Chapter 66: The Trap
“The artisan who made this hairpin must be clever and educated. Perhaps even a scholar who failed the imperial examinations from a nearby village. Carving and inscribing characters takes a lot of effort. Dou Ya, you should give them more silver.” I stroked the double happiness knot on the bamboo hairpin.
“Elder Sister, don’t worry, I gave… ten taels of silver,” Feng Gao said.
In the inner room, Cai Qingyao was already asleep.
A shooting star streaked across the sky, like a splash of water from a river.
The wind picked up outside, blowing open the doors and windows.
Feng Gao stepped forward, carefully closing the doors and windows, then went to the inner room to add another blanket for Cai Qingyao.
I said, “It’s very late. Dou Ya, you have to travel back to the Capital City tomorrow, so go rest. Elder Sister is leaving.”
He took off his black robe and draped it over me.
“The wind is strong at night, Elder Sister, don’t catch a chill.”
On the black robe, there were words woven in gold thread: Imperial Palace Commissioned, Great Ming Eastern Depot Director.
He looked at me and said, “Elder Sister, after I leave, I fear Zheng Tai might harass you again. With this black robe, he will be hesitant. I will use the excuse of overseeing river transport to leave two guards in Yangzhou. I have already made arrangements. If Elder Sister needs anything, go find them at the Yamen of the River Affairs Department. They will send me a message by carrier pigeon. Although Consort Zheng is in favor, she still has to give some face to the Eastern Depot and the Directorate of Ceremonial.”
I nodded.
“Dou Ya, take good care of yourself in the Capital City.”
He watched me get into the horse carriage, took out a flatbread from the basket, and took a bite.
“Alright. I’ll wait until I resign and return, eating Elder Sister’s flatbread every day and drinking Elder Sister’s wine.”
Life’s partings are often like this; let us enjoy our reunions.
His thin and tall figure stood at the entrance of Qing Yue Pavilion, blending into the night.
Every time we met, he was overjoyed; every time we parted, he gave his all.
The next day, Feng Gao, along with the newly appointed Imperial Son-in-law Liang Bangrui, departed for the Capital City.
The Liang residence was surrounded by red silk cloth.
Many people in Yangzhou City rushed to the Liang family to offer congratulations.
Once one becomes a son-in-law of the imperial family, they are royalty. Master Liang, with his smooth social skills, mingled with guests from all directions. Among them, he was particularly close with the Zheng family. Zheng Tai visited the Liang residence almost daily, seemingly plotting and discussing something with Master Liang.
At the Zhu Family Wine Shop, orders from the Zheng family were particularly numerous.
Zheng Tai, after drinking Zhu Family wine by the Grand Canal, developed a fondness for it. He ordered all his brothels and underground gambling dens to serve Zhu Family wine to their patrons.
The workers transported cartloads of Hua Lian wine, and stacks of silver notes were received in return.
As I was bookkeeping, I felt a vague sense of unease.
Zheng Tai, who bullies the weak and oppresses the good, terrorizing the area, how could he have been thwarted by Feng Gao at the counter last time and then endure it so meekly, with no reaction, and instead favor the Zhu family even more?
This was not like him.
I ordered the workers to be extra careful. For all wine transported, they were to mark it, have the responsible person on-site verify it, and sign before it was considered complete. This was to prevent them from tampering with the wine inadvertently.
The workers said, “Owner, you worry too much. Every time we go, the people under Maternal Uncle Zheng are very polite. They say Maternal Uncle Zheng has instructed them to take special care of you, the Owner.”
A “special care” from a notorious scoundrel was not a good thing.
I ordered the workers, “No matter what, caution is the mother of safety.”
“Yes.”
On the sixth day, Hua Lian returned from the mountains, having gotten quite tanned.
Zhu Xifeng sat on a doorstep. Seeing her from afar, he shouted, “You wretched girl, you’re back! I thought you’d been snatched by wolves in the mountains!”
