Elio’s Notes: The title comes from Li Yu’s Die Lian Hua: “One tender heart, ten thousand tangled thoughts; nowhere in the human world to set them down.” The line captures emotion so abundant that it can find no resting place.
Her red skirts swayed gracefully. She was still the same Hongxiu whose every glance seemed alive with feeling.
With a lovely smile, she stepped down from the carriage. Looking up, she saw Liuzhu waiting at the entrance to the Duke of Anding’s Residence. “Miss Hongxiu, welcome. The Duke of Anding and Madam are already waiting in the banquet hall.”
“I have kept the Duke of Anding and Madam waiting.”
“This way, please.”
She looked exactly as she always did, with no trace of anything unusual. She had deliberately changed into newly made red dancing robes, their long gauze sleeves trailing over the bluestone pavement in gathered folds like clusters of brocade. Light moved through her phoenix eyes, making her especially captivating. Such an extraordinary beauty. No wonder even the Crown Prince had been thoroughly enchanted by her. Piaopeng stood beneath the corridor chatting with several servants. Glancing over from a distance, he could not help thinking the sight exceedingly lovely.
“Didn’t I hear that Miss Hongxiu has recently become His Highness the Crown Prince’s favorite? If the Crown Prince eventually ascends the throne, she is bound to become an imperial consort. That truly would be a phoenix flying onto a high branch.”
“Exactly. Wasn’t she only some girl that a troupe from the singing house happened to find in Green Willow Lane? What sort of place is that? The lowest sort of people live there.”
“Goodness, doesn’t everyone avoid that alley once night falls? There are always some lowborn troublemakers coming out of there…” Gossiping about other people was the finest cure for boredom, and the young servants and maids were growing increasingly enthusiastic.
Piaopeng watched as the performers from Pear Fragrance Courtyard were summoned to the banquet hall, each prettily dressed. A stable boy nearby was delighted by the sight and kept craning his neck to stare. After a while he nudged Piaopeng’s arm. “Say, if our master were to gain this realm, wouldn’t all the girls from Pear Fragrance Courtyard enter the palace too? Then they would count as…”
Piaopeng hurriedly covered his mouth. “You absolutely cannot spout nonsense like that! If the Duke of Anding hears you, you can forget about continuing to work in this residence!”
The man was not frightened in the least. “What are you panicking for? We are only talking privately. This has not been gossip for merely a day or two. Everyone in the streets is saying it. Look at how things stand. The people to the north keep raising objections, and it does not look as though they favor His Highness the Crown Prince either. His Majesty’s plans concerning succession were shelved not long ago, and right now he favors our master most of all. Why would it be impossible?”
“I told you to stop!” As one of Li Congjia’s close attendants, Piaopeng naturally understood the danger in such talk. He hurriedly pushed the other man aside. “Go look after your horses and carriages. Stop gossiping here. Our master is kindhearted, so all of you have become increasingly presumptuous.”
Having gotten no amusement from him, the others dispersed.
Once Piaopeng saw that no one remained around him, he too went to wait near the banquet hall for orders.
No one noticed the man in coarse brown clothes standing at the far end of the corridor leading toward the side courtyard, sword-like brows drawn and his entire bearing thick with menace.
Hongxiu and her party entered the hall.
At last she saw that Tianshui-blue figure again. Silently she sighed. No matter when she saw him, he was always like this, forever untouched by wind or cloud, a faint smile upon his face. Even if Heaven and earth overturned, he could still drink his tea without revealing the slightest disturbance. When would she ever see him truly shaken?
Perhaps she would never have that chance again.
Hongxiu steadied herself and bowed properly. Because Ehuang had always particularly admired her singing and dancing, she did not put on airs. Instead, she went over, took Hongxiu’s hand, and happily began discussing the music for the day.
Li Congjia sat quietly to one side, smiling as he watched them. The entire residence rang with music and celebration. Pipes and songs, wind and moonlight, fragrant grass everywhere. Softly reciting, lotus steps swayed, flowers were plucked, wine was raised with laughter.
What beautiful fireworks of mortal life they should have been.
