Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction and twice as perilous.
Sometimes, the last thing you wished for, happened first.
Sometimes, Celestial Matchmaker Yue loves meddling.
Sometimes, this all happens at once.
...sigh... all he ever wanted was...
Desire... for something, some... one. To be touched, to be held, to be cherished.
To be hunted, pursued, overwhelmed, devoured.
Wet. Something is wet. Something dark and secretive and wanton.
I'm alone. No one's here. Why? Am I not desirable?
Where are you? Come to me...
Scents carried upon the wind, cloying, jarring, repulsive.
Alien, other.
Wrong!!!
Something, someone, is steadily encroaching on his territory, this precious sacred sanctuary. But not the right one.
DANGER!!!
He reacted.
***
Teacher Yu usually rose the earliest amongst the resident of the establishment.
Greeting the dawn with a cup of warm water, as he enjoyed the sunrise from the tiny courtyard of his abode. With one of his famous veils already in place, of course.
Perplexed by this strange departure, one of the tianyin employed as a general servant to the establishment went to inquire, knocking softly on his closed doors.
He was given this private set of quarters, a tiny dweling built separate from the rest of the in-house residence for the employee of the grandest of all pleasure house in the province, as part of the agreement that successfully lured this amazing talent away from the place where he first started his career. All of his living costs —food as well as clothing— were also fully subsidized by his employer, not a single cent was taken from his extremely remunerative income.
The madame of the Crimson Western Gardens still maintained that she got her money's worth from the agreement, despite coming away from the negotiation table bleeding from the many wounds she suffered by crossing swords against Teacher Yu's infamous grandmother.
It's a pity that the aged lady wasn't part of the deal, the madame often loudly lamented. With such a adamantine steel trap for brains, she would've been offered a prestigious position of her own!
With Grandma Shan as a member of her team, the madame wouldn't be surprised if they could taken on the pleasure houses in the Imperial Capital in short order!
But the madame was satisfied with what she got, dreams of a conglomerate duo with Grandma Shan aside.
Teacher Yu's musical talents, coupled with his air of mystery, was a huge draw to her business. His clients —for the musical performance he offered— could rival the ones of her most famous “young lady”! Why, there were some noble patrons crossing the doorway of her establishment solely for the chance to listen from behind a curtain!
This was a small rule of Teacher Yu's. He would only entertain a select number of people at a time. No doubt a law laid down by the grim Grandma Shan. Others, who weren't on the list, will not be allowed in his pavilion. However, as music travelled far in the right circumstances, nearby location could —at great cost— be rented out to desperate fans. Giving rise to a new phenomenon of “listening behind the curtains” at the CrimsonWestern Gardens. And as mania often do, became something to be bragged about, by these people with large purses and small brains. Nothing to their name except from whence they crawled from.
A part of her sneered at those snobs. After years of having to withstand the force of their disdain towards her “young ladies”, she quietly rejoiced in the way these holier-than-thou were continuously rebuffed by the amazing talent in her keeping.
She especially relished in telling to their faces that "The blossom of my garden have the right to sell only their talents, nothing more nothing less", when they sought to use her in pressuring the enigmatic Teacher Yu into 'further relationship'.
Hah! Served them right!
If there was no demand for such “companionship”, would there exists establishments such of her ilk in this world? What right do they have in looking down upon those who tried to make the best of what luck Fate had bestowed?
But another part of her worried. There's a good reason for the mania surrounding the mysterious artist. And the source of his rabid admirers.
There was no denying of Teacher Yu's representation. No one could mimic the subtle allure of that kunze's fragrance.
And yet, in the one and a half year that she had him in her keeping, not once did he asked for a leave of absence to undergo his “spring fevers” in privacy and discretion.
Nor did he ever welcome any probings of the topic. Anyone who accidentally tripped over this particular line were soundly sent packing. Even noble guests were not excluded!
It was known, once, of an incident of where Teacher Yu silencing the strings of his qin, bowed to the listeners, and left in the middle of a performance. Due to such talks. The culprit, a listener behind a curtain, was unaware that his voice had been caught.
With such strong, albeit silent, remostrations, people learnt better than to talk of such matters any longer.
Surely this is a strange occurrence! What heartbreak, what ill fortune did he suffered in his past, that even this Great Nüwa's blessing was affected?
There was not even the slightest mar upon his 'vermilion plume', and yet —even as his scent burgeoned and ebbed with the progress of the moon, driving the unwary to comical distraction— this good child went about his way unbothered, almost monkish in his abstinence.
As she went over yesterday's accounting, the madame made a note to send a letter to Grandma Shan, to express her worry. It would no do to be lax in her duties. Witnessing that grand lady descending upon them in holy wrath and spiriting her grandson away —to another employer, perhaps— would be her greatest nightmare.
The calmness of her study was shattered when a servant girl rushed in with a shocking news.
