PCA Chapter 209

Su Cen was helped home by the household servants. By the time he reached home, it was already past midnight. Yangzhou had no curfew, so the journey home was unobstructed, but when they reached the front door, he absolutely refused to go in.

 

The servants were at a loss and had to wake Su Lan in the middle of the night.

 

When Su Lan came out, he saw his younger brother sitting on the front steps. Though it was March, the nights were still cold, but the person seemed oblivious, his mouth pouting and eyes unfocused, clearly quite drunk.

 

Su Lan tried to help him up but couldn’t move him, so he had to crouch down and negotiate: “Zixu, we’re home. Let’s go inside.”

 

Su Cen raised his head and gazed blankly at the night sky for a moment, then closed his eyes and shook his head: “This isn’t my home.”

 

“This is your home. You’re home now.” Su Lan signaled the servants behind him to drag the person inside first. The Su family was one of the prominent households in Yangzhou—what would it look like to have someone sitting in the street in the middle of the night?

 

Unexpectedly, Su Cen suddenly stood up and broke free from both men, standing in the street fully alert like an angry little hedgehog, ready to prick anyone who approached.

 

Though he looked delicate and weak, when drunk he was anything but gentle.

 

“How is this not your home?” Su Lan stood up and demanded.

 

“Over there!” Su Cen pointed to a patch of night sky behind the residence. “There’s no rooftop of Huae Xianghui Tower over there! My home can clearly see it—from my home you can see the rooftop of Huae Xianghui Tower!”

 

Su Lan was so angry he nearly choked, almost spitting out a mouthful of blood.

 

“Su Zixu!” Su Lan stepped forward. “Look clearly—this is Yangzhou, not Chang’an! There’s no Xingqing Palace here, and no Huae Xianghui Tower!”

 

The person standing in the street visibly stiffened. After a moment, those defensive spines retracted, the light in his eyes dimmed, and the breath that had been sustaining him also withdrew. He returned to his daytime appearance.

 

Su Lan suddenly regretted it. A place he could only return to when drunk—why couldn’t he have indulged him a little longer?

 

Su Cen slowly stepped past Su Lan. No longer needing support, he entered the gate himself, found his room, undressed and lay down, so obedient it was heartbreaking.

 

Su Lan was still worried and checked on him several times during the night. The first few times revealed nothing unusual, but on the last visit, when he tried to smooth a strand of hair pressed under his face, he inadvertently touched a pillow soaked with tears.

 

Early the next morning, Su Cen rose early, but Su Lan rose even earlier.

 

Blocking him in his room: “Don’t go to the tea garden today. Old Master Tong is celebrating his birthday—you’re coming with us.”

 

Su Cen frowned: “Who is Old Master Tong?”

 

“Old Master Tong deals in calligraphy and paintings. He owns several painting studios and bookshops, and he’s always been very interested in you.”

 

“But I haven’t touched a brush in ages,” Su Cen walked around the room in his undergarments. “Where are my clothes?”

 

Speak of clothes and they appeared. Yue Wanqing entered carrying several colorful garments, smiling at both men: “These are this year’s new autumn-fragrance colored interwoven silk, in the most fashionable style. The master tailor worked on them for half a month—Zixu will look wonderful in them.”

 

Su Cen couldn’t embarrass Yue Wanqing to her face, so he crouched down and tugged at Su Lan, whispering: “What about my previous clothes?”

 

“What sense is there in wearing plain clothes to someone’s birthday celebration?” Su Lan’s expression was clearly displeased as he pointed to the interwoven silk garments Yue Wanqing had brought. “Wear these.”

 

Su Cen lowered his head and argued weakly: “But I’m just a commoner now, I should wear plain clothes…”

 

Seeing the brocade silk Su Lan was wearing, he quickly explained: “Elder brother, I’m not talking about you. I mean… my previous clothes were quite good…”

 

His confidence waned toward the end, and finally he simply sat on the bed: “If you don’t return my clothes to me, I won’t leave the house today.”

 

Hearing that Su Cen wouldn’t go out, Yue Wanqing kept signaling Su Lan with her eyes. She had arranged for both refined ladies and modest beauties—how could she handle the situation if the main character refused to leave?

