Chapter 158: Easing the Heart

"Second Brother, I couldn't get her face veil off." He Xianya said quietly. "Just take it as earning a hundred and fifty taels."

Pang Yu grunted in reply. The painted barge's gunwale was a bit higher than the large black-canopied boat. He looked up at the veiled woman and suddenly raised his voice. "My apologies for bumping into your honored boat. I am a fortune-teller, best at reading faces. If the young lady is willing, I would gladly read your face for you, to help you turn misfortune to fortune and ease your cares, as compensation."

The maidservant glared fiercely. "A few country bumpkins want to see my mistress's face? Don't you even think about what sort of status you have. Even if someone were to read her face, it wouldn't be your turn."

"Do not wound people with your words. Quickly, have someone inspect the damage." The veiled woman spoke softly, her veil trembling slightly with the current of her breath.

The maidservant answered, and the woman, having spoken, turned to leave.

"The young lady has surely just lost her lover."

The woman's whole body stiffened. She stopped where she was and did not continue walking. The maidservant also froze for a moment, then pointed a finger at Pang Yu and was about to start cursing, but the woman had already turned back around.

The woman, not at all angered, said, "You see a painted barge and know at once I am a woman of the dust. Those who come and go are all patrons; what is traded is the head-wrap fee. Where would a lover to lose come from?"

He Xianya and Guo Fengyou both looked at Pang Yu in astonishment, as if Wang Ren had possessed his body.

Pang Yu, now confident in his assessment, said patiently, "The young lady braves the fine rain just to watch someone else's wedding. Commoners' weddings are no rare thing. If the young lady is from Suzhou, you must have seen many. To come out onto the deck in the rain today especially to watch, you must have been stirred by something in your heart."

The woman said evenly, "What you say is interesting, but perhaps I was merely recalling the wealthy days in the Chancellor's residence."

Pang Yu laughed. "In that case, you would not be watching a shabby commoner's wedding."

The woman paused a moment, then took a step closer to the gunwale. "Then, young sir, look further: what sort of man was that lover of mine?"

"From a well-to-do family and brimming with learning — he should be about the same age as the young lady."

"How does the young sir deduce this?"

Pang Yu thought for a moment and said, "A person's actions are all tied to their experience. That the young lady is a former junior concubine of the Chancellor's residence tells us at least two things. First, you lived a life of wealth; a man from a family of substantial means could later guarantee a comfortable household, and any children you had would also live well. Considering a woman's opportunity cost, an ordinary family would never catch the young lady's eye. Second, the master of the Chancellor's residence was surely a scholar, so money alone would likely not impress the young lady either. Therefore, your lover must be from a well-to-do family and also a scholar. As for his age — if he were an old man, the young lady might have married him, but you would not be so melancholy and unable to let go. So I guess he is about the same age as you. For the young lady to cherish his memory so, his character must also have been quite good; he would not be the sort to swindle money and beauty. Or perhaps the young lady simply failed to see through him."

The woman did not understand "opportunity cost," but she grasped Pang Yu's meaning entirely. She remained silent. The maidservant beside her frowned and scolded, "How dare you spout such reckless nonsense…"

The woman gently raised a hand to stop the maidservant. Pang Yu carefully studied the veil. A faint breeze stirred across the lake, pressing the veil against the woman's face. Though very indistinct, through the veil he could sense two bright, piercing eyes.

Pang Yu felt he was on the right track. Ignoring the maidservant, he continued, "But in a family like that, the principal wife is of equal social standing, and there are surely many concubines, all guarding against outsiders entering to compete for favor. A woman of the young lady's status would be the target of all their arrows. So what the young lady is thinking of now is a man like that lover — wealthy and talented — or perhaps even not wealthy, someone who could marry you and welcome you through his door the way a commoner's household does, without the strife of wives and concubines."

"Is the young sir saying that a woman of the dust like me should not hope for too much?"

"To hope for both is only human. But what is called romantic love is, in truth, not so important. What everyone lives is their days. To marry solely for love is usually irrational — sweet at the start, then indifferent later, and perhaps even bitter in the end. I merely mean to say: when you cannot have both, wealth is the more desirable choice."

The woman's chest rose and fell a few times; she seemed somewhat stirred, but then quickly grew calm again.

He Xianya dared not speak. He sensed that the remaining hundred and fifty taels now had a chance. This woman was clearly moved by Pang Yu. With just a little more effort, she might lift her veil and let Pang Yu read her face.

The two boats bobbed on the lake, gently bumping together again and again with the small ripples.

"Then… what sort of person does the young sir see me as? If you speak true, I will pay you handsomely to read my face."

"The young lady does not stay at Returning Home Court but prefers to spend whole days boating on Taihu. That is because traveling the rivers and lakes, coming and going as you please, gives an illusion of freedom and ease — which shows that inwardly, the young lady chafes at all restraints. Hanging out that sign 'Former Junior Concubine of the Chancellor's Residence' serves, first, to raise your own status and make a living, and second, to display disdain for the world's vulgar opinion. In truth, you are at once self-abasing and fiercely proud."

A moment of silence fell over both boats. The maidservant glared, but held back by the woman, she did not dare to shout or curse for the moment.

The woman said softly, "The rivers and lakes may be vast, but it is still a lone boat adrift, like duckweed tossed by the waves — where is the ease in that? Since the young sir understands so clearly, and just now said you could help ease my cares, I wonder what clever method you might have."

Pang Yu said without a moment's hesitation, "Find another lover."

The woman sighed gently. "The young sir is certainly direct. But if I meet with the same circumstances again, would that not be seeking out trouble for myself?"

