The Beauty Within The Gate
Chapter 46
Wen Shuse stared at the plump purse in front of her, confused and slightly dazed. Her expression froze for a moment before she let out a soft “hmm” and asked, “Husband, where did this silver come from?”
Where did it come from? How could she not know? He thought to himself that this young lady was far too good at pretending, but he still answered, “My salary.”
Hearing this, the young lady’s face lit up. She accepted the purse, weighed it in her hand, but the joy on her face gradually faded. She even knitted her brows lightly. “Just this?”
What kind of question was that? As if he could hide anything on the side! He couldn’t help feeling slightly irritated. “The salary is twenty taels in total. I’ve given it all to you. Wife, please spend it wisely.”
But Wen Shuse was thinking something entirely different. In the Eastern Capital, a single night had earned them a hundred strings of cash. Her husband worked from dawn to dusk for a whole month and only earned twenty strings.
Truly pitiful.
But that didn’t stop her from slipping the purse neatly into her waistband.
Since the money had been handed over, Xie Shao asked, “May I move to the east room now?”
That big, soft bed in the east room—how long had it been since he’d slept on it? He missed it terribly. He was finally taking it back. And even if the young lady would still occupy half of it, that was fine. After all, the bed was wide enough to comfortably fit them both.
Of course, she would keep her word. “Please, Husband. Do you need my help packing?”
There was hardly anything to pack. Everything in the east room had been furnished at great expense; everything he needed was already there. He only had to bring his clothes and personal items.
Before he could even give instructions, Minzhang had already started packing.
There didn’t seem to be much, just some clothes and riding boots, but once they started packing, they found that one or two bundles were nowhere near enough.
There were also the bows and arrows hanging on the wall, the tiger pelt, the books he was currently reading, and even the myna bird at the door… Minzhang had to run back and forth several times. Nanny Fang also came to help before everything was finally moved into the east room.
Once the large and small bundles were all carried over, the sky was already completely dark. Nanny Fang and Xiangyun had already lit the lamps.
Returning at last to the long-missed room, everything stirred up a sense of fondness. The three-tier lotus lamp glowing inside was still the one he had snatched from Cui Nian.
The large soft bed across the room was made entirely of golden nanmu wood. Its three-sided bed rails had been carved by a famous craftsman with auspicious, luxurious designs. Unlike ordinary luohan beds, this one even had a full canopy frame. The original pale-blue curtains had been removed and replaced with apricot-colored ones favored by the young lady. The bedding had been changed too: a neatly folded jade-white brocade silk quilt lay atop the bed, and the two large round pillows were embroidered with peonies, one in bud and one in full bloom.
With the young lady’s touches, it all seemed even softer than before.
He wondered what it would feel like to lie down on it. There was no rush. He would know soon enough.
It was already very late, time to rest. Just as he was about to ask whether the young lady would use the washroom first or he should, he turned his head and saw her bustling about, already packing things up. She handed a stack of clothes to Xiangyun. “Take these over first, then come back for another trip.” Then she turned to look at the soft bed in front of him. “Have Nanny Fang lay out a new set of bedding for Husband. We won’t keep this one, let’s move it over together.”
What was the meaning of this?
Xie Shao didn’t understand at all. Seeing the young lady reach out to tug at the soft quilt, he finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up in time. “You’re moving?”
Hearing him ask, the young lady turned back, looking even more puzzled than he was. “Since Husband has moved into the east room, naturally, I have to move out.” She asked in return, “Does Husband have any concerns?”
Concerns? He had plenty.
What the young lady had just said was far from what he had imagined.
Thinking back on what the young lady had said earlier, the words were still ringing in his ears, clear in meaning, unabashed in phrasing. There shouldn’t have been room for misunderstanding. Yet looking at her now, her face innocent to the point of purity, like an unblemished heart of ice, he finally understood: this young lady had likely never encountered the darker turns of human intent. What she said could only be taken at face value, with no deeper meaning to be read.
So, her so-called plan of having him move back into the east room had merely meant that the two of them would swap places.
