Elio’s Notes: The title, 纵使君来岂堪折, is the final line of the Tang poem Reply to Han Hong (《答韩翃》), attributed to Lady Liu. The poem uses a willow as a metaphor for a woman worn down by years of separation: even if the beloved finally returns, the once-green branch may no longer bear being plucked.
Early that morning, the Prince of Wu entered the palace in answer to a summons. Music could still be heard faintly in the distance.
The lotus fragrance fades, the green leaves wither; the west wind raises sorrow among the green waves. Together with the passing season they grow haggard, unbearable to behold. From fine rain I wake, dreaming of the distant Ji frontier; through the little tower the jade sheng sounds until it turns cold. How many tears, how boundless the grief, as one leans against the railing.
Elio’s Notes: These lines are Li Jing’s Tanpo Huanxisha: The Lotus Fragrance Fades and the Green Leaves Wither (《摊破浣溪沙·菡萏香销翠叶残》). Li Jing was Li Congjia’s father, so the quotation belongs directly to the novel’s Southern Tang literary inheritance rather than being an outside anachronism.
Carved balustrades and jade steps, cold and deserted.
In the imperial palace at Jinling, rainwater from the previous day’s downpour still remained along the upturned eaves. A palace attendant led him toward Weiyang Hall. “His Majesty has been waiting for Your Highness for quite some time. He was already asking for you yesterday.”
Several court musicians happened to emerge from before the hall carrying their instruments, crimson dance robes paired with golden hairpins, each one exceptionally beautiful. They seemed to have just come from a banquet. Seeing someone escorting the Prince of Wu toward them, they all bowed.
Li Congjia merely smiled faintly and flicked his sleeve, signaling them to rise. The musicians hurriedly lowered their heads, though they could not resist stealing another glance or two. Even an apricot-yellow dragon-patterned robe could not conceal the pale, elegant outline beneath it. Several of the girls smiled to themselves. Who in Jinling had not heard of Li Chongguang’s astonishing brilliance and beauty?
Upon entering the hall, he found his father in dragon robes holding a cup of wine. The music and dancing had only just ended. The Emperor waved everyone away. Seeing Li Congjia bow, he was about to tell him to dispense with the formalities when a cough escaped him first.
“The heavy rain only ended yesterday, and the lingering wind is still cold. Father, please take care of your health.” Seeing that the Emperor’s complexion was poor, Li Congjia became concerned.
The Emperor laughed and set down his wine cup. “In the end, Congjia is still the one who understands filial duty. Everyone else only knows how to accompany Us with songs and dancing. The imperial physicians have come several times, but all they know how to do is change the elixirs again and again. Whenever the weather turns damp and rainy, We feel short of breath.”
Li Congjia sighed. “Father…” He still wished to persuade him. Ever since Elder Brother Hongji died, his father had seemed visibly weary. Perhaps grief had wounded him. The old chill accumulated within his body also flared from time to time.
But the Emperor would not let him continue. Instead, he pushed memorials from various regions across the table. Most urgent among them was the unresolved matter of salt transport. If the former territories north of the river were to resume trade with Jiangnan, someone would have to negotiate the specific arrangements with the northern court.
“Do you know why We have continued to leave the Crown Prince’s position vacant?”
Congjia nodded. He knew his father still could not bear it. “Because Father has been considering Congjia.”
“We know that position is dangerous. But only you can temporarily quiet the disputes.”
Li Congjia smiled bitterly, unable to say anything. Conflict arose from greed in the human heart. Wherever people existed, distinctions of rank inevitably followed. Whether high or low, people always desired things beyond their reach. He did not truly believe he could calm any dispute. He would simply become the next sacrifice.
“We appoint the Prince of Wu to take full charge of negotiations over salt transport between north and south. If you settle this matter successfully, your place in the Eastern Palace can then be made proper and legitimate.”
Li Congjia could only accept the decree.
With the imperial order issued, all that remained was for the northern court to send someone to negotiate as well. Afterward, he accompanied his father in reviewing several memorials. The northern army had swept forward all the way to Yingzhou, and matters appeared to be going smoothly.
Li Congjia involuntarily released a breath. These past days, he had deliberately ignored news from the north. He admitted that he had done so far too deliberately, which only made it seem more obvious that he was thinking about it.
He knew the smoke and fire of the battlefield only through military reports. Now, handling state affairs inside the palace, he held the memorial in his hands and suddenly felt as though it weighed a thousand jin.
