It was nearing noon, at the end of the snake hour. A light, cold rain fell, its threads weaving slantwise beneath low-hanging dark clouds. The sky was as dim as dusk, and the camellias at Zhenqing Daoist Abbey blazed with vivid color in the chilly rain. Everyone praised the plum blossom's proud spirit in the snow, yet few knew that camellias, too, had the bearing to defy the frost.
Lu Weiwei waited quietly in the corridor of Three Purities Hall, wearing a black lambskin coat. Against the black lambskin, her snow-white face and faintly red lips possessed a distinct, luminous beauty.
The Young Maid Duan Chu stamped her feet. "My feet are cold today. With this rain, Master Chen probably won't come, will he? Besides, he visited our residence yesterday—why not send someone to fetch him?"
"No need," Lu Weiwei said. "Let's wait a little longer. If he doesn't come, we'll go see the flowers ourselves. Wouldn't a Cold Rain Camellia Painting be beautiful?"
A servant from the Lu residence hurried in. "Master Chen has arrived."
Before long, Chen Caozhi appeared in high-toothed wooden clogs, holding an oiled-paper umbrella and walking at an unhurried pace. There were a few rain marks on the hem of his robe. He smiled. "You're early, Lady Wei Rui."
Lu Weiwei smiled. "Rather than say you're late, you say I'm early. Isn't that twisting reason to suit yourself?"
Chen Caozhi folded his oiled-paper umbrella beneath the corridor eaves. "Look, the rain has stopped now. Didn't I arrive at just the right time?"
Duan Chu giggled. "Master Chen, does even Heaven help you? What would you have said if it were still raining?"
Chen Caozhi smiled without answering, and instead asked Lu Weiwei, "Did you bring your camellia painting, Lady Wei Rui? Let me admire it