Against the Current - Chapter 115

Chapter 115 - Provoking Trouble 

Lin Dongling was entirely absorbed in her intimacy with the man and did not notice Xianglan. With a flash of their figures, the two of them hurried behind the rockery. Xianglan thought to herself, "This Lin Dongling is truly daring, actually engaging in illicit affections with a man right out in the open at home. While the Lin family is considered a prominent and prestigious clan, the young ladies they raise ought to at least maintain some sense of propriety, even if they cannot be described as entirely precious. To act in such a dissolute manner now shows that the family discipline is no longer what it used to be. This place is fraught with trouble, so it is best to leave quickly." With that, she halted her steps, turned back, took a different path, and left—which we need not dwell on for now.

Meanwhile, the Lin household was bustling with activity. Although they were still observing the mourning period for the late Dowager Zeng, Lin Jinlou's promotion to a fourth-rank general made the atmosphere even livelier than usual. Visitors coming to offer New Year greetings arrived in an endless stream, moving in a continuous loop like a revolving lantern. Lin Jinlou had gone out early in the morning to pay New Year visits and did not return until midday. He brought home several friends he frequently associated with to dine, but because they were in mourning and it was inappropriate to invite a theatrical troupe to set up a stage and perform, he spent silver to have top-ranking courtesans—Crimson Red from the Yihong Pavilion and Chun Hong from the Lichun Brothel—brought over in small sedated sedan chairs. He also summoned several young girls kept by the household who were skilled in singing and playing instruments, having them hold strings, bamboos, and pipes to play behind the screen. For a time, the air was filled with a lively, spring-like warmth.

Lin Jinlou leaned lazily against a bolster on a luohan bed, his eyes half-closed as he watched several men at the wine table engage in finger-guessing drinking games and indulge in every form of merrymaking. Crimson Red, a famous courtesan from the Lichun Brothel, sat nestled beside him, peeling a mandarin orange and feeding it to him segment by segment. The wine table was crowded entirely with young scions of official families, among whom was one named Wu Liang, the only son of Wu Youwei, the imperial inspector of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Seventeen years old this year, Wu Liang was doted upon by his elders and had grown accustomed to being a dissolute good-for-nothing who indulged in eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, yet he possessed a clever mind and exerted himself to curry favor with Lin Jinlou. Seeing that Lin Jinlou paid him little heed, he eagerly sidled up to Lin Jinting instead to try and forge a close relationship.

Lin Jinting had a low tolerance for alcohol; after downing a few cups, his head grew muddled and his speech became incoherent. Lin Jinlou remarked, "Third Junior, stop drinking. Have a pageboy help you to the back to lie down." Before his voice had even faded, two clean-featured pageboys stepped forward to support him. Wu Liang hastily stepped in to prop up Lin Jinting, saying, "It's my fault; I poured so much wine down for Brother Lin. Let me help him go."

Lin Jinlou offered no opinion either way, merely taking a sip of ginseng tea from the bowl handed over by Crimson Red. Wu Liang eagerly supported Lin Jinting toward the rear. As they reached the winding veranda, a gust of cold wind hit Lin Jinting, causing him to suddenly feel a sharp pain in his head and a churning sensation in his stomach. Clinging to a pillar, he let out a loud retch and vomited. Wu Liang was startled and hurriedly cried out, "Someone come quickly! Your Third Master has thrown up from the wine!"

He shouted several times, but no pageboys appeared. As it turned out, the servants knew that once this banquet began, it would not break up for at least two hours; only a few clever ones stayed in the front to wait on the gathering, while the rest took advantage of the opportunity to gamble, visit prostitutes, or sneak out to drink and make merry, and some had even gone home. Consequently, for the moment, not a single person came over.

Wu Liang raised his eyes and caught sight of a few maids flickering past the moon gate. He hurriedly propped up Lin Jinting and rushed over, standing at the entrance of the garden to peer inside. He saw that the scenery within the courtyard featured winding paths, delicate and graceful lattice windows, and embroidery screens dimly enshrouded. Not far away on a slope stood a grove of plum trees, where a beauty wearing a bright red velvet cloak was standing beneath the plum blossoms, holding a pair of shears to trim the branches. Another little maid stood nearby holding a plain white jade-collared vase, in which was already arranged a pruned plum branch, looking as picturesque and charming as someone stepping out of a painting.

