Against the Current - Chapter 20

Chapter 20 - Sachet

Lin Jinlou grew up in nests of wealth and was born into beds of ease; he had tasted every variety of rouge and powder. Earlier that day during his banquet, he had even specially ordered two small sedan chairs to carry over the three top-tier courtesans from the Yihong Pavilion. At that very moment, tied around his waist was a turquoise silk handkerchief that the renowned courtesan Xiao Cuixian had just used to wipe his mouth. Yet, the simple and unadorned attire of the girl before him suddenly made his eyes light up. From afar he had only sensed she was a young woman of some looks, but viewed up close he froze, unable to stop himself from looking again and again. He saw that her raven hair and cicada-wing temples framed a snow-white oval face, complete with long eyebrows, red lips, and a pair of large, clear, moist eyes. Though her eyes were lowered at the moment and her eyelashes were dense like fans, and though she was young in years, she possessed an inherent brilliant and striking beauty. Upon closer inspection, she felt all the more fresh, ethereal, and outstanding—truly one of a kind.

Lin Jinlou felt his throat go dry and his heart thumping heavily against his ribs. He desperately wanted to lean down and sniff the magnolia flower in her hair to see if it was as fragrant and enticing as he imagined, yet he stood fixed as if struck by an immobilization spell. What a joke—she was merely a little maid before him, yet he felt she possessed a noble reticence that forbade casual violation or playful teasing.

Xianglan already sensed Lin Jinlou's increasingly scorching gaze, a look that made her extremely uncomfortable, as if she were a piece of meat drooled over by others. A breeze blew past, and Xianglan caught the scent of alcohol and a faint, heavy cloud of rouge lingering on Lin Jinlou. She thought to herself, "Lin Jinlou is so handsome, but unfortunately he is a profligate rake. He must have been dallying with courtesans and enjoying himself somewhere just now. Could it be that his fire hasn't died down yet, and now he's setting his sights on a little maid like me?" Her expression turned a shade colder as she stepped back another two paces, lowered her head, and asked, "Does the eldest young master have any instructions?"

Lin Jinlou gave a light cough. "What is your name? Which courtyard's maid are you? Why have I never seen you before?"

Xianglan kept her hands folded and replied with proper decorum, "Answering the eldest young master, this humble servant's name is Xianglan, and I serve the young cousin in Luowu Lodge."

Lin Jinlou frowned. "You're a maid from the Cao family?"

Xianglan respectfully answered, "This humble servant belongs to the Lin family; the eldest young master's wife ordered me to go and serve the young cousin."

Only then did Lin Jinlou's brow relax. Seeing Xianglan keep her head lowered, a trace of displeasure arose in him. Just as he wanted to tell her to raise her head, he caught sight of her snow-white, graceful neck, which resembled fine white porcelain or perhaps warm, lustrous mutton-fat jade. He couldn't resist the urge to reach out and touch it, but just as he raised his hand, he heard someone calling from behind, "My good master, I've finally found you! So this is where you were."

Lin Jinlou looked back and saw Jixiang, the personal valet who served closely by his side. Jixiang ran up in a flurry and whispered a few words into Lin Jinlou's ear, causing Lin Jinlou to raise an eyebrow and say, "Such a thing actually happened? Weren't they all properly sent back just a moment ago?"

Jixiang lowered his voice and said, "Of course we specially ordered people to escort them back. Who would have thought that Second Young Master Li took a fancy to Xiao Cuixian and stubbornly insisted on taking her back to stay the night? Later on, when he heard that Cuixian was..." He glanced at Lin Jinlou's expression before continuing, "Reserved by the eldest young master, he didn't dare push things too far, so he instead named Xiao Cuixian's younger sister, Xiao Cuiyun. But Cuiyun is still a virgin, and over these past few days she has written quite a few poems for the eldest young master, even weaving a five-colored cord with her own hair and sending it over. The eldest young master accepted them all, so she assumed the eldest young master had feelings for her and became convinced she was the eldest young master's woman. Naturally, she refused to submit... and so a massive uproar started. Now Cuiyun is trying to slash her throat and hang herself, while Second Young Master Li has turned utterly stubborn and is fiercely determined to deflower Cuiyun no matter what."

Lin Jinlou laughed aloud. "Little Er Li still has that stubborn ox-temper. Treating a beauty like an ox chewing peonies simply won't do. Very well, I'll step in and mediate." With that, he turned back to look, only to discover that Xianglan had already vanished. Thinking to himself that he would find that little maid another time, he followed Jixiang away.

Xianglan hugged the pot of white magnolia and hurried along for a short distance before setting the flowerpot on the ground to wipe away her sweat with her sleeve. Remembering Lin Jinlou's scorching gaze from moments before, she couldn't help shivering. She reassured herself that Lin Jinlou must have been drunk to act that way, and once his alcohol wore off, he would surely banish a little maid like her to the back of his mind. As she approached Luowu Lodge, Xianglan suddenly heard someone calling her name. Turning to look, she was surprised to see Song Ke standing among the bamboo grove, beckoning to her.

Feeling puzzled, Xianglan had no choice but to walk over and ask, "Does the young master have any instructions?"

