Chapter 64: Withered Blossoms (Part I)

After Xiren left, Daiyu instructed Zijuan, "Go and get me a sheep-horn lantern."

Zijuan asked in surprise, "What does my lady need a lantern for? Are you still planning to go out this late?"

Daiyu replied, "Every day is unlike the last. After today, I have no idea whether we will still be able to see our sisters tomorrow."

"My lady is uttering these morbid, fatalistic words again," Zijuan smiled.

"I took you for a clever girl in ordinary times, yet right now you fail to see that the villain's every move grows more ruthless than the last." Frail in body, Daiyu rose to her feet with Zijuan's support. "In broad daylight, Second Brother Lian departed in haste, his expression fraught with fear. Clearly, he caught wind of some news within the palace that he dared not utter. That fierce, fiendish bandit king still has tricks waiting to be played!"

Zijuan smiled. "Listen to how my lady speaks, as if you have laid eyes on that bandit yourself and know what he looks like."

"I have seen him in my dreams."

Zijuan smiled even more broadly. "This grows stranger still... Ah, I understand! My lady has seen him in a dream, and he has seen my lady as well; that is why he cannot banish you from his thoughts and demands that my lady take charge of the garden!"

"Pshaw, you wag-tongued, loose-lipped girl!"

Daiyu flushed and spat playfully, snatched the sheep-horn lantern from her hands, and walked out.

Zijuan hurriedly followed. "Let me go out with my lady! Wherever my lady goes, I go. I care for nothing else—wherever my lady wishes to go is fine."

She knew that her mistress would not be content until she paid a glance at the Grand View Garden.

Daiyu said nothing, letting her take the sheep-horn lantern.

The mistress and servant stepped out of the Xiaoxiang Lodge.

No sooner had they crossed the threshold than they encountered someone carrying a lantern head-on.

"Is that Miss Lin?" a young girl's voice called out.

"Oh, it's Xiangling," Zijuan smiled. "What are you doing here so late?"

Xiangling walked up carrying her lantern, smiling as she said, "Sister Bao asked me to come and ask Miss Lin whether the manor will also be celebrating the ascension of Prince Qian the day after tomorrow. Should we hang lanterns and festoon colored ribbons, and prepare more food for everyone so that the household members won't complain about poor meals again?"

Daiyu smiled. "It is rare for her to be so thoughtful. Go back and tell her that she need not come to me with many matters regarding the garden; with Sister Bao and Sister Qin handling things, everything will be properly settled."

Xiangling spoke a few more words and was about to return when Daiyu asked her, "Xiangling, I seem to remember you saying before that you are also from Jinling?"

Xiangling was startled, then shook her head and said, "I do not remember. When the aunt bought me several years ago, it was in Jinling."

"Do you not remember your father and mother either?"

"I remember none of them," Xiangling said.

"How pitiful," Daiyu murmured softly. Looking at Xiangling, who had neither father nor mother before her, she said, "When Sister Bao enters the palace, you must also follow to serve her. If Sister Bao is conferred the title of imperial consort, you can send someone to Jinling to search for your parents. Perhaps... you might still find them."

Zijuan knew that her mistress was speaking of herself as well; her own father, Lin Ruhai, was also missing and his whereabouts remained unknown.

Xiangling smiled. "You forget, I was bought by the aunt to be a concubine for Elder Master Xue; how could I possibly enter the palace along with our young lady?"

Daiyu smiled. "Silly girl, just remember my words today; the time for clarity will come hereafter."

Still uncomprehending, Xiangling gazed at her for a moment, then smiled, expressed her thanks, bid farewell, and returned.

Zijuan fell into deep thought.

The two left the Xiaoxiang Lodge and walked for a short while before they suddenly heard the chatter of young girls drifting from ahead. Zijuan peered closely and said, "That is the Qinfang Pavilion ahead. I wonder who is there."

As they drew closer, they soon realized it was the young ladies of the Wang and Shi families gathered together in conversation.

"Is that Sister Lin?" Suddenly, ShiXiangyun's voice rang out. After Lin Daiyu approached, she asked in surprise, "What are you all doing here so late? And without lanterns, in the pitch-dark by the water's edge—take care lest you miss your footing and fall in."

Shi Xiangyun ran out to greet her happily. "I knew it was Sister Lin! Only Sister Lin has such a figure!" With that, she took hold of Lin Daiyu's hands, then added dejectedly, "Sister Junyi said that we are now Prince Qian's slaves and have no use for those lamps. The moonlight is fine tonight, and we can see the path clearly, so there is no need to light lanterns."

After the Shi and Wang families had their estates confiscated, many young ladies arrived. In Lin Daiyu's memory alone, Wang Junyi, Wang Xuanzhu, and Shi Yanqiu stood out—all women of exceptional talent and beauty.

Yet now, they were gathered beneath the Qinfang Pavilion of the Grand View Garden, not daring to light lamps, discussing only under the moonlight where their futures might lie.

A young lady from the Wang family looked at Lin Daiyu and said with undisguised envy, "If only I, too, were favored by Prince Qian like Sister Lin, so that I could remain in the manor and harbor no other thoughts... But as things stand, our prospects are uncertain. Prince Qian has merely relegated the women of the household to the Inner Court without a word about summoning us into the palace. How could we dare to remain in the manor?"