Wu Liang was struck dumb with admiration, involuntarily taking a few steps forward. He saw that the beauty was around fourteen or fifteen years old, with skin like congealed fat and snow, willow-leaf eyebrows, and a mouth like a red cherry. Truly she was peerless in her grace and elegance, radiating a quiet and refined air. Feeling as though his soul had flown away, Wu Liang nudged Lin Jinting and murmured, "Is... is this a young lady of your Lin family?"

Lin Jinting opened his drunken eyes, took a look, and muttered, "This... this is my cousin, from the Song family..." Before he could finish, he couldn't hold it back and vomited again.

Wu Liang hurriedly let Lin Jinting lean against a Taihu rock while he himself went toward the rooms to summon someone, though he secretly fixed his thoughts on Song Tanchai, inquiring about her relentlessly in the days to come—which we will leave unmentioned for now.

Back in the room, Lin Jinlou had grown weary of drinking and felt bored. Little Cuiyun from the Yihong Pavilion personally shredded some spare rib meat on a small plate, carried it over, and smiled, saying, "Master, don't just eat what Sister Crimson Red feeds you. At least have a couple of bites of what I peeled myself, if only to save face for me."

The others burst into playful jeers. "Look at that, the jealousy is showing! The kindness of a beauty is the hardest thing to accept—you had better hurry up and eat it!"

Lin Jinlou wore a lazy, languid smile, lowered his head to take a bite, and said to Little Cuiyun with a chuckle, "My dear girl, you are becoming more clever by the day. It's clear that Li Er has taken you in and treats you rather well."

Little Cuiyun cast a resentful glance at Lin Jinlou and said half-jokingly, half-seriously, "It's only because the master disdained me and only had eyes for my elder sister." As it turned out, Little Cuiyun was Little Cuixian's younger sister. Earlier, she had harbored a crush on Lin Jinlou, sending him poems, knotted tassels, and other tokens. When Lin Jinlou accepted them, she had secretly rejoiced, only to find that Lin Jinlou paid her no attention at all. Instead, Li Yian, a deputy general in his military unit, took a fancy to her and spent silver to take her in. Little Cuiyun at first refused, threatening to hang herself and slit her throat, until the brothel madam scolded her, saying, "Cuixian is prettier than you and knows how to sing and play instruments, yet Lord Lin only visits occasionally. Since your looks cannot compare to your sister's, you had better put aside those notions right now!" Moreover, Lin Jinlou had sent someone over to broker the match between her and Li Yian, leaving Little Cuiyun with no choice but to agree. Yet now, upon seeing Lin Jinlou again, her heart began to itch, and she could not resist coming over to flatter and curry favor.

Lin Jinlou smiled and said, "You mustn't speak nonsense. Your sister is with Young Master Liu now, and she has nothing more to do with me."

Little Cuiyun laughed apologetically. "It was my slip of the tongue—I deserve to be punished!" She raised her wine cup and downed a draught, thinking to herself, "Lin Jinlou is a cold-hearted man. My sister poured out her entire heart and soul of infatuation on him, yet in the end he wouldn't even keep her, simply spending a bit of silver to redeem her and hand her over to his friend. That just goes to show how fickle and ungrateful men in this world are, and how they truly cannot compare to cold hard cash." Once that touch of sentimentality vanished from her mind, she piled on a smile once more and said, "Just yesterday Mother was saying how the master never comes to visit us anymore. We've had several young girls arrive at the garden who look like green scallions with tender little voices, and we specifically hired teachers to train them. Today I brought along a younger sister to come and wait upon the master."

With that, she stood up and pulled a girl from the wine table. The girl was around fourteen years old, wearing a pink-blossom and magnolia-embroidered satin sleeveless jacket over white silk bamboo-leaf inner wear, with a date-red plum-blossom-embroidered skirt trailing below. Her hair was still styled in unbraided maiden tresses rather than pinned into a formal bun, clearly showing she had not yet been initiated into womanhood. Yet she wore a gold-inlaid half-wing butterfly filigree hairpin, a white pearl and gold hairpin, gold runch-blossom ornaments pinned to her temples, green jade earrings dangling from her lobes, and a string of gold-inlaid pearl bracelets adorning her fair wrists. She possessed an oval face, carefully traced delicate eyebrows, tear-ful and alluring eyes, rosy cheeks, and a slender, flexible waist that still carried a hint of youthful awkwardness. When she walked up to Lin Jinlou and saw how handsome and imposing he was, her face blushed red first, and she sank into a graceful curtsy, murmuring bashfully, "This humble one is Cuiqiao, here to serve the master."

