TCN: Mei Gongqing

Chapter 57: Lament of the Scholar

Chapter 57: Lament of the Scholar

Chen Rong did not bother about the maids' increasingly empathic eyes. She only concentrated on making the sky lanterns and releasing them one after another to the sky.

The entire evening was spent by making lanterns and floating them.

By midnight, when Chen Rong had fallen asleep from fatigue, the younger maid gave her companion a push and whispered: "She's just another pitiful woman, this Ah Rong." There was a vague melancholy of youth found in her voice.

The next day swiftly arrived.

Early in the morning, reed music filtered past the windows from the woods. Chen Rong slowly opened her eyes and gazed past the silk screens.

The overcast sky was very dark and looking as though it would rain any minute now.

She propped her arms to sit up, hugged the quilt and looked to the sky in a trance.

At the same time, the younger maid called out to her: "Miss, would you like to wash?" Her voice was noticeably milder compared to yesterday; the eyes she used to look at Chen Rong were also faintly sympathetic.

Chen Rong shook her head without looking at her.

Watching a blank Chen Rong, the young maid suddenly spoke. "Miss, even though His Highness often abandons the old for the new, and has the tendency of giving the old to his subordinates, you ultimately will still be wrapped in silk." At this juncture, she suddenly stopped to recall that Ah Rong wasn't poor; on the contrary, she came from a large clan and had always enjoyed this kind of sheltering.

Ah Rong raised her head.

Without morning grooming, her face remained surprisingly fresh and fair. She looked at the maid and managed to whisper a thank you.

The young maid bowed her head, stammering: "Don't mention it," before hurrying outside.

Gradually, a flute joined the floating reed music. When the distant and lingering flute intertwined with the reed, they produced a sentimentality belonging to springtide.

Chen Rong lowered her eyes, muttering all the while: "There's already reed music so early in the morning. The Prince's Estate is certainly home to peace and pleasure."

She put on her wooden clogs and walked to the screens where the window opened to two beautiful women.

They hastily turned away. By the time they reached a barren peach orchard, Chen Rong had heard one of them say: "His Highness didn't come to keep the new woman company? That's rather odd."

"I asked," the other replied. "They said she is a guest. Hah, a visiting beauty. His Highness has only ever used this trick five times."

Taking a deep inhale, Chen Rong ordered: "Bring me water."

"Aye," the maids answered her in unison. They came in with a water basin, towel, and some blue salt for washing.

While they quietly helped her wash and comb, Chen Rong asked, "Is there anywhere in the estate I'm not allowed to go?"

The older maid helped put her hair into a cloud-shaped chignon as she answered, "In addition to the main courtyard, you are free to go anywhere within the inner quarters and the east and west wings."

Chen Rong hummed a reply. She noted that this maid's plaiting technique was rather ingenious. The quivering cloud chignon gave off a languid loveliness. With no ornamental pin on top, it had a most romantic charm.