Chapter 59 Parting Time
Looking at the Confucian Classics which was put inside the brocade box carefully by Qin Yunuan and wrapped with white silk, Dou Qing’e felt frustrated immediately and finally smiled reluctantly, “You are so considerate.”
As expected, Dou Qing’e had already guessed that since there were no characters in the contract, there must be characters in the Confucian Classics. Her tricks had already been decoded by this daughter of the concubine. She had failed in this battle.
With the sound of “clumping, clumping”, Dou Qing’e sitting on the horse carriage went away. Qin Yunzhuang was reluctant to take back her eyes till the carriage drove out of the lane. She glimpsed at Qin Yunuan beside her and felt extremely unhappy. Yesterday, Qin Yunuan was so disgraced and humiliated. A normal contract was turned to be a white paper, and a proved evidence was turned to be a joke.
Qin Yunzhuang hid her kind of malicious eyes and looked askance at Qin Yunuan, “I’ve heard that you will go out of the mansion later?”
Qin Yunuan turned sideling, facing to her directly. Qin Yunzhuang’s question was so straight that Qin Yunuan just answered directly, “Yesterday father agreed to let Baochuan joined the family school, so he let me purchase some necessary things together with him. My elder sister, you know, it is better to choose the writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones by ourselves lest somebody plays some tricks on those things.”
Qin Yunzhuang knew that Qin Yunuan was satirizing her, but now Qin Yunuan was favored by father. Father expelled the mother and put Qin Linfeng under the house arrest. He started to dislike her. All blamed to Qin Yunuan. A glimpse of Qin Yunzhuang made all maidservants around quit understandingly.
Qin Yunzhuang said in a very low and gloomy voice to Qin Yunuan, “I am afraid that you will take the chance to go out of the mansion and meet some perverted people. Third Miss, I remember that person was Wu Ciren. I’ll investigate him. I will dispatch people to check the whole thing.”
Now she even still didn’t forget the fictive name on that contract. So ridiculous.
Qin Yunuan walked closer slowly and said sideways. Her lips nearly touched the ear of Qin Yunzhuang. She smiled gently and then said the words to Qin Yunzhuang as tempting as the sound from a mermaid under the deep sea at night, “Wu Ciren. It is fictive, my elder sister. You’d better find something, or all you did will be in vain.”
The pupil of Qin Yunzhuang became bigger immediately. Qin Yunuan left with a smiley face, which made her very outrageous. A little bit cold wind blew in the new-born bamboo leaves with steam, and the moist air met the stiff face of Qin Yunzhuang.
The maidservant Chenyue was waiting for service beside her. She suddenly heard the kind of gloomy voice from Qin Yunzhuang, “Last night the person said that she would collaborate with us. You tell her that I will consider what she said.”
April’s spring breeze blew with those children’s happy smiles. The flowers of apricot and buttonwood were in full bloom on two sides of the road with a happy phenomenon. In the full-bodied and aromatic flower fragrance in the Royal City, the business of the First Boite of the Royal City was getting better. Now almost every person knew that the boss of the boite was a 20-year-old young man. Besides, the rice store in East Street, the jewelry store in Bazi Gate and the cloth store in Que’er Street, all were under the name of Boss Su.
Although this young man never appeared on public occasions, many people had already put their aims at this handsome young businessman with a large family fortune.
In the wing-room on the second floor, Qin Yunuan saw that the servant at the gate ousted matchmaker woman Liu in the east of the city. She smiled and looked straight at the opposite Su Chenghai who was holding a cup of tea and sipped it elegantly.
“How many matchmaker women have you met this month?” Qin Yunuan, standing beside the window, pouted her lips to the direction of the departing carriage taken by woman matchmaker Liu to ask Su Chenghai.
“I have no idea,” Su Chenghai blew on the slightly hot tea. His handsome face was shining goldenly under the thin but warm sunshine. He raised his head slowly and hedged to answer, “Why should I care about those trivial things?”
His mood was very like one person.
“Though you don’t care, Forth Uncle will do,” Qin Yunuan was picking the weever bones out of the saucer as glimpsing at Su Chenghai, “After all, you are the only child of my uncle.”
Su Chenghai answered lightly and found her tired corners of eyes currently, “What’s up? Slept not well last night?”
The eyes of Su Chenghai were full of care. Qin Yunuan tried her best to seek for a little confusion from his dark-night profound eyes. Did he know nothing about what happened last night at the mansion? Wasn’t he curious about that?
“Yes, last night I slept late for some things. You did not come to the birthday feast so you don’t know what happened.” Qin Yunuan lowered her head unhappily and continued to pick out the bones of the tasty weever.
“I hope that I was there last night, or you wouldn’t fight against them alone,” Su Chenghai said so sincerely. He turned back and saw Qin Yunuan poured carefully a small spoon of white and mellow fish soup onto the weever whose bones had already been picked out. He asked unconsciously, “Baochuan will come here too?”
