Such a beauty, as clear and pristine as the sky after a rainstorm, as though the whole world had been cleansed.
Cheng Danruo let out a breath, feeling refreshed and at ease. She half-crouched and looked down the slope.
Gu Lan-niang’s water-blue dress was smeared with grass and mud. Clutching her ankle, sweat beaded on her forehead from the pain as she choked out, “Cousin, help me.”
Cheng Danruo thought for a moment before calling out, “Miss Gu.”
“I’m a physician. Would you like me to come down and have a look?” Cheng Danruo asked kindly.
Gu Lan-niang’s sobbing abruptly stopped.
A third person suddenly intruding upon a secret rendezvous was enough to startle anyone. Without time to think, she blurted out, “Miss Cheng, what are you doing here?”
“I was admiring the scenery nearby when I suddenly heard someone calling for help, so I came over to take a look.” Since Cheng Danruo wished to establish goodwill, she naturally knew how to answer. “Are you all right?”
A flicker passed through Gu Lan-niang’s eyes. She glanced at the pale-red figure in the distance, gritted her teeth, and said, “I’m in terrible pain. Would you please go and fetch my mother?”
Cheng Danruo frowned.
Gu Lan-niang wanted Madam Gu to come over so that, upon seeing the two of them alone together, she would draw her own conclusions. But as an outsider, Cheng Danruo had witnessed this scandal firsthand, and the consequences were difficult to predict.
That wouldn’t do.
“Is it really that painful?” she asked with concern.
Gu Lan-niang didn’t even need to pretend to be in pain. “I can’t move at all.”
Cheng Danruo feigned deliberation. “I’ll tend to your injury. As for this gentleman…” She turned toward the young man in the pale-red Daoist robe, waiting for him to introduce himself.
He ignored her, staring coldly at Gu Lan-niang.
Left with no choice, she said, “Please, sir, go and notify the Gu family.”
Gu Lan-niang bit her lip. “He’s a man. It wouldn’t be appropriate for him to come and go freely. Miss Cheng, you should go instead.”
“Don’t move.” Cheng Danruo surveyed the terrain, stepped onto a rock, and hopped down the slope in a few quick movements. Her expression turned serious. “Since you’re in so much pain, you may have broken a bone. If you move recklessly, it may not heal properly afterward.”
Gu Lan-niang was startled. “Really?”
“Why would I lie to you?” Cheng Danruo held her leg steady as she spoke. “You’ve injured your leg, and it wouldn’t be convenient to have a physician examine you either. If treatment is delayed, you could even be left with a permanent disability.”
Her tone became calm as she said steadily, “Miss Gu, I’m not trying to frighten you. Don’t move anymore. Let me examine the injury.”
Although Gu Lan-niang was no stranger to scheming, she did not dare gamble with her own body. She stiffened and did not dare move again.
Cheng Danruo said, “Please push my case down here, carefully.”
The young man appeared cold and indifferent, but since he had not left, he could not be entirely heartless. After a moment’s hesitation, he slid the case down the slope.
The moss was wet and slippery, but fortunately, the case did not get knocked about.
Cheng Danruo took out a bamboo tube, poured out some water, and dampened a cloth with it before wiping her hands clean. Then she lifted the hem of Gu Lan-niang’s skirt and rolled up the trouser leg beneath it, revealing her swollen ankle.
She gently pressed around the injured area. There were no X-rays in ancient times, so fractures were often diagnosed by touch, a method that required considerable skill.
“Does this hurt?” she asked patiently. “What about here?”
Gu Lan-niang could not help asking, “Is it serious?”
“Not too bad,” Cheng Danruo answered truthfully. “There may be a slight crack in the bone, but it’s nothing serious. Nothing is out of place, so it should be easy to treat. Just don’t move again.”
A hairline fracture was exactly what she had expected. Gu Lan-niang was still growing and probably did not exercise much, so her bones were somewhat more fragile. That was why a simple twist had caused a crack.
“Send for your servants. Have them carry you back up first, and then take a sedan chair. You mustn’t walk another step.”
Gu Lan-niang went pale. “Is it really that serious?”
“Yes.” Cheng Danruo answered crisply as she rummaged through her case and took out two thin bamboo splints and a roll of white cotton bandages. “I’m going to bind your leg to keep the injury from being knocked about. It may hurt a little, so bear with it.”
At a loss, Gu Lan-niang looked up at her cousin, seeking his opinion.
He said, “The two of you stay here. I’ll go and inform my aunt.” Only then did he turn and leave.
Left alone, the two women found themselves in a rather delicate situation.
Gu Lan-niang twisted her sleeves between her fingers, her eyes flickering as several thoughts seemed to pass through her mind. “It’s rather windy here. What are you doing up here, admiring the scenery?”