Song Ke smiled like the spring breeze, his eyes sparkling brilliantly, as he pointed toward the hem of his robe. "I wonder if you happen to have a handkerchief?"

Xianglan looked down and saw a large stain on the hem of his robe, which looked like a lump of wet mud. She hastily placed the flowerpot on the ground, pulled a handkerchief from her bodice, and bent down to help clean it off for Song Ke.

Song Ke quickly waved his hand. "There's no need, I can do it myself." So saying, he took the handkerchief and began wiping it himself, speaking as he did so, "I truly must thank you. If I hadn't run into you, there would simply be no way to be seen in public wearing this garment."

Seeing the warm smiles blooming on Song Ke's face, which made his handsome features all the more remarkably striking, coupled with his approachable demeanor, Xianglan followed suit with a smile of her own, thinking, "With a pearl-and-jade man like this, even if Xiao Hang of former days claimed to possess a charm that eclipsed the entire capital, he would scarcely be any better. No wonder those Lin family young misses are all so stirred up." Remembering her husband from her past life, a flicker of desolation crossed her heart. She merely lowered her head to look at the stain and said, "Fortunately it's only mud; it will wash out easily and leave no mark behind."

Song Ke seemed to heave a sigh of relief. "That's good then." Then, as if asking quite casually, "I haven't asked you yet—what is your name? Are you a maid here in Luowu Lodge?"

Xianglan merely replied, "I serve in Luowu Lodge."

Seeing that Xianglan refused to state her name, Song Ke furrowed his brow slightly. Noticing that a corner of the handkerchief was embroidered with a cluster of orchids, he smiled and said, "This orchid is exquisitely embroidered. I wonder if the young lady's name has the character 'lan' in it?"

Xianglan had no choice but to say, "It does have 'lan,' but this handkerchief was just casually embroidered..."

"Even casually embroidered work turns out this wonderful." A glint of brilliance flashed in Song Ke's eyes as he untied the sachet from his waist, handed it over, and said, "Help me take a look at this. Where this sachet is torn, is it possible to mend it?"

Xianglan took it and looked. It was a brand-new five-colored golden-thread sachet themed around the five sons achieving high imperial honors, but a tear had ripped right through the delicate embroidery. She couldn't help sighing with regret, "This sachet is crafted so exquisitely, and the embroidery work is superb. It's just a pity it's torn. Mending it will be rather difficult, though not entirely impossible..."

Song Ke eagerly said, "Since that's the case, could I trouble you to help me mend it?"

"Ah?" Xianglan's jaw dropped. "I'm going to mend it for you?"

Seeing her flabbergasted expression, Song Ke found her simply adorable. A mournful look crossed his face as he said, "This sachet was personally made by my mother, and the whole point was to invoke the auspicious blessing of the 'five sons achieving high imperial honors.' I accidentally tore it two days ago, and since I don't have anyone deft-handed around me, wouldn't my mother be heartbroken if she found out? Seeing how well your handkerchief is embroidered, I figured your needlework must be quite good. Won't you please help me mend it?"

Just as Xianglan opened her mouth to refuse, Song Ke cut her off with a final word: "That's settled then. The day after tomorrow, at the hour of Si in the morning, I will wait right here for you to bring the sachet back to me." Having said that, he unceremoniously tucked Xianglan's handkerchief into his sleeve and turned to walk away.

Xianglan wanted to call out to him, but she feared drawing attention, so she hurriedly lifted her skirt to chase after him. However, once she rounded the hillside, Song Ke was nowhere to be seen. Fearing that she might lose the pot of flowers, Xianglan had no choice but to turn back, dejectedly carrying the flowerpot as she returned.

When she got back to Luowu Lodge, Cao Lihuan had still not returned. Xianglan placed the flower plant on the parlor's eight-immortals table, went back inside to fetch the sachet, and examined it closely. Sighing, she collapsed onto the soft couch and muttered in self-reproach, "Young Master Song only has to give a single shout, and the eldest young miss, second young miss, and third young miss would all be scrambling over themselves to mend his sachet. Never mind mending it, they could probably make an identical one from scratch. Why on earth must he have a little maid like me, whom he barely knows, fix it for him? He isn't even worried I might ruin it—this young master really knows how to put his mind at ease. He might not care, but if word gets out because of this sachet that I have some sort of connection with him, not only would those young misses skin me alive and tear me to pieces, but my entire life would be ruined." The more she thought about it, the more vexed she became. Unable to help herself, she threw the sachet onto the floor and stamped on it fiercely a couple of times. A moment later, she slumped dejectedly, picked the sachet back up, dusted off the grime, and with a weary sigh dragged over her sewing basket to begin mending the sachet stitch by stitch.

After quite a long while, Cao Lihuan finally returned. Xianglan had assumed that Cao Lihuan, having suffered slights from the Lin family young misses, would return breathing fire and venting her anger through scoldings and beatings. To her surprise, Cao Lihuan returned in complete silence, went straight into her chamber, and called Huier inside with her. The two of them shut the bedchamber doors tight and didn't emerge for a long, long time.