Especially knowing that Zhao Kuangyin was involved, he found his mind even more distracted. Before he realized it, he was hoping Zhao Kuangyin would encounter no more obstacles along the way.
By the time he returned, evening was already approaching. There were many matters to handle, but fortunately, with the northern court occupied by war, it likely had no time to concern itself with the southern kingdom for now. They could still wait several days. Li Congjia had no other thoughts. His only concern was Ehuang’s illness. At a time like this, he ought to have remained at her side, yet the more necessary that became, the less able he seemed to do it.
After returning to the Eastern Palace, he called for Liuzhu as usual to bring him clothes to change into. Li Congjia disliked the brilliance of official robes. Normally, Liuzhu would have prepared his clothes before his return. But today, Piaopeng, who had accompanied him back, called several times without seeing the girl anywhere. With no other choice, he went himself to fetch the blue-green robes scented with red sandalwood.
“Where is Liuzhu?” Li Congjia asked curiously as he headed toward the rear sleeping chambers. Piaopeng looked around. “I haven’t seen her. I called for ages just now.”
Li Congjia found this strange. He had originally intended to go into the inner rooms to change, but when he reached the outer chamber, he remembered that Ehuang was still unwell and did not know whether her fever had subsided. Not wanting to disturb her, he simply had Piaopeng accompany him while he changed out of his official robes behind the large glazed screen in the outer room.
He deliberately lowered his voice and glanced inside. Light flickered in the inner chamber as evening darkened and candles were lit. Li Congjia’s footsteps were already naturally quiet, and now there was scarcely any sound at all. “Why is it so quiet? Liuzhu isn’t even attending her nearby.”
Piaopeng took the clothes he removed and listened toward the inner chamber. There was no sound of anyone speaking. “Your Highness, don’t be angry. Liuzhu would never be that careless. Perhaps she went to fetch the medicine?”
Li Congjia was just about to say that even if she left, she ought to remember to leave someone behind. Before the words came out, however, footsteps suddenly sounded from behind the screen. Piaopeng heard them clearly as well and immediately lowered his voice. “Liuzhu! Did you fall asleep or something? His Highness came back and called you several times…”
Had Liuzhu heard them, she certainly would have known they were changing clothes. Yet the footsteps continued directly toward them without any reply. Li Congjia wore only a plain white inner robe and was reaching for his Tianshui Blue outer robe.
Suddenly, a young woman emerged from the inner chamber.
With a clatter, Piaopeng dropped the jade pendant he had just removed from Li Congjia’s waist. Completely flustered, he could not decide whether he should bow first or pick it up.
Li Congjia had been turned sideways reaching for his robe. Seeing someone unexpectedly appear, he instinctively looked over and immediately froze as well.
The newcomer wore emerald-green clothes. Covering her mouth with a handkerchief, she smiled with exceptional playfulness. “Brother-in-law, why are you changing clothes so furtively? Wouldn’t it be better to go openly into the inner room?”
Nüying stood gracefully before them and did not even withdraw her gaze. Piaopeng panicked, stuffed the Tianshui Blue robe into Li Congjia’s hands, then hurried over and tugged at her sleeve to pull her away. “Second Young Lady, this is… cough…”
She was still only a girl in her teens. Piaopeng felt it would be inappropriate to speak too harshly. “You shouldn’t be looking.” After thinking this through several times, he finally managed the awkward sentence. Nüying, however, saw nothing improper at all. “Why are you so frightened? Is Brother-in-law a girl who cannot be looked at? Besides, I only came out because I heard voices. It isn’t as if he…” She had intended to say that he had not removed his inner robe, so what was there to fear? But halfway through, she remembered Li Congjia with his long hair loose, his headband undone, his expression momentarily startled. Someone normally so refined and elegant had unexpectedly shown such a tiny glimpse of ordinary human life. Sometimes her brother-in-law felt… Far too unreal.
Ever since childhood, the Li Congjia she had known always seemed separated from everyone by something invisible. In one instant, one could see him clearly, pale and quiet; in the next, he could become so translucent that he seemed ready to dissolve into the fragrance of red sandalwood. A moment ago, amid flickering light, she had accidentally walked in on him changing. Such an utterly ordinary domestic scene, when placed upon Li Congjia, somehow left Nüying unable to restrain herself. Biting her lower lip, she secretly raised her eyes toward the screen again.
