Lu Yan went out with Judge Zheng that day. First, he drafted a list of missing people. Then he went to the Penal Department. It was past noon when he finally returned to the Supreme Court. As soon as he passed the door, he was welcomed by the sight of Official Sun throwing an ivory brush onto the table in rage.
“What’s the matter with you?”, Judge Zheng barked, stalking in.
When Official Sun saw Judge Zheng, he rushed to his feet, saluting with respect. Frowning, he narrated his trouble.
“I went to visit the Song family just now. I wished to draw a portrait of the suspect through the description of the Song family’s daughter. However, they did not let me see her. They said their daughter was frightened and would only speak to a female painter. I had no choice but to look for a female artist. However, Your Lordship, female painters in Beijing are few and far between and most of them specialize in landscapes. Their abilities where portrait taking is concerned are … Well, take a look by yourself!”
At these last words, Official Sun shoved a few pictures into Judge Zheng’s hands with a depressing glance. Taking a look, Judge Zheng burst into laughter unexpectedly. Had the painter been trying her hand at painting suspects or apes?! He handed it over to Lu Yan, sat down and continued:
“What did the Song girl say? Did the painter ask the right questions?”
Official Sun nodded.
“That day, Song Ling’er had made her way to the West Market to buy perfume. But since Baixiang Pavilion had been closed, she had decided to go look for a workshop she had been told about. Supposedly, some famous cosmetics shop could be found somewhere around there.”
At the mention of Baixiang Pavilion, Lu Yan raised an involuntary brow.
“Continue”, Judge Zheng urged.
“As soon as Song Ling’er had stepped foot into the workshop, someone had proposed to lead her to that shop. But as soon, as they had left, the Song girl had realized her mistake. However, it had been too late. Someone had knocked her down then. The female painter reported Song Ling’er’s head still had contusion marks when she saw her, consistent with the idea she had been hit with a bottle. According to her own words, once she had woken up, she had been laid onto a bed by a strange man who had covered her eyes with a veil so she could not see. However, when she tried to get up, the veil fell from her eyes and she got a look at the man. She described him as having a long beard, a high-bridged nose, a frightening expression and narrow eyes,”
Once Sun Xu finished with his report, Lu Yan looked down at the portraits in his hand, massaging the bridge of his nose. At least the luxuriant beard and frightening appearance had been painted right, he sardonically concluded in silence. Judge Zheng spoke once more.
“Is that all?! What about height and posture?!”
Official Sun shook his head.
“I also thought there wasn’t enough information. So I returned to see the Song family once more. But this time, the Song family did not let me through the gate. I asked them whether there were any other clues they would know about. They only repeated what we already know. Two eyes, one nose, one mouth. That’s all they know.”
Lu Yan shook the stack of portraits in front of Official Sun’s nose, asking:
“What does the Song girl have to say about these portraits?”
Official Sun’s face became red through and through, clenching his teeth, he had no choice but to admit.
“She says that’s the man. For each and every painting.”
Thus, it seemed they had to hunt an ape through the city of Chang’an. Judge Zheng jumped to his feet and bellowed:
“What is this nonsense?! Her Song family are nothing but commoners of the Jin Dynasty! Their daughter and themselves live in Chang’an! As such, they are in the obligation to collaborate with the government! They will not be tolerated to—”
Official Sun immediately interfered:
“Please quell your ire, Lord Zheng! It would be wrong to say her parents refuse to cooperate. However, they are in shock. You must understand that as soon as this incident occurred, the Liu family had their son divorce the Song girl. In the past two days, she tried to commit suicide twice …”
Whenever a woman was raped, whether dead or not, she lost her life. She became a walking corpse. After a long silence, Judge Zheng sighed in regret.
“Send someone to check that workshop the Song girl spoke about. Since she had been attacked close to it, there must be some clues lying around.”
After a pause, he shot Lu Yan a look from beneath his eyelashes.
“If I remember well, Lord Lu’s painting skills are excellent. Although Song Ling’er’s words are at best insufficient, they should not be disregarded as a valuable clue. Permit me to ask Lord Lu to paint a few portraits according to the Song girl’s description. Then have them sent to the Song family, so that the victim can pick the most accurate.”
This might have sounded as a demand, however truth be said, it was an order given by a superior. When Judge Zheng condescended to ask something, Lu Yan could only smile and agree, putting up with time-consuming, grueling work without a complaint.
