Chapter 608 - The Mistress of Zhiming Tower
The assembled advisors fell into stunned silence. Setting aside six hundred thousand taels—even scraping together three hundred thousand would require a pitched battle with the Guangdong provincial treasury. As for the Guangxi treasury, Guangxi's garrison forces themselves relied on subsidies from Guangdong; they couldn't be counted on at all.
Sensing the atmosphere growing dejected, LĂĽ Yizhong smoothly changed the subject: "How many troops and ships to deploy must be decided by the Governor-General in consultation with the Governor and General He. Let's set that aside for now and discuss other matters."
The advisors then turned to discussing which forces to mobilize, routes of advance, methods of crossing the sea, and coordination with local garrison troops. But LĂĽ Yizhong's mind had already wandered elsewhere. After going through the motions for a while, he excused himself, claiming urgent business, and entrusted the meeting to Li Xijue before taking his leave.
The moment he stepped out of the Governor-General's residence, his whole body felt lighter. His mood was elated, even excited—because the opportunity he had been hoping for had finally arrived.
He had been secretly scheming toward this moment for a long time, waiting for precisely such an opening. Though he had anticipated it would come soon, he hadn't expected it to arrive quite so quickly.
Though he maintained an outward calm, anxiety churned within him. As he climbed into his four-bearer sedan chair, he stamped impatiently on the floorboard:
"Zhiming Tower."
The bearers were just about to lift the sedan when LĂĽ Yizhong reconsidered and stamped again: "Return to my residence!"
Visiting Zhiming Tower right now wasn't appropriate. The news about the planned attack on Lingao hadn't yet spread. Once the meeting dispersed, it would naturally leak out. When Miss Pei and Mr. Guo found themselves in a state of panic and uncertainty, they would come to invite him of their own accord.
Considering this, he felt rather pleased with his own cleverness. Let this Mr. Guo stew in anxiety for a while first. When the whole city buzzed with rumors, he would understand soon enough.
Besides, though Guo Yi had only been in Guangzhou for two or three years, his social connections stretched remarkably wide. He had established channels to almost every wealthy gentry family and high official in and around Guangzhou. If he possessed some powerful figure or influential backer who had not yet revealed themselves, this "beating the grass to startle the snake" maneuver would be enough to draw them out. That way, LĂĽ Yizhong wouldn't rush in too eagerly and hit a wall for nothing.
Late-morning sunlight fell upon carved window lattices, and the glass embedded in them cast reflections on the snow-white plastered walls. The room was furnished with rosewood tables and chairs, an exquisite gilded screen painted with flowers and plants. A full-length crystal mirror—the most extravagant piece of furniture in all of Guangzhou—stood in an elaborately carved rosewood frame, covered with a brocade mirror cloth. Two shelves held thread-bound books kept immaculately clean. A Western enamel incense burner decorated with animal motifs slowly released wisps of sandalwood and aloeswood smoke, its subtle fragrance drifting through the chamber.
On the wall hung a scroll by an unknown landscape painter, a work that seemed to express its owner's distinctive sensibilities. Below the painting rested an elegant antique qin zither. Judging by its ancient patina, it was clearly an authentic Tang or Song dynasty piece—worth a fortune.
This boudoir, neat and comfortable, decorated with silks, satins, gold, and jade, appeared both luxurious and splendid. At this moment, its owner—the mistress of Zhiming Tower, Pei Lixiu—lay reclined on a canopy bed draped with tasseled gauze curtains, her head on a white satin pillow embroidered with red flowers, sleeping soundly.
The late-morning sunlight crept across the walls, and the room's originally dim, comfortable light gradually brightened. Finally she opened her eyes, seeming unaccustomed to such brightness. She closed them again for a moment, then slowly extended one snow-white arm from beneath the red cloud-satin quilt, followed by the other, stretching languidly.
Though her arms were pale as snow, they seemed slightly plump. Two twisted-wire silver bracelets encircled her wrists, with small emerald gems dangling from fine chains attached to them.
"This annoying sunlight," Pei Lixiu muttered, slowly sitting up and yawning without the slightest ladylike restraint.
