The two stood locked in a standoff on the bridge. The maids and serving women of the West Main Courtyard busied their hands with work, but their eyes were all fixed on the pair on the bridge.
Their guesses seemed somewhat off the mark. Privately, these maids all thought something might develop between this cousin from the maternal side and the Third Young Master. It was no wonder they thought so—the young lady had come to Chang'an to seek a marriage, and the Second Madam was so fond of her. It would be a perfect case of kin marrying kin.
But now, looking at them, there was not even the faintest shadow of attachment between the two. On the contrary, there was something rather…
Zhao Lijia met Lin Zeyan's gaze and tried her best to maintain her composure, but the person across from her seemed utterly ignorant of what propriety meant.
He stared at her, brows slightly furrowed, a baffling incomprehension in his eyes. Then his sharp gaze swept over every part of her, as though under such scrutiny she would reveal her true form.
Zhao Lijia had had enough. She broke the silence, taking the initiative to act first. She stepped forward. "Third Cousin?"
Her voice, for some reason, startled Lin Zeyan. A flicker of bewilderment passed through his scrutinizing gaze, and then he strode over with great strides.
Lin Zeyan cursed inwardly, "Absurd," and strode past the person he had just frightened. Ignoring the flurry of alarmed voices behind him, he hurried into the main room.
Zhao Lijia was knocked by the impact. With a cry of "Aiya," she leaned against the stone railing and craned her neck to look at the ripples spreading across the green pond. "My gold hairpin…"
The pond water was dark and deep—there was no trace of the hairpin's shadow.
Her face scrunched up like a steamed bun. She stamped her foot, glaring furiously at the culprit, but Lin Zeyan had already entered the room.
Han Guang and Tieyi frowned, their faces full of indignation. "How could the Third Young Master go and bump into someone…"
They comforted Zhao Lijia. "Don't worry, Miss. We'll go fish out your hairpin right now."
Though Zhao Lijia was very fond of that gold hairpin, the pond looked dark green and she had no idea how deep it was. Han Guang and Tieyi had grown up in Liangzhou and were not good swimmers. She did not want them to risk danger for the sake of a hairpin.
So she waved her hand and said listlessly, "Forget it. There are plenty of hairpins."
Lin Zeyan entered the door and stopped. He saw that a thread had been pulled from the sleeve of his right arm. In his earlier panic, he had bumped into someone—it seemed he had snagged it on something of hers.
He yanked off the pulled thread and clutched it in his hand, staring at it for a while. He felt he had a clue now. Absurd as it was, it seemed he had no choice but to believe it.
"Where's my mother?" he asked when he saw no one in the main room.
The maid standing at the door lowered her head. "The Second Madam has gone to the painting studio."
In the painting studio, the Second Master was painting a portrait of the Second Madam. She sat on a folding couch by the window, behind her the spreading branches of a yellow magnolia. She wore a broad-sleeved robe of sky-water blue with scrolling grass patterns woven in gold thread, a misty lotus-pink silk shawl draped over her neck, her hands resting on her knees, her chin slightly lifted, wearing a carefully composed smile.
Lin Zeyan was long accustomed to such scenes between the two. He entered and said directly, "Mother, where is that copy of the Surangama Sutra that Master Huishan gave you last time you went to Zisheng Temple?"
The Second Madam had originally gone to the painting studio to see what the Second Master was painting, but he had pulled her into sitting for a portrait. Now she merely rolled her eyes to the side. "What do you want that for?"
The Second Master, without pausing his brush, answered for the Second Madam. "Don't bother your mother."
Lin Zeyan, unwelcome as he was, was not annoyed. He simply stood there without moving. The Second Madam was truly irritated by this behavior of his, so she instructed Emei to go find it.
Lin Zeyan waited a while. Seeing that Emei still hadn't come, he circled around behind his father to take a look. Second Master had a foreboding feeling, and sure enough, the next moment his good son spoke up.
Lin Zeyan pointed at a hazy goose-yellow blob on the painting and said, "Father, why did you paint an egg on Mother's shoulder?"
"…That is the halo of light falling on your mother's shoulder…"
Lin Zeyan nodded with his hands behind his back, as if he understood his father's technique, but his questions weren't over yet.
"Then why did you paint two suns on Mother's face?"
"That is your mother's rouge blush!"
Second Madam couldn't bear to watch any longer, and took this opportunity to stretch her limbs a bit. Just then Emei arrived with the Buddhist scriptures, so Second Madam waved Lin Zeyan off, saying, "Stop bothering your father."
Lin Zeyan: "Can't a person even speak now?"
He took the Heart Sutra and left. Only then did Second Madam say, "What is Sanlang reading Buddhist scriptures for?"
Second Master smiled. "Probably because his own mouth is coated in poison, and it's hurting himself a bit too. He's reciting scriptures to detox."
Second Madam stifled a laugh. "How can you say that about our son?"
Bizhi came in from outside and saw that Second Madam and Second Master were in good spirits. She hesitated about what she was about to say, but then she thought of how often Second Madam and Second Master were in good spirits, so she no longer feared interrupting.
"Madam, just now Third Young Master and the cousin miss seemed to have gotten into a dispute. The cousin miss's golden hairpin was knocked into the pond by Third Young Master."
Second Madam's good mood vanished completely. Thinking of how the two had run into each other—one going out, one coming in—she slapped the table and said, "In just that short while, Sanlang managed to finish offending someone!"
After being angry for a moment, she quickly sent a servant to fish out the hairpin. Guilt grew in her heart as well. Lizhi was obedient and sensible, yet Sanlang had repeatedly offended her. Deep down, she felt she had wronged Lizhi's late mother.
