The old books had been left for so long that a light tug sent dust billowing into the air.
Bochun pulled out her handkerchief and gave it a wave. Seeing her young mistress glance at the title of a book before putting it back and reaching for another, she whispered a word of advice:
"Miss, wouldn't it be better to return to the Marquis Manor first to acknowledge your family, and then come back to buy the gifts? If things don't work out there, we could at least save a bit of silver."
As a maid, she received monthly wages and had managed to save a little, but the life her mistress had led in the Lin Family was not like that of the eldest miss, who spent silver like water without a second thought. Now that her mistress had been cast out of the Lin Family and had yet to be formally acknowledged by the Chengyuan Marquis Manor, they needed to be frugal with every copper.
Lin Jingyue placed the book back on the shelf, stepped back a few paces, and scanned the rows from top to bottom. Her tone was calm as she replied: "If one wishes to accomplish something, how can one expect to do so without spending a little silver? Besides, look at the Marquis Manor—half a month has passed, and they’ve only sent a steward. That alone shows they aren't taking this matter to heart. Returning a little sooner or later makes no difference."
Bochun pondered this, found the logic sound, and fell silent.
Lin Jingyue, however, frowned slightly. In her previous life, she hadn't acquired Jingya Pavilion until two years later. It was only while clearing out the inventory that she had stumbled upon a peerless, one-of-a-kind rare book. Trying to locate it now among these three massive bookshelves would be no easy task.
Lin Jingyue patiently retraced the location where the rare book had been discovered in her past life. Comparing it against the current layout of Jingya Pavilion, she walked toward the most secluded shelf.
A simple, ancient character—"Xuan"—was carved into the top of the shelf. Nearby, a scholarly-looking middle-aged man was holding a piece of paper with book titles in one hand and a book in the other, comparing them back and forth. In this dynasty, the social barriers between men and women were not particularly strict. Noticing someone approaching, the man didn't even look up, politely sliding over a bit to make room.
Lin Jingyue walked to the shelf, her fingertips brushing across a row of books at eye level, before they quickly settled on one. Her heart leapt with joy. She pulled the book out and fixed her eyes on it; the binding appeared identical to the rare book she remembered. But when she opened it, the contents were entirely different.
She had long guessed that finding the rare book wouldn't be as simple as she had hoped. Feeling a momentary flicker of disappointment, she put the book back.
After searching for another half-cup of tea's time, Lin Jingyue arrived at the empty back side of a bookshelf. She stood on tiptoe, just about to pull out a volume, when a faint scent of burning pricked her nose. She immediately recalled the curled, blackened pages and slightly yellowed cover of that rare book when she had first held it—it looked as though it had been scorched by fire!
On the day Lin Jingyan left the Lin Family in her previous life, Lin Jingyue had been confined to the back courtyard, forbidden from leaving or showing her face in the front. However, before she had acquired Jingya Pavilion later on, she had someone look into its history. The pavilion had suffered a massive fire years ago, destroying a good portion of its collection and causing a loss of tens of thousands of taels of silver.
As these thoughts raced through her mind, Lin Jingyue wrinkled her nose and followed the scent.
Bochun followed, looking lost, until she caught up to her outside a small, hidden door. "Miss?"
"Take a sniff. Do you smell something burning?"
Bochun did as she was told. After sniffing a few times, she shook her head. "I don't think so. I only smell ink and old paper."
Lin Jingyue frowned and pressed her hand against the small door, pushing, but it was locked. Bochun took a deep breath, but still couldn't smell anything amiss; instead, she choked on the musty odor of the old books. She looked at the daylight outside. "Miss, it’s almost noon. I’m afraid Steward Wang is getting impatient."
Lin Jingyue leaned closer to the door crack to sniff again. The faint, barely perceptible scent of smoke had vanished, replaced by the subtle fragrance of osmanthus. Had she really imagined it? Even if Jingya Pavilion had burned before, it didn't mean it would happen today.
