of putting him in a difficult position, she changed her words the next moment. “If it isn’t convenient to say… then let’s say Nanzhi never asked. It was only a moment’s curiosity.”
Yu Shuhuai said, “There is nothing that can’t be said. What Zhuyan Book Pavilion has been writing about these last few days is the young talents of Chang’an, every one of them outstanding. I wanted to see whether I could be one of them, only unfortunately…”
The last of his words turned into a barely audible sigh.
So that was it.
Yu Nanzhi thought.
Perhaps it was not only young masters like Second Brother who had already passed the examination. Those long-practised and far-calculating ministers of the court might be watching the little newspaper in secret too, to see whether their own juniors could get on the list. Having one’s name on a list in a little newspaper did not sound very official, but what spread was a good name after all, and that helped an official career later on.
A little guilt rose in Yu Nanzhi’s heart, and she stole a glance at Yu Shuhuai.
Second Brother, I really am sorry. We both know how things stand in the Duke’s household. Where is there any sign of harmonious brothers and sisters or clear and bright family ways?
So you can only be out of this round of the review.
“Very surprising?” Yu Shuhuai’s voice came.
Yu Nanzhi came to herself with a start and nodded hard. “It really is a bit. Second Brother doesn’t seem…”
“Doesn’t seem like someone who cares about such things?” Yu Shuhuai smiled. “Reputation and praise are things everyone wants. Some only hide it deeper and some more shallowly. I am as much a creature of this dusty world as anyone, how could I escape it [2]a man in the rolling red dust (gǔn gǔn hóng chén, 滾滾紅塵) (Metaphor), the ordinary world of worldly appetites and vanities jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253953_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253953_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });? Still, it does not matter if I have none. A name for a moment is not a name for a lifetime. A fledgling beats its wings and rises on the wind, and who will fly highest and farthest later on is not yet known.”
“What Second Brother says is right.” Yu Nanzhi silently put up her thumb in her heart. With awareness like that, he was worthy of being someone who would do great things in the future.
“All right. The weather is cold, go back early, don’t freeze out here, and don’t forget to drink the apple and hawthorn water. If you still feel unwell, then…”
“I… I’ll go back right now.”
Seeing Yu Shuhuai about to start lecturing, Yu Nanzhi hurriedly pulled her wrap tight, turned and ran.
Who could have thought that the future Collator, so strict in his conduct and so fair in his dealings, could also be such a nag, for all the world like an old nursemaid. Last Double Ninth, Yu Nanzhi drank an extra pot of chrysanthemum wine, caught the wind and coughed a few times, and he went on at her for two full quarter-hours.
Every time this happened, a sense of absurdity rose in Yu Nanzhi of its own accord.
In the afternoon, the warm chamber of the Marquis of Pingyuan’s household.
“Second Sister, would you like some sanlejiang?”
Yu Nanzhi lowered her eyes and saw the girl in a lotus-root-colored ru skirt at the same table holding out a silver cup, golden liquid swaying in it.
The one holding out the cup was Yu Shuhuai’s full sister, the third young lady of the Duke of Zhenguo’s household, Yu Qiuchi. She had clearly been given instructions by Yu Shuhuai beforehand and was looking after Yu Nanzhi carefully.
Yu Nanzhi nodded and took the cup. “Thank you, Third Sister.”
Sanlejiang came from Persia. It was made by fermenting honey thinned with water together with three foreign fruits, amole, pilile and helile. It was the most fashionable honey wine of the day, and even the Sage used it to entertain the newly passed jinshi at Qujiang.
In the mouth the wine was threaded with honey sweetness, and after that came the fresh scent of plants and fruit. The two were balanced just right, the wine flavor was not heavy, and it was not very intoxicating.
Yu Nanzhi drank a cup in silence and still thought the sour-sweet green plum wine from Baiguo Garden tasted better, though unfortunately she had drunk that jar to the bottom the same night.
“Zheng, zheng—”
Suddenly a pipa sounded, and the other strings and pipes quickly followed. Sweet, refined music flowed out through the warm chamber.
“The Marquis of Pingyuan’s household really did it in style. They actually invited Third Miss Guo of Pingkang Ward and her family!”
Yu Nanzhi and Yu Qiuchi sat in the middle of the long table, not very conspicuous but just right, able to take in how everyone at the tables behaved. Naturally she heard the exclamation from the young lady at the next seat.
Another added, “Twenty-odd years ago the Marquis of Pingyuan’s household would of course have had that much face. But that Third Miss Guo is willing to come now is mostly on account of the Princess of Teng.”