The two women talked together happily, yet each carried an untangled knot within her heart.
Everyone else knew only that Madam had been trapped in a nightmare yesterday, then had drunk the physician’s medicine, slept, and forgotten everything. Hongxiu, meanwhile, concealed an entire body full of secrets.
Both of them were here because of one man.
Both loved seeing him smile like the spring wind, a flower held lightly in his hand.
A faint stabbing sensation came from Hongxiu’s arm. It was not yet dangerous, but her heart still jolted. “Hongxiu?” Ehuang looked at her with concern. “It is nothing.” Hongxiu turned toward Li Congjia. “Duke of Anding, His Highness the Crown Prince asked me to bring you this year’s specially reserved fine Qinghuan from Shengding House. It differs from the usual vintage, so His Grace asked that you taste it.”
Li Congjia rose with easy composure. “Please convey my thanks to my elder brother, the Crown Prince.” The elegant movement stirred waves of red-sandalwood fragrance, which quickly dispersed through the room.
Again. Every movement he made could stir joy and sorrow inside Hongxiu. She hated herself for it. Had she not already seen the misery of the human world while living in Green Willow Lane? Now that she had gained some wealth and comfort, why had she become even less capable of resisting such a small temptation?
What was it that kept her thinking of him, remembering him, unable even for an instant to forget that red-sandalwood soul? The question itself seemed ridiculous. If she could explain it, she would never have come to this point.
It was all fate playing with people. Nothing more than the accidents of life.
Several performers stepped forward and took the newly written score. Soon the qin and se sounded together in harmony. Were it not for the red luan’s tongue to serve as your cord, how could they be strung together three by three? Red silk whirled in a seductive dance. A slender waist moved to the music of longing, and one backward glance from narrow phoenix eyes seemed enough to banish sorrow. Why would the world need fine wine to intoxicate anyone?
Elio’s Notes: The unusual “red luan’s tongue” line is a quotation associated with Yuan poet Yang Weizhen’s Song of the Red Clappers. It is later than the Five Dynasties setting, so here it functions as the novel’s literary narration rather than period-authentic speech.
Such a gentle land of brocade and beauty, deep affection joining the hands of kindred spirits.
Ehuang watched with open admiration, yet unconsciously glanced toward Li Congjia beside her. He sat loosely robed, holding a plain white fan threaded with gold. Even the pendant hanging from it was worth a thousand taels of gold, yet none of it could overshadow the brilliance of the jade-like man himself.
He had once written, “In courteous greeting, the moon rests in the hand; set it moving, and the bosom fills with wind.” He loved such games and pleasures of the mortal world, but never surrendered himself completely to them. He merely watched, appreciated, cherished. He was not something to be buried alongside these pleasures when they died. No one could declare that he would become anyone’s one and only beneath Heaven. And yet Li Congjia had once always believed that Li Hongji would regard him that way.
Elio’s Notes: “The moon rests in the hand; set it moving, and the bosom fills with wind” comes from Li Yu’s own Ode to the Fan. The “moon” is the round fan held in the hand.
The one who lived drunk and died dreaming had never been Li Congjia. It was always those around him.
Ehuang, Hongxiu, even Li Hongji and Zhao Kuangyin. Every one of them had had their souls stolen. It was never Li Congjia’s intention. He was always faint and distant as faraway mountains. But a painting was never composed of mountains and rivers alone.
Who else would there be?
The same question sounded inside both women’s hearts.
Red sunlight gleamed upon pale water; yellow blossoms reflected white snow. Plum branches were broken to await the beloved, together welcoming the spring moon.
Fragrance rose from the steps and entered the embrace; flowers in the courtyard dazzled the eyes. With spring longing gathered so deeply, once feeling came, there could be no restraint.
The music must not cease; a broken string should be restrung. Together play the Air of Twin Longing, together perform the Tune of One Heart.
Elio’s Notes: These three stanzas come from the Southern Dynasties Songs of the Four Seasons at Midnight, traditionally transmitted among the spring songs attributed to Wang Jinzhu. Their imagery centers on awaiting a beloved, irresistible spring longing, and two hearts joined through music.
