For most women in ancient times, the world was either the four walls of a courtyard beneath a patch of sky, or endless work in the fields. Even noblewomen born with silver spoons in their mouths, few had the good fortune to travel far from home, let alone seek out weathered steles in the wilderness.
Cheng Danruo did not know where the currents of her fate would carry her, but she knew that if she missed this opportunity, she might never have another chance in her lifetime to take part in something like this.
So when Xie Xuanying tried to stop her, she refused. Putting on an air of helplessness, she said, “If you insist on going, you must agree to a few conditions.”
Yan Hongzhi waved a hand. “I absolutely will not drink.”
“That isn’t enough.” She became serious. “You cannot stay out in the wind for too long, you cannot eat cold food, and you cannot stay up late.”
In the face of intellectual pursuits, everything else was secondary, and Yan Hongzhi readily agreed.
Xie Xuanying could no longer refuse, so he had no choice but to make the necessary arrangements.
But this presented another difficulty.
Searching for steles in the wilderness was no easy task. Under ordinary circumstances, they certainly would not bring a woman along, and she would simply be left in Jining. But Xie Xuanying knew Yan Hongzhi’s temperament all too well. Once he became engrossed in something, he would forget to take care of himself. Without Cheng Danruo there, Xie Xuanying could not put his mind at ease.
When he asked Yan Hongzhi about it, Yan Hongzhi said it was up to Cheng Danruo.
Naturally, Cheng Danruo agreed at once.
Xie Xuanying, however, still had his reservations. He hesitated. “Traveling through the mountains will be arduous. You will have to brave the elements and sleep rough. I’m afraid it won’t be easy.”
“That doesn’t matter.” Cheng Danruo did not care whether he approved or not. Her tone was firm as she added, “Still, when traveling away from home, we can’t afford to be too particular. Father, what do you think about having me disguise myself as a man? That way, we won’t invite unnecessary gossip.”
Yan Hongzhi glanced at Xie Xuanying and pondered for a moment before stroking his beard with a smile. “That would be fine.”
Cheng Danruo then asked, “Young Master Xie, do you have any new clothes I could borrow?”
He did, but that was…
The proper, sensible thought was still circling in his mind when another thought came crashing in like a tornado, completely taking over his mind.
“All right,” he said. “I have a zhishen robe.”
That very night, Cheng Danruo was presented with a pink zhishen robe that could only be described as a work of art.
At first glance, it looked much like the one she had seen during the Shangsi Festival, but this one was made of Yunjin brocade, a specialty of Jinling. The fine silk was as smooth as flowing water beneath her fingers. Under the sunlight, the subtle pattern of the Eight Immortals shimmered with a shifting halo, while the even, vivid pink ground resembled the mist rising over peach groves in spring, suffused with rosy clouds. It was exquisite beyond compare.
Zi Su did not dare lay a hand on it, afraid she might ruin it.
Even Cheng Danruo felt that wearing such a garment into the wilderness was a terrible waste.
But this was the only one Xie Xuanying had brought her. There was no time to have a new one made, so they had no choice but to work late into the night, altering it to fit her measurements.
The following day, Bai Mu brought another new square headscarf. Zi Su styled Cheng Danruo’s hair in a man’s topknot and tied the headscarf over it. She looked every inch the part of a wealthy young gentleman.
When Yan Hongzhi came ashore and saw her, he praised her. “Dan-niang, you look quite dashing in that.”
“Fine clothes make the wearer look good.” Cheng Danruo carefully straightened her sleeves and joked, “Although they make me afraid to move my hands and feet too freely. I’d hate to damage it. What a waste that would be.”
Yan Hongzhi disagreed. “It’s only a piece of clothing. What’s there to be so precious about? If it gets ruined, then so be it. Clothes are meant to be worn. Don’t be so fussy.”
“That’s true enough, but silk farmers have to work so hard to reel the threads, and the weavers labor endlessly to turn them into cloth.” Cheng Danruo lifted the hem of her robe and smiled. “A poor girl like me spends every year stitching gold thread. The least I can do is appreciate all the work that went into it.”
This patterned silk would have taken at least half a year to produce, and the weaver who made the robe might not even have a cotton-padded coat to wear this winter. With the low level of productivity in ancient times, one could never know how much blood and tears lay behind something so fine. Such things deserved to be cherished.
Yan Hongzhi said, “It’s rare to find someone who thinks that way.”
When people suddenly came into possession of something fine, the narrow-minded would be so reluctant to use it that they would want to hide it under their beds and keep it there for the rest of their lives. The greedy were never satisfied, always scheming to get their hands on a little more. And the small-minded were worse still, begrudging others what they did not have and wishing that everyone else would end up in the mud, worse off than themselves.
To understand how hard-won material things were, to appreciate one’s blessings, and to know how to cherish them – these were admirable qualities indeed.
As they spoke, Xie Xuanying arrived. He first greeted Yan Hongzhi, then exchanged the customary greeting with Cheng Danruo before discreetly taking a look at her.
