Chapter 2

As autumn faded into spring, three more years passed.

The horizon over Zehe lightened slightly, and at Huang’s Sweetwater Shop, fires were already lit, wisps of white smoke curling upward.

Young Mistress Huang Shiyu lived on the second floor of the shop.

At the first quarter of the Mao hour, she awoke, inhaling the scents of fruit and fresh milk drifting up from below. She dressed and washed, then began her busy day.

Huang’s famous Orchid Frost Milk Tea and Bone-In Abalone Snails were well regarded throughout the area, but due to limited milk supplies, they were served in strictly limited quantities each day.

The headmaster of Lujin Academy, Hua Shan, often ordered these two items, never limiting himself. Huang Shiyu made the delivery personally.

The Huang family business thrived by serving the academy and naturally remembered the headmaster’s kindness.

Hua Shan was fond of the Orchid Frost Milk Tea. Today, once again, Huang Shiyu arrived bearing his order, the fragrance of tea and milk seeping through the food container’s lid.

With each sip, he tilted his head contentedly.

After months of delivering meals, curiosity about this young girl dressed as a footman finally got the better of him. Leisurely, he asked, “How old are you this year? Have you studied?”

“I have reached the coming-of-age ceremony and have studied the Three Character Classic, recognizing some characters,” Huang Shiyu replied respectfully.

She had begun learning at six, taught painstakingly by her elder sister. After her sister’s marriage, she had no one to continue her lessons.

Hua Shan stroked his beard, shaking his head. “Girls should read more books. Without learning, one cannot get by.”

“Then, Headmaster, might you lend me a book…” she ventured.

Hua Shan’s eyes widened. “If you want books, ask your father. Not here.” He shook his head emphatically.

This stingy old man had demanded the utmost effort just for errands; borrowing a book would be near impossible.

This matter required careful consideration.

Huang Shiyu carried her food box back along a shaded path.

Outside Lujin Academy’s gate, the stone-paved road was flanked by towering phoenix trees reaching three zhang high.

Passing through the tree-lined stone road, one reached the bright expanse of Yushan Lake. Students came and went along the lakeside, six young men in particular vibrant and striking.

Among them, Jian Xun was the youngest, with the others no more than three years his senior. The county seat of Baotian府 was not known for prodigies, so how had they gained admission?

This touched on another rule of the Great Kang era: tuition donations.

Money could move the world. Wealthy noble families spared no expense, securing spots for their sons.

Thus, these five were, in a sense, the academy’s little golden gods.

The six youths were finishing a game of cuju, their foreheads glistening with sweat.

Jian Xun paid no mind to onlookers’ curious gazes, casually wiping his brow, drinking water, and chatting with classmates.

He was strikingly unique, as if distilled from all the lake’s natural beauty.

At just fifteen, he had yet to fully mature—only more handsome in time.

Huang Shiyu hurried past with her food box when a sharp-eyed cuju player called out, “Hey, brat, don’t run!”

The girl, recently come of age, wore loose clothing and a footman’s disguise. Few knew her true identity.

The one calling her “brat” was one of the academy’s patrons.

The patron pointed a finger at Huang Shiyu’s head. “It’s you, isn’t it? I know you even if you turn to ash. Last time, you rode a donkey and ran into my dog!”

Huang Shiyu knew she could not escape, so she stopped and smiled innocently. “Young master, are you speaking to me?”

Her thick country accent surprised the patron. The thief on the donkey had spoken formal Mandarin and wore a veil, hiding his face. The patron leaned closer to look but wasn’t convinced it was the same person.

“On the second day of the third lunar month, were you the one who recklessly charged through the academy on a donkey, brushed my shoulder, and ran off?” he squinted.

Huang Shiyu looked blank. “I don’t know.”

“If yes, say yes; if not, say no. What kind of answer is ‘I don’t know’? Are you stupid?” The patron frowned, glaring.

Jian Xun laughed loudly. “Brother Siyuan, she’s my neighbor and usually shy around strangers.”

The patron called Siyuan gave a surprised “Oh,” looked at Jian Xun, then at Huang Shiyu, and finally conceded, “Sorry, mistaken identity.”

The donkey-rider and Jian Xun’s neighbor were separate matters, but anyone connected to Jian Xun seemed unlikely to be so reckless, so he let it go.

He patted Huang Shiyu’s shoulder. “That thief was short and skinny. From afar, you two do look alike.”

Huang Shiyu wriggled free quickly.

Jian Xun frowned slightly, looking at Huang Shiyu with a meaningful gaze.

Not understanding, Huang Shiyu sensed Jian Xun might be displeased standing so close, so she stepped behind him. Indeed, his expression softened.

The patron chuckled and said to Jian Xun, “I’m not going to eat him; see how scared he looks.”

Jian Xun smiled.

“We’re short one player for cuju. Why not get him to fill in next time?” the patron suggested.

Jian Xun replied, “She’s physically weak; she won’t fit in with us.”

“Is that so?” The patron cast a sympathetic glance at Huang Shiyu and dropped the matter.

The boys jostled and laughed as they walked away.

After they left, Huang Shiyu thanked Jian Xun repeatedly, explaining, “My donkey suddenly went wild. Not only did he not help, but he and the footman watched the fun. I shouted at him to ‘get out of the way,’ but he just laughed. Then... I got hit.”

Madam Hua, always thrifty, had bought a donkey that seemed slow-witted at the cheapest price as the shop’s main transportation. Sure enough, trouble struck on the first day.

Jian Xun chuckled.

His smile brightened his eyes like two pools of shimmering autumn water.

