In March, Jinling was filled with flying willow catkins.
Jinling sat in the central plains, with the Stone City on its west, built against the mountains and facing the river. To the east lay Zijin Mountain, and to the south was the Qinhuai River, making it a bustling hub of coming and going boats. Not only was it crowded with wealthy merchants, but the imperial subject examinations of every March were also held here, drawing ambitious scholars from various governed prefectures and counties to take the tests.
Peach blossoms bloomed and willows turned green in the late spring season, with white mists drifting over the clear, jade-green lake while numerous decorated pleasure boats rocked gently upon the water.
“Ah-ya-ya, and so for me you climbed branches and snapped willows, causing a fault-ridden nation to have no haven. Looking only for a love lasting as long as heaven and earth, who could have foreseen the rain clearing and the clouds withdrawing? Because of me her rouge grows haggard and powder wanes, and for him my robes are withered green and sorrow red…”①
A tune in the soft Wu dialect drifted out of the song boat, riding the spring wind as it looped and wound its way into the riverside inn.
Before long, one window, then two, then three swung open, and the scholars crowded their heads out to peer and whisper about those pleasure boats.
“They always say Jinling is wonderful, and truly it is. Just listen to this sung tune; I wonder whose household’s talented young lady this is…”
The soft melody floated in the air. Some listened with rapt attention, their faces showing yearning, only to be abruptly knocked by a companion’s bone fan: “Oh, get over it. Whose talented young lady, you say? Can’t everyone tell what’s on your mind?”
This remark drew loud laughter from the group of peers.
They were all scholars who had come to Jinling for the examinations, and because the testing venue was nearby, they had checked into this riverside inn.
Although Jinling was prosperous, land was expensive, and inns were worth every inch of gold. Thus, several of them had discussed it and pooled their money to rent one single room together, which reduced the cost. Fortunately, they all brought straw sleeping mats, taking turns sleeping on the wooden bed while the others slept on the floor.
The mocked scholar blushed and glared at his companions: “They all say Jinling is the second most prosperous place after the capital. There are verses in the books that go, ‘melodies of song and lyrics, endless wind and moon.’ You and I are people who have spent bitter years studying every classic book from cover to cover. Now that we’ve finally made the trip here, don’t you even want to take a look at the beauties and the romantic scenery? To see if it’s truly as the books describe?”
At these words, subtle expressions also appeared in everyone’s eyes.
The scholar walked over to the inner room. The square cabinet against the wall held all their belongings.
He retrieved his bundle from his own cabinet compartment, glanced around cautiously to make sure no one was watching, and then reached out to grope inside. He felt a thick steamed bun, tore it open, and extracted a small silver ingot hidden inside—this was what his mother had packed for him before departure, with repeated instructions to be careful with his money.
He quietly took it out, gripped it in his palm, and thought of that soft-floating melody, as if he could already envision a slender, dancing waist. He couldn’t help his mind from wandering.
He pocketed the money, preparing to leave with his companions, when he suddenly noticed that a single person was still sitting on the straw mat in the very corner—a youth in a gray robe washed until it was pale white, the oldest among their group. Yet his appearance was extraordinary, and his hanging side-locks drifted gently in the dim light. His temperament was as still as water as he calmly packed his bundle, his gaze never once straying toward the rest of them.
The scholar couldn’t help walking closer: “Brother Pei, we’re planning to go take a look at the pleasure boats by the lake. Will you come with us?”
“I won’t go. You all go ahead.”
“Then Brother Pei, we’ll be leaving first?”
Once the crowd had departed, Pei Shumin finally looked up from his book, gazing indifferently at their retreating backs.
After reading for a while, as noon approached, Pei Shumin didn’t order food from the inn. Those were far too expensive for him, so he dug two dry rations out of his bundle and washed them down with water.
The youth broke off a piece of the coarse-grain flatbread, eating with refined manners.
As if thinking of something, he searched through his bundle again and pulled out a purse embroidered with yellow flowers.
He stroked it carefully, thinking of that bright, colorful skirt in his memory. A smile appeared on the corners of his lips, and even his detached gaze softened.
He had been away from home for nearly a month now, and there were only five days left before the exams began. Once the tests were over and everything was settled, he could finally go back…
Thinking of this, Pei Shumin’s gaze involuntarily drifted toward the lattice window. Jinling was truly a marvelous place, with its myriad streets and markets, a land of brocade and flowers. Next time, he would bring Yuniang here too.
The midday sun was just right. After filling his stomach, Pei Shumin intended to lean by the window and read for a bit when suddenly the waiter knocked on his door, informing him that someone was looking for him.
He put his book down and followed him downstairs, only to encounter an uninvited guest—Yang Shen.
“Brother Pei, didn’t you mention last time that you wanted news about the Marquis of Wu’an? I went and investigated.”
