Zhang Chuxiao intentionally dressed modestly, wearing only a blue brocade robe. Yet his handsome features were striking, and the corners of his lips always carried the hint of a smile. His peach blossom eyes looked warm and gentle no matter whom he looked at.
Lin Jingchu glanced at him a few times and nodded inwardly. He really was good-looking.
Among the younger generation who came to offer birthday greetings, Old Madam Zhang merely nodded briefly at most of them. She was nowhere near as affectionate toward them as she was toward Zhang Chuxiao.
Madam Cui finally freed herself from the banquet guests and came over. Seeing the scene, she joked, “Mother truly has sharp eyes. Every young person sitting beside you is more attractive than last. Looks like you dislike us rough and clumsy older folk now.”
Though spoken jokingly, everyone in the Zhang family knew that this old matriarch had been strict in her youth, yet in old age had become especially fond of good-looking juniors. When Zhang Zhaoming was little, because he was so pretty, she had even raised him as a girl for several years. Only once he reached the age to begin schooling did the old master intervene and move him to the boys’ quarters.
“I simply enjoy looking at young girls. With them keeping me company, you can relax a little too.”
“…”
Listening to the people chatting around her, Lin Jingchu had little interest in her.
She was hungry.
The dishes on the main table were all light and soft, suited to an elderly person’s taste. She preferred stronger flavors, so she casually picked up a bright red pastry.
Sweet and sour—it was candied hawthorn. Instead of satisfying her hunger, it only whetted her appetite further.
Lin Jingchu: …
With her elder sister and mother watching beside her, she was in that miserable state where she wouldn’t starve but couldn’t eat her fill either.
“Mother, the First Prince has arrived.”
Madam Cui’s voice sounded from outside.
Lin Shuyi immediately clenched the handkerchief in her hand.
After Zhao Jin presented his birthday gift, Madam Cui invited him to the men’s banquet seating.
Zhao Jin looked toward Zhang Chuxiao. “A few days ago, Third Brother Zhang and I had a misunderstanding. Why not accompany me so we can clear things up?”
Hearing this, Zhang Chuxiao bowed to Old Madam Zhang before leaving together with Zhao Jin.
Lin Shuyi repeatedly comforted herself inwardly: this was the Zhang residence. No matter how bold Zhao Jin was, he would not dare act against her here.
The banquet officially began. Old Madam Zhang selected two opera performances. Before the stage, two older women carried baskets of copper coins with the strings already cut; whenever Old Madam Zhang praised the performance, they would scatter handfuls of coins.
Lin Jingchu didn’t understand opera at all. After watching for a long while without understanding the plot, she only found it boring.
Several young ladies of the Zhang family came over to offer birthday greetings to Old Madam Zhang. One of them, bright and lively in temperament, spoke up:
“There’s a pavilion in Great Grandmother’s rear garden, along with a huge lotus pond. The lotus flowers are blooming beautifully right now. Since the two sisters from the Lin family have come all this way, you absolutely must come see it with us.”
After speaking, she blinked playfully, full of lively charm.
“You girls go enjoy yourselves. Staying beside me is too restrictive anyway.” Old Madam Zhang waved her hand.
With Zhao Jin present, Lin Shuyi didn’t want to leave everyone’s sight for even a single step.
But since the birthday matriarch herself had spoken, she could only leave with her younger sister.
Once the girls departed together, a large empty space appeared beside Old Madam Zhang. She instructed the household servants to attend carefully to them and not be careless in the slightest.
The bright-tempered girl was named Zhang Yunhe, the legitimate granddaughter of the Zhang family’s Second Old Master. The Second Old Master was the younger half-brother of Old Master Zhang, making her part of a relatively close collateral branch.
Following behind Zhang Yunhe was another girl whose features resembled her somewhat, though she looked younger.
“This is my younger sister Zhang Muyao, and our cousin Cui Wanwan. Both are fourteen.”
After exchanging greetings, the girls chatted casually as they walked.
“This lotus pond was specially built by my great-grandfather for my great-grandmother when he was alive. For the sake of this pond, he spent enormous sums buying up all the houses along the neighboring street. They dug out the land and filled it with water—it consumed tremendous manpower. I heard the Censorate even impeached him over it back then.”
Zhang Yunhe explained while walking.
Lin Jingchu had originally thought it would at most be a somewhat larger pond.
But after passing through a moon gate, green lotus leaves spread endlessly before her eyes, stretching so far, she could barely see the end.
Zhang Yunhe led the group up to a pavilion at the highest point. Only then could they finally take in the full view of the pond.