Which made his own thoughts seem downright indecent.
Fine. She had lived here for so long; perhaps it really was time for a change. He lifted his hand. “It’s nothing. Go ahead and move.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he watched the young lady walk to the bedside and pull away the bedding and the two round pillows.
The once-inviting bed suddenly looked far less soft.
He went over and sat down to one side, planning to wait while she moved things at her own pace. But the young lady soon came up to him again and asked, “Husband, could I borrow Minzhang for a bit? I have too many things and need help moving them.” She raised her hand and pointed to the various chests and cabinets in the room. “These are all dowry items I brought from the Wen Mansion. They all need to be moved to the west room.”
Xie Shao: ……
The sound of chests and cabinets being dragged about in the middle of the night was unbearable to the ears. At this rate, she was practically dismantling the room. By the time she finished moving everything, dawn would probably be breaking.
And how was he supposed to sleep at all?
“Enough.” After enduring for a while, he finally couldn’t hold back. He stood up and said to the busy young lady, “No need to move.” Whatever thoughts he’d had were gone. He pressed a hand to his forehead, forcing himself to calm down. “I’ll move back. You stay here and live comfortably in the east room. I won’t fight with you.”
Compared with her pile of belongings, moving his things would be much easier.
The young lady froze. “How could that be? I promised you, and I can’t go back on my word.” She truly wanted to keep him here. “Husband finally moved over. How could you move back again? If people found out, wouldn’t they laugh at us?”
Xie Shao: ……
So, she knew.
The two of them fell into silence.
Wen Shuse hadn’t expected to have accumulated so many things either. She remembered arriving with just a few wooden chests; the rest must have been added later.
It really would be troublesome to move. What should they do?
She had lived here for two or three months; it would be a lie to say she felt no attachment at all. Since neither of them could move easily, it seemed there was only one solution left.
Wen Shuse turned to look at the young master and proposed, “Then how about both of us stay in the east room?”
Having fallen into one trap already, Xie Shao was unusually calm this time. His gaze slid toward the young lady in front of him. “Have you thought it through?”
What was there left to think about? It saved them from moving things, and she could continue living here, already quite satisfactory. The young lady put the bedding and round pillows back onto the bed and made the decision for both of them. “Husband will sleep on the bed. I’ll set up another bed.”
After the earlier misunderstanding, this outcome actually felt more solid and reassuring.
The young lady was right, moving in only to move out again would indeed invite ridicule. Besides, the twenty taels of silver had been easy enough to give away, but getting them back would be difficult.
Xie Shao nodded in agreement. “We’ll do as Wife says.”
Finding another identical bed was hardly possible. Nanny Fang and Xiangyun moved the luohan couch that Wen Shuse usually used for resting into the inner room and laid cotton bedding over it.
With an agreement reached, the two of them stopped fussing. All the items were put back in place. After each bathed and tidied up, they lay down on their respective beds.
The long-missed large bed felt just as he had imagined. The moment he slipped beneath the covers, it was as if he had fallen into clouds high in the heavens. Especially the quilt over him and the pillow beneath his head. They seemed to have been aired under the sun by the young madam, carrying the fresh scent of natural sunlight. Clean and soothing, it surpassed even borneol incense, far more comfortable than the bed he’d used before.
Once he lay down, he didn’t move again.
Only a single folding screen stood between the two beds.
The young master on the large bed was thoroughly comfortable, but the young lady outside the screen was far less so. Even though Nanny Fang had laid two layers of bedding on the luohan couch for her, once she lay down, it still felt uncomfortably hard. She tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Turning her head, she faced the folding screen painted with landscapes. Made of pearwood, it lets no light through. She couldn’t see anything, but she could sense that the person inside was sleeping soundly.
Unable to sleep and growing bored, she softly called out, “Husband.”
The young master on the bed was drifting among the clouds, just on the verge of falling asleep. Hearing her call, he struggled to open his eyes. “What is it?”
She asked, “Is the bed soft?”
“It’s quite good.” He almost told her that not only was it soft, it even smelled nice.
