Chapter Seven: I Hear He Is Quite Handsome
Leaving the North Courtyard and bidding farewell to his grandfather and grandmother, Chen Xiaofu walked toward the South Courtyard with Cuihong.
When they reached the main gate of the South Courtyard, he glanced at the side room with its blue bricks and green-glazed tiles.
The table and chairs beneath its eaves were still there, yet Old Huang, who usually reclined in a chair drinking wine, was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did Old Huang go?”
Cuihong shook her head. “This servant does not know… Perhaps he went to buy wine.”
Chen Xiaofu turned and gazed into the distance.
Beyond the estate stretched a vast expanse of fields, with houses scattered here and there.
The seedlings in the paddies were already green, and farmers were laboring among them.
All these fertile fields belonged to the estate, and the farmers were its tenant cultivators.
A broad road cut through the fields. In his memories, it led all the way to Willow Leaf Alley in Lin’an City.
Drawing back his gaze, he climbed the steps and entered the front courtyard of the South Courtyard with Cuihong following behind.
It was as quiet as ever, broken only now and then by the cry of cicadas.
“Cuihong.”
“This servant is here.”
“How many tenant farmers does the estate have?”
Cuihong, walking behind him, lifted her head and looked at his back, astonishment stirring once more in her heart.
In the past, the young master had never shown the slightest interest in such matters.
Perhaps it was because of the words spoken by the Second Young Master who had come from the Imperial Capital when he was six. The boy had declared that he was the future master of the Kaiyang Divine General’s Residence, that he liked this estate very much, and that everything here belonged to him.
How could their young master have dared to compete with him?
For more than a decade, the young master had never mentioned the estate even once, as though nothing here had anything to do with him.
Yet today, he had brought it up.
Could it be that he intended to contend with that legitimate young master in the Imperial Capital?
“Reporting to you, Young Master, the estate has twelve hundred and thirteen qing of fertile land and two hundred and seventeen tenant households. Each household cultivates around fifty mu.”
“Old Madam is kindhearted. Every year, she takes sixty percent of the harvest as rent and leaves the remaining forty percent to the tenants.”
“The tenants here have worked for the estate for generations and are exceptionally loyal. They also take great care with their farming. Unless there is a major natural disaster, they always enjoy a good harvest.”
Chen Xiaofu continued walking and asked another question.
“How much tax is paid?”
“Tax? The estate’s fields are exempt from taxation.”
Chen Xiaofu paused. “Because of the Kaiyang Divine General’s Residence?”
Cuihong pondered for three breaths. “This servant does not know either. Perhaps so… Only the chief steward who manages those fields would know for certain.”
The chief steward?
A name surfaced in Chen Xiaofu’s mind: Chen Shi.
He was a slightly plump, clean-shaven old man.
He always wore a faint smile and looked utterly harmless.
The chief steward rarely came to the South Courtyard. Most of the time, he remained in the East Courtyard, awaiting the old madam’s instructions.
The kitchen beside the front courtyard had already begun sending smoke into the air. Cuihong took her leave and went toward it, while Chen Xiaofu returned to the main courtyard and sat at the stone table beneath the enormous banyan tree.
A few rays of sunlight filtered through the dense leaves and fell upon the stone tabletop, brightening its colors. Chen Xiaofu gazed at the scattered patches of sunlight, his mood excellent.
Although he was an illegitimate son, he would one day possess such a vast and exquisite estate. In his previous life, this was something he had never imagined, nor dared to imagine.
And besides, there were a thousand qing of fertile land, all exempt from taxation…
He was thoroughly a great landowner.
In this life, he would never need to worry about food or clothing. He even had a fiancée of exceptional talent, reputed to be one of the Four Beauties beneath Heaven.
At the thought of his fiancée, a smile touched the corners of Chen Xiaofu’s lips.
That letter had been beyond anything he expected.
It had forced him to reassess the fiancée he had never met. Somewhere in his heart, he even felt an indistinct impulse to meet her.
