The early summer breeze, carrying the sweet fragrance of gardenias, seeped into the main courtyard of the prime minister's residence through the cracks in the carved window lattices. Su Jinli sat on the beauty's bench under the eaves, clutching a thread-bound copy of the Diamond Sutra, her gaze fixed on the old pomegranate tree in the courtyard. The buds on its branches had quietly opened, their crimson petals reminiscent of the embroidery thread on her wedding dress fifty years ago, gleaming softly in the sunlight.
"What are you thinking about?" Jiang Yan approached, carrying a bowl of freshly brewed Biluochun tea. The white mist rising from the celadon teacup blurred the silver hair at his temples. He placed the teacup on the stone table and sat down beside her. As his fingertips brushed the back of her hand, he felt a barely perceptible tremor.
Su Jinli closed the book and rubbed the mottled gilded Buddha pattern on the cover with her fingertips. "I was thinking, that pomegranate tree in this yard was planted by you yourself the year we got married." She looked up at the shallow mark on the trunk. "Look, the 'Jiang Yan Su Jinli' you carved back then is almost completely gone by the bark now."
Jiang Yan followed her gaze, a gentle smile playing on his lips. "Yes, fifty years." He reached out and took her hand. Their intertwined fingertips were now covered with fine lines, yet their grip remained tight. "Back when we were planting the tree, you laughed at me for being clumsy and breaking the roots."
"How could I?" Su Jinli glanced at him in disapproval, but tears welled up in her eyes. "I mean, this tree needs to have strong roots in order to flourish. Just like us..."
Before he finished speaking, Su Heng's thunderous voice suddenly came from the front yard: "Sister! Brother-in-law! Look at what I bought! I guarantee you will like it!"
Su Heng, dressed in a brand new royal blue brocade robe, held a gilded lacquer box in his hands. Two servants followed behind him, carrying a wooden box half a man's height, panting with exhaustion. He strode quickly to the eaves and placed the lacquer box on the stone table, with a dull thud.
"What new and unusual things have you bought?" Su Jinli raised an eyebrow, looking at the beads of sweat on her brother's forehead. "It's so hot, why are you running so fast?"
Su Heng wiped his face and opened the lacquer box like he was presenting a treasure. "Look! I asked someone to bring these South Sea pearls from the south. Each one is as big as a pigeon egg! They'd be perfect for your golden wedding headpiece!" He pointed at the wooden box. "And this rosewood screen, engraved with 'Mandarin Ducks Playing in the Water,' would look so grand in the main hall!"
Jiang Yan looked at the box of glittering pearls and shook his head helplessly: "Young Marquis, how come you haven't changed your wasteful habits even now that you're old?"
"Hey! Brother-in-law, you don't understand!" Su Heng argued, stiffening his neck. "A golden wedding! Fifty years! This is the first of its kind in the entire capital! How can it not be grand? When my sister married you, even a decent dowry was deducted by Liu. Now I have to give my sister the best!"
Su Jinli's heart warmed when she heard this, but she still kept a straight face: "What nonsense are you talking about? I married your brother-in-law willingly back then. How could there be any deductions?" She thought of the shabby little courtyard house they lived in when they were newly married, the winter nights when they huddled together under a thin quilt, and Jiang Yan warming her feet in his arms. The corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise, "Besides, I already have the best things."
Jiang Yan held her hand, applying a little force to his fingertips. Su Heng looked at the two of them smiling at each other, scratched his head, and suddenly his eyes reddened: "Sister, brother-in-law, you are so nice..."
As they spoke, Su Qingyao came out of the moonlit gate, arm in arm with Nianli. Although she was nearly sixty, Su Qingyao still wore a fresh gardenia in her hair and held a thick silk album in her hand. "Jinli, look at the pattern I picked for the tablecloth. Is it 'Twin Lotuses' embroidered with gold thread, or 'Phoenix Embracing Peonies'?"
Nian Li held a white porcelain food box and said with a smile, "Mother, my eldest aunt dragged me to the embroidery workshop early this morning, and I was dazzled by the selection." She opened the food box, revealing several exquisite pastries. "These are freshly made almond pastries and rose cakes. Would you like to try them?"
Su Jinli picked up a rose cake and took a bite. The sweet rose jam bloomed on the tip of her tongue. "Thank you for taking the trouble, elder sister. Actually, it doesn't need to be so troublesome. It's just a meal."
"What do you mean it's just a meal?" Su Qingyao placed the album on the stone table and raised an eyebrow. "Fifty years of marriage are more solid than a thousand-year-old stone! How can we be vague about such a big thing? I also asked the embroidery workshop to rush to make two curtains, embroidered with five hundred peonies of various colors!"
At this time, Prime Minister Su, supported by a servant, walked slowly from the study, holding a piece of rice paper in his hand, with a look of pride on his face: "Jinli, Yan'er, take a look at the couplet I wrote for you. Do you think it's pleasing to your eyes?"
Jiang Yan quickly stood up and took it. Su Jinli also leaned over to take a look. On the rice paper was Su Xiang's vigorous and powerful regular script:
"For fifty years, we have stood together through thick and thin, holding your hand;
"Thousands of miles away, the years are peaceful, and I will grow old together with you."
Horizontal banner: "Harmony of zither and qin"
"Dad, your calligraphy is getting better and better!" Su Jinli's eyes lit up, "especially those four characters 'Through thick and thin together'. The brushstrokes are powerful and the artistic conception is profound."
Prime Minister Su stroked his beard, his eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled. "Of course! I spent three days and three nights pondering over this word. It hasn't been easy for you these past fifty years..." His voice gradually deepened, carrying the sigh of an elder. "From that leaky little house back then to this grand compound of the Prime Minister's Mansion today, it hasn't been easy..."
Su Jinli looked at her father's graying hair and recalled how Jiang Yan was a meagerly paid editor at the Imperial Academy when they first married. To supplement the family income, she secretly pawned a gold hairpin left by her mother for rice. When Jiang Yan found out, he hugged her for a long time, heartbroken. Later, as he rose through the ranks, he never took a concubine; she remained his only lover.
"Grandpa! Grandma!" A clear child's voice interrupted everyone's thoughts. Xiaoyue, wearing a pink gauze dress, rushed into the yard like a butterfly, holding a painting in her hand, "Look at what I drew!"
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