She didn’t ask anything more. After a moment had passed, just as he again neared the edge of sleep, a sudden noise reached his ears.
Thump, thump…
The young lady was making quite a racket turning over.
He endured it for a while without saying anything. Just when it finally quieted down, it started up again.
After several rounds of this, sleep was drifting further and further away. His head felt heavy and muddled. Unable to endure it any longer, he finally spoke up to the young lady outside the screen. “Aren’t you sleeping?”
To his surprise, her voice carried both delight and astonishment. “You’re not asleep either?”
Either? With her tossing about like that, how could he possibly fall asleep?
“Do you always sleep like this?” Too bad there was no rule about sharing a room before marriage to test compatibility. If there were, with this habit of hers, who would dare marry her?
“Husband misunderstands. I’m not usually like this,” the young madam protested. “It’s just that this couch is too hard. I can’t sleep.”
“Didn’t the nanny put two mattresses under you?” He had seen it himself; surely it wasn’t so hard that sleep was impossible.
“Husband doesn’t know. When I was young, I injured my waist. I can’t sleep on hard couches. If I do, my whole body aches.” Then she added, “Do you find the bed very soft? I put two layers of palm-fiber mats underneath, then laid two layers of cotton mattresses on top. As for the quilt and the round pillows, I even had Xiangyun take them out to sun them today…” She trailed off. The more she spoke, the more disheartened she felt. Turning over, she said to the person inside, “Husband, go to sleep. I won’t disturb you anymore.”
Yet beneath her waist, it was still hard as a board. No matter how she arranged her limbs, nothing felt right. She turned once more, then again, and when she lifted her head, she suddenly saw a figure standing before her, looming and watching her intently.
Wen Shuse jumped in fright. Realizing what was happening, her face filled with guilt. Looking at the dark silhouette before her, she whispered, “Did I disturb you again? I promise, I won’t toss and turn anymore.”
Her promise wasn’t credible in the slightest.
“Go sleep on the bed.” In the pitch-dark, it was impossible to make out the young master’s expression, but the grinding edge in his voice was unmistakable.
The young lady hesitated. “But we agreed the bed was for you. How could I possibly…”
What was there for her to be embarrassed about? His temples throbbed again, but since he’d already done it, he might as well say it properly. “Didn’t you say your waist hurts? If something really goes wrong, won’t it still be me who has to look after you in the future?”
That did make sense.
The young lady agreed, putting on an air of being considerate of him. “Husband already works hard enough. I absolutely can’t add to your burden. I’ll go to sleep on the bed now.”
She hurriedly climbed down from the couch and, without the slightest reluctance, slipped behind the screen, dove straight under the covers. At last, nothing pressed painfully against her waist. She stretched her limbs comfortably, turned over once, hugged the reclaimed cloud-brocade quilt tightly, breathed in the sun-warmed scent lingering on it, and closed her eyes in complete satisfaction, never turning again.
Joy and misery had switched places.
The one who couldn’t sleep became Xie Shao.
Having tasted the comfort of that big soft bed, returning to this simple luohan couch felt like moving from a grand manor into a thatched hut. The difference was unbearable.
He didn’t toss and turn like the young lady, but lay awake with his eyes open, feeling utterly incredulous. He truly didn’t understand how he had ended up in this situation today.
Twenty taels of salary, gone without a single coin left, and all he got in exchange was this luohan couch. It wasn’t even as good as his old bed in the west room.
—
The next morning, when Minzhang saw him come out of the inner room, he expected to see a vibrant, refreshed master. Instead, he saw exhaustion, a drooping spirit, and dark circles under his eyes.
Wondering whether things were as he suspected, he then heard the master give an instruction, “Later, move the bed from the west wing over here.”
That luohan couch was not only narrow but short. He hadn’t been able to stretch his legs the whole night.
Minzhang didn’t understand at first, but once he moved the bed in, he realized his master had tried to gain an advantage, only to end up losing even more.
But gradually he realized it wasn’t a total loss after all. At the very least, his master was now living in the east room and able to be together with the Third Young Madam day and night.
