Just then a gust of wind blew some flowers to the ground. The pitter-patter of raindrops striking the carriage canopy rang out crisply.
A rain-soaked petal floated in, carried on the gentle breeze through the window curtain. It landed amidst the hair of the young maiden sitting in the carriage.
Both their robes were drenched through, carrying the scent of misty rain. A brazier warming the carriage made the air slightly stuffy, wisps of white smoke swirling up lazily, brushing past Zhu Zi’an’s side and landing on Jiang Kui’s cheek.
He lowered his head watching her, raindrops rolling down her damp hair.
With a “plop”, a bead of water dropped onto her fingertip.
He closed his eyes with a low laugh, then suddenly plucked the petal from her hair. Sitting back down across from her he said, “You had a flower petal in your hair.”
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“A flower petal fell onto your hair,” he smiled, lightly rolling the petal between his fingers before holding it out on his palm for her to see.
She raised a hand, touching the top of her head. The feeling of his touch still lingered amidst her hair.
His hand was wrapped in white linen. She couldn’t feel his warmth, but sensed his palm should be cool, slightly colder than her cheeks yet warmer than her earlobes.
Just like that day under the golden sky when he covered her ears.
She bit her lip without responding. He tilted his head watching her for a while, then added, “Your master also liked touching your head a lot in the past.”
“That was before my rite of passage into womanhood—” She suddenly stopped, staring intently into his eyes. “How do you know about that?”
“I won’t tell you,” he said.
She stamped her feet in anger. “Zhu Zi’an! Why do you always keep so many things from me? Master never told me either that he took on another apprentice after me…”
“Sorry,” he replied gently. “I asked Master not to tell you.”
“Then why—” She got halfway through her sentence and abruptly stopped.
He gazed at her quietly, his eyes completely serious. In that fleeting unbelievable moment, she seemed to glimpse another person’s shadow in those clear eyes. An aching sorrow suddenly gripped her and she didn’t understand why.
Then he suddenly reached out, ruffling her hair.
“Hey! No more petals fell out right?” she yelled.
“No,” he laughed. “I just wanted to know how it felt whenever Master touched your head.”
“It definitely doesn’t feel like what you did,” she humphed.
He withdrew his hand, propping his chin as he gazed out the window. The carriage rumbled down the street lined with blooming apricot trees, countless white petals falling like snow to blanket the rain-soaked road.
“You should know Master was also a broker in the past,” said Zhu Zi’an.
“Mm,” she nodded. Eight years ago Master had brought her upstairs to his study and introduced the freshly independent Zhu Zi’an from behind a screen, calling himself “Old Man Pu Liu”. She had privately guessed this broker who called himself “old” must secretly be a young man affecting maturity.
“Master handled my first deals with me,” Zhu Zi’an said slowly, a hint of reminiscence in his tone. “He taught me that in this business, showing your face means death.”
“But you can still trust me!” protested Jiang Kui unhappily. “I’m your martial sister! You can show me your face.”
She asserted solemnly, “You won’t die. I’ll protect you.”
He laughed softly, reaching out again to ruffle her hair as if finding her reaction very amusing.
After a while he slowly sat up straight on his seat, lazily stretching his arms over his head. Turning to gaze out the window he murmured, “Anyway this is complicated, I have my reasons for not telling you everything.”
“Also,” he said quietly, “I’ll be leaving soon.”
She blinked in surprise. “Leaving? Where are you going?”
“Somewhere far away,” he responded casually. “After earning enough over the years and tying up loose ends here, I plan to retire from the martial world. I want to leave Chang’an, travel around by wagon…”
“Traveling?” She hadn’t expected this response.
“Mm. Many places I want to see – Kunlun Mountains capped in snow, the deserts northwest of the pass, the hills down south…I heard there are tiny deer in the southwestern forests, small as cats. You haven’t seen them right?”
He illustrated the size for her with a smile. “When I do I’ll write you about them.”
Jiang Kui rested her cheek on a palm, imagining deer the size of kittens and finding it very amusing. She nodded, “Zhu Zi’an, you have to write me often when you leave.”
“Sure,” he assented mildly.
“Looks like I may never leave Chang’an,” she mused, tilting her head. “As the crown princess, I may even become Empress one day. If my husband is in a good mood he might take me to the eastern capital Luoyang.”
“That’s the furthest I may ever go.”
“You’ll go much farther than that,” he disagreed with a shake of his head. “Jiang Xiaoman, a person’s lifetime is long – you still have so much time ahead…”
He gazed out the window whispering, “So very long still.”
The wind after the rain carried a trace of coolness through the window. They both gave an involuntary shiver.
His words held many incomprehensible meanings, but she didn’t understand them right now. She suddenly reached out, patting his head as she murmured, “Zhu Zi’an, I’ll miss you a lot after you leave.”
He seemed startled, then smiled wryly. “Don’t miss me.”
After a pause he added, “Or you’ll sneeze.”
There was a common saying that thinking of someone will make them sneeze. His joke caught her completely off guard. She stared indignantly at him bending over with laughter.
