A letter of divorce!
It was actually a letter of divorce!
With a chill running down her spine and her mind in a daze, Zhao Si was flooded with a string of questions. For instance, to whom was this letter of divorce addressed? Could it be written to the woman beneath the wisteria flowers? Why would that woman be divorced?
Lost in her own thoughts, Zhao Si unconsciously followed Ying’er through the corridor, crossed a moon-gate veiled by layers of blossoming branches, and stepped into a tranquil courtyard.
The courtyard was surrounded by buildings on all sides, and in its center stood a ten-foot-tall swing frame, which was also densely covered in climbing wisteria flowers.
Zhao Si looked at the wisteria on the swing, then looked at the wisteria in the maidservant’s tribute tray, and couldn’t help patting her forehead in self-reproach, saying, “I actually picked them too early.”
“What is Husband complaining about picking too early?” Accompanied and supported by a maidservant, Yun Qing stepped out to welcome her.
“I mean these wisteria flowers.” Without beating around the bush, Zhao Si turned slightly to present the wisteria in the tribute tray where Yun Qing could see it.
“Ah, wisteria.” With dainty steps, Yun Qing walked over to the tribute tray, looped her arm around Zhao Si with one hand while gently stroking the wisteria with the other, and instantly broke into a radiant smile.
“Thank you, Husband. Yun Qing is actually seeing such beautiful wisteria flowers for the very first time. Ying’er, quickly take them and store them properly for me.”
“Understood!” Receiving her orders, Ying’er took the maidservants and departed.
Linking her arm through Zhao Si’s, Yun Qing walked past the swing frame and entered the left side-room.
Inside the side-room was a square table with a stove burning underneath it. On the table sat a brazier, and atop it, a purple clay pot was letting out “gurgle-gurgle” bubbles that lifted its lid.
“What is Wife stewing?” Self-consciously pulling out the master’s chair on the right side of the square table, Zhao Si let Yun Qing take her seat first, then pulled out a stool for herself, sat down directly opposite Yun Qing, rubbed her belly, and waited to be served.
Seeing Zhao Si’s impatience, Yun Qing immediately dipped a damp cloth, covered the pot lid, and lifted it.
“Husband may take a look for yourself.”
“Huh?” Zhao Si leaned forward to peer inside, only to see that the pot was filled entirely with dark, murky medicinal soup, making it completely impossible to make out the ingredients.
“The people here at Yulu Pavilion certainly know how to eat.”
Staring at that pot of medicinal soup, Zhao Si pondered how she was supposed to properly swallow a whole bowl later without making her wife lose face.
Hearing Zhao Si mention “eating,” Yun Qing first agreed that “the meals at Yulu Pavilion are indeed quite good,” before covering her lips with a smile, repeating “silly husband” several times, and then hurriedly covering the clay pot, pulling Zhao Si to her feet, and moving into the main hall.
Following Yun Qing, lowering her head to dodge the beaded curtain as she entered the main hall, Zhao Si was instantly hit by an alluring fragrance that made her footsteps pause.
Taking another step to round the screen, she saw a golden-nanmu long table placed right in the center of the hall. The long table was laden with rare delicacies—a crystal pork knuckle in a white jade dish gleamed with oil, bird’s nest soup in a cyan jade bowl emitted rolling wisps of hot steam… coupled with curling wisps of smoke rising from four gilded corner censers, it was truly intoxicating.
Zhao Si’s throat moved, and her stomach rumbled, making her realize with a start that she hadn’t eaten a single bite all day.
As if she had long anticipated this awkward state of hers, Yun Qing smiled softly and led her to the master seat, though she didn’t pick up her own chopsticks yet. Instead, she lifted a cup of clear tea and brought it to Zhao Si’s lips.
“Husband, please have some tea to moisten your throat first, and then taste this medicinal diet.”
“Medicinal… medicinal diet?” Lowering her head to sip a mouthful of the tea soup handed over by her dear wife, Zhao Si accepted the teacup, gazed at the dazzling array of dishes on the table, and suddenly realized, “That pot of black soup just now was actually medicinal ingredients?”
Yun Qing nodded, her fingertips brushing across a dish of jade-green pastries on the table: “The medicinal diet of Yulu Pavilion needs to be simmered over a slow fire for three days, with the intention of achieving a harmony of the five flavors. This plate of tuckahoe cake is infused with longan honey, which is best for calming the nerves and nourishing the heart.” As she spoke, she picked up a piece and delivered it once more to Zhao Si’s lips.
