By then, the moon had risen above the horizon, its cold radiance spilling over the land and making the winter night seem even more desolate and bitterly cold.
Shen Guanting sat on a low couch beside the campfire, casually feeding firewood into the flames. The firelight flickered across his impassive face. Though he often spoke with a sharp wit, he was usually gentle with others and prudent in all he did—an exceptionally proper and courteous man. Yet as he sat there in silence, one could only feel that aloofness lay deep in his bones.
When Shen Quan and Shen Qi returned from the darkness one after the other, he asked, “How are things over there?”
Shen Qi took the medical chest from his shoulder and crouched beside the fire. “Slightly better than expected, but they’re all suffering from illness, and they’re exhausted. Their food is nearly gone as well. They’ll still have to perform their labor as usual tomorrow. It’s hard to say how things will go after that.”
Shen Guanting prodded the firewood that had been pressed down. “Magistrate Zhao of Huibei has an ordinary record, but he follows the rules and has no powerful connections behind him. He likely won’t deliberately make things difficult for them. But expecting him to go out of his way to help would be wishful thinking.”
His voice remained especially calm amid the dancing firelight. “The wives and young members of the Gu and Chen families are all steady-minded and measured in their actions. As long as they keep within proper bounds, once they survive this initial period, their days shouldn’t be too difficult. Even if the other merchants and shops in Nanya dare not employ them, the Weaving Cloud Trading House is here. It won’t be a problem.”
“Young Master is right,” Shen Qi said, edging closer to the fire. “If Young Master wants them to live, even Heaven itself couldn’t stop him.”
Shen Guanting shook his head with a quiet laugh. “If I truly had such ability, they wouldn’t be suffering from illness now.”
He could not help recalling Lin Wu and Lin Jing when he had first met them in Lingzhou. The pair had been in far better spirits and health than the members of the Gu and Chen families were now.
Without official travel documents or anyone to look after them, a young woman had brought a child safely all the way to Lingzhou. He had no idea how she had managed it.
Lin Jing’s background was now clear, but who exactly was Lin Wu? From the Gu family’s reaction, they ought not to know that she existed.
Over the years, he had traveled far and wide with his grandfather and father and had met no small number of women. Some were learned in the classics, some possessed remarkable skills, and some, like his maternal aunt, devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the family business.
Yet among them all, none had acted quite like Lin Wu.
She was discreet and cautious in everything she did, yet behind that composure lay a courage bordering on madness. After stirring up stormy waves all on her own, she behaved as though nothing had happened, leaving others unable to fathom her.
The campfire burned brighter and brighter. In the leaping flames, he seemed to glimpse that steadfast, tranquil face.
Forget it. Matters of this sort were not decisions an ordinary person could make, let alone put into action. And anyone capable of going this far could hardly be ordinary.
Besides, many people had once received favors from the Eastern Palace, and more than one or two families had ties to the Gu family. His own Shen family was among them.
He did not possess Lin Wu’s abilities. All he could do was rely on his relatively substantial family fortune to perform a few small favors within his power.
Shen Qi added, “They aren’t rough country folk like us. Every one of them can read and write. They should be able to support themselves by copying books for a bookshop.”
Shen Guanting shook his head. “This isn’t an exile where they’re being left entirely alone. The county office will come to inspect them several times each month, and they aren’t allowed to leave this bamboo shelter. If the people above see that they’re living too comfortably, an order could arrive the very next day, sending them into exile again on some pretext—or even throwing them into prison.”
Shen Quan spoke in a low voice. “When we went over just now, Madam Yang of the Chen family was coughing terribly. I’m afraid she can’t be allowed to delay treatment. Madam Liang of the Gu family and that young lad still haven’t broken their fevers either.”
Shen Guanting pondered for a moment, then rose to his feet. His tall shadow stretched long in the firelight. “Shen Quan, go to the county office first thing tomorrow morning and speak with the registrar. Settle the matter of the workshop. Then have several workers bring some of the stock from the warehouse, along with the raw cotton we’ve collected over the past two days, directly here. Once the goods have been unloaded, find those who can read and keep accounts to inventory them. Keep the wages low. Just say that the workshop has only recently opened and has limited funds.”
If the wages were set too high, they might attract managers and shopkeepers from the city to apply. After all, the Weaving Cloud Trading House carried a certain reputation. If there were respectable people with clean backgrounds available, yet he deliberately hired exiles instead, it would only draw attention.