At the end of working hours, Sun Xu went to see Lu Yan.
“Lord Lu, you know so many noble ladies. Among them, there must be a pair that could paint a portrait, no?”
Lu Yan considered the situation for an instant. The plum orchids, bamboo shoots and chrysanthemums Meng Suxi had painted came to mind.
“No”, he simply answered.
Shrugging his shoulders helplessly, Sun Xu, trying to make himself agreeable, said:
“Lord Lu, I am going the same way as you, I believe.”
Lu Yan looked at him, startled.
“The same way?”, he carefully repeated.
Sun Xu laid a heavy hand onto Lu Yan’s shoulder.
“I saw your carriage in Pingkang Square last night.”
His smile was smug and his voice, full of approval. Lu Yan’s body stiffened. He had no way to explain his way out of such a situation. After all, his carriage had indeed been parked in that part of town. He sighed.
“I have those portraits to paint today. I cannot accompany Lord Sun.”
Sun Xu slapped his forehead in realization.
“My bad! I forgot Lord Lu had something so important to do. Please leave first.”
***
An exhausted Lu Yan hesitated for a long while before deciding to return to Chengyuan for the night. After dinner, he took his time to pensively stare at Shen Zhen before asking her as if out of impulse:
“Do you know how to prepare ink?”
Shen Zhen, taken aback by the non sequitur, only nodded her head, wide-eyed. Lu Yan clearly remembered the testimony the Song family’s daughter had delivered. She had spoken of a man with a long beard, a high-bridged nose, a frightening appearance and narrow eyes. He could not help but grin in deep dissatisfaction. When it came to beards and whiskers alone, there were dozens of types. And here was Lu Yan, proposing to spend the night painting them all!
Reluctantly he got up and sighed at the thought of what would be a torturous night. Extending his hand, he patted Shen Zhen’s rear, comforting himself in what was carried out as a most natural movement.
“Come to the study and prepare some ink for me,”
Shen Zhen’s face for its part went up in flames at the thought of where Lu Yan’s hand had just touched. The pat had been neither light nor heavy. But there was an indescribable ambiguity to it that elicited a shiver to run down Shen Zhen’s spine. Whether that shiver had been caused by fear, discomfort, shame or some other emotion, she did not know.
After entering the study, Lu Yan smoothed out some paper in preparation of the task at hand. After a long while, Shen Zhen appeared with a small cup of water between her reddened fingers. Lu Yan frowned and demanded to know what had taken her so long to fetch water. Shen Zhen blinked in surprise, hurrying to explain herself.
“If one wishes to blend ink, one could use simple cold water. However, rain water is more efficient. There being no rain in winter, I collected some of the snow water dripping from the roof’s eaves so it took some time.”
After hearing as much, it dawned on Lu Yan why her fingertips were so very red. Indeed, Marquis Yunyang had raised his daughter to be above ordinary people in knowledge. Thoroughly placated, Lu Yan had no choice but to silently nod and hand Shen Zhen an ink stone and stick. She observed the ink stick in her palm, murmuring:
“Could this be precious and rare Yumi ink?”
(T/N: Yumi ink is a very expensive, rare type of ink. It was the first historically recorded ink, produced in Yumi, now Qiangyang in Shaanxi.)
Lu Yan shot her a complicated sidelong glance before confirming with a guttural sound. He did not expect her to know that much. Once Shen Zhen had carefully ground and mixed the ink, Lu Yan set himself to work, dipping his brush in and painting. In a few simple strokes, the man Lu Yan was supposed to draw had two eyes, one nose and one mouth. In other words, he was a human being. It was eye-opening how unreliable that woman’s description had been when Lu Yan ended up painting more than ten portraits.
After one hour of such grueling exercise, he could not help but frown in pain, cocking his neck to the side, massaging his shoulder while moving his arm in a circular motion. Taking the cue, Shen Zhen took small steps to stand behind him, placing her two small hands on his shoulders. Her massage might not have been strong, however it was still pleasing to Lu Yan. Leaning back, eyes closed, he grabbed onto her fingers, leading them towards his temple. Shen Zhen understood his intentions and thus started slowly circularly pressing into his temples, shooting curious glances above his shoulder. She would have wished to ask him what he was trying to paint but knowing how dismissive he could be and how the smallest irritant could foul his mood, she preferred to keep her mouth shot and swallow her curiosity.
