Against the Current - Chapter 178

Chapter 178 - Companionship (Part 2)

Stifling her tears, Luan'er asked, "Has the master grown tired of me already, to the point where he can't even bear to look at me anymore?"

Lin Jinlou said, "What nonsense are you spouting? It's time for meals at this hour; why are you still lingering here?" With that, he rose to his feet, glanced at Luan'er, and added, "Your outfit today looks nice—very festive. Off you go, and I'll have you come play some tunes for me in a few days." Having said this, he headed into the inner room to change his clothes.

Luan'er felt a hollow ache in her chest, utterly at a loss for what to feel as she drifted dazed toward the door. The sight of Lin Jinlou dallying affectionately with Xianglan moments before, contrasted with his casual indifference toward her, brought a surging wave of grievance. Moreover, unable to swallow this humiliation, she buried her face in her handkerchief and sobbed softly. Hearing the commotion, Rushuang hurried over, grabbed Luan'er by the arm, and shoved her outward while muttering in a low voice, "My dear young lady, if you must cry, go outside to do it! What kind of spectacle is this supposed to be? Take care not to displease the master and draw his wrath upon yourself—hurry on out now!" With a mixture of pushing and pulling, she bundled Luan'er out through the doorway.

Rushuang usually maintained a friendly rapport with Shuran and wanted to offer Luan'er some guidance. Once they reached the threshold and saw the surroundings were deserted, she lowered her voice and said, "What are you crying for? Have you forgotten just how many days it's been since the master last saw you? When he lost his temper with you last time, didn't he give you a pleasant look just now? Everything takes time—who ever heard of getting fat in a single bite? Hurry back now, and come again tomorrow." With that, she brought out a bowl of tea from the room for her to drink.

After sipping a bit of the tea, Luan'er finally regained her composure. She wiped away her tears, silently mulling over Rushuang's words. Remembering how Lin Jinlou had praised her attire and mentioned wanting to hear her sing again, a spark of warmth kindled in her chest. Though she still harbored jealousy and resentment toward Xianglan, she resolved in her mind to visit the main chambers every single day henceforth—a matter for another time.

Meanwhile, after changing his clothes and freshening up, Lin Jinlou sat upon the arhat bed. Lianxin brought over a large, smooth, unadorned silver platter holding a stack of message cards, and reported to Lin Jinlou, "These are the posts collected at the lodge gates today. Master Qi selected these for your perusal, Master, awaiting your decision." So saying, she placed them on the kang table.

Lin Jinlou began opening them one by one, sorting them into several piles. Raising his eyes to see Xianglan sitting in the distance lost in thought, he beckoned to her, saying, "Come here and write a few lines for me."

Xianglan had no choice but to approach. Tinglan fetched the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. As Xianglan took up the brush, she heard Lin Jinlou dictate, "Two hundred stiff bows, three hundred wild-goose-feather sabers, one hundred long spears, fifty battle horses..." As he spoke, he stroked his chin in deep contemplation.

Xianglan paused to wait. After a long moment, Lin Jinlou continued, "Fifty sets of standard imperial armor, eighty pairs of bronze maces, nine hundred rope ladders."

Xianglan wrote them down one by one. Lin Jinlou took the paper, reviewed it, nodded with a smile, and remarked, "Your delicate handwriting hardly suits this sort of inventory; it ought to be used for romantic, poetic verses instead." He then resumed stroking his chin, lost in deep, calculated thought over the sheet.

When Tinglan entered and saw Lin Jinlou deep in thought, she dared not disturb him and instead exchanged a cautious glance with Xianglan, who shook her head slightly. Whenever Lin Jinlou was engrossed in matters of importance, absolutely no one dared interrupt him. On one previous occasion when Lin Jinlou was reviewing dispatches with similar concentration, Nuanyue had tried to curry favor by bringing over a bowl of soup, repeating several times, "Please partake of this, Master. If the chicken broth grows cold, it will become greasy and upset your stomach." Her chatter had annoyed Lin Jinlou so much that with a flick of his hand, he knocked the soup bowl over, splashing broth all over Nuanyue's skirt as he cursed vehemently, "Accursed fool, show your face less often before me from now on! Get out of my sight!" Terrified out of her wits, Nuanyue had bolted away, nearly stumbling to the floor, and hadn't dared appear before Lin Jinlou for two whole days.

