In the capital, the spring rain looked as if it was about to stop, but then suddenly it became heavier. Prior hopes for its abatement were dashed, and people were bitterly disappointed. All day long, the common people were praying to the gods and asking Buddha for help, hoping that the heavens would not continue to punish the Great Jin dynasty. However, the heavens do not heed man’s wishes, and it continued to rain as intensely as before.
Xia Yan proposed that the Jiang fu daughters should visit Bao Guang Temple to pray for blessings. Firstly, because at this time every year, the Jiang family would visit Bao Guang Temple to make a donation by purchasing incense, and then seeking Buddha’s blessing and protection. Secondly, Bao Guang Temple was the most famous temple in the capital and was known to be very effective in answering prayers, especially where touzhu incense[1] was concerned. Every year, countless people would be engaged in endless disputes over the touzhu incense. However, this year, due to the rain, there were much fewer disputes than usual.
[1] 头柱香 (tou zhu xiang) – In general, burning incense is an act of worship, Touzhu Xiang involves an ancient custom, where people rush to offer incense on the first day of the (Chinese) New Year, believing that this first offering of incense has the greatest merit and will be blessed the most. Worshippers will rush to the temple and may fight to be the first person to offer incense to show their piety. However, in this text it seems that this incense can be offered at other times of the year as well.
When Xia Yan made this suggestion, Jiang Ruan was very quick to agree. Lu Zhu said, nervously, “Miss, she clearly has bad intentions. Why did Miss agree so readily?”
Bao Guang Temple was in the mountainous region and there were many dangers along the route there. Since the rain was at present bombarding the earth, the mud road would be more unstable, and the journey would be even more challenging. The rich people who usually visited the temple all shrank back from undertaking such a journey, yet Xia Yan had proposed going there to offer touzhu incense. Surely, the situation was more complex than it seemed.
“It’s all right.” Jiang Ruan smiled faintly and said, “The clamshells are sealed too tightly, so it’s difficult to find a way to take action. Now that they have opened up of their own accord, how can we not seize the opportunity?”
Lu Zhu had found out that Xia Yan had gone out in the morning and had not returned until evening. When she returned, there was something peculiar about her expression and she straightaway went to Su Xin Yuan, where she had spoken with Jiang Su Su for a long time before eventually returning to her own courtyard.
“Clamshells?” Lu Zhu was taken aback. “Does Miss want to . . .”
“Tomorrow, you will go out with me.” Jiang Ruan beckoned for her to come over, then whispered several commands into her ear. When Lu Zhu heard them, her face went through several changes of expression before she said, “Miss, you can’t do this, it’s too dangerous!”
“How can you catch a tiger cub if you don’t enter the tiger’s lair?” Jiang Ruan said. “Besides, it’s not as if there is absolutely no possibility of success.”
Lu Zhu bit her lip. Finally, amid the turbulence in her heart, she said, “This servant will listen to Miss.”
Jiang Ruan smiled faintly. The hot tea before her sent up spirals of mist. This would be her second time visiting Bao Guang Temple. The first time had been five years ago, when she had wanted to fight over the touzhu incense, hoping that Zhao Mei would quickly recover from her illness. However, she had not managed to win the touzhu incense, and Zhao Mei’s condition did not improve.
In this lifetime, she did not believe in gods or Buddhas. She would begin her bloody revenge in this Buddhist sacred place.
Li An? She slowly lowered her head. The steam from the tea rose up in spirals, obscuring her face; one could only see a pair of clear, glistening eyes, which flashed fiercely for a split second, while her rosy lips ticked up at the corners.
Wait patiently.
* * *
Hui Jue had been extremely at ease the past few days.
In order to protect him, Guan Liang Han had invited him to stay in the Guan fu, and had even casually assigned him a bodyguard. Although Hui Jue was puzzled, he assumed that Guan Liang Han and the person behind Jiang Ruan were one and the same, and thus did not overly concern himself with the situation. After the reservoir incident, his popularity in the capital was extremely high, and many of the aristocratic families had invited him to visit them so they could bask in the reflected glory. However, Jiang Ruan had sent him a letter through an intermediary, asking him to keep a low profile, and suggesting that it would be best to keep his public appearances to a minimum.
At first, Hui Jue was discontented. Later, though, he understood that a large part of the reason why people worship gods and Buddha is the mystery involved. Nowadays, the more popular he became, the more he had to protect his mysterious aura. Jiang Ruan had said, in order to accomplish big things, one could not covet small gains. If one were exceedingly cautious now, one would enjoy great riches and honour in future.
Hui Jue regarded Jiang Ruan’s words as precious treasures to be revered, so he naturally complied with them. Everyday, he engaged in silent meditation in the Guan fu, and very rarely went out. Today, he was standing in front of the window wiping clean his wooden fish[2] when he saw Guan Liang Han chasing after a black-clad young man along the long corridor beyond the flower garden of the Guan fu, towards the entrance. As he hurried, he shouted, “Third Brother, what are you using my troops for again? No way, absolutely no way, what do you take my Guan family troops for? Damn you! Stop right there!”
[2] 木鱼 (mùyú) – Literally “wooden fish”. An elaborately carved wooden drum struck with a padded wooden stick during Buddhist chanting services. Fish, since they never sleep, symbolize the alertness and watchfulness needed to attain Buddhahood. These are two kinds of wooden fish: One is round in shape with scales carved on it. The other is rectangle in shape, suspended in front of the dining hall of a Buddhist temple. When having breakfast and lunch, the monks beat it to produce rhythm.
Hui Jue adhered to the principle: see no evil, hear no evil[3], and thus he closed the window with a snap.