So far, the script Heaven had written for him seemed quite favorable. In that case, marrying An Xiaowei and spending his entire life at Flower Creek Estate seemed a beautiful prospect indeed.
As for the Kaiyang Divine General’s Residence in the Imperial Capital, Chen Xiaofu truly had no interest in it.
He had failed to emerge from the hail of bullets in his previous life. In this life… he would simply live freely and happily. The only condition was that the woman from the Divine General’s Residence must not be foolish enough to provoke him.
That was something he needed to guard against. He would have to make some preparations.
After lunch, Chen Xiaofu returned to his room and lay down. When he awoke, evening had already fallen.
After dinner, he strolled around the courtyard to aid his digestion. A crescent moon now hung in the night sky.
The sky was vast and high.
The stars shone brilliantly.
From somewhere in the distance came the occasional croak of frogs, and farther still, the sporadic bark of a dog.
Another tranquil night had descended.
A night such as this was the perfect time to write a reply to his fiancée.
Chen Xiaofu returned to his room, went upstairs, and sat at the writing desk beneath the lantern.
After sitting in silence for several breaths, he spread out a sheet of letter paper, ground the ink, and lifted his brush. For the first time, he wrote a letter to a woman with such seriousness.
…
…
The Imperial Capital lay in the north, where summer arrived later than in the south.
Yet the chill had already faded, and the weather resembled the late spring of the southern regions.
On a night just like this, An Xiaowei rested her chin in both hands and stared vacantly toward the lotus pond before her.
The lantern’s glow did not reach very far, leaving the pond half-hidden in shadow. But that was of no importance. Liang Jingru knew that Xiaowei was not truly looking at the pond.
Liang Jingru gazed at An Xiaowei’s face beneath the large red lantern.
The light was soft, diffusing across her features and making them appear even more beautiful. At that moment, it was the kind of beauty imbued with a heartbreaking melancholy.
Liang Jingru did not know how to describe that face. Nor did she realize that, as a woman—and one whose beauty ranked among the finest in the Imperial Capital—she had become captivated by the face before her.
What a pity she had not been born a man.
Otherwise…
Liang Jingru pressed her lips together, her eyes flickering.
“Xiaowei.”
“Hmm?”
“It has been half a year!”
She was referring to the letter An Xiaowei had written to her fiancé. Six months had already passed since then.
“…”
“Exactly what is wrong with my elder brother?”
“In scholarship, my brother studied under the great scholar Tai of the Wenchang Academy. In martial ability, he is already a second-rank expert!”
Liang Jingru leaned forward, drawing a little closer to An Xiaowei.
“As for his appearance, he is fairly handsome, is he not? As for his age, he has only just turned twenty. And as for his temperament, you know how steady he is.”
“He is destined to inherit the Tianshu Divine General’s Residence. If you… if you would only agree, you would certainly become the mistress of the Tianshu Divine General’s Residence!”
“I simply cannot understand how you can remain so attached to a mere marriage contract!”
“Such outdated customs were abolished after Her Majesty the Empress ascended the throne!”
“If you are still uneasy, I will return home and ask Father to go before Her Majesty tomorrow and request that she issue an edict revoking that worthless contract.”
“Would that satisfy you?”
An Xiaowei continued to gaze at the lotus pond.
Her expression did not change in the slightest at Liang Jingru’s words.
It was as if she had not heard a thing.
After a moment, she parted her vermilion lips and said, “Do you think… it might be because Old Master Chen never delivered the letter to him?”
Liang Jingru froze.
She drew a deep breath, then let out a long sigh.
Straightening up, she also turned her gaze toward the hazy lotus pond.
“I simply do not understand.”
“An illegitimate son.”
“An illegitimate son who cannot even read!”
“How can you still be unable to let him go?”
As Liang Jingru watched, a smile gradually spread across An Xiaowei’s exquisite face.
Her brows and eyes curved faintly.
The corners of her lips lifted ever so slightly.
After several breaths, she looked toward Liang Jingru, her eyes sparkling like the stars.
“I heard… he is very handsome!”
Liang Jingru was left speechless.