Summer rain comes quickly and leaves quickly. As Li Congxin crossed the threshold of the Xie residence, the sky cleared all at once. Clouds still hung over the freshly washed heavens, and from their edge a cascade of light fell across the dark ridges of the rooftops, pouring down every dormant row of tiles until the whole roof seemed set with lines of shining verse.
He stood beneath the eaves. He had seen the girl he had longed to see for so long, and his mind was no calmer for it. Yet the clear, bright world lifted his spirits. He drew a breath, walked lightly down the steps, and went toward his carriage.
The groom sat on the shaft with the whip in his arms, gazing at the distant view. Catching sight of someone approaching from the corner of his eye, he jumped down and hurried over. "Third Master, where to now?"
The Marquis of Danyang kept a private residence in Youzhou. Li Congxin climbed into the carriage, let the curtain fall, and said, "Home."
First he would get everything settled, then begin preparing the banquet. If failing to speak with Qingyuan alone had left him a little regretful, the coming feast gave him hope again. He knew how hard her position was. She held an awkward place in the Xie household, and of all those elders, brothers and sisters, very few truly cared for her. She had to watch every step to survive within those walls. Her surface was as still as a deep pool, but that did not mean there were no great waves beneath it. If he could only bring her out of that house, away from the elders who watched her like tigers, he could tell her properly what he had in mind. Perhaps, once she had heard him, she might think better of him.
To manufacture a chance to be alone with her, the young marquis had gone to real trouble. As luck would have it, he had expected to wait several more days for Shen Che's leave, but on the third day a servant came through the gate to report that word had just arrived: Commander Shen and Deputy Commander Shen had both returned to Youzhou.
Li Congxin did not delay and went straight to the Shen residence. He drove the horse so hard that he only pulled the reins tight when he reached the gate. His Jade Flower piebald reared and let out a neigh just as Shen Che came out through the door. Startled at the sight of him, Shen Che laughed. "Who's this? Half a year apart, and you miss me this much?"
Men's friendships are bold and open-handed. Li Congxin jumped down, Shen Che came out to meet him, and the two clapped hands and bumped shoulders, then walked arm in arm through the gate.
"How have you been this half year?" Shen Che asked with a smile, brewing tea for him himself. "With you gone from Youzhou, our crowd has hardly gathered at all. Xu Yin was promoted to Commandant of Light Chariots last month. We meant to hold a feast for it, but when we heard you were coming back, we pushed it off specially."
Li Congxin lifted his teacup, and the two touched cups, tea standing in for wine. They had been old friends for years and had no qualms about private matters. Li Congxin took a sip and shook his head. "The longer I stay in Youzhou, the more restless the old lady gets at home. Last time she claimed to be unwell and summoned me back by eight-hundred-li express. I got home and found it was only her headache acting up. The letter made it sound so dire that it nearly frightened me to death. Anyway, once I was home she refused to let me come back to Youzhou under any circumstances. This time my father arranged a post as Secretary in the Department of State Affairs for me, and I used taking up that office as the excuse to get away."
Shen Che was quite envious. "Your family has arranged everything for you. What more could you want?" He cupped his hands toward him. "I haven't even congratulated you yet. You hold public office now, Secretary Li."
Li Congxin laughed heartily. "An eighth-rank title. What is there to congratulate? Xu Yin, though, reached the fourth rank proper. That does deserve a good celebration. But there will be plenty of time for us brothers to gather. Today I've come because someone asked me to see you. Governor Xie has gone back to Jiannan Circuit to report on his duties. His family's Old Lady wants to thank you both, but she fears that with the head of the house away she would be failing her honored guests, so she has asked me to organize a banquet on her behalf and invite you and the Marshal to attend."
"Oh," said Shen Che. "Are you the son-in-law who counts as half a son, then? They even have you take care of this?"