[3] 非礼莫视，非礼莫听 (fei li mo shi, fei li mo ting) – this is an abridged version of the Confucian analect: 非礼勿视，非礼勿听, 非礼勿言，非礼勿动 – do not see what is contrary to propriety, do not listen to what is contrary to propriety, do not speak what is contrary to propriety, do not do what is contrary to propriety.
Outside the main entrance, Xiao Shao had finally come to a stop. Guan Liang Han, who had been taking great strides, almost crashed into him. Jumping around agitatedly, he yelled angrily, “Damn it, what’s going on with you? Give me the soldier tally[4]!
[4] 兵符 (bing fu) – aka 虎符 (hu fu), tiger tally. This was an object made of copper, jade, wood or stone, in two halves, usually in the shape of a tiger, and used in ancient times to convey military orders or dispatch troops, and was therefore proof of authority. One half would remain with the monarch (or authority), and the other was given to the military officer/ commander. If verification were required, the two halves would match.
In Xiao Shao’s hand was indeed the soldier tally of the Guan family troops. Guan Liang Han reached out a hand to seize it, but Xiao Shao avoided him. They sparred hand-to-hand for a brief moment, before Guan Liang Han realised he could not do anything.
He retracted his hand and said, “Third Brother, are you thinking that all my troops belong to your family? Then what’s the point of your 30,000 Jinyi guards?”
“It would not be good for the Jinyi guards to be publicly involved,” Xiao Shao said. “Let me use your soldier tally once; after I’m done with it, I’ll return it to you.”
“No way,” Guan Liang Han said resolutely. “I already took the fall[5] for you in the reservoir matter; this time, what illegal thing are you going to do? If His Majesty should want to assign blame, then it’s going to be f*cking bad luck for my life.” Out of the blue, he said, “However, since I am your senior brother, and I, this Second Brother, am highly generous, if you tell me what you are going to do, I will hand the soldier tally over to you. Otherwise, even if you take it, I will find a way to ensure that you are unable to gather them.”
[5] 背了黑锅 (bei le hei guo) – lit., to shoulder/ bear a black pot
“I’m borrowing your troops to pursue Li An,” Xiao Shao responded.
“Li An?” Guan Liang Han said. “You know where he is? Why on earth are you pursuing him?”
Seeing Xiao Shao remain silent, Guan Liang Han seemingly came to a conclusion and said, “Is this a task His Majesty gave you?”.
Xiao Shao kept the soldier tally, turned, and walked away, saying, “Many thanks.”
“Hey, I haven’t finished yet!” Guan Liang Han hollered furiously. “This is such a big matter, I have to accompany you. Third Brother, you wait right there for me!”
Their voices gradually faded away.
* * *
That morning, Jiang Ruan woke up early, as did her three servant girls. After serving Jiang Ruan her meal, Lian Qiao started selecting Jiang Ruan’s clothes. Bai Zhi said, “Look for something more plain, since Miss is going to offer prayers today.”
After much searching, Lian Qiao finally selected a plain blue long jacket made of rain silk[6] jacquard-weave brocade with a pipa collar for Jiang Ruan. Over this, she wore a jade-coloured silk shawl decorated with a pattern of scattered flowers among twisted vines[7]. They had grown accustomed to seeing her wear bright, crimson clothes, so her wearing such plain silk ones, together with her indifferent expression when she did not smile, gave her a cold appearance.
[6] 雨丝锦 (yu si jin) – a type of brocade which is composed of white and other colours of warp threads, so the effect is to have colours interspersed with white bands, sometimes with shading.
[7] 缠枝花 (chan zhi hua) – a very ‘Chinese’ pattern of flowers among twisted vines, commonly seen on Chinese blue-and-white porcelain.
As Lu Zhu combed Jiang Ruan’s hair, she said, “Miss, there might be a lot of danger today. How about preparing one or two means of self-defence?”
Jiang Ruan nodded, so after Lu Zhu had swept her hair up into a bun, she inserted a sharp, pointed hairpin. The tip of the hairpin was so sharp and long, it could be considered a weapon.
Right before they were about to leave, Bai Zhi thought for a moment, then retrieved a dagger from the table drawer. The dagger’s handle was inlaid with silver, in which was embedded several pearls; it was clearly a collector’s item to be admired. Bai Zhi saw that the blade was somewhat dull, but still placed it in Jiang Ruan’s hand, saying, “Miss, take this as well. It’s better than not having anything.”
Jiang Ruan weighed the dagger in her hand, then tucked the dagger into her sleeve. The four of them were leaving the fu when they noticed a horse carriage stopped at one side.
Jiang Dan, Jiang Li, and Jiang Su Su were all crammed into one horse carriage, while Jiang Chao had a carriage of his own. Jiang Ruan also had her own. Jiang Ruan looked inquiringly at Xia Yan, who was standing beside her. Gently, Xia Yan said, “Ruan’er is the Jiang fu’s eldest di daughter, and your personal maidservants are many. I’m afraid that placing you in another carriage would not show you the proper consideration and attention, so Mother has specially arranged another carriage for you.”
Jiang Ruan looked at the carriage which had been ‘specially’ selected for her. The exterior was magnificent, on par with Jiang Su Su’s carriage, except that it was slightly smaller, just big enough to seat herself and a few maidservants.
“That Mother would do this makes Ruan niang feel embarrassed,” Jiang Ruan said as she smiled faintly. “We are all sisters of the Jiang fu, how is it possible to favour one and discriminate against the others?”
Xia Yan’s smile deepened. “Ruan’er, why should you say such things? All of you sisters are good, but, since you are the eldest sister, you should naturally present yourself as being more dignified and impressive. Moreover, it is not possible to look for another carriage right now. Why don’t we go ahead with our journey and not delay any longer, otherwise we will miss the opportunity to offer touzhu incense.”
