Jade plaque
"Stop!" Wei Changsong shouted at Wei Qiao in a high-pitched voice.
Wei Qiao turned around helplessly and looked at Wei Changsong, who was staring at him intently. Wei Changsong must have loosened his belt while playing with Aunt Liu, because he was now wearing a straight robe without a waistband, and his belly was sticking out of the robe, making it look like he had a watermelon inside. He looked quite comical.
“Father,” Wei Qiao said with a smile.
"Why didn't you come over to pay your respects when you passed by? Do you even respect me as your father?"
"My son was in a hurry to leave and didn't notice anything. I apologize to my father here."
"Hmph." Glancing at Wei Qiao, she saw him dressed in a lake-green Taoist robe with a flowing headscarf, looking quite the elegant young man.
Where are you going?
"I have an appointment with Vice Minister Fang of the Ministry of Revenue. My son is going to his residence."
"That Lord Fang is quite good to you. I heard from the retainers of Prince Cheng's mansion that you are withholding the funds for Prince Cheng's heir to repair the Qingming Canal. Let me tell you, Prince Cheng's heir has already complained to the Emperor. Don't think you can fool the Emperor with your magic tricks. You should just be an honest official and stop going against Prince Cheng's mansion all the time. They are imperial relatives. Don't end up bringing trouble to my Wei family."
Wei Qiao sneered inwardly. Wei Changsong had tried to climb the social ladder by marrying into the Prince Cheng's household, only to be looked down upon as useless. He remained outwardly composed and said coldly, "Father is right. It's getting late. Lord Fang is still waiting for me. I'll take my leave now."
Wei Qiao turned and walked away, a look of contempt on his face. He felt disgusted every time he met Wei Changsong and had to address him as father and son.
Wei Changsong stood there, pointing his index finger at Wei Qiao's retreating figure, gritting his teeth and muttering, "That wolf cub, just you wait, one day I'll get my hands on you!"
Seeing that Wei Changsong was not coming over for a long time, Aunt Liu called out in a shrill voice, "Master, the second young master has already left. Come and keep him company."
After saying goodbye to Wei Qiao, Xi Chun ran all the way back to Qingwu Garden, feeling relieved that Wei Changsong hadn't seen her.
She laid the freshly picked chrysanthemums on a bamboo winnowing basket she borrowed from the kitchen to dry, and then Xichun began cutting plain cloth with scissors. Once she had cut it to roughly the size of a pillow, she sat down on a small stool under the sycamore tree and began sewing. Xichun carefully tried to make each stitch even, sewing and unstitching repeatedly. It took her three days to finish the pillowcase, just in time for the chrysanthemums to dry completely. After carefully removing the chrysanthemum scraps and any stems that had accidentally gotten into the bag, Xichun poured all the chrysanthemums into the pillowcase. The amount of chrysanthemums was just right.
She spent another afternoon sealing the pillowcase, and the next morning, she took the newly sewn pillowcase to Manxin Courtyard. To avoid running into Wei Changsong, she deliberately took a detour through the garden.
Granny Wang was reprimanding a newly arrived maid in the corridor when she saw Xichun approaching from afar, carrying something under her arm. She waved for the maid to leave and greeted Xichun with a smile, "Young Mistress is here. What are you carrying?"
"Hello, Granny Wang, this is a chrysanthemum pillow I made, which I intend to give to Madam." Xichun said, handing the pillow to the other woman.
Wang Mama glanced at her and said, "Madam is still washing up in her room. I'll go in and inform her." After saying that, she went into the room and told Zhang Yunyao about Xichun bringing the pillow.
Zhang Yunyao was holding several hairpins and trying to find one that would fit her clothes better when she heard Wang Mama's words. A smile appeared on her face. That silly girl actually knew how to give gifts.
"Although the eldest young mistress is a bit foolish, she is kind-hearted and knows the principle of gratitude."
Zhang Yunyao finally chose a kingfisher feather and gemstone butterfly hairpin, and handed it to Granny Wang, who took it and put it in her hair. Zhang Yunyao looked at herself in the mirror for a while before saying, "She's thoughtful, let her in."
