Snow in the third month was unexpected. It was the season for spring outings, and now spring scenery had turned into a snowscape, which made it fresher than anything the capital had seen in years. Young lords and young ladies swarmed out of the city in droves, each afraid of arriving too late and finding the mountain snow already trampled and spoiled.
Wei Rao was leaving the city too, but she was going to celebrate the birthday of her maternal grandmother, Lady Shou'an.
When the rumors about her grandmother's years as a royal wet nurse in the palace were flying, Wei Rao's mother, Madam Zhou the younger, was still a little girl, and Wei Rao was not yet born. After Wei Rao grew up and heard the gossip, curiosity made her ask her grandmother about it. Her grandmother declined to discuss palace affairs and would only explain how she had come by her title.
Before she left the palace, the Yuanjia Emperor had asked what reward she wanted. Deeply moved, her grandmother recalled her childhood in the countryside and said she wished to go home, buy two acres of land, raise pigs and chickens, and spend her old age in peace.
The emperor did not send her back to her native village, where no relatives were left. Instead he granted her a mountain manor outside the capital and a thousand acres of fertile land, and wrote the plaque for the manor himself: Leisure Manor. He also named her Lady Shou'an, a rank that spared her from kneeling to any prince or noble.
Her grandmother had a house inside the city, but ever since leaving the palace she had lived at Leisure Manor.
The Imperial Household Department had built the manor, and it covered a great deal of ground. From outside it looked imposing, and only inside could you see how refined it was at every turn. Apart from its remote location, it was no worse than any powerful family's mansion in the capital, and it had the beauty of a southern garden besides. Next to it, her grandmother's small house in the city was little better than servants' quarters. If it were up to Wei Rao, she would live at Leisure Manor too.
With snow falling, the manor would surely be even lovelier.
Wei Rao could hardly wait.
She had thought only of how pretty the snow would be when she set out. It had not occurred to her that all the other young lords and ladies would be leaving the city too. Carriages from every ducal, marquis's and earl's residence and from officials great and small, together with the merchants' cargo wagons, had piled up at the city gate in a long dragon of traffic. The carriage of the Earl of Cheng'an's household ended up miserably at the tail.
Wei Rao steadied her patience, leaned against the backrest and closed her eyes to rest.
"Good grief, so many people. How long is this going to take? Shoucheng, let's go up front, have a word with the gate guards, and get out ahead of everyone."
A voice as loud as a bell suddenly rang out from beside the carriage, making the roots of Wei Rao's ears go numb.
From the sound of it, whoever it was meant to use his connection with the guards to jump the line.
He was about to do something so rude, and he said it at such volume. How could anyone be so thick-skinned?
Wei Rao opened her eyes and looked toward the curtain, waiting to hear how the person called "Shoucheng" would answer.
"Let's wait in line. There's no hurry."
Only five short words, but the voice was clear, low and pleasing to the ear.
Drawn by that lovely voice, Wei Rao quietly moved to the window. She signaled to Bitao and Liuya, who were sitting in the carriage with her, not to make a sound. Carefully she lifted the edge of the curtain until the gap between cloth and window frame was the width of a chopstick, then stopped and tilted her head to look out.
About a dozen paces behind the carriage and off to one side stood two fine horses. On the nearer one sat a sturdy man in a sapphire-blue round-collared brocade robe, with thick brows, tiger eyes and bronzed skin. Wei Rao knew him: Second Master Qi of the Marquis of Pingxi's household. He had passed the martial examination as top scholar and now served in the palace as an imperial bodyguard. His blunt temper had offended a whole crowd of idle young nobles, but the Yuanjia Emperor thought well of him.
The other man's horse stood farther back, and the Earl of Cheng'an's carriage happened to block the upper half of him. All Wei Rao could see was a pair of hands holding the reins. They were white as fine jade, with long, slender fingers, and very beautiful.
"You and your rules," said Qi.
While Wei Rao was secretly watching, Second Master Qi turned his horse back, plainly giving up on jumping the line.
