TL: Hua
Chapter 44: Lanterns – Xiao Pei goes to Jiangnan (11)
In Hezhou, the clear ponds stretched wide, filled entirely with lotus flowers, their fragrance permeating the summer air. Bridges and waterside pavilions stood amidst them, with embroidered banners and colorful towers to the south and green awnings and water platforms to the north, facing each other from afar like a small water town.
This place was usually a perfect choice for leisurely strolls, but today it was bustling with people, shoulder to shoulder. Pei Xiting, carrying the lotus lantern he had exchanged, wandered aimlessly through the crowd, feeling as though something was missing, to the point where his interest was lost.
Yuan Fang walked beside him, his painting box slung over his shoulder. Today’s “Pei’s mood” was quite easy to discern, and he suggested, “Do you want to go upstairs to paint?”
“I have no inspiration,” Pei Xiting said.
Yes, his heart has flown off somewhere. Yuan Fang thought to himself but couldn’t understand, “Since you wanted to come with His High… the young master, why didn’t you invite him again this morning?”
“If he wanted to come, inviting him once last night would have been enough. If he doesn’t want to, inviting him a hundred times today would be useless… Forget it; it’s up to him.” Pei Xiting exhaled, patting his throbbing forehead. “Shall we walk around the front before going upstairs?”
Yuan Fang had no objection and followed Pei Xiting along with the crowd. The winding corridor gradually dispersed the people, each area having its own lively atmosphere.
A cry of surprise came from ahead, and the two walked over to watch the commotion.
“‘The orioles are singing on the island in the river. A fair lady is a gentleman’s dream…'”
A tender song was sung amidst the crowd. A young man in plain clothes, looking handsome, held a lotus lantern, staring ahead, his cheeks flushed, his eyes brimming with tears. Before the song ended, a girl, amidst the laughter of her companions, shyly yet boldly ran forward, quickly stuffing a sachet into the man’s embrace, snatching the lantern from his hand, and turning to run off playfully with her companions.
Pei Xiting watched the fluttering, light-gauze skirt disappear into the distance, then turned back to look at the man who was already tearful and overjoyed, feeling a touch of envy.
Others succeeded in confessing their feelings and exchanging tokens, but he couldn’t even get the person he liked to come out.
“What does this mean?” Yuan Fang asked, oblivious to the romance.
Pei Xiting snapped back to reality and said, “The word ‘affection (lián)’ is homophonous with ‘lotus (lián)’. So, during the Lotus Picking Festival, women would put freshly picked lotus seeds in their embroidered sachets and give them to their loved ones. It’s one of the customs in the Jiangnan area.”
Yuan Fang said, “Oh, no wonder there are poems recited and songs sung everywhere, and many of the lanterns at the stalls are sold in pairs.”
As they spoke, they walked further, witnessing several lovers confessing their feelings to each other. However, the scene directly in front of them was a bit different. The man was passionately confessing, but the girl seemed very unwilling, trapped in a wall of people, her expression distressed and embarrassed. The surrounding crowd consisted of onlookers enjoying the show.
Pei Xiting immediately took advantage of the situation as a teaching opportunity, instructing the ‘single dog’ Yuan Fang, “If you ever have a girl you like, never use this method if she doesn’t like you or dislikes being confessed to in public. And if you’re an onlooker, don’t shout ‘Say yes, say yes!’ like that burly man, embarrassing the girl.”
Yuan Fang said, bewildered, “I’m not stupid or bad; why would I do that?”
As his words fell, he shook open the lotus leaf packet in his hand, took out a peeled lotus seed, and flicked it with his finger, precisely hitting the knee of the burly man who was blocking the girl and shouting, “Say yes!”
A small lotus seed in Yuan Fang’s hand was no less powerful than a sharp weapon. The burly man’s knee buckled, and he suddenly fell to his knees. When he knelt, the path naturally cleared, and the girl immediately took the opportunity to run away.
“Who! Who is it!” The burly man got up, propped himself on his hands, turned around, and shouted loudly, “Who ambushed me? Who!”
He was tall and strong, and his shout made the surrounding people immediately retreat, scattering in all directions.