According to the customs of prominent Ming Dynasty households, when a mistress stirred from sleep, her personal maids would appear at the slightest sound without needing to be summoned, chatting pleasantly while helping her dress and wash. But Pei Lixiu's boudoir observed a strict policy: no entry without permission. No servants or maids were allowed to cross her threshold unless explicitly called.
She sat dazedly on the bed for some time before seemingly coming to her senses. Lazily, she slipped out of bed, put on a pair of embroidered slippers, and made her way slowly to the bathroom.
The bathroom was entirely modern in style. The only thing missing was shiny stainless steel—though what replaced it was far more extravagant. All the plumbing fixtures were crafted from bronze.
She hastily undressed, took out a well-worn plastic shower cap from a drawer, and carefully pinned up her black hair. After repeatedly checking in the mirror that no strands were exposed, she stepped into the bathtub.
The dial indicating the roof water tank's status—somewhat resembling a ship's engine order telegraph—showed seventy percent. Enough water for a comfortable shower. Otherwise, she would have to pull the handle on the dial. The servants below would then quickly lead out the ox and drive it to run on a treadmill that powered a pump to refill the tank. This process took at least fifteen minutes. Though she had modern bathroom facilities, the supporting infrastructure remained frustratingly primitive.
After bathing, she sat in the dressing room outside the bathroom. Studying her reflection in the mirror, she noted her puffy eyes—yesterday she had merely made a brief appearance to socialize in the private rooms and had gotten thoroughly drunk. This was all because of Zhiming Tower's rum cocktails, which had proven far too successful. Rum mixed with kvass, combined with various fruit juices and distilled floral and herbal essences, made these fashionable drinks endlessly varied. They had instantly captivated Guangzhou's officials and nobles. Everyone who visited Zhiming Tower now considered it an honor to drink one.
At least her head no longer ached. The hangover soup had worked well. Pei Lixiu noticed some fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and frowned slightly, reminding herself to do a cucumber or fruit face mask tonight—or perhaps follow the method Su Ai, Gao Shunqing's favored concubine, had recommended: applying egg whites mixed with pearl powder to the face.
Pei Lixiu spent another ten minutes contemplating this problem, until the rosewood grandfather clock in the room chimed eleven times. Only then did she snap to attention—today was the day for hosting the "salon," or as it was styled in this time-space, the "elegant gathering."
This gathering was specifically organized for the ladies who came to Zhiming Tower for entertainment. Pei Lixiu had become acquainted with quite a few concubines from local officials and prominent families. Most of these women had originally been famous courtesans from Guangzhou, though quite a number were renowned beauties their masters had purchased and brought back from Jiangnan. Whether in appearance, bearing, or talents and learning, they were a hundred times superior to ordinary women. Such women were mostly quick-witted and sharp-minded, having experienced every manner of situation. After spending long years confined to mansion compounds, though they enjoyed silk clothes, rich food, and the attendance of maids and servants, they found themselves inwardly quite empty. Zhiming Tower, this place overflowing with novel things, became a magnet drawing them in.
Pei Lixiu had seized opportunities to "build connections" and "find channels" while accompanying Guo Yi, meeting many such women along the way. Though Pei Lixiu knew nothing of poetry or prose, she had still won considerable goodwill by virtue of her identity as the mistress of Zhiming Tower and her frank, uninhibited personality. Over time, she had established connections with the concubines of many prominent households, becoming their close confidante.
These connections to the inner quarters proved immensely useful to the Guangzhou Station. First came attracting deposits—concubines of wealthy families maintained their own private savings and hoped to place them in reliable establishments where their money could grow. Pei Lixiu used her connections to bring in many deposits for Delong Bank's Guangzhou branch. When the Guangzhou Station encountered difficulties requiring delicate handling, Pei Lixiu would ask her confidantes to whisper pillow talk at opportune moments—it almost always worked.
Because her efforts proved so effective, Guo Yi approved almost all her various requests. Zhiming Tower's novelties emerged in an endless stream—many were specially manufactured in Lingao and Purple Treasure Studio. The "elegant gatherings" Pei Lixiu organized also grew increasingly famous, to the point where recently even some principal wives and daughters of prominent families had been scheming to secure spots on the invitation list to build connections for their husbands and fathers.
