Chapter 81
Chapter 81
When Madam Zhang finished speaking, the room fell silent.
Old Madam Gu gave her a cool glance. “The Xie Family has acted dishonorably. Hanyi is in the right here.”
“And there’s no need for you to say such things. I was the one who called Hanyi back. Instead of wasting time on this, you should hurry and assign two maids to Hanyi’s Qiurong Courtyard.”
Madam Zhang’s expression darkened, and she retorted, “Where am I supposed to find spare maids? Even if I found a broker to buy some now, it’s not as if they could be brought in immediately.”
Old Madam Gu grew angry. “Hanyi said yesterday that she was coming back. You should have made arrangements then. The fact that you’ve delayed until now only shows how poorly you’ve handled this.”
Ji Hanyi knew that her return had caused trouble. She quickly stepped forward and said in a gentle voice, “Grandmother, please don’t worry. Rongchun is enough for me. I’ll be keeping Mother company during the day, so I won’t need any maids to wait on me.”
With a faint smile, she added, “Besides, once we receive the Divorce Agreement, I’ll take Mother to Father’s hometown. The residence there has already been prepared. It truly wouldn’t be appropriate to acquire more maids now.”
Ji Hanyi then curtsied to Madam Zhang. “I’ll have to trouble Aunt during my stay. You have an entire household to manage, so it’s impossible to attend to everything. I understand.”
Despite her words, Madam Zhang’s expression did not improve. Instead, she asked, “Have you truly arranged everything there?”
Ji Hanyi nodded. “Rest assured, Aunt. Everything has been settled.”
Gu Yan, who had been listening from the side, paled slightly. His hands hanging at his sides clenched involuntarily.
Madam Zhang’s expression, however, eased somewhat. “Since you won’t be staying long, there really is no need to buy more maids. I’ll assign two from my own courtyard.”
Old Madam Gu glanced at Madam Zhang, clearly displeased, but said nothing further. She merely had Ji Hanyi help her toward Ning’an Hall.
Ji Hanyi looked at Old Madam. “I’d like to visit Mother first.”
Old Madam nodded. “You should go and see her. As for the divorce, wait until everything is finalized before telling her.”
“Her health has improved somewhat over the past two days.”
Ji Hanyi headed toward her mother’s Huilan Courtyard, only for Gu Yan to block her path halfway there.
As Ji Hanyi looked at Gu Yan standing before her, she realized he was no longer the chubby boy he had been in childhood. He was now much taller than she was, with a lean, elegant figure and increasingly handsome features. Standing before her, he exuded a faint sense of pressure.
Gu Yan was only a little over half a year older than Ji Hanyi. They had been about the same height as children, but now there was a considerable difference between them. She even had to tilt her head up slightly to speak to him.
Ji Hanyi smiled at him. “Cousin Yan.”
Gu Yan felt as though countless ants were crawling inside his heart. Ji Hanyi stood beside a Taihu rock, with a small flowering plum branch peeking out from behind her. The blossoms complemented her lilac robes, while her curved brows, bright eyes, and delicate beauty made his breath catch and his heart pound wildly with nerves.
He took a small step forward. He had a vague feeling that the tips of his ears must be scarlet, but he could no longer spare any thought for his mounting embarrassment. Lowering his gaze to the graceful brows and limpid eyes he had yearned for day and night, he said guiltily, “Cousin Yi, please don’t take my mother’s words to heart.”
“My mother doesn’t mind how long Cousin Yi stays with the Gu Family.”
As he spoke, he brought out the hand he had been hiding behind his back. Resting in his palm was a pair of pink tourmaline drop earrings set with pearls. He held them out to Ji Hanyi and said with some nervousness, “Let me apologize on my mother’s behalf. Please accept these, Cousin Yi.”
In truth, deep down, Ji Hanyi had never taken her eldest aunt’s words to heart.
She understood the Gu Family’s difficulties, as well as how hard it was for her eldest aunt to manage such a large household.
At present, Gu Yan was the only member of the Gu Family to hold an official position, yet his salary was modest. One more person in the household meant one more person’s expenses, and she should never have imposed on them in the first place.
Naturally, Ji Hanyi could not accept the gift. She shook her head with a smile. “Cousin, I haven’t taken it to heart.”
“I began making arrangements while I was still with the Xie Family. Please tell Aunt that I have no intention of remaining in the capital for long. Once the divorce is settled, I’ll leave with Mother.”
“My father came from Wei County, under Jinling. He once told me that the south is warm and flowers bloom throughout all four seasons. I’d like to take Mother there to live.”
She looked at the earrings in Gu Yan’s hand and gently pushed them back, her voice earnest and soft. “Cousin, there’s no need to apologize. My coming to the Gu Family is already an imposition, and Aunt has spent the past three years caring for my mother. I already feel guilty enough. How could I dare accept a gift from you?”
Gu Yan’s outstretched hand trembled when he heard this.
He lowered his gaze to Ji Hanyi as she spoke in earnest. Her expression was gentle, yet there was a trace of resolve in it. Every word in his throat seemed to die before he could utter it.
The chilly wind carried Ji Hanyi’s orchid-like fragrance toward him. It was the same scent that had lingered through his countless tangled dreams. He unconsciously stiffened his back, and when his eyes met Ji Hanyi’s, a thin sheen of sweat broke out across it.
The only thing he had heard was that she was leaving.
She had refused the earrings he wanted to give her as well.