The burly man didn’t find anyone suspicious, so he cursed loudly, then went up and said something to the confessing man. Both of them looked grim, and they actually left together.
Pei Xiting raised an eyebrow and said, “So they were a gang; one confessed, and the other acted as an audience to block the girl.”
Two more lotus seeds shot out, and the two men simultaneously knelt, knocking their heads with a loud thud. Amidst the confused gazes and suppressed laughter of the surrounding people, they awkwardly got up, and another round of cursing erupted.
When the two men looked over, Pei Xiting and Yuan Fang were earnestly admiring the lotus flowers outside the railing, looking completely natural.
Unable to find the attacker, the two men had no choice but to quickly leave while grumbling.
“That move was so cool,” Pei Xiting said, retracting his gaze. He reached out, took a lotus seed, and popped it into his mouth, his tone envious. “Is it too late if I start learning now?”
Yuan Fang didn’t comment on Pei Xiting’s talent, only saying, “Learning this skill often hurts your hands before you master it. Your hands are precious, so don’t force it.”
“Alright,” Pei Xiting didn’t insist. “Anyway, with you around, if I ever dislike someone, you can secretly ‘chua’ them.”
He said this naturally, implying a closeness and reliance, as if he truly believed “Yuan Fang” would always be by his side. Yuan Fang couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment, then said, “Alright.”
The two strolled around downstairs, and in the end, Yuan Fang bought lotus leaf pastries, lotus leaf-wrapped rice, and lotus-scented glutinous rice cakes. Pei Xiting had no appetite and only bought a tube of iced lotus seed soup, then they both headed to the colorful pavilion.
The colorful pavilion was not open to the public; it required payment. Bai Yunduan was a local and knew that this place would be packed during festivals, especially during the midsummer season, so he had reserved a private room for Pei Xiting seven days in advance.
The room was on the first floor. Yuan Fang handed over a colorful lotus sign, and the waiter immediately warmly led them to the private room.
The interior was decorated in a fresh and natural style, uniformly using seasonal elements. The outer window faced the bustling crowd, but outside the inner window was a pond of clear lotus flowers, with winding green hills in the distance and birds gracefully fluttering, as if it were a different world from the outside.
A small water platform extended outside the inner window, separated by bamboo curtains on both sides. Although it wasn’t soundproof, they couldn’t see each other. Yuan Fang placed the painting box on the long table close to the water platform side and
turned back inside to eat.
Pei Xiting neatly arranged his painting tools from the painting box while saying, “When I start painting, I forget about time. You don’t have to keep watching me.”
“Just paint, don’t mind me,” Yuan Fang said, his mouth full of lotus leaf pastry.
On the right water platform, a girl was singing the “Lotus Picking Song,” her voice sweet and not at all disturbing. Pei Xiting’s wrist was steady and flexible. The lines and outlines of his painting took shape one by one. He didn’t use a draft today; what he saw in his eyes and thought in his heart became what he depicted on the canvas, without any hesitation. But when he finally finished the painting and examined his work, he was stunned.
The painting depicted a pond full of clear lotus flowers, emerald green hills, green trees, orioles, and graceful birds. The world was vast, the scenery and colors were fresh and natural, and it was brimming with vitality. Yet, he saw a hazy, desolate artistic conception in the painting, as if there was a rain falling in the painting.
“…” Pei Xiting put down his brush and looked up at the green hills in the distance, lost in thought.
“What’s wrong?” Yuan Fang, who had eaten and slept, asked from behind him.
Pei Xiting shook his head and said, “Nothing.”
Yuan Fang got up and walked behind Pei Xiting, looking at the painting on the table. Although he wasn’t particularly interested in refined arts and didn’t understand calligraphy or painting, he could still see the vitality of the painting. However, the painter was restless today, unable to hide his disappointment.
The reason needed no explanation.
Pei Xiting was rarely like this, and Yuan Fang felt a bit sorry for him. He said, “It’s lively here during the day, but it can’t compare to the beautiful moonlit night. You wait here; I’ll go invite the young master.”
“How will you invite him?” Pei Xiting asked curiously.
