Chapter 2 Spring Banquet: Rebirth

Chapter 2: Spring Banquet: Rebirth

A thick blanket of soft snow fell silently, the sky had been overcast for over two months with no sign of clearing.

In the distance, winter sunlight broke through the clouds, veiled by wisps of mist, as the west wind finally stopped picking up.

Early spring had arrived. Servants at the Xie estate swept away the spring snow, their brooms startling a few chirping gray sparrows pecking at the ground, kicking up a spray of sparkling silver snow.

Deep inside the simple, austere Xie Cottage, a bright, clean room was warmed by a cozy charcoal fire. Windows were open to the lightly snowing sky, letting out faint traces of a boudoir's fragrance.

Behind the blue silk curtains, Tian Qin slowly opened her eyes.

Her vision was blurry at first, then sharpened into focus. Her five senses slowly returned, pulling her out of some chaotic state and back to the mortal world.

It was so warm—almost hot.

In the three-plus years since she'd entered the Xie household as a concubine, she'd never felt such warmth.

She tried to sit up, but her body felt completely drained, and she lay helpless on the soft couch, silently gathering her strength.

She had died—died on a snowy day—yet now she saw the sun again. Could it be... she was reborn?

Her eyes wandered vacantly around the room. It was the Xie residence's living room, with a lacquered landscape screen—a screen so familiar it scared her. Once, at a banquet, he'd casually kicked open this very room and pressed her against the screen to kiss her.

Nightmares tore through her head. She groaned in pain, trying to push away the unbearable memories.

In early spring of the second year of the Yuanshi era, she and her sisters had first visited the Xie mansion for a family visit. After drinking a cup of wine, she was sent to her brother-in-law's bed that night—a memory she couldn't forget in either life.

A soft creak as the door opened, followed by a maidservant's light footsteps. "Has the young lady rested enough? The mistress is urging you to come out."

The maidservant took a dried garment from by the stove, dusted it off with practiced ease—it was Tian Qin's lotus-root-colored robe.

Tian Qin stared blankly, took a deep breath, and as if her soul had left her body, a single tear slid untouched from the corner of her eye.

"Zhao Lu..."

Zhao Lu had a faint smile. "Yes, I'm here."

She wrapped the lotus-root-colored robe around Tian Qin's shoulders. It was warm from drying, with a scent of sunshine. "The robe's dry. The feast isn't over yet, miss. You should dress warmly to guard against the spring chill."

Tian Qin stared silently at the barely-there wine stains on the garment, her mouth feeling hollow, a chill running down her spine.

This year's spring banquet was hosted by her legitimate older sister, who had married into the Xie Clan but stayed childless for years. The matriarch, He Shi, had brought her two concubine-born daughters, Tian Qin and Ku Ju, to the feast to pick one as a concubine.

The wine cup, handed to her with a smile by her elder sister, had been drugged. Either Ku Ju or she would drink it and walk down a path of no return.

Earlier, she'd accidentally knocked over her wine at the feast and come here to change. When she woke, she had memories from her past life.

Seeing Tian Qin so quiet, her expression dazed like she was in a dream, Zhao Lu asked worriedly, "Miss, what's wrong?"

Tian Qin looked at Zhao Lu. "I'm a bit dizzy."

Zhao Lu said there were fruits on the table to help sober up. "Miss has a low tolerance for alcohol. Have some to help. Wan Cui and Nanny Chen brought them over earlier. It wouldn't do to lose your composure at the Xie residence."

"Where are they?"

"Waiting outside, afraid to disturb your rest."

Tian Qin let out a heavy "mm," her beautiful, bright eyes hidden. Her people were all here. Good.

Just then, the Xie residence's steward, Li Fu, showed up.

He bent low and asked respectfully from outside the door, "Third Young Lady, the mistress noticed you've been gone a while changing clothes and asks what happened."

Zhao Lu exchanged a glance with Tian Qin. Neither liked this servant from the Xie household. Tian Qin, especially, remembered vividly the steward's ugly face from her past life—he had stolen her life-saving money, leading to her severe illness and miserable death.

Tian Qin gave a signal. Zhao Lu called out, "The young lady is drunk, her head aches a bit. She's sobering up."

A long "oh" came from outside the door. After lingering a moment, the footsteps gradually faded.

Soon, the legitimate elder sister arrived in person.

Today was an important banquet. Both Ku Ju and Tian Qin were key players; one missing wouldn't do.

"Tian'er, drunk?"

Xian Qiu, noble as the Xie Clan Matriarch, was forever elegant and dignified, virtuous and refined. Her warm, radiant presence carried a natural affability, lacking the stern discipline of a matriarch. If one let down their guard, the dark, damp hearts of concubine-born girls like Tian Qin could easily melt.

"Let me see what's wrong."

Tian Qin sat on the couch, reluctant to face her. "Second Sister, I'm fine."

Xian Qiu said gently, "I noticed you weren't eating much at the feast and spilled the wine I gave you. Still feeling shy? Don't worry. You and Ku Ju are both Yu sisters; there's no need to mind others' opinions."

Tian Qin frowned slightly. "It's Tian'er's misfortune not to enjoy fine wine and delicacies."

Her head still throbbed dizzily. She stood up, swaying, implying she couldn't return.

Xian Qiu's regret was plain. "Your brother-in-law brought many fresh treats from his fief—plum blossom pastries, five-spice cakes, emerald-thread cold noodles, crab roe pastries... delicious things and fun trinkets we never saw back in Dingtao. Ku Ju loved them. You should try them too. What a pity to miss out."

The person her sister described was her brother-in-law, the head of the Xie Clan, the most powerful minister in the court.

The Xie Clan, as the maternal family of the Grand Empress Dowager, was at its zenith. Xie family members vied in luxury, indulging in wine and women, with grand mansions and beautiful gardens, their residences even exceeding the emperor's regulations.