He then turned to Shen Qi. “Once the workers have been recruited, make sure the provisions, medicine, and other necessities are properly arranged. Since the workshop is only just being established, add some everyday items as well—stoves, tables and chairs, bedding, and the like. Choose inexpensive, plain ones. If they’re in urgent need of anything, put it on the account for now and deduct the cost from their wages later.”
“Yes,” the two men answered in unison.
Shen Guanting looked toward the bamboo shelter. The campfire there had long since gone out. A faint glow from a torch seeped through the cracks in the dilapidated shelter, nearly swallowed by the mountain forest’s night. All was silent.
He withdrew his gaze and said to Shen Quan, “Prepare the horses.”
“Yes,” Shen Quan replied.
Shen Qi, who had been grumbling earlier about why their young master was not returning to the warehouse, now looked worried. “Young Master is traveling again tonight? Why not leave tomorrow morning?”
They were unfamiliar with this area. The mountain forests were dangerous at night, and there might be trouble.
“There’s a batch of rare spices in Lijiazhai, deep in the mountains south of Nanya. We’re supposed to negotiate tomorrow. It’s more convenient to set out from the warehouse,” Shen Quan explained.
Their journey had not been solely for the sake of the Gu and Chen families. The Weaving Cloud Trading House had business of its own to attend to.
“That’s true. The miasma is heavy in the deep mountains, and there are plenty of snakes and insects. Be careful,” Shen Qi could only remind him.
“With the powders carefully prepared by Physician Shen, there’s no need to worry.” Shen Guanting’s tone was relaxed. He swung himself onto his horse. “Let’s go.”
Beneath the night sky, two fine horses sped along the forest path. Moonlight and the night wind seemed to chase after Shen Guanting, whipping his robes around him.
Meanwhile, far away in Huzhou, Lin Wu was also busy with her little livelihood beneath the lamplight.
Under the dim yellow glow of the oil lamp, she lowered her head and carefully tied cords around leaf-vein bookmarks. Since she would be returning to the academy tomorrow to make pastries and would not need to set up a stall at the morning market, she could afford to sleep a little earlier these nights.
That did not mean she was actually going to bed early, of course. Each of the bookmarks in front of her could sell for fifty copper coins. Money from students had always been relatively easy to earn, throughout history.
Just thinking about those fifty coins filled her with energy. Fifty coins were equivalent to ten pieces of jade cake. The leaf pieces could be made simply by gathering fallen leaves for free, the peach gum was inexpensive, and she twisted the cords herself. Apart from the time and effort involved, the cost was minimal. But for the poor, time was precisely the one thing that cost the least.
Nearby, Lin Jing sat on a chair, intently holding a small wooden stamp and pressing a leaf pattern onto paper bags.
The leaf shape carved into the stamp was simple enough that the carpenter had finished it casually. Ever since bringing it home, Lin Jing had treasured it dearly. Afraid of wasting ink, he had spent a long while practicing with water on the table first. Now, as he stamped the paper bags, every little leaf landed exactly in the center without the slightest deviation. He had a deft hand perfectly suited to assembly-line work.
“A Wu,” he asked after stamping the last one and stacking the paper bags neatly, “are we going to the academy to sell the bookmarks tomorrow?”
Lin Wu continued tying the cords without looking up. “I’m afraid not. If we tried to sell things at the academy, the headmaster and instructors would probably throw us out on the spot.”
Lin Jing pouted. “Those teachers are really awful. I met one by the pavilion today, and he even said selling cakes was no good.”
Though he had yet to officially enroll, Lin Jing had already experienced the conflict between students and teachers.
The moment Lin Wu heard this, she guessed that the little rascal had probably been trying to hawk his bag of mung bean and taro cakes around the academy, only to be caught by a teacher.
Still, she simply followed his line of thought. “Exactly. Look at everything people eat and wear—isn’t it all bought? If nobody sold anything, we wouldn’t have anything tasty to eat or nice to wear. We’d have to go back to the way things were in the mountains and chew wild yams every day.”
She finished weaving a decorative knot and set it down before changing the subject. “But perhaps the teacher thought selling cakes at the academy was inappropriate. An academy is a place for studying. If everyone started selling cakes here, everything would become chaotic. So we should sell cakes at the morning market and study at the academy—not study at the morning market and sell cakes at the academy.”
“I know that, but I was giving them to the teacher today. I didn’t ask him for money, so it doesn’t count as selling!” he declared righteously.