"The circumstances may be the same, but the young lady can be different from before. From now on, to tell who is sincere toward you, just see who puts up real silver and gold to buy your freedom. Compared to promises, I put more faith in silver. If your lover did not buy your freedom, then his affection was false. Even if he swore many oaths of undying love, when the young lady hears them in the future, just give a polite smile and dismiss them. When you meet a man willing to buy your freedom, and whom the young lady also finds pleasing to the eye, then leave this life early."

The gaze behind the veil fixed on Pang Yu's face. "Is the young sir so concerned about everyone he meets by chance?"

"A man's favorite pursuits are persuading virtuous women to stray and persuading women of the dust to leave the life. I am no exception to the common taste."

The woman covered her mouth with her hand through the veil. After a brief pause, she said with a smile in her voice, "Would the young sir please come aboard so I may have my face read?"

He Xianya felt a surge of secret delight, but then saw Pang Yu shake his head. "In truth, I do not know how to read faces. I met the young lady by chance, and I have no intention of buying your freedom, so my concern is likewise feigned. When it comes down to it, it was just a weary traveler looking for someone to talk to out of boredom. So I will not come aboard — lest I see the young lady's peerless beauty and then find myself trapped by love."

The woman finally could not help but laugh aloud. She coughed once and said, "I guessed long ago that the young sir could not read faces. But that mouth of yours is precisely what draws people in. Yet you must have sworn many oaths of undying love to many women as well."

"Naturally. And they, too, gave a polite smile and dismissed them."

The woman covered her mouth again. After holding back for a moment, she said, "Just speaking with the young sir has already eased a great deal."

Pang Yu looked up at the veil and said, "Born into a chaotic age, for the young lady to be able to drift on the lake troubled only by love is already a luxury. Those who have it harder than you number in the millions. They do not grieve over love — they grieve only over survival. So the young lady may lament her own fate, but you should also know that in this world, there is more than just love."

This time the woman did not speak. Her eyes looked at Pang Yu with earnest attention.

"I have always believed that marriage is like a trade. A rational trade brings the best outcome. If the young lady has that value, then you must find a lover who matches that value. This is an economic rule. If the young lady follows the rule in searching, you will surely find a husband who suits your heart." Pang Yu cupped his hands again. "My apologies for bumping the young lady's boat. There is no need to waste time inspecting it — there is no damage to the hull. I hope that from now on everything goes as the young lady wishes. If fate allows, I will read your face another time."

With that, Pang Yu gave an order to the boatman to depart.

No one on either boat had expected this. They had assumed Pang Yu's exhaustive talk was for some ulterior motive, yet now that he had caught the woman's attention, he was simply going to leave like this.

The woman unconsciously took half a step forward. "The young sir's words are full of novel ideas. Could you stay and help ease my mind just a little longer?"

The boatman worked the oar. Rings of ripples spread across the lake's surface as the large black-canopied boat slowly pulled away from the bigger vessel.

"If the young lady still feels troubled, you can ease your own mind. Find something to do — for example, write down a wish and send a drift bottle or something."

The woman took two steps forward at the bow. "What did you say — a drift bottle?"

Pang Yu waved as he spoke. "Write a letter with your wish, your address, and so on. Put it inside a glass… a gourd, and let it drift away with the current. When someone fated finds it, they will write you back. It's quite wondrous!"

The boatman rowed faster, and the black-canopied boat picked up speed. The woman called out loudly, "Then, young sir, if you were to send a drift bottle, what wish would you write?"

Pang Yu gave two great laughs and called back, "The next time the Eight Bandits see me, may they flee in panic."

Mist and rain shrouded Taihu. The black-canopied boat drifted farther and farther away, until only a blurred shadow of a boat remained.

The woman now lifted her veil, revealing a face of delicate beauty.

"I even forgot to ask his name. And who are these Eight Bandits — what grudge does he have with them?"

The maidservant pouted. "Elder Sister, don't listen to that scoundrel's mad talk. Young Master Chen is nothing like that sort of person."

"Red, go fetch a gourd."

"Elder Sister, you mustn't listen to him and write your address recklessly."

"If you won't go, I'll go myself."

The maidservant turned with a toss of her head and went back into the cabin. The woman also returned to the cabin. At the desk, she ground ink herself and wrote two lines: "Falling flowers brush aside the trailing rain; a grieving heart sweeps away all words of spring wind." She signed it with two small characters: Yinglian. At the last moment, after a moment's hesitation, she did not leave an address.

The maidservant brought the gourd. The woman rolled up the paper slip and stuffed it inside. She held it in her hand for a long time, and only when the boat had sailed out into the lake did she toss it out the window.

The gourd splashed up a tiny spray of water and, carried by the gentle waves on the lake, slowly drifted into the distance.

The two of them stood at the window watching the departing gourd. The maid asked softly, "Sister, who do you hope picks it up?"

"I simply threw it away. Who picks it up doesn't matter." The woman withdrew her gaze. "Take down that 'Xiangfu xiatang qie' sign. We won't be using it anymore."

The maid froze for a moment, then went to the back to instruct the boatmen.

The woman turned her head and gazed out at the misty Taihu. The large black-canopied boat had long since vanished without a trace.

…

On the bow of the black-canopied boat.

"Second Brother, why didn't you go take a look? You just missed out on a hundred and fifty taels for nothing."

"What the hell do you know." Pang Yu stood proudly on the bow amid the wind and rain. "You lot were all staring dead at that woman. Didn't you see that our boat rammed a huge crack into their hull? How expensive do you think that painted pleasure boat is? Three hundred taels might not even cover it. I spouted all that nonsense to distract them — how could I dare board their boat and waste time? If they'd noticed, we'd have taken a huge loss today."