Long Wind Crossing

Liu Yuru said nothing. Jiang Rou waited for her quietly. After a long silence, Liu Yuru spoke up. “Could you tell me what it was like when you first married Master Gu?” 

“Him?”Jiang Rou smiled faintly. “He was a jerk. Kept a mistress outside. Three years into our marriage, he took multiple concubines.”

Liu Yuru’s eyelids twitched as she listened to Jiang Rou. “It’s to be expected, but I was young, in love. Unable to accept the situation, I quarrelled with him every day. Later we experienced a lot and weathered many storms together over the years. We stuck it out and eventually got to where we are now. He reformed and sent his concubines to the rear courtyard. They were pitiful women. When suitable matches for them came up, I sent them packing with a sum of money.”

“Oh, I’m not saying that you should emulate me,” Jiang Rou said. Suddenly remembering that Liu Yuru was at her most sensitive right now, she quickly added, ”What I went through was not smooth sailing. Said those off the top of my head, don’t take them to heart.”

Jiang Rou continued to talk about things that had happened in the past. When she saw that Liu Yuru’s emotions had stabilised, she told her to have a good rest and got up to leave. Before she left, she said, “Want me to get Jiusi back?”

Liu Yuru opened her mouth, paused, and said, “No, it’s fine.“ 

Once Jiusi was brought back, there would be no turning back, for him and her.

Jiang Rou smiled, told her to rest well, and turned to leave. 

After Jiang Rou left, Liu Yuru sat silently in a daze. 

Yinhong entered and said quietly, “Miss…” 

Liu Yuru held Yinhong silent with a lifted hand. “Give me some time to think,” she said softly. 

Yinhong said not a word after that. She watched as Liu Yuru stood up and slowly walked up to a table which had a Go board on it.

She rarely played Go in the past. Her mother did not stop her from playing, but she believed that girls should focus on needlework. It was only because she learnt that Ye Shi’an was fond of playing Go that she dedicated some time seriously studying it. Needing a distraction to calm herself down, she sat down at the board.

Her calm expression betrayed no signs of trouble. Yinhong decided against disturbing Liu Yuru as she sat quietly.

Yinhong remembered the first time she saw Liu Yuru acting in this manner. That was back when Zhang Yue’er had just married into the family. Zhang Yue’er wanted to drive Su Wan and Liu Yuru out of the main courtyard. Liu Yuru wept and made a fuss before Liu Xuan. Liu Xuan slapped her. Without a word, she locked herself in her room—just as she had done so presently. When she finally exited her room, she sweetly addressed Zhang Yue’er as “stepmother”. From then on, she became a lot more cautious and eloquent. Yinhong still remembered what Liu Yuru used to be like before this incident; she was a wild girl who’d climb trees, loved messing around with her slingshot, and would get into arguments with Liu Xuan to protect Su Wan.

Yinhong didn’t know what course of action Liu Yuru would take this time, but whatever it was, she was certain it’d be for the best.

Liu Yuru picked up the Go stones and waged a silent war against herself. She set down stone after stone, feeling as if everything about her was being cleansed by a rainstorm, boiled in burning magma, pulverised to dust, and rebuilt again.

The most important ability one could possess was not intelligence during good times, but resilience in the face of adversity.

Silently, she clasped a stone and analysed her situation.

She knew that she had no outstanding strengths. Her only solace was her grit, which was a little more than the average person’s. 

She was good at bouncing back from setbacks, and she was quick to learn and adapt.  

When Zhang Yue’er first came to the Liu family, she swiftly adapted to being an ordinary Miss rather than the Eldest Miss, curbed her hostility toward Zhang Yue’er, and meekly curried her favour, thereby obtaining some measure of goodwill from Liu Xuan and Zhang Yue’er.    

Through Zhang Yue’er, she learnt how to please; through the Ye family, she learnt how to be a praiseworthy lady.

She was a very quick learner. Today, she met Jiang Rou, a woman unlike any other she’d met in her life. She carefully and seriously dissected the logic behind her words and actions.

She tried to view the world from Jiang Rou’s perspective. 

Jiang Rou married a man she did not like. This man was even worse than Gu Jiusi, for he was a philanderer and had many concubines. Yet she never gave up and forged on a step at a time, until this man became a devoted, good husband, someone she could rely on and be with for the rest of her life.