Huang Shiyu praised him silently.

Jian Xun said, “Don’t go through the Inkstone Gate again.”

To avoid another encounter with Siyuan.

“Oh, understood,” Huang Shiyu nodded.

Feeling warm, Jian Xun wished to bathe and change, so he bid her farewell.

Huang Shiyu asked, “I’m returning home tomorrow. Should I bring anything for Madam?”

Jian Xun turned to her, “No need; I’m going back too.”

Very well. Huang Shiyu waved goodbye and started off.

“Wait,” Jian Xun said slowly, “Come with me.”

“Okay!” Huang Shiyu eagerly agreed.

Back at the shop, footman Fusheng whispered to Jian Xun, “I understand your sympathy for Miss Huang, but she’s still a girl. It might not be proper for her to travel with us. If Madam finds out, she’ll punish me.”

“Does she look like a girl to you?” Jian Xun asked, spreading his arms.

Fusheng busily helped the young master change clothes, smiling awkwardly. “If you look closely, you can tell.”

“Who looks that closely in a carriage?”

Fusheng hesitated. “True...”

Around noon, the Sweetwater Shop was relatively quiet.

Old Madam Hua in the kitchen heard her daughter-in-law scolding outside and hurried to see what was happening.

“Go, go! We have business to do. Find another place to sun yourself,” Madam Hua was shooing away a grimy old beggar woman.

The beggar woman wasn’t offended and obediently moved away.

No one knew where she came from or when she had appeared; she had simply become part of the surroundings.

She had already lain beneath the great locust tree outside Huang’s shop for a whole day.

Madam Hua had reached her limit and picked up a feather duster, but Huang Shiyu stopped her just in time, gently persuading, “Aunt Hua, wait. Look, she’s covered in wounds. If something happens, we could be blamed, and our shop might have to close.”

Madam Hua sighed, helpless.

The beggar woman, sleepy-eyed, smiled as a small girl approached, handing her a package. “Grandma, here is 200 wen and some clean clothes. I’ll take you to Tianshui Temple to recover.”

The beggar woman yawned and accepted the bundle. “Alright.”

As she tried to stand, she swayed unsteadily.

Huang Shiyu stepped forward to steady her. “Let me help you.”

Though only five hundred steps from here to Tianshui Temple, the beggar woman’s injuries made walking difficult.

At the temple, the beggar woman examined Huang Shiyu carefully, then suddenly grinned, revealing a row of white teeth. “Young lady, want me to tell your fortune?”

“You’re lame from all those beatings, and you still dare to predict fortunes?”

The beggar woman had once earned a living as a fortune-teller.

A few days ago, her rambling talk had gotten her beaten.

She straightened her face. “That was different, I was just joking. For you, I’ll be serious.”

“That’s enough.”

“Let me see who you should choose,” she said, delighted to meddle in matchmaking.

“Choose what?”

“A husband,” the beggar woman said, suddenly serious. “Princess or titled madam—which do you prefer?”

These had nothing to do with Huang Shiyu. Thinking the woman mad, she turned to leave.

The beggar woman watched her hurried retreat, baring her teeth. “Then I’ll choose for you.”

The beggar’s nonsense was just a bit of worldly noise, easily forgotten once it passed the ears.

Huang Shiyu pushed open the wooden lattice window of the inner room, gazing out at the shaded Lujin Academy reflected in Yushan Lake’s clear waters—fish, birds, and aquatic plants all vivid.

If the shop wasn’t busy, she liked to sit here and daydream.

Because from here, she could see her father at a glance, if he ever came to visit.

When she was younger, afraid of the dense forest, she once kept tugging her father’s sleeve as they walked at dusk, murmuring, “Father, wait for me.”

Mr. Huang was impatient and pulled his sleeve away.

She smiled through tears.

He gave in and let her hold on.

Clutching her father’s sleeve, she no longer feared the dark woods, only felt content.

A small child not even half the height of an adult, looking up at her father and her youngest sister in his arms.

The youngest sister was only ten days younger.

Outside, the sun blazed brightly, golden light filtering through branches in shifting patterns. A familiar figure appeared in Huang Shiyu’s sight.

Her father had indeed come.

She happily ran downstairs, calling out clearly, “Father! Father!”

Mr. Huang stood with hands behind his back by the flowered wall, watching his daughter dash toward him.

At fifteen, Huang Shiyu was already taller than Madam Huang.

“Father, did you come to see me?” she asked.

Mr. Huang smiled. “When I have time, I’ll go to the county’s teashop to buy an older maid to care for you. Keep the amber for your mother.”

He patted the small bun atop Huang Shiyu’s head.

“All right.” Yet Huang Shiyu doubted he wouldn’t forget by the next moment.

As he walked away, he said, “You’re the young mistress here. Don’t try to do everything yourself, except for one thing: if you see your mother coming, be very alert. Eat whatever you want, except for the milk.”

He added with a warning, “And don’t let your mother see you.”

“Yes, Father.”

His reassurance seemed as much for himself as for her. “It’s good here—pleasant and free. Eat and drink what you like.”

Huang Shiyu smiled. “But I’ll miss you.”

Not just her father, but her elder sister in the county as well.

“I came to see you, didn’t I?” Mr. Huang sighed.

He stayed with Huang Shiyu in the cramped hall for a while, waiting for Madam Hua to come report.

This so-called visit was merely a convenience.

His concern for her paled even beside their neighbor, Jian Yunzhuang.

At least Yunzhuang could see her difficulties and offered her a ride home.

Her father could not, and never asked.