 

Su Lan gave her a reassuring look, then turned to glare at Su Cen: “You have no choice. Today you’re going whether you want to or not, clothed or unclothed—I’ll tie you up and drag you there if necessary. Day after day, either at the tea garden or staying in your room—aren’t you afraid of turning into an old tea root someday?”

 

Su Cen muttered: “What’s wrong with being an old tea root?”

 

Seeing Su Lan about to strike, Su Cen quickly compromised: “I’ll go, I’ll go.”

 

It was just going somewhere else to drink tea.

 

The more Su Cen put on Yue Wanqing’s clothes, the more puzzled he became. Though he knew his sister-in-law’s taste had always differed from his, these colors were far too bright. Called autumn-fragrance, they looked more like apricot-leaf yellow—the kind that would draw frequent attention on the street.

 

Finally, Su Cen stopped tying his sash: “Elder brother, the birthday celebration is fake, but matchmaking is real, isn’t it?”

 

Yangzhou had liberal customs, not insisting on parental arrangements where couples first met on their wedding night. Here, they could meet before marriage, and if they liked each other, the man would place a hairpin in the woman’s hair while she would give him her handkerchief—this constituted a private engagement.

 

Su Lan sighed lightly. Having such a clever brother wasn’t always good—he was hard to fool. Helplessly: “There are three forms of unfilial behavior, and having no descendants is the worst. You’re not young anymore—it’s time to worry about marriage. Doctor Shen’s daughter, Member Liu’s granddaughter—they’re all well-educated girls from good families. Just go look—you won’t lose any flesh, and you might find someone you like.”

 

Su Cen took off the clothes he had just put on, refusing to wear them no matter what.

 

“Su Zixu!” Su Lan slammed the table and stood up.

 

“Elder brother…” Su Cen bit his lip and hesitated, suddenly remembering what Cui Hao had said. He looked at Yue Wanqing, then turned back to face Su Lan directly, lowering his head: “I can’t… with women… I can’t.”

 

“You… you!” Su Lan pointed at Su Cen several times before finally fainting from anger.

 

Su Cen ended up wearing the apricot-leaf yellow outfit after all, mainly because Su Lan still wouldn’t give up, and he really couldn’t bear to anger his elder brother again. If he also frightened Yue Wanqing into illness, his sins would be even greater.

 

Consider it a once-and-for-all solution—he’d explain things clearly to the young ladies, saving future trouble.

 

Just as they left the house, they encountered a Buddhist monk coming down from the mountain to seek alms.

 

Good karma shouldn’t be refused. Since the carriage wasn’t ready yet, Su Lan gave some incense money, but the monk didn’t seem ready to leave. Rubbing his bald head, he smiled embarrassedly: “Could the benefactor also spare some food?”

 

Su Lan hesitated: “We have food, but it’s just leftover rice from this morning.”

 

“No matter, no matter,” the monk quickly said, pressing his palms together in salute. “Amitabha.”

 

Su Lan was busy preparing gifts and couldn’t leave, so he had Su Cen take the monk to the kitchen for vegetarian food before he left.

 

Su Cen led the monk over and served him a bowl of untouched vegetarian rice from the morning, but the monk held the bowl without eating, staring at him unblinkingly.

 

Su Cen frowned, about to speak, when the monk spoke first: “Hey, aren’t you that… that person who went down the well?”

 

With a Beijing accent, Su Cen was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized—wasn’t this the monk who had been watching the well at Caotang Temple?

 

“How are you here?”

 

“Ah, don’t even mention it,” the monk sat on the stove and wiped his bald head. “When you left, our abbot died, didn’t he? The new abbot thought I ate too much and kept making snide remarks to annoy me. Later I couldn’t stand it anymore and left too. After wandering around, I came to Yangzhou. The kind-hearted abbot of Lingyuan Temple outside the city took me in, so I settled here.”

 

Su Cen said: “If the abbot is kind-hearted, why does he still make you go down the mountain to beg for alms?”

 

The monk sighed: “Lingyuan Temple doesn’t have the flourishing incense offerings that Caotang Temple has. I have a big appetite, and it wouldn’t be right to eat too much on someone else’s territory, so I can only occasionally come out to beg for a full meal.”

 

Su Cen nodded, then suddenly had an idea: “Does your temple still need people?”

 

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