Saying it was a chat, and indeed, not a single word of serious business was spoken.
Second Master Fu invited his guest inside and sat at the narrow-waisted tea table in the guest room, rambling on about this and that until the gentleman in the blue robe reached the end of his patience. He asked, “How did you know my surname was Hu?”
Fu Jingxuan curled his lips into a light smile. He raised his hand to pour a cup of tea for his guest and then one for himself. “I guessed.”
“Guessed?” The gentleman in blue sat with his hands on his lap. Though his features were regular and upright, there was an indescribable melancholy lingering between his brows; he frequently knitted his forehead, giving off an air of deep-seated resentment.
“Are you like this in front of Wang Xiuhe too?” Fu Jingxuan asked.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Surely not, right? If you were this preoccupied in front of her, I’m afraid she would have noticed something was amiss long ago.”
The gentleman in blue said impatiently, “What exactly do you want with me?”
Fu Jingxuan replied, “It’s nothing, really. I just wanted to make your acquaintance and, while I’m at it, give you a hand.”
“Give me a hand? Why would I need your help?”
“Whether or not you need it can be set aside for now,” Fu Jingxuan said. “Do you have a given name?”
“Surname Hu, Hu Yunshan.”
“Pfft.”
“What are you laughing at?”
“It’s nothing,” Fu Jingxuan said. “Your name certainly bears the flair of the head of the Hu family’s naming style. Pine, cypress, laurel, willow; it’s as if he’s having children while planting a forest at the same time[mfn]So his name Yunshan mean “cloud-fir” or “fir among the clouds,” which sounds refined and in line with that “planting a forest” naming joke.[/mfn].”
“You!” Hu Yunshan struck the table and stood abruptly, his voice sinking. “I won’t have you insulting my father!”
Seeing his aggressive stance, Fu Jingxuan picked up his teacup a step ahead of time, lest a stray splash of fine tea be sent flying by the man’s palm. “Seeing you now, I take it your father doted on you?”
“Naturally, he doted on me.” At the mention of the head of the Hu family, a shadow of grief crossed Hu Yunshan’s eyes, and he sank dejectedly back onto the round stool behind him.
Fu Jingxuan asked, “If he doted on you, why didn’t he let you officially join the clan and acknowledge your ancestors?”
“What do you know?” Hu Yunshan said. “My father spent an untold effort over the years trying to bring me home. It’s just that the matriarch of the Hu family couldn’t tolerate my mother, and by extension, she couldn’t tolerate me.”
The Hu family was also among the prominent households of Mingzhou. The head of the house had many wives and concubines, and his three primary wives were all ladies from distinguished families. However, the Hu inner courtyard was not ruled by these wives but by the still-living Matriarch Hu. Old Lady Hu was extremely strict regarding her son’s marriages; she absolutely forbade the head of the Hu family from marrying a tea-girl of lowly birth.
This tea-girl was Hu Yunshan’s mother. Even though she and the head of the Hu family were truly in love and later had a son together, she never gained the matriarch’s recognition and died a few years ago harboring deep resentment. Since the tea-girl’s death, the head of the Hu family’s health had also steadily declined. He tried every means possible to have Hu Yunshan recognized by the clan but was rebuffed by Old Lady Hu every time. It wasn’t until the very day he died of his illness that she finally relented.
Fu Jingxuan asked, “And what was her reason for relenting?”
Hu Yunshan remained silent.
Fu Jingxuan said, “It couldn’t be that she wanted to see if your tea-whisking skills were worthy of the Hu family name or not, could it?”
“How did you know?”
“I guessed,” Fu Jingxuan said. “And if I haven’t guessed wrong, it was you who approached Wang Xiuhe, hoping she would recommend you participate in the Tea Tasting Competition?”
Hu Yunshan hesitated for a long while. “So, what if I did?”
Fu Jingxuan said, “You don’t truly believe you can take the top prize at an event like the Tea Tasting Competition, where masters gather from all over, do you?”
Hu Yunshan replied, “How would I know if I didn’t try?”
Fu Jingxuan said, “There is no need to try. With your level of skill, you definitely won’t win.”
Hu Yunshan frowned. “How can you be so certain?”
Fu Jingxuan laughed. “I assume your tea-whisking techniques were taught to you by your father, right?”
Hu Yunshan nodded in silent admission.
Fu Jingxuan took a sip of tea as his piercing gaze fixed on Hu Yunshan’s eyes. He suddenly asked, “You didn’t happen to produce a ‘white froth’ in front of Wang Xiuhe, did you?”
After hearing him speak, Hu Yunshan felt quite uneasy. “Yes, so what if I did?”
“Your father studied for years and could never produce a white froth; you were apprenticed to him, so how could you possibly pull it off?”
“Can I not surpass my master?”
Fu Jingxuan chuckled. “Of course you can. But I must tell you one thing; Wang Xiuhe only knows how to sell tea; she doesn’t know how to taste it. She was unaware that there existed an exceedingly rare ‘White Jade Powder’ on the market, capable of turning tea froth white. An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to taste it, but the Lord Song invited here today has an exquisite palate. Even if you fetched a bowl of spring water from a thousand miles away, boiled it, and left it sitting for ten days, he could still taste it and tell which spring it came from. How could your little bit of White Jade Powder ever hide from his tongue?”
