“…”
Lu Zhi fell silent for a moment. “What?”
Yu Xi grew anxious. “Oh, you know, that!”
Lu Zhi didn’t understand. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
Yu Xi probably didn’t mean that other thing, after all, they hadn’t done it, so there was no “one more time” to speak of.
As he finished, he saw Yu Xi, shy and bashful, point at his hand. “Husband, can you hold my hand once more?”
Another silence, and Yu Xi looked at Lu Zhi curiously, seeing him look at her with what seemed like confusion, and lowered her head, feeling a bit wronged.
She didn’t even want to sleep beside him anymore, was even holding hands too much to ask? If she’d known, she wouldn’t have married him!
Lu Zhi didn’t understand Yu Xi, truly didn’t understand her at all.
He looked down at his own palm, then at her slender, pale hand, and said, “It’s getting late, you should go back.”
When he finished, Yu Xi didn’t move, and her eyes gradually reddened.
Yu Xi’s red lips pursed slightly. “I hate you.”
Lu Zhi said, “Fine.”
Hearing this, Yu Xi felt her heart shatter, but then saw a long, slender hand suddenly extend toward her.
Lu Zhi looked at her. “Hold it, then.”
He had promised her family that afternoon that he would treat her well, it wasn’t worth making her upset over something this small.
Yu Xi’s tears turned to laughter, her shattered heart mending instantly. She happily placed her hand in his. “Hold it a little tighter.”
Lu Zhi held it gently. Yu Xi’s hand was very soft, with a faint cool moistness to it.
After two breaths, Lu Zhi asked, “Is that enough?”
“Not yet,” Yu Xi said, holding his hand back with her own. “Hold it a little longer.”
She had just been crying, and tears still hung on her lashes, not yet fallen; her eyes, washed by tears, were bright.
Watching her, Lu Zhi couldn’t tell for a moment whether he was coaxing a wife or coaxing a daughter.
Yu Xi looked at Lu Zhi’s hand, quietly touching it with her fingers, feeling the calluses on his palm, thick, rough, unpleasant to touch.
Her touch was very light, like tickling. Lu Zhi was about to withdraw his hand, but she held it fast.
Yu Xi’s gaze fixed on his long, strong fingers, curiously pinching at them, then looking at his face, and seeing no reaction from him, pinched again.
Gradually, Yu Xi grew a little bolder, lowering her head and sniffing at his palm, there was a pleasant scent of ink. Had he just been writing something?
Lu Zhi withdrew his hand at once and turned away. “That’s enough, go back.”
Yu Xi was satisfied, her gaze sweeping over his retreating figure, next time she’d have to touch his arm too!
After Yu Xi left, Lu Zhi turned back, looking down at the palm she’d held, then placed his hand at his side.
He couldn’t let her act so recklessly again, far too improper.
Yu Xi slept very soundly that night, and even had a dream.
In the dream, Lu Zhi caressed her face with his large hand, and called her “sweetheart” affectionately in that pleasant voice of his.
“Hehe.”
Xique, who was quietly tidying up nearby, paused and looked toward the bed. Yu Xi was wrapped in the blankets, a smile on her lips.
Xique wondered what kind of happy dream her mistress was having, that she’d laughed out loud in her sleep.
After a while, Yu Xi opened her eyes, having woken herself up with her own laughter.
She stretched, feeling refreshed, her face full of sweet smiles. She’d known she’d married the right person, now even her dreams were happy!
Seeing her awake, Xique asked curiously, “Miss, what did you dream about?”
“Nothing,” Yu Xi was too embarrassed to tell Xique about this kind of spring dream. “I dreamed I found some money! A thousand taels!”
Hearing this, Xique nodded, finding that much money would indeed be cause for happiness.
“Oh right, Miss,” Xique brought over a note from the table. “This came from Miss Jin the Third. She’s invited you to gather at Fengle Tower at half past the Hour of Wei.”
Yu Xi opened the note and saw just two large characters inside, along with several water stains from tears, Come quickly.
At half past the Hour of Wei, in a private room at Fengle Tower.
Yu Xi looked at Jin Yao in front of her, her eyes brimming with tears, both worried and anxious. “You’ve been crying for a quarter hour now without saying a word, what on earth happened!”
Jin Yao finally spoke, covering her face with her handkerchief and crying, “My fiancé took a concubine into his household, wuwu, he said he’d only ever love me, wuwuwu, he lied to me!”
Yu Xi and Jin Yao were close friends since childhood, and both had fiancés arranged for them since young.
But compared to Yu Xi, who judged everything by looks and ordered her fiancé around, Jin Yao was different, her affection was blind, loving him simply because he was her fiancé.
As for that fiancé of hers, Yu Xi had met him, the youngest son of the Zhang family, whose father was a censor. He was tall as a [censored], with a face like a donkey turning a millstone, and a voice uglier than the ducks in a pond. Even Jin Yao’s own parents had tried several times to break off the engagement, but Jin Yao herself refused.
Hearing this now, Yu Xi’s eyes went wide. “He actually took a concubine!?”
Jin Yao knew Yu Xi would understand her, and nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, you think what he did was wrong too, don’t you!”
“Heavens!” Yu Xi felt sorry for the poor girl taken in as a concubine. “That’s too miserable!”
Jin Yao cried even louder. “Wuwuwu, he’s a heartless bastard, a scoundrel, I’m going to break off the engagement with him!”
“Break it off!” Hearing Jin Yao say she’d break off the engagement, Yu Xi perked up immediately. “He’s a crooked melon and a cracked date, you should’ve dropped him long ago. Tomorrow find yourself a handsome, obedient fiancé instead! Find ten! Find a hundred!”
Jin Yao hesitated again. “But he said he only loves me, maybe taking the concubine was just for show.”