Naturally, Xianglan had no desire to court disaster, so she simply sat quietly to the side, her gaze drifting unconsciously toward the peacock-and-rosewood mother-of-pearl inlaid eight-treasure screen set in the alcove. The very first time she had laid eyes on that screen after returning from her family home, she had felt as though struck by a thunderbolt, standing paralyzed and dumbstruck, wandering in a hazy, dream-like daze. She had reached out and touched it, her fingertips turning ice-cold against the red ruby embedded in the peacock's eye. That screen had been part of her dowry in her past life; her mother had smiled and told her, "The peacock screen is a family heirloom, originally played with by the Old Mistress. She dotes on you the most, saying the peacock symbolizes wealth, splendor, and auspicious fortune, and she wants to send you this screen as an added wedding gift. Don't forget to go kowtow to your grandmother later."

Later on, that screen had accompanied her to the Xiao household, standing in their bedchamber. In the evenings, Xiao Han would read and write outside the screen while she did needlework on the large kang behind it, peaceful and serene. Still later, when the Eighth Prince usurped the throne and the Xiao family's assets were confiscated, she and Xiao Han had both passed away from illness during their banishment en route, and the screen had vanished without a trace. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected that, after coming full circle, she would encounter this old relic once again within the Lin household. Nowadays, she didn't even dare set up memorial tablets for her grandfather, father, or other family members, nor dared offer sacrifices to them, having to settle for secretly setting up a small tablet reading "Ancestors of the Shen Lineage" in the Jingyue Convent where she could burn incense, kneel, and chant scriptures in prayer for their deliverance. Seeing this screen once more stirred a profound ache in her chest, yet she couldn't tear her eyes away from it.

Arousing from his reverie, Lin Jinlou lifted his head and saw Xianglan sitting completely motionless, staring blankly at the peacock screen. The candlelight cast shadows across her figure, making her appear exceptionally slight and fragile; her brows were lightly furrowed like spring mountains, and her eyes shimmered like autumn waters, imbuing her with an entirely different kind of allure and grace. Lin Jinlou watched her for a long while before giving a soft cough and asking, "What are you looking at?"

Recovering her wits, Xianglan looked at Lin Jinlou, lowered her head in silence, and after a moment murmured, "It's time for the master to dine."

Lin Jinlou frowned, then relaxed his expression. "Indeed it's time to eat. Clear these things away and serve dinner."

Lianxin, Tinglan, and the others had been waiting for those exact words. They bustled forward to light the gilded lamps, cleared the kang table clean, brought in copper basins for the pair to wash their hands, and then brought in the dishes. The cook in the secondary kitchen knew Lin Jinlou's palate best; seeing that he had specifically requested dragon-beard noodles and osmanthus cake today, the cook deduced that he must have been drinking heavily and partaking of greasy foods during his outings over the past few days, and would therefore crave something light. Accordingly, the chef had stir-fried two vegetable dishes, prepared a cold dish tossed with braised meat and chicken, and specially steamed rose-and-fruit-stuffed cornmeal cakes, alongside osmanthus cakes, poria cakes, and lotus-root fragrance cakes.

Xianglan ate a bowl of noodles with some side dishes, then wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. Since Lin Jinlou had not finished eating, she did not dare ask for tea to rinse her mouth. True to form, Lin Jinlou's appetite was thoroughly piqued; he ate with great relish and incredible speed. Once he had rinsed his mouth and the maids had cleared away the remaining dishes, he grabbed Xianglan's hand, dragged her over to the screen, and pointed at it as he asked, "Do you like this thing?"

Xianglan's eyes flickered as she answered, "It's quite pretty. I just looked at it a few extra times."

Lin Jinlou chuckled. "I asked you, do you like this?"

: Xianglan replied, "...It's quite nice..."

Lin Jinlou let out a soft snort from his nose and scoffed, "Hh, if you like something, you have to speak up and snatch it into your own hands. If you sit there all quiet and mute, how is anyone else supposed to know what you like?"

"...Sometimes just looking at something you like is enough; you don't necessarily have to possess it, do you?"

"You silly girl, if you don't snatch up what you like into your own hands, someone else will beat you to it before you know it! Then you'll just sit there staring with longing, tearing at your heart and lungs with nothing left but misery. Tell me the truth, do you like this or not?"

