For the next few days, Mei Yanran kept to herself in the house, choreographing the moves to her next dance. News from Ling Fengxiao's estate had ceased since she removed the guard on watch there, but there were daily reports from the Wei Estate that stated Wei Wanru was resting peacefully at home as well.
Finally, on the day that the female lead was supposed to leave her house in the novel, Mei Yanran got up extra early to prepare for an all-day stalk---er, stakeout. She had a quick bite, finished up her daily dance class (Teacher: Mei Yanran, Student: Mei Yanran, Critic: Mei Yanran, Admiring Reflection: Mei Yanran), washed up and greeted her mother over a proper breakfast, then bundled up and left the house with the little maidservant from a few days ago.
This was the same servant girl who'd shown her Crown Prince Chu Yeguang's token when he came to visit, and who even now had been tasked to look after the item until they found a chance to return it again. Either by chance or intentional design, the prince had failed to retrieve his identifying command tablet when he left, leaving Mei Yanran with a minor headache. She'd considered sending the item back to his quarters by messenger bird or guard delivery since the imperial crown prince of historic dynastics always resided in the Eastern Palace. But both bird or man might leave a trail leading back to the Mei Estate, and she wanted as little to do with Chu Yeguang as possible. Thus, bringing the item with her in the off chance she spotted him outside would be her best bet.
As with all events in the novel, this one had its backstory too. The female lead had found the weather good today and went to stroll around the marketplace to replenish her store of herbs. She'd helped a little street urchin pay for his prescription out of the goodness of her heart, then saved that same boy a few minutes later when he crashed into Li Siyan and antagonized the shrewish girl. The boy was so grateful that he remembered his benefactor long after taking the medicine to the patient who needed it---male lead #4, the charming rogue/secret prince of a different kingdom, who in a twist of fate had gotten injured until he found male lead #3, the jianghu doctor, to treat him. By the end of the story arc, #4 had vowed to thank Wei Wanru one day for helping him, #3 had gotten a good impression of the same girl after going to give money to the boy and found that he'd already bought the prescription, and #1 Chu Yexuan got a free show and bonus affection points while he witnessed the two women talk two stalls away.
It was the perfect setup to expound on Wei Wanru's medical skills, face-slap a random rival, and draw attention to not one, but three male leads. One could say the original author was no slouch when it came to setting up the love pentagon early!
Neither Chu Yeguang nor Ling Fengxiao had appeared for this part of the novel, so Mei Yanran dedicated herself to just target the female lead today. Of course, she took the chance to buy random trinkets that caught her fancy too---a hair ornament here, a set of earrings there, and the universal street food of all ancient Chinese settings, candied hawthorn skewers.
Despite the cold, the streets of Yan Capital were still filled with people in wintertime because they were a hardy type who had accustomed themselves to the chill. One could only stay warm and dry indoors for so long before it drove one mad. The little servant girl was knowledgeable to lead her young mistress through the maze-like streets of the city until they reached the open-air medicine markets. Rather than directly dive into the lanes of merchants, Mei Yanran made a beeline for a nearby teahouse instead. Chen Xiao was on guard duty at the Wei Estate this morning and would run back to report to her as soon as Wei Wanru came outside. Until then, she might as well take a break and drink some tea. A waiter of the Spirit Restoring Herbhouse (還魂草樓), a specialized teashop that also had its own pharmacy, was quick to show Mei Yanran and her servant to a secluded table upstairs after seeing her dressed in fine fur-lined robes against the cold. There, Mei Yanran indulged herself with an order of ginger blossom scented dan cong tea, relishing in how the spicy aroma warmed her chilly face right up.
Mm...I'm glad it's hot.
Not many people were here this morning, the medical markets being but one of many specialized marketplaces in the capital. More interesting was the fact that it bordered the edges of the red-light district---a convenient location in case anything got too rowdy in the streets to warrant an emergency run for medicine. Most of the establishments were closed this early in the day, with the exception of Yan Capital's most famous brothel, the Scarlet Swallow (燕赩樓).
The inside of the building was bright and lavishly decorated, the bright red pillars edged with designs of green, blue, and even traces of gold. In the center of the main room was a large round pavilion that doubled as a stage, framed by a moat of clear water and all sorts of fake trees and flowers to imitate a tasteful spring garden scene. Customers could sit in tables surrounding the moat or stand on the second floor wrap-around balcony to view the show below. However, the balcony area that directly faced the stage was reserved for exclusive booths for the highest paying customers.
Today, only one of the booths were occupied by two guests in simple but finely-made robes. As Chu Yeguang blew softly on his tea to cool it down, Chu Yexuan shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Imperi---eldest brother, for you to bring us here, it's really..." Chu Yexuan wasn't sure how to finish the sentence.
Chu Yeguang languidly looked up from his cup with a slow smile. "Oh? Little Shuyang is an adult now, and perfectly qualified to visit such places."
