Toward evening the setting sun dyed the sky red and steeped half of Jiangning in warm crimson haze. Coming back from outside, Su Tan'er ran into Xiao Chan and learned that Ning Yi had caught a chill. Questioning Xiao Chan about what the doctor had said, she led her three maids toward her grandfather Su Yu's courtyard.
She had something to consult Grandfather about today, and now that she knew Ning Yi was in no real danger, there was naturally no need to rush over and look in on him. Once inside the courtyard she found that Third Uncle Su Yunfang and Third Aunt were there as well, and with them Third Uncle's second daughter, whom everyone at present called Seventh Girl; at that moment she was telling a story in front of Grandfather, with several maids waiting on them all around.
"…And then, that Zhou Yu, he gave Huang Gai a beating…"
Su Tan'er went over, brought a stool and sat down, and listened to the girl's story along with Grandfather and Third Uncle and Third Aunt. It was about the Three Kingdoms, and quite amusing. Presently the story ended and the girl stood up. "Second Sister."
"Little Seven knows how to tell stories now—wonderful. Did you go to the tavern with Daddy to hear a storyteller?"
"No. The teacher told it to us at the school."
"Hm?" Su Tan'er hesitated a moment. "Which teacher?"
"Brother Yi! Brother Yi knows all sorts of things."
The word live-in son-in-law might not sound good spoken outside—a man living under another's roof, low in standing—but inside the wife's family such a husband was generally treated as a brother. So Seventh Girl called Ning Yi her elder brother, not her brother-in-law. Hearing this, Su Tan'er smiled faintly, while in her heart she was turning over what it meant. Beside her, Third Uncle Su Yunfang spoke. "He's teaching the Analects these days, isn't he?"
Seventh Girl nodded. "Yes, the Analects. We've got as far as the Li Ren chapter…" Her manner was a little tense; once studies came up, the next thing was usually being made to recite.
This time, however, her father did not call for a recitation. Su Yunfang said to Su Tan'er, "Yet in an Analects class he talks about the Three Kingdoms. Children do love hearing stories, but a teacher should command his students' respect through learning; wide quotation is a proper road, still it must be kept within bounds. Tan'er, you should remind Liheng of it."
That was a severe reproof, and for the moment Su Tan'er could only nod and agree. Beside them Old Master Su laughed.
"No need to put it so gravely. In a matter of days he has won the students' liking, and with it he can teach them to like their studies. These children have been handed to him; that makes it his business.
Third Son, you don't know the whys and wherefores either—how do you know the Analects has nothing to do with the Three Kingdoms, or that Liheng has no deeper meaning in it? If you do not hold the post, do not meddle in its affairs—that principle was taught to you brothers long ago. Don't come pointing fingers at this again."
As a matter of fact Su Tan'er herself felt, to some degree, that talking of the Three Kingdoms in an Analects class was a bit unreliable, but Old Master Su was pleased with it. He did not care about Ning Yi's scholarship—in truth he had long known the man's learning was not high—he was looking at the matter from other angles.
The Su family's situation was complicated. The eldest of the three branches, Su Boyong, the second, Su Zhongkan, and the third, Su Yunfang, each controlled one line of business, but in both skill and natural gifts Su Boyong still had the edge.
With Old Master Su Yu alive it looked like a house of friendly and respectful brothers, yet look one generation further down, and the third generation was nothing but useless sacks. Only Su Boyong's sole daughter, Su Tan'er, stood out alone.
Su Yu had been weighing it for years and meant to put the family business into Su Tan'er's hands—which, of course, was also a very great deal of trouble.
A hen crowing at dawn comes up against several times the resistance of an ordinary handover.
If there had been even one marginally promising male among the Su men it would have been another matter, but there was none; and Su Tan'er, for all that she worked neither too hot nor too cold, had methods that were quite outstanding, with the bearing of a great general. She had the ability, and she had the ambition.
So the Old Master had now carved off some of the properties his son Su Boyong managed and given them to her to run in her own name, as a formal test—a test that was not of her ability as such, but simply of how far she could get, using her father's resources, toward pressing down and folding in the other two branches.
Leave Su Tan'er's pressures aside for the moment. Ning Yi's marrying in had originally been meant to let Su Tan'er remain in the Su family. The Old Master set great store by the tie to the Ning family's forebears, and so he looked after Ning Yi as well. The Su family's conflicts did not yet look sharpened; if Su Tan'er wanted to press the others down and fold them together, she need only refuse to give way—the Old Master was not dead, and no one would dare force anything through.