But Pei Lixiu knew that relying solely on an endless stream of modern novelties to attract them wouldn't be enough. Each of these women was worldly and well-informed; over time, they would naturally tire of such clever tricks. Generally speaking, they closely resembled twentieth-century literary young women. They needed to be attracted by something that made them feel superior to ordinary "vulgar" people.
Poetry, prose, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were of course the weapons with which they could look down on the vast majority of women in this time-space. But this was precisely Pei Lixiu's greatest weakness.
Pei Lixiu understood that if not for her mysterious identity as an "Australian woman" and her status as mistress of this Zhiming Tower full of wonders, these talented women probably wouldn't have given her a second glance.
Her own learning was limited—she knew this well. Trying to crash-study these subjects at this point would produce no results. She had to work with things they didn't know and couldn't do.
What she was most confident about was, first, dressing, makeup, and skincare. But in clothing, she was already at a disadvantage—she could only follow local customs and wear Ming-style women's clothing. Modern women's clothing, whether dresses or jeans, might work as "boudoir amusement," but wearing them publicly would be considered "scandalous."
As for makeup and skincare secrets, ancient women were no less skilled than modern ones in this regard—almost every woman from a wealthy family possessed her own secret methods for cosmetics and beauty treatments. They were merely more limited in materials: some cosmetics contained toxic ingredients, others had less obvious effects. The biggest bottleneck for ancient cosmetics and skincare products was inconvenience of use and susceptibility to spoilage. The lipstick tubes, eyebrow pencils, perfumes, and similar items sold by Purple Treasure Studio were so popular largely because of their convenience.
After careful consideration, Pei Lixiu decided to focus on this area, organizing something like a beauty salon and heavily promoting all-natural beauty treatments. The transmigrator collective had abundant materials available on this topic. Someone's computer even contained complete video tutorials from a beauty salon—not just full courses on beauty treatment and skincare, but also ear candling, uterine care, full-body massage, medicinal baths, aromatherapy baths, breast massage, and even beauty enemas.
After reviewing these, she felt even more confident. She immediately began acquiring equipment, training personnel, and ordering various novelties from the Light Industry Department. And Zheng Shangjie's arrival had made her even more powerful. Zheng Shangjie was a smooth talker, even more skilled at adaptation and quick thinking than her. But she was already a married woman, and by Ming standards, her age placed her on the older side—it would be difficult for her to make much of a public splash. So she provided behind-the-scenes support instead, offering advice and counsel. When necessary, she could also handle hospitality and socializing.
But the supplies still hadn't all arrived. Communicating with people at the Light Industry Department proved rather difficult. They were all men who had studied science and engineering. It was very hard for her to explain precisely what she needed. She knew neither the composition nor the structure of these things and could only describe them in sensory terms. The result was either that they didn't understand what she wanted, or the samples they produced didn't meet requirements at all.
A few days ago, Zheng Shangjie had specifically returned to Lingao, taking a list of everything she wanted. Zheng Shangjie said she would go to the Grand Library as soon as she arrived to research and find pictures and structural diagrams for each item. If necessary, she would go directly to the workshops to explain.
"I wonder how things are going?" Pei Lixiu muttered. Languidly, she changed into her clothes. Today she had chosen a peach-pink thin silk outer garment with a purple lining, underneath an eight-panel white skirt with purple flowers and purple trim—very elegant attire. Only her hair wasn't styled according to Ming customs; instead, she wore a low, traditional-style hairdo commonly seen in period dramas.
Having finished dressing and grooming, she finally pulled a bell cord. Her personal maid Chunliu tiptoed in from outside the door. This girl had been purchased by Guo Yi from the human market a few months earlier. Because she was quite pretty, she had nearly fallen into a brothel madam's hands. Also because she was striking in appearance and "clever and quick-witted," she had been assigned to an intelligence training class. She had recently been transferred back from Lingao to serve as Pei Lixiu's personal maid and secretary.