“It’s quieter on the mountain.” Cheng Danruo continued wrapping her ankle in the splint, her tone perfectly casual.
Gu Lan-niang continued probing. “I wonder when you…”
“I just arrived.”
Her attempts to test the waters came to nothing. Growing anxious, she decided to be bold. “You must be laughing at me.”
She did not say what, exactly, Cheng Danruo was supposed to be laughing at.
Cheng Danruo raised her head and feigned surprise. “It rained a little last night, and the mountain paths are slippery. Falling over is perfectly normal. Why would I laugh at you?”
Gu Lan-niang was relieved, but an overwhelming sense of melancholy soon rose within her.
For a girl like her, she would probably only dare to be so bold once in her lifetime. Yet in the end, she had given her heart to the wrong person.
The two fell silent for a moment. Then they suddenly heard a young boy’s voice. “Sister? Are you all right?”
A head poked over the top of the slope. It belonged to a young gentleman of eleven or twelve.
“I fell,” Gu Lan-niang said. “Go and fetch someone.”
“Cousin has already gone.” Young Master Gu glanced at Cheng Danruo, silently asking who she was.
“This is Miss Cheng from Vice Commissioner Chen’s household. I hear she has studied medicine since childhood,” Gu Lan-niang explained, having regained her composure. “She heard me calling for help and came specially to examine my injury.”
There was an old saying that “people carry people in a flower sedan chair” – in other words, people help one another along. Cheng Danruo had never openly displayed her medical skills, and although the Gu sisters had heard about them, they had never taken the matter seriously. But now, by saying this, Gu Lan-niang had not only smoothed over the awkward situation but also done Cheng Danruo a favor.
As long as Cheng Danruo wasn’t foolish, she would accept the goodwill and know exactly what to say.
“Miss Cheng, a pleasure to meet you.” Young Master Gu had clearly been raised with excellent manners. Though there was a trace of skepticism in his eyes, his tone was sincere. “Is my sister all right?”
Cheng Danruo secured the injury and said, “There’s a crack in the bone, so she’ll need to rest and recuperate properly. There’s an old physician named Dr. Jin in the city who lives on East Gate Street. He’s particularly experienced in treating sprains, fractures, and other such injuries. Your family would do well to send for him and have him tend to her carefully.”
In truth, there was no need for her to say this. The Gu family would never simply take her medical skills on faith; they would certainly find another physician to examine Gu Lan-niang. So when they heard her recommendation, they would naturally agree.
About half an hour, the Gu family’s maids and older female servants hurried over carrying a bamboo sedan chair. Surprisingly, the young man in the pale-red Daoist robe was the one leading the way.
“She’s over there.” He was terse and to the point, directing the servants to go down and bring her up.
Two sturdy women climbed down the slope. One carried Gu Lan-niang on her back while the other supported her from behind. “Careful, miss.”
The two women steadily carried her up, slowly making their way back to the top.
Gu Lan-niang was terrified throughout the ordeal. When she finally reached the top, she could not help but let out a sigh of relief. She gave her cousin a slightly awkward curtsy.
“Thank you for coming to my aid.”
“No need. Aunt is waiting for you.” The young man did not linger to exchange pleasantries. Turning to Young Master Gu, he said, “Make sure she gets there safely.”
“Thank you.” Young Master Gu gave a suitably formal bow before hurrying to help Gu Lan-niang into the sedan. “Fifth Sister, watch your step. Cui’er, hold her steady.”
The maid answered and carefully helped Gu Lan-niang settle into the bamboo sedan.
The two female sedan bearers were well trained. They lifted the small bamboo sedan steadily, without the slightest jolt, and carried her all the way down the mountain.
Once the group had disappeared into the distance, the young man was about to descend as well when he suddenly sensed something was amiss. He stopped and looked back.
Cheng Danruo was clinging to a protruding rock, struggling to climb up. She was not tall, and with the enormous medicine chest strapped to her back, she had to brace both arms against the ground and push herself upward.
To be honest, the slope wasn’t particularly steep. It was just that her skirt was too long, making it rather difficult to climb.
Unwilling to ruin her new clothes, Cheng Danruo had been forced to move awkwardly and cautiously, which was why she was having such a hard time.
Just then, a sleeve suddenly appeared in front of her.
Yes, a sleeve. The Daoist robe was loose and wide, its sleeves long enough to cover the fingertips with room to spare. He shook out the sleeve and offered her just the very corner, indicating that she could use it to pull herself up.
But Cheng Danruo hesitated.
The Daoist robe was truly exquisite. One look at the fabric told her it was zhuanghua ling, a richly patterned silk brocade affordable only to wealthy families. Its soft, lustrous sheen made it look almost like a work of art.
