Shen Biqun's face also drained of color as she whispered, "Could the murderer have come?" With revenge on her mind, her first thought was of the killer who had massacred Shen Garden.
Song Qingshu was not sure either. He silently led Shen Biqun toward the source of the noise, and soon they reached a wall within Shen Garden. A middle-aged man in a blue robe stood motionless before it. After a long while, he let out a deep sigh.
"This is..." Shen Biqun gazed at several lines of graceful handwriting on the wall:
The world is cold, and human hearts are cruel; rain at dusk sends flowers easily falling. The morning wind has dried, tearstains remain; wishing to write my feelings, I speak alone by the slanting rail. Hard, hard, hard!
People have gone their separate ways; today is not as yesterday. My sickly soul is ever like a swing's rope. The horn sounds cold, night grows dim; afraid of others' questions, I swallow my tears and feign joy. Hide, hide, hide!
Song Qingshu replied, "The last time Lu You came to Shen Garden, he happened to encounter his former wife Tang Wan strolling through the garden with her current husband. Moved by sorrow, he wrote 'Chai Tou Feng: Red Soft Hands.' This 'Chai Tou Feng: The World Is Cold' must have been Tang Wan's response after she saw what Lu You had left behind."
As a native of Shanyin, Shen Biqun naturally knew the story between Lu You and Tang Wan. She could not help sighing as well. "Two people who loved each other deeply yet could not be together. They truly were fated to meet but not fated to stay together."
Song Qingshu disagreed somewhat. "In the end, it was only because Lu You's mother opposed them. Then