Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A deathly hush filled the hall.

Yan Xuan closed his eyes. The wine streamed down his cheeks, dripping like tears from a jade statue.

My hand was shaking so badly I simply hurled the golden cup under the table with a clatter, yet my expression remained cold as I glared at him. “Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d just drunk it earlier?”

The host was stunned for a moment, then suddenly clapped his hands and burst out laughing.

“A maid in my household, spoiled to such insolence! Sir, how should she be punished?”

He said punishment, so that meant no killing.

The sound of blade-sharpening stopped abruptly. The Blindfolded Swordsman silently ceased his work, leaning on his sword.

The sword’s edge still dripped with blood.

Yan Xuan raised his sleeve to wipe his face, his tone even. “Governor, why bother with anger? The wine was fine. I, Yan, have partaken of it.”

The other guests were all recluses of the world, pointing at him mockingly. “Yan Xuan, ah Yan Xuan, I fear your interest in the wine cup lies elsewhere!”

The atmosphere at the banquet grew oddly relaxed. The host laughed again, “Since we won’t punish, then we should reward.”

The Governor was known for his generosity. To the servants of his household, rewards flowed like water.

He had once rewarded a sister-maid with a jade bracelet of excellent quality.

One night during the toasts and feasting, a guest praised its luster, and the Governor immediately wanted to give it away.

However, the bracelet had been worn for a long time and couldn’t be easily slipped off.

The Governor grew impatient waiting, so he ordered her dragged away, her wrist cut off to retrieve the bracelet.

She died within half a watch.

Now, what was presented before me was a pair of night-luminous pearls even more precious.

They glittered brilliantly, worth a string of cities.

Originally tribute for the palace, they had been seized on the road by his men disguised as bandits.

I took the treasure box and, without so much as a glance, hurled it straight out the cabin window.

The sound of it hitting the water vanished into the vast river wind.

The guests were momentarily speechless.

The host’s eyes went wide. He leaned forward, and the Blindfolded Swordsman gripped his sword hilt once more.

Unfearing my approaching death, I said with disgust:

“The caged fowl has food but the soup pot is near; the wild crane has no grain but the world is wide.

“Today I merely acted on a whim, yet I receive such a heavy reward. How would I be any different from those servile, convention-bound scholars who wag their tails for pity?”

An old man tottered to his feet. “May I ask the young lady’s name?”

I sneered. “And what if you know it? To write a chapter or book about me? Vulgar matters, vulgar names, why trouble me?”

At these words, far from being angered, the renowned guests all showed expressions of admiration.

The host was laughing breathlessly, waving me away. “Withdraw, quickly! Another word and you’ll thoroughly offend all my esteemed guests!”

The music of strings and pipes resumed. The scholars, flushed with wine, began discussing fighting the Xiongnu and recovering lost territory, no longer needing beauties to liven the mood.

Just as I turned around, my toe touched something.

Looking down, I saw a spring crabapple blossom lying beside my skirts.

It was the one I had pinned in Shuyi’s hair tonight.

She had been holding the flower in place, tilting her head to sniff it, her smile always like moonlight shimmering on rippling river water,

“It’s just a pity he was born blind and can’t see winter leaving or spring arriving. Chunwu, the master said he would bestow me in marriage to him. Do you think it’s true?”

Beside the scattered petals, black hair fanned out in wet strands, dark red soaking through the woven carpet.

I did not spare it a single extra glance, and pushed aside the felt curtain to exit.

The painted barge was moving slowly in midstream; on the water’s surface floated a ghastly pale moon.

My legs were so weak I couldn’t stand; I leaned half my body over the railing and vomited until my stomach was empty.

When I returned to the cabin’s lower level, Zhirong greeted me with sparkling eyes,

“I heard laughter up front. Was some fine reward given? Quick, let me see too!”

She was exquisitely beautiful, innocent and pure.

Shuyi had always doted on this younger sister; any bright trinket, she let her wear first.

I sat on the edge of the bed.

My weariness was beyond words. I blew out the candle, untied the bed-curtain, and lay down without another word.

She came over chattering, “You slob, you haven’t even undone your hair! I heard that Yan Xuan came tonight. Is he truly so imposing and dignified as they say? If only I could have poured him a cup of wine…”

“By the way, why hasn’t my sister come back yet?”

I gripped her hand as she was removing my hairpins, and said in a low voice,

“Your sister is already dead.”

Shuyi had begged Yan Xuan to drink that cup of wine, sobbing that she had a little sister who knew nothing of the world.

Yan Xuan sat squarely before her, only looking at her mildly. “It is not I who would kill you, so what use is begging me?”

In the darkness, the arm I held grew rigid inch by inch.

A moment later, there came a sudden heavy thud of someone collapsing to their knees.

Zhirong slumped over the bed’s edge, convulsing all over, her throat emitting hissing sounds barely human.

“If you want to cry, go outside,” I said coldly, releasing her hand and turning over. “I’m going to sleep.”