The Theater and Master's Wife

"Brother Lu, I'm terribly sorry, but something urgent has come up. I need you to lend me a hand."

Liu Qi rubbed his hands together, looking troubled. "The master's in a hurry to get to the theater, and he specifically wants me there to attend him. But Madam Deng just told me to collect her newly arrived cosmetics from the Exquisite Studio. I can't be in two places at once."

Lu Chen finished his stance and wiped away his sweat.

"It's a small errand. Can't you pick them up on your way back from the theater?"

"Ah."

Liu Qi sighed. "Yuan Xiangxiang is performing at the theater tonight, and the master's a diehard fan of hers. He'll likely stay until the third watch. And as for Madam Deng... the master specifically told me to keep it from her. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place."

Lu Chen agreed at once. "Don't worry, Brother Liu. I'll collect the cosmetics."

"Heh, thanks for helping out, Brother Lu."

Liu Qi hurriedly pulled a piece of broken silver and a slip of paper from his robes.

"Here's the money and the collection note. Sorry for the trouble."

Lu Chen took the note and asked as if in passing:

"By the way, since you're going to the theater with Master Deng, is anyone taking over the brewing of the Secret Medicine at the hall?"

"Don't get me started. The master's stingy and won't hire more servants. There are only two maids and an older maidservant in the residence. At the martial hall, it's just me and a cook. The cook's an outsider and hard to get along with; he only handles meals, so all the hall's rough work falls on me. Today I'm supposed to attend the master at the theater and brew the medicine. I just can't manage it all..."

Lu Chen seized the opening.

"If you trust me, I can brew it for you. From now on, I can hand out the finished medicine to the disciples too. You should focus on attending Master Deng."

Liu Qi's eyes lit up. This was like receiving charcoal in a snowstorm.

There were only a few chores at the martial hall, and none amounted to much.

But Master Deng loved going out and often insisted that Liu Qi accompany him.

Liu Qi had to drive the carriage and wait on him the whole way. Then Deng Yan would invariably warn him with a dark expression, "If Madam Deng finds out, watch your hide!"

Because of that, Liu Qi had often neglected his duties at the hall.

Once, he had missed the proper timing while brewing medicine, and Master's Wife had caught him at it. No matter how he explained, she had taken his words for excuses.

Ever since, Master's Wife had regarded him as a shirker.

At the thought, Liu Qi hurriedly cupped his hands. "Brother Lu, that's generous of you! I was worrying about what to do today. You've brought me charcoal in a snowstorm. I can't thank you enough!"

He took the medicine-room key from his waist and pressed it into Lu Chen's hand.

"The herbs are all in the cabinet in the west wing. Each packet's already measured out. The earthenware pot is in the kitchen's north corner. Sorry for the trouble, brother!"

After Liu Qi left with repeated thanks and bows, Lu Chen tucked away the note and silver and headed to the Exquisite Pavilion in East Market, East City.

The shopfront was small, and the scent of cosmetics met him at the door.

The clerk behind the counter raised his eyes. "Here to collect an order, sir, or choose something today?"

Lu Chen pushed the note and silver across the counter.

The clerk unfolded the note and glanced at it, then turned to fetch a brocade box from the shelves. He weighed the broken silver in his fingers, took a silver scale and shears from beneath the counter, and deftly cut off a piece to weigh.

Finding it a little heavy, he snipped off a corner before pushing the remaining silver and the brocade box back to Lu Chen.

"Madam Deng ordered Jasmine Hair Oil, Pear Red Rouge, and Begonia Lip Balm. That's three qian exactly. One qian in change."

Lu Chen weighed the returned silver in his hand. Satisfied that the amount was right, he picked up the brocade box and left the Exquisite Pavilion.

The wind blew bleakly.

The cold bit deep.

At a sundries stall on the street corner, Lu Chen spotted seven or eight sun-dried gourds piled in a winnowing basket. A thought struck him, and he stepped over to ask:

"Sir, how much for a gourd?"

"Three copper coins." The stallkeeper stamped his feet, his breath steaming white. "Autumn gourds, dried through and through. Tight as can be—they won't leak a drop."

Lu Chen chose an evenly shaped one and pulled out its wooden stopper. In the daylight, he saw that the inside was dry, so he counted out three copper coins and took the gourd.

The Deng Residence stood in the alley behind the martial hall.

Only a wall separated it from the noisy practice yard out front.

Lu Chen passed through a narrow alley and found a black-lacquered wooden door. A few plum branches, their sparse shadows slanting across one another, were carved above it.

