Chapter 21: The Fragrant Garden of Hengwu—Xiangling and Baochai

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Xiuyan had returned to Zilingzhou and was carrying a lantern when she arrived at Zuijin. Just then, another person carrying a lantern emerged from inside. Upon closer look, she recognized her as Xiangling, the concubine recently purchased by the Xue family who had not yet unveiled her face.

“What brings you here, Miss?” Xiuyan asked with a smile. Xiangling was a pitiable girl, abducted and sold from a young age. It was said that when the Xue family bought her, there was a dispute with another family who also wanted to buy her, causing quite a commotion.

Xiangling was indeed strikingly beautiful, with fair skin and a slender figure. A small beauty mark on her brow made her aura all the more distinctive.

Xiangling smiled and said, “Miss Bao sent me to retrieve a book borrowed by the Second Miss. I was just about to head back. Where have you come from, Miss Xing?”

“I just went to Longcui Nunnery.”

“So you went to see Miaoyu,” Xiangling smiled. “Miss Bao said that Miaoyu is both talented and beautiful, but rarely shows it.”

Xiuyan laughed. “Her talent is beyond measure, nearly celestial. Few in the garden meet her standards.”

Xiangling smiled without replying and carried her lantern away.

In the garden, the young ladies often exchanged poems, teasing and laughing, but she could not join them.

Seeing Xiangling head south, Xiuyan curiously asked, “Xiangling, where are you going? Hengwu Court is to the north.”

Xiangling turned back with a smile. “Miss Bao returned home a few days ago. She’s no longer in the garden.”

“How is that? I didn’t know.”

Xiuyan watched Xiangling leave, feeling a bit puzzled. Miss Bao had gone home, yet Miss Qin still stayed at Hengwu Court. Could it be that the Xue family’s house was too small? Or that the two sisters were uncomfortable sharing a bed?

She didn’t dwell on it and went inside to find Yingchun.

Xiangling left the Grand View Garden through the south gate, walking quickly along the path by the garden wall, lantern in hand.

After a while, she returned home and happened to meet Xue Pan entering through a side door from a private alley, clearly drunk and staggering.

“Be careful, sir!” Xiangling hurried over to support him.

“Who, who are you… such a pretty little beauty!” Xue Pan stared at her with bleary eyes, then leaned in to inhale the scent on her face and neck, his face full of intoxicated delight. “What a beauty! Come drink a few cups with me, and I’ll reward you with silver!”

He then reached to pinch her smooth, delicate cheek.

Xiangling turned her head to dodge but didn’t dare pull away. Xue Pan was her future husband; he had bought her to be his concubine.

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She should have entered Xue Pan’s room long ago to serve him, but Madam Xue said she was still too young and needed two more years before unveiling her face. Now that two years had passed, it was nearly time for her to attend to him.

As a concubine, there was no reason to avoid him.

Xiangling hurriedly said, “Sir, please return to your room quickly!”

But Xue Pan refused to move, stubbornly raising his hand to pinch her face roughly, cursing, “You damn prostitute, can’t even serve me properly!”

Xiangling’s small face immediately swelled red and sore, tears welling up, but she could only plead, “Sir, you are drunk! I am Xiangling, not a barmaid!”

“Who says I’m drunk? I’m not! Pour more wine!”

Their quarrel disturbed those inside. Madam Xue ordered someone to check, and everyone quickly helped Xue Pan into the house.

Madam Xue and Xue Baochai were in the hall. Seeing him heavily intoxicated, they both felt worried and helped him sit down.

Baochai then told Xiangling to pour tea. Seeing her covering her face, she asked in surprise, “Xiangling, who hurt you? Was it my brother?”

Xiangling only shook her head, eyes red, standing quietly aside, wanting to pour tea herself, but the other maids had already gone.

Madam Xue angrily scolded the drunken Xue Pan, “Why do this! You’re drunk enough, yet you still hit someone and hurt Xiangling so badly.”