She had heard that Master Gu was not wealthy back in the day, and was even rather dissolute. Yet the current Gu Langhua was rich and reliable. This turnabout could perhaps be attributed to Jiang Rou’s efforts.   

Jiang Rou spent a hefty sum on her precious son’s marriage. She went through so much trouble to help her daughter-in-law secure her dowry, only for her daughter-in-law to resent her family, be ill-mannered, and speak to her so impertinently. Despite that, she was able to remain poised and composed, put herself in her daughter-in-law’s shoes, counsel her, and offer a solution that would benefit everyone.

Given the Gu family’s power, they could have easily done what any other family would have done had they been in the same position—lock her up as punishment, or perhaps divorce her and throw her out of the house. So long as they wished it, there were endless ways to torment her. Yet Jiang Rou sought to win her over with sincerity and logic, and hoped that she would willingly settle down in the Gu family.

Liu Yuru sighed deeply.

As the saying went, “Be humble when in a high position; do not give up when in a low position”.

Such magnanimity was rare. 

She understood the logic of Jiang Rou’s counsel. What she found difficult was accepting it on an emotional level. 

Still, she’d realised that it would be folly to indulge in these feelings any longer. She did not fear being unlucky once, but she feared being trapped in emotions and making consecutive mistakes thereafter.

So she said nothing and sat there playing against herself.

She sent for Gu Jiusi’s servants and had them tell her about Gu Jiusi’s past in detail.

She learnt about his childhood, his past escapades, his temperament, and his likes. 

She listened quietly, setting down black and white Go stones in turn as they talked. Amidst the clatter of stone against board, she slowly pieced together a mental picture of Gu Jiusi’s past and future.

By now she had worked out a rather decent sketch of his personality.

He was soft-hearted, kind, loved cats and dogs, and would often feed such strays that passed him by. 

He had his sense of responsibility; he was fond of saying, “I’ll bear the consequences of my actions”. He hated implicating the innocent.

He was very loyal to his friends and had no qualms about risking his neck for them. 

He dreamed of being a chivalrous hero and would often fantasise about travelling around the world…

In his enthusiasm for breaking out of the Gu residence, he had devised all sorts of tricks for escaping: dog holes, ladders for scaling walls, and even a variety of self-made wall-scaling tools; he also loved to squirrel away secret savings. There were secret stashes of money everywhere in the house, to prevent his parents from using money as leverage to control him; he was an accomplished martial artist; even his master required several men to completely subdue him.

Liu Yuru tried her best to seek out the good in him. She evaluated his good and bad points as objectively as she could, and tried to ascertain if he was that hopeless or just overly naive.

By the third day, she had heard all that she needed to hear. She put out the anger that had burned within her, looked up and finally said her first sentence in three days. “Where’s the Young Master?” 

Yinhong started. She stammered, “I…I’ll find out this instant.” 

Liu Yuru nodded. She instructed Yinhong to prepare hot water and went about completing her toilette.  

Just as she slid the last hairpin into her hairdo, the servant who had been sent to find Gu Jiusi’s whereabouts returned and reported respectfully, “Young Mistress Gu, Young Master’s still at Spring Wind House.”

Liu Yuru was completely unsurprised. Gu Jiusi was known to spend upwards of a month in the gambling dens. Three days in Spring Wind House was nothing in comparison.

She nodded, rose to her feet, and went to see Jiang Rou and Gu Langhua. 

Jiang Rou and Gu Langhua heard Liu Yuru’s arrival. Gu Langhua was so startled that his hands started twitching. He swallowed, stopped teasing his pet parrot, and turned to Jiang Rou. “My eyelids have been twitching like crazy. Been feeling uneasy.” 

Jiang Rou sighed and shook her head. “This is between the kids. Our job’s to listen. Do not meddle.”

Liu Yuru soon arrived. Jiang Rou and Gu Langhua were seated in the seats of honour. Liu Yuru politely paid her respects. Gu Langhua hurriedly got her to get up and said to her, “There aren’t so many rules here in the Gu family. Don’t be so formal.”

“There are still rules that a junior such as myself ought to observe.” 

Liu Yuru’s face was impassive. Her makeup made her appear more energetic. She raised her head and said gently, “I’ve been feeling under the weather these past few days and neglected to serve tea as I should. Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, I hope you’ll forgive me.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Gu Langhua said, the thought of this matter inflaming him again. He scowled. “It’s that little bastard Jiusi’s fault. Yuru, you’ve had to put up with much since marrying into our family. We have been soft on Jiusi because he was a sickly kid. But it’s too late now that he’s grown up. I didn’t think he’d be such a scoundrel. Wait till I drag him back. I’ll make sure he apologises!” 