But if the conflict truly sharpened later, and the Old Master himself were gone, and these people wanted to move against Su Tan'er, then as her live-in husband, the lightly regarded Ning Yi would naturally be the best breach to open—plant a bit of dirt, find an excuse to stir up trouble, and what could be simpler?
It was precisely because Old Master Su saw this that he had sent Ning Yi off to teach.
Yushan Academy was full of Su family children; if Ning Yi taught well and won the respect of these juniors, his standing would rise above the struggle—at the very least he would wear a teacher's halo, and anyone who thought to touch him would have to think twice.
For that reason, Ning Yi being liked by the children was the best possible outcome. The Old Master now asked a few more questions about how the teaching was going; the little girl answered happily, then asked Su Tan'er, "Second Sister, do you know what the teacher will tell us tomorrow?"
Su Tan'er smiled. "I'm afraid there won't be any tomorrow. He's caught a chill and started resting at home today, so he most likely can't go to class tomorrow."
"Oh?" The Old Master asked in puzzlement how it had happened, and Su Tan'er repeated the whole of it just as Xiao Chan had told her. The little girl said, "Then can I go and see Brother Yi?" Su Tan'er shook her head. "A chill is catching. Little Seven, it's better to wait until your Brother Yi is well before you go visiting."
After Third Uncle, Third Aunt and the little girl had left, Su Tan'er chatted with Grandfather a while longer before returning to her own courtyard. When she went to see Ning Yi, he was sitting up in bed drinking medicine, his expression sour. Su Tan'er asked a few courteous questions; she had meant to bring up the business of the stories as well, but seeing him ill, she said nothing about it.
Su Tan'er had ability, and in her heart she wanted to accomplish something as a woman—but on the other hand she was also a thoroughly traditional and orthodox girl. That she chose to accept her fate despite disliking the marriage, and to try to get along with Ning Yi, showed as much: she had her own character, but the framework was still that framework.
She hoped Ning Yi in his role as teacher would carry authority, rather than win the students over with little tricks.
Rather than a bit of cleverness or petty device, she would have preferred him to be an orthodox, even pedantic scholar; even if he had no truly profound learning, she hoped he would hew more closely to "the proper way." Of course, at present this was still a process of coming to know each other.
She would not easily settle on a conclusion, but she would indeed slowly try to sketch out a shape for her husband in her heart.
And in truth that shape was clear enough, on reflection: he was an ordinary scholar, not much learning, not wide experience, decent at heart, and his temper so-so. This was the good man to whom she meant to entrust her whole life.
For the moment she could afford some wilfulness, but time was finite after all; one day the two of them would have to live together, and she would bear his children. So long as he was no great villain or evildoer, these things would come to pass. The future… would most likely be like that, with nothing much to change.
She might still keep a few small hopes in her heart, but what exactly those hopes were, even she did not know. As they went on she might come to know this husband in finer detail, but as for any great deviation, any surprises—most likely there would be none.
In the late autumn of the seventh year of Jinghan of the Wu dynasty, in the Su family compound in Jiangning, a clear-browed beauty stepped out from beneath the eaves, lifted her eyes to the sky and lightly smoothed the hair at her temple.
On her pretty face her gaze was still limpid, carrying a touch of helplessness, but more than that a calm detachment. When the wind passed through the courtyard, her pale green dress swayed gently in it. This was how Miss Tan'er, lovely within and without and only lately a wife in name, regarded her marriage at this moment…
But for the present this was not the thing that truly weighed much in her life. She had other matters to think about, and to do. Ordinary life, even when attended to now and then, would go on walking plainly along its own road.
If everything developed along its natural course, then perhaps decades from now, when she one day stepped out from under the eaves again and lifted her head, she might suddenly recall the wind she had seen on a day many years before, carrying her off somewhere, as the years themselves would.
But now everything was still ample; there was no need to mind many things.
And in that abundance of time so ample that no one even noticed it, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived.
Sickness comes on like a landslide and leaves like thread unwinding. There were no wonder drugs in these times, this body had been weak to begin with, and before he had exercised for long he caught cold, so by Mid-Autumn day Ning Yi was still stuck in his room, able only to pass the time with an old vernacular novel.