The more she thought about it, the less she could sit still. "I must go see Lizhi." With that, she put on her shoes and hurried toward Chunxuan Xiaozhu in the back.
Zhao Lijia was in low spirits, and only doing things that made her happy would help. She had Han Guang and Tieyi move the things from the study out into the courtyard.
The rattan swing beneath the apricot tree had been tidied up by Han Guang and Tieyi, who had also taken a woolen blanket from a chest and spread it over the swing. Now Zhao Lijia had taken off her shoes and sat on the swing. The swing was wide, and her frame was delicate, so she could easily lie on it with her legs curled up.
She leaned against a soft pillow and flipped through a map album of Chang'an.
The many places circled and marked in red brush on this map were all spots she intended to visit. Zhao Lijia was truly not a young lady who only knew how to eat, drink, and be merry—she was busy!
She had compiled two joke collections, titled The Whimsical Brush: Volume One and The Whimsical Brush: Volume Two, both of which collected jokes from Liangzhou and the surrounding areas. She spent her days outside with Han Guang and Tieyi. Eating, drinking, and having fun were merely incidental—her main purpose was to collect jokes and compile them into volumes.
In fact, the main reason she had come to Chang'an this time was to collect Chang'an's jokes and turn them into the third volume, The Whimsical Brush: Chang'an Chapter.
Woodblock printing had not long been widespread in the Great Liang, and the government did not interfere with private book printing among the common people. Even laws regarding authorship had not yet taken shape. As long as a work did not involve the court or prophetic omens, printing and selling books were extremely free.
The places she marked on the map were all famous bookshops and storytelling halls in Chang'an—excellent places to gather material.
Zhao Lijia also had a strong sense of authorial attribution. She was merely the editor, and she would make that clear on the book cover. If a joke inside was someone else's original creation, she would obtain that person's consent, transcribe it, and write that person's name at the end. If the author was unknown, she would write "unknown."
In the past, with Uncle Qian's help, she had published the first and second volumes of The Whimsical Brush in Liangzhou. They sold very well, and she made quite a bit of money. But now that she was in Chang'an without Uncle Qian's help, and having just arrived, she had many places that needed her attention.
So she simply had no time to bother with irrelevant people.
At this thought, she couldn't help but reach up and touch the right side of her temple, only to find it empty. She ground her teeth in frustration—that hairpin had been bought with the first money she earned from publishing her book, a gift she'd given herself, and it had just fallen into the pond like that.
If anyone else had been so rude, she would have long since had Han Guang and Tieyi beat them up. But considering that Third Cousin was Auntie's son, she would let him off this once.
Yet at the thought that Third Cousin was a Qianniu Guard by training, she wondered—could Han Guang and Tieyi even beat him?
Zhao Lijia was a young girl whose childishness had not yet faded, and her way of thinking was somewhat flighty. By now she had long forgotten what she had been holding the map for, and was thinking about how satisfying it would be if she really could beat up Third Cousin!
Just thinking about it was enough to cheer herself up. She held the illustrated booklet in both hands and gazed at the apricot blossoms with a silly smile.
It was at that moment that Second Madam arrived. She had originally been worried that Lizhi was feeling sad right now, but who would have thought she'd see the young girl beneath the apricot tree smiling so charmingly and foolishly. Second Madam felt her heart soften at the sight.
Only when Zhao Lijia heard the sounds of people bowing in greeting did she pull her thoughts back from her imagination. Seeing Second Madam approaching gracefully, she quickly put on her shoes to go welcome her.
Second Madam took Zhao Lijia's hand and sat with her on the swing. Looking at her surroundings, she said, "This is the life. It's so comfortable here."
Zhao Lijia called for Han Guang and Tieyi to serve tea, then asked, "Why has Auntie come?"
Second Madam had already changed her mind the moment she saw Zhao Lijia smiling foolishly. She would let Third Lang go apologize on his own—she was not going to say anything unpleasant while Lizhi was in good spirits.
Besides, that secret hope in her heart had also faded. Third Lang's foul temper would only bully Lizhi. She no longer expected to see Third Lang groveling before Lizhi.
So, she would return to the proper path and hurry up and help Lizhi find a husband.
With that thought, she sent Bizhi to the main courtyard to fetch something, then patted Zhao Lijia's hand and said, "Of course it's proper business. Let's wait a moment—you'll see soon enough."
Chunxuan Xiaozhu was just behind the west main courtyard, only a few steps away—not far at all. After they chatted for a while, Bizhi returned, holding a scroll in her hands.
Second Madam slowly unrolled the scroll, and Zhao Lijia saw the portrait of a handsome young man gradually spread out before her eyes.
Second Madam watched her reaction. "What do you think?"
Zhao Lijia knew this was likely the first candidate Second Madam had found for her. She saw that the man in the painting had delicate features and an air of scholarly refinement, and nodded, saying he was quite good.
When it came to marriage, she had always followed the principle of letting things take their natural course. Since Auntie was taking such pains to find someone for her, she would treat it seriously. Besides, if she didn't like someone, no one would force her.
Second Madam beamed with joy. "This is Zhang Silang. I've met the boy—he's very good. If Lizhi also thinks he's good, I'll talk to Madam Zhang further."
Last time, Second Master had voiced his concerns, but Second Madam felt the child was truly promising and refused to give up. She spoke with Madam Zhang and obtained this portrait.
For now, the matter was only in its early stages, and since Madam Zhang also thought well of the match, the two women were of one mind, simply waiting to see how things would unfold.
After returning, Lin Zeyan placed that copy of the Surangama Sutra by his bedside.
As Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, he had never believed in ghosts or spirits, but after what had happened, he had no choice but to believe.