On an ordinary day, the young marquis would have enjoyed that pleasant misunderstanding. Today was different. The more sincere his feelings for Qingyuan, the more he disliked murky rumors. So he explained with a smile, "What son-in-law who counts as half a son? I'm simply on friendly terms with the Governor's three sons. Since the Old Lady asked me, I couldn't refuse, for their sake."
Shen Che did not believe it. "Last time the Xie family's fourth young lady came to me with a calling card and said you had recommended her. What is your relationship with this Fourth Miss?"
Lately he seemed to have caught some strange ailment: whenever anyone mentioned Qingyuan, he felt a faint tug at his heart. But after his recklessness last time had brought her so much trouble, he no longer dared to go along with romantic rumors out of habit, as he once had.
"There's no relationship. We met by chance at the Spring Banquet, and because of her brothers we've been a little closer than strangers, that's all."
Shen Che believed it even less. "A little closer than strangers? The Xie family has several daughters. Why did I never see you hand your list of names to any of the others, only to her?"
Li Congxin fell silent. His long lashes lowered over his eyes, and it was a while before he spoke. "I won't hide it from you. I do have some feeling for her. In Hengtang I asked my family about it and meant to send someone to propose, but..." He shook his head slowly. "The Palace Command has handled the task of watching over the Xie family, so you must know everything about the Fourth Miss's background. That is exactly why my family isn't altogether in favor."
"And what about the Fourth Miss toward you?" Shen Che asked, probing on purpose, smiling. "Perhaps she's also counting on the young marquis to rescue her from that den of wolves and tigers?"
Li Congxin said no, and sighed with deep regret. "If she had that thought, I would dare to act boldly. Last time I asked my mother to send a matchmaker to the house, and my mother ended up insulting them instead, and the Fourth Miss was scolded because of it. To this day I feel I owe her an apology. With her temperament, she won't say a word even when she's wronged. She just keeps her distance from you. When I saw her a couple of days ago, she seemed even more self-restrained than before. I don't know whether it was because her elders were all present, or because she has never really cared about me..."
Shen Che could hardly keep from laughing. "Young Marquis, you're someone who's spent his life among rouge and powder. What's become of you now? Frowning and sighing over a mere concubine's daughter. How am I supposed to look at you?"
Li Congxin thought about it and laughed at himself. "I've piled up so many debts in romance that I'm bound to pay for them. She really isn't like any girl I knew before. If you call it seductive, she conducts herself properly and never steps an inch over the line, yet somehow she's the one I can't forget. I've thought about it: my family will need a mistress like her one day. If she were there to keep me in check, perhaps I'd make something of myself."
Shen Che was astonished, then gave a soundless laugh. So he was not the only one who thought so. Did this Fourth Miss have the "look of a mistress of the house"? In the end, he supposed, beauty lies in the eye of the lover. He had met Xie Qingyuan too, and never believed that a slip of a girl like that could shoulder the trivial affairs of an entire household.
After they had chatted for a long while, it was time to return to the matter at hand. Li Congxin said, "I've set the sixth for a banquet at my private residence. You must come, and the Xie brothers and sisters will all be there too."
Shen Che was about to agree when a voice came from beyond the partition door. "The sixth is a rest day for us. Those above, sympathizing with how hard the Palace Command has worked lately, granted us two extra days to make up for the earlier shortfall."
Both Shen Che and Li Congxin stood up. The words had barely ended when the speaker reached the doorway. Shen Run had a gentle, clean-cut look, and even at home in ordinary dress he carried no oppressive air; he was relaxed and graceful, with the refinement of a scholar. Smiling, he walked in as he spoke. "We attended the Xie family's banquet last time and never had a chance to return the courtesy. I think this time we should hold it here at our residence. Otherwise people will laugh that a military family doesn't understand etiquette."
Li Congxin hesitated. He had known Shen Che for years and had naturally had dealings with Shen Run too, yet he had never noticed that Shen Run was so thoughtful about such things.