Lin Wu couldn’t help laughing. “Our A Jing is certainly generous. But if you gave him cakes, why did he still say selling cakes was no good?”
This time, she was genuinely curious. It was quite a feat for little Lin Jing, who had yet to officially enter the academy, to receive a teacher’s critique on his very first visit.
Lin Jing scratched his little head, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Because I told him that we sell cakes at the morning market, and that if he wanted to eat more, he could come to the morning market and buy some from us.”
Lin Wu was rendered speechless with laughter.
Lin Jing hurriedly added, “But I won the argument! I said I didn’t think there was anything wrong with selling cakes. After that, the teacher didn’t say anything else.”
Well, well. Young Master Lin Jing had not only been reprimanded but had also argued with his teacher—and won. What an impressive achievement.
“Then does that mean teachers aren’t necessarily right about everything?” Lin Jing asked.
Lin Wu stopped what she was doing and looked at him before nodding. “That’s right. No one knows everything, and teachers are no exception. For example, a teacher may know how to teach people to read, but he may not know how to make or sell cakes. You’ve been selling cakes for several days now. When it comes to selling cakes, you might know more than the teacher does. That’s why you were able to win the argument.”
The little cake-selling expert immediately puffed out his chest proudly.
The next day, they brought another basketful of bookmarks with them. Tigerhead had already accepted the orders, after all. They couldn’t simply fail to deliver.
There were quite a few cakes to make, but the academy kitchen had large stoves, wide pots, and spacious steamers. Eighty cakes fit into two steaming baskets, so the head cook and the kitchen women lent a hand. It did not take much effort.
The day before, Tigerhead had even made a special trip to the kitchen to pass on the news. Quite a few of his classmates had liked the cakes after tasting them. They had assumed that the head cook’s skills had suddenly improved, and were now looking forward to the academy’s meals in the future.
“I made sure to explain everything to them,” Tigerhead said, patting his chest. “I told them the cakes are sold at the morning market, right beside the flower stall. Five copper coins for one, nine copper coins for two.”
He had even described the stall’s exact location and the price of the cakes. Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought the business belonged to him. He was putting a great deal of effort into promoting it.
By midmorning, all the cakes had been steamed and cut. The kitchen women carried them out one by one.
Although Lin Wu was still in the kitchen, she could faintly hear the noisy voices outside. The lecture gathering had probably begun.
It was still early. After cleaning the stove and counters, Lin Wu pushed open the door and walked out.
That morning, Lin Jing and Tigerhead had arranged to meet at the pavilion beside the kitchen and complete the handover once the cakes were ready.
Lin Wu turned her head and saw that the two little boys had indeed met up. They were sitting on a stone bench with their heads pressed together, whispering about something.
Tigerhead was turning an oil-paper bag over and over in his hands, clearly enamored with it. “They look much more refined in these bags. Should I buy another bookmark?”
As he spoke, his hand was already reaching for the little purse at his waist.
Lin Jing shook his head. “No. We have to sell them to other people first.”
“All right… But we need to give these bookmarks a good name. Without a name, we won’t be able to sell them for a good price.”
Lin Jing looked utterly baffled. “Do bookmarks need names? They’re just bookmarks.”
Tigerhead stood up, clasping one hand behind his back while gesturing in the air with the other. He looked remarkably like a teacher giving a lecture.
“You don’t understand! All writing implements and scholarly articles need an elegant name before people will consider them valuable. Take brushes, for example. A chicken-feather brush costs three copper coins, and a goat-hair brush costs five. Neither has a name of its own. But a Zhuge brush can sell for ten strings of cash! Paper is the same. Ordinary paper is cheap, but a single sheet of Chengxintang paper costs a hundred copper coins!”
He nodded slowly and delivered his conclusion. “Expensive things all have names. So our bookmarks absolutely cannot be called mere bookmarks.”
Lin Jing listened as though he understood, though he had no idea what was special about the names Zhuge brush and Chengxintang paper. Still, he felt that “ten strings of cash” and “a hundred copper coins” sounded far more pleasing than “three copper coins” and “five copper coins.”
As long as it could be sold for a high price, Tigerhead’s reasoning made perfect sense.
“Then what should we call them to make them expensive?” he asked.
Only then did Tigerhead sit down again. He picked up a bookmark and carefully examined it in his palm. “How about the Moon Palace Laureate Bookmark?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means passing the imperial examination and becoming a jinshi! Every scholar dreams of becoming a jinshi.”