After a long while,
Li Congjia emerged from behind it dressed once more in blue-green, smiling faintly, not showing the slightest trace of embarrassment. He opened his fan and brought a cool breeze, jade and gold seeming to form his very bones. Only his hair remained untied. Piaopeng suddenly remembered that the headband was still in his own hand and silently cursed himself for being useless. The Second Young Lady was still young. Why had he imagined so much and panicked this badly?
Li Congjia clearly noticed Piaopeng’s discomfort and found it even more amusing. He gave him a glance that said it did not matter. In his eyes, Nüying was still nothing more than a child. She lacked restraint, but there was no need to take it seriously.
Only after calming down did Piaopeng notice that the Princess Consort was not in the sleeping chambers at all. His surprise immediately deepened. Nüying went to one side, poured tea, and handed it to Li Congjia. “Brother-in-law, did you only just return after spending the entire day in the palace? Elder Sister felt much better this afternoon. She was happy when I came, so I accompanied her into the garden for a walk. Her mood improved, and she even ate a little more.”
Only then did Li Congjia remember that he himself had instructed Liuzhu the other day to invite Nüying to keep her sister company. Who could have known that yesterday, on Phoenix Terrace… something else would happen again. The past several days had been such a confusion that he had completely forgotten.
He sighed and took a sip of excellent Biluochun tea. “Where is your sister?”
“Liuzhu went with her to fetch her pipa.”
“With her health…” Naturally, he was worried that she would go out and catch another chill. Her fever had only just subsided. Li Congjia frowned deeply and wanted to say that Liuzhu could simply have fetched it herself. Nüying shook her head helplessly. “I tried to persuade her too, but everyone knows Elder Sister’s habit. She insists on personally taking out her pipa and personally putting it away.”
Li Congjia fell silent. That was certainly true. “So she left you here waiting?”
“Yes. I was sitting there trimming the candlewick with nothing to do when I suddenly heard someone come in, creeping around so quietly in the outer room. So…” Before she could finish, she abruptly laughed and looked directly at Li Congjia without any coyness. “Brother-in-law has such beautiful wrists. Why choose a wooden bracelet? It doesn’t suit you at all.”
Li Congjia did not know why everyone seemed to notice his wrist. Nüying was certainly not the first. He instinctively raised it to look. Her green sleeve moved as she reached toward him. Li Congjia abruptly stepped back. The young girl looked thoroughly puzzled and bent closer to examine his wrist. “What? Is it some treasure no one may touch? It’s only a sandalwood bracelet. Brother-in-law cherishes it so much. Did Elder Sister give it to you?”
“Nüying.” Li Congjia blurted her name, intending to make her stop asking. His tone came out heavier than expected and startled her. She quickly straightened, suddenly looking perfectly obedient. “Father said Brother-in-law will soon be Crown Prince, and Elder Sister’s status will change as well. He warned me long ago that I must no longer behave as freely around you as I did when we were younger. It seems Father was right after all…” The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she sounded.
That was not what Li Congjia meant. He had simply, almost instinctively, not wanted anyone to touch the bracelet. He too felt that he had been too harsh. His voice softened. “Nüying has grown up. You’ve even learned how to use words to pressure your brother-in-law.” He lowered his hand and set down the teacup. Only then did he realize that leaving his long hair loose was indeed improper. He gestured for Piaopeng to come tie the headband. Unexpectedly, Nüying reached it first. Taking the band, she approached Li Congjia. He looked at her in confusion. “Nüying, stop playing around. There’s nothing interesting about that.” It was merely decorated with a piece of white jade, nothing particularly rare. What did she want with it?
Nüying came straight over. She was a little brighter and more vivid than Ehuang, perhaps because of her youth, quick and charming. “Brother-in-law, may I tie it for you?”
At that, Li Congjia truly became helpless. He could only speak seriously. “Nüying, give it back to Piaopeng.”
“Why? Nüying knows how to do this too.” She answered just as seriously.
Li Congjia’s loose hair fell over his shoulders as he looked at her. The child’s eyes held unmistakable stubbornness, far more direct than her elder sister’s, still carrying a childlike conviction that the world should yield to her. The blue-green-clad man’s double pupils looked dark as ink, half his jade-like face made even more elegant by the faint candlelight.
She tried to find something in his eyes. It was completely futile.
Piaopeng hurried forward to intervene. “Second Young Lady, this absolutely will not do. Let Piaopeng handle it.”
She looked only at Li Congjia and refused to release the band. The blue headband edged in gold swayed back and forth beneath its white-jade ornament.