Though Xianglan couldn't bring herself to agree with that philosophy, seeing Lin Jinlou's burning gaze fixed upon her, she nodded slightly and whispered, "I like it."

"There, that wasn't so hard." Lin Jinlou laughed, pulling Xianglan into his embrace. Ignoring her struggles, he breathed warm air against her ear and murmured, "Call me 'dear elder brother, good husband' twice, and I'll give it to you. How's that?"

Her earlobes turning blazing red, Xianglan swatted at him and protested, "What nonsense are you saying!"

With a chuckle, Lin Jinlou said, "I'm in a good mood today, so don't miss your chance, because this village won't have this shop if you pass it by... That old bastard Lu Changyu took a massive tumble under my hands today. The last time that scoundrel intercepted and stole my merit, I've now recovered it with interest and principal combined."

After thinking for a moment, Xianglan asked, "Is Lu Changyu the Marquis of Yongxin?"

With a look of surprise, Lin Jinlou asked, "You actually know who he is?"

Xianglan hastily covered her tracks. "The master was angry with him a while ago and kept cursing him at home..."

Lin Jinlou looked her over for a moment. Sensing her guilt, Xianglan lowered her head, only to hear Lin Jinlou say, "That scoundrel was so blinded by greed that he secretly fenced army provisions and grain supplies. As luck would have it, my men caught him dead to rights. I leaked word to the Duke of Zhenguo and the Marquis of Yongchang, and the three of us joined forces to take him down. To his credit, he's clever—he played the 'sacrificing the rook to save the king' trick, greased his palms, and fled back to Beijing with his wife and kids to lie low. However, all his cronies have been plucked clean, and now those vacant key posts are filled entirely with my men. Life is going to be much more comfortable from here on out."

Xianglan thought to herself, Back during the late Emperor's reign, the Marquis of Yongxin's family survived purely on ancestral prestige, still retaining a shred of fortune, yet Lin Jinlou actually dared to cross swords with titled nobility. On second thought, recalling his tyrannical disposition, she realized that when his temper flared, he was quite capable of piercing a hole straight through the sky, which made her feel slightly more resigned to the fact.

Playing idly with the bright red agate pendant hanging from Xianglan's ear, Lin Jinlou remarked offhandedly, "No wonder he was in such a frantic rush for silver—his household was already dirt poor, reduced to selling gold neck rings and antique calligraphy scrolls just to scrape by. However, he has a daughter blessed with exceptional beauty who became a secondary consort to the Third Prince; getting her hooks into that backing is the only reason he caught a second wind. The Third Prince secured a promotion for him, and he started keeping a pack of lackeys who bite around like rabid dogs. If the Old Master hadn't rapped my knuckles a few times, I would have cleaned his clock long ago." With that, he pinched Xianglan's delicate chin, stared straight into her eyes, and demanded, "Enough about that depressing topic. Hurry up and call me 'good husband.' Are you going to say it or not? Are you going to say it?" As he spoke, he reached out and began tickling her.

Unable to bear the sensation, Xianglan burst into giggles, twisting and dodging frantically. Unable to withstand the tickling any longer, she finally called out, "Good husband."

Seeing her flower-like smile, flushed cheeks, and slightly disheveled hair, Lin Jinlou felt a stirring of his own desires. Remembering how Xianglan had angered him just days prior, a flicker of resentment resurfaced. He pulled her tightly into his arms and worked her over for a good long while until Xianglan felt practically squeezed of breath, finally hearing Lin Jinlou mutter through gritted teeth right above her head, "If you ever dare to..."

Hearing the ominous chill in that threat, Xianglan froze in absolute terror, thinking to herself, Oh no, this living Yama is as fickle as the weather; just when things were going well, is he about to flip on me again? While she stood there on tenterhooks, Lin Jinlou released her. Xianglan looked up timidly, only to see Lin Jinlou's face wreathed in warm smiles once more as he told her, "That 'good husband' you just called was lovely. Say it again, hurry up."

His expression shifted through eighteen changes in the span of a single moment, leaving Xianglan thoroughly bewildered. After hesitating for a long while, she timidly offered another, "Good elder brother," before clamping her lips tightly shut.

Lin Jinlou appeared thoroughly satisfied. After planting a kiss on her cheek, he called Chunling inside and instructed her to bring fresh tea.