Thousand Verdant Mountains – Chapter 24 Part 2
Chapter 24 Part 2
At this moment, Xuyu was still completely unaware of what was happening at the inn.
At the beginning of the month, she took the painting exam according to the instructions she had received at the Da’en Temple. The location was in a side courtyard next to the old Ministry of Chancellery Selection Office, and the topic was “”
The current emperor was interested in alchemy, so the exam was designed to cater to his tastes. The topic wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t particularly difficult either. If the candidates really couldn’t think of how to approach it, they could draw some deities like the True Lord, Golden Immortal, Queen Mother of The west, Mysterious Lady, or sacred creatures like turtles and cranes, and they would likely be safe. After the exam that day, she took the opportunity to ask Zhou He about the past affairs of the Wei family.
As she expected, when asked about the whereabouts of the young lady of the Wei family, Zhou He did not know. He only said that after Prince Ding ascended the throne, many old families related to Crown Prince Jingsheng suffered different degrees of attack. The most famous was the case of Pei Ji, who was directly demoted from Grand Chancellor to a county governor. As for the Wei family, they were more deeply involved with the crown prince, and they did not have the prestige and status of Pei Ji. Their ending was quite tragic. Wei Minghui seemed to have died in prison, and his house was also raided.
Xuyu didn’t have much hope for this, and while waiting for the results to be announced, she continued to look for people in Pingkang Lane. Things didn’t go smoothly, but fortunately, the results of the painting school’s release list were finally as she wished, and her name was on the list, the very last one.
She didn’t know how the exam rankings were determined, but she didn’t care about the ranking. All she wanted was to enter the palace.
Her wish was fulfilled, but what was slightly unexpected was that Zhou He failed the exam.
Zhou He’s painting skills were good, and he was born into a family of court painters. It was puzzling why he didn’t rely on the favor of his father to inherit his father’s career, and why he wasted time until now to enter the court again. But he didn’t say it, so she didn’t ask. When the result came out, Xuyu comforted him, and he just smiled bitterly a few times and said the words he had mentioned before that he hope she would help him in the future, as if he had expected it.
Xuyu could only watch Zhou He’s lonely back as he left. In the following half month, she and other people who were admitted to the painting school were taught by the academic officials. There were two academic officials, one was Song Bokang from Da’en Temple back then, and the other was Yang Jiming, a disciple of Yao Xu. The school was also in the side room of the examination courtyard. The content was to learn the requirements and regulations for various types of palace paintings, as well as the palace regulations that must be followed when entering and leaving the palace on a daily basis. It took almost a month of study before they could be brought into the Danfeng Gate and truly enter the department located in the Jixian Hall of the palace, that was, the painting department.
As of today, her painting studies was more than halfway through and was about to finish. Once she officially entered the palace, she might not have so much time to continue looking for people, so as the end of the month approached, Xuyu would inquire about it one by one whenever she has time.
Today, the painting class ended early. As before, she went to Pingkang Lane again. However, as the day was about to pass, there was still no progress. She described Wei Yinniang’s appearance and age to people, but no one knew. The only thing she gained was that she had searched all the brothels in Zhongqu and Nanqu, and only the places near the north wall were left.
There weren’t many places left to search. She came out of the narrow alley in the north and was about to go back to the inn and continue tomorrow, when someone suddenly called her from behind.
It was an old prostitute in the brothel she had just visited, dressed in shabby clothes. When she asked the porter at the door about someone of that appearance and age, she noticed that the old prostitute was standing nearby.
She stopped. The old prostitute walked up to her and whispered, “Young Master, I know the person you just asked.”
“About twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, with a full moon face, phoenix eyes, and a dimple on the corners of his lips when she smiles.” The old prostitute repeated.
“Where?” Xuyu asked her immediately.
The old prostitute stopped talking and made a gesture of counting money.
