Fine late-spring drizzle like silk wound around the bluestone paths of Lin'an City. Shen Yanzhi stood before the carved wooden window of the Wentaichuan Teahouse, his fingertips brushing the yellowed paper pages of the Classic of Poetry, when suddenly he heard silvery laughter drifting up from below. Raising his eyes, he saw a young girl in a moon-white pleated skirt standing on tiptoe to pluck a wind chime hanging beneath the eaves. A jade hairpin in her temples swayed lightly with her motion, startling away a sparrow sheltering from the rain at the corner of the eaves.
That was Gu Qinghe, the daughter of the newly appointed Prefect of Lin'an. From that day on, she became a regular visitor at the teahouse. Every day at the eighth hour, she would always carry a roll of books, leaning against the pearwood table by the window, watching Shen Yanzhi grind ink and copy scriptures. He wore a cyan robe, and she wore a plain skirt. The fragrance of tea and the scent of ink intertwined, brewing into a silent jar of wine in the spring drizzle.
"Has Master Shen ever thought of taking the imperial examinations?" Qinghe bit her brush handle, watching him write the four characters "Guan Guan Ju Jiu" on the xuan paper. Yanzhi's brush paused, and an ink drop spread a small cluster of shadows on the paper: "My late father was a doctor in the Imperial Academy. After he fell victim to an imperial censure regarding his speech, Yanzhi severed all thoughts of an official career." Qinghe suddenly…
Chapter 38