Against the Current - Chapter 66

Chapter 66 - Flirtation 

By now it was approaching noon, and the sun had grown somewhat fierce. Zhao Yuechan sat inside her sedan chair with her eyes half-closed, her earrings swaying gently back and forth. Suddenly, the sedan chair came to a halt, and Yingshuang leaned close to the sedan curtain, lowering her voice: "First Young Madam, First Young Madam?"

Zhao Yuechan asked, "What is it?"

Yingshuang whispered, "The Cousin Young Master is standing in the small alley ahead. First Young Madam, what do you think..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuechan immediately lifted the sedan curtain and poked her head out to look. Not far away stood a young man of tall, slender build with an elongated face. He looked scholarly, clear-browed, and refined, dressed in a golden-brown cocoon-silk unlined gown with a pearl-inlaid, silver-threaded sash tied around his waist, from which hung a five-colored mandarin-duck cord. He was shaking a folding fan in his hand, perfectly embodying the look of a frivolous and wealthy young dandy. This man was none of other than the son of Zhao Yuechan's maternal aunt, named Qian Wenze. In his early childhood, his family's financial situation had been fairly decent, but gradually things went downhill until nothing was left but an empty shell. Having been hopelessly spoiled by his family since childhood, Qian Wenze only ever engaged in activities like cockfighting, dog-racing, eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. Yet he was well-acquainted with the ways of the marketplace—a local bully bearing the nickname "Qian the Pale-faced."

Seeing Zhao Yuechan look at him, Qian Wenze executed a deep, boneless-looking bow.

With a soft snort, a smile tugged at the corner of Zhao Yuechan's mouth. She dropped the curtain and said, "Tell him to come over and see me."

Although Yingshuang felt this was improper, she did not dare disobey Zhao Yuechan's will. With a slight frown, she walked over to Qian Wenze and said, "Our First Young Madam wants you to come over."

A smile played at the corners of Qian Wenze's mouth as he replied, "Thank you for your trouble, Sister Yingshuang." His handsome eyes swept across Yingshuang's face, looking as though they were brimming with tender affection.

Even though Yingshuang felt a degree of aversion toward him, encountering the gaze of this clear-featured, handsome man made it impossible for her to feel any real dislike at that moment. Softening her tone, she murmured, "In broad daylight like this, Cousin Young Master, you should at least observe some discretion."

Acting as though he hadn't heard, Qian Wenze walked up to Zhao Yuechan's sedan chair and bowed deeply, saying, "Greetings to the Eldest Young Madam of the Lou!"

From inside the sedan, Zhao Yuechan said, "We are all family relatives here; there's no need for such empty courtesies."

Knowing how to read the room, Yingshuang stepped aside along with the sedan bearers. Qian Wenze turned his body sideways, lowered his voice, and spoke with amorous tenderness: "How are you, Sister Yuechan? I have missed you terribly these past few days." As he spoke, he reached out to lift the carriage curtain.

Inside the sedan, Zhao Yuechan pressed down hard on the curtain with her hand. A smile curved her lips, but her voice remained strictly proper: "Missed me? Go shit in your mother's mouth! Who doesn't know that these days you've been thick as thieves with Little Sister from the Yueshou Tower? I also heard you recently bought a maid who is as tender as a scallion, and you're enjoying her endless charms—how could you possibly still remember me?"

Qian Wenze immediately swore to the heavens and beat his chest in grievance, protesting, "Where did you hear such a thing! If I ever harbor a second heart toward Sister Yuechan, may I be struck dead by heavenly lightning and meet a wretched end. Good sister, I have missed you desperately—hurry and let me take a look at you." He reached for the curtain once more.

Unprepared, a delicate jade hand tipped with red nail polish reached out and slapped him lightly on the forehead. Immediately after, Zhao Yuechan chided playfully, "Who would believe your ghost stories!" This time, her voice carried a melting, seductive cadence.

Qian Wenze felt half his body go numb with pleasure. He leaned even closer to the sedan chair and wheedled, "Why won't Sister believe me? The errand you entrusted me with has been carried out to absolute perfection. That set of hairpins has already been unloaded, and the turnover fetched a full five hundred taels, which I've deposited entirely in the silver shop. If Sister doesn't believe me, you can send someone to check."

Hearing this, Zhao Yuechan felt a sudden surge of joy. She whipped the carriage curtain wide open and demanded, "Did it really sell for five hundred taels?"