According to Political Security General Administration regulations, all maids, servants, stewards, and other personal attendants at the Guangzhou Station had been completely replaced by transfers from the quarantine camps in Lingao. Previous personnel had been recalled to Lingao in batches for political vetting. Only after being confirmed honest and reliable could they return to serve in Guangzhou. Personnel deemed to have potential were temporarily enrolled in various short training courses to learn specialized skills. Sun Chang, for example, had studied administrative and personnel management in Lingao. The Guangzhou Station's indigenous personnel hadn't yet been absorbed into Lingao's indigenous personnel system, but the Civil Affairs Commission was already preparing their personal files.
The concubines of people like Guo Yi didn't enjoy such treatment. They were merely thoroughly vetted and, once confirmed to pose no danger, allowed to remain. They had no place in the future indigenous personnel system.
Chunliu brought her mistress breakfast. On the lacquered tray was only a bowl of white congee and four small dishes of side dishes. Though it was already noon, she still prepared it as breakfast. This mistress seemed to harbor a certain fear of food, scrutinizing every morsel and gram.
Chunliu smiled and curtsied: "Madam, you're awake. Did you sleep well?"
Pei Lixiu didn't answer. She was staring at the rosewood writing desk by the window. Someone had placed a sheet of Xuetao paper there without her noticing.
The Xuetao paper didn't contain poetry—no one here exchanged verses with her; everyone knew Miss Pei didn't understand such things. The paper contained her schedule for the day.
"Xiahe came in?" Pei Lixiu still had some lingering morning grumpiness and asked irritably.
"How would she dare?" Chunliu said carefully. "It was delivered last night before you retired. Perhaps you didn't see it because it was dark."
The schedule was written by Xiahe, who managed documents and correspondence, and was delivered every evening. Xiahe was also newly transferred from Lingao. She had originally been the only daughter of a xiucai. A bandit raid had left her parents dead, and relatives in the clan had pressured her to sell herself to pay for the burials. That was how she had ended up in the Guangzhou Station's hands. After quarantine in Lingao, because she was fairly literate, she had been enrolled in the executive secretary training class. This time she had been transferred back to Guangzhou specifically to serve as Pei Lixiu's secretary. Pei Lixiu's handwriting wasn't just unfit for refined occasions—it was even somewhat embarrassing to show people. Xiahe specifically wrote letters and invitations for her, and when necessary also translated overly literary letters. The executive secretary training class now included some accounting knowledge as well, so Xiahe served as Pei Lixiu's cashier too. When visiting clients outside, Xiahe accompanied her to prevent breaches of etiquette.
"Send her in."
Because of her heavy responsibilities and role, people at the Guangzhou Station jokingly called Xiahe the "brush-wielding maid." Others called her the "head clerk maid of Zhiming Tower."
Xiahe wasn't pretty—she was even somewhat coarse-handed and big-footed. Her father had only been a poor rural xiucai. She carefully walked into the room, properly gathered her skirts, gave a curtsy, and paid her respects to her mistress.
"You don't need to be so formal. What's happening today?"
Xiahe began explaining the day's schedule.
Pei Lixiu's days were mostly spent socializing. She socialized not just with Zhiming Tower's guests, but also with important people connected to the entire Guangzhou Station in various ways. These families' weddings, funerals, taking of concubines, birthday celebrations—each had to be handled according to the closeness of the relationship, with appropriate gifts prepared, either visiting in person or sending a representative. This had originally been one of the primary duties of any lady of a prominent household.
Guo Yi had no formal wife. Since Pei Lixiu bore the title of his concubine, all these matters naturally fell to her.
In the past, the Guangzhou Station's social circle had been limited, so there had been little need to attend to such matters. Now it had become a heavy burden for Pei Lixiu. Every few days, some matter of etiquette inevitably awaited her attention.
...
"The third young master of the Nanhai County Magistrate has enrolled in school at the ancestral home. We should prepare a congratulatory gift."
"A concubine of Prefect Qiu has died. We need to send condolence money."
"The Zhou family of the Circuit Intendant is holding a Daoist ceremony on the eighth. We should attend."
"The Liu family has suffered a fire. We should send someone to offer condolences."
...
(End of Chapter)