"Sister Wang speaks truly," a young lady from the Shi family chimed in. "The Inner Court governs tens of thousands of official bondmaids and slaves. Entering the palace to serve is already no easy feat, let alone catching Prince Qian's eye and gaining his favor so as to eventually rise above our lot. In this present calamity, how vast is the multitude of palace maids relegated to the Inner Court? How could Prince Qian ever deign to notice me?"

"That is hard to say. Prince Qian has shown exceptional grace to the Jia family; perhaps in the future he will..."

"You harbor false hopes, but I cannot. The day after tomorrow, I shall leave."

"And what good will leaving do? After the confiscation, only a few hundred taels of silver remain at home..."

"The ancients say heaven leaves no dead end. I do not believe Prince Qian can be so ruthless. Since he has shown grace to Sister Lin and Sister Bao, perhaps in the future he will not deny it to us..."

"With Sister Lin's appearance, she is certain to be conferred the rank of imperial consort once she enters the palace!"

"If I leave, I fear I won't even be able to feed my wet nurses and maids; how could I bear to watch them suffer? Remaining in the manor at least guarantees a bowl of rice to eat."

More than a dozen young ladies, accompanied by some of their personal maids, joined together in uttering these desolate and heartbreaking words, which made one all the more inclined to weep.

Yet suddenly someone remarked, "Once one enters the palace, one serves the sovereign with one's beauty, seeking to please the monarch and win his favor."

At these words, the young mistresses gathered under the moonlight at the Qinfang Pavilion fell silent, their faces flushing red with embarrassment.

They were all unmarried maidens; how could any of them have ever used their "beauty" to serve another?

Perhaps because of the darkness, someone softly recited:

"Pearl hairpins slant, sliding upon the coral pillow;
Half enduring imperial grace, half surrendering one's form..."

As the verse was spoken, Lin Daiyu, Shi Xiangyun, and all the rest found their thoughts wandering elsewhere. For a moment, these sheltered maidens felt utterly mortified and ashamed.

Wang Junyi looked at her in astonishment. "Xuanzhu, where on earth did you learn such licentious and vulgar verses?"

Awakening as if from a dream, the young girl stood frozen in terror, before bursting into tears and throwing her arms around her. "Sister, I was wrong!"

"Sister Wang need not weep; we simply won't speak of it to outsiders."

The sisters all hastened to comfort her.

"What is all this weeping for out of nowhere? Are you hungry? I shall send someone to ask Sister Bao to have the kitchen prepare more good food for you."

Someone approached carrying a bundle of lanterns. Wang Junyi had already recognized the voice and hurried forward to bow. "Elder Sister, why have you come?"

It was Wang Xifeng, who had brought Ping'er along with several maids and matrons, carrying some fifteen or sixteen lanterns.

Wang Xifeng smiled. "Prince Qian cannot be such a petty man. You young ladies have gathered to chat; would he really blame you just for lighting a few lanterns? Besides, I hear some of you will also be entering the palace—who knows, one of you might become a noble imperial concubine in the future!"

The maidens all laughed, declaring that the title of imperial consort belonged to Miss Lin, and they lacked such good fortune.

Zijuan cast a secret glance at her mistress, seeing that her face held no trace of anger; it remained calm, neither displeased nor gladdened.

Ping'er smiled. "Are you all willing to stay? Second Brother Lian has just sent me to ask. With the permission of Prince Qian's soldiers, he plans to go out tomorrow to help you find a residence. Whoever intends to leave should come to me and My Lady tomorrow morning so that Second Brother Lian can calculate how large a house needs to be found."

It was precisely this worry that had kept them gathered in discussion overnight, and why they had even summoned Shi Xiangyun.

"Does Elder Sister think we should leave or stay?" a Wang family girl asked Wang Xifeng.

Before her marriage, Wang Xifeng had always treated them with great care at home.

Wang Xifeng gazed at the many sisters of her clan and pondered for a long time before she said with helpless resignation, "I have no fixed counsel to offer either. If you stay, perhaps you will catch Prince Qian's eye and attain wealth and imperial favor from that day on; or perhaps you will simply wait, year after year, just like the eldest young lady of the household—entering the palace at ten and only becoming a virtuous imperial consort a decade later... If you go out, however, you can find a compatible husband of your own choosing and marry. With your former standing as daughters of noble marquises, you could find a good match and continue living a life of abundance."

"Elder Sister need only tell us whether to stay or go, and we shall weigh it ourselves."

"Oh, you stubborn girl, forcing me to spell it out!"

Wang Xifeng smiled. "If you cannot make up your minds, stay for the time being. Later on, when Prince Qian shows grace, perhaps he will grant you leave to depart."

This was precisely what they had discussed earlier.

Lin Daiyu, however, thought otherwise. When that towering, fierce Prince Qian beheld the garden full of blossoms, how could he ever let them go?

Wang Xuanzhu seized Wang Xifeng's hand and smiled. "Then I shall stay as well, to keep Elder Sister company. If we enter the palace together in the future, I shall inevitably have to rely on Elder Sister to look after me!"

Wang Xifeng asked in bewilderment, "What would I be entering the palace for?"

Wang Xuanzhu was startled, and just as she was about to speak, yet another person approached carrying lanterns.