Happy spring
In the spring of the twelfth year of Jianzhao, the weather in the capital in February showed no signs of warmth, and yesterday's rain added a touch of chill.
Wei Kang forced himself to sit on the bed and took the newly published book that the servant had bought for him from the bookstore outside the mansion that morning. He had nowhere to go now and looked forward to these books every month to pass the time.
"Young Master, I just saw a young lady at the gate of the mansion. She said she came to our mansion to find her relatives."
"Looking for relatives?" Wei Kang asked with some doubt, looking up at the servant Wei Tian in front of him.
Wei Tian grinned before saying, "They said they came to marry you."
"The girl said her name was Xichun."
Wei Kang was taken aback. He had planned to send someone to Fuping County to cancel the marriage in a few days, but he did not expect that the girl would actually come to the capital.
Looking at the gloomy sky outside the window, Wei Kang instructed, "Quickly invite her into the mansion. Then go to Manxin Courtyard and tell Madam about this, and ask her to treat her well."
Xi Chun squatted against the wall beside the gate of the Wei residence, her bright, clear eyes constantly glancing at the vermilion gate. She had arrived in the capital yesterday at noon, inquiring along the way about Wei families who held official positions, only to find one family living on Shuimo Street. She bought two sesame cakes on the way and headed straight for Shuimo Street, hoping to see Wei Kang as soon as possible. However, the servants at the gate, seeing her dirty cotton-padded coat and unkempt face, wouldn't let her near. Before she could say a word, she was mistaken for a beggar, and the servants threatened to strike her with wooden sticks.
"Get lost, you beggar."
Xichun had never seen anything like this before and was terrified. She only dared to whisper that she wasn't a beggar, but a fierce glare from the servants made her run to the wall and cower. Her grandfather said the Wei family were good people, but she didn't know if that was true.
The sky suddenly changed; the sun, which had just peeked out, was covered again by dark clouds, looking gloomy and like it was going to rain again.
Xichun wrapped her cotton-padded coat tighter around herself. Even though she had put on all her clothes, she still couldn't ward off the omnipresent chill. She didn't know that winters here were so cold, so cold that her bones trembled.
Upon hearing Wei Kang's instructions, Wei Tian went to inform his wife and then hurried to the door to find Xi Chun.
"You mean Brother Weikang knew I was here and sent you to pick me up?" Xichun could hardly believe her ears.
Seeing Xi Chun's bright eyes staring at him hopefully through her dirty face, Wei Tian smiled kindly and said, "Yes, the young master immediately sent me to invite you after hearing about this. It's freezing outside, so please come inside with me to warm up."
Upon hearing this, Xi Chun stood up. Her legs were numb from squatting for so long, and she was about to fall when Wei Tian quickly reached out and caught her.
"Thank you, thank you." Xichun smiled, revealing a set of neat white teeth.
As Wei Tian entered the Wei residence through the east corner gate, passed through the corridor and the hanging flower gate, and continued through the covered walkway and a flower hall, they finally arrived at Madam Wei, Zhang Yunyao's, Manxin Courtyard. Xi Chun had seen vast open spaces, but never such a spacious courtyard. Her grandfather had once told her that some people lived in courtyards dozens or even hundreds the size of theirs, but she had never believed it, thinking it was just him teasing her. She reasoned that even the tallest and biggest person only needed one bed; why would they need such a large space? But today, she had seen it for herself; her grandfather hadn't lied to her after all.
Xi Chun was led by her maid to a heated kang (a traditional heated platform bed) in the side hall. She glanced at the exquisite embroidered cushions on the kang, then looked down at her own clothes, shook her head, and sat down on a six-legged round stool at the bottom of the kang. The maid brought her tea and snacks, and Xi Chun immediately rose to take them. The maid smiled and handed her the teacup. Xi Chun took a sip of the tea; it was very fragrant. Ignoring the heat, she quickly finished the cup. She was extremely thirsty. After buying two sesame cakes yesterday, she had no money left and hadn't had a drop of water since begging for a bowl from a roadside resident.
Seeing that she was drinking too quickly, the maid covered her mouth and laughed, then poured her a second cup of tea.
When Xichun drank her second cup of tea, she realized that her hands were also dirty, as if she had just rolled around in the mud. She immediately felt embarrassed, quickly put the teacup on the square table next to her, and casually pulled her hands back into her sleeves.