From what Ning Yi remembered, in his present state he could still go out and wander about the courtyard—but this was ancient times. Medical care was poor and everyone's health was bad, so wherever there was someone to look after a patient, prevention and care were taken very seriously. It was late autumn and turning cold again, and Xiao Chan stood guard at the door and flatly refused to let this restless invalid out. Ning Yi quite understood the girl's good intentions.
So be it. He was not much given to moving about in any case; he only opened the window every so often to let in some air, and even that made Xiao Chan puff out her little cheeks in displeasure. Ning Yi, bored, idled away the time explaining to her the benefits of fresh air for the human body.
Toward evening Ning Yi put on an extra layer and went out with Su Tan'er and the others, who had come back, to attend the banquet. It was only a chill, after all, and the great Mid-Autumn family feast still had to be attended. The Su household ran to several hundred souls, from masters down to stewards, menservants, maids and guards; in the main hall and several of the larger courtyards the square eight-immortal tables were set out in rows, and the noise was tremendous.
Ning Yi had of course attended banquets on a grand scale in his former life—the company year-end parties each year were enormous—but it had to be said that the more modern things became, the greater the distance between people.
Here in the ancient atmosphere, even though few in this house were sincerely warm toward a live-in son-in-law like him, sitting here he could still feel a kind of intimate liveliness: outside, people bustled about setting off firecrackers, children ran to and fro, and shouts, greetings and chatter rose in one blended tide—and he greeted people alongside Su Tan'er.
He actually liked this feeling.
The sun had not yet set and the dishes were already coming out; in the festive air torches and lanterns were lit, night gradually came on, and every kind of sound rose together—men playing finger-guessing games, men drunk and carrying on, people coming over to the hosts' side by Old Master Su to say a few flattering words.
A few children even came up and recited poems they had written themselves.
The three girls, Chan'er, Juan'er and Xing'er, were happy too; seated at the maids' tables not far off, they ran about laughing, chattering away to Su Tan'er, reporting this and that, and now and then speaking to Ning Yi as well, "Son-in-law, Son-in-law, they're spreading those stories you told…"
He had only told a few stories offhand in class, yet they had already gone round among the younger generation, and there even seemed to be a tendency for them to spread on to the maids and menservants.
Tch. That's what an age starved of entertainment is like…
The evening banquet began early, and in fact not long after nightfall it was already winding down; but of course, it being Mid-Autumn, moon-viewing together was the standing item.
The Old Master, together with Su Boyong, said a few words to the company, and then the Old Master retired to his own courtyard, and the whole Su clan followed him over to chat and gossip—basically everyone had to exchange a few words with Old Master Su, and even the young juniors who wanted to leave had to go through this procedure.
The three brothers, headed by Su Boyong, took charge of the servants, mostly stewards; the red envelopes had in fact been handed out already, so it was mainly a matter of taking turns saying a few warm words.
The Old Master was over seventy now, but healthy and still keen in spirit. Ning Yi and Su Tan'er had greeted him during the meal; coming over again now, the Old Master said a few things like "From now on the two of you must support each other," then urged the cold-stricken Ning Yi to hurry back and rest, even though Ning Yi looked quite himself now, only a little hoarse.
In modern times, a twenty-year-old body would shake off a cold with or without medicine, no pressure at all. Now here he was, with a seventy-year-old elder urging him to take care of his health, and Ning Yi felt rather helpless about it. But that was how things were, and there was no help for it. The past few months his exercise had been light, done only out of a habit of keeping fit, and so it had not done anything thorough for this scholar's constitution; next he would have to put systematic, intensified training on the schedule.
All the way back up to the little tower, Su Tan'er followed Ning Yi into his room. After a moment of silence she told him to rest well tonight, then, with a little difficulty, hinted that she still had to go out that evening—because she had told him a few days ago that she was going to the Puyuan poetry gathering.
Sick or not, Su Tan'er would certainly be going to the Puyuan poetry gathering, because her chief purpose was to cultivate connections with certain people and talk business. On that point, even if Ning Yi were displeased, even if he shouted and made a scene, it probably would have made no difference. Only, as a wife, giving her husband this kind of notice while he had a cold did feel rather strange.
But Ning Yi understood the business well enough; in his heart he merely found it amusing. His little wife would certainly never give up the Su family's business, and on the other hand she wanted to keep this marriage going as best she could, even though at present it was a marriage in name only, and she was the one holding the upper hand besides. Women of ancient times—truly, her efforts struck him as adorable.
