Chapter Twenty-Seven: Language

Zhenning is a princess and cannot easily leave the palace, so, as in previous years, only Qingrou and Li Yi accompanied her to celebrate her birthday.

They arrived at the Yongning Commandery Prince’s mansion in the afternoon. Jinghu was sitting in her room, embroidering a handkerchief—a gardenia and a jasmine flower, stitched together.

Qingrou was adept at reading but not at needlework; among them, it was actually Jinghu, who usually had the hardest time sitting still, who embroidered the best. As soon as Qingrou entered the room, she picked up the handkerchief to take a look.

There were red-crowned cranes, golden swallows, coral branches, orchids, rice dumplings, and today’s gardenias and jasmines.

"Jingling, why are you embroidering all of these together? The red-crowned crane, the red-crowned crane..."

Qingrou paced the room while examining the handkerchief, then suddenly turned around. "This red-crowned crane pattern is my mother’s family totem. How did you know about it?"

Jinghu snatched the handkerchief back from her hands. "Someone gave it to me. Is that not allowed?"

Qingrou suddenly realized. "My cousin?"

Li Yi chimed in, "Isn't Jingling’s sister-in-law from the Grand Tutor Ke’s mansion? Why did you guess Master Ke first?"

Qingrou glanced at Jinghu. She was standing in a patch of sunlight in the room, smiling faintly as she held the handkerchief, looking so beautiful it hardly seemed real.

"Jingling, am I right or not?"

Jinghu looked up. Without confirming or denying, she simply pointed to a painting that Doulu had recently hung in the parlor.

Li Yi and Qingrou both stood up and walked over to the painting.

Li Yi did not know much about art and did not understand Jinghu’s implication, but Qingrou recognized it quickly. "Is this the birthday gift my cousin gave you?"

Jinghu nodded, walking over with a smile, her gaze lingering on the painting, unable to look away. "Isn't it beautiful? How is your cousin so talented? He can study and he can paint; is there anything in this world he cannot do?"

Qingrou did not understand such girlish sentiments and merely remarked, "Of course there are things my cousin cannot do. And there are probably many of them. But when did you become so close to him that he would even give you his own painting?"

"Every year for my birthday, he merely sent gifts through my maternal grandfather’s side. Aside from that, he has only ever paid any mind to the one living in the Cui'e Pavilion at the Xihe Garden."

Qingrou was likely referring to her fifth elder sister, the Lady of Huaiyi, who had lived in the Cui'e Pavilion before she was married.

The Nongfang Pavilion and the adjacent Cui'e Pavilion occupied the most beautiful spring scenery in the entire Xihe Garden. The first time Jinghu had visited the garden, she and Qingrou had come out from the Nongfang Pavilion after admiring the spring, and she had wanted to take a look at the Cui'e Pavilion.

She had been stopped by Qingrou, who said it was where her fifth sister lived and that she did not like to be disturbed.

Jinghu actually liked to disturb others, but seeing that Qingrou was truly unwilling to go in, she had let it go. She never mentioned it again.

So, he had been that kind to someone else.

Jinghu’s expression dimmed slightly, though she quickly cheered herself up. After all, the Lady of Huaiyi had once shared a promise of lifelong devotion with him, so it was understandable that he had cared for her.

As for herself and Ke Mingxu, there was nothing between them, yet he had still taken the care to paint the scene of the small garden outside the Chang'an Hall to give to her. In truth, their back-and-forth over this period—looking at the patterns on the silk handkerchief alone—was already quite significant.

One day, she would have him do for her what he had never done for the Lady of Huaiyi.

However, she had heard the name "Lady of Huaiyi" many times lately. If she ever had the chance to meet her, she would certainly like to have a proper encounter.

Jinghu was lost in thought for only a moment before Li Yi asked, "If it was painted by Master Ke, why are there gardenias and jasmines on the painting, just like on your handkerchief?"

Jinghu did not feel that liking Ke Mingxu was anything to be ashamed of. Li Yi and Qingrou were her best friends, and she had no intention of hiding it from them.

Besides, Princess Zhenning already knew. Friendships between girls could sometimes be complicated, and since they were such good people, Jinghu did not want to create a rift with them for no reason.

And so, the three young ladies sat down and talked for the entire afternoon.

By the end, Li Yi was dumbfounded. "Jingling, you are truly amazing. How long have you even known each other?"

Jinghu felt she was a bit impressive, though perhaps not as much as Li Yi thought. "We have known each other for three months, ever since that day at the Zhengyang Gate."

"We didn't really do anything, did we? Just exchanging flowers and paintings. Is that so amazing?"

Qingrou had likely known about her interest in Ke Mingxu for a while, so she had not shown much surprise at first. But upon hearing about the gardenias and jasmines outside the Chang'an Hall, she felt something was improper.

"Jingling, although you are still young and may not need to worry so much about the boundaries between men and women, my cousin is a civil official. Civil officials value their reputation above all else. If someone with ill intent were to see this, it would ultimately be bad for him, and bad for your future as well."

Jinghu knew that this was just Qingrou’s nature; she had read too many books, was rigid in her actions, and had always known how to restrain herself.

But while Qingrou knew how to restrain herself, she did not understand Jinghu, nor did she understand the unspoken, tacit agreement that had developed between her and Ke Mingxu—a bond Jinghu felt was quite real.

If it were not so, why would he have written such words to her? He knew she loved to ask questions and had always been a good student in his presence; he knew she would definitely come to him to ask for clarification.

Jinghu’s thoughts differed from Qingrou’s, but she had no desire to persuade her. They did not need to change for each other.

She decided to change the subject, running back to the inner chamber to retrieve that piece of light-cloud-colored Xie Gong stationery.

"Sister Qing, do you recognize what this is?"

Qingrou took the stationery from her hand and examined it carefully for a long while. "It seems to be the script of the Chile. Teacher Zhou mentioned it in class before."

Teacher Zhou was a tutor invited by the Old Madame of the Dingguo Duke’s mansion to teach the young ladies of the household.

Jinghu had only asked casually, never expecting Qingrou to actually recognize it. "Teacher Zhou is truly amazing to even know Chile script."

Jinghu had once audited a few of Teacher Zhou’s classes at the Yongxu Studio in the Xihe Garden. But for someone who did not like to study, it did not matter whose class it was—she did not enjoy it, and after a few times, she stopped going.

"Teacher Zhou is well-read. In her early years, she associated with people who had lived beyond the frontier, so she knows it and can even speak it. She is indeed very impressive."

Jinghu knew that Qingrou idolized Teacher Zhou.

A sudden idea occurred to her. "Qingrou, is Teacher Zhou very busy lately? Could I go and sit in on her classes? I would also like to ask her to help me translate this passage."

It was not just about translating the text; she also wanted to learn the Chile language. Ke Mingxu knew it, after all.