Li Congjia suddenly laughed, the curve of his mouth unmistakably elegant. “Let her.” He lifted a hand and swept his hair aside, releasing the lingering fragrance of red sandalwood.
Nüying’s hand trembled so badly that she almost did not dare touch his hair.
His smile deepened. A young girl’s thoughts. Once he understood them, he could tease her a little and teach her to behave. Li Congjia had understood the meaning in her eyes but had no intention of exposing it. Deliberately, he lifted his hair for her and watched as she became slightly embarrassed after all.
Nüying bit her lip. In the end, her fingertips still touched his hair. The soft sensation spreading beneath them was something she had anticipated for far too long, and for a moment she was unexpectedly moved. A man like him, someone she could simply reach out and touch… How many people beneath heaven could ever do the same?
She was still carefully tying up his hair when Liuzhu entered supporting Ehuang.
For a moment Nüying did not know whether to release her hands or continue. She could only look toward her sister. Li Congjia began regretting it immediately. Why did coincidences always occur like this? He had only intended to frighten the young girl a little and meant nothing by it, but naturally it was inconvenient for Ehuang to see such a scene.
Li Congjia abruptly stood. His hair fell loose around him once more, while the white-jade ornament struck the floor and shattered into two pieces. Ehuang held her pipa. Nothing unusual could be seen in her expression. “Congjia.” She smiled and walked over. Li Congjia reached for her hand.
She set the pipa aside and allowed him to take it. “What are you afraid of? My own younger sister came to bother you. If you didn’t know how to avoid her and instead indulged her bad manners, whose fault is that?” Her gaze flicked toward the broken jade on the floor. Piaopeng quickly stepped forward, gathered the pieces, and carried them away.
Li Congjia enclosed both of her hands in his, feeling for warmth. “At least the fever is finally gone.” Ehuang noticed Nüying watching nearby, her face already flushed red, and felt the situation improper. She withdrew her hands. “It’s over now.”
Li Congjia fell silent.
He knew what she meant.
Ehuang still leaned upon the couch, wanting to play some of the old melodies she and Nüying had performed back when they still lived at home. As the sisters began talking together, Li Congjia left first.
There was still wind in Jinling after the rain, carrying a coolness as it moved through flowers and willows. Li Congjia suddenly remembered that the window ought to be closed and turned back. He found Nüying in the corner tending the incense burner. Seeing his puzzled look, Ehuang explained, “Nüying isn’t accustomed to this sandalwood incense, so I told her to extinguish it for now. We can light it again tonight.”
Li Congjia acknowledged this. He still came over and carefully tucked the quilt around Ehuang before leaving again. After confirming that he truly had gone, Nüying suddenly began sighing. She no longer wanted to play the pipa either. Ehuang could only coax her, repeatedly asking who had upset her this time. Nüying’s eyes shifted. “Brother-in-law truly is devoted beyond measure. Elder Sister is very fortunate.”
Ehuang had heard those words far too many times. Everyone said the same thing. She suddenly smiled at herself. When something was repeated often enough, naturally one began to believe it. She had believed it too. She had always wanted to believe it. Even now, with things having wounded her this badly, as long as Li Congjia was still willing to smile faintly at her, Ehuang felt that she was still willing to believe him.
They truly were all mad.
“What is it?” Nüying caught the trace of bitterness in her expression and asked sharply. Ehuang shook her head and said it was nothing. She only remarked that recently she did not know why, but she kept thinking she could smell a strange fragrance. Nüying happily picked up the sachet she had embroidered, still tied at her sister’s waist, and held it near Ehuang’s nose. “This scent?” Ehuang nodded. “Where did you find such unusual incense? It smells almost like fragrance and yet not quite.”
Nüying leaned closer and smelled it herself. “How could it not be fragrant? I think the scent is distinctive. That’s why I wanted to give it to Elder Sister. You absolutely mustn’t casually reward it to someone else.”
Ehuang stroked her hair affectionately and agreed. Nüying truly had grown. The child who once sat properly practicing fingering techniques had now become a bright and beautiful young girl. A sudden emotion stirred within Ehuang. “Nüying, you’re nearly fourteen now. Do you still remember when you were little and always pestered Elder Sister to hear the pipa?”
“Of course I remember.” The hand Nüying had been using to touch the sachet suddenly stiffened. After a long moment she recovered, but hesitation had entered her expression. The sachet was embroidered with a peony, exquisitely made. Ehuang clearly treasured it and had kept it tied to herself all along.
Nüying’s fingers trembled faintly.