Lin Jing tilted his little head. “But you don’t want to take the exams, and neither do I. Your big brother doesn’t want to either. If someone doesn’t want to become a jinshi, would they stop buying our bookmarks?”
Tigerhead scratched his head. “You have a point.”
The two boys stared at the bookmark, troubled.
Listening nearby, Lin Wu found the whole exchange amusing. These two children had thought things through quite carefully. They even understood the importance of branding.
She offered, “Since choosing a name based on its meaning might limit the people who want to buy it, why not name it after the bookmark’s appearance?”
Lin Jing looked down at the neat little leaf stamped on the oil-paper bag. “Little Leaf Bookmark?”
Tigerhead immediately shook his head. “That doesn’t sound expensive enough! It sounds like something you picked up by the roadside. Look at it—it’s translucent and gleaming, like carved jade or amber. How precious it looks!”
“Jade Bookmark? Amber Bookmark?” Lin Jing tried the names out, feeling that they did sound rather unusual.
“Too obvious,” Tigerhead said, still dissatisfied. “We need to make it mysterious! It should sound profound, as though it contains great learning, but when you listen carefully, you still don’t quite understand it. Just like when a teacher gives a lecture—every character is one I recognize, but once they’re put together, I have no idea what they mean. Still, it sounds impressive!”
Lin Wu was amused by his explanation. “Then how about taking one character from each and calling it the Jade-Ambers Bookmark?”
“Jade-Ambers…” Tigerhead repeated it, nodding vigorously. “That’s good! It sounds refined, but also a little confusing!”
Lin Jing followed along. “Jade-Ambers Bookmark!”
“‘The jade spirit opens in the eastern sky, while Chang’e comes chasing the shadows.’ Like the sudden appearance of the eastern moon, its radiance just beginning to bloom, illuminating the pages of a book. That is indeed a rather clever and elegant name for a bookmark.”
A voice came from nearby.
The three of them looked up.
Lin Wu looked at the unfamiliar visitor, a refined, gentle-looking elder in a cyan scholar robe, and had no idea who he was.
It was quite clear, though, that she was the only one in the room who did not recognize him.
"Master."
"Master Jianshan!"
Lin Jing and Tigerhead shot to their feet at the same time, only to blurt out different forms of address. The two children stared at each other in confusion.
"Ah, so that's Master Jianshan," Lin Jing quickly caught on from Tigerhead's words and muttered under his breath.
Tigerhead blinked. "Jing di, you know Master Jianshan?"
Lin Jing stroked his chin and thought about it very seriously. Did that count as knowing someone? Before Tigerhead said the name out loud, he had not even known what the elder was called. But now he not only knew his name, he had spoken to the man, and shared a pastry with him... Well, if you know someone's name and have talked to them, that must count as knowing them, right?
While Lin Jing was lowering his head to mull this over, Lin Wu figured out who the man was from the boys' exchange, and stepped forward to greet him with a proper curtsey. "Greetings, Master Jianshan."
Yun Jianshan nodded to return her courtesy, his gaze falling first on the glossy, translucent bookmark on the table, then on the plainly dressed young woman before him. No doubt, this must be the parent of that sharp little child, and the person Xu Yansong had mentioned, who made incredibly delicious emerald pastries.
"I happened to overhear the few of you discussing just now. The name Yupo is most excellent," Yun Jianshan said in a slow, unhurried tone. "The character 'yu' not only refers to the jade-like texture of this item, but also evokes its warm, clean glow, embodying the virtue of a gentleman. And 'Yupo' is an ancient poetic name for the bright moon, carrying the implication of clear moonlight spilling over pages of books. Put together, the two characters make a name that is elegant and free of vulgarity, brimming with poetic depth. It has none of the tacky craftsmens' flair of the marketplace, nor any forced, far-fetched associations. For such a small bookmark to balance its physical form, material quality, and literary sentiment shows wonderful, thoughtful creativity."
This young woman, even in her simple, unadorned clothes, had such a bright, elegant mind to come up with such a fitting name. It spoke volumes of her cultivation, no wonder she had raised such a bright, sensible child.
Lin Wu felt a twinge of guilt listening to his elaborate explanation. She had just casually put the characters for "yu" (jade) and "po" (amber) together earlier, just because it sounded nice. She had never thought of anything about "Yupo" as the moon, or moonlight pouring over books at all.
