Chapter 3 A Dream of Passion Leaves No Trace
"Young master, you came from Jiangnan, what brings you to the capital?"
"He was ordered by his mother to marry a noblewoman from a high-ranking family."
The girl's eyes were brimming with tears, her long eyelashes drooping, like a pitiful magnolia fallen in the wind and rain.
Mei Jiashan was lost in thought and didn't know how to answer.
Suddenly the waves surged, causing the large ship to rock slightly. The girl standing in front of him stumbled forward, and Mei Jiashan instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist.
A delicate fragrance lingered on Mei Jiashan's fingertips.
So thin, so slender.
His palm rested on the girl's waist, and through her thin clothes, it seemed he was about to touch her fair skin.
A low, suppressed sob came from behind her as the girl, who had been held in his arms and could only lie there like a delicate flower, began to push him away forcefully.
As if possessed, Mei Jiashan tightened his arms around her waist.
"Don't cry." He held the girl, lifted her chin, and lovingly kissed away the tears that welled up in her eyes.
"A-Ning." Mei Jiashan finally called out these two words. In an instant, the blurry features of the delicate, crying girl began to solidify, and the surrounding mirror world shattered.
Mei Jiashan suddenly woke up, exhaling softly as his unfocused gaze gradually returned to focus.
The next day, Ruyu, who served Mei Jiashan, went to Zhu Xuanning's room with Rushui's apology.
Zhu Xuanning, who had just gotten up, was a little dazed. She only picked up three items and then asked, "Sister Ruyu, does the young master have time? I would like to thank him in person."
Ruyu thought about Mei Jiashan's attitude towards Zhu Xuanning and naturally agreed.
Having finished dressing up, Zhu Xuanning followed Ruyu to Mei Jiashan's room.
"Who gave you permission to secretly guess my intentions and bring her here on your own initiative?" Mei Jiashan, who was sipping tea, turned cold and pierced Ruyu with a knife upon hearing her report.
"This servant is guilty, I hope you will forgive me, young master." Ruyu kowtowed, her tone respectful and apologetic.
Mei Jiashan frowned in annoyance, realizing he had overreacted.
Ruyu had always done this before, which is why she gradually became his most trusted maid.
But Zhu Xuanning is different from those people.
"Get up. This is the last time." Mei Jiashan said only this, then pointed to another maid and said, "Go and refuse Miss Zhu's visit."
The maidservant curtsied in response.
"Wait a minute." Mei Jiashan's gaze fell on the braised duck soup on the table.
"Take this plate of braised duck with scallions to Miss Zhu, and have Po Mo instruct the kitchen to prepare more dishes to suit Miss Zhu's taste."
"Yes." One maid carried the soup, while another maid opened the door.
Both men bowed to Zhu Xuanning. One carried the soup to Zhu Xuanning's room, while the other respectfully apologized to her.
"Does your young master not want to see me?" Zhu Xuanning asked.
"You're kidding me." Not long after Ruyu went inside, she heard the sound of porcelain breaking and smashing coming from the room. She didn't believe it was a coincidence.
"Please take care of yourself, young master," Zhu Xuanning said before leaving.
She couldn't be wrong about Mei Jiashan's thoughts.
Before boarding the ship, Madam Fu arrogantly declared that she was able to squeeze onto the large ship because her surname was Zhu, and that the ship's owner was a wealthy man from Jiangnan who was related to them.
Madam Fu's behavior of praising the servants of the Mei family only earned her their disdain and criticism behind her back. Zhu Xuanning herself was so sick that she almost fainted before she received medical treatment from the Mei family.
This shows that the Mei family didn't take them seriously at all, but after she made eye contact with Mei Jiashan, she received a watery "apology gift".
Zhu Xuanning stroked her flawless face and slowly walked back to her room.
Why did she get angry and refuse to see me?
It's definitely not that they dislike her. Another maid brought over duck soup from Mei Jiashan's house and even specifically instructed Po Mo to go to the small kitchen to have the cooks prepare her favorite dishes.
After finishing her breakfast, Zhu Xuanning rested her chin on her hand and stared blankly at the shimmering, surging river.
Zhu Xuanning couldn't figure out the reason, so she simply stopped thinking about it.
She excitedly instructed Splash Ink: "Sister Splash Ink, could you please bring me the Shu brocade I picked out this morning? I want to make a sachet."
Po Mo's heart sank, and he felt utterly hopeless: It's over, Miss Zhu is about to start her own moth-to-a-flame demise.
She sighed and thought to herself, but stopped trying to dissuade her and resignedly took the needle and thread for her.
