“But you see, I carry this fragrance pouch with me the entire day. If it spoils or becomes old, I will be heartbroken. If you sew another picture for me and make it into a small screen fan, I can leave it in my room.”
“I can sew it for you but not mandarin ducks playing in the water.” Fu Rou thought that it was too tacky. “A scenery picture is the most soothing. How about I sew a picture of the sky and the ocean for you?”
“Okay!” Anything would do.
“Then you have to remember to give me the draft picture.”
“Draft?” Sheng Chumu had a bad feeling.
“Without a draft, how am I going to create the embroidery?” Fu Rou had yet to notice Sheng Chumu’s troubled face. “Since you write beautifully, you must draw nicely too.”
“Of course.” Sheng Chumu stuck out his chest as he forced himself to regain his energy. “I promise that the draft will be spirited and encompass the energy of the ocean.”
Fu Rou laughed as she continued to sew. She casually mentioned about concealing stitches. Sheng Chumu found it extremely interesting and asked Fu Rou to explain further. Fu Rou was surprised. Sheng Chumu had a great memory and could easily understand after she had explained only once.
“Rou’er, I have something I want to ask you. You can’t get angry at me.” Seeing that Fu Rou was in a good mood today, Sheng Chumu tried asking.
Fu Rou nodded.
“Who is Yan Zifang?” Seeing Fu Rou’s expression change immediately, Sheng Chumu rushed to explain, “That night, I heard you talking to the moon.”
“Were you actually studying the stars or were you eavesdropping?” Fu Rou suddenly stood up, ignoring Sheng Chumu’s calls. She walked into her courtyard and slammed the door shut.
Sheng Chumu rubbed his nose. As soon as he mentioned Yan Zifang, Rou’er became furious, there must be something behind this. If Rou’er was not going to tell him, there will be somebody that will. Sheng Chumu decided to go and look for Fu Yin.
As Sheng Chumu entered Fu Yin’s room, he saw her sitting in front of the table, supporting her chin with her hands and daydreaming. “Sister Yin!”
Fu Yin became aware of her surroundings once more, but when she saw that it was Sheng Chumu, she pursed her lips in disappointment, “Oh, it is you.”
Sheng Chumu laughed, “Who were you expecting?”
Fu Yin obviously would not answer him. “You came at the right time. Today, I saw a piece of paper in the study room…” Sheng Chumu, however, cut her off impatiently, “Who is Yan Zifang?”
Fu Yin’s face changed, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know, or you don’t want to tell me?” Sheng Chumu could see through her.
“It is Second Sister’s story and it is not my place to tell you.” Fu Yin chased him away. “You can go ask Second Sister.”
Third Madam suddenly stuck her head through the window. “Chumu, I will tell you.”
Both Fu Yin and Sheng Chumu jumped in shock. Third Madam walked lightly into the room. “Yan Zifang and Rou’er had a childhood betrothal.”
Sheng Chumu felt as if his heart had fallen into a deep abyss. “Then where is Yan Zifang now?”
“He is dead.” Third Madam sighed as she shook her head. Sheng Chumu’s heart jumped right back onto the surface. “Dead?”
Third Madam finally got a rare chance to gossip as saliva flew out of her mouth. “Fu Rou is a jinx. As soon as they settled the betrothal with the Yan family, their family was completely wiped out. Yan Zifang himself drowned in a river. The Chen family wanted to take her in as their daughter-in-law and look at the miserable state the Chen family is in now. I heard that First Lady Chen’s liver hurts every day from the anger she suffered. That’s why, our Fu Yin is better. She is pure and innocent. Chumu, don’t you agree?”
A gust of wind blew past as Third Madam realised that Sheng Chumu was nowhere to be found. “Eh, where did he go?”
Fu Yin rolled her eyes. Sheng Chumu stuck his head through the window unexpectedly. “Oh right, Sister Yin, what does your Second Sister like?”