“I’ll just say you’ve finished painting and invite him to appreciate it,” Yuan Fang said.
Pei Xiting was amused by this naive idea, a smile playing on his lips. “No one has the face to make him personally come all this way to view a painting.”
His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, was a venerable and precious Buddha statue. Only others would go to great lengths to pray to him at the white jade steps; he would not condescend to meet people unless he wished to.
Pei Xiting wasn’t ignorant; he just hadn’t paid much attention to it. Perhaps it was because it was exceptionally easy for him to see the Crown Prince compared to others, and in these past few days, that person had been half Crown Prince and half Brother Fu to him, not the full Crown Prince. Now, he was experiencing it firsthand.
“Forget it,” Pei Xiting exhaled. “I need to steady my mind, steady, steady…”
Yuan Fang listened to Pei Xiting chanting like a spell to cheer himself up, shaking his head. Just as he was about to put away the painting tools, he suddenly sensed something and tilted his head to look to the left.
He walked lightly to the bamboo curtain, the dagger from his boot already in his hand.
Pei Xiting tilted his head to look, puzzled, but did not speak out of turn. He only secretly became vigilant, ready to dodge immediately if there was any danger.
Suddenly, the bamboo curtain broke in the middle. Yuan Fang flipped backward to dodge, shielding Pei Xiting. The dagger in his hand flew out but was blocked by a knife handle, and at the same time, he caught something in his hand… a glutinous rice lotus leaf cake.
Yu Shaoyun stood by the side railing of the adjacent water platform, holding a saber, and smiled slightly at Yuan Fang. “A welcoming gift.”
Yuan Fang: “…”
It seemed Yuan Fang’s reputation as a carb-lover had spread a bit, Pei Xiting mused as he stood up. His gaze swept past Yu Shaoyun’s shoulder and landed directly on the person sitting behind the qin table.
His Royal Highness The Crown Prince was wearing a light, elegant green silk robe today, his hair tied with a wooden hairpin. He had no glittering or extravagant accessories on him, yet he exuded a golden and jade-like splendor, incomparably handsome. The fiery sunset glow enveloped the horizon, casting vibrant orange flames all over him, but still could not overshadow him; instead, it made him appear even more magnificent.
In front of him lay the “Xiting Wen Shui” zither, but Pei Xiting had been sitting here for most of the day and hadn’t heard any music.
When did he arrive? Was being in the adjacent private room a coincidence or intentional? Did he hear what they just said… In an instant, Pei Xiting’s mind raced with many thoughts. He gently pursed his lips, forcing down his turbulent emotions, and said with a normal smile, “What a coincidence.” Coincidence? The Crown Prince thought, actually, no.
Zhao Fan and Shangguan Jie had just gone to Willow Bank to find Pei Xiting when the secret guards reported it to the Crown Prince. At that moment, Yu Shaoyun’s eyes darted, and he said, “Those two are not well-intentioned towards Pei-wenshu. If they ran into Pei-wenshu and spoiled his mood, thereby damaging your painting, wouldn’t that be unpleasant? Anyway, since we have nothing to do and just go out for a stroll, why don’t we also go to Hezhou?”
Ningzhou was celebrating everywhere, and the Crown Prince wasn’t sure if Zhao Fan and Shangguan Jie knew that Pei Xiting was going to Hezhou today, but there was always a possibility, and what Yu Shaoyun said made some sense, so he agreed to the suggestion.
Yu Shaoyun found out the location of Pei Xiting’s private room and bought it at ten times the original price from the guests next door. Shangguan Jie and Zhao Fan did inquire about Pei Xiting there, but Yu Shaoyun had already arranged things in advance, so the people there naturally dared not say more. Thus, Pei Xiting quietly painted all day, and the Crown Prince also quietly stayed on the left for the day.
The Crown Prince looked sideways and saw the crimson robe on Pei Xiting, the one he had given him. He paused, then said, “Shaoyun.”
Yu Shaoyun acknowledged him and retreated.
Seeing this, Yuan Fang also left with the glutinous rice lotus leaf cake.
The Crown Prince looked at Pei Xiting and said, “Come here.”