Shen Che understood at once and smiled. "That's fine. Fangchun told me she likes the Xie Fourth Miss very much. If the banquet is held at our house, she'll surely be happy to hear it."
Their warmth surprised Li Congxin. When the Shen family was convicted as a whole household, the Shen brothers endured humiliation to reach their present position. Shen Che had fared better, sheltered by his elder brother, and had not suffered much. Shen Run was different. The burden of restoring the family fell entirely on him, and over the years he had seen through the warmth and coldness of the world. He disliked lively gatherings and kept no close dealings with anyone. Apart from Shen Che's wedding, the Shen family had never held a banquet of any kind. That he would now make an exception was baffling.
"The sixth, then. It's settled," said Shen Run, ignoring Li Congxin's hesitation. "Our household will prepare everything. All you and the Xie family need to do is arrive on time."
A commander was a commander, and his words always carried an authority that brooked no question. Li Congxin frowned into a smile. Though doubts lingered in his mind, he could not argue the point outright. "Since it is the Marshal's wish, I will certainly pass it on to the Xie family. I only worry the Old Lady will take offense. It was meant to be the Xie family's turn as hosts, and now you'll be put to the expense."
Shen Che simply laughed it off. "Fangchun hasn't been well lately, and she can't go out even if she wants to. Holding the banquet at home gives her some liveliness, and it spares you the trouble too."
With things put this way, Li Congxin had to give in. After leaving the Commander's residence, he sent someone to carry word to the Xie family. He did not yet understand Shen Run's purpose, but he could still spend half a day with Qingyuan somewhere outside the Xie house, and that already served his aim.
On the Xie side, the Old Lady received Li Congxin's message the day before, and the next day an invitation card arrived at the gate. She summoned Qinghe and her sisters to Huifang Garden and instructed them carefully. "We had meant to trouble the Third Young Master to host the banquet for us, but the plan has changed. On the sixth, the Commander's residence will be the host instead. This brings honor to our family, but you must watch your every word and deed. You all know how much silver it cost to settle the Master's affair last time. No one knows what Commander Shen really has in mind. Remember this: as long as our dealings with them are only about money, we must stay on guard. Even in the most ordinary talk, keep something back. Don't let a word or half a word slip and hand them a handle, or trouble will come again."
Qingru's mind had always been simple. Hearing the Old Lady's orders, she was privately displeased and muttered under her breath, "We have to go to a banquet and also be afraid of saying the wrong thing. Then why go at all! Better to hold our own banquet and invite Brother Chunzhi here. We can plead illness to the Shens and be done with it. Then we wouldn't have to be on edge and afraid to breathe."
The Old Lady was sixty, but her ears were sharp. She heard Qingru's ungrateful remark and her face turned stern at once. "They've sent an invitation, and you say you won't go? Do you think they can't deal with you? Don't imagine that now the Master has got past his difficulty, everything will go smoothly from here. They are the Emperor's close ministers, and the Master is an official posted out in the provinces. Think carefully about who is closer to whom, if you've got the brains for it! When has book learning ever outweighed pillow talk? If you read a bit more, you wouldn't say such thoughtless things today."
The scolding cowed Qingru. She stared with wide eyes and looked fearfully at Madam Hu, who had to smooth things over. She said gently, "Please don't be angry, Mother. The second girl just speaks without thinking. She's afraid that once we go to their house, an accidental slip might offend them and bring us more trouble."
Honestly, the Old Lady sometimes found Qingru's single-mindedness hard to bear. She had been born lucky, into the belly of the principal wife. Without someone guiding and shielding her at every turn, she would have been plotted against until not a bone was left of her.
A girl's longing for love is as natural as flowers blooming in spring and fruit ripening in autumn. But she should not fix her mind only on scheming for her own satisfaction. Winning a connection to the Marquis of Danyang's household was well and good, but should they not also court the rising favorites at court, who were so powerful? The Shen household would not host a banquet for no reason; and even if, taking the very best view, they had no scheme at all, it would still do the sisters good to visit and keep up relations.