The carriage gave a bump then rolled to a stop. Their driver Luo Shi yi put down his whip and jumped down, calling out, “Master, Young Master Jiang, we’ve arrived at the bookstore.”
Zhu Zi’an glanced at Jiang Kui then said solemnly, “Stay in the carriage and wait for me.”
Jiang Kui had no idea what else this oddball was up to. Perplexed, she sat in the carriage waiting for him. After some time he ducked back inside holding a thick heavy blanket that he unceremoniously wrapped her up in like a zongzi.
“Hey what are you—!” She didn’t even finish speaking before he swept her up blanket and all, quickly heading upstairs.
Gently setting her down, she stood there dizzy and muddled as a white kerchief was placed over her head.
Zhu Zi’an pointed gravely at her clothes. “Soaked through.”
Glancing down she finally noticed her white robes were completely drenched, plastered messily to her body…outlining a slender and graceful figure.
“I didn’t look,” Zhu Zi’an said quickly, raising both hands. “I’m an honorable gentleman.”
He didn’t get another word out before she pushed him out with a dark look, shutting the wooden door with a “bang”. Leaning against the door he gave a low chuckle, then knocked on it with his knuckles. “Miss, I haven’t brought the change of clothes in yet.”
“Then go get it!” her angry voice came through the door.
Zhu Zi’an scratched his head then slowly went downstairs for a set of dry robes before knocking on the tightly shut door again.
Rustling sounds came from within as the door cracked open warily. A fair and lovely hand shot out to grab the robes before the door slammed “bang” shut again.
“Why are you so nervous?” he murmured quietly. “I really am an honorable gentleman…”
Jiang Kui was determined to ignore him and busied herself changing inside the room. Several braziers warming the elegant room kept it from getting cold at all. She calmly shed her soaked white robes, drying herself thoroughly before reaching for the clean change of clothes Zhu Zi’an had brought.
The robes felt soft, loosely tied at the waist by a wide white sash. Likely freshly heated by the braziers, it carried a warm, pleasant scent still retaining traces of that cold and crisp plum blossom fragrance belonging to him.
After changing Jiang Kui opened the door and stepped out while Zhu Zi’an, also in a fresh change of clothes, came upstairs.
His wide robes were loosely tied at the waist by a sash, his bare feet padding up the spotless steps.
As he ascended he gave a soft yawn, one hand holding the white kerchief over his head. Damp hair stuck messily to his cheeks, beads of water rolling down as he lazily asked, “Done changing?”
Reaching out he ruffled her hair with a frown. “Not drying your hair?”
“It’ll dry itself,” she batted his hand away and noticed his constant yawning. “Didn’t you sleep well last night?”
Zhu Zi’an gave a grunt. “And whose young miss insisted on using my shoulder as a pillow to fall asleep?”
Jiang Kui silently lowered her head without responding. She vaguely recalled leaning against Zhu Zi’an’s shoulder and falling asleep last night, even clinging to him and refusing to let him leave.
When she woke up she was tucked into a warm blanket smelling comfortingly of him.
“Go take a seat.” Zhu Zi’an urged her back into the room with hands on her shoulders, making her sit on the cushion before declaring, “Let me dry your hair for you.”
He sat behind her, tilting his head to stare puzzledly at her messy hairbun for a moment before plucking out the red jade hairpin and lightly clamping it between his teeth. Freeing up both hands he then stripped off his white kerchief.
His fingers moved gently and nimbly as he dried her hair through the soft fabric, carefully wiping each strand dry and smoothing it into place.
When her hair was half-dry he removed the hairpin from his mouth, gathering it loosely atop her head and inserting the pin at an angle to secure her bun.
Finally satisfied, he gave her head a little pat and pressed down the stubborn flyaway strands that still peeked out defiantly reflecting the golden sunlight. Eventually they yielded, slumping down reluctantly.
Replacing his white kerchief he moved to sit directly across from her, flicking her brow lightly with a knuckle. “Eyes closed. Take off your disguise.”
She rubbed her forehead, glaring at him angrily. “Zhu Zi’an, show some respect! I’m your martial senior sister!”
“Yet I’m older than you,” he calmly refuted, lowering his head to unwrap the linen binding his fingers.
Jiang Kui shut her eyes and lifted her face, waiting for him to dispel her disguise. Amidst the crackling charcoal the sound of his breathing gradually drew closer, low and pleasant to the ear. His motions were extremely light, she could barely sense his touch.
He took his time, the process very slow. Growing somewhat drowsy, she gave a tiny yawn. Her lips happened to brush his fingers as they passed by.
His hand froze and she opened her eyes.
The space between them was small, their noses nearly touching as they saw their own reflections in each other’s eyes.
In that moment of mingling breaths she seemed to glimpse another person’s shadow once more in the depths of his eyes.
Zhu Zi’an’s eyes drifted shut before he slowly leaned back, swiftly re-wrapping his fingers in linen as he murmured, “Done.”
The girl before him was unusually silent for a spell.
She lifted a fair and beautiful face, gazing at him for a long moment before asking softly, “Zhu Zi’an…what is your relationship to Xie Wuyan?”
His hands gave an involuntary tremble as they bound the linen.
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