In the evening, Lu Yan returned to Chengyuan as promised.
As Yang Zong was preparing to lead the horses to the stables, his master suddenly turned around and abruptly addressed him.
“I’m going back to the Estate later.”
Yang Zong was left surprised. He stepped forward shyly and whispered tentatively:
“Will the Young Master not rather stay the night?”
Lu Yan glanced back, a shadow distorting his features.
“No”, he simply retorted before walking away with a decisive step.
A dim light slithered into every corner of the office where Shen Zhen sat on a square, an ivory brush in her hand. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed as she meticulously slid the brush along a piece of paper. Lu Yan appeared at the door, announced by nothing but the squeaking of wood.
Shen Zhen struggled to her feet, raising her head in eagerness and softly calling out to Lu Yan.
“Your Lordship.”
He walked up to her as she hurriedly continued to speak, worried that if she left him the time to consider, he would go back on his promise.
“I finished writing the letter to Eldest Sister. Thinking as I have not practiced calligraphy for a long time, I have taken the liberty to sit for a short while.”
She made a worried pause and then contritely said:
“I have been wasting Your Lordship’s good paper.”
Lu Yan looked down at her practice sheet, his eyes widening in light surprise. She might not have been old, but she had an elegant hand! A great master had once said: Horizontal strokes were to resemble a fish’s scale, flat and uneven. Vertical strokes were to be like the reins on a horse, even when relaxed, they should be tight.
(T/N: During the Eastern Han Dynasty, a certain Cai Yong wrote “九势八字诀”, an essay about calligraphy, from which Lu Yan took his description of Shen Zhen’s abilities)
He stretched out an authoritative finger, tapping against the paper.
“Write the character ink for me to see”, he commanded.
Shen Zhen nodded obediently, moistening the ink and plunging the ivory brush into it. Slowly, masterfully, she traced the character as demanded. What fascinating start and end strokes! If one wished to go to the left, one had to start from the right. And once the left had been reached, the stroke had to return to the right.
One should not have mistaken Lu Yan appreciation for a man’s favor for his mistress. Lu Yan appreciated talent. He was also a man who could objectively uncover it, independently of his good or bad sentiments. Contemplating the issue at hand, Lu Yan informed Shen Zhen most solemnly:
“Tomorrow, I will have paper delivered to you. Such good writing should not be left to go to waste.”
Hearing as much, a particular glimmer flashed through Shen Zhen’s clear eyes.
“Your Lordship’s praise is undeserved”, she whispered.
Turning around, Lu Yan scanned his surroundings, indifferently asking:
“And that letter?”
Nodding, Shen Zhen produced it immediately, opening it with the intention of having him give its contents a look.
“Your Lordship, I only reported my safety to Eldest Sister. I did not mention where I was.”
His glance sweeping to through the letter quickly, he gave a low growl of assent before stuffing it into his robes.
Lu Yan looked through the window, thinking it was time to leave. However, Shen Zhen took the initiative to detain him, passing her thin, white arms around his waist and filling his nose with the pleasant fragrance of her scented sachets.
“Sir I made a lotus seed soup with sheep broth. Would you like to have a drink?”
The gods knew she had worked on that simple bowl of soup for a whole day.
Shen Zhen’s voice was faint and soft, seeping caressingly into Lu Yan’s ear. So similar to a woman’s tender fingertips as they sweep over a man’s cheek lovingly. Oh so alluring. Able to drive one to insanity.
Lu Yan’s heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously started turning the jadeite ring on his finger. For some reason, his colleagues’ words concerning the affair of the day assailed him at that very instant.
What is Lord Lu’s opinion on the subject?
At that moment, Lu Yan realized that he was not stronger than Wen Yuan. Not one bit. No. Lu Yan refused. He was not Wen Yuan. He would never confuse wife and concubine. He was not Wen Yuan. And she … She would never be a hanged mistress.
The candles in the house flickered ever so gently, while the cold winter wind rattled against the window. Truly, nothing to tempt a man to leave such a seductive, warm scene. Lu Yan’s eyes were deep and hazy, darker than the forgotten ink that laid on the table. He turned his attention to Shen Zhen in front of him, grabbing onto her jaw and lifting her chin.
“Would that be a reward?”
Shen Zhen’s eyes were as clear as the water of a mountain creek. She shook her head gently.
“It is but a bowl of soup. How could that ever be a reward?”
Lu Yan could not refrain from snaking an arm around her waist, pulling the beauty into him, observing her face with predatory attention. Rubbing her skin through her attire with his thumb, he slowly let her go, patting her rear familiarly.
“Bring it.”
Shen Zhen blushed at once, feeling numb around the region he had patted ever so gently. Biting her lip, she knew she had to say something.
“Then, Your Lordship please wait an instant. I will heat it up immediately.”
Strangely, it was not soup Lu Yan would have wanted to eat at that moment. But he would humor the charming lass, if only for the sake of novelty.