Out of respect for fine craftsmanship, she hesitated before saying, “My hands are dirty.”
He paused, then reluctantly replied, “It’s fine.”
“Thank you.”
Cheng Danruo grasped his hand, using it to pull herself up as she pushed off with her feet. Her knee knocked against the rock, but at last, she made it to the top.
At the same time, however, a sharp rrrip came from beside her foot.
Her new skirt…
It had snagged on the grass and torn.
She could not help sucking in a breath. That was simply the problem with fabrics in ancient times: they did not stand up well to washing, let alone wear and tear. It was all too easy for them to acquire a few new tears, and you often had no idea where you had snagged them.
Fortunately, cotton cloth was inexpensive. She could simply mend the tear when she got home.
She dusted herself off and clapped the dirt from her hands, only to notice that some gravel had scraped against her arm, leaving two small cuts that were bleeding.
She opened her medicine chest and rinsed the wounds with clean water. There was no need to bandage such minor injuries; they could simply be left alone.
When she looked up, the young man was still there, wearing a rather peculiar expression.
Cheng Danruo could not help frowning. “Did you have something to say?”
“You…” He pressed his lips together, suppressing his displeasure. “You should be more careful with your words.”
Cheng Danruo immediately replied, “My medical skills may not be particularly impressive, but I’m still quite capable of telling whether a bone is fractured. I wasn’t exaggerating her condition.”
He paused again, as though his train of thought had completely derailed. Yet instead of arguing further, he said, “Earlier, when I passed halfway down the mountain, I saw a flash of light among the grass and stones.”
Cheng Danruo stopped and touched the silver hairpin in her hair, smiling. “Oh?”
“You arrived first, so you are not at fault. However, a woman’s reputation is important. You should be careful with your words,” he said.
A hint of surprise appeared on Cheng Danruo’s face. Partly, she was impressed by his sense of fairness; partly, she had not expected that although he had rejected Gu Lan-niang, he would be willing to help smooth things over for her.
She smiled faintly and said gently, “Don’t worry.”
The feelings of a young girl were like poetry. There was nothing wrong with that. What was wrong with someone pursuing the person she loved?
Even the ancients had praised Zhuo Wenjun for “enduring a small humiliation in pursuit of a greater goal,” believing that those who shared the same voice responded to one another, those who shared the same spirit sought each other out, those who shared the same light illuminated one another, and those of the same kind were drawn together. Clouds follow the dragon, winds follow the tiger; the phoenix returns and seeks its mate – how could such feelings be false?
Modern people could remain silent or choose to go along with things, but to condemn people for pursuing love freely? Wouldn’t that be absurd?
He gazed steadily at her for a moment before deciding, for now, to believe her. He reached toward his waist, only to find his jade pendant. He squeezed the sleeve of his robe next and found no money either. Then he glanced around.
Wonderful. His attendant was nowhere to be seen.
A subtle awkwardness crept across his brow.
Concealing his embarrassment, he said, “I owe you a favor. If you ever need anything, you can find me at the Gu residence.”
A flicker of hesitation passed through Cheng Danruo’s mind. She went running from place to place, but what she sought was never consultation fees – it was connections and favors. And a favor from Gu Lan-niang was certainly worth less than a favor from this man, because in this world, a man’s word carried more weight than a woman’s.
But favors had to be judged by whether they could actually be put to use – and whether accepting them would leave you in someone’s debt.
“No need. If I came looking for you, wouldn’t anyone with a discerning eye figure out what happened?” she declined tactfully. “Besides, I didn’t hear anything in the first place.”
The young man had not expected her to say something like that. He paused again before replying, “That is for the best.”
“Until we meet again.” Cheng Danruo nodded politely, picked up her medicine chest, and hurried away.
She had no intention of rushing to Madam Chen to make a show of the favor she had done. Being too eager would only make her seem less “kind-hearted,” and anyone capable of becoming the matriarch of a great clan was bound to be shrewd.
Since she had finally managed to get out, she decided to take the long way back to the lakeside. She leisurely admired the scenery for a while before eventually making her way back.
As far as Cheng Danruo was concerned, seeing a genuine beauty from ancient times and witnessing a clandestine rendezvous already counted as the highlight of the outing. Surely nothing more dramatic would happen afterward.
How naïve of her.
The Shangsi Festival was a traditional occasion for young men and women to meet and seek potential partners. When custom finally gave unmarried men and women a legitimate opportunity to face one another openly, who would willingly let such a chance slip by?
Cheng Danruo had only just reached the vicinity of the Chen family’s tent when she suddenly spotted two people talking in the distance.