“You must be joking, Father-in-law,” Liu Yuru said placidly. Gu Langhua’s words did not please her or annoy her. Her words, clearly and calmly spoken, had a calming effect. “I know that Young Master has always been naive and carefree. Now that I’ve married into the Gu family, I’ve become a member of your family. It’s good enough for me if Young Master lives well. Young Master likes going out to have fun. That’s fine with me. It’s not a big deal.” 

Jiang Rou and Gu Langhua exchanged looks. The boding uneasiness intensified within Gu Langhua.

Had Liu Yuru thrown a fit, he wouldn’t have felt so alarmed. The current Liu Yuru was exceedingly agreeable. Intuition told him that something huge was coming. 

Not knowing Gu Langhua’s inner thoughts, Liu Yuru lowered her head and appeared very respectful as she continued, “Today I’ve come to greet the both of you and to understand the family situation. I would like to know if there are any areas I ought to be aware of and work on.”

“All I want,” Gu Langhua ventured tentatively, weighing his words. “is to see you and Jiusi get along nicely. And when you have the time, I would appreciate it if you would urge him to apply himself.”

Liu Yuru considered his words and said hesitantly, “You wish for him to apply himself to his studies? Have you mentioned this to him?”

Liu Yuru was sure that Gu Langhua had not. If Gu Langhua had such expectations, given Jiang Rou’s and Gu Langhua’s abilities, he ought not to have turned out the way he was.

“Circumstances have changed,” True to Liu Yuru’s expectations, Gu Langhua admitted as much. He sighed and said, “I used to think that it’d be fine if he lives happily the way he is, so I did not expect him to excel in his studies. But things are different now. I hope he can obtain some skills to make his living. That way, he’d be able to protect himself, even when his family cannot.”  

“Do you mean to say that our family’s in danger?”

Liu Yuru’s gaze lingered upon Jiang Rou. She caught the confusion in her eyes and replied candidly, “Though the Gus are the richest merchants in Yangzhou, our roots are in the Eastern Capital. My elder brother is the Minister of Personnel in the Eastern Capital. The political situation there is unstable. His Majesty has been absent from court for three months. My elder brother wanted to send Jiusi to the capital, make him an official, then recommend him to the princess to secure his future. We did not want Jiusi to be dragged into this, hence the hurry to get him hitched.”

Jiang Rou’s words weren’t so coherent, but Liu Yuru understood. A three-month-long absence from court suggested that a dispute for the throne was on the horizon. Wishing to consolidate his position, Gu Jiusi’s uncle hoped to fix up a marriage between Gu Jiusi and a certain powerful princess. However…

Liu Yuru frowned. The Emperor had few descendants and the Crown Prince had long been decided. These weren’t conditions that augured a dispute over the throne. So what’s the Gu family afraid of?

Liu Yuru’s thoughts raced. That dream surfaced in her mind— 

“After the Prince of Liang rose in rebellion, Fan Xuan marched his troops into the Eastern Capital.”  

“Ran loose in Yangzhou—took advantage of his connections with the Prince of Liang.” 

Alarmed, she composed herself and mustered an unconcerned voice, “Whose side is Uncle on? Has he ties with any prince? 

“He stands by the Crown Prince, naturally,” Jiang Rou took a sip of tea. “While we are quite unconnected to the imperial relatives, a niece of mine is the Prince of Liang’s consort.” 

Liu Yuru’s heart pounded. 

This is the second time now.

The events in the dream have come true again. Was that just a dream? Is this a mere coincidence? 

Liu Yuru reined in her emotions. She drank her tea to buy time to think. 

If the dream was true, how much more time did the Gu family have? If the Gu family fell, she, as Gu Jiusi’s wife, would not be able to escape unscathed.

Sweat beaded her hands. She set down the teacup and finally said the words that she’d been preparing to say, “Since a crisis is imminent, and the political situation has taken a turn, Young Master Gu ought to mend his ways.”  

“He’s a man. While I don’t expect him to attain rank and riches or to become a hero of his times, I believe he should at least have the ability to earn his keep. What do you say, Father-in-law? Mother-in-law?”