That meant his companion certainly wouldn't go ahead either.
Wei Rao let the curtain fall and went back to sit in the middle of the seat. In a low voice she asked Bitao and Liuya, "Is there anyone among the capital's gentlemen called Shoucheng?"
She had been born and raised in the capital, and over the years she had heard, directly or indirectly, of countless sons of good families. This man had made the willful Second Master Qi obey with a single plain sentence. He must be either of exalted rank or of exceptional ability, and he could not be a nobody.
Bitao and Liuya both shook their heads. They had never heard of such a person either.
"Shoucheng must be his courtesy name. If we heard his given name, we might know it," Liuya guessed.
A man's courtesy name was like a girl's personal name, used only in private among close family and friends.
"Never mind. Whoever he is, it has nothing to do with us."
As soon as Wei Rao finished speaking, the carriage finally moved, inching forward about half a carriage length.
Wei Rao could be patient. Behind her, Second Master Qi, whose name was Qi Zhongkai, craned his neck and, after waiting only this long, grew restless. He turned to Lu Zhuo and said, "Are you coming or not? If you're not, I'm going out of the city first!"
Lu Zhuo smiled faintly. "Please go ahead, Brother Qi."
In his white brocade robe, he sat his horse at ease, truly in no hurry at all.
Of course Qi Zhongkai couldn't actually abandon his friend. They had known each other since childhood, and afterward they had trained together for five years in the army at the border. Three years ago Qi had returned to the capital to take the martial examination and then entered the palace as an imperial bodyguard, while Lu Zhuo had been kept in the army by his father. If he had not reached marriageable age and the Duchess had not pressed again and again, old Master Lu would not have recalled him to the capital even now.
"Eight years. Your old man is really ruthless." Stuck in place, Qi looked Lu Zhuo up and down, and his sympathy suddenly turned to teasing. "Wait, that's not right. I was out there five years and got tanned dark. You stayed three years longer than I did. How are you still so pale? Don't tell me you've been hiding in your tent slacking off?"
Lu Zhuo glanced at Qi's sturdy, bronze-colored face. "As I recall, you were this color before you ever went to the border."
Some people have dark faces because of the sun, and some are born that way. The sun can't be blamed.
Qi Zhongkai burst out laughing.
The men of the Qi family all had loud voices, and even Lu Zhuo, with Qi's laughter crashing into his ears at such close range, frowned slightly.
The Earl of Cheng'an's carriage was right in front of them. At Qi's sudden roar of laughter, Wei Rao and her maids jumped. Even the big black horse pulling the carriage shifted its hooves uneasily, and the carriage swayed twice.
Wei Rao said nothing, but her face had darkened, and she pressed one hand to her chest, where her heart was pounding.
Their young lady was so delicate. How could she stand a fright like that?
Bitao stuck her head out of the window and glared toward the back. "You're Second Master Qi, aren't you? Could you please keep your voice down? You've nearly spooked our horse."
Wei Rao did not stop her maid. She had met the Yuanjia Emperor at her grandmother's manor, and she had met Qi Zhongkai there too. They were not acquaintances or friends exactly, but for a small, reasonable request, she thought Qi would probably show her some courtesy.
Qi recognized Wei Rao but not Bitao, and he couldn't tell from behind the carriage who its owner was. He had been laughing happily when a little maid suddenly scolded him, and it put him in a bad mood. He rode up to the window and demanded, glaring at Bitao, "You dare lecture me? Who is your mistress?"
Bitao muttered, "Second Master Qi has a poor memory. Last year when His Majesty came to sit a while at Leisure Manor, you were out in the sun, dizzy and half blind, and begged me for a bowl of cool tea. Have you forgotten?"
The moment she said Leisure Manor, Qi remembered. A face as radiant as a peony floated into his mind, along with a pair of phoenix eyes bright and shimmering as if brimming with water. She was so beautiful that a man wanted to hold her in his palm, gaze up at her devoutly every day, and would even be willing to press his face to the soles of her shoes.