Hu Yunshan’s expression stiffened, his hands clenching tightly once more. He glanced at the two folded sheets of white paper beside Fu Jingxuan’s hand. “Why would you help me?”
Fu Jingxuan said, “Helping you is also helping myself.”
“You want me to help you win?”
“You were invited by Wang Xiuhe, so naturally, you are helping her win.”
Hu Yunshan was puzzled. “Then why don’t you go to Wang Xiuhe yourself? Why must it go through my hands?”
Fu Jingxuan didn’t say much more. He tucked away the two pieces of paper, pulled his fan from his waist, and stood up. “There is a reason it must be through your hands. I’ll keep these things for you for now, and on the day it’s your turn to whisk the tea, I’ll bring them out and gift them to you.”
“You speak so ambiguously; how can I trust that you’ll actually hand those things over to me?”
“You don’t have to trust me.” Fu Jingxuan snapped his fan open with a flick and gave it a light shake. Just as he was about to step out, he suddenly snapped it shut with a sharp shua, tapped it against his forehead, and took a few steps back. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Spring water sent to the capital a thousand miles away would evaporate on the road long before it could be boiled. But Lord Song truly does have an exquisite palate. If you don’t want to bring shame upon the Hu family for using White Jade Powder in your tea, then pretend you never met me today.”
“You!” Hu Yunshan hadn’t expected a few casual remarks to end with this man grabbing him by the scruff of the neck. He slapped the tea table in frustration. He had intended to pass behind the screen and lie down to rest, only to realize with a start that he was still in Fu Jingxuan’s room. He immediately turned, stepped out, and returned to his own guest room.
The moon had already hung among the treetops, yet the banquet had yet to disperse.
Fu Jingxuan emerged from Yunhe Tower and stood on Zhengyang Street, looking toward the south.
It wasn’t too late yet and there were still many pedestrians on the street. Vendors who hadn’t packed up their stalls were hawking their wares loudly, taking advantage of the influx of visitors to earn every extra coin they could.
An auspicious lantern painted with “May all things go as you wish” hung from a two-wheeled flatbed cart. The cart was covered with a piece of coarse cloth, upon which various cheap emeralds and low-quality white jades were displayed. Though the quality of the stone was poor, the carvings etched into the jade surfaces were exceptionally exquisite.
Fu Jingxuan walked over and casually picked up a palm-sized round jade piece. Carved on it were two chirping sparrows; one resting on a rock; the other perched on a tree branch.
The vendor was an elderly man who, seeing Fu Jingxuan approach, greeted him warmly: “The white stone jade the young master is holding is called the ‘White-Haired Questioning about Spring.’ If you buy it, you can keep it for yourself or give it to a young lady you fancy to ask how she feels about you.”
Fu Jingxuan said to the old man, “It’s been many years, and yet you still use the same lines, old gentleman.”
The old man froze for a moment. He stared at Fu Jingxuan, studying him intently, gesturing to gauge his height, then slowly shaking his head. Fu Jingxuan couldn’t help but smile as he untied the half-piece of white jade hanging from his waist and handed it over for him to see.
The old man gasped in surprise. “It’s you… eh? Why is the Young Master here alone today?”
Fu Jingxuan smiled. “He has some matters to attend to and is resting at home.”
“Ah!” The old man understood. He stroked the jade pendant, saying fondly, “I didn’t expect such a cheap piece of white jade stone to be kept so well by you. I wonder if the other Young Master’s half is still around?”
Fu Jingxuan said, “It’s still there.”
The old man smiled and returned the jade. “It’s good that it’s still there. Back then, you two certainly gave these rough hands of mine a hard time. I thought I’d landed a good deal, but it ended up taking me nearly half a month before I could finally hand the jade over to you two.”
The old man could still remember Fu Jingxuan entirely because the jade pendant at his waist had been bought right here.
When he and Fang Zesheng were walking the streets together years ago, they had stopped by this stall to take a look. There were many types of jade, both large and small, and the two of them had browsed for a long time without finding one they liked. Seeing them about to leave, the old man took out a freshly carved round jade piece and told them it symbolized “growing old together” and could be given to a girl they liked. Fang Zesheng hadn’t intended to buy anything, but upon hearing those words, he immediately pulled out his coin purse. Fu Jingxuan hadn’t wanted it either, but seeing Fang Zesheng reach for his silver, he secretly wondered if he had someone in his heart, so he pulled out his silver as well.
The two had reached a stalemate in front of the stall over a single piece of cheap jade. One said he wanted to buy it for someone he liked; the other said he wanted to keep it for his future wife. The more they spoke, the angrier they became, and neither would yield to the other.
The old man smiled at the memory. “At the time, I thought you two were about to start a fight. Both of you had your little faces all puffed up, looking quite furious.”
Fu Jingxuan laughed along. “It’s thanks to you for splitting the jade in two.”
The old man’s eyes crinkled. “It certainly took a fair bit of effort. But this jade was meant to symbolize a perfect union and grow old together. Since it was cut into two pieces, I suppose you never gave them away, right?”
Fu Jingxuan hung the pendant back onto his waist. He looked toward the direction of the Fang residence while stroking the soft red tassel. “They were given away.”
“My piece… should be kept with him.”
