Fu Jingxuan hadn’t expected that a casual remark to brush off Wang Xiuhe would force such directness out of Fang Zesheng. He arched an eyebrow. “Surely the Head Merchant doesn’t truly believe I would let Wang Xiuhe marry a concubine off to you, right?”
Fang Zesheng froze, and his five curled fingers began to shrink back.
Second Master Fu turned the tables, grabbing hold of him and saying with a beaming smile, “In her dreams.”
“And you can’t think of it either.”
“Since I kissed you today, you must take responsibility for me. You must stay with me forever, never abandon or leave me.”
Setting aside whether these words were reasonable or not, they caused the Head Merchant’s sinking heart to quietly float back up.
At night, the two slept together.
Fu Jingxuan propped his head up with one hand while lying on his side to look at Fang Zesheng. Fang Zesheng lay on the outer edge of the bed; ever since he had lain down, he kept his eyes squeezed shut as if he were asleep.
The Second Master poked the bridge of his nose one moment and brushed his eyebrows the next. Seeing his eyeballs rolling back and forth under his thin eyelids, he extended a finger toward the collar of his inner robe, inching it bit by bit into the gap of the crossed lapels.
Fang Zesheng frowned. With his eyes still closed, he caught Fu Jingxuan’s wrist and halted his motion. “Don’t play around.”
Seeing that he had finally spoken, Fu Jingxuan lay down with a laugh. He kept his hand resting on the other party’s chest without pulling it back. “To still be able to lie together so peacefully with the Head Merchant… it really hasn’t been easy.”
Fang Zesheng remained silent, so he continued to speak to himself: “You probably don’t know, but back then, when I learned that something had happened to you, I took a boat and climbed mountains all alone to rush to Chuzhou. I stood at your front gate and knocked for three full hours.”
“During the first hour, I thought that if you came to open the door, I’d forgive you. After all, I’d heard you’d injured your leg; perhaps you were simply walking slowly on your way to see me.”
“During the second hour, I thought that if you came to open the door, I’d remain angry for a while. After all, I came to see you in person; no matter how slowly you walked, your heart must have been racing.”
“During the third hour, it grew dark and started to rain. I stood before your gate, cold and hungry, thinking that if you simply came to open the door, I wouldn’t utter a single word. As long as you open the door and let me see how badly you’re hurt, that’s enough.”
“In the end, you simply didn’t come. Not only did you not come, but you hid from me for many years because of it as well.”
As he spoke, the Second Master also closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly. “But I am a generous person; I won’t hold these trifles against you.”
“I only want to tell you that I didn’t come to help you because I pitied you for your crippled legs.”
“I came to find you because I liked you when we were young, and I couldn’t let you go from my heart. Whether your body has a disability or not means nothing to me. It’s you, as a person, that I cherish; not your two legs.”
Fang Zesheng continued to hold his wrist, gripping it tightly and pressing it slightly closer to his heart.
Opening his eyes, he noticed Fu Jingxuan had seemingly dozed off. Fang Zesheng slowly sat up and tucked the edge of the quilt around himself.
He knew about Fu Jingxuan coming to find him back then.
While the other party had stood outside the door for three hours, he had also stayed on the other side of the door panel for those same three hours. Every time he couldn’t help but want to open the door, he would see the burns on his legs and pull his hand back. Back then, as a youth, his pride was strong; beyond wanting to cut ties to keep Fu Jingxuan from being dragged into the Fang family’s troubles, he also feared the boy would see his own pitiful, wretched state with his own eyes. He was afraid Fu Jingxuan would be repelled by him.
In all these years, he had rarely allowed himself to think of Fu Jingxuan.
Firstly, because he didn’t dare to; secondly, because he felt he shouldn’t.
He thought he had long since forgotten Fu Jingxuan; he rarely even took out the jade pendant hidden in the brocade box in his study, yet he hadn’t expected that after all the twists and turns, he had been living in his own imaginings all along, forgetting nothing.
“If you truly are willing, then I… really won’t let you leave.” Fang Zesheng said softly with his eyes downcast without looking at him.