Zhu Xuanning began to embroider sachets with all her heart in her room. She deliberately made the sachets a little ugly, and even endured the pain, clumsily pricking her fingers with a sharp needle to make several bloody holes, which made Po Mo feel a pang of heartache.
"Miss, let me do it, you should rest." Po Mo couldn't bear to see the beauty weeping, so he couldn't help but speak up.
Zhu Xuanning shook her head vigorously, suppressing her tears, and said with a touch of innocent gratitude, "Thank you, Sister Pomo. You have already helped me so much, I can't trouble you any further; besides, this is a token of my appreciation, how can I ask Sister Pomo for help again?"
With a furrowed brow, she stopped trying to persuade him and silently left to prepare the ointment.
For two days in a row, Zhu Xuanning did not go out. Mei Jiashan even went out of the room and stayed for a while, but he still could not see that figure.
Because of Mei Jiashan's previous outburst, the servants stopped mentioning Zhu Xuanning's whereabouts.
Normally, if Mei Jiashan couldn't see or hear from the other party, his attention would probably shift after a while.
But this was on the water, in a huge ship, and he only had this one fresh beauty by his side. Therefore, his sense of novelty did not diminish, but instead grew stronger.
"Miss Zhu, are you seasick again?" Mei Jiashan rarely asked, and a hint of worry appeared between his brows.
Ruyu looked at Mei Jiashan in surprise, her mind racing through the news of the past few days, before saying, "Miss Zhu is in good health, but she hasn't gone out. The ink splash didn't explain what Miss Zhu was busy with."
"It's good that you're alright." Mei Jiashan nodded, but there was a hint of disappointment in his voice.
He sat in the room for a while, feeling bored, before getting up somewhat irritated.
Ruyu immediately stepped forward and helped him put on a moon-white crane cloak embroidered with clouds and gold, and then draped a black sable fur coat over him.
Mei Jiashan just wanted to go out for some fresh air. As he walked, he stopped in surprise and found himself already at Zhu Xuanning's room.
As Po Mo was carrying the pounded herbs back home, he saw his young master standing outside Miss Zhu's room in the distance.
They stood there motionless, like wooden blocks of wood.
"Young Master," Po Mo could only manage to say, bowing.
Mei Jiashan snapped out of his daze, and as Po Mo walked in, he smelled a medicinal odor.
"Miss Zhu is injured?" Mei Jiashan's eyes changed.
"He's injured."
"Because I had to embroider the sachet for you myself, I got several bloody holes in my hands," Po Mo replied respectfully, his face expressionless, but what he was thinking was something else entirely.
She did not approve of Miss Zhu's actions, but after Miss Zhu actually did it, Po Mo felt it was necessary to let her young master know Miss Zhu's intentions.
"Judging from Miss Zhu's appearance, this is her first time doing embroidery. I hope that you will not be too harsh on her, young master, considering her good intentions," Po Mo emphasized.
Mei Jiashan's expression changed several times. A strange emotion welled up from his chest. It was a novel emotion, a mix of joy and heartache, like taking a bite of a slightly unripe sweet fruit.
His fingertips gently caressed her; this fresh feeling was somewhat addictive.
When Zhu Xuanning heard the faint sounds of conversation outside the door, she had a guess in her heart.
She gently trimmed the needle and thread with scissors, then got up, walked to the dressing table, took a little bit of light red rouge with her fingertip, and blended it at the corner of her eye.
The color was very light, but a few red marks could be seen, as if the person had been crying.
"Is that Splash Ink back?" A soft voice came from behind, and the door creaked open.
Her half-hidden face was finally revealed.
Her skin was fair and radiant, with black hair and snow-white complexion.
Mei Jiashan simply lowered his eyes and remained lost in thought for a long time.
Mei Jiashan only came to his senses after the girl took a step back in fright.
Po Mo, who had already stood up, immediately went forward to help the frightened Zhu Xuanning, but he was no faster than the young master in front of her.
"Watch out." Mei Jiashan's heart skipped a beat, and she reached out her hand.
He lost his composure in his panic, and the girl who was trying to back away fell into his arms.
Zhu Xuanning raised her arms, and the wide sleeves slid down, revealing a section of her fair wrists.
She frantically pressed herself against Mei Jiashan's chest, her fair skin sinking into the black mink coat.
Mei Jiashan's fingers accidentally caught her cascading black hair, and he suddenly trembled. The fragrant black hair seemed to have a burning heat to it.
"Let go." The girl in his arms didn't dare to speak loudly even in her distress, she just pushed him away, trembling like a lotus in the wind.