A delicate beauty like that could easily be frightened by his big voice!
"So it's Miss Four," said Qi, ignoring Bitao completely. Guessing where Wei Rao sat, he cupped his hands in apology. "I didn't know Miss Four was here, and I was rude just now. Rest assured, I'll keep my voice down and won't disturb you again."
Through the curtain, Wei Rao could feel Qi's sincerity. He had shown her respect, so she had to return it. In a low voice she replied, "My little maid is making a fuss over nothing. Please don't mind her, Second Master."
Qi laughed. "I don't mind, I don't mind. Miss Four, are you out of the city to see the snow too?"
Wei Rao smiled. "More or less."
Qi was a rough man, but even he could tell by now that Miss Four did not want to keep talking. And it made sense. People were coming and going near the city gate, and if someone saw him lingering beside the Earl of Cheng'an's carriage, more talk harmful to Miss Four would start.
"Please rest easy, Miss Four. I'll take my leave."
"Mm."
Even that one soft sound from the beauty was lovely to hear.
Qi Zhongkai rode back to Lu Zhuo's side, reluctant to leave.
Lu Zhuo was not curious about who was in the carriage, but Qi moved his horse up beside Lu Zhuo's, turned his head, and explained in a low voice, "That's the Earl of Cheng'an's Fourth Miss. The most beautiful girl in our capital. You've only just come back from the border, so you may not have heard yet."
Lu Zhuo had indeed not heard of the Wei family's Fourth Miss, but he had heard of Lady Shou'an and of Noble Lady Li.
Noble Lady Li was this Fourth Miss's mother, Madam Zhou the younger.
The rumor he had heard was that Madam Zhou the younger, unable to bear the loneliness of widowhood, had abandoned her young daughter and returned to her mother's home to live with Lady Shou'an at Leisure Manor. The Yuanjia Emperor, grateful to Lady Shou'an for raising him, often visited the manor. To secure the emperor's favor, Lady Shou'an had Madam Zhou the younger dress up and bewitch him. The emperor was indeed taken with Madam Zhou's beauty, took her into his household, and made her Noble Lady Li.
After entering the palace, Noble Lady Li was deeply favored, but her wanton conduct repeatedly broke palace rules, and the Empress Dowager disliked her. Later Noble Lady Li became pregnant and gave birth to a prince. It should have been a happy event, but on the same day the Empress Dowager fell gravely ill. A learned master was called in to divine, and he said the prince born to Noble Lady Li clashed with the Empress Dowager's horoscope, and if the child were raised in the palace, the Empress Dowager might not live long.
The emperor was a filial son. For the Empress Dowager's sake, he sent Noble Lady Li and her child to the Western Hills Palace, where they had now been for two years.
All this passed through Lu Zhuo's mind like a breeze carrying the scent of fresh snow on his face, and it left him unaffected. What Lu Zhuo did not know was that whenever the young gentlemen of the capital mentioned Wei Rao, they delighted in discussing her, so his indifference at once marked him out as the odd one.
It was no fun at all to talk about pretty women with a man as upright as this.
Qi found a reason for Lu Zhuo's lack of interest. "I almost forgot. You're an engaged man now."
Once engaged came marriage and children, and since the Lu family had no custom of keeping concubines, no other woman, however beautiful, would ever be Lu Zhuo's. No wonder he had no interest in discussing them.
Qi gave Lu Zhuo's shoulder a sympathetic pat.
Lu Zhuo did not need sympathy.
The bride his grandmother had chosen for him was the legitimate granddaughter of Grand Tutor Xie, the imperial teacher. She had painted at three and recited poems at five, was skilled in every art of zither, chess, calligraphy and painting, and was known as the capital's foremost woman of talent. Lu Zhuo had not met his betrothed, but his grandmother, his mother, and the other elders and cousins in the family had all met her, and every one of them praised her beauty and gentle grace.
This was the kind of wife Lu Zhuo wanted. A woman with nothing but looks and a ruined reputation was one he would not deign to look at, and would not deign to criticize.