Against the Current - Chapter 107
Chapter 107 - Stealing Pleasure
Now, speaking of Zhao Yuechan's father, Zhao Xuede, these past few days he had received a confidential letter written by his father. It stated that rumors were circulating that the long-lost Crown Prince, Qin Yunyu, was hiding in Jinling. The rumors sounded remarkably detailed, as if they were true, and commanded him to remain constantly vigilant and to apprehend any suspicious persons immediately upon discovery. Zhao Xuede received the order and dispatched men in secret to investigate. This investigation proved consequential, for it genuinely turned up certain traces and clues. This matter ought properly to have been reported upward, but Zhao Xuede was precisely at a juncture where he needed political achievements. Fearing that too much commotion would allow others to steal the credit, and being a mere civil official with no capable men at his disposal, he found himself in a temporary dilemma.
His eldest son, Zhao Gang, had received numerous benefits from Lin Jinlou over these recent days, so he suggested, "Father might as well go find the Eldest Brother-in-law. He holds military authority and power; rather than letting outsiders reap the benefit, it would be better to keep it within the family. He will also appreciate our favor."
Zhao Xuede felt this strategy was exceptionally good. Firstly, his son-in-law was family and would not have the heart to compete with him for the credit; secondly, he had heard that the couple had recently been at odds again. If this affair succeeded, it would make Lin Jinlou deeply grateful, and Zhao Yuechan would also have an easier time of it. Therefore, he summoned Lin Jinlou to confer with him. Lin Jinlou readily agreed without hesitation, patting his chest and saying, "Father-in-law is being too much of an outsider. If we truly capture the rebel, the credit naturally belongs to Father-in-law. I am merely lending a few men, so what difficulty could there be?"
Hearing this, Zhao Xuede felt comforted in his heart and inwardly praised Lin Jinlou for knowing how to read the situation. The two men schemed in secret for a while, which we shall leave aside for the moment.
Now, turning to Zhao Yuechan. On the very day Lin Jinlou returned home, he struck her across the face and, to top it all off, brought up the matter of Qinglan perishing along with her unborn child. Hearing the implication in Lin Jinlou's words, Zhao Yuechan knew he had likely guessed the truth, and her heart could not help but flutter with nervous dread. She cowered in trepidation for two days, only to discover that Lin Jinlou made no further move whatsoever. In fact, he left early and returned late every day, sometimes even staying overnight at the military camp. He completely ignored Meimei, let alone the two maids recently bestowed by Old Madam Lin.
Zhao Yuechan's courage swelled once more, and she said to Yingshuang, "So what if Lin Jinlou knows? What can he possibly do to me? Qinglan tripped and fell of her own accord; I didn't push her. Even if I used the Lin family's silver to lend out usurious loans, what's wrong with that? Countless official households do it, and you never see any of them getting arrested!"
Yingshuang thought to herself, My mistress, when other people lend out usurious loans, they at least return a fraction of the profits to the public coffers! You, on the other hand, stuffed every single tael of the loot straight into your own pockets! Furthermore, you embezzled quite a bit in the process. Most fatal of all is that if this allows the Eldest Master to follow the vine and unearth Cousin-Master's involvement, exposing your illicit affair, and then goes on to uncover that you instigated Cousin-Master to commit arson, you'll be left with nothing to do but string yourself up by the neck! Not daring to offer deep remonstrance, she merely said aloud, "Mistress should still be cautious. Have you forgotten how you couldn't eat or sleep for worry when the account books were lost those few days ago?"
Zhao Yuechan sneered, "The Lin family wouldn't dare touch me. Didn't you see how half of Lin Jinlou's military merits were snatched away by others? I heard that the paltry rewards bestowed by the court weren't even enough to compensate the families of the dead and wounded soldiers... It's just him being obstinate and giving away far too much silver to the casualties and meritorious soldiers. Even if you want to buy people's hearts, you must measure your capabilities first, mustn't you? So what if he was promoted to a higher rank? Nowadays, who relies solely on an official salary to get by?"
After chattering on for a while, she instructed Yingshuang, "Prepare a few types of sacrificial offerings. Tomorrow at dawn, we'll go to Ganlu Temple to burn incense."
Yingshuang assented, though she felt secretly perplexed and thought: Recently, the Mistress has suddenly taken to Buddhism. Normally she never reads or copies scriptures, and she hasn't set foot in the household's family shrine more than a couple of times, yet she's been rushing off to Ganlu Temple, claiming she's praying for the Eldest Master's safety on the battlefield. The Old Madam and the Madam were pleased enough, saying that having the Mistress believe in Buddhism would help temper her temperament. Now that the Eldest Master has returned, the Mistress still goes diligently to Ganlu Temple, claiming she's praying for a child. Alas, every time she goes, she never seems to bow or kowtow before the Goddess of Child-Delivering. As she pondered, she prepared two large food boxes containing refreshments.