The moment Qian Wenze caught sight of that beauty's face—equally enchanting whether displeased or pleased—his heart itched all the more. Smiling, he said, "Actually, it was five hundred and fifty taels. As for the remaining fifty, Sister, just consider it drinking money for me." To himself, he thought: That set of hairpins was actually bought out by someone for a thousand taels of silver. That five hundred taels rightfully belonged in my pocket, and the rest is just the cost of keeping a beauty happy—a single night of pleasure at the Yueshou Tower costs forty or fifty taels anyway.

Zhao Yuechan let out a huff. "Don't try to hoodwink me; you know very well in your heart how many taels you actually cleared. The fact that you're giving me five hundred taels and didn't drive me to ruin is the only reason I'll let it pass."

Qian Wenze once more cried out in grievance, swearing oaths left and right with "good sister" this and "good sister" that. "Even if I were given a hundred pairs of guts, I wouldn't dare lie in front of someone as sharp and clever as Sister. Just last night, I told my mother that even if one searched through all the beauties under heaven, one could never pick out a single person like Sister. Usually, those with flower-like appearances are mostly foolish, while those with a thousand wits lack a fine face. That just shows heaven is fair and never grants absolute perfection. Yet Sister is uniquely favored by the heavens, possessing both talent and beauty, handling every single matter with utter flawlessness. You've haunted my dreams and thoughts for all these years, and my yearning has no end..."

As he spoke, his body edged closer and closer toward Zhao Yuechan. Fortunately, the sedan chair blocked them from view, so the bearers couldn't see.

Zhao Yuechan listened with her face wreathed in smiles. She had always loved hearing sweet nothings, and since she received hardly any pleasant looks from anyone in the Lin family, she had long been nursing a bellyful of frustration. Qian Wenze knew how to be considerate and coax her well, and his words left her feeling thoroughly comforted and soothed. She leaned her torso slightly toward the window as well, casting a sidelong, alluring glance at Qian Wenze from her captivating eyes as she retorted, "Pah! Shameless wretch, talking like this with your mother—aren't you afraid she'll break your legs with a stick and tear your mouth apart?"

Qian Wenze felt completely liquefied from head to toe. Piling a full smile onto his face, he lowered his voice and said, "My mother wouldn't beat me over this; in fact, she praised me for speaking the truth. Good sister, you and I were essentially husband and wife long ago. If your father hadn't stood in the way and you hadn't chosen a loftier branch, the two of us right now..."

Zhao Yuechan's expression turned stern. "Say that again and I'll get angry!"

Qian Wenze hurriedly waved his hands. "I won't say it, I won't say it! Even if it killed me, I wouldn't dare make Sister unhappy..."

Zhao Yuechan said, "You should be leaving now, and I should be heading back as well."

Qian Wenze pleaded, "My cruel-hearted sister, can't you stay just a little longer..."

Peering out to inspect her surroundings and seeing nobody about, Zhao Yuechan lowered her voice and said, "In broad daylight like this, if we talk any longer it will start idle gossip! Be on your way now. In a few days, that Lin fellow is going out of town again. When the time comes, come to the small connecting corridor on the west side of the Lin residence at night..."

Overjoyed, Qian Wenze said, "I'll definitely come, I'll definitely come! Even if it starts raining daggers from the sky, I'll still come!" With that, he grabbed Zhao Yuechan's hand where it rested by the edge of the curtain, rubbed it hard a couple of times, and finally fished out the handkerchief Zhao Yuechan was clutching, shoving it straight into his sleeve.

Zhao Yuechan chided him with a glare, but she wasn't angry; instead, she found it a delightfully flirtatious game and dropped the sedan curtain. Qian Wenze instructed the bearers to lift the sedan and carry her away.

Once the sedan had traveled far off, Qian Wenze pulled the handkerchief from his sleeve and took a fierce whiff of it right beneath his nose. A wave of heavy perfume rushed into his nasal cavity, making Qian Wenze shiver all over. Though he was a veteran of the pleasure quarters who had handled numerous women, he felt convinced none could compare to Zhao Yuechan's gorgeous and soul-stirring allure. Stuffing the handkerchief back into his sleeve, he wore a cold, sneering smirk at the corner of his mouth as he muttered to himself, "Lin Jinlou is a fool. Not only did he pick up my worn-out shoes, but he has a stunning wife and doesn't even know how to enjoy her. How could a woman guarding an empty boudoir alone ever hold out? Well, it's my good fortune—he deserves to be a cuckold." Thinking of how the dignified Eldest Young Master of the Lin family, such an overbearing figure, had been fitted for a green hat by him, he felt a wave of exhilarating satisfaction, humming a little tune as he sauntered leisurely away.