There were 305 houses in the summer resort, which nearly occupied the entire mountaintop. Shen Wei was aware that Su Yunkai and Ming Yue were higher in status than the invited folk artists, so he arranged for their rooms to be in the middle section. Meanwhile, Qin Fang and the other distinguished guests stayed in the upper section. Although the resort was only divided into three sections, there were many houses, and each section was at least twenty yards apart. Even though there were gongs and drums in the back, the noise did not carry.
Ming Yue followed Shen Wei through the resort. She expected for there to be a lot of yards, but all she saw were houses, both big and small. They were disorderly as well; there was no pattern to the design of the beams and pillars of the houses. It seemed as though the craftsmen had constructed the buildings arbitrarily.
Su Yunkai also noticed this. After asking, he was surprised to discover that there were 300 houses here. He wondered why he had never heard about this place in Kaifeng. “Was this villa purchased by Lord Shen or did you build it yourself?”
Shen Wei replied, “This villa originally belonged to one of my uncles, Chen Lilang, the Minister of Works.”
Su Yunkai nodded, “Ah, so it was Elder Minister Chen.”
With just this statement of recognition, Shen Wei was able to gauge Su Yunkai’s identity. It seemed that Su Yunkai was not a nobleman like Qin Fang. Instead, he was an official. Businessmen were always willing to associate with people who had power or money.
Su Yunkai continued, “Five years ago, Minister Chen was ill, so he asked for leave. He went back to his hometown to recuperate. Is that when Minister Chen left this house to Mr. Shen?”
Shen Wei couldn’t help smiling. “My uncle is a famous Iron Rooster[1]. Even the Chen family doesn’t know that this house belongs to the old man. When I was attempting to buy the villa, the sellers said that this was precious land and had good feng shui. The sellers wanted to raise the price, so they said that after Old Chen lived here, he continually received promotions and was therefore able to make a fortune. When I asked which Old Chen it was, I found out that he was from my own clan. Coincidental, isn’t it?”
“Does Mr. Shen know what he used to do here?”
“I don’t know. At first, I thought it was strange that there are so many houses. I also thought it was strange how the villa is located at such a high altitude. Aside from serving as a place to stay to avoid the summer heat, this villa really doesn’t serve any other purpose. Still, even if it was a summer resort, there isn’t any need for so many houses. There are only around forty people throughout three generations of my uncle’s family.” Shen Wei added, “I originally wanted to demolish it and then rebuild. However, after a feng shui expert conducted an examination, he said that the layout had perfect feng shui. He said that my financial luck would diminish if I demolished it. Thus, I put up with it. I thought I was inviting my friends to see something new and fresh, but it seems that I have made a fool of myself, Lord Su.”
Hearing Shen Wei address him as “Lord Su” caused Su Yunkai to realize that this person was definitely a smart man. On the other hand, Qin Fang was puzzled by how Shen Wei was able to figure it out. After all, Qin Fang had not introduced Su Yunkai as an official.
When they arrived at their respective rooms, a servant came over to let them know that the shadow puppet troupe was coming. Hearing this, Qin Fang was immediately rejuvenated. Fatigue forgotten, he followed the servant away.
After they all left, Su Yunkai remembered that Ming Yue’s room was next door. Generally speaking, men and women should avoid getting too close, but he also heard that businessmen did not pay attention to these things. Furthermore, since they were at the top of a mountain, it was also good to look after each other.
“Ming Yue, if there is any movement at night, knock on the wall and I will go to your door immediately.”
It would have been better if he had never said anything. Now that he had, Ming Yue started thinking. “You don’t mean mountain ghosts or anything, do you?”
Su Yunkai laughed. “No. Just in case you get so afraid that you start running around blindly.”
Ming Yue was relieved and said, “We’re thoroughly worn out from today. Go back to your room. I’m also going back to clean up.”
The house didn’t actually need to be cleaned up. The Shen family’s servants had already tidied up. The tables and the chairs were brand new. It appeared that every room was equipped with the same necessities. Shen Wei was quite a rich man.
Out of habit, Su Yunkai walked around the whole room, testing the doors and windows to make sure they were firm. Then, he went back to his bedroom, opened his bag, changed his clothes, and lay down on his bed to rest.
After sleeping for about an hour, he was woken by a knock at the door. When he opened the door, he saw that it was Qin Fang. Su Yunkai noticed that Qin Fang still looked the same, so he asked, “You just came back? Haven’t you returned to your room yet?”
As he entered, Qin Fang said, “Yes. The storytellers, the jugglers, and the dancers are all here. I went to take a look. The show will definitely be wonderful tonight, but the puppet team hasn’t arrived yet. I’ve heard that they are running a little late.”
Su Yunkai saw that there was a bucket of water in the room. He went to wash his face. “Just going to see the shadow play troupe shouldn’t have taken so long.”
Qin Fang tutted. “I can’t hide anything from my brother-in-law. Guess who I saw among the visitors?”
“Who?”
“The Marquis of Pingxi.”
Sun Yunkai suddenly paused. The wet towel, dripping with water, splashed into the basin. At the Qixi Festival, Su Yunkai had inadvertently learned that his transfer was the work of the Pingxi Marquis. Now, more than half a month later, hearing the name again made him think about why the marquis was here as well.
Qin Fang continued, “The marquis and Shen Wei have a mutual friend, Liang Fangdong. They came together. They were surprised to see me here and they asked me if you had come as well.
“The Marquis of Pingxi has always been arrogant. To think that he befriends merchants.”
