Husband’s Scheme Author: Listening to Wind Tell Qing
Chapter One: The Best Lover
Qi Emperor loved willow trees. In Yan Feng, the capital of Qi Kingdom, every spring brought a sky full of poplar flowers, like a late snowfall after spring. Literary scholars and talented artists who had hibernated all winter particularly enjoyed composing poetry, playing instruments, and painting amidst these white flutters, awakening together with the beasts and creating a spring symphony, each vying for attention.
I looked up at the countless white fluffy clusters overhead, feeling deeply worried. I had only half-sketched the white portrait on fine silk, and I was already losing my patience.
“My lady,” Que’er anxiously fanned me. “Are you alright?”
I waved my hand, and an unstoppable itching burst from my nasal cavity, causing me to sneeze three times. Que’er thoughtfully offered a handkerchief, which I took to cover my nose, followed by three more sneezes.
“How unbearable,” I nodded at her with teary eyes. “Damn these white hairs.”
Que’er looked nervous. “My lady, you mustn’t say such things. Everyone knows how much the person above loves these. If such words reach the ears of those with ill intentions, our master will surely face another reprimand.”
I had been married to An Jin for just over a year, and he had been reprimanded three times, each time somehow related to me.
This time, An Jin was not punished with a month’s salary, but I was still confined and forbidden from eating meat for two months, feeling extremely aggrieved. I deeply believed that most of the responsibility did not lie with me, but with his poor interpersonal relationships.
Now, thinking back, most of our married life was spent in confinement and fasting. He married me and has been in constant distress; I married him and lost my freedom and meat. What kind of marriage is this?
Thinking of this, I couldn’t help but sneeze several times. My wolf-hair brush unconsciously swept with my body’s movement, and a drop of ink seeped precisely onto the figure’s forehead on the silk.
“Damn,” I quickly picked up the drawing board to examine it.
“Madam, if you don’t paint soon, they might leave,” Que’er glanced towards the two figures on the willow bank. “The master seems a bit impatient.”
“Don’t worry,” I reassured her: “My husband has always been patient with beautiful women, let alone Su Hui, such an extraordinary beauty?”
The man and woman under the willow tree were close yet distant. The man lowered his eyes, gazing intently, his profile like a painting; the woman shyly held her sleeve, hesitating to speak – this scene struck my heart in an instant.
The remaining part was quickly completed as if divinely inspired. I raised the drawing board and compared it with the actual scene, feeling very satisfied.
“Que’er, should we call this ‘Appointment by the Willow’ or ‘Passion Uncontrollable’?” I turned my head, seeking her opinion.
Que’er pondered for a moment. “How about ‘Twilight of Two Beauties’?”
I found it brilliant. It both highlighted the artistic conception and invited imagination.
“If the master knew that you, madam, are the one who secretly paints his rendezvous with that Yuanxiao Thirteen something gentleman…” Que’er shook her head: “I can’t imagine how angry he’d be.”
“Yuanxiao Thirteenth Gentleman,” I completed her sentence. “If I hadn’t painted so wonderfully, how could he have become the most charming man in Yanfeng City?”
Que’er looked somewhat skeptical, leaning over to look at the portrait. “Madam, I remember the master didn’t have a mole on his forehead…”
“This is called creative imagination within reasonable limits,” I packed up the drawing board, brushes, and ink, stretched, and sneezed again. “Let’s go home.”
Que’er glanced at the willow tree, then looked at me hesitantly. I knew what she wanted to say, rubbed my still-itchy nose, and stuffed the drawing board tools into her hands. “Same as always, seven parts for me, three for you.”
Que’er immediately became happy, her previous doubts forgotten.
I chuckled, covered my nose with a handkerchief, and slowly walked towards the An residence along the street where willow flowers drifted.
The man on the willow bank was my husband An Jin, twenty-two years old, a promising official in the Ministry of Personnel. Rumors described him as handsome, gentle, elegant, romantic, deeply understanding women’s hearts – the most watched young gentleman in Yanfeng, and the ideal lover in the eyes of Qi Kingdom women.
My childhood sweetheart.
As for those glowing descriptors, except for “handsome,” I doubted the rest, not ruling out the possibility that he never displayed such qualities in front of me.
I felt conflicted and reluctantly said, “Wife understands.”
Chapter Two: His Resentment
An Jin, as usual, did not return home for dinner. After the meal, I chatted with my in-laws for a while, then went to my study with Que’er.
If there’s one thing I’m most satisfied with since marrying An Jin, it’s having a study entirely my own. An Jin has never stepped inside, and my in-laws rarely inquire about it. So I turned it into a dedicated painting room, mainly for mounting silk and later coloring. Since I claimed to love painting, I naturally had to paint some orthodox landscapes, flowers, birds, and lady portraits for appearances. However, privately, I was known as the Thirteenth Young Master of Yanfeng City, famous for my beauty portraits.
Painting beauty portraits was the way I found to make a living. My teacher once said that one must leverage their strengths to benefit. Among the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, painting was the only skill I could showcase. However, flowers, birds, insects, and fish were too common and wouldn’t fetch much money. So I turned my focus to portraits. These couldn’t be fictional and couldn’t be ordinary people – they had to be beautiful women with some reputation in Yanfeng City.
The first to appear in my paintings was Qin Yu, the top beauty from the Chu Women’s Hall in Yanfeng City at the time. I secretly sketched her during her outing to White Crane Plain, creating my first beauty portrait, “Jade Crane Dance”. This painting, displayed at the Moonlight Pavilion, was bought for thirty taels of silver by Qin Yu’s admirer, to win her favor.
After splitting with the Moonlight Pavilion, I still got fifteen taels.
The pavilion’s owner happily signed a long-term cooperation agreement, voluntarily giving up a share of the profit and promising never to reveal my identity.
In this environment of nationwide beauty worship, the Thirteenth Young Master of the Lantern Festival accidentally pioneered detailed beauty portraits, becoming famous for lifelike, vivid representations.
I have been married to An Jin for over a year, and except for the wedding night when he spent time in my room, he has always slept in the study. During the day, he leaves early and returns late. Even when we do meet, we barely exchange a few words, and if we do, it often ends in an unpleasant argument. Que’er, who has been my personal maid for so long, naturally sees everything clearly.
I looked at the slender figure in the painting and whispered, “He resents me.”
Que’er was very surprised, as this was the first time I had mentioned anything about my relationship with An Jin to her. However, the cause and effect of this matter would take a long time to explain.
Que’er stretched her neck waiting for more, but when she understood I had no intention of elaborating, she sighed in disappointment.
“I’ll tell you slowly later,” I comforted her. At this moment, the sound of the night watch came from outside the window, ringing three times.