Together perform the Tune of One Heart. If only they could truly perform the Tune of One Heart together. What more did a woman seek in this life? To gain that alone might already be called happiness. But what of herself? Hongxiu could dance through all the splendor of the world, yet she still could not see past the still waters hidden behind that double-pupiled eye.
People had always praised her beauty, even when she still lived in Green Willow Lane. But after meeting him, she realized that even she was less worthy of Li Hongji’s remembrance than the splendor of one of Li Congjia’s wrists.
Not everyone could become a legend in song. Even now, while she herself stood inside one, surrounded by strings and pipes, colored gauze shifting before her eyes and the whole room submerged in a drunken dream,
none of it compared to him.
Nothing beneath Heaven compared to him.
Who else in this world could wear Tianshui Blue dyed from night rain? Who else could intoxicate the realm with one lift of a wrist? Who else possessed talent enough to topple a kingdom? Who else could make every movement a startling vision of beauty?
No wonder Li Hongji wanted to kill him. Li Congjia’s existence would always remain a thorn lodged in his heart. It neither hurt nor itched, yet it could never be removed. From time to time it appeared merely to remind him: as long as Li Congjia remained, he would never find release.
At the head of the room, Li Congjia quietly murmured along with the melody. His voice gradually softened. Looking toward the flower-lined corridor outside the door, he was thinking of someone.
Sitting beside Ehuang, he was thinking of someone else.
“Congjia? Should we have that wine stored away first, or bring it over so you can drink it shortly?”
He looked at her. “Have them bring it here.”
A small flask was carried over first. Li Congjia watched as the white-jade wine bottle was set beside him. “You were unwell yesterday. The physician said you cannot drink for the next few days.” Ehuang sighed. “At times like these, you become remarkably obedient to the physician.”
Li Congjia smiled. “Naturally, something this fine should be kept entirely for myself.”
Ehuang happened to have a preserved plum in her mouth. Hearing that, she nearly spat it at him. Remembering that others were present, she merely shot him a look and restrained herself, still faintly embarrassed. Liuzhu beside them hardly dared look directly at the couple.
The fragrance of wine was enticing. Suddenly, Li Congjia seemed to remember something. He summoned a servant and whispered a few words. “What is it?” Ehuang looked over. Li Congjia merely waved a hand. “I will be back shortly. Wait a moment.”
He gave the performers below a polite nod before leaving.
What did he intend to do?
Li Congjia ordered someone to bring out the Mountains-and-Rivers Brocade. Piaopeng did not understand, but could only obey and help him change. Radiance seemed to fill the room. The Mountains-and-Rivers Brocade was unparalleled beneath Heaven. An ordinary person could never support its nobility and exquisite elegance; placing it upon them would only waste a treasure. But when the Duke of Anding wore it, Piaopeng had to admit that the only possible conclusion was that the Mountains-and-Rivers Brocade truly suited the Duke of Anding.
He truly was not… an ordinary man.
When Li Congjia returned, everyone in the room held their breath, uncertain how to react. He merely smiled. “Continue.” Ehuang was visibly startled. “Congjia…”
“It is nothing. Continue. I was happy today, so I thought I would take it out.” He spoke lightly. One sweep of his sleeve, and even mountains and rivers seemed to lose their color. Everything became merely a backdrop beneath the brilliance of the jade-like man.
Hongxiu only had to lift her head to feel as though she were witnessing the splendor of the world at its end. Ten thousand li of mountains and rivers emerged faintly across pale blue-green brocade. In all the vast Southern Tang, after every turn and detour, there truly seemed to be no second person besides Li Congjia capable of wearing it.
The Mountains-and-Rivers Brocade. Hongxiu sighed inwardly. He should have been born into a flourishing age, yet he lived inside a world already beginning to sway. If he were truly forced to face these mountains and rivers, what would that look like? How could anyone place him beside smoke and flames of war? Those sharp edges could only pass straight through him. He was not someone capable of bearing the words all living people beneath Heaven. There was only one Li Congjia in the world.
