TBTTSP - Chapter 22
Chapter 22: Xu Wanqing Tells a Story (7)
A Buddha hung high overhead, its brows benevolent, its eyes cold. It stood motionless, gazing down upon the teeming masses.
The masses moved through the temple amid swirling incense smoke, and the monks were like threads, weaving the crowd of strangers into a single net.
Xu Wanqing lowered her eyes.
The Squire's words echoed faintly in her ears.
"That habit you have of not waking up—since the physicians can't figure it out, we might as well pray to the gods."
She had come out this day and knelt in pious prayer.
But she wasn't praying to wake up. She was praying not to wake up.
If she didn't wake up, she could remain lost in her dream—a dream with a school, with companions, with Zhang Xu, and with Shang Yi.
She prayed for a talisman for Shang Yi.
Although several hundred years separated them, and this talisman could never reach Shang Yi's hands, she still prayed with all her heart.
The monk asked, "What do you pray for?"
"What?"
"Since you are praying for another's fortune, there must be a matter of most importance. Sufferings are countless. Which would you have resolved, benefactor?"
"I pray for a destined connection."
She answered crisply.
She prayed for a fate that would connect her to Shang Yi.
She lived in the present, while Shang Yi was in the future. If not for this chance encounter, she and Shang Yi would have had no connection at all. Now that they had met, she refused to let it be. It couldn't just end, couldn't stop so abruptly. There had to be something to hold on to.
She prayed for a destined connection—one with both a beginning and a future. If, by some stroke of luck in her next, next, next, next life, she could meet Shang Yi again, she would be overjoyed.
However, even now, she still didn't know why she wanted to see Shang Yi so badly.
After leaving the temple, she got into her carriage. As they passed through the streets, someone was hawking copies of The Golden Lotus and Empty Against the Moon. The latter was the story she had written, the one she had shown to Shang Yi.
"Come take a look! These two are the most popular books right now. If you don't buy one, others are waiting in line."
She lifted the curtain for a peek, a hint of pride in her eyes, then quickly let it fall shut.
She had a good feel for novels. Having seen Zhang Xu's vulgar, circulated notebooks, she knew early on just how far she should go.
And with The Golden Lotus as a precedent, she had intentionally or unintentionally added some matters of the bedchamber. When the Squire found out, he said she was no common woman and was certainly not the type to use sensationalism to curry favor.
Her writing on carnal matters had originally been exceptionally euphemistic. After reading it, Shang Yi had offered a suggestion: if she could write more explicitly and produce more stories without being shy, they would surely sell much better.
Shang Yi was truly clever. Everyone hid what happened in the bedroom, avoiding the topic as if it were a flood or a fearsome beast, yet no one could escape it. Everyone did it, everyone needed it. In private, they snickered about it with vulgar delight, but in public, they had to put on an act.
With three parts secret joy and seven parts apprehension, she clutched the Peace Talisman she had prayed for and returned to her room.
The maids weren't around. Only the old matron she had brought with her saw the smile on her face and the girlish coyness in her expression, and she teased her, "The Squire may be a bit old, but he is exceptionally good to you, Miss. He's coaxed such a smile out of you that you can't even contain it."
She hastily composed her expression. "What are you saying now? Do not gossip about my husband behind his back."
The matron chuckled and left. Xu Wanqing sat down, flustered, and hid the Peace Talisman on her person, pretending it was for herself.
That night, there was another gathering of scholars.
The scholars didn't come often, but their visits were growing more frequent. They were here for half the days in a month.
Behind the curtain, she lit a lamp herself and listened to the conversation outside.
She hung her head as if drowsing off, but in truth, she was listening intently.
The scholars' discussions were about nothing more than how to begin their writings, how to properly address the current emperor's obsession with alchemy, how to condemn it, how to evade the authorities, and how to mention the crown prince.
It was mostly about literary technique. Although they all spoke with great intensity, nothing seemed to come of it, and she relaxed slightly.
The scholars who attended were different each time. Xu Wanqing made a point of noting the different voices.
Scholars all wanted moral integrity and fortitude; having failed the imperial examinations, they still sought to make a name for themselves.
Xu Wanqing listened from behind the curtain, silently lowering her head to write her own things. After a while, the group seemed to start their midnight snack, and the air filled with laughter and cheerful chatter.
