Four Seasons Brocade – CH 036

Chapter 36 ☆、 A Child’s Yearning for Family, Yet Unwilling to Part (Part 1)

“Jing Ke’s assassination attempt on the King of Qin failed, so Lu Goujian said he did not know the art of swordsmanship and therefore failed.”

Zi-Shan said, “Oh, so complicated.”

Ah Wu nodded. It was indeed quite complicated. Considering the events of the past few days, Fifth Young Lady Rong’s words were truly heartfelt. She compared herself to the King of Qin, mocking Ah Wu and her companions as “unfit for swordplay,” utterly powerless against them. Her supposed luck the other day was nothing but a trick of demons and monsters, a mere pipe dream to seize their souls.

Unfortunately, Qiu Se widely disseminated these two lines, but Qiao Mei’s words were like a blind man’s eyes; few could understand them. If these lines had not reached Ah Wu’s eyes, perhaps no one would have appreciated the talented woman’s work.

Ah Wu thought for a moment, then picked up a brush and wrote two lines on the white paper: “Golden hairpin ashamed to be a sheathed sword, forbidding others to light lamps in the dark.” This meant that if the ‘Korean-style’ hairpin knew that Fifth Young Lady Rong considered her a ‘sword of demons and monsters,’ it would only be ashamed to remain in her sheath. Furthermore, the hairpin symbolized a noblewoman, and the ‘sheathed sword’ could refer to hidden treachery. This sentence was a sharp satire of Fifth Young Lady Rong.

The next line, ‘light lamps in the dark,’ alluded to the ancient saying ‘Only the magistrate is allowed to set fires, but the common people are forbidden to light lamps,’ further satirizing Fifth Young Lady Rong, saying that she herself set fires, first scheming against Ah Wu, but forbidding Ah Wu and the others from retaliating by ‘lighting lamps.’

“Here, return this paper to where it came from.” Ah Wu wrote it and handed it to Zi-Shan.

“Miss’s handwriting is truly beautiful,’ Zi-Shan praised, holding Ah Wu’s handwriting.

“You understand now,” Ah Wu teased Zi-Shan.

“Although I do not know how to say it’s good, I just think it’s good. Better than Fifth Young Lady’s.”

Ever since Zi-Shan listened to Ah Wu discuss poetry with her, she no longer thought Fifth Young Lady Rong was amazing. Instead, she thought her own young lady knew everything and could spout profound truths in one go. She was truly impressive.

After receiving Ah Wu’s two lines of reply, Fifth Young Lady Rong remained silent. Xia Fang and Qiu Se, watching from the side, both scolded Ah Wu, “How could Sixth Young Lady be so vicious? How could she insult the young lady like that? The young lady’s poem did not say anything about them!”

The fact that they could say such things showed that Xia Fang and Qiu Se understood the meaning of Ah Wu’s poem. Ah Wu’s insult was simple and easy to understand, and could be described as scathing; those who needed to understand could understand it.

On the other hand, even Xia Fang and Qiu Se could not understand Fifth Young Lady Rong’s two lines.

For insults to be truly satisfying and cathartic, they must be understood. If it was incomprehensible to everyone, then the insult was wasted.

Therefore, while Ah Wu felt satisfied, Fifth Young Lady Rong felt a surge of anger.

From then on, Fifth Young Lady Rong inevitably felt awkward around Ah Wu, and the sisterly affection was almost completely gone.

After this commotion, things calmed down a bit on the Old Madam’s side. Although Fourth Young Lady Rong still treated Ah Wu with harsh words, she dared not lay a hand on her again. She knew that the Second Madam was ruthless when dealing with others.

Autumn arrived, and Ah Wu unexpectedly received good news from Gu Xihui.

Gu Xihui had actually invited Ah Wu to her birthday banquet, something Ah Wu had never anticipated. She thought she did not have much of a relationship with Gu Xihui, but that could not erase their past “life-or-death” entanglement of spying on a handsome man together, so Gu Xihui still invited Ah Wu.

Ah Wu herself never imagined she would stoop so low, becoming overjoyed by a mere invitation from Gu Xihui. If someone in her past life had told her she would have such a day, Ah Wu would have had that person thrown out and smeared with dog feces.

In this life, Ah Wu was overjoyed by Gu Xihui’s invitation, eager to see Princess Fuhui, and her dislike for Gu Xihui lessened considerably.

Fifth Young Lady Rong was also invited, but Fourth Young Lady Rong had no chance. No matter how virtuous Gu Xihui was, she possessed integrity and was not afraid of offending a mere Fourth Young Lady Rong. And if Fourth Young Lady Rong saw her again, she would still fawn over her like a lapdog.

Ah Wu, with excitement and a touch of reverence, alighted from the carriage at the side gate of the Duke of Wei’s mansion.

As soon as Fifth Young Lady Rong and Ah Wu touched the ground, maids and servants led them through the hanging flower gate, where they were transferred to a small, blue-curtained carriage and headed straight for the garden. Even without lifting the curtain, Ah Wu knew where the carriage was and which gate it had passed through.

Unfortunately, the place Ah Wu knew best was no longer her home.