And he wanted only to ride the wind away.
The performers from Pear Fragrance Courtyard had never seen such a sight in their ordinary lives. For a moment they lost all composure and did not even know where to rest their eyes. They wanted to study him carefully, yet the difference in status frightened them. Their clever little hearts could not find their way through that color of mist and rain. Even the pale hands plucking the strings could no longer remain steady. With a stolen glance or two, they caught sight of that incomparable wrist.
He inspired infatuation in them, but also envy. Human beings naturally yearned toward everything beautiful. Yet beauty itself was only skin. These women were beauties in their own right and had fought for brief moments of glory because of it, but beyond that little remained to them. That was why people sighed over Li Congjia. Sometimes one could barely even see his features clearly. The red-sandalwood fragrance gathering around him made people forget too many things. Bearing was something refined through suffering; not everyone could claim to possess it.
The Mountains-and-Rivers Brocade was not something that could be worn on just any day. Nor was it something just any person’s heart could suppress.
He knew it. Hongxiu knew it too.
Incense was replenished several times.
No one knew how much time passed before figures suddenly began gathering beneath the corridor. Liuzhu came to report that Young Master Zhao from the side courtyard requested an audience. Li Congjia took a quiet sip of tea and looked toward Hongxiu, yet saw nothing unusual in her expression. A trace of admiration rose inside him. She truly was a woman accustomed to difficult situations, still able to remain perfectly calm.
Ehuang said nothing beside him. Seeing Li Congjia ask Liuzhu to inquire about Zhao’s purpose, she listened as he instructed that there were guests in the residence today and, unless the matter was important, Zhao should return.
The brown-clad figure appeared exceedingly anxious. He hurriedly sent Liuzhu back in once more to report that the matter was urgent.
Li Congjia looked at Ehuang. So many people were still waiting below. Ehuang showed no particular expression and only smiled. “If something has happened, go ahead. I can stay here with Hongxiu.”
Hongxiu also stood and motioned for the young maid who had accompanied her to bring over the flask of Qinghuan. “Duke of Anding, why not take this fine wine with you to entertain your friend? You can taste it together.”
A thread of final resolve rose in her phoenix eyes.
Li Congjia looked directly into her eyes, then suddenly smiled. “Miss Hongxiu is very thoughtful. I will thank my elder brother, the Crown Prince, on Young Master Zhao’s behalf.”
Above and below the hall, neither revealed anything, yet both had already made their decisions.
Those long fingernails passed through the wine, unnoticed.
“Ehuang.” Before leaving, Li Congjia turned and took both of her soft hands, no longer caring that others were watching. Ehuang looked at him with equal parts embarrassment and annoyance. “Do you still remember that score?”
Ehuang had not thought so far ahead. “Which one?”
“The Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Robe Dance.”
“Of course I remember. Why suddenly mention it?”
That double-pupiled eye remained unfathomably deep. “Nothing. If you truly obtain it one day, remember to recreate the splendor of High Tang.”
Ehuang knew something weighed upon his mind, yet could not understand the meaning behind these words. She could only nod. Seeing the group of young performers still waiting below, she withdrew her hands. “Go quickly. Everyone is waiting. Come back early. I asked Liuzhu to prepare your favorite lotus-tip rice cakes for lunch.”
His wife was still remembering the food he loved, noticing nothing.
And he tightened his grip upon her hand one final time. “All right.”
In the end, he still turned away.
The young maid behind him carried the flask of new wine. Hongxiu stared fixedly at that flask, her eyes following it and Li Congjia until both disappeared.
Her chest began to sting. She lifted a hand and struck it lightly twice as though merely sore. “Are you tired? Why not come over and listen to a qin song?” Ehuang pulled her over and had her sit beside her.
From far away, the peerless Mountains-and-Rivers Brocade could still be seen drifting into the distance.
Like a turning candle, like drifting tumbleweed, one dream returns. Seeking traces of the past, one grieves that the people are no longer the same. Heaven makes the wishes of body and heart run contrary.
The terraces where one waited for the moon now hold only passing water; flower-shaded towers lie beneath useless slanting sunlight. Climbing high, one does not begrudge having the robes soaked again.