The Fang family of the Marquis of Pingyuan’s household had risen at the founding of the dynasty. Their ancestor was Chancellor Fang, famed for his skill in planning. They had produced two princesses-consort and one crown princess, and had married several princesses. Unfortunately the descendants were unworthy. Twenty-four years ago they were drawn into the treason case of the late emperor’s deposed crown prince, and their title was cut from Duke of Xing down to Marquis of Pingyuan. Only in these last few years, since the eldest Fang daughter married the Prince of Teng as his princess and Eldest Master Fang and Third Master Fang entered service one after the other, has the Marquis of Pingyuan’s household caught its breath a little.
Third Miss Guo came from the Right Music Office and was of the entertainer registry. She had studied music from childhood, and her pipa could be ranked among the top three in Chang’an. She often came and went in the houses of the powerful, and someone had once seen the senior officer of the Prince of Teng’s residence pull a cartload of Shu brocade up to Third Miss Guo’s door. So there had always been a rumor that the Prince of Teng was the man who paid Third Miss Guo’s bills and her lover besides [3]a guest admitted behind the curtain (rù mù zhī bīn, 入幕之賓) (Idiom), a man taken into a woman’s private confidence, and so into her bed jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253953_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253953_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Through that connection it was of course no surprise that the Princess of Teng could get Third Miss Guo to come.
But Yu Nanzhi knew that the Prince of Teng was only a sign hung out where everyone could see it [4]a shop banner in plain view (huǎng zi, 幌子) (Metaphor), a pretext put up to draw attention away from the truth jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253953_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253953_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Third Miss Guo’s real lover was Pei Su, the consort of Princess Yicheng, the Prince of Teng’s full elder sister.
Princess Yicheng had thoroughly shown how fierce the princesses of the old Li family could be.
Pei Su had once set up a kept woman in Pingkang Ward. When the princess found out, she seized him and took him straight to the office where he worked, beat him half to death in the hall, had his hair cut off and broke his right leg. It caused an uproar in Chang’an at the time. Under the flurry of furious impeachments flying in from the Censorate like snowflakes, the Sage had to demote his daughter temporarily to a commandery princess to quiet the general clamor. But only fifteen days later Princess Yicheng was restored, and apart from a reprimand and some damage to her name, it came to no punishment worth counting [5]round it off up or down (sì shě wǔ rù, 四舍五入) (Slang), a joking way of saying a thing amounts to nothing jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253953_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253953_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.
Pei Su, however, was sent down to the northwest frontier and spent a solid year swallowing desert grit [6]ate sand for a whole year (chī le yī nián de shā zi, 吃了一年的沙子) (Metaphor), to serve out a hard posting in a desolate borderland jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253953_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253953_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. It was thanks to a clansman uncle who had risen to Minister of Rites and pleaded for him that he was able to return to the capital. But he did not mend his old habit of helping himself on the quiet [7]nibbling on the sly (tōu chī, 偷吃) (Slang), to carry on affairs behind a partner’s back jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3253953_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3253953_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Before long he was secretly carrying on with Third Miss Guo. This time, though, he had learned to be clever and had asked his brother-in-law to help cover for him, and Princess Yicheng was still being kept firmly in the dark.
“Second Miss, Third Miss.”
Yu Nanzhi and Yu Qiuchi turned at the voice, cups in hand. Madam Ji stood behind them holding a gilded hand stove.
“Second Aunt.”
“Mother.”
The two sisters called out softly.
“You two…” Madam Ji shot them both a look of despairing exasperation. After she had caught up with an old friend she had come back to find her daughter and niece, and had not expected the two of them to be idling at the table purely for the food and drink. “Tidy yourselves up properly, and don’t let others laugh at you.”
Madam Ji’s temperament seemed gentle, but once she pulled a stern face even Yu Shuhuai did not dare talk back in front of his mother, let alone Yu Nanzhi and Yu Qiuchi.
The scent of gardenia suddenly came close. Yu Nanzhi lowered her head, and Madam Ji reached out to straighten the slightly crooked lotus pearl flower at her temple. “Second Miss, come with me next door to Ninghui Hall. As a junior coming for the first time, you must pay your respects to the Grand Madam of the Marquis of Pingyuan.”
Yu Nanzhi nodded and was about to rise when Yu Qiuchi suddenly leaned close and whispered a few quick words in her ear.
Yu Nanzhi gave her a reassuring look, silently shaped the words “don’t worry” with her lips, and followed obediently behind Madam Ji as they left.
The moment they were out of the warm chamber the cold wind hit her face. Even though she wore a rabbit-fur cloak, Yu Nanzhi’s cheeks were frozen red. Her hands suddenly warmed: Madam Ji had pushed the hand stove into them.
As they walked Madam Ji said, “The Third Miss must have told you just now that the Grand Madam of the Marquis of Pingyuan likes bright, well-behaved girls.”
Yu Nanzhi said “Mm.” How was it that this matched, down to the last hair, the image she had been deliberately keeping up in public?
Madam Ji went on, “So she wrote a letter to the Duke’s household, wishing to seek you in marriage for her third grandson.”
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