“Tell Elder Sister privately. Is there anyone who has managed to catch our Second Young Lady’s eye?” Ehuang thought Nüying was old enough to begin understanding propriety and worldly relationships. She could not remain carefree forever.
Nüying still tied the sachet securely for her. “Nüying does not possess Elder Sister’s beauty capable of toppling kingdoms. What is there to say about who catches whose eye?” The words sounded unexpectedly mature, and even Ehuang paused. “Father always says Nüying is cleverer than Elder Sister. Why is our clever little girl hanging her head today?”
Nüying thought for a moment, then turned to look at Ehuang. “Elder Sister, what did you feel the first time you saw Brother-in-law?”
Ehuang carefully searched her memories and lowered her head with a faint smile. For one instant, an indescribable expression crossed her face. Nüying’s own expression abruptly darkened. She looked toward the sachet and dug her fingernails fiercely into her own palm. After a long silence, she asked quietly, “Actually…”
“My feelings?” Ehuang could not suppress a laugh. “At the time, Elder Sister had only one thought. The first time I saw him, I simply thought his eyes weren’t as frightening as the rumors claimed.”
Nüying looked surprised. She had expected some infinitely romantic thought, yet her sister’s answer was so ordinary. From the day she was born, Nüying had always lived within Ehuang’s shadow. Father told her to imitate Elder Sister’s bearing, to imitate Elder Sister’s upbringing. Ehuang’s pipa playing was unrivaled beneath heaven. Nüying followed her example, yet no one had ever sincerely praised her for it. Who did not know that the Princess Consort of Wu from the Zhou household possessed beauty worthy of a kingdom? How many people would ever turn around and look at Nüying?
She had expected Elder Sister to describe some earth-shaking realization. She had imagined that a peony as proud and self-possessed as Ehuang must have formed some unusually tender, romantic thought the moment she first saw him. She had never imagined the answer would be nothing more than such an ordinary sentence.
That very ordinariness made Nüying even sadder. Because the first meeting had never belonged to her.
Ehuang continued idly plucking at the strings of her pipa before suddenly remembering something. “What were you going to say just now?”
Nüying shook her head.
Li Congjia. Far too many people wanted to describe that name as though his appearance alone made flowers bloom and heaven and earth lose their color. Perhaps only Ehuang, upon seeing him, could simply lower her veil and smile without lowering herself in the slightest. That was why Ehuang was the person who could stand beside him.
Li Congjia had no shortage of people looking up at him. What he sought was a quiet life beside someone who cherished him as an equal.
From the beginning, Nüying had looked upward at him. She did not understand that. And she refused to spare herself. Outside the window, several cold notes suddenly sounded from strings. After only a few scattered tones, they seemed to carry a whole city of drifting willow catkins with them. Ehuang listened in silence. Then she answered with the sound of her pipa.
Cloudlike hair disordered, evening makeup undone,
Brows drawn with sorrow like distant peaks gathered close.
One tender hand props a fragrant cheek, pale as a spring bamboo shoot,
For whom does she lean against the railing, weeping?
Elio’s Notes: These lines are Li Yu’s Dao Lian Zi: Cloudlike Hair Disordered (《捣练子·云鬓乱》). The novel places Li Congjia’s own future lyric into the scene as music and thought, turning the poem’s unnamed woman grieving at the railing into an echo of the women around him.
For whom does she lean alone against the railing and weep? Li Congjia’s finger lightly pressed the strings, silencing the sound. The pale blue-green figure slowly rose and looked toward the sky. “Is the Princess Consort’s medicine ready?”
Piaopeng answered, “I’ll go tell Liuzhu to bring it.”
Li Congjia looked at the new qin. No matter what, it would never understand his spirit as deeply as Resounding Spring had. He had always believed that such things possessed spirits of their own. For precisely that reason, he would never allow the heart of a qin to be defiled. He would rather destroy it.
For a time, everything around him fell silent. Almost absentmindedly, he plucked at the strings. Someone had once promised him that he would find the score of the Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Robe Dance.
The things Zhao Kuangyin said had always possessed a strange ability to make Li Congjia believe them.
For example, he believed Zhao Kuangyin was alive.
From the horizon came the tremendous thunder of horses’ hooves.
Yingzhou lay almost within reach. As an army of a hundred thousand marched north day and night, Zhao Kuangyin rode close behind and to the left of Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, Chai Rong.
Suddenly, the Emperor’s body swayed before him. He fell directly from his horse.
The great edifice collapsed.