He felt an unexpected sense of satisfaction.
As expected, bright colors suited her better. The pale red brought out her cheeks, making her complexion look much healthier. It was a pity that they had not bought many new clothes in Jinling. If only they were in the capital.
He found himself inexplicably regretting this, without noticing Cheng Danruo’s expression.
She, meanwhile, was startled once again today.
Xie Xuanying was wearing an orange-green tieli robe.
Orange-green was an exceptionally difficult color to get right. If it was too dull, it looked dowdy; if it was too bright, it looked frivolous. The green had to be exactly right: vibrant and full of life, like emerald waves and jade-green waters, yet also fresh and luminous, like a young green tangerine hanging from a branch. Only then could it look both dignified and elegant while still catching the eye.
The shade of the one Xie Xuanying wore was precisely right, as though the spring breeze had swept through overnight and turned all the willow trees of Jiangnan green.
The tieli was an equally demanding style. Unlike the many loose-fitting men’s garments, a tieli was pleated, and many Feiyu robe were made in this style. The pleats were carefully worked into the fabric, and on someone without the right build to carry them, the result could be disastrous.
On Xie Xuanying, however, it was unquestionably perfect.
The young man was tall and straight, with the fitted cut of the tieli defining his waist and making it look… exceptionally slender.
With the eye of an anatomist, Cheng Danruo was willing to bet that there was quite a lot of “substance” underneath.
Sigh. Ever since coming to ancient times, she had not had much to feast her eyes on.
Thinking of all the colorful “experiences” she had enjoyed at university, she could not help feeling a little wistful.
“Ahem.” Yan Hongzhi cleared his throat. “Shall we set off?”
Within a day, the servants had prepared two carriages and loaded them with luggage. With guards leading the way and escorting them, they set off for Ziyun Mountain in Jiaxiang.
It turned out that a few days earlier, while collecting rubbings of steles and inscriptions in Jining, Yan Hongzhi had happened to hear someone mention that there was a Han-dynasty tomb in Jiaxiang County, with inscriptions carved into its stone walls. They were most likely ancient relics.
Yan Hongzhi was immediately intrigued and asked for more details. The man was a clerk from Jiaxiang County who had once accompanied the deputy prefect on inspections of the river defenses. He had happened to catch a glimpse of the tomb once, and only remembered it now because he had been boasting to someone about ancient inscriptions.
His account was remarkably specific and sounded highly credible, so Yan Hongzhi decided to go to Jiaxiang County and take a look for himself.
Once they left Jining, the roads quickly became deserted. Far on the horizon, they could just make out the faint outline of mountains. Fortunately, the official road was smooth and level, so the carriages did not have too much difficulty making their way along it.
Still, without a suspension system, a carriage was bound to be far more jostling than a boat.
Cheng Danruo sat alone in the smaller carriage, leaning against her medical kit as she let her consciousness sink inward.
A soft glow enveloped her mind. She saw her own hands as though she were looking through the interface of a VR game, able to reach into the jade and touch the things stored within it.
She selected the tablet, opened an online lecture, and began watching.
Humans really were strange creatures. Back when she had been at home, sitting in an ergonomic chair with the air conditioning on and a milk tea in hand, she could never seem to concentrate on anything she watched. Now, being jostled along a dirt road, she could somehow focus well enough to listen to an entire lecture without getting distracted once.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon.
Fortunately, Jiaxiang County was already in sight, and they stopped at a restaurant in town for lunch.
The flavors of Shandong cuisine were somewhat different from those of Jiangnan. Before ordering, Xie Xuanying specifically asked Cheng Danruo whether there was anything she could not eat.
“I’m not eating insects,” she said. “Other than that, I’m fine.” Then she emphasized, “But Father must not eat seafood.”
Xie Xuanying agreed and ordered sweet-and-sour carp, Eight-Treasure duck, Shandong donkey meat, milk-broth calamus, steamed bird’s-nest soup, and crispy candied yam.
Yan Hongzhi was worn out from the journey and had little appetite. After taking only a few bites, he put down his chopsticks.
Cheng Danruo, on the other hand, had no such qualms. She ate her meat, protein, and vegetables in a balanced order.
After the meal, they drank tea to aid digestion. They sent Zi Su and Bai Mu, who had served the food just now, downstairs to eat, replacing them with Mo Dian to attend to them.
After resting for less than half an hour, they set off again for Ziyun Mountain.
The journey was a long one. Even after nightfall, they had covered only half the distance, so they had no choice but to spend the night in a village.
The conditions were about what one might expect.
Although it was the home of the village headman, the wealthiest man in the village, with a tiled roof and wooden beams, the walls were still made of mud mixed with straw. Fortunately, the household was relatively well-off and had a heated brick bed, or kang. Once the kitchen fire was lit, the room soon became considerably warmer.