Qingyuan left the main hall without a word, only breathing out a soft sigh.
Baoxian said, "Miss, do you not want to go to that banquet?"
Qingyuan narrowed her eyes at the distant trees and murmured, "I'm afraid it's a Hongmen Banquet."
Baoxian was taken aback. "Then what will you do, Miss? Perhaps just as Second Miss said, you could simply pretend to be ill. If you don't go, you can't be blamed for whatever happens."
But if they had set a trap and you refused to come, wouldn't that only draw their attention to you more? Qingyuan frowned and shook her head. "You can dodge the first of the month, but not the fifteenth. We'll go to the banquet. Just stay right at my side the whole time. And if trouble does come looking for me... then I'll simply lay it all out openly. They have seen the world. They can't make things hard for a little girl like me."
Once her mind was made up, there was really nothing to worry about. She searched out the jade pendant she had failed to return that day. While Shen Run was at the residence, she would simply leave it somewhere he could see it. They were both clever people. If she returned the object as it was, he would have nothing to make an issue of.
The next day was the sixth. Everyone was ready and took their leave of the Old Lady to set out. A banquet with an uncertain outcome put no one in the cheerful mood they had felt going to the Spring Banquet. Qingru, who had been scolded by the Old Lady the day before, took out her temper on Qingyuan. Sniping remarks were a daily requirement, and as they passed each other, she drawled with a sing-song sarcasm, "Fourth Sister has truly latched onto Commander Shen and his brother this time. Today we'll ride your coattails and see the Shen residence for ourselves."
This was the Xie family's way. Even if you gave everything you had, you would not earn a kind word. Hearing Qingru's needle wrapped in cotton, Qingyuan felt more settled instead. She watched them board their carriages one by one. When Baoxian reached out to help her onto the footstool, she drew her hand back and turned toward Qingru's carriage.
Qingru had been about to lower the curtain. Seeing her come, she was flustered at once and shifted back. "What do you want?"
Qingyuan wore her usual harmless face. She reached in a hand and whispered, "Second Sister, quick, take this."
Qingru had no idea what she meant by it. Seeing a pouch of figured gauze in her hand, she hesitated and did not dare take it.
Qingyuan pressed it into her hand and said softly, "Do you know what this is, Second Sister?"
Qingru shook her head.
"The Third Young Master gave it to me before." A trace of sorrow crossed Qingyuan's face, and she said forlornly, "He and I can never come to anything in the end. But you have seen it too, Sister: he still has feelings for me. I've thought it over again and again, and going on like this isn't good for either of us. Today, at this banquet, I'll make a clean break. I'm giving this to you, Second Sister, and you must keep it safe."
Qingru and Lüzhui exchanged glances. They did not believe she could be so kind, but they could not resist their longing for Brother Chunzhi. So Qingru pulled open the drawstring to look, warning her all the while, "You'd better not be trying to make a fool of me..." Then what she tipped out turned out to be a beast-face jade pendant.
Qingru stared for a moment. This was plainly a man's possession. They hated Qingyuan to the point of gritting their teeth every day, but they also knew that apart from Li Congxin, she had no contact with any outside man. So they could be almost certain that the pendant was Li Congxin's.
"Why are you giving it to me?" Qingru cast a sidelong glance at her. "What are you up to?"
Qingyuan blinked her deer-like eyes, pure and clear. "Second Sister has feelings for the Third Young Master, doesn't she?... Or did I misunderstand? If Second Sister doesn't want it, give it back to me. Just pretend I was never here."
She made as if to take it back, and Qingru naturally would not let her. Seeing that, Qingyuan did not press, and murmured, "Find a way to let him see it. The Third Young Master is a clever man. The moment he sees it, he'll understand what it means." After saying this, she gave an encouraging smile, turned, and went to her own carriage.