Hearing his mother’s words, Xue Pan slowly sobered. Seeing Xiangling’s pretty face in such a state, he felt some regret.

Baochai said to Xiangling, “Go find some medicine to apply and have the kitchen bring a bowl of sobering soup.”

Xiangling nodded and lowered her head to leave, not daring to look at Xue Pan again.

Only Madam Xue, Baochai, and Xue Pan remained in the room. Xue Ke also lived in this courtyard but in the outer study. This place was in the northeast corner of the Rongguo Mansion and southeast corner of the Grand View Garden, not connected to the garden but with a side door leading to a private alley between the Ning and Rong households, convenient for outings by Xue Pan and Xue Ke.

Once Xue Pan was sober, Baochai asked, “Brother, where did you go drinking today? With whom?”

Madam Xue couldn’t help but scold him, “Tomorrow the Prince of Qian’s army will besiege the city, and you’re still restless!”

Xue Pan laughed, “That’s exactly why I went out. The taverns will be closed tomorrow because of the siege. Where else could I go? I happened to see Baoyu and invited him to drink with me. Tomorrow I won’t go anywhere, just stay home!”

Baochai smiled, “Mother, look, Brother is scared and wants to hide at home. Since arriving in the capital, this is the first time.”

Madam Xue smiled but worried about the outside situation. Her face lost its cheer again. “I wonder what will happen tomorrow. If things change…”

Baochai said, “I’ve read some history. Sieges can last long, months or even years. Tomorrow is only the first day, so it won’t be drastic yet. If the Prince of Qian takes the city, Mother, you and Brother should move out to the family’s shop and wait until the city stabilizes before deciding what to do.”

“But only Mother and I move out? What about Sister?” Xue Pan asked, puzzled.

Baochai said softly, “I have lived in the Grand View Garden for a year. If I move out now, people will gossip that my family is only looking out for ourselves in this crisis. Besides, moving may not help. After the Prince of Qian enters, he will inspect all wealthy households in the city.”

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“If Sister doesn’t leave, then I won’t leave either!” Xue Pan said.

Madam Xue had no more to say and felt troubled. After a while, she and her daughter went inside to talk.

The mother and daughter spoke quietly.

“Mother, please don’t worry about me,” Baochai comforted her. “Staying in the garden may be neither good nor bad. The Jia family stands with the court. If the Prince of Qian enters the city, the Jia family will not escape this calamity. Though our family is still imperial merchants, we are inconspicuous. I don’t know how the Prince of Qian will treat us small households.”

Madam Xue looked at her and after a moment asked, “You said some days ago that the Prince of Qian would send the families of guilty officials to Yeting Palace… is that good or bad?”

Baochai shook her head. Madam Xue didn’t ask further and left after sitting for a while.

Baochai sat alone in her room for a long time. When her maid Yuanyang entered, she asked her to bring out a mirror and place it on the table.

She looked at her reflection: a remarkable woman, her face dignified and smooth, often praised as a peony flower, perfect as a wife and mother.

Baochai took from her clothes a necklace she wore around her neck—a jingluo—with eight engraved characters on both sides:

“Never leave nor forsake, youth and fragrance forever continue.”

When she was in Jinling with her mother, they had visited a temple where they met a monk with a scabby head who told her mother to have these eight characters engraved on a gold ornament to wear, saying she would one day meet someone destined for her.

Upon arriving in the capital, Baochai learned that Jia Baoyu had been born with a jade bearing eight characters:

“Do not lose nor forget, immortal life eternally prosperous.”

The two sets of characters matched perfectly, forming a pair—

A union of gold and jade.

Truly a prophetic saying, a fateful and tragic bond.

“You only speak of the wooden and stone pledge; why should I remember the golden and jade union?”

After much thought, Baochai took off the jingluo and put it away, never to wear it again.

What gold, what jade, what pledges of past lives? When the Prince of Qian invades and slaughters, all this will shatter. Where will there be any heavenly match or past-life vow then?