This situation was exactly what Tigerhead had said a moment ago: if you made something sound mysterious and highbrow, the more subtle and profound it seemed, the more easily others would read all sorts of deep meanings into it on their own.
Lin Jing and Tigerhead, standing off to the side, were listening with half-baffled expressions, but knowing they were being praised for their bookmark, they unconsciously puffed out their small chests.
Tigerhead, especially, was all eagerness. He picked up one bookmark and held it out to Yun Jianshan. "Sir, look! This is the Yupo bookmark we made!"
Yun Jianshan took it, examined it carefully for a moment, and said, "It lives fully up to its name. The patterns are clear and translucent, glowing with the luster of amber, truly holding the luminous, crystal-clear glow of the moon. This leaf inlaid here is a cassia leaf... As the line of poetry goes, 'The cassia seeds fall from the moon, their heavenly fragrance drifts beyond the clouds.' The moon palace has a cassia tree, and plucking a cassia branch is the classic symbol of passing the imperial examinations with top honors. The form, the material, the name, and the implied meaning all link together perfectly, seamless and natural. Splendid, truly splendid."
Lin Wu could not help but marvel inwardly. Starting from the raw material of the cassia leaf, moving to the jade-like texture, then to the auspicious meaning of plucking the cassia branch, and finally circling right back to the allusion of "Yupo"—even though she had originally named it something closer to "Yupo" (jade amber). With Yun Jianshan's interpretation, the whole thing fit together perfectly, forming a complete, logical system. No wonder he was a renowned scholar. The skill to spin elegant, cultured interpretations and make a perfectly coherent case out of nothing was truly impressive!
Tigerhead nodded his head back and forth, echoing in wonder, "Splendid, splendid!"
Then he leaned over to whisper in Lin Jing's ear, "Jing di, did you hear that? Our bookmarks deserve to be priced high! Later we can tell all our classmates at the academy that Master Jianshan himself praised these bookmarks, and even gave them their name. Master has written so many books, his learning is the best of the best. If he says they are good, they must be good, right?"
But Lin Jing shook his head. "But my mom is the one who came up with the name."
"You just don't get it," Tigerhead waved his hand dismissively. "It's like a painting—if a famous master adds a single line of praise to it, everyone will think the painting is even better, and its value will shoot right up! We aren't lying at all. Master really did praise them, and explained all that wonderful meaning too."
Yun Jianshan, who had overheard the two little ones whispering to each other with such serious expressions, felt equal parts amused and exasperated. "Shen Linzhou, I am still standing right in front of you. How dare you openly scheme to use my reputation to add glory to your little business? This knack for applying what you learn is exactly like your older brother's, completely self-taught."
Tigerhead, having his full name called out by Master Jianshan, shrank his neck a little. Even when his older brother was not here, Master Jianshan still had to scold him for something. Tigerhead was getting dragged into trouble all because of his brother!
"We just want the bookmarks to sell better," Lin Jing stepped forward a tiny step, recalling the logic Tigerhead had laid out earlier. "Look, the Zhuge brush is named after a famous person too, that's just how doing business works. We make bookmarks because we want to earn lots of money to buy rice and flour, buy cloth to make new clothes. And soon I'm going to start studying at the academy, the tuition costs a whole lot of copper coins.
As he spoke, he held out his small palms. "I really want to study hard, but studying costs money. Without money, you can't go to school. We're just trying to earn the money for tuition, it's the only way we can do it."
Tigerhead nodded so hard his whole head bobbed. "Right right right! We're only doing business so we can afford to go to school!"
"You two are quite skilled at sophistry," Yun Jianshan finally laughed out loud in amused resignation, then looked down at Lin Jing. "You are so young, and yet you already understand how hard your family works, and plan ahead for your own future. That is truly rare."
Lin Wu, who had been listening from the side, could not help a bitter smile. Now she finally understood. That gentleman Lin Jing had argued with last night about whether selling pastries was a proper thing to do, that must have been none other than this Master Jianshan right here. Her little boy had set the bar for his debates incredibly high, right from the start.
Yun Jianshan's tone softened a great deal. "You just said your family does not have extra money at the moment to pay for you to enter the academy, is that correct?"
Lin Jing nodded his little head honestly. "Yes! That's why we make pastries and bookmarks, to sell and earn money. You can't tell us we're wrong to think this way. You never had to worry about paying for tuition, so you don't have to think of ways like we do!"