Pei Xiting had always disliked obeying orders, yet he had no aversion or resistance to the Crown Prince’s “come here.” Perhaps the man’s voice was too pleasant, and his faint voice could make him feel extremely bewitched. But for some reason today, Pei Xiting didn’t want to listen, and his body didn’t move.
“Don’t you want to see my painting?” he asked.
The Crown Prince looked at him. Pei Xiting still didn’t move, his eyes fixed, as if in a standoff. The next instant, his eyes blurred, and the Crown Prince had already flipped over and landed in front of him.
Pei Xiting stepped back, yielding his position.
The Crown Prince looked at the painting, examining it carefully, missing no detail. After a long while, he said, “Your heart is not at peace.”
“A painter is not an immortal; with emotions and desires, one cannot always be as calm as water, precise, and flawless. I actually think this painting is very good… very vivid,” Pei Xiting said.
The Crown Prince’s eyes flickered slightly. Indeed, in this way, the painting contained not only this world but also “Pei Xiting.”
“Of course, I painted this for you today. If you don’t like it, I’ll just paint another one,” Pei Xiting said. “I’ll take this painting back and frame it myself.”
“No need,” the Crown Prince said. “Your drawing is excellent.”
Pei Xiting asked, “Is that an evaluation or praise?”
“Both,” the Crown Prince replied.
Pei Xiting smiled. Taking the opportunity, he asked, “When did you arrive?”
“A while ago,” the Crown Prince said.
The Crown Prince’s answer was so unhelpful that Pei Xiting was at a loss for words. He simply smiled faintly and asked, “Why aren’t you playing the zither today, Your Highness?”
“Someone next door is playing the zither. It wouldn’t be good if I joined in,” the Crown Prince said. “Unless Pei-wenshu can pave the way for me, intimidating everyone else into silence.”
Pei Xiting didn’t mind his zither skills being “criticized” in the slightest. He said, “You should have told me earlier. With my ‘Ten-Fingered Zither Demon’ mastery, I can absolutely do that.”
The Crown Prince offered no comment on his thick skin, merely giving a slight, knowing smile.
Pei Xiting shook his hand and said, “A chance encounter is fate. I wonder if you would be willing to follow local custom and have a cup of ‘green tube’ drink with me?”
The Crown Prince had no reason to refuse, saying, “Alright.”
“Please follow me,” Pei Xiting gestured to the side, inviting the Crown Prince indoors.
On a long table was a basket containing freshly picked lotus leaves that the waiter had brought earlier, rolled up like covers. Pei Xiting poked a hole through the center of a leaf, connecting it to the stem, then turned and handed it to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince took the lotus cup. Pei Xiting then reached for the wine pot on the tray and gently poured wine into the leaf’s center. The wine passed through the lotus leaf and stem, falling into the lips from the stem’s opening. Besides the aroma of the wine, perhaps there was another unique taste.
Pei Xiting watched the Crown Prince and asked curiously, “What does it taste like?”
“Besides the clear fragrance, there’s a slightly bitter astringency,” the Crown Prince replied.
“Let me try,” Pei Xiting turned and made another lotus cup. Just as he was about to serve himself, the Crown Prince took the wine pot from his hand, intending to pour for him.
Pei Xiting exaggeratedly feigned being overwhelmed with flattery; then, after a cool, indifferent glance from the Crown Prince, immediately composed himself. He opened his mouth and gently bit the stem’s opening. He took a sip of the wine, savored it, and then said, “Hmm, it’s not bad, but among everything I’ve had today, that tube of lotus seed paste was still the best.”
He had been sitting there from day to evening, and during that time, he had only had a small tube of lotus seed paste. He hadn’t felt hungry while drawing, but now he was a bit famished.
“I still want to buy another tube and float my lantern while I’m at it,” he said naturally, looking into the Crown Prince’s eyes. “Would you like to go for a walk down there?”
The Crown Prince put down the lotus cup and said, “Let’s go.”
Pei Xiting’s heart lifted with joy. “Then please wait while I tidy up my painting,” he said.
“Someone here will tidy it,” the Crown Prince said, turning to walk outside.
Hearing this, Pei Xiting confidently followed him.
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