Suddenly, a man burst through the curtain.
She covered her face in alarm, but the man shoved something into her hands. "Shh, Sister-in-law, please keep this for me. I'll be back for it in ten days. Don't mention this to anyone."
The man looked young. He was tall and lanky, standing before her like a pole, his eyes clear—not like those of a lecher.
She noticed his fingers were long and slender, looking exceptionally nimble. He had passed the object to her with extreme speed and lightness.
She was so startled by the man's sudden intrusion that she couldn't recover her senses for a long moment. By the time she did, he was long gone.
The Squire came behind the curtain. She immediately presented the object the man had given her. It was a small brocade box, embroidered with a dragon pattern.
As she held it out, she startled herself.
Who would dare use something with a five-clawed golden dragon on it?
The Squire suddenly grabbed her hands, clamping them around the brocade box. "That scoundrel has some nerve…"
"What is this?"
Her question hung in the air. The Squire's brow furrowed, and his voice turned cold. "Do not speak of this to anyone else. I am going to see the crown prince. In the coming days, be prepared to leave home at a moment's notice."
"Then this box…"
"My wife shall keep it for now."
And so, the box remained in her keeping.
She figured the less she knew about this matter, the better. If she knew what was hidden inside, her expression would surely give it away.
But if she didn't know, and something were to happen, she feared she would die a wrongful death.
The next day, when she returned to the future, she had just woken up when she hurriedly opened the notebook and saw Shang Yi's message from the day before:
Zhang Xu, I'm in a bit of trouble right now. I've checked the dates, and you'll have to put in the effort for the final exams yourself. Your desk mate is going to ask you to do English worksheets together after school tomorrow. You should do some last-minute cramming. Don't just play on your phone the moment you get home.
Shang Yi was in trouble.
Xu Wanqing couldn't bear to bother Shang Yi with her own problems.
But the words were in her belly, and it was agony not to speak them. So she left a message, recounting the entire process of receiving the brocade box in painstaking detail.
At the end, she added:
Inside the brocade box are seven pills, jade-colored throughout, and odorless when sniffed.
As she was heading off to the private school with her schoolbag, just before she was about to leave, she couldn't hold back and added in her language textbook:
Younger Sister Shang, if you have troubles, would you be willing to tell me? Though I may not understand, I wish to share your burden.
A day later, she received a reply:
Got it. Mwah.
What did "mwah" mean?
To find out, Xu Wanqing first gently tugged on her desk mate's sleeve and spoke of other things. "What did you think of the language quiz from the day before yesterday?"
Her desk mate frowned, as if unsure how to answer.
So she added, "Sigh, I thought it was very difficult."
"…But you got a perfect score."
"That's true."
Xu Wanqing mentally chided herself for being so muddle-headed.
"What are you trying to say?" Her desk mate, whose sleeve was still being pulled, couldn't get any work done and was rather annoyed.
So she had no choice but to ask humbly, "What does 'mwah' mean?"
"…Zhang Xu, don't you go being a pervert, I'm telling you."
Xu Wanqing silently lowered her head, a tempest raging in her heart.
A pervert?
To verify, she mustered her courage, turned around, and said to the person at the desk behind her in a soft, gentle voice, "Mwah."
"Mwah!" The little girl at the desk behind her puckered her lips and blew her a kiss.
After pondering for a long time in class, Xu Wanqing finally understood. "Mwah" was an onomatopoeia for a kiss. The extra "h" at the end just made it sound more cheerful.
What did Shang Yi mean by this?
Could it be that the customs of the future were so open-minded that this "mwah" was merely a courtesy? If that was the case, then she hadn't been rude.
"Zhang Xu, what's with you today? How can you go around saying 'mwah' to so many people? It's very… very improper!"
Her desk mate's scolding was a sudden enlightenment. Xu Wanqing sat back down in her seat, prim and proper.
A frivolous person.
She replied under Shang Yi's message:
Frivolous!
The more she thought about it, the redder her face became.
It was all Shang Yi's fault for being frivolous, making her act like a lecherous rogue as well. Who would have thought it was all Shang Yi's fault!
Distracted by this word, she completely forgot that she was supposed to get an answer from Shang Yi about what to do with the seven pills. Shang Yi hadn't answered her at all.
It seemed she would have to hide them for now and play it by ear.
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