Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Perhaps my stare had been a little too blatant, because he turned his head and looked over.

To my surprise, he actually nodded at me.

Or perhaps he nodded in the direction where I was standing. In any case, the young ladies on this side instantly erupted, throwing fruit with even greater enthusiasm and ferocity.

I leaned against the doorframe, hands tucked into my sleeves, not even wearing a veiled hat.

What daughter of an aristocratic family would lower herself to personally run a business?

But now that I wanted to make a life for myself, there was no longer any need to hide behind pretenses.

He had deceived me, but he had also helped me. That made us even, did it not?

I raised my brows and smiled at him.

He had already ridden past, leaving behind only a straight, upright silhouette.

And so the Shangsi Festival passed in all its noise and commotion. At the end of the third month, I received a letter from Mother.

The gist of it was that no matter what, I had to hold on to this marriage. For the moment, there was no better match available.

Along with the letter came some silver. It was not much, but it was her thoughtfulness all the same.

Because of that, I could stay in Anyi with an even clearer conscience.

At the beginning of the fourth month, someone from the Pei Family came. It was Pei Qian’s sister-in-law.

She spoke tactfully, but I more or less understood her meaning: a daughter of an aristocratic family should not show her face in public to run such a lowly trade.

I no longer entertained any hope of marrying Pei Qian, so my words were not particularly pleasant.

“If you can persuade Pei Qian to marry me, then I may as well stop this business!”

She looked at me, shook her head, and left. What a slender waist she had!

That afternoon, Pei Qian came in person, and alone.

He said not a word about having impersonated Yuan Shen, and I pretended it had never happened as well.

This time, he came to my shop. There was sweetened water inside, so I poured him a cup.

He walked about and looked around, taking in the shop, then went into the inner room and drank the sweetened water.

“Is business good?” he asked.

“Not bad.”

“Did my sister-in-law say anything to you today?”

I told him the conversation I had had with his sister-in-law. He listened with his head slightly lowered, though his back remained perfectly straight.

Light filtered through the gauze window and fell across the side of his face. Only then did I gain a faint understanding of what it meant to be the Number One of Hedong.

What a beautiful nose! And such long lashes.

Other men powdered their faces, but his was clean and crisp.

This was truly a young lord raised by a great aristocratic clan: refined, distant, and extraordinary in bearing.

“I wondered why she ignored me when I asked her about it. So that was the reason.”

“My lord, is there someone you like?”

He looked up at me, his long lashes trembling. From the look of it, there probably was.

“There was. But not anymore.”

“Yes. The more one possesses, the more often one has no say in one’s own life. My lord, if you have no plans to take a wife for the time being, could you refrain from breaking the engagement in haste? Give me a little more time, all right?”

“All right.”

He did not even ask me why. Just like that, he agreed.

I had met a few young lords before, but this was the first time I had met one like him.

A few days later, he sent Zhu Tao over. He had written a new shop sign for me, and also painted a landscape, with his seal on it.

So this was the sort of man he was.

I changed the sign over the door and hung the landscape painting in the most conspicuous spot. As expected, the shop’s business grew better and better.

When I had leisure, I would look at that painting. Its conception was lofty, its technique skilled. The Number One of Hedong was not merely a matter of looks after all.

I had nothing with which to repay him. After asking Zhu Tao, I learned that he liked sweets.

He actually liked sweet things? That did not quite match his solemn, dignified manner.

I personally went into the kitchen and made several kinds of pastries, then had Ah Tao deliver them.

I did not know who spread the word that I was the wife Pei Qian was supposed to marry but had not.

After that, many young ladies came to the shop to look at me, and all of them did so quite openly.

What of it? If they wanted to look, then let them look.

As long as they did not come provoke me, it was fine.

When they came, they always needed some pretext, such as buying paper or brushes. That counted as supporting my business, so it was rather nice.

Only, one day, the real Yuan Shen came. He came chasing after a young lady.

He was following right behind her, his robe already hanging open. Perhaps he had walked too quickly, because half his shoulder was exposed.

That young lady, however, was as dazzling as a cluster of blooming flowers, bright and breathtaking.

She was about my age, with an oval face, luminous cheeks, full red lips, and a pair of phoenix eyes. She was neither tall nor short, neither plump nor thin, and dressed all in red. She was truly beautiful beyond compare.

I had seen the Xie Family’s Eleventh Lady, Yunru. Everyone said Xie Yunru was beautiful, but compared with this young lady, she still fell far short.

With one look, I could tell she was not very pleased. I simply did not know whether her displeasure was because of me or Yuan Shen.

I put on a smile and welcomed the two of them in. Looking again at this beauty, I saw that every movement, whether sitting or reclining, was perfectly measured. She had surely been raised by a great household.

I had little with which to entertain them, only a bowl of sweetened water and the pastries I had made myself.

Perhaps because of the matter of him and Pei Qian deceiving me, Yuan Shen seemed somewhat embarrassed. I treated him as I had treated Pei Qian. It was enough to pretend I knew nothing.

“So you are that Fifth Lady Cui of the Cui Family, Cui Keying?”

She glanced at the sweetened water on the table, her brows knitting slightly. She was probably somewhat disdainful of it.

Her kneeling posture was exceedingly lovely, proper and poised, yet carrying an indescribable trace of languor.

A beauty was a painting no matter how she sat or reclined.

“Yes. I am Cui Keying.”

I answered her with a smile.

“Yingying, you said you would leave after one look. Now that you’ve seen her, can we go?”

Yuan Shen drank the sweetened water in one breath. Before I could pour him another bowl, he picked up the pot and poured one himself.

There was still sweat on his forehead. He must have chased after her in quite a hurry.