Chapter 276 - 274: On Jinling
"Jin Chen, so where exactly are you planning to take me?" Zhou Lian asked, her curiosity piqued. A two-week trip surely meant they wouldn’t just be wandering around the Capital City.
Delighted that Zhou Lian was no longer dwelling on the issue, Li Xiu gave her a gentle look and said softly, "We’re going to Jiangnan. Isn’t my Bao’er the one who loves the scenery of little bridges, flowing water, and quaint houses? Who adores the misty, rain-swept south?"
Zhou Lian couldn’t help but sigh and press a hand to her forehead. "Jin Chen, Jiangnan is huge. I’m asking where *specifically* we’re going."
"Oh, this time we’ll just visit the Su and Zhe Region and take our time. We can go somewhere else on the next trip," Li Xiu said softly after a moment of thought. "We’ll start in Jinling. It’s an ancient capital of six dynasties, rich with history. It has the Wuyi Lane you love, with its blue-gray bricks, small tiles, horse-head gables, and corridors with ornate lattice windows. And there’s the Ten-mile Qinhuai and the Imperial Examination Hall!"
Zhou Lian couldn’t help but laugh. She knew Li Xiu was doing it on purpose. She said teasingly, "Jin Chen, are you sure it’s okay to mention the Ten-mile Qinhuai and the Imperial Examination Hall in the same breath?" ’One is a district of vice and romance, while the other is a hallowed ground for scholars. Putting them together seems rather ironic, no matter how you look at it!’
Seeing Zhou Lian finally smile, Li Xiu relaxed and retorted playfully, "Hey, it’s not like I put them next to each other. Bao’er, you know perfectly well that the Imperial Examination Hall is right on the Qinhuai River Shore. I don’t have the power to arrange their locations!"
After a moment’s thought, Zhou Lian smiled and said, "Wuyi Lane, where the Wang and Xie families once lived, is on the Qinhuai River Shore, and so is the Imperial Examination Hall. Plus the famous Confucius Temple. That Ten-mile Qinhuai really is famous the world over!"
"It’s convenient, since they’re so close. Those scholars and poets were a wild, unrestrained bunch. Even your favorite, Xie Anshi, has that famous anecdote about taking courtesans on an outing!" Li Xiu said, a hint of sourness in his voice. ’Her favorite? Shouldn’t I, Li Xiu, be the person my Bao’er likes the most!’
Zhou Lian stared blankly for a second before looking at him with amusement she couldn’t suppress. ’This man is absolutely shameless, getting jealous over a historical figure!’ She asked with a laugh, "Jin Chen, are you getting jealous of Xie Anshi?"
"So what if I am? Shouldn’t I be the one you like the most?" Li Xiu pouted. "This Xie Anshi may have been great, but Bao’er, look at him! That whole business with the courtesans at Dongshan—isn’t that a betrayal of his relationship? You should stop liking him. Just like me and me alone!"
’Did he knock over a whole jar of vinegar today? First he was jealous of the children, and now he’s jealous of a man who’s been dead for centuries.’ Shaking her head, Zhou Lian looked at Li Xiu, her expression half-teasing. "What’s gotten into you today, Jin Chen? A man who’s long dead is worth you getting this worked up over?"
"It’s not that," Li Xiu stammered, trying to backpedal. "I’m just making a point to my Bao’er. No one’s perfect, you know? There’s no such thing as a flawless person!"
Finding herself in a rare, playful mood, Zhou Lian decided to provoke him a little. In a voice dripping with sweetness, she said, "And what about you, Jin Chen? When it comes to relationships, how would you rate yourself?"
"I might be second-best in other things, but when it comes to my love for my Bao’er, if I claim second place, who would dare claim first?" Li Xiu said with a smug look. ’Xie Anshi might have been a nearly perfect historical figure, but on the topic of love... well!’
"But Jin Chen, Xie Anshi only married one wife in his entire life. He never took any concubines," Zhou Lian said, her eyes glinting with mischief.
Li Xiu shot Zhou Lian a smile and said nonchalantly, "I know that. But he still has that famous anecdote about the courtesans at Dongshan, doesn’t he?"
"In that era, not taking concubines and staying faithful to just one’s wife... that would already be considered a good man, wouldn’t it?" As she said this, Zhou Lian’s own conviction seemed to waver a bit.
