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The Cai family's residence in Chang'an was not as large as the one they had in Luoyang, but it could still be considered exquisitely refined.
Exiting the study, one followed a winding corridor that turned two corners, passing through a small bamboo grove. Beside this grove stood a delicate, hexagonal pavilion. Behind it, through a gap in the bamboo, one could faintly glimpse the red, circular gate leading to the inner courtyard.
The six-sided pavilion was a single-story structure with colorful glazed tiles and vermilion pillars, its beams carved and rafters painted. The upturned eaves of the roof soared high and delicate, like the playfully arched eyebrows of a young maiden. Between the six vermilion pillars, a balustrade of openwork carving enclosed the space, leaving only one side open as an entrance. Three steps of grey-blue brick led up to it, set off by the flecks of green foliage and patches of moss peeking out from beneath the eaves, both balancing the colors and highlighting an air of ancient simplicity.
One pavilion.
One table.
One sitting mat.
One incense burner.
One person.
Cai Yan sat in the center of the pavilion, dressed in a ruqun of light green over deeper cyan. The shoulders and sleeves were embroidered with dark green circular patterns. Below the goose-yellow intersecting collar, a strip of snow-white inner garment was visible, revealing a section of neck as graceful as a swan's, across which a few mischievous strands of dark hair gently fluttered and caressed.
A small incense burner shaped like a crane stood vigil beside her, its faint cyan smoke coiling upward like the spiraling dance of an immortal crane at her side.
Cai Yan lifted her eyes and saw Fei Qian. She tucked a stray lock of hair, which had fallen forward while she was reading, behind her ear. Then, she picked up a translucent bookmark, carved from ivory and hung with a red silk tassel, and placed it between the pages. Only after closing the book and setting it to the side of the table did she rise with a slight smile, watching Fei Qian as he slowly approached.
Red for classics, green for histories. If she hadn't just grabbed it at random, the book Cai Yan had been reading was most likely some canonical text...
Fei Qian stopped outside the pavilion, cupped his hands, and bowed. "Elder Sister, I trust you have been well since we last parted?"
"Younger Brother, it has been a long time... Ah, you've become so much darker..." Cai Yan returned the greeting, then pursed her lips in a smile. She extended a delicate hand, gesturing for Fei Qian to come and sit inside the pavilion.
Though she was laughing at how sun-darkened he had become, Fei Qian could sense absolutely no malice in it. It was purely curiosity and a touch of surprise, like a piece of crystalline ice naturally reflecting the image of the person nearby...
Suddenly, a little maid dressed in a goose-yellow skirt darted out from behind the pavilion, clutching an embroidered cushion. With quick, mincing steps, she approached, gave a slight bow, and arranged the cushion in front of the table for Fei Qian. She bowed again, then rustled back behind the pavilion and vanished...
Was there some kind of trick to this?
Could it be a method of invisibility?
Fei Qian craned his neck with curiosity and looked behind him. He saw that there were actually several steps behind the pavilion, where the little maid and a stout, rough-work serving woman were stationed. They even seemed to have a small stove set up there, boiling water...
"That's Fengshu. You should have met her before, Younger Brother..." Cai Yan also looked back, and suddenly smiled as she spoke.
Fei Qian sat down and tried hard to remember, but could not quite place her.
"...Have you been reading lately?" Seeing that Fei Qian had not recalled the maid, Cai Yan offered no explanation and simply changed the subject.
"..."
Fei Qian fell silent.
This elder sister truly could not go three sentences without returning to her core subject.
"...I'm sorry, Elder Sister." Fei Qian lowered his head slightly and answered honestly.
"Hmm, it's alright. It's just... a real pity..." Cai Yan smiled, tilting her head slightly. "...But I understand."
Perhaps, in Cai Yan's conception of the world, the most important thing under heaven was reading, and the most tragic thing under heaven was to be unable to read...
"Are there still so many barbarians in Bingzhou?" Cai Yan asked. She paused for a moment and then continued, "...My father and I lived in Wuyuan Commandery for a time, years ago..."
