Chapter 54: The Young Lady

After ordering their respective drinks, Ji Yun led Lu Beigu to that table and introduced him to the man seated there.

"This is my fellow student from the prefectural school, Han Ziyu, from the Han family of Luzhou."

The Han family of Luzhou?

Lu Beigu felt somewhat bewildered. This was not the Former Tang, where one had to memorize the Heroic Lineage before stepping out; how was I supposed to know who "the Han family" was just by hearing the name?

But judging by Ji Yun's demeanor, this so-called "Han family of Luzhou" seemed quite famous.

At the very least, it should be far more illustrious than the Zhou Mingyuan family, after all, Ji Yun had been dismissive of the Zhou Mingyuan father and son, yet maintained considerable respect toward these two.

In fact, this was indeed the case; the Han family was renowned throughout Luzhou, possessing vast estates and land, and displaying a certain air of the former powerful clans.

The reason such great families could form in Luzhou without being sanctioned by the government was that this place was different from the prefectures within the Sichuan Basin.

And just as Lu Beigu had seen along the road to Chengdu, besides the Han people, Luzhou also had a large number of Liao people.

The Liao tribes of Luzhou were scattered into clans bearing surnames like Luo, Hu, and Gou, forming dozens of tribes that engaged in farming by village unit, but because their customs differed greatly from the Han people, armed conflicts frequently broke out between the two sides.

In the late Tang and Five Dynasties, no one had the energy to govern this place; to compete with these Liao tribes, massive families naturally emerged among the Han people.

The saying goes, "The Han family excels in literature, the Xian family in martial arts"; counting from the Former Tang, hundreds of years of Han-Liao conflict continued, and the Han and Xian families had naturally acquired a special status in the locality.

The Han family was the only one among the Han families of Luzhou that could be mentioned in the same breath as the Xian family.

Returning to the present.

That Han Ziyu was in his early twenties, with a clean face, and an air of nobility bred from years of pampering showed through his brows and eyes.

"This is Lu Beigu, whom I mentioned to you before."

Hearing Ji Yun's introduction, Han Ziyu nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over Lu Beigu, and said, "I have long heard of Young Master Lu's fame; Ji Yun often mentions the 'Tianhe Shui' you wrote, saying your literary talent is brilliant."

Since he indeed did not know who the other party was, Lu Beigu could only speak politely.

"Thank you for your praise, brother; I am unworthy of such honor."

The Pei Niangzi beside Han Ziyu was much younger, wearing a pale green ruqun, with only a single pink-white magnolia flower pinned in her hair, appearing fresh and ethereal.

"Probably a brother and sister relationship?" Lu Beigu thought to himself.

The reason for his guess was very simple, deduced by reverse reasoning.

At this age, the Two Chengs and Zhang Zai were taking the imperial examinations just like him, and Zhu Xi was still far from being born, so Neo-Confucianism had not yet risen to prominence.

Therefore, besides participating in public festival activities, women of the Great Song could also go out under certain conditions in daily life; it had not reached the point of "never leaving the inner gate, never stepping out the second door."

For adult married women, if they needed to go out, most would choose to wear a veil hat.

The so-called veil hat was an item that rose to prominence during the Yonghui era of the Former Tang; its style was a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat with a thin, translucent veil around the brim, intended to maintain distance when interacting with the opposite sex and avoid private exchanges.

The scholar-official class would strictly enforce this, and some commoner women would also observe it, but as for rural village women, they certainly would not bother with such things; you cannot expect people who work in the fields or go up the mountains as laborers to wear such a hat that easily makes one's head sweat.

As for young girls who had not yet reached the age of hairpinning, the constraints of ritual and morality were relatively loose at this time; as long as they adhered to the strict separation between men and women, and were accompanied by a male relative such as a father, grandfather, or brother, they could show their faces in public without wearing a veil hat.

Seeing that this Pei Niangzi was young, it was highly probable they were siblings.

"This is my younger sister, San Niang," Han Ziyu introduced.

As expected.

In the Great Song society of this time, although there were not many requirements for young girls to go out and show their faces as long as they were accompanied, their names could not be told to strange men; they could only be addressed by their childhood names or their birth order.

"I greet you, Brother Lu."

The Pei Niangzi was not lacking in manners; she rose, clasped her hands before her abdomen, bowed her head and bent her knees, performing a wanfu bow.

"I greet you, San Niang."

Lu Beigu returned the greeting with a bow, thus exchanging greetings with this Han San Niang.

The drinks had not yet been served; they could not just sit there in silence, so Lu Beigu asked, "Do you two come to see the Buddha-Washing Festival ceremony at Fawang Temple every year?"

"Indeed so," Han Ziyu answered. "The ceremony is grand; we come every year to pray for blessings."

"What about you, Brother Lu? Do you come to watch every year? Are you a local of Hejiang?"

Facing Han Ziyu's question, Lu Beigu answered honestly, "No, I am from Gulin, studying at the Hejiang County School. To speak frankly, I am ashamed to say I have not seen the Buddha-Washing Festival ceremony at Fawang Temple before; I have only heard of its fame for a long time."

Seeing that although Lu Beigu's clothing was simple, his speech was sincere and showed no sign of servility, Han Ziyu nodded inwardly.

As for talent and learning, that is another matter, but judging by this demeanor, Ji Yun indeed did not introduce them to an unworthy person and waste their time.

"Oh," Han Ziyu said, "then Brother Lu should not miss the Buddha-Washing Festival ceremony; during the day, the street parade celebration begins from the morning, and after noon, the temple also holds a Zen Forest Elegant Gathering; I heard that this year, many elegant monks from other temples in Sichuan have come."

The other party appeared to be of an extraordinary family background; naturally, they were a guest of honor at the temple, and when mentioning these matters, their attitude was matter-of-fact, without any intention of showing off.

But one did not need to think hard to know that activities held in the temple after such a ceremony definitely had a threshold; it was impossible for anyone to attend casually.

At this moment, Ji Yun added, "Brother Han is the 'Great Patron' of Fawang Temple, which is not the same thing as my 'Merit Patron,' so he is certainly invited to the Zen Forest Elegant Gathering."

The term "Great Patron," in the Great Song society of today, specifically refers to devotees who donate huge amounts of wealth or land to Buddhist temples; the temple will engrave their names on the Merit Stele to highlight their virtue.

Those who donated a lot were called "Patrons," while those who donated much but not quite that much were called "Merit Patrons."

Lu Beigu nodded; the other party indeed seemed to have an unusual family background and should be wealthier even than the great book merchant Ji family.

Just then, the old man brought over a bowl of perilla drink, and then took a small plate; on the plate was a small piece of tea cake, with tea buds curled and arranged very tightly, and the entire tea cake shimmered with a dark green luster in the coarse pottery plate.

Lu Beigu studied it carefully; it seemed quite similar to the pressed tea of the modern era.

The old man held a small bluestone hammer and a fine sieve, asking, "Would the guest like to try your hand at whisking tea?"

"I cannot."

Lu Beigu answered honestly, then asked Ji Yun, "Can you?"

"How would I know? I know how to drink!" Ji Yun exclaimed in surprise.

"Let me do it."

At this time, Han San Niang took over the task; she rolled up her sleeves, revealing a pale white arm, placed the tea cake on mulberry paper, and held the hammer in her hand to carefully crush it.

Then she began to brew the tea, and while brewing, she used a tea whisk to beat the tea soup until it produced snow-like foam.

Gradually, the fragrance of the tea bloomed on the water surface along with fine water marks.

(End of Chapter)