CH 1

Liu Yuru was awakened by the sound of roosters.

When she opened her eyes, it was already morning. The sun had just come out, and the light fell softly in the room. Her maid Yinhong came back with the rose balsams [1] she just picked from the yard and inserted them into the vase. She looked at Liu Yuru with a smile and said: “Is the lady awake?”

Liu Yuru lightly gasped but did not reply. Her mind was full of those desperate and painful eyes. Yin Hong frowned, walked in front of Liu Yuru, and couldn’t help but ask: “Miss, are you scared?”

Yin Hong’s words made Liu Yuru slowly return to her senses. When she reacted, she patted her forehead and sighed: “It was a nightmare.”

Not only a nightmare, but one with some absurdity.

She not only dreamed of Gu Jiusi, who she had never known, but also of the Duke of Liang plotting a rebellion and the world being thrown in chaos.

Everyone knew that the Duke of Liang was a loyal duke in the southwest. He held a heavy army and saved the emperor several times before. In order the reassure the emperor, he even sent his family to the eastern capital as hostages to appease people’s speculations. If he wanted to rebel, he would have done so long ago. Why wait until now?

Although she didn’t know the exact name of the governor of Youzhou, she knew that his surname was Zhao, and not the Fan Xuan in her dream.

As for Gu Jiusi and Wang Rong…

The two of them have always been friends. Although she hadn’t heard much about Wang Rong and Gu Jiusi’s interactions, they must have a good relationship. Why would he break Wang Rong’s leg?

After thinking about it for a while, Liu Yuru felt ridiculous. She was actually frightened by this kind of dream.

Why would she dream of Gu Jiusi?

She couldn’t help but think that it was too strange.

Gu Jiusi and her had never been in contact at all [2]. Gu Jiusi was the direct son of the most powerful family in Yangzhou City, and she was just the insignificant, unloved legal daughter of a small cloth merchant’s family. The only reason why she knew Gu Jiusi was because this young master was always causing trouble in Yangzhou, and she heard about it wherever she went.

One day it was heard that he threw money recklessly [3] at the Spring Wind House [4] to win the smile of a flower girl, the next day it was heard that he gambled ten thousand taels of silver and lost it all in one night. Occasionally when she went to the market, she would meet Gu Jiusi. He was very conspicuous and often dressed in white – one hand held a fan, and the other held a birdcage. His splendid face held a smile like the spring wind, and arrogance and contempt were displayed on his eyes and brows.

When a person is so good-looking and acts so imperious, it’s hard not to notice them.

She didn’t know if Gu Jiusi knew her or not. She thought he might have heard of her. After all, she was quite famous in Yangzhou. But her reputation was not something to celebrate, for no other reason than what she was known for: being notoriously difficult.

Her family was from Yangzhou and barely ranked among the wealthy merchants, making a living from silk fabrics. Her father, Liu Xuan, was romantic by nature. Her mother, Su Wan, was married by her parents’ matchmaker. Therefore, although she was in the main room, she was not favored. In addition, her health was not good. After so many years, she only gave birth to a daughter, Liu Yuru. On the other hand, the concubine Zhang Yue’er gave birth to two boys and one girl.

Not having a son was the biggest fault of a woman in this era, so although Su Wan was the main wife, Zhang Yue’er was in charge of the family. Without power, they naturally did not live well. So the whole city of Yangzhou knew that Liu Xuan loved his concubine and destroyed his wife. They were very sympathetic to Su Wan and Liu Yuru.

Living in such an environment, Liu Yuru learned to abide by the rules at all times, understand current affairs, and know how to advance and retreat. She should have good relations with everyone she meets, not do anything out of line, find a suitable and decent person, get married well, and live the rest of her life in peace. This was her life plan.

She was a very goal-oriented and direct person. In order to live a good life, she decided early on that she wanted to marry the eldest son of the Ye family, Ye Shi’an.

The Ye family was different from their merchant family – they had a scholar origin. Earlier, the Ye family lived across the door from the Liu family. Liu Yuru was close to Ye Yun, the eldest lady of the Ye family, and often visited the Ye family. She saw from early on that the Ye family was upright and was not the type to scorn the poor while idolizing the rich. The old madam of the family also liked her. She met Ye Shi’an, the son, a few times some years ago before he went to White Heron Academy. She was still young at the time and didn’t take note of his appearance, but his character was decent. Although he didn’t talk much, his work was solid. When he was young, he was the best student in the school, and he might be able to earn a name in the future. Ye Shi’an was a decent person, and the Ye family was also good. If she married him, she could almost reach her goal of living a life of “safety and stability.”

So the day before her maturity ceremony, Old Madam Ye personally came to her door as her guest and privately said: “In a few days, I will come to talk to your parents again alone.”

With these words, she understood what Old Madam Ye meant, and waited.

She waited all the way to today. When she washed her face with water to wake herself up from the nightmare, she heard Yin Hong happily say: “Miss, Old Madam Ye is here!”

Hearing this, Liu Yuru’s heart quickly jumped.

She really wanted to go to the front hall to hear what Old Madam Ye had to say, but as a junior, it was inappropriate to go without being summoned. After waiting for a long time, someone finally came over and asked Liu Yuru to go to the front hall. Liu Yuru had already finished freshening up; she took a deep breath and followed the maid to the front room.

There were three people sitting in the hall. Old Madam Ye sat on the chair directly above the left side, Liu Xuan sat on the right, and Zhang Yue’er was sitting on the nearest chair beside Liu Xuan with a smile, talking to Old Madam Ye.

Liu Yuru was stunned for a moment, then quickly lowered her head to cover up the trace of displeasure.

Seeing her coming in, Old Madam Ye happily said: “Come, come, Yuru. Sit down and talk.

