At dusk, beneath the gloomy sky, heavy snow fell thick and fast amid the roaring northern wind. The entire courtyard was transformed into a...
At dusk, beneath the gloomy sky, heavy snow fell thick and fast amid the roaring northern wind. The entire courtyard was transformed into a silvery-white world, as if carved from powder and built from jade.
Yan Wushuang looked at the table full of dishes, then looked at Yuchen and remarked with a smile, "You really put some thought into this." More than half of the dishes on the table were Northeastern specialities, including the mixed stew📹, Yan Wushuang's favourite dish, which everyone knew.
Yuchen wore a faint smile as she said, "I hope Wangye likes it." After being captured by Yan Wushuang and brought to his residence, she had lived like a walking corpse and moving flesh1, feeling that living was worse than dying2. But ever since Zhou Yan returned to the capital, Yuchen had resolved to change herself. She needed to win Yan Wushuang's affection. Only if he liked her could she see her son and protect him.
Old Lady Han had originally raised and educated Yuchen with the intention of marrying her into the Imperial family to secure benefits for the Han clan. Therefore, Yuchen had also been taught how to compete for favour, and had learned these methods quite well. Previously, however, Jing Wang had adored her, and after marrying him she gave birth to twins, making her position extremely secure, so there had been no need to compete for his favour. But now, for the sake of her son, Yuchen had no choice but to set aside her pride and lower herself3 and make every effort to please Yan Wushuang.
Yan Wushuang pointed at the plate of Northeastern mixed stew and said with a smile, "This is my favourite dish. Do you know why?" Northeastern mixed stew was a dish ordinary commoners enjoyed. A wealthy and prominent household would consider eating such a dish beneath its status.
Yuchen picked up a pair of silver chopsticks and placed a piece of pork belly into the white porcelain bowl before Yan Wushuang. Smiling sweetly, she exclaimed, "Oh, so there is a story behind Wangye's fondness for Northeastern mixed stew!" Her voice was exceptionally gentle.
Yan Wushuang took a bite and responded with a smile, "It isn't much of a story. Back then, when I was fleeing for my life, I was so hungry that I had only one breath left4. Someone rescued me, and when I followed him home, his family was making this mixed stew. That day, I ate three huge bowls of rice." Yan Wushuang had originally been rescued by Uncle Tang and a group of guards, but they were pursued as they fled. Uncle Tang had lured the pursuers away while Yan Wushuang hid. After spending three days and three nights in hiding, he was starving and could no longer endure it, so he ventured out to find food. Before long, he came across someone who took him to his home.
Seeing that Yan Wushuang appeared to be in a very good mood, Yuchen smiled and said, "Wangye is fortunate. There are always benefactors who come to your aid." If people had not been willing to die protecting him, Yan Wushuang would have died long ago.
Yan Wushuang chuckled cheerfully. "At the time, I also thought I was fortunate to have met a good person. So after eating and drinking my fill, I went to sleep without a worry. When I woke up, I was already inside a brothel." The person who brought Yan Wushuang home did not know his identity. He had not taken Yan Wushuang home out of kindness, but because Yan Wushuang was good-looking and could be sold to a brothel for a tidy sum.
Yuchen was picking up a piece of eggplant when she heard this. Her hand trembled, and the eggplant fell onto the table. As though unaware that she had lost her composure, Yuchen picked up some meat from the belly of the fish and placed it in Yan Wushuang's bowl. "Wangye is a fortunate man protected by Heaven5. Even when you encounter wicked people, you can still escape from a dangerous situation unharmed." If he had not been able to escape those dangers, she would not be sitting there serving him food now.
Yan Wushuang smiled. "You're right. In the end, I did escape safely from that dangerous situation." Coincidentally, the leading courtesan at that brothel was a secret guard belonging to the Yan family. Unfortunately, after recognising Yan Wushuang, the courtesan tortured him instead of saving him to vent her resentment. During that period, Yan Wushuang suffered not only physically but also endured tremendous psychological torment. Fortunately, Uncle Tang found him in time. Otherwise, no one would have known whether a person named Yan Wushuang still existed in this world.
Without describing exactly what had happened, Yan Wushuang smiled at Yuchen and asked, "Do you know what eventually happened to that family?"
If she had been given a choice, Yuchen certainly would not have answered. But she had no choice now, so she tried to appear calm and answered, "Wangye must have taken revenge."