"Qualifications aren't the question here!"
"Relax, we're simply here to see a performance." Swallowing a mouthful of tea, Chu Yeguang set the cup back down and settled back in his seat. "It's too early to try anything more intimate, anyways. The lighting isn't romantic enough."
"Brother!" Chu Yexuan was full of grief. He finally had some free time today, so he was planning to practice his martial arts before possibly paying another visit to Ling Fengxiao again. The latter hadn't responded to his message---which was normal enough, considering their friendship was kept under wraps---but neither had he taken any other obvious actions. Chu Yexuan was a restless sort who didn't like to leave things hanging, so he wanted to confront Ling Fengxiao in person.
Why had a shadow arts user been spying on his gates? As far as he knew, only rare top experts in the jianghu possessed such skill, but Ling Fengxiao didn't have any connections there. Had he offended one of those mysterious figures of the Wulin? Would there be a fight in the future? The fact that Ling Fengxiao had alerted him to the spy was taking him half into confidence already, so Chu Yexuan wanted a full admission. More than that, he wanted to ask if there were people he could beat up for his friend!
Instead, he'd ran into Chu Yeguang as soon as he left his courtyard and been dragged by his elder brother to a disreputable establishment instead. Chu Yexuan was perfectly capable of ditching Chu Yeguang in the dirt, but he respected his elder sibling despite the latter's philandering ways. Anyways, the windows were far away. If Chu Yeguang pressured him too much, he could simply jump out and run away. For now, he glanced downstairs, where a group of musicians were starting to seat themselves along the stage, then back at his brother.
"Why did you suddenly decide to come here?" Chu Yexuan asked curiously. If it's not for a roll in the sheets, then...
Chu Yeguang was propping his cheek against his hand as his elbow rested on the table, his eyes fixated on the view below. "It was a whim."
"Aren't most brothels closed this time of day?" Chu Yexuan asked next.
"Mm. I had them open early for me."
While the admission made Chu Yexuan start, it didn't surprise him much. His brother always did whatever he liked when it came to his own interests.
"Well...why did you bring me here with you?" Chu Yexuan tried next.
Chu Yeguang paused to shoot him a glance, his elegant brow arching up towards his forehead. "It'd be pretentious to open the Scarlet Swallow simply for my sake, so you're here to give them more company."
"..........." Chu Yexuan stayed silent. If that's the case, why don't you open the doors to the public as well?!
But no, Chu Yeguang had ordered the doors kept shut like all the other brothels on the street before staking the entire building for himself and his brother. Chu Yexuan found the whole excursion rather pointless and opened his mouth to excuse himself when---
"Shh, they're starting." Chu Yeguang pinched a corner of his sleeve to draw their attention back to the stage.
Chu Yexuan followed his line of vision and saw that the stage had suddenly filled up with a group of girls dressed in long-sleeved green dresses. Each of them sported bright flowers in their hair, looking the picture of spring. He glanced at his brother one more time and saw him fixate his eyes on the stage, as if anticipating something.
The melodic notes of pipas and flutes filled the room before the girls in green began to move. By the time Chu Yexuan realized they were dancing, they had started to sing as well.
The gentleman is the cloud in the sky,
While I am the bird by its side...
He was the cloud, then she was a bird; he was the lake, then she was a flower. Naturally, it was a love song, done in time and rhythm to flowing sleeves and swaying steps as the dancers weaved next to the fake flowers and trees bordering the gently rippling water by their feet.
If this was any other day at the brothel, Chu Yeguang would be downing wine and shouting praises at the dancing girls below. Today, he was silent enough to even catch Chu Yexuan's attention. He observed his brother's eyes roving restlessly over the dancers as his brow increasingly furrowed to meet his growing frown. Halfway through the dance he simply rose to his feet with a slam on the table.
The sudden thump startled the dancers momentarily; when they tried to continue their song, Chu Yeguang simply raised his voice with a shout. "Matron!"
From out of nowhere, the middle-aged proprietor of the Scarlet Swallow came hurrying to their booth, her flushed cheeks evident even under her cover of rogue.
"Honored guest, how may I---"
"Stop the dance," Chu Yeguang cut her off in irritation.
"Yes, honored guest, right away." the quick-witted matron hastily ran to the balcony and raised a hand. "Musicians, dancers, stop this instant!"
The stage immediately fell silent as the performers came to a halt. Standing to one side, Chu Yexuan only felt puzzled by the air of frustration seething from Chu Yeguang's form. "Im---eldest brother?" he tried.
Chu Yeguang was still staring at the girls below, his hands gripping the railing hard enough to turn his knuckles white. Finally, he relented enough to exhale a soft breath and mutter, "It's not the same..."
It's not the same at all!
---
Author's Note: Here's a link to a much clearer versionof the same dance with rough English subs for the song lyrics. I used the one in the story above because....stage aesthetics! uwu
