Chapter 2279: Meeting in the Garden
Yi Haoran had matters weighing on his mind and was unwilling to drink much. He poured a shallow cup, ate a few hasty mouthfuls, then excused himself saying he was "full" and wanted to "take a walk to digest." Quietly, he made his way to the garden.
Wen Yun's inadvertent question earlier had made him even more vigilant. Though this place was quiet, there were still quite a few people in the courtyard. Setting aside the fact that he was about to discuss a matter of life and death with Cai Lan, even ordinary pleasantries and small talk would be highly inappropriate given their respective positions.
So before entering the garden, he first observed the courtyard for a long while. Only after confirming that no one had noticed him did he quietly proceed toward the garden.
The garden was very small—only about a mu in size. In the middle was a water pond with a stone pillar at its center, lotus flowers filling the water. Facing the pond stood an extremely small waterside pavilion. Yi Haoran, fearing he might be seen if he sat in the pavilion, chose instead to sit beneath a large tree in the corner.
Thick shade blocked the sun. Noon sunlight dappled the ground with dazzling bright spots. He squinted at the lotus flowers in the pond, his ears filled with the endless chirping of cicadas. His mind grew empty and calm.
The meal the temple had provided for Cai Lan was naturally more lavish, but neither Cai Lan nor Qiuchan had any appetite. They finished hastily. Afterward, a young Daoist brought more tea—supposedly a famous tea from Seven Star Crags that the Abbot collected, very precious. Cai Lan drank a few mouthfuls without interest, unable to taste any difference.
After the meal, she felt somewhat drowsy and had originally intended to take a nap here. But Qiuchan said it wasn't good to sleep immediately after eating—better to go out for a walk first, digest the food, then sleep.
"It's so hot today. Walking around under the blazing sun—I can't be bothered to move," Cai Lan said.
"Miss, you don't know—behind this courtyard is a flower garden. Though small, it's extremely refined. There are many trees inside, with a breeze. It's even cooler than staying in the room."
Cai Lan could not resist her persuasion and had to comply.
The two women strolled along the flower path. Cai Lan had felt drowsy and heavy-headed, but now that she had reached the garden, with the cool breeze blowing gently and the fragrance of flowers wafting in waves, her spirits lifted instead.
"The garden here is even more exquisite than the ones in the Three Headquarters..." Cai Lan observed. "The gardens in the Three Headquarters are all neglected..."
"Since Miss likes it so much, why not ask Master Xie to have them renovated? Then you'd have a place for sightseeing as well." Qiuchan, intending to lead Cai Lan to meet Yi Haoran, deliberately drew her into conversation.
Cai Lan smiled bitterly. "What kind of figure do I count as, that I could make such a request? My heart died long ago. Now I'm merely living as an empty shell." She sighed.
"What is Miss saying? I can see that Elder Xie treats you generously. There must be affection and care there."
"He only covets the pleasures of the flesh." Though Cai Lan was a woman who rarely stepped outside her chambers, she possessed a natural perception about men's emotions. "One day, he will discard me like a worn-out shoe—but that would actually be a relief..."
"What is Miss saying? I'm sure it won't come to that..." Qiuchan knew that Advisor Hao would be waiting just ahead. "My stomach aches a little. Miss, please rest in the garden for a moment—I'll go and come right back."
Cai Lan saw that the place was deserted and presumably no strangers would appear. "Go quickly and return quickly," she said.
Qiuchan left. Bored and restless, Cai Lan continued walking along the flower path. Suddenly, she stopped and let out a small startled cry.
Beneath a large tree past the corner ahead, on a stone bench, sat a man past fifty years of age, his hair grizzled. From his appearance, he was neither rich nor poor—like a scholar from a modestly comfortable family. He sat with eyes closed, resting.
Hearing her cry, Yi Haoran opened his eyes—sure enough, it was Cai Lan. Though he had only seen her a few times, he still vaguely remembered her features.
He rose immediately and bowed. "Miss Cai, I trust you have been well?"
Cai Lan's first instinct was to retreat and avoid him. But the man opposite had bowed to her. With her upbringing, she absolutely could not simply turn and walk away. She forced herself to return a curtsey, then made to leave.
"Miss Cai, please don't go." Yi Haoran spoke quickly. "I have an object belonging to an old friend here that I would like to ask Miss to verify." As he spoke, he unfolded what he held in his hand—a fan face.
Cai Lan had no desire to look at any "old friend's object." But the moment the fan face was unfolded, her originally flustered eyes froze—this fan face was far too familiar!
The content of the fan was plain and ordinary: mountain rocks, orchids, and a clump of bamboo. But this composition, these brushstrokes—she knew them too well. This was a fan face she had painted together with her fiance, Xing Chenghuan.
"You—who are you?!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"I am an old friend of Master Xing's." Yi Haoran put away the fan and bowed slightly. "Miss Cai, I harbor no ill intent. I merely have a few words I wish to say for Miss to hear."
"I don't want to hear them." Panicked and confused, Cai Lan turned to leave.
Yi Haoran had seen many such scenes. He immediately sneered: "Miss Cai, this is Wuzhou's most incense-flourishing temple. Outside, pilgrims come and go in a constant stream. If you make a scene, this fan will inevitably fall into Australian hands. At that point, there will be no way to explain things..."
Sure enough, Cai Lan immediately stopped. She turned back, trembling. "You... what do you want..."
"As I said, I have a few words I wish to speak with Miss." Yi Haoran's tone softened. "Miss, please rest assured—I have an old friendship with Master Xing. I would never do anything to harm his family."
These words struck her heart like a critical blow, reaching to her very depths. She trembled all over and said in a low voice: "Who are you exactly? What do you want from me?"
