Volume Two, Step by Step to Victory, Chapter Thirty-Six: The Sound of Rain All Night
Heading north from the City God Temple for about fifteen minutes, you'll reach the small village the driver mentioned. A dozen or so houses are nestled among the trees, most of them low, dilapidated mud houses with roofs plastered with straw mud. After a downpour, the muddy water washes down the walls, leaving streaks of murky stains.
The large courtyard the driver mentioned was at the east end of the village. It was a house made of blue bricks and tiles, standing out among a group of dilapidated mud houses.
The coachman stepped forward and knocked on the door. An old man with a hunched back and gray hair came out. At first, he was reluctant and shook his head repeatedly. But when he saw Yu Qing carrying a knife and Ruan Bi riding in the carriage of Yuxu Temple, he knew that they were important people. He was so frightened that his legs trembled. He quickly opened the door and welcomed everyone in.
The courtyard is a typical siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), with a three-room main house facing south, complete with east and west wing rooms, and a rear building on the south side—the old servant's residence and also the location of the kitchen.
Xu Maoyu glanced around the courtyard and said to Ruan Bi, "Fifth Miss, why don't you choose a place first?"
Ruan Bi looked around. The main gate was in the southeast corner, very close to the east wing. It was neither quiet nor secluded. What if Prince Jin and his group came back and made a ruckus? So she said, "Mao Gong, how about the three of us, master and servants, stay in the west wing?"
"Alright, Fifth Miss, please go inside and rest. I will take care of the rest."
"Thank you, Master Mao. I have another matter to ask you."
"Please speak, Miss Ruan."
Ruan Bi asked, "Mao Gong, the bridge over the Yichun River is broken. Is there any other way to get back to the capital?"
“We need to go around to the downstream area. There is another bridge that leads back to the capital, but I don’t know if that bridge is still in good condition. Moreover, it’s an extra eighty li to get downstream from here,” Xu Maoyu said. “Fifth Miss, you might as well wait patiently. Once the rain stops, the local officials will send people to repair it.”
"How long will it take to fix?"
Xu Maoyu pondered for a moment and said, "That's hard to say. The stone bridge will take at least half a year to build. Most likely, a wooden bridge will be built first for pedestrians to cross. Building a wooden bridge will only take three or four days."
"Thank you, Master Mao." Ruan Bi bowed to him and led Liu Mama and Xiuzhi towards the west wing. As she walked, she thought to herself, today is the sixth day of the month, and in three or four days it will be the tenth. What if the Zhuozhou Prince's Mansion has already prepared the betrothal gifts and transported them to the capital to wait? If they then discover the marriage is off, it will be awkward for both families, and the First Madam will surely hate her to death. She hoped the torrential rain would stop tomorrow, and then she could detour downstream back to the capital.
Xu Maoyu gave the old man a silver ingot for lodging and asked him to prepare some food. In the countryside, there wasn't much good food, so the old man braved the rain to buy some things from a nearby house. Seeing that he was old and frail, and fearing he might be dishonest, Granny Liu volunteered to cook in the kitchen.
Dinner was simple: millet porridge, chive pancakes, and a plate of steamed cured meat.
After dinner, Granny Liu and Xiuzhi went to boil water. Ruan Bi quickly washed up; after all the commotion today, she was exhausted and fell into a deep sleep as soon as she lay down on the bed. In her dream, it was pouring rain, the sound of rain pattering... Gradually, the sound of rain was mixed with the faint sound of horses' hooves and the hoarse neighing of horses. She woke up groggily, still in bed, and heard knocking on the door outside, followed by footsteps from the east wing all the way to the front door, and then voices, barely audible amidst the rain.
"The prince is back..." It sounded like Yu Qing's voice.
"...The horse Qingzhui got stuck in the grass, and the prince fell down..." This was Youde's voice.
Xu Maoyu asked anxiously, "Feiyang, is he alright?"
The Prince of Jin's voice said, "Lord Mao, I'm fine. They're making a fuss over nothing. Back in the Northwest, we were always getting by, swimming in water and mud. We didn't have all these fussy rules. How come we've become so delicate and pampered since we're back in the capital?"
Youde shouted loudly, "Maogong, don't listen to his nonsense, he's already injured his arm..."
The Prince of Jin said in a low voice, "Youde, stop making a racket and disturbing others' rest."
The group of people talked as they walked along the covered corridor, passing the east wing and heading towards the main house, their voices gradually fading.
Ruan Bi woke up completely, turned over and sat up. There was no water clock in the room, so she didn't know the time. It was pitch black outside. Xiu Zhi was sleeping soundly by the bedside, a glistening drool hanging from the corner of her mouth. Granny Liu was lying on the couch behind the screen, snoring softly.
"Xiuzhi, wake up." Ruan Bi nudged Xiuzhi.
She snorted, rubbed her eyes, and looked at Ruan Zhu with a puzzled expression, asking, "What's wrong, Miss?"
"Go and wake up Granny Liu."
Before Xiuzhi could get up, Granny Liu had already woken up and asked in a low voice, "Did you call me, Miss?"
"Mom, Prince Jin and the others are back. They probably haven't eaten yet. Why don't you and Xiuzhi go to the kitchen and make something?"
"Alright, alright, I'll go right now." Granny Liu sat up, jumped off the bed, and headed for the door.
Xiuzhi followed, yawning.
Ruan Bi lay back down on the bed, but couldn't fall asleep. She lay on her side with her hand behind her head, listening to the heavy rain pounding against the windowpane.
A moment later, the door creaked open, and Granny Liu and Xiuzhi returned together. Granny Liu said softly, "Miss, Prince Jin and his party consist of six people, but there's only half a bag of flour left in the kitchen. It's the middle of the night, and we can't very well go out to buy more. What should we do?"