Just as Zhao Si opened her mouth to take a bite, a sneer suddenly drifted from behind the screen.
Vigilantly raising her head, Zhao Si saw a seductive-looking woman clad in a red-bottomed peony chest-wrap and a green wide-sleeved outer robe. Supported by two young attendants, she leaned limply and seductively against the screen, exposing an arm white as glowing snow, while using her other hand to toy with the golden-chained tassels hanging beneath the gilded arm-ring on her wrist. She provoked: “Wisteria swing frames, a fine groom who looks like a person out of a painting. Yun Qing truly has a fine mood, coming to irritate me with her romantic charm bright and early this morning. But who am I, Shi Qing? I am the premier courtesan of Jinfeng Pavilion, and the only woman in Cengzhou City capable of outshining you.”
“Do you see this arm-ring? This is a token of affection given to me by Lord Hu.” Though Shi Qing appeared to be talking to Yun Qing, her gaze was fixed like a venomous snake tightly upon Zhao Si: “I made a wager with Lord Hu: if I can persuade your husband to divorce you, Lord Hu will marry me as his concubine. If I can persuade you to marry Lord Hu”
At this point, Shi Qing deliberately paused, a smug smile curving the corners of her mouth while her eyes flickered with absolute certainty.
Seemingly having already thoroughly figured out Zhao Si’s personality and assuming Zhao Si was a money-grubbing person, she promptly stretched out her hand so Zhao Si could clearly see the three or five gold and jade bracelets overlapping on her wrist.
However, Zhao Si was not the shallow person Shi Qing imagined her to be.
Seeing that Shi Qing dared to publicly insult both her and Yun Qing, Zhao Si’s anger was instantly ignited, and she resolved to teach Shi Qing a lesson.
Taking a deep breath, Zhao Si quietly slid forward, acting as a shield to block Yun Qing who sat behind her.
Then, acting as if no one else was present, Zhao Si reached out toward Shi Qing, her voice carrying a trace of mockery and teasing: “I’ve long heard that Miss Shi Qing is generous with her wealth and treats others with great magnanimity. Since I, Zhao Si, was newly married yesterday and happen to be short of silver to establish a household, and since Lord Hu has given Miss so many things, this truly is a pillow arriving right when one feels sleepy. Miss Shi Qing might as well share a few pieces with me, Zhao Si. Out of magnanimity and letting bygones be bygones, I, Zhao Si, can reluctantly count it as a wedding gift for the marriage between you and Yun Qing.”
“Bah!” Not expecting Zhao Si to respond this way, Shi Qing’s face instantly turned ashen. Staring wide-eyed, she glared viciously at Zhao Si as if she wanted to tear her apart alive: “You scoundrel, rogue, ruffian! A grown man with hands and feet, yet you have the nerve to ask a woman for money! Yun Qing must truly have been blind!”
“Audacious!” Adopting Liu Rufang’s phrasing, Zhao Si spoke in a low, powerful voice that carried the unquestionable authority habitual to those in high positions: “Is my wife someone you are permitted to insult? What kind of thing are you, daring to spout such wild nonsense in front of me!”
“How dare I not?” Accustomed to dealing with rowdy men in pleasure quarters—men who either fawned on her or cursed her—Shi Qing knew those men would ultimately end up like Lord Hu, unable to escape the palm of her hand, and some would even fight to kneel beneath her pomegranate skirt.
Assuming Zhao Si was just another man from the pleasure quarters because Yun Qing had lowered herself to pick him, Shi Qing let out a cold snort and escalated her insults: “And what good thing could a worn-out commodity like Yun Qing possibly pick out!”
A flash of anger crossed Zhao Si’s face upon hearing this. She then slammed her palm down hard onto the long table and stood up, causing the food and utensils on the table to rattle in unison.
Standing tall with knitted brows and a fierce glare, Zhao Si glared down at Shi Qing, leaving the latter stunned and frozen in place.
Without stopping, Zhao Si took a step forward to press the advantage, swinging with both hands left and right to ruthlessly slap Shi Qing across the face twice.
The blows landed with a crisp, clear crack, instantly turning Shi Qing’s cheeks red and swollen while blood oozed from the corner of her mouth.