Gu Xihui hosted a banquet at Xiefang Pavilion, a place Ah Wu adored. Located atop a sluice gate, the pavilion’s misty spray made it a perfect summer retreat. Ah Wu loved the coolness of the spray, but being frail, Princess Fuhui usually would not allow her to sit for long.

But now, all of this belonged to Gu Xihui. Ah Wu felt a pang of sadness, like a little girl whose toy had been snatched away.

A group of servants escorted Ah Wu and Fifth Young Lady Rong into the pavilion. Upon entering, Ah Wu discovered that the Imperial Princess was also present.

Ah Wu had not expected to see the Princess, but she found her so easily. Ah Wu’s narrow-mindedness crept in again. What did Gu Xihui’s birthday banquet have to do with the Princess? Yet she was sitting there, adding to Gu Xihui’s glory.

A daughter’s possessiveness towards her mother was no less than her future possessiveness towards her husband; they could not tolerate anyone vying for their mother’s love. Sometimes, even siblings were not enough, let alone cousins.

In reality, Ah Wu truly misunderstood the Princess. The Imperial Princess was sitting here today entirely because of Gu Xihui’s words. Seeing that the Princess was excessively missing her daughter and had been ill, Gu Xihui could not help but mention that Ah Wu’s paintings resembled Princess Kangning.

Princess Fuhui had only listened casually. Since Ah Wu’s departure, countless people had been scheming, hoping to use Princess Kangning as a breakthrough to win the Princess’s favor. The Princess was not foolish; on the contrary, she was extremely clever. She believed that no one in the world could compare to her Ah Wu, and she hated all imitations.

As for this Sixth Young Lady of the Duke of Anguo’s Mansion, the Princess had not even met her yet, but she had already categorized her as a scheming imitation. The daughter of a concubine’s son in the Duke’s Mansion seemed to have every reason to curry favor with the Imperial Princess. With the Princess’s favor, a young lady from a humble family could rise rapidly in rank, and even her father could benefit from it.

Initially, Princess Fuhui had no intention of seeing Ah Wu. However, the day before, while feeding the fish in the pond, Princess Fuhui saw the ducks and remembered Ah Wu’s painting of ducks. She wept for a while and then recalled Gu Xihui’s words. This gave her the idea of ​​seeing Ah Wu, even if it was a replica, to briefly mourn her daughter.

When Fifth Young Lady Rong met Princess Fuhui, she greeted her somewhat reservedly. Fifth Young Lady Rong was already a worldly girl, but she was still very restrained in front of Princess Fuhui. The presence of the Imperial Princess naturally inspired a sense of awe.

Ah Wu gazed longingly at the Princess, her mother still as beautiful as in her youth: long, slanted eyebrows, sharp, almond-shaped eyes, red lips, and a pointed chin—still the same dignified and noble, yet arrogant, Princess Fuhui.

Ah Wu, accustomed to the Princess’s appearance, was not afraid and gave a graceful bow.

Princess Fuhui, however, found herself increasingly uncomfortable around Ah Wu. Few in the world could be at ease in her presence; even the concubines in the palace held her in awe. The Princess could not believe an eight-year-old girl possessed such courage.

Therefore, Princess Fuhui could only conclude that this Sixth Young Lady had come prepared, possessing a deep and calculating nature despite her young age. Furthermore, the undisguised affection in Ah Wu’s eyes led the Princess to believe that such deep affection came from someone she had only met once.

A beautiful but lowly girl, cunning and a skilled actress—that was the Princess’s entire impression of Ah Wu. The Princess resented Ah Wu’s fawning; why should such a lowly girl live so well, while her intelligent and kind-hearted Ah Wu had died young? Princess Fuhui was filled with resentment.

The coldness and contempt in the Princess’s eyes chilled Ah Wu to the bone.

But Ah Wu remained undeterred. Seeing the Princess’s haggard face—even thick makeup could not conceal the dark circles under her eyes—she knew that when the Princess was troubled, she often suffered from insomnia, only recovering somewhat after meeting the Imperial Physician He and taking his medicine.

And now, Imperial Physician He was merely a menial worker in the Imperial Medical Bureau.

Worried about the Princess’s health, Ah Wu could not help but ask, “Your Highness, did you not sleep well last night? I heard from Father that there’s a Physician He in the Imperial Medical Bureau, whose medical skills are excellent, specializing in treating insomnia and sleep deprivation. Your Highness could try him.”

Ah Wu’s words were born of deep affection for her mother, and her eagerness and sincerity were understandably a bit excessive. However, for a mere child who did not know the Princess, these words were highly inappropriate.

In truth, Ah Wu was not trying to play any tricks on the Princess; otherwise, she would have had a thousand, even ten thousand, more tactful ways to address this matter. Instead, she spoke most hastily and inappropriately. It was simply because she was anxious. After all, she could not bear to.

How could a daughter harbor such malice towards her mother? Perhaps Ah Wu might have used some petty tricks against Lady Cui, but towards the Imperial Princess, her sincerity was utterly genuine and without pretense.

However, this genuine sincerity, so unpretentious, seemed utterly inappropriate to the Imperial Princess, who was accustomed to scheming and being schemed against; it reeked of obsequiousness.