After savoring for a moment Su Tan'er's expression as she carefully weighed her words so as not to give him any unwanted ideas, Ning Yi smiled and told her to have a good time and come back soon. When Su Tan'er was about to leave and told Chan'er to take good care of him, he remembered something. "Oh, no need. Let Xiao Chan go along and enjoy herself. I'm fine—at most I'll read a while and go to sleep."
The Puyuan poetry gathering, on its six boats linked into one great vessel, had no end of performances, and along the way one could take in the whole lantern market's night scenery on the Qinhuai River—for anyone of this age it was a feast of a pleasure.
For days now Xiao Chan had been excitedly telling him how much fun it was, because in past years Su Tan'er had always taken the three of them along.
Ning Yi was fond of Chan'er and did not want to spoil the girl's fun on his account, but before Su Tan'er could speak, Chan'er was already shaking her head with a smile.
"I'm not going. I'll stay home and read with the son-in-law."
Purely in terms of feeling, Su Tan'er regarded her three maids as younger sisters, and far more deeply than she did the present Ning Yi; but a maid was a servant after all, and since Xiao Chan was being so sensible, she did not need to say more. Ning Yi argued with her for a while, and gave up only once he was sure he could not persuade her.
The two of them stood on the second-floor walkway and watched the three go off into the distance. From here the Su family's compound spread out far across the view, running on to the distant streets, with the whole of Jiangning beyond it a dense, dazzling scene of lamps and lights. If one could find a high place to look down from now, this ancient splendor of a night view would surely have a flavor all its own—only today there was no way to enjoy it.
"Son-in-law, let's go inside," Xiao Chan said with a smile. "Will you tell Xiao Chan a story too?"
"Bring a stool out and I'll tell it right here…"
"Then I don't want to hear it." Xiao Chan pursed her lips, then knit her brows in a troubled way. "It's windy out here. Go inside…"
"It's fine, it's fine, look, there's no wind at all, and I'm wearing so many layers… Or I could put on a hat if you like… It's fun to look out from here too. It's settled—bring the stool out and I'll tell you… Journey to the West… or Romance of the Western Chamber, that would do as well."
Since he had said so, Chan'er had no choice but to give in, and the two of them carried stools out and sat down on the little terrace.
By now the Su family's courtyards were no longer as lively as before; now and then people preparing to go out could be seen, and from far off came firecrackers and gongs and drums and shouts.
Mid-Autumn night was a festival for family, but in fact there were still a great many social obligations—plenty of people like Su Tan'er had gatherings to attend: lantern fairs, drinking parties, poetry gatherings of every kind.
Ordinary families did not necessarily stay at home either; it was going out to the market, watching the dragon and lion dances, guessing lantern riddles that made it feel festive.
And now, all over the city, the chief entertainments of the evening were nearing their start. Some poetry gatherings had already hung their first poem up outside, and certain of the established brothels would select these verses and sing them; as for the largest few gatherings, people were still arriving.
When Su Tan'er left the house, at the gate of the Pan residence that hosted the Zhishui poetry gathering, celebrities of every kind were gathered.
Old Qin, who usually played chess by the river with Ning Yi and the others, had today put on somewhat more formal clothes, and with his concubine Yunniang beside him he stepped down from the carriage; at once someone led a large crowd of attendants over to welcome him.
"Lord Qin graces us with his presence—the whole Pan household is honored…"
This man was the present head of the Pan family, Pan Guangyan, and also the elder brother of Pan Mingchen, vice minister of Rites and Hanlin academician. His learning was uncommon, and he excelled at painting, cranes above all, in which he was peerless; most people respectfully called him Crane Elder. Even so, toward this Old Qin he remained quite deferential. The two were of an age; Old Qin hurriedly returned the courtesy with a smile. "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it. Crane Elder, if you keep up all this ceremony, next time I won't dare come again…"
"Haha, Lord Qin is as witty as ever… By the way, Minggong has arrived already…" After a round of pleasantries, the two walked inside.
Soon after, the Zhishui poetry gathering began, and the great vessel of six painted boats linked together, which had been moored by the busiest street on the Qinhuai River, slowly pulled away from the bank. Poems went out from gathering after gathering, spreading through the city; amid the lamps and song that filled it, the air of refinement grew ever thicker, and this city's lively Mid-Autumn night only now formally entered its climax.