“Sixteen years ago, when the Marquis of Wu’an withdrew his troops from the northwest back to the capital, passing through Jizhou, the Marchioness’s term of confinement had arrived, so she was taken to the Jizhou garrison commander’s residence to give birth. At that time, that garrison commander had a concubine known as Hua Niang…” Yang Shen paused, “Later, the Jizhou garrison commander was imprisoned for crimes, his family dependents were exiled, and Hua Niang also vanished without a trace. This Hua Niang later changed her surname to Qin, which is precisely the sister-in-law’s biological mother.”
A trace of astonishment crossed Pei Shumin’s eyes.
In Mingyu’s accounts, her mother was an illiterate tofu-selling beauty. Yet when they signed the marriage contract back then, he had noticed that his mother-in-law was clearly literate. Since she could read, why keep it hidden from her daughter and everyone else? Thus, keeping a watchful eye, he had entrusted someone to investigate, and indeed, his mother-in-law was not a native of Pingyang, and even secretly had intricate, thousand-thread connections with that distant Marquis of Fuyuan’s estate in the upper capital.
This made things quite intriguing.
“Brother Pei, things have reached this point. Should I bring this news back to sister-in-law? What the actual truth of those past years was, no one is clearer on it than that woman surnamed Qin. If she refuses to speak, we can use some methods…”
“There’s no need for now. Don’t let Mingyu know.”
Pei Shumin thought for a moment and patted Yang Shen’s shoulder: “You’ve worked hard these past few days. Leave the rest of the matters until I return to Pingyang to discuss them. If necessary by then, I will personally take her to the capital.”
As Qingming approached, every household began preparing for ancestral worship.
The grave of Pei Shumin’s aunt was located on the back mountain. He had heard that his parents had perished in a disaster when he was very young, and his aunt was the one who had raised him, as well as the only family he had left in the world.
This year, Pei Shumin couldn’t be home, and since this was also Shen Mingyu’s first Qingming since marrying into the family, she had to go up the mountain on his behalf to visit the aunt.
Shen Mingyu attached great importance to this Qingming, buying the finest rice and flour to make qingtuan (green glutinous rice dumplings).
The top-grade rice was plump, large, and delicate in texture, and the steamed pastries carried a faint fragrance of rice. In the past, she would never have been willing to buy such things for herself, but she felt not a single pang of thriftiness when honoring the aunt.
Days in the village were peaceful and fulfilling. In the afternoon, several neighbor women agreed to gather at Tiezheng’s house to make pastries.
The wooden table was set in the center of the courtyard, and the women sat together wrapping fine-grain stuffed dumplings while chatting about the trivial gossip of the village.
At that moment, five-year-old Huige’er walked over, holding a bowl of water in his two chubby hands and offering it to Qiuniang. Seeing this, Auntie Zhao laughed out loud: “Our Huige’er is truly sensible, knowing how to show concern for his mother! Come, Huige’er, come to your aunt-grandmother’s side.”
Auntie Zhao patted her pocket and pulled out two paper-wrapped pastries and sweets.
Huige’er took a few steps forward and said in a milky voice, “Thank you, aunt-grandmother,” sending the group into a burst of blooming laughter and prompting continuous praises of how cute the child was.
Shen Mingyu also reached out to pat Huige’er’s head.
Ever since coming to Baiyun Village, Qiuniang had helped her with many things. Children grew fast, and Huige’er’s clothes had all become a bit too short, exposing his sun-darkened arms and legs.
Shen Mingyu was pondering cutting a new outfit for him when Auntie Zhao suddenly leaned over, glanced at Shen Mingyu’s stomach, and whispered, “Mingyu, you’ve been married for a year now. Why is there still no movement?”
The other women nearby were pinching dough and chatting idly in twos and threes, paying no attention to them. Amidst the bustling noise, Shen Mingyu’s face flushed slightly, and Auntie Zhao continued in a low voice: “Once A-Min comes back, you must hurry. Having a child is the most important thing. Since he went to Jinling this time, everyone feels he will definitely bring back some academic honor.”
“Auntie says this for your own good. If he truly passes the provincial exam to become a juren, in the future he’ll be prime material to serve as a magistrate, instructor, or director in local government. If you still don’t have a child by then, it will be a massive disadvantage for you. Take that Zhou family…”
Auntie Zhao glanced around and lowered her voice even further, “A-Min is the most promising youth in our ten-mile radius. You know as well that the Zhou family has been keeping their eyes on him, wanting a chance to arrange a marriage in the future… We’re all people from the same village, and neighbors know each other well. Besides, our Village Bailiff Zhou has connections. If one’s own son-in-law becomes an official, he’ll definitely be able to lend a hand…”
Although Auntie Zhao didn’t finish every word, Shen Mingyu understood the underlying meaning.
Even though Pei Lang always told her not to rush and that it didn’t matter, she knew herself that Pei Shumin had saved up money to marry a wife precisely to have children.
The young woman lowered her head to stroke her lower abdomen, yet she didn’t know why there was still no movement in her belly.