Hua Lian glared at him.
He flinched and quickly retreated a few steps, “You, you, you, don’t think about setting snakes on me. My Elder Sister is waiting for you inside…”
Hua Lian said nothing and walked in to find me. Zhu Xifeng trotted along behind her.
“Owner,” Hua Lian called to me.
I smiled, “How was the farming at home?”
She nodded, a hint of awkwardness on her tanned face, “It went well. It’s just that the clan elders in the village said they wanted to arrange a marriage for me—”
Before she could finish, Zhu Xifeng interjected.
Upon hearing the word “marriage,” Zhu Xifeng quickly taunted, “You? Getting married? Who would want to marry a woman like you? You’re ugly, dark, you’d disappear if you fell into a pile of charcoal. You’re fierce and don’t know how to serve a husband. If you got married, you’d be sent back home within three days. It’s best not to embarrass yourself…”
Hearing this, Hua Lian rolled up her sleeves, her fists clenched.
Seeing this, Zhu Xifeng turned and fled.
Hua Lian chased him all over the courtyard.
Zhu Xifeng yelped.
The servants in the mansion chuckled.
A short while later, Zhu Xifeng, having been beaten, Hua Lian came in.
I sat in a chair, slowly sipping some pre-Pure Brightness tea.
I said, “Where were we?”
Hua Lian said, “We were talking about the clan elders in the village wanting to arrange a marriage for me. I refused. I don’t want to get married. I just want to learn skills from the Owner.”
She paused and said, “Owner, when I was returning to the city from the mountains, I passed by the mass grave and saw someone.”
“Who?”
“Eldest Young Master Cheng, Cheng Cangshi. He went to the mass grave to collect the body of the woman who harmed the Owner.”
Wang Yuzhen had been beaten to death by beggars in prison previously. She was already a sinner, so the government office had thrown her body into the mass grave.
Old Madam Cheng had already declared that Cheng Cangshi was not allowed to collect her body.
He had still secretly gone, hiding it from Old Madam.
I said, “Cheng Cangshi and Wang Yuzhen were husband and wife for over ten years; there was still some affection between them. Since she is dead, let him collect the body if he wishes.”
“Yes.”
I said to Hua Lian, “I’m used to having you around. These past few days, without you, I always felt like I was missing a hand.”
She remained silent, took two steps closer, and nestled against me.
She suddenly noticed the hairpin on my head and stared intently at it.
I asked, “What’s wrong?”
She thought for a moment and shook her head, “Nothing. The bamboo used to make this hairpin, Ming Gan bamboo, there’s a lot of it in our village.”
Tao Qian has a poem that says: Tall and graceful Ming Gan shines, elegant and pure Qing Yao flows.
This bamboo actually has such an elegant name.
I smiled, “Perhaps the artisan who sold the bamboo hairpin is your village’s Mister. Director Feng gave him ten taels of silver; that’s enough for your Mister’s firewood and rice for two years. He can teach the children well.”
Hua Lian lowered her head, silent for a moment, then said, “Owner, there’s an account at the West Street intersection that’s due for payment on the sixth. I need to go collect it.”
I nodded.
She put down her sachet, walked to the door, turned back, looked at me, and said, “Owner, there’s something I don’t understand in my heart. But I think I will understand it in the future.”
I misunderstood her meaning and said, “That child Xifeng is a bit mischievous. I have no objection to you disciplining him. He should be properly managed.”
Hua Lian said nothing more and left directly.
At dusk, I was taking inventory at the wine shop when Maternal Uncle Zheng arrived.
He hadn’t come for several days. Upon seeing me, he said mysteriously, “Boss Zhu, I have something to tell you.”
I didn’t look up.
He leaned on the counter and said, “It’s about Qin Mingxu. Don’t you want to hear it? Aren’t you quite familiar with that brat?”
I stopped what I was doing and asked, “What is it?”
“Have you heard of Li Luo from Chunxiang Courtesan House?”