Little Cuiyun pushed Little Cuaiqiao toward Lin Jinlou, smiling as she said, "This is my new younger sister, brought along to see the world. The master must show her tender care and not frighten her." She then shot a glance at Little Cuaiqiao. "Be sharp and clever; being able to serve Master Lin is a blessing cultivated from your past life."

Although Little Cuaiqiao possessed a certain level of looks and was already a rare beauty, she was nothing out of the ordinary in Lin Jinlou's eyes. He casually smiled and remarked, "Your madam really moves fast. No sooner had Cuixian left than she immediately fills the vacancy with a newcomer."

Little Cuaiqiao was quite perceptive. She personally poured a cup of tea and handed it to Lin Jinlou, but Lin Jinlou merely took a sip and set it down on the kang table.

Seeing that Lin Jinlou was not paying attention, Little Cuiyun said to Little Cuaiqiao, "Go fetch the pipa and sing the new tune you learned the other day for the gentlemen."

Little Cuaiqiao went to fetch the pipa and sat down, plucking the strings to strum out a clear and melodious rendition of The Pomegranate Blossom Dream. It was crisp and pleasant to the ear. The hall immediately burst into applause, with everyone praising, "This voice is clear and tender—truly a rare find." More than a few frivolous scions who had spent years wandering through the pleasure quarters grew eager to try their luck. One lowered his voice to say, "She's young, but she has her own distinct charm. I'll go swap handkerchiefs with her later." Another whispered, "Talking nonsense! Don't you see she already has someone she's favored? Besides, that old madam at Yihong Pavilion is as greedy as they come; for such a pretty girl, it'll cost at least eighty taels of silver just to get her initiated!" A third chimed in, "If it's eighty taels, that's hardly worth it. You could buy a maid outside for all of five taels." This remark immediately drew a roar of laughter and playful taunts: "Five taels of silver? Go buy yourself a plump, stubby, ugly maid with that!"

As the song ended, Little Cuaiqiao stepped forward again to wait on them, imitating Crimson Red's manner by feeding fruits to Lin Jinlou. Lin Jinlou turned his head to look at her and caught her timid, bashful expression. Suddenly, his mind flashed to Xianglan; when he first met her, she had been just as timid. She had secretly tucked a magnolia blossom into her hair by the lake, and when caught by surprise, she lowered her blushing face. Wearing no rouge or powder, she was far more refined and ethereal than this Little Cuaiqiao.

This thought immediately brought back his irritation over how that unappreciative wench yesterday had been courting death and putting on a cold face toward him, leaving him sullen even during the ancestral sacrifices. His anger flared up anew, and casting aside even his tea, he put on his shoes, stepped down from the platform, and strode off, announcing, "You gentlemen keep eating and drinking. I suddenly remember an urgent matter and will be right back." With that, he swept into the inner quarters like a gust of wind.

Meanwhile, Madam Qin had people performing female opera numbers in the floral parlor. Seeing Hongjian carrying a tray ready to enter the room, Lin Jinlou stopped her and asked a couple of questions in a low voice. A moment later, Hongjian emerged from the room and said, "I've already spoken with Madame Song. She's waiting for the master in the inner parlor."

Lin Jinlou repeatedly muttered his thanks, lifted the door curtain, and stepped into the inner parlor. Seeing that Aunt Song had already arrived, he cupped his hands in a greeting and smiled, "I'm sorry to interrupt Aunt's enjoyment of the play."

Aunt Song smiled and said, "You child, why are you being so formal? What could be the matter that you had to invite me over here?"

Lin Jinlou smiled. "To speak plainly, my purpose in coming today is to ask a favor of Aunt. I understand the Song family has a maid named Xianglan. I happen to find her pleasing to the eye, and I wonder if Aunt would be willing to part with her. If you give her to me, I will definitely prepare a generous gift for Aunt in return."

Aunt Song was taken aback, and immediately a look of awkward difficulty crossed her face. "Oh, you picked a most unfortunate time... That girl came just this morning, begged for a grace, and has already been released."

Lin Jinlou froze, his brows slowly knitting together.