As the head of the Xie generation, he was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Xindu and held the title of Grand Marshal, nominally assisting the government but in reality ruling it.

While other Xie family members were arrogant and wasteful, he treated others warmly and cultivated himself strictly, embodying the Confucian ideal of personality.

Both inside and outside the court, he was praised as a man of pure nature, diligent and quiet—in other words, a moral model for all scholars under heaven, a true "good man."

In her past life, he always dressed in long, wide sleeves, with the cap of moral principles and the robe of human ethics, dressed as a Confucian scholar, embodying the sage's essence.

Tian Qin shook her head. The Shaoxing yellow wine she had just drunk still burned in her throat. "Second Sister, enjoy yourself. Don't mind me. I'll rest a while alone and be fine."

Once was a stranger, twice was familiar.

Xian Qiu's sharp eyes sensed something. Tian Qin's jade-like, slender wrist still wore a beautifully colored shrimp-whisker bangle, its pure white jade accentuating her delicate joints like congealed fat.

"Alright, I won't force you. I'll keep the good food for you. Rest well."

Xian Qiu gently lifted her wrist to examine it closely. "See how much your brother-in-law dotes on you? This shrimp-whisker bangle is a tribute item, top-notch. Only you have it—neither I nor Ku Ju do."

Tian Qin's right eyelid twitched uncontrollably. Yes, this was the only gift he had ever given her. She wore it even when serving him naked in bed, and once treasured it deeply.

Until her dying moment, when blood sprayed onto its delicate jade patterns, and her legitimate sister told her that he had never cared for her at all—that this precious bangle was just a random trinket from her sister's storeroom.

Her wrist felt an unbearable constricting pain. She tried to remove it but couldn't find the intricate clasp.

Xian Qiu's soft voice lingered in her ears. "You young sisters grew up in the old Dingtao estate and haven't spent much time in the capital, so naturally you're distant from your brother-in-law. Now that our Yu residence has moved to the capital, we can visit more often. Don't be shy, hmm?"

The term "brother-in-law" kept coming up, and to Tian Qin's ears, it seemed to carry a hidden agenda.

The Head of the Xie Family was not as virtuous as the world portrayed him—at least, in her final days when she desperately begged for a purple ginseng fungus, he didn't show an ounce of human kindness.

A wife is honored, a concubine is lowly—this was his bottom line and principle. He adhered to the cold doctrines of Confucianism, willing to sacrifice everything for his rigid rules.

Her lingering impression was only fear. In her past life, the force of his grip on her waist as he pinned her down, the icy touch of his fingertips gliding over her skin like a blade, her sobs often drowned in the dark, gentle violence of his relentless rhythm.

Tian Qin lay limp on the bed, as Xian Qiu placed a warm cloth on her forehead.

Xian Qiu sighed, stepped out for a moment, and closed the door.

Zhaolu hurriedly shut the snow-dusted window, while Wan Cui and Nanny Chen came in to help.

Buried under the covers, Tian Qin hid her head, eyes wide open, not drunk, not sleepy.

...

The moon was gone, the sun had set.

As night fell, the biting chill in the air grew sharper. The pines and cypresses swayed gently in the frost, while the Xie mansion's banquet hall stayed brightly lit.

On the dining table, cups and plates were set out, a feast of delicacies.

The Lord finished his meal and left, followed soon after by Fourth Young Lady Kuju, leaving only Yu Xianqiu and He Shi.

He Shi was the head wife of the Yu family and Yu Xianqiu's birth mother.

The moon hung in the sky, lanterns flickered sleepily, and stars shimmered.

Xian Qiu was in a bad mood and had drunk a bit too much. As she reached for a third cup, He Shi tapped her hand firmly. "Three is enough. As the Principal Wife of this household, any more and you'll get drunk."

Xian Qiu pursed her lips slightly, stopped her hand, and put on a gentle face. "Mother, did you enjoy the meal tonight? If there's a dish you like, I'll have the cook make it for you back home."

He Shi's face was stern and serious. "Whether I enjoyed it or not doesn't matter. What matters is whether your husband enjoyed it, and whether your two younger sisters did too."

Xian Qiu's expression grew respectful, and she looked at the empty seats beside her, a hint of sadness creeping in. "My husband enjoyed it well, and my two younger sisters... also enjoyed it well. Kuju ate quite a bit, but Tian Qin was dizzy from the wine."

He Shi asked, "I ask you, what was the purpose of tonight?"

Xian Qiu's smile faltered, and she didn't answer.

He Shi sighed. "You invited both sisters, but only one came to the banquet, and that too under the bright eyes of your Xie household. Where is your authority as the elder sister?"

Tian Qin and Kuju were both brought by He Shi, concubine-born daughters of the family, both obedient and gentle, with no one to rely on. Kuju's mother was from an ordinary merchant family, while Tian Qin's mother was a courtesan scorned by thousands, who had died years ago.

"In terms of birth, Ku'er is better."

"In terms of appearance, Tian'er is better."

After all, Tian Qin took after her birth mother, sweet as her name suggested, with a waist like water—a born seductress meant to serve men.

If taking a concubine, one must consider whether to choose for virtue or for beauty.

Xian Qiu stared at the pale green flower veins in the bonsai by the table, lost in thought. Her moist, shy eyes seemed to avoid something. After a long pause, she said, "Mother, my husband has no intention of taking a concubine. He didn't even glance at the two sisters earlier. Perhaps we should forget it."

What woman who truly loved her husband would want him to take another to his bed?

And her husband was the most divine man under heaven.

"Besides, I have a faint feeling that Tian'er is unwilling."

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See you tomorrow at six [dog head holding a rose]