He raised a hand and knocked with the door ring. A moment later, the door opened a crack, revealing a young maid with her hair in twin buns. She blinked as she looked over his coarse cotton jacket. "Who are you?"

"Lu Chen, a disciple from the martial hall. I'm here to bring Master's Wife her cosmetics."

"Where's Liu Qi? He's usually the one who comes." The maid stood on tiptoe to look behind him.

"Master Deng called Liu Qi away on an errand." Lu Chen handed her the brocade box and the broken silver.

The maid took them and was about to close the door when a woman's voice came from inside. "Who's at the door?"

The maid quickly turned to answer. "Madam, it's a disciple from the martial hall bringing your cosmetics."

"Let him in."

The maid turned back to Lu Chen. "You heard her. Madam wants to see you."

Lu Chen hesitated briefly, then stepped inside. He followed the maid through a covered corridor to a side room.

A strikingly beautiful woman wrapped in silver fox fur sat straight-backed in a rosewood armchair.

She looked about thirty. Her features were dignified, and her hair was arranged without a strand out of place.

Yet her brocade robe could not conceal her figure. The cloth strained across her full chest, her waist was slender and supple, and her skirt wrapped around two long, shapely legs.

"A new face? Is that sly Liu Qi shirking again?"

As Master's Wife spoke, she leaned forward slightly, and her ample breasts shifted beneath her clothes, swaying with the weight of ripe fruit.

Yet her expression remained dignified, her gaze clear and free of the slightest impropriety.

Lu Chen lowered his eyes and caught sight of the hand she rested on the armrest. Thin calluses marked her knuckles—the hands of someone trained in martial arts.

There was something about Master's Wife's bearing.

She seemed more like the martial hall's owner than Deng Yan, with all his posturing in the front courtyard.

He bowed. "Master's Wife, Master Deng called Brother Liu Qi away on an errand. Liu Qi asked me to deliver the cosmetics in his place."

Master's Wife tapped a finger lightly against the armrest. "What's your name? When did you join the martial hall?"

"This disciple is Lu Chen. I joined three days ago."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

Master's Wife gave a slight nod. Her gaze swept over Lu Chen's shabby clothes, and a questioning look entered her beautiful eyes.

It cost ten taels of silver to join Plum Blossom Hall, followed by another tael in tuition every month. That was no small expense.

Children from backgrounds like Lu Chen's usually chose cheaper martial halls, learning external techniques such as Iron Sand Palm or Iron Cloth Shirt through brute force and stubborn practice.

She asked gently, "Why did you come to Plum Blossom Martial Hall?"

"South City may be out of the way, but I'd heard of Plum Blossom Hall," Lu Chen answered frankly. "They say the former master, Mei Guanlan, fought thirty-six bandits alone on Blood Pillar Mountain and won a great victory. I came because of that reputation."

Liu Qi had told him that story a few days earlier.

Mei Guanlan, the former master of Plum Blossom Martial Hall, had indeed made a name for himself in the martial world of the Northern Lands.

But that had been long ago. Few people probably remembered it now.

The martial world was like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. Newcomers replaced the old, and new legends arose every day.

At his words, a faint smile touched Master's Wife's lips. Then she asked, "And why do you want to learn martial arts?"

"To grow strong enough that no one can bully me," Lu Chen replied.

Her willow brows drew together slightly. "Has someone been giving you trouble?"

"I'm an orphan, with no father or mother. A few friends and I huddle together for warmth. In times like these, being bullied is nothing unusual when you have no one to rely on," Lu Chen said calmly.

Pity rose in Master's Wife's eyes. After a while, she sighed softly. "You've had a hard life too."

The silver fox fur rustled as she stood.

Lu Chen looked up and felt a flicker of surprise.

Master's Wife was tall. Standing there, she was more than half a head taller than him.

She walked gracefully to a square table and picked up a plate of date-paste cakes. As she stepped forward, the hem of her robe swept the floor, briefly baring a pair of straight, fair legs. Below them, her feet rested in soft satin shoes embroidered with white magnolias. With each step, their tips appeared and vanished amid the ripples of her skirt.

"Take these. They've just been steamed. Growing boys like you get hungry when you practice."

Lu Chen accepted the plate with both hands and thanked her.

A slight smile appeared on Master's Wife's bright, beautiful face. She nodded gently.

"Go on, then. Practice hard."

Lu Chen carried the cakes out of the hall.

The date-paste cakes were sweet, soft, and sticky. After eating less than half of one, Lu Chen still had plenty left. He wrapped the rest in a sheet of straw paper and tucked them into his robes, thinking he would take them back for his friends to try.