Chapter 041
Chapter 41: The Eldest Miss’s Blue Butterfly
Lin Yu Jiao held the invitation from the Third Princess Manor as she stood at the gate of her eldest sister Lin Yu Wan’s Heroine’s Quarters. Her fingers rubbed the gold-embossed blessing pattern on the card again and again, almost rubbing the thin paper to shreds.
The maid Xiang Yun curtsied with respectful but distant manners, then said, “Second Miss, your timing is poor. Eldest Miss went to the barracks early to deliver the new autumn clothes to Master.”
The word barracks made Lin Yu Jiao lift her handkerchief to cover her nose and mouth at once. In her mind, the barracks rose up again, thick with the stench of rough leather, rusty weapons, and men’s sweat. It was too much. The bare-chested soldiers training under the blazing sun, the heat rolling off them, the sweat on their dark skin, all burst from years-old memory straight at her. When she was twelve, her eldest sister had dragged her out of the embroidery tower and forced her to bring mung bean soup to the camp. When she came back, the hem of her new Xiangfei-pink skirt was full of yellow dust, her hair stank of rust that would not wash out, and it took three buckets of well water and half a bottle of osmanthus hair oil to press the smell down. She never wanted to think of that nightmare again.
“Second Miss?” Xiang Yun’s voice pulled her back, then asked, “Shall I leave a message for Eldest Miss?”
Lin Yu Jiao shook her head in irritation and turned to leave, but her eye caught the heavy weapon rack under the corridor. The Red Tasseled Spear on it shone cold in the autumn light. Father had ordered the best smith in the Capital City to forge it from refined steel for Eldest Sister when she had her Hairpin Coming of Age. On the shaft, Father had carved six seal characters by hand: “Women Yield No Ground to Men.” Even today, they gleamed like new bronze.
She suddenly remembered last autumn’s hunt, when Eldest Sister calmly shot two flapping pheasants with one arrow. The Third Princess had been so shocked she dropped the feather fan in her hand with a smack. That loss of poise was still the joke of the noble ladies’ circle in the capital.
“Go call Nanny Ju,” Lin Yu Jiao said as she walked quickly back toward her own courtyard, and she added without looking back, “and bring out the Kingfisher Hairset from the bottom of my chest. The one I saved months of allowance to make.”
Passing through the carved moon gate, her third sister Lin Yu Ning was leading a few junior maids as they chased a big, colorful butterfly through the garden. At fourteen, the little miss wore a goose-yellow dress and ran like a sparrow set free. Her skirt brushed over fallen petals on the slate path, lively beyond words. Lin Yu Jiao lifted a hand on reflex to smooth her perfectly neat hair. A younger sister could still run around wildly. She and Eldest Sister had long passed the age when they could be careless in public.
Nanny Ju, an old hand in the manor and the best at hairdressing, came in carrying a gilt carved vanity box. Lin Yu Jiao was trying on a pair of gold-and-ruby earrings in her expensive western mercury mirror. The mirror happened to reflect a corner of the practice yard outside. Eldest Sister’s indigo riding clothes were still hanging on a wooden frame to dry. The cuffs were worn and frayed, stubbornly sticking up like a silent protest.
“Second Miss, how about this Golden Phoenix Swaying Hairpin?” Nanny Ju deftly picked a delicate piece from the box and held it to Lin Yu Jiao’s temple, then said, “With your new lotus pink dress, the dangling beads will sway when you walk. It suits the view at the Third Princess’s Jade Pond Spring Garden.”
Lin Yu Jiao was about to nod when urgent hoofbeats came from outside the wall, growing louder. She stepped to the window, pushed it open, and saw Eldest Sister flip down from a tall chestnut-red horse in one smooth move. That motion was more dashing than any boy in the barracks. A few dry grass blades clung to her hem, and a lilac embroidered pouch hung at her waist, out of place with her martial outfit. No need to ask; Father must have found some odd thing at camp and stuffed it into her hand like treasure again.
“Eldest Sister!” Lin Yu Jiao pushed the lattice open and called, then asked, “Are you going to the Third Princess’s Flower Viewing Invitation or not?”
Lin Yu Wan was untying the knife at her waist and tossing it to a waiting boy. At the question, she only lifted her eyes, then said, “Got it.” Her voice was husky from travel. “You decide the style. I’ll come back to try it on at the hour of xu.”
“Why are you going out again?” Lin Yu Jiao frowned.
“Just a small errand,” Lin Yu Wan said carelessly, wiping the fine sweat at her brow. Lin Yu Jiao opened her mouth but still did not tell her that a dusty smudge streaked Eldest Sister’s plain face. She turned back to the mirror in a huff, let out a long sigh, then said, “Nanny Ju, find the Pearl Bar Hairpins I wore last Qixi too. It’s best to have more choices.”
In the mirror, the weapon rack at the corner stayed sharp, and the spear tassel swayed in the autumn wind like the tangled worries of women in inner chambers that never get smoothed out.
Nanny Ju rummaged and then said, “Oh, I just remembered. Last month, Minister Su’s Miss Su wore a headpiece very much like this kingfisher set at her chrysanthemum banquet…”
“Then use the enameled set,” Lin Yu Jiao cut her off. Her voice held heat she could not hide, and her fingers twisted her silk handkerchief without thinking.