Yan Wushuang picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork📹 himself. After eating it, he smiled and said, "Yes, I took revenge. I sliced that man's flesh off piece by piece. His blood poured out like water in a stream. He knelt on the ground and begged me to give him a quick death..." At this point, Yan Wushuang chuckled. "A quick death? How could things be that easy for him? I wanted him to experience the most extreme suffering this world had to offer." If the man had handed him over to the Donghu people or to the Imperial Court, Yan Wushuang would not have hated him so much. At most, after escaping, he would have simply killed the man who sold him. But the one thing that man absolutely should never have done was sell Yan Wushuang to that filthy place. As for the fate of that courtesan who had been a secret guard, it was no better than that of the man who sold him to the brothel. It was also during that incident that Yan Wushuang's whereabouts were exposed. After faking his death and escaping, Yan Wushuang never again enjoyed a single truly peaceful night's sleep.
Yuchen's face was as white as a sheet of paper.
Seeing this, Yan Wushuang shook his head. "It was only killing someone. What's there to be afraid of? What you don't know is that killing someone can actually be a very wonderful thing..."
Anyone who served Yan Wushuang without tremendous emotional resilience would sooner or later be driven to collapse by him. Hearing Yan Wushuang describe how wonderful killing was, Yuchen could no longer hold back and began to vomit.
Not only did Yan Wushuang show her no sympathy, but he instead shook his head regretfully. "You're really timid." Then he turned his head and resumed eating.
Yuchen forcibly suppressed her discomfort. After rinsing her mouth, she began serving food to Yan Wushuang again. Yan Wushuang waved his hand. "Sit down and eat with me."
After dinner, Yan Wushuang said to Yuchen, "Come take a walk in the garden with me." Whenever he was in a bad mood, he liked to walk around the garden for a while.
Yuchen didn't refuse and accompanied Yan Wushuang into the garden.
The moment they stepped outside, the strong wind struck their faces like a knife cutting across their skin, causing a piercing ache. Yuchen hurriedly pulled up her hat to cover her face, then wrapped a scarf around it as well, leaving only her eyes exposed.
Yan Wushuang acted as though he hadn't even noticed the wind and snow, and walked straight into the garden. By now, the entire garden was a vast expanse of white, and even the pine trees were covered with long icicles.
Yuchen's face was covered, both hands were tucked inside a hand muff, and her entire body was wrapped up like a zongzi. Yet even dressed like this, she still felt terribly cold.
Yan Wushuang walked to the edge of the lake and stared at its frozen surface. Then he suddenly brought up a subject that had nothing whatsoever to do with the ice or the lake. "Yun Qing and Han Yuxi's family of four supposedly eats only three dishes and one soup at every meal. Do you believe that?" Yan Wushuang had originally thought that Yun Qing and Yuxi were merely putting on a show for everyone in the northwest to see. But the information he eventually obtained showed that it was true.
In fact, this rumour was somewhat exaggerated. While it was true that there were three dishes and one soup, those portions were only for Yun Qing and Yuxi, not for the whole family of four. As for Zaozao, how much could one child eat? And Liu-er ate food specially prepared for her by Momo Quan.
Yuchen's expression froze for a moment. Ever since she had previously asked Yan Wushuang whether he liked Yuxi, he had rarely mentioned her in front of Yuchen. "Wind does not come from an empty cave6. So it should be true, shouldn't it?"
Yan Wushuang smiled and asked, "How many dishes do you normally have at each meal?" For an ordinary commoner's household, three dishes and one soup would be plenty. But for someone who controlled the northwest and held the title of wang, it was extremely meagre for his status. His own dinner that evening, for example, consisted of eighteen dishes.
Yuchen paused slightly; though her face was covered, her expression could not be seen. "When I lived at home, there were six dishes at every meal. After marrying into the Jing Wangfu household, there were twelve. Later, when I entered the Imperial Palace, there were eighteen." At Yan Wangfu, it went back down to six dishes per meal.
The wind howled as it swept past. The nearby trees were swaying or leaning in all directions, while Yuchen was so cold that her entire body had begun to tremble.
Yan Wushuang, however, looked completely unaffected. "This move by Yun Qing and Han Yuxi is rather effective. Diligence and thrift have become the prevailing wind7 throughout the northwest. But just how badly did the Han residence treat Han Yuxi in the past to make her so meticulous about every expense?" In a noble household such as a Duke's residence, thrift and frugality in an unmarried young lady were not considered virtues, but rather something too unrefined for respectable society. It could even suggest that the family had declined, becoming a once-respectable household fallen into ruin.
