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bloodlandsbook > the road to happiness is strewn with setbacks > Chapter 3: The Western Hills of Xiqin

Chapter 3: The Western Hills of Xiqin

  Shen Mu Qing smiled and returned the courtesy with a bow.

  The maids brought over a small stool for Da She to sit on, and Li Shi asked him a few questions like "Is the food good?", "Are you sleeping well?", "Its getting cold, dont forget to wear more clothes."

  Dashi spoke clearly and responded to Lis questions in an orderly manner, while Chen Yinniang smiled and served them on the side, occasionally serving tea and refreshments. The room gradually had a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

  Such an atmosphere seemed to be liked by Li as well, she rarely stayed in the main house for breakfast.

  The maid next door heard this and quickly relayed the message to the kitchen. Before long, a rough servant woman had set up a square table in front of Lis bed. First, she brought out four small dishes: osmanthus fragrant sauce mustard, purple dried vegetables, assorted fragrant vegetables, and sesame oil yellow cucumber. Then she brought out eight large dishes: five-spice sauce chicken, salted water ribs, red oil duck, spicy mouthpiece, osmanthus sauce chicken, eggplant hors doeuvres, oil-braised mushrooms, and pepper oil silver ears. Finally, she brought up two large plates of sauced meat lotus flower rolls and walnut melon seed egg cakes, all served on colorful ceramic dishes with white inside and powder outside.

  Tangerine fragrance served three bowls of simmered butter and white sugar marenzi, one bowl each for Li Shi, Shen Muqing and Da She. After drinking, Li Shi was served a jujube lilyturf millet porridge, Shen Muqing was served a plain congee cooked with August white, and Da She was served a mountain medicine lamb porridge.

  The maids held basins and towels, standing on one side, while Chens wife stood at the head of Lis bed to help her arrange the dishes.

  Li said with a smile: "You also sit down - its not someone else!"

  Madam Chen declined at first, but later seeing Lis sincerity, she sat on a small stool, and Xiang took Madam Chens place to serve Li breakfast.

  In an officials family, they attach importance to "not speaking while eating and not talking while sleeping". Everyone quietly finished their breakfast, the rough maids came in to clear the table, the young servant girls served tea, and then Wang Mama arrived.

  She was the same age as Li, with a medium build that had slightly plumped up. Her round face had a light dusting of powder, but her drooping eyelids and eyes sparkled with spirit, exuding a sense of seriousness and competence.

  Wangs mother was originally a concubine of the Li family, but later married a steward of the Shen family. Nowadays, the couple is in charge of the inner and outer courtyards respectively, making them the most dignified servants of the Shen family.

  She smiled and bowed to Li Shi and Shen Muqing, saying: "Madam, the red charcoal has been delivered."

  The north is cold, and from October on, the kang, warm pavilion, brazier, and hand warmer are used intermittently. The charcoal smoke in the market is big and has a smell, burning the kang and warm pavilion is fine, but using it for the brazier and hand warmer is absolutely not allowed. Every time this happens, someone will be sent to the north to buy some smokeless red anthracite coal.

  Mrs. Li called the maid Cui to open the purple sandalwood cabinet with gold-plated corners in front of the bed, took out a red tea flower carved lacquer box, and handed over the invitation card to Wangs mother. Wangs mother accepted the invitation card but did not rush to leave, smiling: "Mr. Huang from the Hanlin Academy is leaving early tomorrow morning. As per your instructions, I have packed a piece of inkstone, four bags of tea buds, and twelve sheets of Xuan paper. Do you want to add some silver as a gift? Its said that Mr. Huang relies solely on his salary for living expenses, and after seven or eight years in the capital, his family is still in Hainan...

  Mr. Li waved his hand: "Magistrate Huang is different from others, he has a somewhat eccentric temperament, just follow my orders and thats it!"

  Wangs mother kneeled down and respectfully replied with a "yes".

  Shen Muqing watched as his mother began to take care of household chores and smiled as he stood up to bid farewell.