Once Lu Yan stopped his work, twenty paintings had been produced. Seeing as it was time for bed, he urged Shen Zhen to go sleep without him.
“Go and do not wait for me tonight.”
Shen Zhen’s own hands were tired. She could not imagine how exhausted the painter must have been. Seeing as Lu Yan had been shaking his numb hands numerous times to alleviate discomfort, she tentatively threw a presumptuous suggestion out.
“Maybe I could help Your Lordship paint and finish earlier?”
Lu Yan’s hand stopped in mid-motion, sharply looking up at her.
“Have you ever painted a portrait?”
Shen Zhen assented.
“I have painted a few portraits until now.”
“Who did you learn from?”
“Li Mo. Master Li. Master Li condescended to instruct me several times during his life”, Shen Zhen innocently stated, ignorant of the effect her admission would have on her interlocutor.
As soon as her words reached his ears, Lu Yan was left astounded for maybe the first time in his life. Had someone else spoken as she had, Lu Yan would have dismissed the story as a falsehood if ever there was one. Li Mo had been a most outstanding master dating back to the founding of the Jin Dynasty. His paintings were still mounted in the imperial city and Lu Yan’s uncle, the Emperor, at the very least admired them. Shen Zhen however was not anyone. Her grandfather had been the Emperor’s Grand Tutor and Li Mo’s contemporary. No wonder the girl was so skilled. She had been condemned to excellence from a young age. She had no need to lie grotesquely.
Lu Yan pulled her to sit at his spot, handing her the brush.
“If I were to give you a description, could you paint based on it?”
Shen Zhen simply nodded. Not yet convinced, Lu Yan nonetheless described as casually as he could:
“Wide face, thick eyebrows, round eyes, high-bridged nose, thick lips.”
Shen Zhen pondered diligently for a while before her brush started sliding across the paper slowly, deliberately. And soon enough, the outline of a man appeared in front of her eyes. After taking a good look, Lu Yan, who had been standing behind her all this time could not refrain from laughing while shaking his head in wonder. Only one stroke of her hand could produce such a difference. This woman’s work was meticulous and could go to the essence of what she was painting.
This was pure, unadulterated talent.
Since she had proven her superior aptitudes in the art of painting there was no need for them to continue the exercise. The next day, Lu Yan would simply make her accompany him in disguise to the Song family and have her collect the information that had been out of their reach up until then.
Sensing some change had operated in Lu Yan, Shen Zhen stopped painting.
“Your Lordship, is this good enough?”, she asked, looking back at him.
Before she had the time to even realize what had happened, a strong tug had pulled Shen Zhen into Lu Yan’s arms. As she turned her head to take a look at that whimsical man and attempt to gauge his emotions, her forehead brushed across his chin. Their skin coming in contact led to the temperature in the study soaring inexplicably. Her eyes were glued to his Adam’s apple.
“Have you used the medicine?”, Lu Yan asked, his voice thick with desire.
The first thing that crossed Shen Zhen’s mind was the soup Moyue had brought her, saying it was a contraceptive. As a mere mistress, she knew she would not be suffered to become pregnant. Shen Zhen bit her lip and contritely shook her head. However, the next instant, she extirpated a small sachet from her clothes, dangling it in front of Lu Yan’s nose.
“Your Lordship, I carry musk on me at all times. However, I did not drink the contraceptive soup.”
Looking down at her, Lu Yan examined the tender, blushing skin of her face.
“I meant the medicine I had Yang Zong deliver you.”
He had been a little hard on her the day before. And seeing as he was quite eager to try his hand at it again, but not at the expense of her pain, he had conveniently remembered the cream Yang Zong must have brought her. As soon as he had spoken her piece, a shiver ran down Shen Zhen’s spine, making her hair stand on end. Recalling how she had had to apply a layer of medicinal cream in the most intimate midst of herself, her blushing skin turned perfectly crimson in mortification.
“I—I used it.”
Her voice was softer than the buzzing of a mosquito.
Grabbing onto her slender waist with both hands, Lu Yan hoisted Shen Zhen vulgarly up onto the table. He leaned into her, their eyes plunged into one another’s. Shen Zhen could almost feel the reverberation of his hoarse voice throughout her body as he simply whispered “indeed” into her skin.
