Chapter 053
Chapter 53: Buddha’s Chosen, Don’t Think You Can Stay Unstained by the Mortal World
The absurd birthday banquet became the newest joke across the Heir Apparent Manor. No one was happier than Third Miss, Lin Yu Ning. Curled on her soft couch, she reenacted the scene for her Personal Maid, Chun Cao, her brows flying as she said: “Chun Cao, you were in the outer court checking gifts, so you didn’t hear what Miss Zhao said. It was priceless.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh,” Chun Cao hummed. Lin Yu Ning cleared her throat, pinched her voice into a coy drawl, and copied Zhao Lv Liu’s manner to a tee as she purred: “Good Buddha’s Chosen, you are such an Immortal sort of person. If one day you return to the world, take a wife, and enter the bridal chamber, will you chant with Madam, or do what ordinary people do?”
Chun Cao gaped so wide you could fit an egg in her mouth. “Heavenly Bodhisattva, did a proper young lady really say that out loud in front of everyone?”
“I swear, not a word off,” Lin Yu Ning said, thumping her chest before rolling on the couch with laughter. “You should have seen my Big Aunt’s face. Green like the moss in the backyard pond. Brilliant. Just brilliant.”
The mistress and maid laughed till they cried.
At first light the next day, a gate boy came running into First Madam’s courtyard, feet drumming with urgency as he blurted: “Reporting to First Madam! Outside is a Miss Zheng who says she’s your cousin’s daughter, named Zheng Xiu Yun, come to seek refuge!”
First Madam had been pressing aching temples, too worried about her son to sleep, but at that her spirits lifted. “Invite her in,” she said at once.
Soon a Miss in a washed, water-green dress was led inside. She was slender, the faded color setting off a waist you could nearly hold in one hand. Her brows pinched lightly, her eyes smoky-soft, and each step was so careful she looked like a breeze could topple her. She was the kind of fragile that stirred any man’s urge to protect.
She sank into a perfect curtsey as her voice drifted out, soft as water: “Aunt, I hope you are well. I came without asking, and I beg Aunt’s forgiveness.”
First Madam hurried to lift her and, holding her hand, looked her over as she asked with gentle warmth: “Good child, up you get. How is your Mother? We played together as girls and were very close, but after she married far away we lost contact. Is she in good health?”
The question wasn’t even finished when Zheng Xiu Yun’s eyes went red. She drew a plain handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbed the corners of her eyes as she answered in a broken voice: “Aunt, Mother passed away almost half a year ago.”
“Before she died, she took out a token of trust between you and told me, if I could no longer stay at home, to come find you in the Capital City.”
First Madam sighed from the heart. Once upon a time, she and that cousin were the same age and best of playmates. Who could have guessed such a bright person would be gone so soon?
Zheng Xiu Yun presented a half-old sachet embroidered with two lotus sharing one stem. As she offered it, her tears fell in just the right measure, but behind the handkerchief her lowered eyes flashed with a cold light, quietly measuring how soft First Madam’s heart would be.
One glance told First Madam exactly what it was. As girls, she and her cousin had clumsily stitched it together, the messy little thing precious only to them. The sight of it softened her at once. She drew Zheng Xiu Yun close and chatted gently, asking about the troubles at home.
Zheng Xiu Yun told it simply: her Father had just taken a Second Principal Wife, and now they meant to marry her off to a poor scholar on the promise that he would help the family when he passed the exams someday. Who knew when “someday” would be? Clearly Father and the stepmother only wanted to send her away early. Convinced her talents and looks were first rate, she refused to throw herself into an empty future, so she took her Mother’s token and traveled far to seek refuge.
First Madam listened with pity and decided on the spot: the best guest room would be prepared, and Zheng Xiu Yun should settle in and treat this place like home.
Behind her, Nanny Zhou’s heart sank. This Miss Zheng looked fragile and helpless, yes, but from the moment she entered, those eyes had been darting everywhere, boldly sizing up every piece of furniture from the rosewood tables to the jade on the shelf, full of naked ambition and calculation. That look was not right.
When Zheng Xiu Yun had been politely led away to be settled, Nanny Zhou edged close and lowered her voice: “Madam, forgive me for speaking out of turn, but that Miss Zheng’s eyes are not right.”
First Madam lifted her tea bowl and calmly skimmed the foam with the lid, a small smile of control bending her lips as she said: “I can see it.”
