Chapter 14: The Young Gentleman from the House of Sun
Both Nurse Ping and Old Shang were gaping their mouths outside the carriage.
"Miss, when did you learn how to play the zither so well?"
Chen Rong fell silent.
"I learned it in a dream," she said at last.
Without waiting for them to recover, Chen Rong's voice dropped low in an order: "Do not let this be known. If anyone asks, tell them I began learning the zither after my father and brother left."
Nurse Ping and Old Shang looked at each other.
They had lived their entire life in the small Chen estate in the small City of Ping – they were uneducated. Despite finding what Chen Rong said difficult to believe, they could not come up with any other answers.
"Aye, miss, please rest assured," Old Shang finally said. Next to him, Nurse Ping also nodded vigorously.
They stopped thinking about it altogether in their simple minds. These days, their lady was acting as though she had divine intervention. Perhaps she really did learn the zither in a dream.
Chen Rong nodded from her seat inside the carriage and told them: "If anyone comes to see me, tell them I'm asleep."
"Aye, miss."
At this time, the cavalcade hit the road again.
They had gone for nearly ten miles from the time the two teams met up. Flying dust was sent scattering in the air by the treading horseshoes. From the middle, one could not see the front and back.
After Chen Rong played her song, she quietly stayed inside her carriage and did not make another appearance. In the meantime, people sent by Wang Wulang were also politely rejected by Old Shang and Nurse Ping.
At first, the aggravated ladies of the Wang and Yu houses were ready to pick a fight with her. Even if they were not better than her at the zither, they ought to be able to compete with her at other things. And even if they could not compete, they could still force her to keep proving her arts. As long as she showed up, they'd have a way to win at least once.
They weren't expecting Chen Rong to go to bed and never make another appearance.
At this time, the traveling troop suddenly came to a stop.
Chen Rong drew her curtain and whispered an inquiry: "What's wrong?"
"I'll go see," replied Old Shang.
He returned thirty minutes later, jumping onto his driving seat and saying to Chen Rong: "We've run into a branch of the Sun clan. It appears they have encountered bandits on the way here. Most adults have died, only a young master and some servants survived."
No sooner had Old Shang finished than a commotion boomed in the front. Forthwith, a dusty carriage was driving up to them.
The black satin and mahogany wood hinted at the extravagance it once bore. At the moment, however, the satin was worn and the mahogany was scarred with sword traces.
Sitting in the driver's position was a boy of fifteen. He had a pair of bright eyes, a straight nose, presently tightly drawn lips, and an exhausted expression.
Even so, his back was ramrod straight, his outfit was white and clean, and only his hair was slightly wind-blown.
Wang Wulang was frowning as he said to the boy: "Sir, let a servant drive the carriage. If you don't mind, I'll send a few ones here."
The young gentleman shook his head, "No need," and offered no more words.
Wang Wulang's frown worsened. He dragged his lips to say: "This is our Qilang's idea. Sir, there's no need to be unneighborly."
This time, the young master of the Sun House gave no reply.
Unable to sway him, Wang Wulang impatiently made a goodbye gesture and ordered his carriage to return to the front.
The young lad reached Chen Rong's carriage shortly after, making a turn when their carriages were side by side.
The team got going again.
"Young Master," a hoarse voice was heard from his carriage at this moment, "how can you do the driving? Better to let me do it." When he finished talking, they could hear him struggling to get up.
His young master pursed his lips and shouted without turning around: "Don't bother."
He made not another squeak.
This translation belongs to hamster428.
The sun began to sink into the horizon after the team had traveled another ten miles.
At a whistle, all carriages came to a stop. The servants wasted no time in preparing for dinner.
Chen Rong stepped down from her carriage. She turned and looked at the young man who was still sitting ramrod straight in the driving position. Under the golden light, his handsome childlike face was both solemn and desolate, like a lone wolf in the wilderness. In her past life, she had seen the same desolation in the mirror countless of times.
Amid the laughter which rang to them from time to time, his loneliness felt strikingly out of place.
"If you want to seek revenge, then you must save your strength," said Chen Rong as she walked up to the young Mr. Sun. "Only a weakling would reject all the help offered to him and the changes bound to happen, and keep himself immersed in sadness and anguish."
Her voice was soft and cold.
The young Mr. Sun whipped around, staring at Chen Rong with his dark eyes.
She paid him no attention, turning away and not giving him another look.
After she had returned to camp, she lowered her voice in an order: "After the meals are ready, send two portions to Mr. Sun."
"Aye, miss."
By the time the last golden ray sank into the horizon, the houses had finished their meal preparations. Meat and wine from the Wang and Yu houses were laid out in two straight lines.
As she ate, Chen Rong noticed that both houses had sent food over, but the young lad from the Sun House only took hers.
She smiled and shook her head.
This translation belongs to hamster428.
After the two groups joined as one, everyone became much more relaxed. Laughter could still be heard till the moon had climbed high in the sky.
Chen Rong walked ahead, stepping on the moonlight as she went.
The campsite was on an open field by a river on the hillside.
Under the moonlight, the river quietly ran in a silvery glow.
As she walked on, she heard the playing of a zither.
The music was serene and ethereal. As soon as she heard it, Chen Rong knew it was being played by Wang Hong. Unconsciously, she followed the sound.
But she stopped in her track after only a dozen paces. Under that far-spread moonlight, Wang Hong was indeed holding the zither and plucking it. In front and behind him, however, were a huddle of fashionable girls.
Chen Rong shook her head upon seeing them and slowly backed away.
She had just retreated to the riverside when a raspy, pubertal voice sounded: "Are you called Chen Rong?"
She nodded.
"I'm Sun Yan, yet to have a courtesy name."
Chen Rong nodded again. She tilted her head and looked at the tall, handsome boy beside her. Under the moonlight, his chiseled features seemed to her mountain ridges and sinuous canyons.
Sun Yan stared into the sparkling silver water and again raised his raspy voice: "The Wangs and Yus both feel sorry for me. All of them want to make me a charity. Hmph! I'm a man, why would I want pity from other people?"
He was explaining to Chen Rong why he had treated so coldly the people of Wang and Yu.