Chapter 30: Chance Encounter On The Road
The Lu Yun family was not riding an official boat, but a merchant family’s passenger boat.
Although the merchant family does not belong to the Seven Great Noble Clans, it is the acknowledged number one financial clan of Great Xuan. Their history is not long; they only began to rise to prominence a hundred years ago, and for generations have made commerce their profession.
Back then, when the Founding Emperor raised troops, the merchant family’s patriarch gave his all to help, solving the Founding Emperor’s problems with troops and grain and fodder. After Great Xuan was established, the Founding Emperor returned the favor, entrusting all the Imperial Court’s grain transport, tax silver, and other money and grain matters entirely to the merchant family. With the status of imperial merchants, the merchant family took the opportunity to greatly expand their commercial territory, forming a near monopoly in almost every industry they entered. For example, on this Grand Canal, eight or nine out of ten ships traveling south and north fly the merchant family’s flag!
Therefore, the Imperial Court has no need to maintain so many boats; only when high-ranking officials travel are official boats dispatched. Even the families of high officials can only ride the merchant family’s passenger boats. What’s more, Lu Yun and the others were far from qualifying as high official kin…
Fortunately, no shortsighted bandits dared to target the merchant family’s passenger boats, so Lu Yun did not charter the entire ship—that would be too extravagant and too ostentatious, which would not be ideal. He merely rented the entire cargo hold, ordering his subordinates to guard the valuables day and night, and rented a layer of passenger cabins for Madam Lu, his own brother and sister, and the guards to live in.
Unknowingly, the boat arrived in Suzhou. The passenger boat docked at the Gusu dock, and Lu Ying eagerly pulled Lu Yun ashore, excitedly touring Gusu City.
Looking at the pink walls, small bridges, riverbanks, and weeping willows before her, Lu Ying was so excited she bounced and skipped about, buying who knows how many local specialties before Lu Yun forcibly dragged her back to the boat just before sunset.
“How annoying, I haven’t had enough fun yet!” Lu Ying held a box of Suzhou-style pastries, eating them while angrily scolding the spoilsport Lu Yun.
“Elder Sister, any more delay and the boat will leave…” Lu Yun explained helplessly.
“This horseshoe cake is too sweet; even I can’t stand it a bit.” But Lu Ying then talked about something else, picking up another dim sum and stuffing it into Lu Yun’s mouth: “Try this…”
Lu Yun was just about to dodge when he suddenly froze. Lu Ying followed his gaze and saw their mother unexpectedly appearing on the deck, talking with a mother-daughter pair.
This was truly unusual, because Madam Lu had not seen outsiders for years. Once on the boat, she recited Buddhist scriptures in the cabin all day, and even her meals were delivered to her room by Lu Ying.
The brother and sister both tensed up. Lu Ying tossed the dim sum box to Lu Yun, subtly wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, and quickly boarded the passenger boat.
“Mother!” As soon as Lu Ying got on the boat, she drew the attention of the three. That mother-daughter pair wore Suzhou-style dresses, elegant and refined, clearly from an official family at first glance.
“This is Lu Ying, right?” The woman actually knew Lu Ying and pulled her hand with a face full of affection. “It’s been over ten years since we last met, and you’ve grown into such a fine young lady.”
“Yes, this is my daughter.” A rare smile actually appeared on Madam Lu’s face. But when she turned to Lu Ying, her expression darkened again: “You wretched girl, where did you run off to? Come quickly and pay respects to your aunt!”
Lu Ying was baffled but still obediently performed full etiquette.
At this time, Lu Yun also came up and softly called “Mother.” In front of outsiders, Madam Lu showed no abnormality and had him also pay respects to the aunt.
When the woman saw Lu Yun, her eyes lit up at once. She reached out her other hand to pull him over, looking him up and down with tsk-tsks of admiration: “Is there such a handsome youth in the world? Both children are so outstanding—little sister, you truly are fortunate!”
“Ninger is the one who truly has the demeanor of a great clan lady.” In front of the woman, Madam Lu surprisingly regained her vitality, smiling as she pulled over the girl with a delicate face and slender, willow-like figure. “My girl is just like a wild brat!”
“Mother…” Lu Ying twisted her body coquettishly: “How can you say that about your own daughter?”
“Auntie is joking,” the delicate girl lowered her head bashfully: “Ninger is like this because of poor health. If only I could be like Elder Sister Ying.”
“Alas, this child has had a hard fate.” The woman looked at the girl with pity: “She’s been frail and sickly since childhood, raised in a vat of medicine.”
After the three juniors paid respects, a sailor appeared on the deck at this time to prepare to cast off. The group then moved to Madam Lu’s main cabin to talk. After chatting a while, Lu Yun and his sister learned that this mother-daughter pair were the wife and daughter of Yixing Commandery Governor Cui Yingzhi. Madam Cui came from the Pei Clan, and Madam Lu’s mother also came from the Pei Clan, making her Madam Cui’s cousin. Thus, Madam Cui and Madam Lu were cousins.
In this era, there were no marriages between scholars and commoners. Even within the aristocrats, the children of the Eight Great Clans rarely married down to lesser clans; marriages were basically mutual marriage alliances between the Imperial Clan and the Seven Great Noble Clans. In this intertwined web, naturally everyone could claim kinship…
This year was the seventieth birthday of Madam Cui’s uncle, Pei Clan Leader Pei Qiu. Cui Yingzhi was tied up with official duties and could not go personally, so he sent his wife and daughter on the road early. They first took a boat across Taihu Lake to Suzhou, then sent servants to board this boat, also wanting to charter a layer of passenger cabins. But they learned it had already been chartered by someone else…
The merchant family’s passenger boats were not something ordinary people could afford to charter. Madam Cui had someone inquire and learned it was the family of the newly appointed Grand Court’s Right Censor Lu Xin. Delighted, Madam Cui brought her daughter directly aboard and laughed loudly on the deck: “Seventh Sister, come out quickly to see me!”