Mei Jiashan released his grip as instructed, lowered his head as if to apologize, but then heard a muffled groan of pain. The girl who had been pushing him had lost her grip and fell to the ground.
She bit her lower lip hard in pain, and her drooping eyelashes became wet.
Mei Jiashan was stunned. He didn't care about anything else and immediately knelt down.
The tearful girl was startled by his sudden approach and moved back a few feet.
"Don't be afraid of me."
"Don't cry."
Mei Jiashan was anxious. He reached out his hand, but then felt it was too inappropriate. He gripped the brocade sleeve with his five fingers and gently wiped the moisture from her eyelashes, coaxing her to apologize.
"I'm sorry, cousin. It was my fault. I shouldn't have stood outside the door and scared you."
"I have many more little trinkets. Don't cry. I'll have Po Mo and Ru Yu give them to you as an apology for scaring you, okay?"
The beauties he used to keep would also cry, but when they cried, he would often say a few nice words, apologize, and then coax them with the silver and jewels that had been gathering dust in the storeroom, and they would stop crying.
Mei Jiashan waited for the beauty to smile, but unexpectedly his hand was slapped away.
He frowned, somewhat surprised and puzzled.
The beautiful woman, who had been looking down, raised her face, which was glistening with tears.
Like a clear ripple washed by the sun, her beauty so stunning that Mei Jiashan was speechless.
I both love and feel sorry for them.
"That's not how it is." Mei Jiashan tried to explain, but Zhu Xuanning wouldn't give him the chance.
She refused to listen and slowly stood up from the ground.
Mei Jiashan instinctively wanted to help her, but then withdrew his hand and restrained himself.
He didn't want to leave a bad impression on Zhu Xuanning anymore.
Zhu Xuanning tossed a sachet to Mei Jiashan, who hurriedly caught it. He didn't even examine the design of the sachet before clutching it as if it were a precious treasure.
The ink splash mentioned this sachet.
Thinking of what Mo had said earlier, Mei Jiashan tightened his grip on the sachet, his eyes swirling with emotion.
"I want to rest now, please leave, young master." Zhu Xuanning's crying had slowly subsided. She had her back to Mei Jiashan, and her voice still carried a slight nasal tone.
Mei Jiashan gazed into the distance, unconsciously raising his hand to gently suppress his racing heartbeat.
His cheeks gradually flushed, his expression became dazed, and his brows furrowed.
He remembered the sweet voice calling him "cousin" earlier and began to inexplicably resist the distant address he had just received.
The ink-splashing master politely ushered his young master out and then closed the door.
...
The greenhouse was quiet, the incense burner emitted smoke, and the sound of the beaded curtain being gently lifted did not bring him back to his senses.
Mei Jiashan had been fiddling with the sachet in his hand for a long, long time.
When Ruyu came in to remind Mei Jiashan to eat, she saw him gently touching the sachet to the side of his face.
She was surprised for a moment, then quickly regained her composure: "Young Master, it's time for your meal."
Mei Jiashan turned his dark gaze to Ruyu, but asked a completely unrelated question: "The daughter of the Great General of the Nation is quiet and virtuous, beautiful and intelligent, cautious and obedient. She is a good match for you. What do you think?"
Ru Yu was startled, lowered her brows, and looked up respectfully, her gaze meeting Mei Jiashan's earnest expression.
“The General Who Guards the Nation is a first-rank official with real power. You should be satisfied, Madam.” Ruyu’s fingertips trembled slightly as she answered respectfully.
Mei Jiashan smiled, lowered his head to tie the sachet in his hand to his waist, and strode forward: "Let's go, let's have a meal."
Ruyu agreed, and after the meal was over, she found an excuse to summon Pomo.
"Take good care of Miss Zhu, and always put her first in everything," Ruyu instructed her.
Po Mo, who had already subtly prioritized Zhu Xuanning, paused for a moment, then feigned ignorance, blinking innocently and asking with a smile, "What news did you receive, elder sister?"
Ruyu glanced at Pomo, knowing she was pretending to be stupid, but still whispered a little information: "Young Master wants to marry the young lady from Zhenguo Mansion."
The mask on her face shattered, and she stared wide-eyed at Zhu Xuanning's room: "Heavens!"
Long before the young master set off, the madam had inquired about every young lady from a prominent family in the capital, but the young lady from the Zhenguo Mansion was the first one she excluded.
The Mei family wanted to marry into a higher social class, but the lady of the house still hoped for her son's happiness.
The young lady of the Zhenguo Mansion was exceptionally talented and beautiful, but she was even more famous for her frail health.
It is said that he is now bedridden all year round, and even when he gets out of bed, it is only to relieve himself.
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