Fu Yin answered matter of fact, “She likes embroidery, of course.”
Sheng Chumu was dissatisfied. “What kind of embroidery? From which master?”
“Oh.” Fu Yin understood, “My Second Sister likes Lady Hui’s embroidery the best…” Sheng Chumu nodded sharply and ran off.
“Grandfather gave Second Sister one of Lady Hui’s pieces and Second Sister has been taking extremely good care of it. She treats it like the family heirloom. Hey! I’m not done!” Fu Yin sighed before realizing that her mother was glaring at her.
Both of her children were good for nothings! Third Madam was about to die of anger. Her son spends his days around Fu Rou while her daughter is helping to match Fu Rou with Sheng Chumu.
Fu Rou sat by the window. The day had come to an end. The clouds in the sky were dyed red before eventually turning grey.
When Sheng Chumu mentioned Yan Zifang, she suddenly felt extremely confused. When she agreed to marry Chen You, it was out of desperation to solve her family’s financial problems. She did not have any feelings and was also not apologetic. But she has been moved by Sheng Chumu and when he suddenly brought up Yan Zifang, she suddenly felt guilty; especially since he was the one that brought him up. All these years, Fu Rou still thought of herself as Yan Zifang’s fiancée. However, Sheng Chumu’s appearance has caused her to momentarily forget.
“Yan Zifang, are you the one that sent Chumu to me? Are you trying to tell me that there are other guys who are good at both literature and martial arts and have a sense of justice? If so, thank you.” Fu Rou mumbled to herself as her emotions cleared up.
As a child, she could not grab onto Yan Zifang’s hand. Now, she must grab onto her own happiness.
Ziyun reported, “Your Second Aunt is here. Master wants you to go over.” Fu Rou let out a long breath but plastered a smile on her face as she got up.
As she entered the hall, Fu Rou greeted her Second Aunt and stood quietly by the side, listening to the elders talk. As Third Madam was not paying attention to her, Fu Yin took the chance to move closer to Fu Rou.
“Second Sister, let me tell you something. Brother Lu accidentally let slip that Brother Chumu’s calligraphy is actually quite ugly. He only knows how to write those four characters.”
Fu Rou froze and frowned, “That’s just a hearsay, we can’t take it as the truth.”
Fu Yin stuck out her tongue.
At this moment, Second Aunt raised her voice, “You all may not know but Chang'an has a lot of hedonistic young nobles. I was afraid that Rong An would learn from them and kept a close watch over him every day. It is only after he got married that I dare to come out.”
Fu Yin loved to listen to gossip and her attention immediately shifted. “I know Chang'an has a lot of outstanding officials.”
Second Aunt nodded, “That is a little outdated. These years, at least half of Chang'an is made up of hedonists. Chumoliangjian wins over Jinfan.” (tl: 处默亮剑盛金帆, it sounds like Chumo takes out his sword and defeats Jinfan in Chinese.)
Fu Rou’s heart fell.
“Brother Chumu?” Fu Yin was intrigued, “Chumu’s sword play is excellent. Did he win against someone called Jinfan? What has this got to do with hedonists?”
“Eh, that is not what I meant.” Second Aunt’s expression did not look good. “What that means is that in Chang'an, the three most famous hedonists are the young lords from the Duke Lu Residence. They are Sheng Chumu, Sheng Chuling and Sheng Chujun. Together, they are known as Chumoliangjian [Note]. As for Jinfan, it refers to a girl from a brothel. In order to make her happy, the three brothers fought to use her embroidered shoes as a cup to drink from. Just the thought of it is disgusting.”
Fu Rou stood up. “I don’t feel well. I am going back to my room to rest.”
Everyone stared at Fu Rou’s sudden departure, not knowing the reason why she left. Only Third Madam’s expression changed as she plastered a smile on her face and beckoned Fu Yin to her. Fu Yin walked over unwillingly.