“Then why…” Nanny Zhou began, baffled.
“I want Qing Xuan to see more kinds of young ladies,” First Madam said, setting the cup down with a crisp click. “I want his eyes to stop sticking to Yao Xiao Man alone. If he sees more and has more choices, he won’t cling to one low-born maid.”
Nanny Zhou’s mouth opened, then shut. The words of warning died halfway up her throat. She could only rant silently: [Oh Madam, why put yourself through this? You know the men of the Lin Clan. From the Heir Apparent down to Second Master, they are stubbornly devoted. Once they choose, nine oxen can’t drag them back.] [And Eldest Grandson Young Master takes after them to the bone.] [You expect him to change hearts?] [And you bring in a girl whose eyes are crooked from the first step?] [This isn’t giving him more choices. This is inviting a wolf into the house.]
Whatever First Madam was thinking, only she knew. Perhaps it was what people call being too close to see clearly.
After entering the manor, Zheng Xiu Yun was indeed very “well-behaved.” Every day she either paid respects to First Madam with tender concern or stayed in her room doing needlework, never going out. It just so happened her courtyard had been placed on the path one had to take to Auspicious Cloud Residence.
So she always “happened” to meet Lin Qing Xuan when he returned, shyly bowing in the corridor. Or she “happened” to pass the gate of Auspicious Cloud Residence and stand frowning at a blooming crabapple tree, full of delicate sadness.
After several days of this, she finally caught a chance. One afternoon, she again pretended to admire flowers outside Auspicious Cloud Residence, when a conversation drifted out from the study window.
“Are your hands sore?” came Lin Qing Xuan’s cool voice.
“Nonsense. I’ve already copied the Heart Sutra thirteen times. Buddha’s Chosen, please be merciful and let me rest,” came Xiao Man’s lazy-sweet complaint.
Zheng Xiu Yun’s heart leapt as she crept to the window crack and squinted inside. She saw Lin Qing Xuan personally dip the brush in ink, then press the dark shaft into Xiao Man’s hand as he said with calm firmness: “The fourteenth time. I will read. You will write.”
“Ah…” Xiao Man groaned, but his broad palm covered her wrist and guided her hand in slow strokes over the white paper. Afternoon sun streamed through carved lattice, stretching their overlapped shadows long across the floor. The white wide sleeves of the Buddha’s Chosen brushed now and then against the washed, coarse cloth of the maid’s dress, and the picture stabbed the eyes.
[She is a lowly maid. Why should she be this close to the Eldest Grandson of the Heir Apparent Manor?] Zheng Xiu Yun’s nails bit so hard into her palm they nearly drew blood.
That night in her room, she smashed a teacup to powder and hissed in her heart: [So much for your lofty, untouched purity, Buddha’s Chosen. If you are this close to a maid by day, who knows what you do in bed at night.]
Staring at the sorrowful beauty in the bronze mirror, she let out a cold laugh and said aloud to herself: “Yao Xiao Man, if you can attract him, why can’t I?”
She yanked open her cosmetics chest and felt under the trays until she found a small white jade vial. The label had long been peeled off, but a smear of bright red powder stained the mouth. She had bought it for a heavy price from a brothel Old Granny. It was called Spring Breeze Powder. [Buddha’s Chosen, since you have already brushed the mortal dust, do not blame me for being ruthless. I will pull you all the way down into the mud of desire.]
At that same hour, Xiao Man, blind to the danger creeping near, yawned over a neat stack of copied sutras. “Tomorrow is a rest day, Buddha’s Chosen, so please don’t work me to death again,” she muttered as she rubbed her sore wrist.
Lin Qing Xuan lifted his eyes to her tired yet lively face and asked, calm as ever: “A rest day?”
“It’s on the Countdown Plaque,” she said at once, pointing to the corner. “One day off every ten. You promised. No backing out.”
His gaze swept to the stone Countdown Plaque. Under the carved “180 days,” someone had added “Rest Day” in crooked charcoal strokes and sketched a little face sticking out its tongue, cheeky and proud. [Heart Demon.] His eyes went suddenly cold.
Outside the window, a thread of black aura coiled around Zheng Xiu Yun’s skirt hem, circling with eager delight as it fattened on her envy. [Such strong jealousy. This new chess piece is much more interesting than those chattering fools from the other day.]