Chapter 39 (2/2)
If Yun Shi Yi was here, he would mock her. Her brain had not short-circuited only this one time. He was used to it and no longer cared about it as he was numb.
“That um, you can choose as you wish. Anything you want to play is fine.” In any case, he was at a master level of skill and anything he played would be much better than anything she, a novice, could play.
Lu Piao Xiang slightly hesitated and muttered to himself irresolutely before bringing both hands to rest on top of the guqin. His eyes closed as he pondered for a short moment, and when they reopened, his ten fingers lightly danced among the strings as a sparkling melody flew from his fingertips. The melodious sound of the guqin rippled gently throughout the room, resembling flowing water and a young male and female confessing their affections for each other: Young Lady, ah, can you hear the ospreys cooing as they reside in the river’s sandbank? Such a kindhearted and beautiful maiden that will make a good spouse for a good man. She gathers the uneven stems of the yellow floating heart along the shore. Such a kindhearted and beautiful maiden that causes all thoughts after waking to be of her……
荇菜 | Yellow floating heart
This Mister was playing “The Cooing Ospreys” from the Book of Songs and the most famous lines were precisely: Coo coo–ospreys are singing, / on the islet of the river. / A fair maiden so charming / makes fine men’s heart quiver. These four lines were printed in literature textbooks and remained fresh in Ruan Zhu’s memory. (Translation by Cheng Jiahui, Cheng Sheng, and Wei Xianggang.)[e]
Although she was quite bad at playing the violin from her past life, she had the gift of singing. On top of that, the voice of this body that she had transmigrated into was rather original, and she softly sang along with the beat of the guqin’s melody. Her clear and spirited voice was soft and very pleasing on the ears, like the sound of a black-naped oriole. Accompanied by the magical guqin tone, her voice had the effect of reverberating around the rafters for three days[f]. This sort of song could only be found in the Heavens.
Black-naped oriole | YouTube of their sound (here)
When Yun Shi Yi returned, he felt that the voice was somewhat familiar, but he never thought it would be his wife. Even after he ascended the stairs and pushed open the doors, he still didn’t realize the one singing was her.
Gradually, the sound of the guqin stopped and the song came to an end. The sonorous voice lingered in the air, comparable to the sound of the Heavens.
“Husband Lord, you’ve returned.”
Just as Ruan Zhu wanted to climb off the bed, Yun Shi Yi walked over and held onto her waist: “Don’t recklessly move. If something happens to the child in your belly, you’ll have to drink bitter medicine for a long while.”
Yun Shi Yi hugged her and kissed her. Ruan Zhu was stupefied–the man had become foolish. How could he do such intimate acts in front of others? But she didn’t know that Yun Shi Yi had done this on purpose.
She pushed him away: “It’s already been how many days now? I’ve long recovered, it’s you that’s making a fuss about nothing. You went out for over half the day, what did you buy back? Let me see~ Nuan Chun, come over and pour some tea for your Eldest Master. Nuan Qing, go to the chest and get……aiya, I’ve remembered it……” She pointed at Lu Piao Xiang and exclaimed: “You’re the person that played the guqin that time on the pleasure boat! At that time, the prefectural magistrate’s Madam had pressured me so I recited a poem capturing the essence of your playing. See, my memory is this good!”
The same line, heard by different people, had different meanings.
Lu Piao Xiang was at a loss for words. His kindred soul had actually forgotten him and it turned out he had been in a one-sided love from the beginning. He had thought this maiden was exactly the one he had been looking for and had thought about her all day and night. But the lady had essentially not remembered him at all. His ego had been slightly bruised and he felt even more disappointed.
Yun Shi Yi’s lips hooked upwards. It turned out his little wife’s heart did not hold that man. He was secretly delighted and his heart was full of affection.
He did not object to arranging secondary husbands for his wife, but the prerequisite was that he had to forever remain her number one.
Lu Piao Xiang was not good at social niceties. Thinking there was no need for him to stay any longer, he cupped his hands in obeisance and took his leave.
“Ai, why did he leave? I haven’t expressed my thanks yet!”
Just a moment ago, she had wanted to instruct Nuan Qing to bring over ten taels of silver as thanks, but she now recognized him and the ten taels of silver was not presentable. Lu Piao Xiang was celebrated and exceedingly well-known among the nobility and other prestigious clans. How could he covet a few pieces of silver?
Ruan Zhu saw that Lu Piao Xiang had already left, and after thinking for a bit, said towards Nuan Chun: “That man does not appear to be one that prefers silver. Go to the kitchen and make a bowl of iced pineapple juice and send it over. Just say it is my way of saying thanks.”
“Understood, Miss. This servant will immediately go.”
“Eldest Brother, what did you buy for Zhu Zhu?” Yun Shi Wei one by one opened up the several packages that Yun Shan had carried back. “Eh? So many fur pelts. Right now the summer days are sweltering. What did you buy these fur pelts for?”
“Saw someone selling them so I bought it. The quality of these pelts is very good and not something that you can buy in the markets of Lan Zhou.”
Ruan Zhu pulled some over and touched them all, exposing an astonished expression. It was fine if it was just some fox fur but there unexpectedly was the precious tiger pelt. She wanted to ask, why was it that the tigers had almost gone extinct in the later generations? It turns out that the tigers had been stripped of their fur to make clothing by these worry-free ancient people.
In this era, cotton had yet to become widespread. Therefore, to resist the cold of winter, the people would use fur and leather for their clothing. The average common household would not be able to afford tiger; fox; or leopard pelts and fur, but they could afford sheepskin and dog pelts. Ones that were even more destitute simply used chicken and duck down.
Yun Shi Yi smugly looked at his wife: “These few fox pelts will be used to make you a winter cape and the tiger fur will be used as a bed spread. There is nothing better than being warm in winter.”
[a] 眼里揉不进沙子, a twist on the idiom 眼不着砂, which means not having someone (or something) in their eyes
[b] 流水, YouTube performance here
[c] 潇湘水云, YouTube performance here
[d] Southern Song dynasty was from 1127-1279. Reminder that Tang dynasty is 618-906 CE.
[e] 关雎 “The Cooing Ospreys” from 诗经, the Book of Songs, which is the oldest collection of Chinese poetry. English translation from English Translation for 100 Selected Chinese Ancient Classic Poems by Cheng Jiahui, Cheng Sheng, and Wei Xianggang. (Google Books, poem found on page 1)
[f] 绕梁三日, idiom meaning a voice is sonorous and resounding