From separate rooms to separate beds, they had already taken a significant step forward.
Xie Shao felt it too. Living under the same roof truly was different from before. Each day when he returned, the house was no longer cold and quiet. The first thing he saw was the warm, lively presence of the young lady.
Perhaps because she alone had occupied the big bed, the young lady felt a bit guilty. These past days, she had taken meticulous care of him. Every time he returned from duty, hot water for washing and warm dishes were already prepared.
When he washed his hands at the copper basin, she would stand beside him, handing over a towel and asking a few considerate questions. “That downpour today came so suddenly. Did you get caught in the rain?”
He would answer her just as earnestly. “Madam Zhou summoned her advisers to discuss matters. I stayed at the Prince Mansion all day and didn’t go out.”
The young lady would nod. “That’s good.”
At meals, she would almost give him all the meat from the dishes. “Husband, eat more.”
Feeling her care, life gradually began to feel more like something real. He even tasted a hint of what it meant to be husband and wife. And so, seeing that the moonlight was especially fine that night, Xie Shao took the initiative to ask, “Shall we go for a walk?”
The young lady agreed happily.
The two masters, who had lived apart for several months, were finally about to take a step forward. As servants, they had the sense not to intrude.
Xiangyun prepared a lantern and placed it into Wen Shuse’s hands. Worried the night air might be cool, she also brought over a brocade shawl. But with the young lady already holding the lantern in one hand, taking the shawl would leave both her hands full.
The young master beside her took the initiative to accept it. After all, it wasn’t his first time doing so. He took it naturally and draped it over his arm, accompanying the young lady out to enjoy the moon.
Though the second branch had gone bankrupt, at least the garden remained. Spring had passed, the floral fragrance no longer as rich as before, but the trees had grown lush and full.
The young lady walked on his right, lantern in hand, side by side with him. The silver moonlight poured down from above, stretching their shadows long across the bluestone path ahead. At a glance, they seemed to be leaning against one another.
A light breeze brushed past, stirring emotions that couldn’t quite be contained.
Looking more closely, their sleeves were indeed brushing together. His palm inexplicably felt empty, and he recalled the hand he had once held, that softness and delicacy still vivid in his memory.
Since they had finally come out, it would be a waste not to savor such beautiful moonlight. Beneath flowers and the moon, shouldn’t they be holding hands?
Once the thought arose, the more he tried to suppress it, the more wildly it grew. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the young lady. This was truly a heaven-sent opportunity. The hand on the side closest to him hung just right, as if waiting for him to take the initiative.
He even had his retreat planned. If the young lady dared refuse, he would tell her that they were already husband and wife, and holding hands was only natural.
Without drawing attention, he switched the shawl to his right arm and let his hand drop, reaching sideways. Just a little more… his heartbeat suddenly sped up, more thrilling than when he and Zhou Kuang had fought on horseback. Yet he hadn’t considered that the household staff had been greatly reduced. With no one tending the flowers and grass, and a pond nearby, mosquitoes were especially rampant at night.
Before his hand could reach hers, a sudden buzz sounded by his ear. He had no choice but to wave it away. The moment his hand dropped, the sound crept back again, unbearably annoying.
Looking at the young lady beside him, one of her hands was already scratching at her neck. It was summer now, and her outer garment was sheer and light. The mosquitoes chased her relentlessly. Her arm itches one moment, her neck the next. The constant buzz, buzz was enough to drive anyone mad.
Suddenly—smack!—a palm landed squarely on her own cheek. She quickly turned to him and asked, “Husband, can you check if my face has been bitten?”
As she spoke, she lifted the lantern to shine it on her face and leaned closer to him.
The lantern’s glow spread in a hazy, yellow blur, dim and indistinct. Xie Shao looked for quite a while before finally spotting a bean-sized pale welt on her fair face.
Swollen and puffy, it looked like she’d been bitten for some time already.
Seeing the young lady’s pitiful state, the ripples in his heart were completely extinguished by the mosquitoes. He could only give up and say, “Let’s go back.”