Zhang Yunyao was late in arriving, and Xichun, bored, turned her head to look at the furnishings in the room. They were all styles she had never seen before, and were exceptionally beautiful. She smelled a faint floral fragrance amidst the smell of charcoal fire, and following the scent, she discovered that the flowerpots at the foot of the house were full of blooming crabapple blossoms.
Hearing footsteps, Xichun looked away from the bright red crabapple blossoms and turned to see the source of the sound. She saw a maid and a nanny following a woman.
Xi Chun quickly stood up, a smile spreading across her face.
Zhang Yunyao frowned slightly the moment she saw Xichun. Xichun was attracted by the magnolia branch pattern on Zhang Yunyao's clothes and did not notice her expression.
Zhang Yunyao lifted the hem of her skirt and sat down on the warm kang. She saw Xichun still staring blankly at her clothes. Her lips were tightly pursed, but after a moment, she smiled.
"Please sit down, young lady. I just heard Wei Tian tell you about you. You said you were the girl who was betrothed to Master and Kang'er in Fuping County. Do you have any keepsake?"
Hearing her gentle voice, Xichun snapped out of her daze. She turned around, picked up her bundle, opened the indigo cloth, and carefully took out a handwritten copy of the Book of Songs and a marriage certificate tucked inside. The maid handed the items to Zhang Yunyao.
Upon seeing the words in the Book of Songs, Zhang Yunyao knew that this girl was the real person. After placing the things on the kang table, she instructed the maid to take Xichun downstairs to wash up. Seeing that Xichun's tangled hair was still covered with bits of grass, she felt quite nauseous.
After washing up, Xichun felt refreshed. Since there were no clothes suitable for young women at home, Zhang Yunyao asked Qiuhong to pick out a few of her own old clothes for Xichun to change into. Xichun had never worn such fine fabric before; the embroidery on the clothes looked incredibly realistic. Although they didn't fit perfectly, she happily wore them.
Xi Chun was assigned to stay in a back room of Manxin Courtyard. The next day, after noon, Wei Tian came to invite Xi Chun to Shoujingzhai.
Shoujingzhai is very close to Zhang Yunyao's courtyard. After leaving the courtyard, go east through the connecting corridor and then turn through the begonia gate to reach it.
Xi Chun smiled shyly; she hadn't expected to meet Brother Wei Kang so soon. She recalled when Brother Wei Kang was at her house; she was only six years old, and he was just thirteen. Brother Wei Kang had a good temper; when Xi Chun would pester him to play while he was studying diligently, he wouldn't get angry and would even braid her hair in the fashionable styles of the capital. She wondered if Brother Wei Kang had changed after all these years.
Upon hearing Wei Tian's announcement, Wei Kang called out, "Come in!" He prepared for Xi Chun's arrival, having changed into a brand-new moon-white robe and had his hair neatly combed by a maid.
Xi Chun was still outside the door when she heard several violent coughs. Passing through the carved wooden screen with a moon-shaped opening inside the room, Xi Chun was greeted by shelves piled high with books, reaching to the ceiling, and even the long table by the window was filled with books. Taking two more steps forward, Xi Chun saw Wei Kang on the canopy bed, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth and hiding a handkerchief behind his back.
"Brother Weikang," Xichun called out to him from beside the copper charcoal brazier inside the room.
Wei Kang straightened his posture and turned his head to reply to Xi Chun, "Sister Xi Chun is here, please sit down."
Xi Chun sat down a few steps away from him. Sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the copper basin on the washbasin stand at the foot of Wei Qiao's bed. The water in the basin shimmered with a soft light, as bright as the moon on a winter night.
Xi Chun hadn't heard anyone in the mansion mention Wei Kang's illness. Seeing Wei Kang's pale face and gaunt features, Xi Chun suddenly thought of her grandfather, who had looked just as ill before his death. Tears welled up in Xi Chun's eyes.
Fearing that her tears would upset Wei Kang, Wei Tian quickly smiled and said, "Why are you crying, young lady? You two old acquaintances should be happy to see each other again." After saying that, he gently nudged Xi Chun's shoulder.
Wei Kang handed a clean handkerchief to Wei Tian, who then passed it to Xi Chun. Xi Chun remembered her grandfather telling her not to cry in front of patients, lest they be saddened. She immediately stopped crying and hastily wiped away her tears with the handkerchief.