Early the next morning, she boarded a carriage with Zhao Yuechan and headed to Ganlu Temple, which we need not dwell upon.
Now, turning to Xianglan. Because the year-end was approaching, every household had begun bustling about purchasing New Year goods. Auntie Song and Song Tanchai naturally stayed at the Lin estate to celebrate the New Year, so Xianglan worked together with the maids and matrons to thoroughly clean the Song household from top to bottom. They replaced the door gods, couplets, and lanterns, and freshly brushed the peachwood warding talismans. When the agricultural estates and shops sent their customary annual tribute offerings, Xianglan picked out the most presentable items, packed half a cartload of them, and sent them to the Lin estate for Auntie Song and the others to use as gifts. The remaining items were distributed among the servants and maidservants so they could go home and celebrate the New Year, and the end-of-month reward silver was also packed into red envelopes and handed out.
In her leisure moments, she calculated the dates on her fingers: the palace examinations were just over a month away, and she could not help feeling deeply anxious and concerned for Song Ke. Thus, she thought of visiting a temple—first, to pray for peace and safety in the coming year, and second, to bless Song Ke so that he would return victorious from the palace examinations. Her master, Abbess Danyi, had traveled south several months prior and had yet to return, so Xianglan no longer went to Jingyue Nunnery. Early in the morning, she prepared four kinds of pastries and four kinds of fruits, packed them into food boxes and baskets, ordered a carriage to be prepared, and took Old Man Wang—the gatekeeper—along with his wife to burn incense at Ganlu Temple.
This Ganlu Temple was built upon a mountain and was a centuries-old ancient monastery with extremely flourishing incense-burning patronage. By the time Xianglan arrived, the sky was still shrouded in dim twilight, and the mountain gates had only just been opened, so there were very few people about. Old Man Wang waited in the carriage while Granny Wang accompanied Xianglan to worship every single Buddha and Bodhisattva in the temple. She wrote out peaceful memorial plaques, prayed for peace talismans, and donated some incense money before finally emerging from the main hall.
After a while, Xianglan grew thirsty and asked a young monk in the temple for some water to drink. Because she had donated a considerable amount of merit money, the young monk very respectfully invited the two of them to rest in the tranquil guest hall of the inner courtyard and personally served them fine tea.
Xianglan removed her cloak's hood, cradled the hot tea, took a sip, and smiled, saying, "The tea in this temple is all brewed with mountain spring water, and the flavor really is extraordinary. It feels so warm and cozy to drink."
Granny Wang chuckled, "Indeed it is. After freezing out there for half a day, this warmth has finally revived me." Thinking of Old Man Wang still suffering outside in the cold, she casually fabricated an excuse and said, "Mistress, sit slowly; my stomach hurts, so I'm going to the latrine." She then stepped out of the room, found a monk outside to beg another bowl of hot tea, and carried it out for Old Man Wang to drink.
Xianglan put down her teacup, stepped out into the inner courtyard, and paused to admire the plum blossoms. They were as brilliant as rosy clouds and brocade, exceptionally refined and elegant. She praised the quiet serenity of the monastic rooms along the way, then raised her head to gaze at the towering Buddhist pagoda. Without realizing it, she crossed the moon gate and found herself in the area of the monks' residential dormitories. Just as she was about to turn back, she heard the faint sound of groaning between a man and a woman drifting from inside one of the rooms.
Xianglan was taken aback. She crept stealthily forward, poked a hole through the window paper, and peeked inside. To her utter shock, she saw Zhao Yuechan kneeling and draped face-down across the bed, her hair slightly disheveled with her golden hairpin on the verge of slipping out. Her brows were knitted, her beautiful eyes half-closed, and her expression was a mix of infatuation and intoxication. She was completely naked, with a water-red, five-colored mandarin duck embroidered bellyband dangling loosely from her neck, and her twin mounds of full, round, white, and tender breasts bouncing back and forth like honeyed peaches. Kneeling right behind her was a young monk with handsome brows and a robust, magnificent physique, whose two hands clamped tightly around Zhao Yuechan's slender waist as he forcefully drove forward.
Zhao Yuechan babbled incessantly, gasping, "My good man, push in a bit deeper..."
The monk chuckled, "You want me to push deeper? Someone like you is no noble lady at all; you're clearly nothing more than a rotten whore from a pleasure house!" With that, he thrust even more vigorously.