The young lady, however, refused. Scratching at the swollen welt on her face, she looked utterly indignant. “No. They’ve bitten me so many times, and I didn’t even manage to kill a single one. I can’t just let them suck my blood for free and get away with it.”
As she spoke, she handed the lantern to him. “Husband, hold this for me. I’ll catch them.”
That was exactly the young lady’s temperament. She never lets a grievance go unavenged.
So, he held the lantern and watched as the young lady waged a full-on battle with the mosquitoes. Unfortunately, her hands were too small. Several times, the mosquitoes practically delivered themselves right into her palms, only to slip away through the gaps between her fingers.
After a long while without catching even one, he finally couldn’t stand it anymore. He handed the lantern back to her. “You hold this. I’ll do it.”
A young master’s large hands were indeed different. With a single move, he had results. One clap of his palm, and the mosquito was already half-dead. The young lady showed no mercy. She plucked out its sharp proboscis and tossed it into the grass to fend for itself. Turning back, she looked at him with approval. “Again.”
What should have been a peaceful moon-viewing turned into a full-blown human-versus-mosquito war, and the outcome was mutual defeat.
Half an hour later, Nanny Fang and Xiangyun watched as the two masters walked back in, scratching their faces and necks as they went, both wearing rather poor expressions. They couldn’t help but exchange a bewildered glance.
Before they could even ask what had happened, they heard their young master issue an order through clenched teeth, “Tomorrow, pull out all the weeds in the garden. Then buy some fumigant and smoke the entire courtyard.”
Wen Shuse had already lost count of how many welts she’d been bitten with. Her hatred for mosquitoes ran bone-deep, and she nodded emphatically in agreement. “Yes. Not a single mosquito can be left alive.”
After bathing and changing, they lay in their respective beds, still counting the swollen bites on their bodies.
Their first attempt at a romantic outing had been utterly ruined by mosquitoes. It was so miserable that it was almost unbearable to think about. To make up for it, Xie Shao proposed again, “Tomorrow we’ll go somewhere else to enjoy the moon.”
Wen Shuse: ……
The two of them shared that same spirit, willing to inflict a thousand losses on the enemy while suffering eight hundred themselves.
If they let a few mosquitoes ruin the mood and swore off moon-viewing forever, wouldn’t that be an even greater loss?
With medicinal ointment applied, the discomfort had eased considerably. Wen Shuse said, “If Husband wishes to admire the moon, I know a place. Once you return tomorrow, I’ll take you there.”
The following night, when they ventured out again, they came fully prepared, each carrying several mosquito-repelling sachets.
With no mosquitoes along the way and the moonlight just as bright as the young lady had promised, everything seemed perfect.
Yet when he looked up, something felt off. Glancing at the apricot tree by the wall and the surroundings, he finally realized where the young lady usually got her information.
He suddenly began to question her true intentions. Had she come here to admire the moon… or to eavesdrop by the wall?
But the young lady flashed him a smile, utterly unashamed, and whispered, “Husband, now that we’re here, why not listen in? What if they’re secretly plotting something major behind our backs?”
This sort of behavior was ultimately not that of a gentleman. He couldn’t agree with the young lady, and she would do best not to listen either. If she heard something she shouldn’t, the one left awkward would still be him.
He tugged her outward, but the young madam clung tightly to his arm and refused to go. In the midst of their pulling and tugging, movement suddenly sounded from within the opposite wall, as if someone had stepped outside.
Both of them froze at once, holding their breath.
“Please stay a moment, Eunuch.” It was Eldest Master Xie’s voice.
“Does Eldest Master Xie still have doubts?”
“This news truly leaves this humble servant unsettled.”
“The imperial edict bears His Majesty’s jade seal. Could Eldest Master Xie still doubt its authenticity?” The person addressed as Eunuch gave a light laugh. “The two princes of Hexi and Hebei are precedents enough. Can Deputy Commander Xie truly not see it? His Majesty’s resolve to reduce the power of the feudal princes is already set. Deputy Commander Xie needs only to wait to render this great service and receive promotion and a noble rank.”