"No, something is wrong," Lin Jingyue said to Bochun. "Go find the proprietor. Tell him there might be a fire and ask him to bring the keys here immediately."
Bochun didn't see what the problem was, but seeing the grim look on her mistress's face, she turned and hurried to find the shopkeeper. Their commotion drew several curious stares. The scholarly middle-aged man had been watching the whole time. He, too, took a deep breath, only to be overwhelmed by the heavy scent of osmanthus. He looked puzzled. "Aren't you afraid you're mistaken? You’ll lose face in front of the entire shop."
Lin Jingyue glanced at him and casually plucked a book from the shelf. "Face is something you earn yourself. As a young girl like me, what face do I have to lose? Besides, you can't eat your pride. If it turns out to be a false alarm, then so be it. But if there really is a fire and I let my pride hold me back from warning them, wouldn't that lead to a catastrophe?"
The scholarly man was stunned for a moment, then shook his head. "You are quite sharp for a young girl."
Curious to see what would happen, he didn't leave, but continued his search for books while waiting to see how the situation would unfold. Not long after, Bochun returned, breathless, with the proprietor in tow.
Upon hearing the word "fire," the proprietor, though skeptical, was concerned for his storehouse full of high-quality brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. He hurried over with his keys. Without a word, he thanked Lin Jingyue and led two of his clerks into the storehouse.
Bochun wanted to follow and take a look, but Lin Jingyue held her back. "The storehouse is a restricted area; why would you follow them? Help me find some useful old books instead—we'll send them to Eldest Brother later."
Printing books was no small feat; any book that had been copied and preserved to this day held its own unique value. Selecting a few old books that would be helpful for the imperial examinations to give to her "cheap" older brother—whom she hadn't yet officially acknowledged—would be a gesture that saved both her pride and her silver.
Bochun had just nodded when a clerk suddenly burst out of the storehouse, sprinting toward the upper floor, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Fire! Help! Someone come and put out the fire!"
The shop erupted into chaos as customers scrambled toward the exit. The scholarly middle-aged man remained remarkably calm, his expression unchanged. He looked on with interest at Lin Jingyue, who, instead of running, had tucked herself into a corner.
*What kind of background does this young girl have? She's quite young, yet incredibly bold.*
Noticing his gaze, Lin Jingyue reached through the bookshelf and handed him a book. "Here, since we've met, it’s fate. No need to thank me."
The man chuckled, but as he took the book and glanced at it, his composed demeanor instantly vanished into excitement. He carefully scrutinized the title, the author, and the name of the scribe, then flipped it open to check the inner pages. It was indeed the very book he had been searching for!
He clutched the book carefully and looked at Lin Jingyue, just about to speak, when he saw a crowd of clerks rushing into the storehouse with buckets of water from the upper floors and the back courtyard. It was so crowded that someone bumped into the bookshelf, sending books tumbling to the floor.
Lin Jingyue had Bochun stand guard in front of her as she picked up the books one by one and replaced them on the shelf. As she picked up the final one, the proprietor emerged from the storehouse. His face showed relief, making it clear the fire had been extinguished.
Lin Jingyue let out a breath of relief. She calmly brushed off the proprietor’s enthusiastic thanks, then glanced at the book in her hand. Her eyes suddenly widened. The cover was different, but the inner pages were, beyond a doubt, that very same peerless, one-of-a-kind rare book!
Clutching the rare book tightly, she picked out two more nearby volumes and called for Bochun to leave. Her goal for this trip had been achieved; there was no need to linger. The scholarly man followed behind, but after testing Lin Jingyue a few times and getting nowhere, he left in a huff.
The proprietor, grateful for her warning, not only waived her bill but also gifted her an entire set of high-quality brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
After seeing them off, he walked to the third floor and spoke respectfully: "Master, someone has purchased the hand-copied rare book you impulsively sent here some years ago."