Granny Wang invited Xichun into the house. Zhang Yunyao took the chrysanthemum pillow, glanced at its workmanship, and nodded in satisfaction. "Why did you think of giving me a chrysanthemum pillow?"
"Chrysanthemums clear the liver, improve eyesight, and calm the mind. I heard from Granny Wang that Madam often has trouble sleeping at night, so I thought of making this pillow for her."
"You've improved! Where did you pick the chrysanthemums?"
"Um, it's by the rockery next to the big garden." Xi Chun hesitated for a moment before deciding not to mention the abandoned garden. In her hometown, some people thought dilapidated and abandoned yards were unclean, and she was afraid Zhang Yunyao would think the same way. However, she had never thought of it that way. Flowers and plants are different from people. People's personalities can change, but flowers and plants cannot. Wild chrysanthemums blooming on the rockery are wild chrysanthemums, and wild chrysanthemums blooming in the abandoned garden are also wild chrysanthemums.
Zhang Yunyao had heard a lady mention the calming effects of chrysanthemums at a tea party in the inner quarters; this seemingly foolish girl could be quite clever sometimes. She glanced at Xichun's black hair, which only had a single gray-blue ribbon—quite shabby. She turned to her jewelry box, took out a pearl chrysanthemum hairpin, and said, "I happen to have a chrysanthemum hairpin here, newly made; you can wear it for fun."
Upon receiving the pearl chrysanthemum hairpin, Xichun was immediately captivated by its beauty. The entire hairpin was designed to resemble a chrysanthemum, with kingfisher feathers forming the chrysanthemum leaves, pearls strung together to form petals, and a blue gemstone inlaid in the center of the flower.
"Thank you, madam. Your daughter-in-law likes it very much."
Seeing the simple, contented smile on Xichun's face, which made him look like a complete country bumpkin, she suddenly frowned and waved for Xichun to leave.
Overjoyed to receive the chrysanthemum hairpin, Xichun paid no attention to the expression on Zhang Yunyao's face. After leaving Zhang Yunyao's bedroom and bidding farewell to Granny Wang, she happily returned to Qingwu Garden.
Xi Chun was so glad to have such a beautiful hairpin that she wore it in her hair every day.
As the autumn wind began to blow, the sycamore trees in the yard gradually began to shed their leaves, carpeting the small courtyard with golden foliage. Inkjet loved to run and play among the fallen leaves, so Xichun specially built it a little nest in sycamore leaves for it to play in. The sycamore fruits hung precariously on the branches, refusing to fall, so Xichun and Caihuan had to climb the tree together and knock the fruits down with a bamboo pole.
Since Zhang Yunyao restored Xichun's diet, Caihuan's mother relaxed the restrictions on Caihuan and Xichun's interactions. In her spare time, Caihuan would occasionally go to Qingwu Garden to talk to Xichun. However, Mozhi didn't like Caihuan very much. Whenever Caihuan approached, she would bar her teeth and claws to intimidate her. This was because Caihuan's family also had a cat, a male cat like Mozhi. The difference was that the male cat was very imposing, and the cats of seven or eight households were its servants. Mozhi felt threatened by the scent of the male cat on Caihuan and had to show its claws to declare that it was the king of the cats in Qingwu Garden.
Xi Chun discovered that besides showing off to Cai Huan in Qing Wu Garden, Mo Zhi also loved to go to Wei Qiao's Xue Song Hall. She had seen Mo Zhi prick up its ears and, upon hearing any movement from Xue Song Hall, immediately dash towards it on its four little legs. Xi Chun didn't know what was so attractive about Xue Song Hall, and sometimes she was jealous that someone there had won Mo Zhi's heart.
However, Inkjet wasn't an ungrateful cat; it still loved Xichun as always. Every now and then, Inkjet would bring Xichun back little things from outside—sometimes a flower, sometimes an insect—and it would place these little gifts by Xichun's shoes.
At first, Xichun was a little scared when she saw the corpses of the little mantis and the little spider, but after a while she got used to it, after all, this was a sign that Mozhi liked her.