The next day was clear.
After breakfast, Fu Jingxuan headed out with San Bao.
Fang Zesheng didn’t ask any questions and stayed in the study to read.
The summer vegetation was lush and thick. Once noon passed, Zhengyang Street grew quiet.
The street vendors on both sides of the road had all propped up awnings to shield themselves from the sun. With no customers passing by, they leaned back under the shade to doze, waiting for the late afternoon when the heat would subside before getting up to hawk their wares again.
Fu Jingxuan unfolded his folding fan and held it against his forehead as he took San Bao for a stroll around the Linjiang Ferry crossing.
A dozen or so boatmen were resting at the crossing, bare-chested with bamboo hats over their faces, lying back on cargo sacks woven from hemp rope and snoring in a rhythmic chorus.
Fu Jingxuan found one whose snoring wasn’t quite as loud. He snapped his fan shut and tapped the brim of the man’s hat. “Excuse me, I’d like to ask you something.”
The boatman removed the hat and sat up, revealing a dark, sun-weathered face. “Does the Young Master have cargo for a boat?”
Fu Jingxuan said, “No cargo.”
The boatman replied, “If there’s no cargo, what are you asking for?”
Fu Jingxuan said, “I was wondering if there are any vacant warehouses near the Linjiang Ferry?”
The boatman said, “There are, but not many are empty. It depends on how much space the Young Master needs and what you intend to store.”
Fu Jingxuan said, “I need to store a hundred thousand piculs of tea fragments and ninety thousand tea cakes.”
The boatman squinted and scratched the back of his neck. “Is the Young Master from the Fang family?”
Fu Jingxuan said, “Indeed.”
The boatman said, “Someone already came by to rent it; it’s that most spacious spot over by the northwest corner along the river.”
Fu Jingxuan paused upon hearing this. He took a silver ingot from San Bao and handed it to the boatman. “Manh thanks for the information, Big Brother. If anyone asks, just say I was never here.”
The boatman, having just woken from his midday nap, found himself in possession of a silver ingot for no reason. Thinking he must be dreaming, he held it up to the sun to examine it and even bit it. Seeing it was real, he hurriedly stuffed it into his clothes beside the cargo, covered his face with his hat, and went back to sleep.
This scene was perfectly observed by two people stationed at a distant mountain pavilion.
One was Wang Xiuhe.
The other was Liu Ruyan, who had not returned home with Fu Shangyi.
The two were hidden among the trees of the pavilion, watching Fu Jingxuan come and go. They looked at each other and smiled.
Wang Xiuhe gestured invitingly, asking Second Madam Liu to take a seat in the pavilion. Inside, the stone table was laid with tea and a plate of fruit. Three grapes were missing, and the tea in the cups was half-drunk, suggesting they had been sitting there for some time, enjoying the shade.
Wang Xiuhe signaled Cui’er to refill the tea and said to Second Madam Liu with a smile, “I insisted you stay a few extra days; I wonder if Madam Cheng will have anything to say about it?”
Second Madam Liu said, “What could she possibly say? She’d likely be thrilled if I died out here and never went back.”
Wang Xiuhe said in surprise, “Madam Cheng appears so gentle and open-minded; can she really not tolerate you in the household?”
Second Madam Liu sighed. “Sister Xiu, being single, you don’t know the bitterness of marriage. If I were the primary wife, it would be one thing, but as a concubine, my life has been far from easy these years.”
Wang Xiuhe looked at her with a trace of pity. “From what I’ve heard, Madam Cheng’s health is getting worse, isn’t it?”
Second Madam Liu glanced at her, unable to hide the secret joy in her eyes. “It’s not that I’m cursing her, but that body of hers has been dragging on for years and can’t even stand the wind. Yet this year she insisted on coming out for the ancestral sacrifices. And what happened? She caught a chill again, didn’t she?”
Wang Xiuhe smiled along with her. “Then, Second Madam, it seems the clouds are finally parting to reveal the moon for you.”