Fei Qian nodded and said, "Even more than back then." Wuyuan Commandery was now practically lost, its territory having shrunk drastically. Very few counties remained in Han hands. Back then, Ding Yuan, the Inspector of Bingzhou, had taken the majority of the Bingzhou troops with him, leaving the area basically a grazing ground for the Xianbei, under the jurisdiction of Budugen.
Cai Yan shook her head gently, as if trying to shake that unhappy memory from her mind. "So, this time, have you returned to the capital... or is it..."
Fei Qian hesitated briefly before replying, "I won't be staying long. I may have to leave again in a couple of days." The matter concerning the Xiongnu diplomatic document was not yet suitable for disclosure, as the operation had not yet been set in motion.
It was not an intentional concealment, but simply that not all matters can be shared. Some matters, some secrets, are actually a burden. Once known, they weigh heavily on the heart. Thus, sometimes, sharing with good intentions can lead to terrible consequences.
Cai Yan was pure and simple, like a pristine, unblemished book. If one were to scribble too much upon its pages, while it might indeed gain more content and possess a deeper, more worldly experience, it would perhaps also lose the very quality that made people yearn to read it...
"Leaving again so soon... Well then... is there anything I can help with?" Cai Yan asked, lifting her delicate chin. Her brows and eyes sparkled with a lively, intelligent light.
Fei Qian smiled and said, "It has been so long since I last heard the sound of the zither. Would I be so fortunate as to hear it today?"
Cai Yan was very straightforward. She gave a radiant smile and immediately instructed Fengshu to fetch the zither.
The instrument was quickly brought and placed upon the table.
But she did not simply sit down and begin to play...
The little maid flitted about like a goose-yellow butterfly, bustling to and fro. First, she brought a small basin of water so Cai Yan could cleanse her hands, then offered a silk cloth for her to dry them thoroughly. She then removed the spent incense from the crane-shaped burner and replaced it with a fresh piece of fragrant wood. Only then was the preparation considered complete, and she withdrew from the pavilion once more.
Fei Qian looked at the zither on the table. Its form was ancient and simple, faintly showing patterns like plum blossoms and dragon scales, only one end was darker, nearly charred. He could not help but ask, "Could this be the 'Tong Cuan' zither?"
Cai Yan gently rolled back her sleeves as she spoke, revealing a glimpse of her fair, frost-white wrists. "Yes, it is."
Fei Qian nodded and said no more.
Cai Yan pressed her lips together, straightened her back with perfect posture, and sat upright behind the zither. She resembled a lotus flower emerging from the water's surface in a summer pond, displaying a graceful, supple silhouette. Then, she extended her hands, white as pure jade, and slowly rested them upon the seven strings...
"Ting..." A long, trembling note rippled outward through the hexagonal pavilion. Fei Qian slowly closed his eyes, surrendering himself completely to this wondrous, beautiful music.
The long, gliding notes circled and lingered, stretching on without end. They were like the wind brushing past tree canopies, or sweeping across grasslands. Just as a sound faded into the distance of the wilds, in the very next moment, it returned right before him. Vast and ethereal, it was like a painting scroll unfurling, but sketched with only the sparest of brushstrokes, outlining an expanse of wilderness...
Several short, plucked notes joined the melody. Though they followed no strict formation, they did not feel the slightest bit chaotic. It was as if a few cows and sheep had appeared from the other side of a gentle hill, ambling along naturally and casually, occasionally calling out as they lowered their heads to nibble tender shoots...
An overtone rang out and immediately became the central theme of the movement. It was like a herder who first cracked his whip in the air, then lazily opened his mouth to hum a pastoral song. At first, it seemed a few carelessly delivered notes, but they gradually connected into a long, continuous melody—distant and drawn-out, carried by the sound of the wind and the lowing of livestock, traveling very, very far away...
...
The music gradually stilled into silence. Fei Qian opened his eyes, and his gaze met directly with Cai Yan's, which were watching him with a hint of a smile. He could not help but smile in return. "Elder Sister... are you implying that I now... look like a shepherd?"