  Li knew Mr. Mins class was at 6:00 every morning and said, "What time is it now?"

  Cheng Xiang hurriedly went to the western wing and looked at the large clock on the floor, then came back and reported: "Its still two minutes before si."

  "Go quickly," said Mr. Li, "or you will be late, which would not be good." He then instructed Mrs. Li, "You see the young lady off to Mr. Mins place."

  Lis mother is another capable mother beside Li, although she doesnt have the same trust from Li as Wangs mother does, but she can also be considered a favored person by Li.

  Mrs. Li smiled and nodded, Xiang went to get Shen Muqings cloak and helped him put it on. Mrs. Tian saw this and also cleverly picked up Da She and stood up to bid farewell. Mrs. Li then instructed Mrs. Tian a few words such as "take good care of your brother" and so on. Shen Muqing walked in front, Da She behind, the two groups of people filed out of Mrs. Lis main house.

  They walked along the corridor to the hall, bypassing the screen in the middle of the hall with the three characters "Zi Tai" and entering the five-bay hall with a hip-and-gable roof. The horizontal beam above the door was hung with a large gold-plated black lacquer plaque with the three characters "Chao Xi Tang". Below the plaque was an eight-panel screen with purple borders inlaid with chicken wing wood and ivory, and on either side of the hall were placed a row of armchairs against the powder wall, giving a sense of spaciousness and airiness.

  Out of the hall, outside is a large courtyard, with towering trees as thick as a mans hug on both sides, and in front of it is a double-eaved gate with hanging flowers. After passing through the gate, they went their separate ways, one to the east and one to the west.

  ******

  The place where Shen Muqing attended classes was called "Jing Shun Zhai". It is a three-room main house, with lush bamboo planted all over, originally the study of Shen Jian in the inner courtyard. After Mr. Min came to sit in the pavilion, Shen Jian had someone open an angle door and personally hung a plaque with the words "Chaste, Quiet, Gentle, and Obedient", which he gave to Shen Muqing for use as a reading room.

  In the middle hall of Jing Shun An, there is a portrait of Confucius hanging on the wall. The right couplet reads "Near knowledge, near benevolence, near courage", and the left couplet reads "Hope for virtue, hope for sage, hope for heaven". Under the portrait, there is a black lacquer square table with a drum-shaped leg and a Western-style flower pattern, on which are placed writing brushes, ink, paper, and two piles of books. On either side of the square table stands a black lacquer yunshi armchair, under which is a footstool.

  Thats where Mr. Min teaches his classes.

  The room was lined with bookshelves against the wall, packed tightly with books.

  In the study, between the eastern and central rooms, stood a four-panel folding screen with a landscape painting of plum blossoms on silk. Behind the screen was a black-lacquered desk, on which were placed the Four Treasures of the Study. Behind the desk was a taishi chair, upon which lay a large red satin cushion embroidered with flowers. This was where Shen Muqing listened to lessons.

  When they arrived, Mr. Min had not come yet.

  Shen Muqing took off her cloak under Jinxius service and sat down in the taishi chair behind the silk painting screen, with a glance at the self-sounding clock on the several tables by the window of the east wing: "Miss, its still one oclock!"

  Since it was still early, Shen Muqing picked up "The Analects of Confucius" from the desk and began to review what had been discussed over the past few days.

  To say, this Mr. Min is indeed a very distinctive person.

  He was named "Luan" with a courtesy name of "Bie Shan". He came from the Zhoushan Min family, which in this dynasty had produced 24 juren, 17 jinshi, 6 jiayuan, 2 tanhua, 1 bangyan and 2 zhuangyuan. It is said that the gate in front of their ancestral temple stretches for dozens of li, a famous scenic spot in Zhejiang.

