A Date for Two

As a martial artist, Xie Jin was naturally in superb shape. Stripped down to his short training clothes, he wielded a red-tasseled spear beneath the last light of sunset, each sweep cutting through the air with a sharp whistle. His gaze was cool and focused, his movements light and free. Watching him, Shen Lantang thought of the wild, unfettered martial world in the Jin Yong and Gu Long novels she had read in her previous life.

Xie Jin finished his spear routine and stopped. When he turned, a damp towel was held out before him.

Shen Lantang smiled gently. "Wipe your face, husband."

Xie Jin paused, then took the towel.

"Thank you."

He quickly wiped the sweat from his face. "I'm going to wash up."

"All right."

While Xie Jin washed, Shen Lantang had the table set. Several cold dishes were already laid out, and she and Xie Hongwen sat properly in their respective seats.

When Xie Jin came out, Shen Lantang told Lan Xin to have the kitchen serve the hot dishes.

In the Jing Dynasty, lunch was the main meal, and people ate less in the evening. Even Xie Jin, a grown man who practiced martial arts, had only one bowl of rice with the other dishes. Xie Hongwen mainly ate a bowl of steamed egg custard.

After dinner and a short rest, Xie Hongwen bowed respectfully to Xie Jin and Shen Lantang. In his soft little voice, he said with the gravity of an old man:

"Father, Mother, your son bids you both good night."

Xie Jin nodded. "Go get some rest."

Only the two of them remained in the room. Shen Lantang sat at her dressing table removing her makeup. It was around seven in the evening. There was little entertainment at night in ancient times, and over the years

Shen Lantang had grown used to going to bed early and rising early. When she truly could not sleep, she sometimes read or wrote marketing plans.

But with someone else in the room tonight, the latter was probably out of the question. Perhaps she could read a book. She had only gotten halfway through Great Jing Geographical Miscellany... Shen Lantang thought idly.

Across the room, Xie Jin finished washing his face and turned. Shen Lantang was seated at the dressing table. In the dim lamplight, her fair face seemed to glow like polished white jade, making her skin look even softer and smoother than it did by day.

Xie Jin suddenly remembered how the marks on Shen Lantang's neck had lingered for days after they first made love. She had even had to think carefully about what to wear when paying her respects to their parents.

How could a grown woman have skin softer than a child's?

After removing her hair ornaments, Shen Lantang raised her face. The next moment, her gaze met the man's dark, fathomless eyes in the mirror.

"..."

A night of passion followed.

When Shen Lantang woke, her whole body ached and felt weak. She looked beside her. Sure enough, Xie Jin was already gone.

They had been married for over three months, and she had thought she knew the limits of Xie Jin's stamina. Yet last night, he had even had to support her so she could drink some water. Was a military man's endurance really that unfathomable?

The moment she made a sound, Lan Xin and Baozhu, who had been waiting outside, came in.

Baozhu glanced at Shen Lantang standing beside the bed and smiled behind pursed lips.

What indecent things is this little minx thinking about now? Shen Lantang wondered.

Xie Jin had been practicing martial arts in the courtyard. Not long after Shen Lantang dressed, he finished his morning practice, rinsed off quickly, and came in.

A maid offered him a towel. Xie Jin took it and wiped his hands as he approached, then reached out and gently pinched the soft flesh at Shen Lantang's waist.

"Does it hurt?"

Shen Lantang nearly cried out. Buddy, do a few hundred sit-ups and tell me whether you hurt!

—Then again, he probably really wouldn't.

The maids in the room knew when to make themselves scarce. At once, they withdrew discreetly.

Shen Lantang was jealous that he had done more work yet felt perfectly fine, so she complained on purpose:

"You sent my maids away. Who's going to draw my eyebrows?"

"I will."

Xie Jin sat down in high spirits and picked up the eyebrow pencil from her dressing table, ready to draw them for her.

But anyone who had ever drawn eyebrows knew that the task looked simple while concealing profound mysteries. Xie Jin began with complete confidence. After a few strokes, however, confusion crept into his eyes, along with a stubborn determination to find a way through.

Shen Lantang's mouth twitched. She did not even dare look at herself in the mirror. Snatching the pencil back, she said, "I'd better do it myself."

"Sorry."

Knowing he had not done well, Xie Jin looked around and said, "Then I'll put a hair ornament in for you."

Shen Lantang had several jewelry boxes filled with ornaments of different styles: hairpins, forked pins, Buyao Hairpins, decorative headpieces, and more. After hesitating a moment, Xie Jin took out a gilt phoenix-and-butterfly hairpin set with a ruby and gently slipped it into her dark hair.

How to put it? It was not ugly, but it was utterly unremarkable.

To Shen Lantang, Xie Jin was like one of those "good" students who tried hard to show how diligent they were in class. They simply lacked the knack for it, so all anyone saw was the effort, not the results.

Still, given his status, the fact that he was trying at all was impressive. His mother had probably instructed him: This is your second marriage. A wife isn't easy to come by, so treat her well. Don't just provide for her food, clothing, and shelter. Give her your heart, too...

As for whether he really had...

"Beautiful."

After placing the hairpin, Xie Jin did not step away. He rested both hands on Shen Lantang's shoulders and looked into the mirror as though admiring his masterpiece.

"We spent yesterday with Hongwen. Today, it'll be just the two of us. Wherever you want to go, I'll go with you."

"All right." Shen Lantang lowered her eyes with a shy little smile. "Just the two of us."

It really was just the two of them. They did not even bring Lan Xin or Baozhu.

Though Xie Jin had said he would take Shen Lantang wherever she wanted to go, she shyly told him she would leave the choice to him. So Xie Jin took her into the carriage.

Through the carriage windows, Shen Lantang watched familiar shops pass by along the streets.

The carriage passed through a residential district and reached Zhaojing's busiest shopping street. The shops here mainly sold women's accessories and cosmetics. As far as the eye could see, ornaments filled the displays like countless pebbles along a riverbank.