His thrusts forced consecutive cries from Zhao Yuechan. She twisted her face around, cast a seductive glance, and rasped in a hoarse voice, "I am a rotten whore, but you mustn't soil your own body for my sake, nor desecrate this tranquil sanctuary of the Buddha."
This wanton demeanor stirred the monk's passions to an even greater fever pitch. Acting like a madman, he declared, "You are my Buddha, my mistress!" As he spoke, he pressed his face close, and the two of them locked lips and sucked tongues, making loud smacking noises.
As it turned out, ever since the incident with the account books, Zhao Yuechan had grown cautious and alert. Yingshuang had also advised her, "Why is the Mistress still bothering to lend out usurious loans and continuing to associate with the Cousin-Master? Who knows what kind of trouble might brew from this in the future? Is the Cousin-Master any kind of good man? Mistress should steer clear of the limelight for now and wash your hands of it." While Zhao Yuechan was filled with a guilty conscience and trembling with fear, she heeded Yingshuang's words, and her meetings with Qian Wenze gradually decreased.
Qian Wenze, however, panicked. Zhao Yuechan was his godmother of wealth; with her cutting him off, Qian Wenze's finances tightened once more. He was a lavish spender who threw money around like dirt, indulging in eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling with unbridled extravagance. When his silver was spent after a few rounds, he began plotting once more to extract money from Zhao Yuechan. Pondering it from every angle, he reasoned that this woman was a licentious creature who naturally wouldn't wish to spend her days guarding an empty chamber. If he found a fresh face and lured her out again, half the battle would be won. Therefore, he sought out his old partner in dissolute debauchery, Hao Qing, to confer with him.
This Hao Qing originally had some money of his own, but after his old man died, he squandered the greater part of the family estate. He had been blessed with good looks and possessed an endowment the size of a donkey's, making him a supreme favorite among the courtesans in the pleasure quarters. Qian Wenze lavished praise upon Madam Zhao, describing her beauty and amorous charm until Hao Qing was instantly captivated, pressing him repeatedly for details. Qian Wenze devised a strategy: he had Hao Qing shave his head to disguise himself as a monk, gave Ganlu Temple a large sum of silver so he could lodge in the dormitories, and then lured Zhao Yuechan to the temple to introduce the two of them.
Hao Qing was adept at seduction, and Zhao Yuechan was a woman corrupted by lust. The two exchanged amorous glances and struck up an immediate rapport. Under the pretext of leaving on an errand, Qian Wenze cleared the stage, allowing the pair to come together and stick to each other like glue and lacquer. Qian Wenze thus kept a tight hold on Zhao Yuechan through this arrangement. Though he inwardly regretted that such an exquisite beauty had to be shared with another man, silver was ultimately more important. Hao Qing claimed his family circumstances were dire and that he had been forced to become a monk, thus hoodwinking Zhao Yuechan into coughing up silver to lend out at interest. Though the returns weren't as lavish as before, they were better than nothing. The three of them would rendezvous at Ganlu Temple to make merry, drink wine, and indulge in depravity, details of which are too sordid to recount in full.
Who could have anticipated that today, Xianglan would bump into them and witness the entire spectacle?
Xianglan was instantly struck dumb with astonishment, her jaw hanging wide open and her face flushing beet red. She took two hurried steps backward, stepping with a patter of small footsteps, and thought to herself, This is bad! I've actually stumbled upon Zhao Yuechan's scandalous deed. If she sees me, won't that vicious wretch try every possible means to murder me? I must hurry and get away from this place of right and wrong! Without a moment's delay, she dashed back, pulled her hood back over her head, ran a few paces, and then glanced backward. With a strong streak of malicious schadenfreude, she thought, As the saying goes, "If you want to get along in life, you've got to wear a bit of green on your head." Eldest Master Lin has turned out to be a massive cuckold. This is just retribution for his dissolute, womanizing ways. If he ever finds out, he'll probably go stark raving mad! Lowering her head, she covered her small mouth and giggled out loud. The very next second, remembering that Lin Jinlou had once saved her life, she felt she shouldn't mock the man quite so heartlessly, and so she pursed her lips and hurried on her way back.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted. Seven or eight bailiffs came pounding in with heavy footsteps, charging straight ahead and cordooning off the entrance to the residential quarters. Behind them followed another entire troop of men. Xianglan hastily darted sideways to conceal herself at the base of the wall. Stealing a sideways glance, she felt that the shock of witnessing Zhao Yuechan's illicit tryst just moments ago was merely a gentle breeze compared to the thunderbolt striking her now—among the three men slowly approaching from the rear, one of them was unmistakably Lin Jinlou!