The slanting sun shone through the propped-open window shutters. Broad patches of bright sunlight slowly stretched and shifted, giving the small sitting room in the wooden building the layers and changes of dusk. A breeze stirred the curtains, bringing in the fragrance of Golden-thread Begonias from the rear courtyard.
Yu Chan and A Xiu spoke quietly on the upstairs veranda. Only Ding Youwei and her brother-in-law Chen Caozhi remained in the sitting room.
Ding Youwei smoothed a few stray strands of hair back behind her head and asked with a smile, "That Young Master Zhu is a son of the Shangyu Zhu Clan, isn't he?"
"Yes," Chen Caozhi replied. "We study together in Wu Commandery and are traveling home together this time."
Ding Youwei was rather surprised. She knew her young brother-in-law would not hide anything from her, but that Young Master Zhu looked very much like a woman who had exchanged her hairpins for a man's cap. Had she been mistaken? She gave a soft laugh and said, "You gave your sister-in-law quite a fright just now. I thought you had brought that Lu Clan Lady away with you. That would have been a serious matter indeed."
Chen Caozhi flushed and said sheepishly, "You're teasing me, Sister-in-law. How could I do such a thing!"
Of all things, love was the hardest to fathom. Even utterly unreasonable acts were nothing unusual.
Ding Youwei nodded. "I know you're levelheaded. It's just that Young Master Zhu really does look like a woman. You've studied with him for so long-haven't you noticed anything unusual?"
Marveling at his sister-in-law's perceptiveness, Chen Caozhi said, "Zhu Yingtai does indeed look somewhat like a woman, and few men can match her talent and learning. She is proud and high-minded, sparing with pleasant words and looks. She often