Liu Yuru raised her head and smiled at Old Madam Ye, but she still respectfully bowed first. Only after getting Liu Xuan’s permission did she came to sit next to Old Madam Ye. Old Madam Ye held her hand and said with a smile: “Yuru ah, she is the most well-behaved and polite girl I have ever met. I used to think that the Liu family’s teaching was so good, how could they teach such a well-behaved girl? If this girl was my granddaughter, then that would be great.”

“Old Madam, what kind of words are those,” Liu Xuan poured tea for Old Madam Ye and said with a smile: “Yuru is good because she was always by your side and you taught her well. The Ye family’s scholarly family also brushed off on Yuru like ink.”

After the two sides complimented each other for a while, Liu Xuan finally told Liu Yuru the heart of the matter, and lightly coughed: “Yuru, the old madam came to discuss your marriage with us today. She hopes that you will marry the Ye family’s eldest son, so we asked you to come here. What do you think?”

After hearing this, Liu Yuru suppressed her impulse and gently said: “Yuru listens to her parents.”

Everyone laughed. Liu Xuan said: “Then it’s settled. But the eldest son seems to be participating in the township examination now. I don’t know when it will be possible to propose a marriage?”

Speaking, Liu Xuan seemed to be a little worried: “I heard that the eldest son of the Gu family has also come of age, and his mother is showing him off everywhere. He recently turned up at the doors of the Liú family [5]. Old Madam,” Liu Xuan turned his head and said to Old Madam Ye, “we must make haste.”

Everyone in the room understood what Liu Xuan meant. Gu Jiusi was a famous overlord in Yangzhou, but his family was big, so his parents naturally wanted him to marry the best girl in Yangzhou. It’s just that every decent girl in Yangzhou doesn’t look at him. They’re afraid that he will look for the second best and come to marry Liu Yuru. She’s top-notch and has an average family background; at that time, if the family forces them to marry, she would have to even if she doesn’t want to.

It’s just that since Gu Jiusi went to the Liú family’s house, he shouldn’t come to the Liu family’s house. After all, Liú Yusi’s background is better than Liu Yuru’s. Liu Xuan only mentioned it to save Liu Yuru some face.

When Liu Yuru heard the “Liú family”, she subconsciously raised her eyes to look. Her heart had an uneasy feeling. Liú Yusi was her handkerchief friend [6], and she had a deep friendship with her. Gu Jiusi actually went to her house?

She lowered her eyes and thought that she would have to meet Liú Yusi in a while.

Old Madam Ye on the other hand didn’t think much after listening to Liu Xuan’s words. She just said: “Don’t worry, when the township exam is over, I will immediately ask my son to bring Shi’an to the house to propose marriage.”

“Why don’t you let Master Ye [7] come to propose marriage first?” Zhang Yue’er said at the right time: “This is also the matter of the elders. If the eldest son can’t come back, it’s okay. We can make a decision first, so as to avoid future changes.”

“I’m afraid that won’t work,” Old Madam Ye shook her head. “A friend of my son was appointed as the military governor of Youzhou. He rushed to celebrate them and hasn’t returned yet.”

Hearing “military governor of Youzhou”, Liu Yuru subconsciously said: “But are they surnamed Fan?”

Everyone looked at her. Liu Yuru was stunned. She didn’t understand why she suddenly asked this sentence.

Maybe it was the dream in the morning that kept her a little dazed, but the words had already been asked, and it was not a big deal. She deliberately softened her voice and pretended to be ignorant: “The new governor of Youzhou, is he named Fang Xuan?”

“How did you know?” Old Madam Ye was a little surprised. Liu Yuru was shocked, as if she had been hit in the head, but she didn’t show it. She just said: “I heard from a friend. I didn’t believe it before, but how could the position of governor be changed just like this?”

“So that was the case,” Old Madam Ye laughed: “You are right, but this Fan Xuan has served in Youzhou for thirteen years and has a solid foundation. The last governor passed away and recommended him before he died. That’s why he became the new military governor.”

Hearing this, Liu Xuan nodded his head and said with emotion: “The fate of life ah…”

When the marriage was almost finished, Madam Ye chatted for a while, then got up and left.

After Old Madam Ye left, Liu Yuru returned to the room and called Yin Hong away. Her whole person became anxious.

She came to the desk and began to desperately write the message in her dream.

“Youzhou governor, Fan Xuan.”

“Gu Jiusi, Wang Rong.”

“Duke of Liang.”

…

She wrote everything in the dream and looked at the words on it. Gu Jiusi’s eyes came to her mind.

“Save me…”

She slowly closed her eyes.

Fan Xuan… was it a coincidence or foreshadowing

Maybe a coincidence?

Liǔ Yuru tried her best to convince herself that maybe she had heard the news in the past, but just forgot…

She searched for countless reasons. However, after a long time, she couldn’t help it, stood up and said: “Go and tell Concubine Yue that I’m going to the Liú’s house, and ask her to agree.”

***

Footnotes:

[1] Rose balsam flowers:

[2] Direct translation: Couldn’t even hit with eight poles. Idiom to describe someone very distant and unrelated. Source: ChineseStackExchange.

[3] Direct translation: Stake a thousand pieces of gold in one throw. Idiom to describe spending a reckless amount of money.

[4] Spring Wind House is the name of a brothel.

[5] Going forward, I will use tones to differentiate the “Liu” surnames. The FL’s surname is “Liǔ”, while her friend’s surname is “Liú.”

Edit: Because “Liǔ” is not showing up right with this font, I will continue to denote the main character’s surname as “Liu.”

[6] In ye olden days, an exchange of handkerchiefs signified women who had a good relationship. Source: Baidu.

[7] To clarify, Old Madam Ye is Shi’an’s grandmother while Master Ye is his father. Here is a glossary I started.