Yu Xi frowned and looked at her for a moment, then suddenly said, “…My mother knows a very skilled sorcerer, why don’t you go see him, I have a feeling you’ve been cursed by him.”
Jin Yao pouted. “You’re talking about things from your romance novels again, there’s no such thing as curses.”
“Then why won’t you break off the engagement,” Yu Xi asked curiously. “Did you hit your head or something?”
Jin Yao didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”
Yu Xi said, “I really feel like your head’s broken.”
Jin Yao: “…”
Jin Yao didn’t know what to say, hesitating, and pulled at her. “Oh, fine, fine, let’s not talk about him anymore. How is your husband treating you? My mother told me you married very well, I should learn from you.”
Yu Xi thought of Lu Zhi’s face and lifted her head proudly. “I won’t hide it from you, my husband treats me wonderfully! And he’s the most handsome man in heaven and earth, unmatched anywhere, last year’s top scorer, the third-place scholar, none of them could hold a candle to even a fraction of my husband’s looks!”
Jin Yao gasped in envy. “Next time I want to meet him too.”
Last year’s third-place scholar had already been handsome enough, if Yu Xi’s husband was even more handsome, Jin Yao couldn’t even imagine, he must be some kind of immortal!
“But you married Lu Ping’s older brother, you two haven’t run into each other, have you?”
“No,” Yu Xi was curious about that too. “Seems like we’ve never crossed paths, I was actually planning to steal the spotlight from my sister-in-law.”
Jin Yao had a suspicion of her own, although keeping a mistress outside was disgraceful of Lu Ping, he really had treated Yu Xi well. Even the pony Yu Xi used to ride on their outings had been raised by Lu Ping’s own hands. Perhaps Lu Ping still had no idea about any of this at all, otherwise how could not a single rumor have leaked out.
Watching Yu Xi’s carefree manner, Jin Yao couldn’t help envying her. “When will I ever be like you.”
After all, when Yu Xi found out Lu Ping had kept a mistress, although she’d made quite a scene about it, the very first thing she’d done was kick him to the curb.
Yu Xi suddenly asked, “By the way, do you know which household in the capital has a young lady named Zhengyu?”
“Zhengyu…” Jin Yao thought for a moment. “Eh, I think I really have heard that name. Last year my sister and the others went to some flower-viewing banquet, and said there was a girl named Gao Zhengyu who was especially talented, and some cabinet minister’s cousin too, apparently quite a background.”
Having said this, Jin Yao looked at Yu Xi, only to see her lost in thought about something.
Jin Yao suddenly realized, Yu Xi’s husband was a cabinet minister himself, and his mother’s maiden name was Gao, so wasn’t this Gao Zhengyu her husband’s cousin?
“What’s wrong… why are you suddenly asking about her?” Jin Yao asked, a little worried. Although she herself couldn’t bear to break off her own engagement, she had plenty to say when advising a friend. “If it really comes to it, just divorce him. We’ll find you an even better match.”
“I’m not divorcing him!” Yu Xi hadn’t been thinking that far ahead at all, there was nothing to it yet, and she wasn’t about to jump to conclusions. “I was just asking. My husband is much better than your [censored] fiancé, you should worry about yourself first.”
With that, Yu Xi ran off.
Jin Yao twisted her handkerchief, both angry and anxious. “Your husband’s the [censored] one!”
But Yu Xi had already run far away. Jin Yao sighed and decided to head home first.
·
On her way back, Yu Xi bought two packages of walnut pastries, and as usual, upon returning to the residence, had one sent to Madam Lu, then went to the front courtyard to look for Lu Zhi.
“Miss, the young master’s gone to his duties,” Xique reminded her quickly. “The young master only had three days of wedding leave, now it’s one day off every ten days, he won’t be back until evening.”
Yu Xi realized. “I nearly forgot, if you hadn’t said something.”
It had to be said, that Lu Ping fellow had been so idle and useless, fawning over her all day long, that she’d nearly forgotten her husband was an important court official, busy beyond belief every day.
Seeing there was still plenty of time, Yu Xi went back for a short nap first, then read her romance novel, and once she guessed Lu Zhi was about to return, got up and headed to the front courtyard.
Besides the study and the reception hall, the front courtyard also had the room where Lu Zhi usually slept, which Yu Xi had never been to before. The servants, seeing it was her, didn’t stop her.
Lu Zhi’s courtyard was very clean, almost spotless, with a small stand of bamboo planted beside it, rustling softly whenever the wind blew through.
Yu Xi walked curiously into the room. It was right next to the study, not large; the bedding on the bed was neatly folded, and beside the bed stood a rosewood folding screen painted with landscapes, with a purple clay teapot set on the table.
The room carried a fresh scent of bamboo leaves, along with the smell of ink.
Yu Xi sat down on the edge of the bed, it was a bit hard, touched Lu Zhi’s pillow, then stood up to examine the screen.
Although Yu Xi wasn’t skilled at painting herself, she’d seen enough of it to know good material when she saw it, the screen’s fabric was fine, and the painting on it had real artistic feeling, with towering mountains, and two lines of poetry inscribed beside it: “Who adorns the clearing clouds and bright moon? The color of sky and sea was always pure.” ①
The inscriber’s name, Gao Zhengyu.
Yu Xi: “…”
Why is it this Gao Zhengyu again!?
Alarm bells rang instantly in Yu Xi’s head. Hearing that little brat Lu Fan mention it offhand was one thing, but now even the screen in Lu Zhi’s room had been given by Gao Zhengyu, could the painting itself have been done by Gao Zhengyu too?
Yu Xi was still turning this over in her mind when she suddenly heard footsteps behind her.
Lu Zhi’s voice rang out. “What are you doing?”