Yuchen answered candidly, "Yuxi's biological mother once saved the life of my Er Tangge8, so my Eldest Aunt always took very good care of her. Although Grandma and Dad both disliked Yuxi, my Eldest Aunt ran the household, so Yuxi was never mistreated in terms of food, clothing, or daily expenses. When she lived at the Han residence, Yuxi also had four dishes and one soup at every meal." Yuxi's treatment was slightly inferior to Yuchen's, but she received the same as Yujing and the others.
Yan Wushuang chuckled softly. "Han Yuxi is frugal not only with food, but with her other expenses too. I heard that Yun Qing and Han Yuxi continue to wear their clothes even after they become torn, patching them instead of throwing them away." This rumour arose because, when Yun Qing visited the stables at the stud farm, he deliberately wore old clothes that happened to have two holes in them. Nevertheless, the couple were undeniably frugal. Yan Wushuang, on the other hand, wore old clothes so as not to damage his good ones.
Yuchen shook her head and said with certainty, "That can't be true. Yuxi would never wear patched clothing." Yuxi also cared about appearances and dignity. How could she possibly go out and meet people while wearing patched clothes?
Yan Wushuang also knew that the story contained some water9. "Yun Qing and Han Yuxi only held one banquet, for their younger daughter's first birthday choosing ceremony, and they have not held another since. They do not keep singing courtesans or beauties of every shape and style, whether plump like Yang Yuhuan📹 or slender like Zhao Feiyan📹10, and they don't even have dedicated embroiderers. Pingxi Wangfu's annual expenditure is not even one-third that of our own residence." The Yun residence's greatest expenses were actually its guards and household servants. Yun Qing's family of four did not spend much on themselves. As for Yan Wangfu, putting everything else aside, the combined expenses of the six beauties, including Yuchen, were considerable.
Yuchen did not understand why Yan Wushuang had told her all of this.
Yan Wushuang turned his head and looked at Yuchen. "The Yun family was never wealthy when Yun Qing was young, and later he went to a place like the northwest, so it is perfectly normal for him to be frugal. But Han Yuxi is an unusual case. People always say, 'It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury back to frugality11', yet Han Yuxi does not seem to fit that saying at all." She needed no adjustment period whatsoever before adapting extremely well to a simple, frugal life. Yan Wushuang found this highly contrary to what one would normally expect.
Yuchen finally understood. After all that had been said, Yan Wushuang still wanted to learn more about Yuxi. Yuchen said, "Yuxi doesn't particularly like beautiful clothes or jewellery, nor does she like attending banquets. Aside from reading, the only other thing she really likes is embroidery." Yuchen believed Yuxi liked embroidery not only because she was highly skilled at it, but also because she spent a great deal of time doing it.
Looking into Yan Wushuang's deep, well-like gaze12, Yuchen couldn't help but feel uneasy. Yan Wushuang had said so much to her today; it could not possibly have been merely to inform her of Yuxi's frugality.
Footnotes Full List
- 行尸走肉 (xíng shī zǒu ròu) — a walking corpse and moving flesh; a person who is physically alive but emotionally or spiritually dead
- 生不如死 (shēng bù rú sǐ) — living is worse than dying; suffering so greatly that death seems preferable
- 放下身段 (fàng xià shēnduàn) — lower one's bearing/status; set aside one's pride or dignity and humble oneself
- 只剩下一口气 (zhǐ shèng xià yì kǒu qì) — only one breath left; be barely alive or extremely close to death
- 吉人天相 (jí rén tiān xiàng) — Heaven assists an auspicious/good person; Heaven protects good people and tends to help them escape disaster
- 空穴不来风 (kōng xué bù lái fēng) — wind does not come from an empty cave; rumours or claims usually arise for some reason rather than entirely without basis
- 勤俭成风 (qínjiǎn chéng fēng) — diligence and thrift have become the prevailing wind; thriftiness has become a widespread social custom
- 二 (èr) — second, 堂哥 (táng gē) — paternal male cousin (older)
- 有水分 (yǒu shuǐfèn) — contains water; figuratively, contains exaggeration or unreliable details
- 肥环燕瘦 (féi Huán Yàn shòu) — plump Huan and slender Yan; an allusion to Yang Yuhuan and Zhao Feiyan, meaning beautiful women of differing body types and styles
- 由俭入奢易,由奢入俭难 (yóu jiǎn rù shē yì, yóu shē rù jiǎn nán) — going from frugality to luxury is easy; going from luxury to frugality is difficult; a proverb about how easy it is to become accustomed to comfort and how difficult it is to give it up
- 深井一般的眼神 (shēnjǐng yìbān de yǎnshén) — eyes/gaze like a deep well; a metaphor for an unreadable, profound, dark gaze whose thoughts are difficult to discern
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