"Let's make dough dumplings."
Granny Liu said with difficulty, "Young lady, to be honest, I have never made dough dumplings before."
"Xiuzhi, what about you? Isn't your mother a cook?"
Xiuzhi shook her head and said with a bitter face, "I was too young then, and my mother wouldn't let me touch the stove. She said she would teach me when I grew up."
Ruan Bi did know how to make it. She had once eaten mutton noodles at a noodle shop; the noodles were shaped like little fish and were very delicious. Later, she tried making it herself, and although it wasn't as good as the ones from the noodle shop, it wasn't bad either. "Then I'll make it."
"Miss, you're cooking?" Xiuzhi and Granny Liu were so surprised their jaws almost dropped. This fifth young lady, who had never even stepped into the kitchen in the Ruan family, could cook? And she was even making dumplings, the kind of food that peasant families ate?
Seeing their astonishment, Ruan Bi hesitated. Should she go ahead and cook? Well, considering Prince Jin's dedication to "establishing a life for the people," cooking a meal wouldn't be a big deal, especially since she had already received considerable kindness from him this time. Thinking this, Ruan Bi got out of bed, put on her shoes, tidied her clothes, and simply tied her loose hair back with a ribbon. Leading Liu Mama and Xiuzhi out of the west wing, she glanced curiously towards the main room.
The door to the main house was half-open, and there were probably many candles burning inside. The orange candlelight leaked out from the crack in the door, illuminating the raindrops falling rapidly in the courtyard. The lamplight and the water vapor intertwined to create a hazy, misty atmosphere. They were probably talking, but they were too far apart, and because the rain was too loud, only faint, ethereal voices could be heard.
I went into the kitchen and saw a small bowl of flour, half a bunch of chives, two eggs, half a piece of cured meat, and five or six stalks of greens—enough to make a pot of dumplings. But since all six of us were strong young men, it was enough to fill our stomachs, but certainly not enough to make us feel full.
Ruan Bi asked Granny Liu to knead the dough while she chopped the vegetables, and Xiu Zhi went to boil water.
At first, Granny Liu and Xiuzhi doubted whether Ruan Bi could cook, but they found that she was skilled and seemed to do it often, which made them secretly puzzled.
Granny Liu kneaded the dough and set it aside to rest, then went to heat another pot. Ruan Bi first threw in the cured meat, frying it until some oil was rendered, then added the greens, stir-fried them briefly, added salt and a large spoonful of water, and covered the pot. Turning back to the stove, she cut the rested dough into pieces. Just as she was busy, the kitchen door was suddenly pushed open, and Yu Qing stood in the doorway, carrying a teapot in one hand and a wet, dark purple robe in the other. He clearly hadn't expected Ruan Bi to be there, and stopped, looking at her in surprise.
Ruan Bi asked softly, "Is something the matter?"
Yu Qing held up the wet clothes and said, "Could you please dry our prince's clothes?" He then held up the teapot in his other hand, "Do you have any hot water?"
“Yes.” Ruan Bi turned to Xiuzhi and said, “Xiuzhi, you help him.”
Xiuzhi took the purple robe from Yuqing and draped it over the wall, then poured the hot water from the pot into the teapot.
Yu Qing silently withdrew and returned to the main room with the teapot. Except for Xu Maoyu, everyone else was sitting shirtless, their clothes either draped over the table or twisted in their hands.
Youde sat in a chair, crossed his legs, and asked, "Are they cooking? I'm starving."
Yu Qing poured a glass of water and handed it to Prince Jin, saying, "Yes." He paused, then added, "Um... Miss Ruan is cooking."
Just as the Prince of Jin was about to drink some water, he paused, then looked up towards the kitchen.
Youde asked curiously, "Yuqing, is that girl pretty?"
Yu Qing shook his head and said, "I didn't see it clearly."
"How stupid! I'll go take a look." Youde said as he jumped off the chair and ran towards the door.
The King of Jin frowned and said sternly, "Youde, stop acting crazy. This is not Xingping City, and the girls here are not dancers from the Northern Rong. If you continue to act without restraint, you should go back to Xingping City right now."
Youde stopped in surprise and turned to look at him. He and Prince Jin had grown up together since childhood and fought side by side on the northwestern battlefield. Though they were master and servant, their bond was more like that of brothers. They were used to laughing and joking together, so he never expected Prince Jin to suddenly say such a thing. He couldn't quite describe the feeling in his heart. After standing there for a moment, he plopped down and muttered, "Fine, I won't go see it then. Why get so angry?"
Xu Maoyu, stroking his beard, said, “Youde, don’t blame the prince for scolding you, but this capital city isn’t some other place. It’s full of powerful and influential families. If you rashly offend them, even the prince might not be able to protect you. Take this Miss Ruan, for example. Her ancestors were strategists who followed Emperor Taizong in his campaigns, and their families served as officials in the court for generations. Her grandfather, Duke Wenxiao, once…”
As they talked, Xu Maoyu suddenly sensed something was amiss. The room was too quiet; even the muffled sound of rain outside seemed to have vanished. He glanced around the hall in surprise, only to find that no one was listening; everyone was looking outside. Following their gaze, he saw a slender figure walking along the veranda in front of the main building toward the west wing. The night was too dark to make out her features, but her plain, narrow-sleeved blouse seemed exceptionally white and clean. As she walked, her skirt fluttered gracefully—the words "a willow swaying in the breeze" and "walking on lotus blossoms" perfectly described her.
(While others can only sigh in despair, I can only sigh in despair over the lack of votes. Classmates, I really have no food saved up! I even bragged to the editor that I'd be updating twice a week from now on… Good heavens, my boast is about to be exposed.)
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