Hearing the voice, Madam Lu came out. Seeing it was her, she was overjoyed as well, and the sisters chatted enthusiastically on the deck until Lu Yun and the other returned…
.
The boat traveled on the river, with calm winds and steady waves.
As the saying goes, a long drought meets sweet rain; a stranger in a foreign land meets an old acquaintance. Madam Lu had been in Hangzhou for ten years and had hardly seen any of her own sisters. Now meeting Madam Cui was like opening a floodgate of words; she had endless things to say to her all day. In just a few short days, she spoke more than in the past ten years…
Lu Ying was truly worried that her mother might say too much and slip up, so she did not dare leave her side, attending the two elders all day. Instead, she quickly became familiar with Madam Cui’s daughter Cui Ninger. Cui Ninger was innocent and pure, with a frail body, and Lu Ying took great care of her. She soon became Lu Ying’s little tail, following behind her all day and calling “Elder Sister” this and that nonstop.
On the other hand, Lu Yun had already prepared to kill and silence at any moment. But after a few days of contact, Madam Lu showed no abnormalities, and her account of the ten years in Hangzhou was perfectly reasonable, so Lu Yun gradually relaxed. The only thing that annoyed him somewhat was that Madam Cui seemed very interested in him, always pulling him aside to ask this and that, with the eerie expression of a mother-in-law picking a son-in-law.
This day, Lu Yun finally escaped Madam Cui’s clutches and went to the stern to catch his breath. But he saw Cui Ninger in a green dress, sitting on the railing at the boat’s edge, her pair of small legs swinging back and forth in midair, occasionally revealing a heart-stirring glimpse of snow-white.
Lu Yun frowned and deliberately made his footsteps heavier as he walked over.
Hearing the footsteps behind her, Cui Ninger turned her head and smiled faintly at him. The river wind blew her beautiful hair dancing, making her seem all the more fragile and pitiable.
Lu Yun was in white robes whiter than snow, sleeves fluttering. Standing there, he was truly like a jade tree in the breeze, making one reluctant to look away. But his words were somewhat mood-killing: “Be careful not to fall…”
“Is this how you show concern for someone?” Cui Ninger instantly lost her mood to admire the young man, teasing with a mischievous smile: “You should say, ‘Elder Sister, your body is weak; let your little brother help you down.'”
“…” Lu Yun’s mouth twitched, and he said expressionlessly: “I’m not concerned about you; I’m just worried that if you fall, it’ll trouble the boatman to rescue you.” After a pause, he earnestly emphasized: “Also, you’re only one day older than me—don’t take advantage of me.”
These words naturally set off another peal of girlish laughter from Cui Ninger, laughing until her face paled and her breathing grew rapid.
“You should be a bit more reserved…” Helplessly, Lu Yun extended his hand. Cui Ninger held onto him and carefully climbed down from the railing, clutching her chest and panting lightly a few times before calming down.
Cui Ninger braced her arms on the railing, looking at the rolling Huai River waters crashing against the hull, and said wistfully: “Being sick is bitter enough; if I still put on a bitter face, what flavor would life have left?”
Hearing this, Lu Yun unexpectedly felt some empathy. He lowered his head, looking at this girl carefully for the first time. He saw her face pale, chin pointed, features delicate, figure slender—seemingly unremarkable. But paired with those deep pool-like eyes, everything came alive with spirit.
Lu Yun stared tightly at those eyes, saying nothing.
Perhaps stared at shyly by Lu Yun, Cui Ninger turned her slightly flushed face away, avoiding his gaze. “Didn’t your mother teach you it’s very rude to stare at a girl like that?”
“No.” Lu Yun shook his head.
“It seems there’s some estrangement between you mother and son.” Cui Ninger asked as if casually.
“Is there…” Lu Yun frowned slightly and said slowly: “Maybe it’s because I’ve been too rebellious these past two years…”
“You? Rebellious?!” Cui Ninger laughed as if hearing the biggest joke, covering her mouth and laughing again.
Lu Yun would not dwell on this issue and instead asked: “Is it normal between you and your mother?”
Cui Ninger was stunned. “What’s abnormal about it?”
“These past few days, I’ve seen your mother indulge you in everything…” Lu Yun paused, rephrasing: “She practically treats you like a Buddha on an altar.”
“Is that strange?” Cui Ninger’s heart tightened, but she feigned naturalness: “My mother dotes on me, and I have an illness, so of course I’m pampered.” She extended a slender finger pointing at Lu Yun and laughed: “I get it—you’re jealous because your mother doesn’t dote on you.”
“…” Lu Yun looked at that hand, a familiar feeling surging up again, but hearing Cui Ninger’s words, his expression darkened, and he said no more.
Cui Ninger lost interest in continuing the chat, tightened the scarf draped over her shoulders, and said: “I’m going in. In just a little while without seeing me, my mother will worry.”
Lu Yun nodded, watching Cui Ninger enter the cabin before turning back to look at the river surface.
Seeing that the passenger boat had turned west to go upstream, he realized they had already reached the Huai River.
‘Once past the Huai River, it’s the North…’ Lu Yun took a deep breath. After ten years lurking in Jiangnan, he was finally returning to that land!