  After arriving at the Shen family, Mr. Min began to enlighten Shen Muqing with "Three Character Classic", and according to Shen Zhens request, he lectured her on "Admonitions for Women", "Womens Precepts", "Inner Instructions for Women" and "Classic of Filial Piety". Except for "Three Character Classic" and "Teachings on Filial Piety", he had explained them in detail with quotes from classics. However, he often neglected his duties and took the opportunity to point out Shen Muqings writing mistakes to ask Shen Zhen about the famous paintings collected by the Shen family over generations, letting Shen Muqing learn from them. He told her how to paint. Among them, he highly praised Yang Baozhens plum blossoms, while Shen Muqing loved Pei Rongyu and Xu Xis peonies. Mr. Min saw it but didnt force her, always smiling at Shen Muqing: "After all, you are from a wealthy and noble family, loving luxury..."

  Also taught Shen Muqing music theory. First taught the guqin, Shen Muqing studied very seriously, but ultimately couldnt connect the gong, shang, jue, zhi and yu with do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti; the more Mr. Min explained, the more confused she became; Mr. Min was helpless, and switched to teaching the xiao. She was small, her lung capacity wasnt enough, making a humming sound, unable to find the pitch, listening to it made people uncomfortable; then switched to the pipa, after several years, now playing a few short tunes is no problem.

  He also taught Shen Muqing to sing a little song, which Shen Muqing was most interested in, but after two days of teaching, Lis family found out, and naturally there was no sequel.

  Among them, what Mr. Min is most satisfied with is Shen Muqings character.

  Proper and dignified, with a size that has rules, scattered but to the point, elegant and beautiful, revealing a lean and handsome beauty. Mr. Min praised it again and again, and once even specially showed it to Shen Zhen.

  Shen Zhen was quite surprised: "Just practiced for five years..."

  Mr. Min smiled with some satisfaction: "There must be a strong point somewhere!"

  Shen Zhen couldnt help but laugh loudly, with a look of pride on his face, and humbly said: "Girls, spinning, weaving, sewing, cooking... learning piano, chess, books, and painting is just for fun."

  "Shi Ming, dont listen to that Wang Shengyuns nonsense about a woman without talent is virtuous. Mr. Min shook his head repeatedly, "A woman without talent, how can she understand reason? Not understanding reason, how can she know loyalty and righteousness? Not knowing loyalty and righteousness, how can she possess the virtue of a wife..."

  This topic has gone a bit far-fetched.

  Shen Zhen hurriedly interrupted Mr. Mins words, smiling and saying: "I think Mu Qings peony paintings are also good, why not paint a few pieces to hang in the Chaohui Hall?"

  "The brushwork is still too tender, its better to hang a few more characters." Mr. Min said with regret, "Unfortunately, the girl has to learn embroidery every afternoon, otherwise, she could follow me to learn Voice and Rhyme Enlightenment... and avoid having characters without connection!"

  Shen Zhens daughter, who was still staring at Mr. Min with a pair of big curious eyes, hurriedly lowered her head upon hearing this, pretending not to have heard, and couldnt help but slightly curl up the corners of her mouth, saying: "Bie Shan is a famous scholar from Jiangnan, being able to learn poetry and songs from you is naturally good..."

  Lin Daiyu in Dream of the Red Chamber once said when teaching Honglian to write poetry: memorize 100 five-character regulated verses by Wang Wei, 100 seven-character regulated verses by Du Fu, and read 100-200 seven-character quatrains by Li Qinglian. With these three as foundation, then take a look at Tao Yuanming, Xie Lingyun, Bao Zhao, etc., and you can become a poet... But Shen Muqing was the one who disliked memorizing books the most. Upon hearing Mr. Min say this, she couldnt help but gaze at Shen Zhen with pitiful eyes.

  Shen Zhen smiled and said: "But this also requires some talent... I think its better to learn the Analects first..."

  Shen Mu Qing hastily nodded at Shen Zhen, showing a grateful expression.

  Shen Zhen saw him and, suppressing a smile, exchanged a few pleasantries with Mr. Min before excusing himself on some pretext.

  Mr. Min listened and looked very disappointed. However, he still spoke kindly and after finishing the "Classic of Filial Piety", he began to teach her the "Analects".