Shooting Zhou Lian another smile, Li Xiu said gently, "Bao’er, you yourself used the word ’considered.’ Shouldn’t love be strictly one-on-one? Can you really ’consider’ that love? Can you ’consider’ Xie Anshi to have been devoted?"
After a long moment, Zhou Lian conceded defeat with a sigh. ’I really can’t win an argument against him.’ She said helplessly, "We were supposed to be talking about where to go for our trip. How did we get sidetracked onto Xie Anshi and end up performing an archeological dig on his love life?"
After a second, Li Xiu couldn’t help but burst out laughing. "Alright, Bao’er, let’s stop talking about him," he said. "Let’s talk about something else."
"Like what?"
"Let’s talk about where you want to go in Jinling City."
Zhou Lian thought for a moment. "I know the Qinhuai River is best seen by boat at night. Then there’s the Confucius Temple, Wuyi Lane, the Imperial Examination Hall... and Xuanwu Lake, Xiaoling Mausoleum, the Southern Forbidden City, and Qixia Mountain. As the ’Six Dynasties Golden Powder Land,’ Jinling City is a place that needs to be savored slowly."
"Alright. When we get there, we’ll stay for a few extra days and savor it slowly," Li Xiu gently agreed. ’I knew she had this sentimental, scholarly side to her.’
Leaning against the car window with a smile, Zhou Lian fell silent. ’Jinling City... The ancient capital of six dynasties, a metropolis for ten. The misty rains of Jiangnan, the Ten-mile Qinhuai, the little bridges over flowing streams... The atmosphere there, steeped in ancient charm, is something you just can’t find anywhere else!’
"’By the old Vermilion Bird Bridge, wildflowers bloom; at the mouth of Wuyi Lane, the evening sun hangs low. The swallows that once graced the halls of Wang and Xie, now fly into the homes of common folk.’ That poem, ’Wuyi Lane,’ sounds so sad, doesn’t it?" Zhou Lian suddenly murmured.
He glanced at Zhou Lian, and seeing she wasn’t truly upset, said gently, "Whether a poem feels happy or sad really depends on your state of mind. You must have been thinking about Wuyi Lane and the great Wang and Xie clans of the Jin Dynasty, and that’s why you felt a touch of sadness. What about this one? ’Mist shrouds the cold water, moonlight bathes the sand; my night boat is moored on the Qinhuai, near the wine houses. The songstress knows nothing of a lost dynasty’s sorrow; from across the river, she still sings ’The Flowers of the Rear Courtyard.’ What does that poem make you think of, Bao’er?"
Zhou Lian couldn’t help but chuckle at his words. "I think of the poet, of course. What else is there to think about?" she said softly. "Honestly, Jin Chen, I’m not that fragile. I might feel a pang of empathy now and then, but it’s just a fleeting moment. I don’t really have that hypersensitive, scholarly sentimentality. My professor used to say I was tough-hearted and clear-eyed, not like one of those melancholy poets!"
"The way you are is perfect," Li Xiu said mildly. "Do you remember that female writer from Taiwan? The one who went to live in the desert with her husband, and then took her own life after he died? She had all the classic traits of that literary type: proud and aloof, overly sentimental, sensitive, and suspicious. Don’t you think it would be exhausting to be with someone like that, Bao’er? What we both admire is something more like the freewheeling elegance of Jiangzuo—that spirit of following your heart, wild and unrestrained."
Zhou Lian smiled. "You have a point. I’ve always felt that to be a true intellectual, you need solid financial backing. Otherwise, if you’re scrambling to make a living every day, what time do you have for lofty sentiments? Even after studying for more than ten years in my past life, I never really understood what that ’sentiment’ was. I’m only just starting to get it now. No wonder so many poets and scholars throughout history have made such a big deal about it!"
"’Sentiment’?" Li Xiu said mildly. "That’s a good way to put it, Bao’er. And aren’t we going to find that very sentiment right now? To experience the mood of, ’A thousand sails have passed, none of them his; the setting sun shimmers on the languid water, as my heart breaks on the isle of white duckweed.’"
"Jin Chen, that kind of sentimental, mournful mood doesn’t suit you at all," Zhou Lian said, then burst out laughing in her seat. "You’re far better suited for this one: ’When autumn arrives on the Double Ninth day, my flower’s bloom will be the death of all others. A heavenly fragrance will permeate Chang’an, and the entire city will be clad in golden armor’!"