Elio’s Notes: These lines come from Li Yu’s Huan Xi Sha. The lyric dwells on vanished people and places, drifting fate, and the cruelty of desire being forced against circumstance, making it especially pointed as Hongxiu watches Li Congjia leave.
Heaven makes the wishes of body and heart run contrary. Who made you be born into this chaotic age? Who made you insist upon remaining a fool who refuses to wake? There was nothing to be done. It had all become fate. Hongxiu clenched her hand so tightly that her inch-long fingernails cut directly into her flesh.
Only when it hurts can I remember that all of us are still here.
Everything will vanish. Other than the fragrance of red sandalwood, perhaps there will never again be any smoke or fire of mortal life for me to smell in this lifetime. So I ask only that you remain exactly as you have always been.
Hongxiu smiled faintly, almost with relief. No one noticed.
Li Congjia raised his wrist and brushed aside a hanging willow leaf. Zhao Kuangyin stood not far away. “What is it?”
“If the Duke of Anding has time, please come to the side courtyard for a moment.”
Li Congjia followed him. In the end, he still looked back once toward the banquet hall. Across the seats, the hook game and warm spring wine; divided into teams, riddles beneath red candlelight. Candlelight illuminated half the wall with golden kingfisher patterns, while musk fragrance drifted faintly through embroidered hibiscus. The thoughts of youth, affection deep and feeling intense. If he could begin again, he would still be grateful. He wished only that beneath those lamps and moonlight of that earlier day, they might once more hold hands beside embroidered hibiscus.
Elio’s Notes: This passage weaves together imagery from two of Li Shangyin’s Untitled poems. The first evokes an intimate banquet with warm wine, candlelight, and drinking games; the second evokes longing through candlelight, golden kingfisher embroidery, musk, and embroidered hibiscus. The novel blends the allusions into Li Congjia’s backward glance at the life he may be leaving.
Inside the side courtyard, a small flask of wine sat upon the table. Zhao Kuangyin picked it up and held it between his hands while looking at Li Congjia. Li Congjia instead asked, “Are you cold?”
Zhao Kuangyin did not answer.
And so both fell silent.
“Why are you wearing this robe again?” Zhao Kuangyin narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the Mountains-and-Rivers Brocade, his admiration growing. Even the patterns of the river water could be faintly distinguished, proof of the astonishing skill of its embroidery. Leaning closer, he breathed in. A faint fragrance seemed to rise as though washed by the waters of the Qinhuai River, yet even that could not dispel the enchantment of red sandalwood.
Li Congjia raised a brow. Brocade robes, pearl-like radiance setting off a youth of jade. For one moment his splendor was utterly unrestrained, and Zhao Kuangyin found himself wanting helplessly to draw him into his arms. Then he heard Li Congjia speak.
“Reluctant to part with it?”
“With what?”
Li Congjia smiled unmistakably. “Me.”
Zhao Kuangyin sucked in a breath. That was an open provocation. He seized the refined figure and pulled him back against the table. “I am reluctant to part with the wine. I heard it is worth its weight in gold.”
The person in his arms struggled uneasily. Zhao Kuangyin loosened his grip slightly, only to see Li Congjia carefully smooth his clothing back into place. Mountains and rivers spread across the brocade as that double-pupiled eye looked toward him. “What is gold worth? What you just wrinkled was the entire realm beneath Heaven.”
His stubbornness was this: even if he died, he would die in peerless splendor.
Perhaps some obstinacy had risen inside him as well. If you want me dead, then I will die wearing the Mountains-and-Rivers Brocade. You lost the guqin string from that year. Neither Flowing Wind nor Resounding Spring can ever return to what they were.
If Li Congjia were to leave this world, he too would become something remembered for a thousand years. Everyone should remember him. Everyone should grieve for what was lost. He would make them watch. The Mountains-and-Rivers Brocade suits me. I can wear it. I can contain it. You will never find another person.
Zhao Kuangyin leaned down over him.
“Then what if I were to take this entire realm beneath Heaven?”