Li Luo, Yangzhou’s foremost courtesan. It is said she has a wondrous quality: soft as water, tender as cotton. When men are near her, it’s like lying on clouds, lost in ecstasy.
One night, a thousand taels.
Seeing that I didn’t speak, Zheng Tai held up a finger and said indignantly, “That Qin Mingxu, he’s always fawning over Boss Zhu, acting like a decent person. Does Boss Zhu think he’s a respectable man? Bah! Behind your back, he’s nothing but a beast in human clothing! He went into Chunxiang Courtesan House at noon and still hasn’t come out. He’s been in the room with Li Luo, the door tightly shut, who knows how many times they’ve been entwined!”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” I said.
Although Qin Mingxu was rash, he was amorous, not debauched; he wouldn’t go this far.
He wouldn’t be close to me while also frequenting prostitutes.
Zheng Tai swore, “Boss Zhu doesn’t believe me? I, Zheng Tai, swear to heaven, I am not lying.”
“How do you know?”
“Chunxiang Courtesan House is my Zheng family’s property. I heard about it from the servants. I originally wanted to keep it from you to spare Boss Zhu from sadness. But then I thought, Boss Zhu is such a resolute person; if you were deceived, it wouldn’t be good. Boss Zhu thinks that I, Zheng Tai, with my eight wives and concubines, am not a decent person, and Qin Mingxu is more upright than me. That’s where you’re wrong. I, Zheng Tai, am lustful, and it’s all out in the open, unlike some people who are one thing in public and another in private…”
He said, “I’ll take Boss Zhu to see for herself, so Boss Zhu can understand!”
I pondered for a moment and followed Zheng Tai.
This matter was strange, and I worried that Qin Mingxu might be harmed by Zheng Tai.
We arrived at Chunxiang Courtesan House.
Zheng Tai led me to the second floor and pointed to a room on the east side.
A sandalwood plaque with “Li Luo” hung above the door.
The door was indeed closed.
Zheng Tai, with a look of certainty, opened the door and went in—
A beautiful young woman, wearing a sheer, revealing gauze, with a graceful figure, lay on the bed. Her seductive charm was so potent that even I, a woman, blushed.
Besides her, there was no one else in the room.
The window was open.
Seeing this, Zheng Tai roared, “What’s going on!”
The young woman groggily got up from the bed, looked at the bedside, and quickly said, “Maternal Uncle, this servant doesn’t know what’s happening! That Young Master Qin clearly entered the room and drank wine with this servant…”
Zheng Tai kicked her, “Useless!”
I turned and left.
Zheng Tai was still shouting behind me, “Boss Zhu, Boss Zhu, Boss Zhu…”
I returned to the wine shop.
The workers reported, “Owner, Young Master Qin is here, waiting for you in the backyard.”
I walked to the small house in the backyard. He was sitting inside, his foot injured.
I said softly, “Jumped out the window?”
“Mm. Scraped by the thorns under the wall, it’s nothing.”
There was a hint of indescribable joy in his eyes, “Sang Yu, you really went to catch me cheating, I’m very happy. You… care about me.”
I took a cloth strip and bandaged him.
He said, “Tiansheng Tower supplies silk to the Zheng family. Zheng Tai found an excuse today and asked me to go over. As soon as I entered, he locked it from the outside, and I…”
“You don’t need to explain, I believe you.”
“Whatever disgrace falls upon me, it doesn’t matter, I don’t care at all. I was just afraid you would be disappointed.”
He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from my forehead.
“Sang Yu, let’s get married?”
I remained silent.
The small house fell silent.
The word “married” was so sudden for me. I thought I had the courage to start anew, but to these two words, instinctively, I resisted with all my might.
Qin Mingxu broke the awkwardness, busying himself to ask Hua Lian to bring wine.
This page was gently turned.
As the years in Jiangnan flowed by amidst the fragrance of blooming flowers, in April, something major happened in the Capital City.