The kang, however, was filthy. Even after they spent a long time cleaning it, a strange smell lingered. They had no choice but to burn some mugwort to fumigate it before they could reluctantly lie down and rest.
Cheng Danruo was constantly worried about lice. She spent the whole night on edge, and it was only after lying awake in a haze for a long while that she finally managed to fall asleep.
Early the next morning, after eating thin rice porridge and steamed buns with the donkey meat and pickles they had bought in the county town, everyone set out once more.
At last, they reached Ziyun Mountain.
The guide they had hired made a few inquiries and soon led them to the so-called Tomb of the Han Crown Prince. Sure enough, an ancient stone stele was buried at the foot of the mountain, with faint traces of carved inscriptions and murals.
Yan Hongzhi was overjoyed, as though he had stumbled upon a priceless treasure. He immediately sent someone to find villagers and have the stele dug out.
Although autumn was the busy farming season, anyone who would turn down the chance to make some extra money would be a fool. Three or four villagers soon arrived carrying hoes. Following the guards’ instructions, they worked together to pull the perforated stone stele out of the ground.
Zi Su and the steward went to fetch water, then washed the cups and brewed tea.
Yan Hongzhi paced around the stele. As more than half of it emerged from the ground, his impatience grew. He reached down himself to brush away the loose soil and make out the characters carved into the surface:
“Stele of Lord Wu, Governor of Dunhuang.”
The inscription was written in clerical script.
“Lord Wu…” he murmured. “San-lang, does the Record of the Gold Stone mention the line, ‘The Wu family had several tombs, all located in what is now Rencheng County, Jizhou’?”
Xie Xuanying had an exceptional memory and immediately replied, “Yes. This place was known as Rencheng in ancient times.”
“Just as I thought!” Now that Yan Hongzhi knew the origin of the inscription, his excitement only grew. “Could it be the Wu Liang Shrine?!”
It was not until the sun had passed overhead that the villagers and guards finally managed to extract the entire stele.
Mo Dian cleaned the stone thoroughly. Yan Hongzhi then personally applied a coating of baiji water to the surface before laying paper over it.
The quality of this step directly affected the quality of the rubbing that followed. Gently pinching the thin mianlian paper between his fingers, he carefully laid it over the stele. This was high-quality paper produced in Yanshan, Jiangxi, and was particularly well suited to making rubbings of inscriptions.
Yan Hongzhi worked with painstaking care. It took him half a day just to cover the stele. Once the paper was smoothed flat, he dampened it with water again, patiently securing the edges so they would not come loose.
Once the paper had dried slightly, they began making the rubbing with ink. Xie Xuanying refused to let Yan Hongzhi do this part himself and took over the inking. The ink had to be neither too wet nor too dry, but exactly right, so he had to pay constant attention and found the work quite strenuous.
By the time they finished, the entire sky was glowing with the light of sunset.
Everyone returned to the same village where they had stayed the previous night. Yan Hongzhi sent the steward to find some locals and ask about the stele’s origins. An elderly villager said that the mountain over there was called “Wuzhai,” also pronounced “Wuzhai” with a different character. This further strengthened the possibility that the site was connected to the Wu Liang Shrine.
The village headman’s wife and daughter brought them their evening meal: only a couple of vegetable dishes, a stewed chicken, and a few eggs.
Yan Hongzhi had been preoccupied with the stone stele. He had also had tea and some snacks that afternoon, so he was not particularly hungry. After drinking a bowl of chicken soup and eating a little of the vegetables, he lit a candle and began admiring the freshly made rubbing.
“It truly is Han- and Wei-dynasty clerical script.” He admired it for a long while, utterly captivated. “Someone gave me a rubbing of the Stele of Cao Quan last year. I had originally planned to make a trip to Heyang this year, but I never imagined there would be such a hidden gem here.”
Xie Xuanying agreed.
Yan Hongzhi continued, “Starting tomorrow, have them search the surrounding area again and see if there are any other fragments of steles we’ve overlooked.”
He agreed, then urged, “Sir, you’ve been out in the wind all day. You should get some rest early.”
The autumn wind was bleak and biting. After spending the entire afternoon working in it, even Yan Hongzhi found it exhausting. He was not someone who neglected his health, and he readily agreed with a smile, calling Mo Dian in to wash his feet for him.
After soaking his feet, he was tired as well. He was getting on in years, after all, and no longer had the energy of his youth. The moment his head touched the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, Cheng Danruo washed up briefly and went to bed early too. But she had done little that day besides watch Yan Hongzhi make the rubbing, so she was not tired and decided to watch another online lecture before sleeping.
As the night deepened, at some point a light autumn rain began to fall outside. The drops pattered softly against the roof tiles, adding a touch of chill to the air.
Strange sounds echoed through the mountain forest, rising and falling from different directions. She had no idea what animals were making those howls, but they sent a shiver down her spine.
She finished a lecture and was just about to rest when she suddenly heard a faint sound outside, as though someone were vomiting.