That day, Xichun woke up from her afternoon nap as usual. When she put on her shoes, she stepped on something hard, which startled her. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a white jade pendant. She bent down, picked it up, and examined it closely. She discovered that it was the same jade pendant that Wei Qiao had been wearing a few days ago when they met at the rockery. Even the dark green tassels were identical.
Mozhi had given her Wei Qiao's jade pendant as a gift, leaving Xichun both amused and exasperated. This jade pendant was something Wei Qiao wore on his waist, so it must have been quite important to him. Xichun got up, dressed, and prepared to run to Xuesong Hall to return the jade pendant.
The main gate of Xuesong Hall was wide open, and Xichun stood at the entrance looking around but saw no one. She took two steps closer and called out twice, "Is anyone home?" No one answered. The courtyard of Xuesong Hall was much larger than that of Qingwu Garden, containing a main house, two side rooms on each side, a small kitchen, and a storage room. The door to the main house was closed, but Xichun took a few steps to the left and noticed that the door to one of the side rooms was open. She assumed someone was inside and called out twice, but there was still no response.
The room contained a black lacquered desk against the wall, upon which were placed writing brushes, ink, and other items. Behind the desk was a boxwood bookcase, filled to the brim with books. To the left was another full bookcase, and further in was a screen painted with landscape paintings. This must be Wei Qiao's study. Xi Chun didn't peer behind the screen; she was certain the study was empty.
She thought she might as well just put the jade pendant on the desk; it was a very obvious spot, and Wei Qiao could see it at a glance when he came to the study. Just as she was about to put the jade pendant down, she suddenly heard a clear female voice approaching, "That brat Zhao Yu, I told him to remember to go to Anji Pastry Shop to buy red bean paste cake for the second young master, but all he did when he came back was buy his favorite hawthorn cake, making me run all over the place again. I'll pull his ears off when he gets back."
Fu Qing muttered to herself as she carried a plate of red bean paste cakes into the study. Xi Chun, fearing she'd be mistaken for a thief, inexplicably slipped behind a screen just before Fu Qing entered. She held her breath, barely daring to make a sound. She hoped Fu Qing would leave quickly so she could place the jade pendant on the desk and slip out of Xue Song Tang.
Fu Qing didn't notice anything unusual in the study. She placed the red bean cake on the desk and helped tidy up the few books scattered on the bookshelf behind her. After walking a few steps out of the study, she remembered that Mo Zi liked to run to Xue Song Tang, and fearing that it would steal the red bean cake, she turned back and locked the study door.
Hearing Fu Qing's footsteps as she left, Xi Chun let out a deep breath. She had come to return something, yet she had acted like a thief, trembling with fear. She quickly stepped out from behind the screen, placed the jade pendant on the desk, and tried to leave, only to find the door locked from the outside. She couldn't open it.
Xi Chun had never experienced anything like this before, and she didn't dare to bang on the door to attract Fu Qing's attention and have him unlock it. That would make things impossible to explain; people would definitely wonder why she hadn't made a sound and had instead hidden herself if she wasn't guilty. Xi Chun felt like crying but had no tears.
She returned to behind the screen, waiting for someone to open the study door so she could slip out when no one was around.
Behind the screen were two bookshelves side by side, and against the left corner was a large ceramic jar filled with scrolls. Xi Chun was illiterate and dared not touch any of the books on Wei Qiao's shelves. Apart from a chair at the desk, there was nowhere else to sit in the entire study, so Xi Chun had no choice but to sit directly on the floor tiles. Fortunately, the tiles were very clean, and her clothes remained untouched by dust.
She waited and waited in the study, until the sun set, but no one came in. Xi Chun always ate her three meals a day on time at the Wei residence, but today, because she was trapped and missed dinner, her stomach was already growling in frustration.
She waited for about half an hour, but no one came to the study. Remembering the plate of red bean paste cakes that Fu Qing had brought in, she went behind the screen and took two. Then, using the dim twilight filtering into the study, she arranged the remaining six cakes neatly, so that no one could tell they had been touched.
After eating two pastries, Xichun felt much better, and she listlessly leaned against the bookshelf and began to doze off. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she was awakened by the sudden sound of a door opening; someone had come in.
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