“Very well”, he assented.
After a while, Shen Zhen reappeared with a bowl of mutton soup between her fingers, which she then put on the table in front of Lu Yan. Scooping up a spoonful, she motioned to him.
“Will Your Lordship try it?”
Lu Yan took the spoon and swallowed its contents. It was not a badly-made soup. However, the offensive taste of mutton lingered on Lu Yan’s tongue, making his fastidious self gag discreetly. He just wanted to cover the bowl with its lid. However, Shen Zhen’s seductive, eager eyes bewitched him. His actions were not his anymore as he endured the discomfort took two more, big sips of that unpleasant broth. After a while, he could not take it anymore and dropped the spoon into the porcelain bowl, welcoming the crisp ringing of porcelain against porcelain as the sound of salvation.
Shen Zhen, for her part, considered his lack of enthusiasm as a product of the simple fact Lu Yan never ate much in the evening. Thus, she busied herself around him to clean up. But before she could pick up the bowl, her waist was being encircled by a muscular arm.
At that moment, she was no different from a deer in the wilderness surrounded by tigers and leopards. Still in the study, still with his back turned to Lu Yan, a tremor travelled through her calves. She did not dare turn her head around and look into his eyes.
She was so very nervous. How could Lu Yan not notice? Pressing himself into her back, tightening the arm around her, he bit her ear.
“Turn your head”, he breathed.
When it came to intimate affairs, Shen Zhen followed Lu Yan’s lead. On the one hand, there was no room for resistance. On the other hand, she had discovered that her fear only served to stimulate him further.
Shen Zhen put her mind to rest, doing what he wished her to. When their eyes finally met, she saw that in the midst of those usually cold and solemn eyes, a smile wandered. A trace of mockery pulled at the corners of his disdainful mouth. Something Shen Zhen had never seen him during their nights of passion.
“Here?”
His breath slid down her neck.
“Or in the bedroom?”
Upon hearing this, Shen Zhen grasped the opportunity. Struggling, she turned in his arms, facing him. Grabbing onto the lapels of his robe, she panted “bedroom” into his skin. Everyone thought as she did. Between a bad and horrible choice, one was bound to choose the bad one.
Yang Zong waited outside for a while. But as the Young Master had not reappeared, he was left shivering in the cold. And then, he saw Lu Yan walking out of the office, his arm around Shen Zhen’s waist, heading towards Lanyue Pavilion. Yang Zong gave the reins in his hand a shake, patted the horse’s neck energetically and coughed.
“My good laddie, it seems it is back to the stables for you.”
The end of the year was approaching and the snowfalls were becoming heavier and heavier. On the day of Second Madam, Née Xiao’s birthday, a banquet was being held. Everyone was talking joyfully, while a little maid walked to Née Xiao’s side, whispering:
“Second Madam, the table is ready.”
Once the dishes had been served three times, Grand Duke Zhen and his two younger brothers moved to a side for a drink, while the young ones started shouting for a match of poem reciting!
Except for the Main Household that had but one very ambitious, successful and yet disappointing Lu Yan, the two other households had had them in pairs of boy and girl. The Second Household had had Lu Ye and Lu Yu; the third, Lu Ting and Lu Heng.
The great-grandson whom the Old Madam so ostentatiously favored had been born to Lu Ye’s wife, a certain Shen Man. She came from the same Shen family as Shen Zhen, just from an unimportant side-branch.
To spice the evening up, they decided in the end to humor the youngsters and let them play at thinking up poems on a set theme. With a twist. Thinking of the theme, Lu Heng playfully pointed at the snow outside, enthusiastically proposing:
“How about picking the word “snow”?!”
No one presented an objection. In fact, the game was not difficult to play. The chosen word “snow” was to be put first in the poem by the first person, second by the second person and so on. If one had a good memory, one just had to remember a poem taught in childhood that fit the rules. Whoever failed at producing a satisfactory line would be punished with a cup of wine.
Lu Yu spoke first:
“Snow so leisurely falls in a garden illuminated by moonlight.”
Lu Ting continued:
“Spring snow casts its misty charm behind a fluttering curtain.”
Two sentences later, it was Lu Heng’s turn. Putting the word “snow” in the third place of a sentence while keeping the rhythm of the poem was most difficult. Lu Heng thought for a long time, before coming up with a most unoriginal line.
“Spring flowers, snowy and tender, fade and fall into time.”
As she spoke those words, her eyes shifted aside. Oh, she was not dumb. She knew very well how far that went, where style and elegance was concerned. Not far!
Lu Ting would never expose his own sister’s lack of talent. Nor would Lu Yu, a girl among so many boys herself. But Lu Yan was a different sort of beast. Glancing at Lu Heng indifferently, he bluntly said:
“The rhythm is off.”
The tone he had employed! As if she now owed him a debt of gratitude for pointing it out!