Just a few days ago, Xuyu had encountered a similar situation. A brothel owner claimed to have such daughter and demanded a meal, costing at least four , if she wanted to see her. After searching for days with no results, Xuyu was suspicious that the brothel owner was trying to swindle her, but with the possibility of news, she couldn’t resist meeting the girl. After haggling with the greedy brothel owner, they agreed on a price of one guan for the meeting. However, when she finally saw the girl, it was evident that she wasn’t the one. Though she bore a slight resemblance to the description, she was in her thirties or forties—definitely not Wei Yinniang.
Xuyu asked her how much it would cost. The old prostitute looked at her expression, hesitated, and finally said fifty coins.
“Fine.” Xuyu nodded.
The old prostitute was startled, and then a look of regret appeared on her face, probably because she felt that it was not enough.
In the past few days, Xuyu had been going in and out of these places and had seen many old prostitutes like the one in front of her. They have no customers as they get old, and they did not save money when they were young. They were exploited by their pimp and had a hard time making ends meet.
Xuyu felt that this old prostitute was not here just to cheat money, so she said, “Tell me everything you know, then I’ll give you a hundred coins.”
The old prostitute was delighted and quickly agreed. She led Xuyu to a corner of the wall nearby and whispered, “Young man, I do know someone who is similar to the one you’re looking for. She is of the right age and appearance. I heard that she was the daughter of a convicted official in the past. She came from the music bureau. She is beautiful, talented, and plays the pipa very well, very popular with customers. She was quite famous more than ten years ago and was a frequent guest at many banquets. But now not many people have seen her. One reason is that she is old, and most of her former patrons have dispersed. The other reason is that she seems to have been bought out in recent years, so she no longer sees guests. Don’t think that I can only do business in this shabby alley now. I used to go to banquets with her often, but my luck is not as good as hers. The patrons in the past did not remember the old friendship and abandoned me like a worn-out shoe.”
The old prostitute’s tone became sad. Xuyu’s heart beat faster: “Where’s that person now?”
“If she hadn’t left in the past two years, she would still be in the Jinfeng Tower at the intersection of Zhongqu Street. Her name is Yumian.”
Xuyu knew that it was the most famous brothel in the whole area. She had been there before, but the doorman must have seen that she was short of money and stopped her from entering. She once guarding the back door and stopped a maid who came out, gave her some money to inquired. At that time, the maid said that there were no courtesans in the brothel who look like that, so Xuyu left. If what the old prostitute said was true, there were two possibilities. One was that the woman named Yumian had left, and the other was that the maid she questioned that day had no chance to meet courtesanl of Yumian’s level, and Yumian had rarely seen guests in recent years, so she had never met her.
“You said she was bought out and no longer sees guests. If I want to see her, how can I see her?”
“If an official summons her to a banquet, even if she is bought out, she must respond. But I don’t know who the rich man who bought her out is. I haven’t heard any news of her returning to public view in the past two years.”
It seemed that she was getting closer to what she hoped for, and she should have been encouraged by this, but no, not at all.
The gentle elder sister in the past, the woman who was about to become the wife of Imperial Grandson Li Yan, fell into the abyss overnight and turned into the lowly person she was today.
She suppressed her confused emotions, paid the old prostitute, turned around and went back to Jinfeng Tower.
This brothel, which occupied a prime location in the lane, had wide eaves and high buildings. If it weren’t for the fact that the door was open day and night and guests came in and out, its grandeur would be comparable to the residences of high-ranking officials in the district. Just like last time, she was stopped outside the door again.
“I’m here on someone’s behalf. I have a fellow townsman who has accumulated a lot of wealth through business over the years. When he first came to the capital, he was deeply enamored with your Madam Yumian, and he still can’t forget her. Since he hasn’t been back to the capital for years, he doesn’t know if she’s still here. This time, he asked me to come ahead and inquire. If she’s still around, he’ll bring a large sum of money. Just to see her again, he’s willing to spend any amount.”
The doorman sneered after hearing this: “Your townsman certainly is sentimental, but Madam Yumian already has a wealthy patron, she doesn’t need his affections anymore. However, we do have many new ladies here, all of whom were trained in the music bureau, and their beauty and talent are not inferior to Madam Yumian. Tell him to come!
It was getting late at this time, and Xuyu got the answer she wanted, turned around and left, hurrying back.