He had searched the entire city before choosing this pair — the pair that suited her best. She would have looked beautiful in them.
But she did not want them.
Ji Hanyi waited for a moment, but Gu Yan said nothing more. It was still cold outside, and she had yet to visit her mother, so she continued, “I heard you still have to go to the Imperial Academy this afternoon. It’s almost noon, so you should get some rest first.”
Her clear, gentle voice reached him. Gu Yan’s other hand, hanging by his side, clenched tighter and tighter. In the end, he merely nodded and stepped aside.
Ji Hanyi walked past him. Gu Yan’s lowered gaze followed the earrings swaying beside her cheeks, then the delicate, flowerlike beauty accentuated by her plain brocade cloak. Her soft fragrance brushed his nose. His mouth went dry, and a faint pain bloomed in his tightly clenched palm.
Her graceful, well-proportioned figure gradually receded. With verdant bamboo behind her and her dainty steps carrying her toward the end of the bluestone path, Gu Yan seemed to awaken from a dream. He hurried after her for two steps and asked urgently, “Cousin Yi, are you really leaving?”
Ji Hanyi paused and looked back. Gu Yan stood some distance away now, and she could no longer make out his expression. Slightly surprised that he would ask her again, she nodded. “I am.”
Gu Yan froze. The tourmaline earrings clenched in his palm dug deep into his flesh, their sharp silver posts piercing his skin. Yet he still wore his usual refined, courteous, and somewhat shy smile.
“All right.”
Ji Hanyi murmured an acknowledgment and told Cousin Yan that he did not need to see her off before turning away.
Only after that pale figure disappeared from sight did Gu Yan raise his hand and examine the palm punctured by the earring post.
Tiny beads of blood welled from his palm. He pressed the thumb of his other hand hard against them, and the pain from the wound grew sharper.
He lowered his eyes without expression. Flecks of dark shadow flickered in his usually mild, slender eyes.
A maid’s voice came from behind him, calling out from a distance. Gu Yan composed himself, closed his hand around the earrings again, and turned. A maid from his mother’s household hurried up to him, panting for breath.
“Second Master, First Madam is urgently looking for you.”
Gu Yan casually smoothed his blue robe. His expression was somewhat different from the one he had worn before Ji Hanyi, carrying far more composure. He did not answer the maid, merely nodded and headed toward his mother’s residence.
He had passed the Imperial Academy examinations and received an official appointment in the first half of the year. With all the necessary procedures, he had only held his post for two or three months, yet his mother had already begun searching for a suitable bride for him.
Gu Yan had always found such matters tiresome, but not a trace of his impatience ever showed on his face. Even Madam Zhang could not tell how impatient her son was whenever he humored her.
Today was the seventh day of the first lunar month, the Renri Festival. Sacrificial rites were held in the imperial palace during the day, and that night, His Majesty the Emperor hosted a banquet for the assembled officials at Wanhui Pavilion.
The banquet on the seventh was held every year. All capital officials of the fifth rank or higher were permitted to attend. It also coincided with the court evaluations of provincial officials, and those judged competent were often allowed to remain in the capital until after the banquet before departing. As always, this year’s gathering was extraordinarily lively.
Shen Si disliked drinking, and no one else was likely to approach him with a toast. Even those who did come over generally spoke only of official business. Few ordinary people dared discuss personal matters in Shen Si’s presence.
Shen Si might dislike wine, but His Majesty the Emperor enjoyed pressing him to drink a few extra cups.
His Majesty the Emperor often said that Shen Si was far too solemn. He was only twenty-four, yet he carried himself like some hidebound old pedant — meticulous, aloof, stern, and upright. He ought to loosen up from time to time instead of maintaining such rigid reserve in everything he did. Otherwise, no one would dare approach him.
Even young ladies were frightened of him.
Shen Si had once again been pressed into drinking several cups tonight. When the banquet ended, His Majesty the Emperor kept him at the palace and ordered more wine to be brought.
Shen Si truly could not drink any more, but there was no refusing when His Majesty the Emperor pressed wine upon him. He was already beginning to sway.
When the Empress arrived and saw the scene, she grew concerned and tried to persuade Shen Si to drink less.
His Majesty the Emperor smiled faintly and pointed to a woman standing nearby.
The Empress followed his gesture, and a flicker of surprise crossed her face.
The woman wore a white cross-collared inner robe beneath a pink, cross-collared short jacket edged with trim and woven with subtle floral designs. An all-over pattern of butterflies and lotuses adorned the jacket, while peonies were embroidered along its collar. It was paired with a yellow pleated skirt embroidered in gold thread with pomegranate blossoms. Between the lavish outfit and her ornaments of kingfisher feathers, pearls, jade, and gemstones, she was dressed even more sumptuously than the average noble young lady.
She was plainly not one of the palace women.
She had been standing silently beside one side of the curtain all this time. Without looking carefully, one would scarcely have noticed her.
When the woman saw the Empress looking at her, she hastily dipped into a respectful curtsy.
As she lowered her head, the Empress caught sight of her fair face, and a vague memory surfaced. At last, she recalled who the young woman was.
She was the biological maternal granddaughter of County Princess Rongxian, the younger sister of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, making her a first cousin once removed of His Majesty the Emperor. As her grandmother was a County Princess, she had been granted the title Lady of the Commandery Mingchang at birth. Her name, if the Empress remembered correctly, was Sun Baoqiong.