Qingming drew closer. On the eve of the festival, every household had to send someone to Village Bailiff Zhou’s house to collect incense, candles, and spirit money for the ancestral sacrifices.
Shen Mingyu went along with He Qiuxian.
Passing through the corridor of willow catkins, they reached the Zhou courtyard. Built in a classical style, the courtyard had weeping willows planted along both sides, and the stone tables held tea cakes and pastries. Zhou Wan and her older brother were distributing spirit money to the villagers.
Shen Mingyu glanced over. This was her first time entering the inner courtyard of the Zhou residence, and also the first time she had seen such a gorgeous courtyard. A wealthy noble estate couldn’t possibly look better than this!
Shen Mingyu waited in line to receive her basket. When her turn came, Zhou Wan was handing out the spirit money. However—she saw, quite unexpectedly, that Zhou Wan’s snowy wrist bore a deep green jade bracelet, shimmering with rippling light under the sunlight, extremely dazzling.
Before she could even react, Qiuniang grabbed her arm and pulled her along: “This year’s incense and candle money is completely different from usual. In the past, there was only a thin layer of yellow paper money, but today they also handed out incense, candles, and sycee. Look, there’s even a bag of pastries!”
Shen Mingyu rubbed her eyes and looked back once more to confirm she hadn’t seen wrong. That green bracelet was carved with intertwined phoenix tails and adorned with treasure-peony flowers, and its patterns and knife-work were identical in every way to the red bracelet Pei Shumin had given her!
If her own bracelet was a gift from Pei Lang, then where on earth had Zhou Wan obtained this one?
Was it just a coincidence?
Shen Mingyu couldn’t help wondering, feeling that something wasn’t right.
Harboring this doubt, after Qingming passed, she took an ox cart to the small shop where she had previously pawned her ornaments.
Shen Mingyu opened her box and showed the red bracelet to the shopkeeper.
After the shopkeeper confirmed that the bracelet indeed originated from his own storefront, the young woman lowered her dark eyes and said in a soft voice, turning the bracelet gently: “The person who came to buy this bracelet that day was my husband. Now our household has suffered a sudden misfortune and we urgently need money. I wonder if it’s feasible to pledge it here at a discount? How much money can it fetch?”
“We can do that, of course.”
The shopkeeper picked up the bracelet, examined it closely, and pondered for a moment: “If I remember correctly, it should have been sold to you for ten taels back then. Pledging it at a discount now, I can only offer eight taels.”
“Ten taels?”
“Is it that little? But I recall it being twelve taels?”
“Young mistress, I truly am not trying to trick you, and my memory shouldn’t be wrong.”
To keep her from doubting him, the shopkeeper had no choice but to flip open the ledger. After asking for the date, he flipped back several pages in a row, finding the buyer’s price and showing it to her: “Look closely, your husband bought two bracelets in total that day—one was red-veined jade, and the other was clear-water green, totaling twenty taels…”
Shen Mingyu stared at the name on the ledger. When she saw with absolute certainty that Pei Shumin had recorded two transactions there, she froze completely—so he hadn’t just bought one. He had bought one for her, and he had also bought one for Zhou Wan.
Shen Mingyu closed the ledger, pulled out a handful of copper coins to leave on the table, muttered a word of thanks, and turned to leave the shop.
Above her head was the spring sun of February, warm and gentle, yet she found it blindingly harsh.
The blazing sun reflected off the watery film welling up at the edges of her eyes, forming circles of spray. She lowered her head and wiped her eyes swiftly, the tear traces vanishing without a trace as she boarded Uncle Zhang’s ox cart as if nothing had happened.
Uncle Zhang chatted idly with her in front, sometimes talking about matters in the village and sometimes mentioning the business he helped watch over in the county town.
The ox cart piled high with thatch carried the young woman home, rumbling past green rural fields. A gust of wind blew by, leaving a sudden stillness. While Uncle Zhang continued driving and admiring the scenery, the emotion flooding the young woman’s heart was instead a profound sense of desolation.
In the setting sun, Shen Mingyu picked up the tiny box once more and looked at it closely.
She felt somewhat forlorn.
Between people, there truly was a gulf as wide as clouds and mud. What Pei Shumin gave her was always treasured in a box, whereas Zhou Wan could wear hers casually without having to weigh so many considerations.
Pei Shumin had always laughed at her for being silly, asking her why she kept hiding things away. So it hadn’t been a joke after all; she really was silly—the things she treasured so dearly weren’t worth all that much in other people’s hands.
Such an expensive bracelet, ten taels each! He ate poorly and dressed poorly, saving money for months, yet he was willing to buy one for Zhou Wan, who wasn’t even his wife. Things that other people could obtain without the slightest effort were things she had worked so, so hard for.
Shen Mingyu bit her lip lightly, lowering her head to count her fingers one by one.
So Pei Lang’s love didn’t amount to much either.