Chapter 8

Chapter 8

In the space of a careless breath, the world spun.

Before Lady Bai could even scold him, someone had already wrapped me up headfirst and hauled me onto a horse.

My vision flipped upside down. The sharp stench of horse rushed into my nose, and I shouted at once, “Bai Yupu! What are you doing?”

Behind me, the young man burst into laughter. “Poor thing. Poor thing!”

“You’re shut up in the Buddha hall day after day. I’m merely taking you out to see a little of the mortal world.”

“Or could it be that our young and beautiful Abbess Jingxin truly intends to take that cold clay bodhisattva as her husband?”

At that, I hammered him in fury. “What nonsense are you spouting?”

“Let me down this instant!”

………

Letting me down was, of course, impossible.

After I had no idea how long we had jolted along, Bai Yupu finally stopped the horse and carefully helped me down from its back.

I looked around. Before me, lanterns blazed like torches and crowds flowed like woven threads. Through the wide-open doors of a restaurant, I could see, at a glance, the beauties standing on a raised platform inside for all to admire and judge.

Bai Yupu had actually brought me to Head Courtesan Li’s salon!

I had just turned to flee when the young man caught me tightly by the hand and dragged me, against my will, toward the platform.

The man who had delivered the message was there as well. Seeing that Bai Yupu had won first place, yet was holding the hand of another woman whose head and face were covered, he could not help asking in surprise, “Young Master Bai, what is the meaning of this?”

Before he finished speaking, a beauty with tinkling jade ornaments descended from the platform.

Her face was delicate and lovely, her figure slender and graceful. It was none other than Li Shishi, whom I had met once before.

Then I looked at Bai Yupu beside me, with his brocade-fine brows, embroidered eyes, vermilion lips, and jade-white teeth. Standing beside this courtesan famed throughout the world, he somehow seemed to eclipse even her radiance.

Everyone held their breath and fixed their eyes on them. Then Li Shishi said softly, “Was this painting done by Young Master Bai?”

At her signal, a servant immediately unfurled a long scroll of ink work. On the paper, birds soared through the sky and fish hid in the depths, while a woman with fluttering sleeves wandered through the mountains and fields.

The technique was not that of a great master, but it excelled in its fresh, freehand spirit.

Below the platform, Bai Yupu nodded. “It was.”

Hearing this, Li Shishi sighed forlornly. “It is not that I love the world of dust and rouge; it is as though I was led astray by a former life.”

“I was once the daughter of a hunter. Looking back, the most carefree days of my life were those when I roamed the mountains and wilds. From that time on, not a single day has brought me such freedom and ease.”

“Young Master Bai, this painting of yours has painted its way straight into my heart…”

“Therefore, tonight, may I ask you to step into my private room, so that we might speak from the heart?”

With those words, she was naming him as the guest she wished to admit behind her curtains.

Head Courtesan Li had famously exacting taste, and as the most renowned courtesan of her age, she had not publicly shown favor toward any man for a very long time.

Let alone invite one to spend the night.

Because of this, hisses and murmurs rose from below the stage. One after another, the crowd cast looks of envy and jealousy toward him.

Bai Yupu was still young. Among the patrons below the platform-some white-haired and stooped, others bloated with fat-he was like a beam of heavenly light falling into a mud pit.

Think on it for even a moment…

He could make flowers bloom with his brush and compose lyrics and melodies; she could sing softly to the beat of sandalwood and ivory clappers, wine cup in hand. Were the two of them not a pair of immortal lovers?

But he did not follow her. Instead, he took a step back. “Flowers bloom and fall each in their own season; yet in the end, they always depend on the Lord of the East Wind.”

“Tonight, Top Courtesan Li may cherish your own fragrance alone, and need not enter the spring wind.”

With that, he bent at the waist in a formal bow.

He had actually refused her invitation outright!