Qin Yunuan stopped her movement with one of her elbows suspending, and then she pushed the small saucer towards Su Chenghai by another hand gently. She smiled, “Today Baochuan will purchase the ‘scholar’s four jewels’ (writing brush, ink stick, ink slab and paper) accompanied by nurse Liao. They will spend much time on it.”
Looking at the fresh and tender fish in the small blue-and-white porcelain saucer, he showed his soft and satisfying smile.
“I have ordered specially your favorite Glutinous Rice Balls as your farewell snack and it will be sent here soon.”
After Su Chenghai heard the word “farewell”, he turned slowly to use the chopsticks and raised his head, “I planned to stay here longer but there are so many complicated things in the regions south of the River that need me to handle on the spot,” and then he suddenly looked at the window near the corridor and said louder, “15 days later, at the thatched cottage in the eastern suburb. My cousin, could you come and see me off?”
Qin Yunuan nodded lightly, “Of course. See you at that place 15 days later.”
After Qin Yunuan said that, the door of the wing-room burst open by some powers like the wind. Li Weijun was standing out of the room somehow. At the moment, she was inflatable with her lightly raising eyebrows. The pretty girl wore a set of jade hair accessories, which made her prouder. She glared at Qin Yunuan and said in a shrill and high voice, “You are a daughter of a concubine. How dare you date with a man secretly in the boite. How ashamed!”
The wing-room chosen by Su Chenghai was very devious. He liked silence so he chose an independent wing-room toward the south. The corridor out of the room, there was no exit on the left side, and there was the backyard on the right side. It was impossible for Li Weijun to pass the room unintentionally.
Qin Yunuan was very calm beyond the expectations of Li Weijun, and even did not notice her vixenish words. She moved back and looked intentionally at the shank of Li Weijun covered by her skirt, and smiled, “Yesterday I heard that your shank was injured when you practiced the etiquette in your house. Now it seems that you have recovered.”
Li Weijun practiced the etiquette every day for the imperial concubine-selection ceremony three months later. The Grand Prince Sima Ruo and Third Prince Sima Ray who both were 20 years old did not get married. It was the time for them to choose some elegant maidens with good moralities to serve them.
People in this Royal City believed that Li Family was prosperous but the family had already declined by its worthless master. The whole family aimed at the success of Li Weijun in the ceremony. Li Weijun felt humiliated by Qin Yunuan’s causal words. But she did not care. Now it was uncertain that who could catch the adverse evidence?
“My broken leg cannot be comparable to your secret dating with a man.” Li Weijun pushed Qin Yunuan away and went into the room directly. She quickly raised the bead curtains and purdah and then turned stunned by the empty chair. She became outrageous, “Where is that man? I have heard clearly that you were talking with that man.”
And then Li Weijun searched each part of the room. No one else was found in the room.
Qin Yunuan aside was looking at her patiently. This room was secluded. Nobody would notice this place even if Li Weijun had been shouting.
“Enough? Sister Li,” Qin Yunuan said in an ironic voice, “Sister Li, you were shouting ‘secret dating’ before you came in this room, but now do you find the man who is dating with me?”
Li Weijun turned back severely, pointing at the two porcelain sauces on the table, “If there had not been that man, why would you have prepared two sets of chopsticks and bowls?”
Qin Yunuan said calmly, “Baochuan will come here. As his sister, is it not right to prepare them for him?” Qin Yunuan stressed the word not right in a higher voice. The angry Li Weijun turned to be pale and panic. She quickly glanced at the whole room and found nothing strange.
The servant outside tried hard to look for Li Weijun, and now he nodded and bowed, “Oh! The girl, you were in the next room, but why you came here. All the food you ordered had already been presented in your room. The young master who came with you urged you to come back.”
Nothing was found. Li Weijun glared at Qin Yunuan angrily. She turned back and warned her before she left, “There are some evidences that prove what you have done. Qin Yunuan, wait to see.”
QinYunuan just saluted lightly and smiled gently, “OK, I’ll wait to see.”
Li Weijun came back to the room very close to the room where Qin Yunuan stayed. On the pearwood table in the center of the room, various foods had already been put down on the table: Fish Head of Bighead Carp Baked by Sauce, Steamed Eggs with Tofu Pudding, Braised Meat Balls in Brown Sauce, Cauliflower with Tomato Juice, and Cucumber in Cold Sauce. There were so many delicious foods with tasty soups.
Li Jiaxuan who was sitting at the table was waiting for so long apparently. Having seen Li Weijun was back, he said reproachfully, “We planned to go out for medicine purchasing for our mother, and then you said that you wanted to have a meal in the first boite. You ordered so many food but where did you go?”
“Where could I go,” Li Weijun sat down angrily, stirring at the fish and meat by chopsticks, “I went to meet the daughter of the concubine of the Qin Family, the girl you praise.”