Some time during that, Little Sister Lin Yu Ning’s round smiling face popped up at the window in the mirror, then vanished as she ran off again. A silk butterfly flower the maid had made was tucked in her hair, and it trembled with her movement so vividly it looked about to fly away. Water sounds came from outside where Eldest Sister washed up, mixed with Little Sister’s silver-bell laughter: “Eldest Sister, Eldest Sister, what good thing did Dad give you? Let me see.” “Little glutton, this is medicine. You can’t eat it.”
Lin Yu Jiao slapped the ruby earring down on the vanity with a sharp crack, then said, “Enough.” Staring at herself in the mirror, she pulled a cold smile, then said, “Today I’ll do a simple coiled snake bun and wear no jewelry at all.” After all, what those noble ladies really wanted to look at was never the jewelry and clothes she, Lin Yu Jiao, chose with such care. Just like Father, who always noticed first the shabby pouch at Eldest Sister’s waist and the cheap silk flower in Little Sister’s hair. As for her, Lin Yu Jiao, who dressed with care and weighed every word, in the end she was only a backdrop they could take or leave.
Lin Yu Wan was not out to handle a small errand. She was meeting someone, Lu Chen, the son of Father’s deputy general.
In the old Laizi’s Tofu Pudding Shop in the west of the city, Lu Chen had already waited almost half an hour. He was tall and strong, with a high nose bridge. Even in plain short fighting clothes, the hard edge born of the army showed through. His skin was sun-darkened, the mark of long days on the road. Restless, he sat and sat. One cup of coarse tea was gone, and his eyes stayed glued to the door, afraid to miss her.
When Lin Yu Wan’s figure finally appeared at the mouth of the alley, Lu Chen’s eyes lit up at once, too joyful to hide. He had gone out with the unit for drills and had been away nearly half a year. All that time, he missed this bowl of sweet tofu pudding, and the person who drank it with him.
Lin Yu Wan strode into the shop and sat across from him. Seeing his silly grin, she could not help the smile at the corner of her lips, then said, “Hey, it’s you two again,” boomed Boss Lai Zi as he came with the kettle. “Same as always, right? One original with mint leaves, one osmanthus with hot syrup. Miss, wait, I’ll grab two fresh mung bean cakes from Wang’s Shop next door.”
Hearing the boss’s familiar words, the two looked at each other and laughed. Lin Yu Wan lifted her tea and looked him over, then said, “You really did get darker and uglier. Looks like your dad put you through it this time. So, did your blade work improve?”
At that, Lu Chen straightened with pride, then said, “Of course. I’ve trained the Lu Family Blade Art to the Eighth Stage. Even my dad praised me and said I’m faster than he was at my age.”
“Then hurry and reach Tenth Stage Perfection,” Lin Yu Wan said, her tone turning serious and her eyes steady. “Enemies on the battlefield are a hundred times fiercer than you think. Without a lifesaving skill at the bottom of your chest, you won’t come back to share this tofu with me.”
Boss Lai Zi set the bowls down. Lu Chen slid the hot osmanthus one to Lin Yu Wan without thinking. He knew she only drank it hot. Lin Yu Wan held out her palm, then said, “My handkerchief. Return it. You promised to bring it back this time.”
Lu Chen flushed and scratched the back of his head, eyes dodging, then said, “Uh… I… I forgot.” As he spoke, his guilty hand touched his own burning chest. Lin Yu Wan’s gaze paused for a second at the bulge there. She understood at once and did not expose him. She drew her hand back and said lightly, “Next time, then. Make sure you remember.”
That handkerchief was years old now. No one truly cared to have it back. It was only a pretext to meet him again and again.
To cover his awkwardness, Lu Chen quickly took out a palm-sized brocade box from his sleeve and pushed it to her, then said, “This is for you.”
Lin Yu Wan opened it in confusion, then her eyes widened. Inside lay a vivid blue butterfly. Its wings were a clear sky blue, edged with a fine ring of gold. The lines on the wings were distinct, thin as a cicada’s. It looked like it might take off in the next second.
“My goodness,” she breathed and could not help reaching a finger to touch it.
“Don’t,” Lu Chen said, pressing her hand down at once. He explained, then said, “I saw it when I followed the army physician into the mountains for herbs. It was too beautiful. I begged the army physician for a long time, and he finally agreed to use a special liquid to make this real butterfly into a specimen. He said it’s very fragile. Best not to touch it with your hands.”
Lin Yu Wan treasured it at once. She carefully closed the lid and put it away in her clothing. They lowered their heads to sip the tofu pudding. The sweet scent of osmanthus in the air was sweeter than honey.
“I… I have to rejoin the unit at dawn tomorrow,” Lu Chen said softly, breaking the quiet. “Father says the tribes up north have been restless. Training has to tighten. I might be gone another half year.”
Lin Yu Wan’s fingers tightened on the spoon. A sour ache rose in her chest. But when she looked up, her face was still calm, then said, “Train well. That way you can come back from the field safe and whole.” She paused, then spoke in her debt-collecting tone, then said, “And next time you return, make sure you bring my handkerchief.”