The woman named Yumian was still here! But how can she get a chance to meet her?
Even if she was rich, it was obvious that the courtesan named Yumian was someone she could not approach now.
When she returned to the inn, it was already dark and the gate was about to close, but there were several mule carts outside that had not yet entered. There were many residents who had just returned like her, complaining one after another. She took advantage of her light body and saw an opportunity to squeeze in smoothly. She arrived at the inn quickly and felt that it was different from usual.
In the past, this time of day was the busiest time in the inn. Guests came back from all directions after finishing their day’s work and gathered in the dimly lit lobby of the inn in this commoner district to eat, drink, laugh, curse, gamble, fight, and shout. Aunt Gao was either yelling at the servant or busy calculating her bills behind the counter.
But at this moment, there was no one in the lobby. It was so quiet that even Aunt Gao was not guarding her counter. It seemed that everyone had finished eating and drinking early and went back to their rooms to sleep.
This was impossible in the past. Even after dinner time, the noise would continue until after the second watch before slowly dying down.
Xuyu was distracted by her thoughts and didn’t pay much attention. She continued to walk inside, turned to the back hall, and walked up the stairs.
The night sky had turned a deep shade of blue-black, and darkness had fully settled in.
Aunt Gao, ever thrifty, had only hung a single lantern at the foot of the stairs along the long corridor. Beyond that point, the light faded quickly, leaving the rest of the hallway in shadow. She had to rely on the dim night light filtering in from the eaves as she made her way forward. Fortunately, she was familiar with her surroundings, and with the sound of her own footsteps echoing in the silence, she walked through the quiet corridor until she reached the door of her room at the end.
She was holding the key and searching for the keyhole, but suddenly she hesitated and her hand stopped.
Although she didn’t look back, she felt as if there was someone behind her.
The public security in this neighborhood was not very good, and her room was indeed a bit remote. The reason why she never moved out was, firstly, for the money in the pocket, and secondly, because she had become familiar with Aunt Gao, making it awkward to suddenly bring up the idea of leaving. So, she stayed here day after day. Although Aunt Gao was very powerful and had some connections, as the local ruffians didn’t usually come to the door to extort money or make trouble, but there were often drunk fights and thieves stealing outside after dark. It was said that some thieves could even scale walls and roofs. Just a few days ago, a merchant who lived here claimed that a thief flew from the poplar tree in the courtyard to his window eaves in the middle of the night, eyeing his money bag. Fortunately, he was a light sleeper and managed to scare the thief away. Though it was later proven to be nothing more than a stray cat passing by, one could never be too sure…
She stood there, motionless, and suddenly turned back.
A person was standing under the lantern at the entrance of the stairs she had just passed, and the dim light outlined seemingly familiar figure.
It was the shadow of a quiet and tall man, which immediately reminded her of the man who stood outside her door in the setting sun that evening.
Pei Xiaoyuan, nephew of Pei Ji?
At first, Xuyu thought she was seeing things.
She knew that the Hu person, Chengping, whom she had met in the county governor mansion, was going to the capital. But who was this person?
Xuyu was so shocked that she couldn’t help but feel a sudden throbbing in her heart. The smooth iron key in her hand slipped from her fingers like a fish and fell in front of her feet with a ding. She was unable to react for a moment and just watched him walking towards her. With the clear sound of his boots, he walked towards her, bent over, picked up the key from her feet and inserted it into the keyhole.
With a slight sound of unlocking, a hand slowly pushed the door open for her.
The lantern hung at the far end of the corridor, flickering faintly in the dark night like a crimson moon veiled in misty clouds, gently floating in the air. However, the end of the corridor where they stood was shrouded in deep shadow, creating an atmosphere thick with darkness. The two of them were close, closer than they had ever been before.
Xuyu did not raise her eyes, but she felt that the person beside her was slightly lowering his head and looked at her face.
“Come in! I have something to ask you.”
At first, he did not speak. Suddenly, after a moment, in the midst of the darkness, he leaned close to her ear and whispered.
Translator’s note:
Aww, finally!!