"I told you: merely an old friend of Master Xing." Yi Haoran spoke leisurely.
Cai Lan had no wish to speak further with this old man who had appeared out of nowhere. But at this point, anything she did might cause a disturbance and lead to a terrible misunderstanding. With no other choice, she nodded. "Sir, please speak."
"Would Miss please sit over here?" Seeing her yield, Yi Haoran's expression became gentle.
Helpless, Cai Lan sat on a piece of ornamental rock opposite the stone bench. "I have never met Sir before. I don't know what words you insist on speaking to me."
Yi Haoran put away the fan. "Miss surely recognizes this fan."
"This is my fiance Xing Chenghuan's fan." Cai Lan asked in surprise, "Where did Sir obtain it?"
Fan faces, as a form of social exchange among literati through calligraphy and painting, were not uncommonly gifted or traded. But this fan was different. She and Xing Chenghuan had created it together: she had painted the orchids, and Xing Chenghuan had painted the mountain rocks and bamboo. It was, in a sense, a boudoir keepsake. Her fiance would never have casually given such a fan to anyone else.
"I will not hide the truth: my surname is Hao, given name Ran. I originally worked in Governor Xiong's Shogunate and was a good friend of Master Xing. When he committed suicide, he entrusted this fan to me as a token, saying that if I could escape with my life, and if I ever had the chance to meet you in the future, I should return this fan to you intact, so that you might keep a memento. He said that the reason he refused to complete the marriage with you back then was because he already held the intention of dying as a martyr for the city. He was unwilling to ruin your future..."
As he spoke, he handed the fan to Cai Lan.
The first half of this speech was entirely fabricated. The fan had indeed belonged to Xing Chenghuan, but it had been lost at a banquet and picked up by Yi Haoran. He had meant to return it, but within days Wuzhou was engulfed by the calamity of war. Yi Haoran naturally forgot about it. In the chaos, he had simply treated it as his own, stuffing it into his sleeve—and it had survived. The second half, however, was the truth.
Taking the fan, Cai Lan's tears already flowed. Her hands gripped the folding fan tightly as she struggled to suppress her sobs. She had come to offer incense today, and her mood had actually improved considerably. But the appearance of this fan had thrown her emotions into chaos once again.
Fairly speaking, her feelings for Xing Chenghuan had not been particularly deep. Though they had been engaged since childhood, they had rarely met. It was only during those few months—from when she fled to Guangdong until Wuzhou fell—that they could be said to have spent days and nights together, and some genuine feeling had grown between them. Xing Chenghuan had treated her very well, yet he had been unwilling to complete the marriage and consummate their union. It had once greatly disappointed her; she had thought he looked down on her. She had never imagined that her fiance had been thinking of her this way!
And then she thought of herself—her failed assassination, when she should have been like the martyr women in books, firm and unyielding, cursing the thieves until death. Instead, she had submitted to Xie the Hair thief's hypocrisy and had confusedly given her body to him...
Cai Lan instantly felt shame too overwhelming to bear. Her five organs burned. She wished that heaven would drop a thunderbolt then and there to split her in two!
Yi Haoran, seeing she was about to weep aloud and fearing that a loud voice would attract attention, hastily said: "Miss, please keep your voice down!"
Cai Lan silently stifled her tears and nodded. In a low voice, she said: "I thank Sir. It's just that this servant has lowered herself to serve thieves... my body has long been unclean. I am unworthy of Master Xing's kindness to me, and I have also failed Sir's good intentions..." As she spoke, she offered the fan back again. "Please, Sir, take the fan back and keep it as a memento. This servant is unworthy to hold it."
"Miss speaks wrongly." Yi Haoran had thought this through long ago. If he simply blamed her for losing her chastity, the result would be nothing more than driving her to shame too great to bear—to suicide. That would serve no purpose for him. But if her conscience were truly dead and she were beyond caring, meddling further might cause her to report him instead.
Only by comforting her heart through "forgiveness," then stirring her with great righteousness, could he induce her to take the risk of Anti-Hair action for the sake of "redemption."
"Miss Cai's temporary fall into the mire is also excusable. Since ancient times, the only difficulty has been the single act of dying. Even heroes and men of valor, when brought to a dead end, inevitably grow short of breath and long of sentiment. When the Hair thieves invaded the Two Guangs, prefectures and counties throughout the region surrendered at the mere rumor of their approach. High and low officials—every one of them had spent years reading the Sage's books and had deeply received Imperial grace. Yet when the crisis came, those who fled fled, and those who surrendered surrendered. Neither fighting to the death nor dying for duty. If even men who had read books and understood reason behaved thus, how much less can we blame Miss—a mere weak woman! To reproach her with the standards of Great Integrity and Great Righteousness would be to lose the Way of Loyalty and Forgiveness."
Since "losing her chastity," Cai Lan had heard quite a few words of comfort. But none had been explained as clearly and thoroughly as Yi Haoran had just done. Though she knew he spoke these words to excuse her, his broad and kind heart unconsciously made her feel a warmth at the bottom of her own.
"Sir need not make excuses for this slave. 'Starving to death is a small matter; losing one's chastity is a great matter.' This slave is nothing more than an ignorant young woman who has already lost her chastity. How dare I compare myself to the various Masters?"
"Haha, this is where Miss speaks wrongly! Among all the heroes and men of high purpose in the Two Guangs, which one dared to attempt an assassination on a True Hair on the very steps of Dragon Mother Temple, as Miss did?!" Yi Haoran's face was full of righteousness, and his words rang with power.
Next Update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Part 483 (End of Chapter)