Exposed as she had been, Lu Heng could but blush. She had not expected to lose in the first round. Had Lu Yan not made that comment, she was well aware her brother and other cousin would have closed their eyes and let her pass to the next round. But Lu Yan would have none of it. Always acting like a high and mighty official of the Supreme Court, he refused to countenance any form of cheating. Thus, he reached out for the bottle of wine and poured his charming cousin a cup.
The look Lu Heng shot their little assembly was one of despair. Before she had had the time to plead her case, her good Third Cousin had blocked her retreat with nothing but an offered cup of wine! She had no choice but to lift it with a sour smile, toast and throw her head back as she drank.
History had a strange way of repeating itself! Round after round, as the word “snow” changed of place and the poems became longer and longer, Lu Heng still found ways to be defeated, which caused her to grab onto her hair.
“I should have said “winter”! How could I say something as stupid as “snow”?!”
She peeked at Lu Yan who was intently staring at her cup of wine and wailed, mostly out of petty revenge.
“And you, dearest Third Cousin, when do you plan to bring a bride into our family?!”
As Née Wen heard her daughter’s words, she came to pat her head as light punishment.
“Is this how you speak to your older cousin?!
Née Wen’s words sounded like she was chastising Lu Heng. However her tone of voice as well as the expression of her face sent a clear message:
‘Lu Yan cannot keep a woman. Everyone in the family knows as much. Why do you have to rub salt into the wound?’
The Old Madam called from her side:
“Lass Heng always loses at such events. She likes playing but never truly puts in any effort. She should not blame her Third Cousin for her own shortcomings.”
As soon as the Old Madam had said her piece, the whole table collapsed in hearty laughter. Lu Yan caressed the bridge of his nose and helplessly complained:
“Does Grandmother also think I am being unreasonable?”
Old Madam Lu was not softened by his act.
“Yes”, she dropped without pity.
Lad Yun chose that moment to pull at the Old Madam’s hand, suddenly letting out some bubbles from his lips and giggling in relish. Attracting everyone’s attention and good will in the process. Lu Yan was that little one’s debtor. The number of times the lad had saved him from disagreeable situations …
The feast came to an early end since many of the family’s sons were on duty the next morning.
After returning to her Chongyayuan, Princess Royale Jing’an sighed over and over again. Her eyes held some sadness to them. Grand Duke Zhen, Lu Jun, who spent every night in his wife’s courtyard, caressed her shoulder with his heavy palm.
“Why are you sighing so heartbreakingly?”
The Princess Royale rubbed at her eyebrows.
“Did you not hear what was being said at the table today? Now even Lass Heng has made it a habit to provoke Lu Yan about marriage.”
As soon as the Meng girl had left the whole Estate had known. Yet another one of Lu Yan’s potentials running away.
Lu Jun led Princess Royale Jing’an to her vanity, making her sit down so he could serve his wife, a guilty pleasure of his. Carefully, mathematically, he removed each and every hairpin in her intricate hairdo. He might have been especially loving in his touch that night.
“Getting married might be a big deal, but it is not worth your anxiety. I will be very mistaken if His Majesty does not transfer Lu Yan out of the capital before the New Year. If he were to get married now, he would be leaving a newlywed bride alone for a long time. Show me the man who would be willing to do as much.”
Upon hearing as much, the Princess Royale jumped to her feet, almost knocking her husband over.
“Another year?! Are you demanding me to wait another year?! He will be twenty-four then! An old bachelor! Oh, no! This, I shall not countenance. I shall go to the Palace tomorrow and demand Imperial Brother’s assistance!”
Ah, yes. Lu Jun recognized his wife right there. At the smallest trouble, she ran back to complain to her beloved Big Brother. Who incidentally happened to be the Emperor.
“Jing’an, do not speak harmful nonsense lest someone hears you. He is an official serving at the Supreme Court. He is spending his time solving affairs of public interest, so you should——”
Before Lu Jun had the time to finish his piece, Princess Royale Jing’an interrupted him without any care for his dignity.
“Affairs?! Why, yes! If you consider spending your time in Pingkang Lane as official affairs. Do you know where our Lad Yan spends his nights?! Do you know why the Meng girl left?! The saying goes like father, like son, so how about you enlighten your humble wife?! What do you think, tell me!”
When Lu Jun saw his wife was about to throw one of her fits, and an especially delusional one at that, he quickly covered her mouth with his big palm and pulled her into his embrace before carrying her to bed.
“Jing’an … Please. Sleep.”
***
The next day proved Grand Duke Zhen to be a clairvoyant. As a eunuch widely opened his mouth to shout the courtiers out of the Emperor’s hall, Lu Yan was named to stay behind. Alone with his Imperial Uncle. Led into a study, Lu Yan was handed a document by the Emperor Chengyuan.
“We order you to go to Yangzhou as the son of a wealthy businessman in Jingzhou.”
No one to love and care for you as your own family.