A maid brought Xichun a cup of red date and longan tea with brown sugar in it; it tasted sweet. Seeing the smile on Xichun's face, Wei Kang's tense expression relaxed considerably.
"Xichun, how did you get to the capital? Why didn't Grandpa Jiang come with you?"
"Grandpa..." Thinking of her grandfather, she felt tears welling up again. She swallowed hard and after a while, she began to talk about Fuping County.
Xi Chun and Jiang Delu lived in Shizi Lane in Fuping County. Jiang Delu raised Xi Chun by setting up a wonton stall in the open space in front of his house. Jiang Delu's wontons were mediocre in taste, but their generous portions made them quite popular with the neighbors. Jiang Delu was a kind and generous man with a chivalrous heart. He once lent money to his neighbor, the Shi family, to save their lives. The bedridden Shi Lei knew he was dying and begged Jiang Delu to buy his house so that he could leave some money for his wife and children to return to their hometown and rely on his wife's family.
Jiang Delu didn't want to buy it; his and Xichun's courtyard was already spacious enough. However, he couldn't resist the other party's repeated pleas and bought the house for the exorbitant price of thirty taels of silver. After Shi Lei's death, his wife, Yuan, returned to her parents' home with her son. Three years later, she married her cousin as his second wife, and the following year gave birth to another son. Shi Lei's son, Shi Hai, suffered greatly at his stepfather's house. His stepfather, after drinking, often vented his anger on him, and his mother, only concerned with her younger son, often neglected Shi Hai. One day, his stepfather, drunk again, threw a stool at him. Shi Hai picked up a ceramic jar from the corner of the courtyard and smashed it against his stepfather, receiving another severe beating. Not long after, he stole a little over one tael of silver from the house and ran back to Fuping Town.
Returning to his old home, he found a wonton stall set up in front of the door, which filled him with resentment. His parents had never told him why they sold the house back then; he only thought that Jiang Delu had taken advantage of his father's serious illness to buy their house at a low price, which forced him and his mother to return to their maternal grandparents' home and caused his mother to remarry.
Shi Hai wandered around Fuping County, frequently causing trouble at Jiang's stall. Later, he met Li Gao, the county magistrate's son, at a gambling den, and decided to use Li Gao to teach Jiang Delu a lesson. He took Li Gao to Jiang's stall to eat wontons, where Li Gao witnessed Xi Chun's beauty and encouraged him to take Xi Chun as a concubine.
Li Gao had an idea and entrusted the matter to him. Last October, Jiang Delu was fishing by the Qingcao River when Shi Hai came to him about this matter. The two argued, and Shi Hai pushed Jiang Delu into the river. Jiang Delu hit his head on a protruding pebble on the riverbank and remained unconscious for a day and a night before waking up. Knowing he didn't have long to live, Jiang Delu instructed Xi Chun to leave Fuping County and go to the capital to find Wei Kang. On the tenth day of the eleventh month, Jiang Delu died. Following his grandfather's last wishes, Xi Chun arranged a simple funeral and secretly went to the capital.
"I never imagined such a thing could happen. It's such a pity about Grandpa Jiang." Wei Kang sighed sadly, looking down at Xi Chun. Xi Chun secretly buried her head and wiped away her tears. Wei Kang could only see a clump of jet-black hair.
"Xichun, now that you're here, relax and treat the Wei family as your own. Don't be afraid; that scoundrel wouldn't dare to act recklessly in the Wei residence. I will treat you well, just like an older brother would. Don't be afraid of being bullied. However, since I fell from my horse last year, I've been bedridden, and my health has deteriorated even more in the winter..."
"Cough cough cough..." Before Wei Kang could finish speaking, a violent cough burst out from his chest.
Xi Chun got up and stood next to Wei Kang, gently patting his back. After a while, Wei Kang's cough stopped. He rinsed his mouth with water and wiped his lips. Wei Kang asked Xi Chun to sit down, his eyes gently sweeping over her face.
“Xichun, you’ve grown up and are a young woman now. You should know that marriage is a lifelong commitment, especially for a young woman. Getting married is something you must be very careful about. If I weren’t such a useless person, I originally planned to go to Fuping County to marry you after your birthday this year. But I’m in this state now, and I really can’t delay you. Xichun, our marriage is off. You should marry another good man.”
After speaking, Wei Kang lowered his eyes and looked out the window.
After a long while, Xichun finally understood Weikang's words. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up at Weikang, "Brother Weikang, do you not want Xichun anymore?"
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