“Brother-in-law is right. I don’t think the marquis and Liang Fangdong seem like they are very close.” Qin Fang still wanted to enjoy the performances in the evening. Without giving the sudden appearance of the Pingxi Marquis much more thought, Qin Fang went back to his room to take a brief rest.
Su Yunkai lowered his head and pondered as he wrung the towel in his hand. Suddenly, an idea sprang up—had the marquis come because of him?
If so, why?
*
When the sun set, Shen Wei sent people to invite everyone to dinner.
The food was eaten in two lobbies. One lobby was for the artists and the performers, while the other lobby was more magnificent and hosted all the guests. There were less people in the guest lobby, so a single large round table was able to accommodate all the guests.
At a glance, it became evident that Ming Yue was the only girl. However, with Qin Fang on the left and Su Yunkai on the right, she did not feel too awkward. Moreover, the people at the table were very polite and did not tease her. After she said she wanted to drink tea, they gave her tea. Meanwhile, all the men drank sake.
This was the first time Su Yunkai had seen Yu Fenglin since the festival. He was talking and laughing. Due to his identity as a marquis, he seemed to have become the center of attention. Although Qin Fang would inherit the rank of marquis in the future, he had no military achievements and was not yet a marquis. In contrast, Shen Wei and his other two friends were more than willing to ingratiate themselves with the Marquis of Pingxi.
However, every time Yu Fenglin spoke a few sentences, he would mention Su Yunkai. As a result, Shen Wei and the other two, who were not aware of Su Yunkai’s identity, began to attach greater importance to Su Yunkai. As Yu Fenglin spouted flattery, Su Yunkai became increasingly repulsed.
They had come to this summer resort to avoid the heat, yet, on the contrary, he was becoming more and more heated by the second.
After dinner and a little break, the troupe was ready. Everyone headed to the courtyard to take their seats. There were a few fruits and snacks on the table, as well as small dishes for drinking. There were no heavy dishes, which indicated that the assortment had been carefully selected.
Ming Yue sat beside Su Yunkai and grabbed a handful of peanuts to peel. After finishing seven or eight of them, she put the rest in Su Yunkai’s palm. Taking advantage of shadow puppet troupe’s loud performance, she said softly, “I know you didn’t eat enough just now.”
Su Yunkai said with a smile, “You noticed?”
“I did. To tell you the truth… I’m not full either.” Ming Yue grabbed another batch of peanuts. “But there’s no hurry. If we eat these snacks, we’ll be full.”
Su Yunkai smiled and ate the peanut kernels with her. His displeasure from the banquet gradually dissipated.
On the stage, all kinds of artists appeared one after another. Jugglers, storytellers, and shadow play performers. The singing and the dancing were accompanied by gongs, drums, and string instruments. The music and the noise floated over the mountaintops and dispersed the summer heat. After 7 PM, the evening wind gradually cooled, and the servants carried thin blankets outside. All the guests covered themselves up in order to keep warm against the cold mountain wind. After about an hour, the performances were nearly over.
Ming Yue kept eating until she felt full. Hearing that the show was about to end, she was confused. “Didn’t they say there’d be a puppet show?”
“I heard that the performers were delayed on their way. It might take a while. If they can’t make it tonight, then we’ll watch it tomorrow night.”
As they were talking, someone from outside came running. The servant whispered in Shen Wei’s ear. Seeing this, Su Yunkai smiled. “It seems the puppeteers have arrived.”
Ming Yue looked at him with a smile. “You must be god. How do you know?”
“Shen Wei stopped laughing half an hour ago and his face was very tense. After hearing this person’s words, his whole face relaxed.”
“Still, that doesn’t prove that the puppet troupe arrived.”
“Shen Wei has been watching Qin Fang this entire time.”
Ming Yue immediately understood. “Little monkey loves to watch these things. Shen Wei wanted to curry his favor by taking advantage of Qin Fang’s love for puppet plays. He told us that there would be a puppet play and shadow puppet play. However, there was only a shadow puppet play, so he was afraid that little monkey would blame him.”
Su Yunkai smiled and nodded. Sure enough, there was a movement behind the stage. It seemed that the play was about to begin.
Ming Yue looked over with interest. A moment later, the storyteller went offstage. The next moment, the puppet show began.
While both puppet plays and shadow puppet plays were controlled by people behind the scenes, the puppet was visible for the puppet show, whereas only the shadows of the puppet were visible from behind the screens in the shadow plays. Each kind held its own allure. Similarly, both were so interesting that people barely blinked. Especially at the end, there were many cheers from the audience.
After 9 PM, the excitement finally died down. The visitors were very satisfied. On their way back to their residences, they discussed the plays animatedly.
Su Yunkai went back to his room to freshen up and sleep. The summer resort was so big that he even considered picking some wild fruits and hunting some game when he took Ming Yue for a walk tomorrow. At night, they would then find a place to roast the meat. It would be quiet and pleasant.
Being a theatre enthusiast, Qin Fang would definitely watch plays again. That left only Su Yunkai and Ming Yue, alone.
Splendid.
As Su Yunkai thought about this, he fell into a slumber. He didn’t know how long he had been sleeping when suddenly someone knocked on the door in panic. It sounded as though the door were being pounded to pieces; clearly, someone was very anxious. The servant outside cried out—
“Lord Su, something horrible has occurred! The leader of the puppet troupe is dead in his own room!”
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[1] Iron Rooster is used to describe someone very stingy, unwilling to pluck any of their feathers or not willing to give away even a little bit of money. ↩
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A Hint of Spring 