Chapter 69: The Distance Grows Thin

Around noon, Shen Fangzhou returned from the palace.

Fan Chuan and Shen Lingwei had lunch together at the Shen residence.

 

Shen Fangzhou dragged Fan Chuan and Shen Lingwei into awkward small talk for a good while before finally letting them leave.

 

Fan Chuan followed Shen Lingwei towards Shen Lingwei’s small courtyard.

Shen Lingwei smiled at her and said, “You’re not busy today for once.

Would you like to take a nap?”

“Sure.”

Fan Chuan nodded in agreement.

This wasn’t the Marshal’s residence; she couldn’t hide away elsewhere to handle official business.

And she didn’t want to have excessive interaction with Shen Lingwei.

So, relatively speaking, sleeping was the best option.

 

Soon, the two returned to Shen Lingwei’s bedroom.

Shen Lingwei dismissed all the maidservants, then closed the door before looking at Fan Chuan.

“Let me help you undress.”

“I’m indebted to you.”

Fan Chuan knew Shen Lingwei’s temperament.

She had also tried to refuse Shen Lingwei’s help with undressing in the past few days, but had failed.

So she simply couldn’t be bothered to argue with Shen Lingwei anymore and just let her have her way.

 

Fan Chuan walked a few steps to the bedside and slightly raised her arms, making it easier for Shen Lingwei to help her change.

 

Shen Lingwei took another step closer to Fan Chuan, reached her arms around Fan Chuan’s waist, and found the belt behind her.

She pulled it apart with both hands, extracting the belt from the clasp, then stepped back slightly and hung the belt on the wooden rack beside her.

 

While Shen Lingwei turned around, Fan Chuan pressed her lips together and took a deep breath.

When Shen Lingwei turned back to help her undo the garment sashes, Fan Chuan was once again like no one special, just continuing to be a wooden rack.

 

Shen Lingwei untied the sashes and hung Fan Chuan’s outer clothes on the wooden rack, then began to undress herself.

 

Fan Chuan averted her gaze, sat down on the edge of the bed, and stopped looking at Shen Lingwei.

 

Shen Lingwei didn’t mind too much.

She undressed and got onto the inside of the bed.

After she lay down, Fan Chuan lay flat on the bed.

 

Fan Chuan pulled a corner of the blanket over herself, closed her eyes, and prepared to sleep.

But she seemed to smell the scent of cold orchids again.

 

Fan Chuan thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep, but before long, she fell into a deep sleep.

 

That evening was the same.

Fan Chuan and Shen Lingwei had dinner with the Shen residence people and then returned to rest.

Early the next morning, the two left the Shen residence by carriage.

 

Apart from missing her small courtyard a little, Shen Lingwei felt no nostalgia for the people of the Shen residence.

 

After the carriage arrived at the Marshal’s residence, Fan Chuan, as usual, helped Shen Lingwei down.

 

Fan Chuan walked inside, saying, “I still have matters to handle.

You take Xiao Tao and the others back to the courtyard first.”

“Okay.

Remember to come back for lunch.”

Shen Lingwei’s clear eyes looked at Fan Chuan, another gentle reminder.

 

Fan Chuan nodded at her.

“Mm.

I’ll be back soon.”

 

They had been eating together for the past few days; Fan Chuan was used to it.

After giving these instructions, Fan Chuan went to handle matters.

She needed to quickly arrange things in the capital, to leave behind people she could trust to relay intelligence.

She had a feeling that the old emperor might issue a decree allowing her to return to the northern border in the next few days.

 

All afternoon, Fan Chuan was making overall arrangements.

When she returned to the small courtyard, she saw Xiao Tao and a few other maidservants sitting together, chatting idly.

 

When Xiao Tao and the others saw Fan Chuan, they quickly stood up and bowed.

Fan Chuan told them to rise.

After a moment’s thought, she looked at Xiao Tao and asked, “Does my wife have any particular likes?

We’ll be returning to the northern border in a few days, and I want to buy some things for her in advance.”

 

Given Shen Lingwei’s considerate nature, if she asked her directly, Shen Lingwei would definitely say she didn’t want anything.

So Fan Chuan simply asked Xiao Tao instead.

She was, after all, Shen Lingwei’s personal maidservant and knew Shen Lingwei’s preferences.

“The young lady most often uses Yicui Ge’s rouge.

She also likes the osmanthus cakes from Meiyuan.

That’s about it.”

After all, the Prime Minister’s residence lacked for nothing.

 

Fan Chuan nodded, noted it all down, and then returned to the bedroom to have lunch with Shen Lingwei.

 

In the afternoon, Fan Chuan left the residence with a few guards.

She bought some things she needed, then went to Yicui Ge to buy rouge.

 

The shop assistant at Yicui Ge saw that Fan Chuan was wearing fine clothes and had attendants with her, indicating she had money, so he quickly came forward to greet her.

“Miss, would you like to take a look?

What do you need?”

The servant asked.

 

This stumped Fan Chuan.

Although she used rouge and powder herself normally, she basically never looked at the brand.

She just used whatever was at hand.

Asked by the shop assistant, she really didn’t know which shades Shen Lingwei liked.

 

With rouge, slightly deeper or lighter shades produced completely different effects on the lips.

“Give me a set of your best-selling rouges and powders, each type.”

Fan Chuan said after a moment’s thought.

 

The shop assistant’s face lit up with a smile.

“Yes, yes, right away!

Please wait a moment.”

 

The servant took a large wooden box and placed rouges of various shades into it one by one.

The powders were the same.

In the end, the entire large wooden box was filled.

 

After leaving the rouge shop, she went to Meiyuan to buy osmanthus cakes.

These things didn’t keep well; their texture suffered over time.

So Fan Chuan didn’t buy a lot, just a small amount before leaving with her people.

 

She wasn’t preparing these things for Shen Lingwei because she had any feelings for her.

Their positions were different; they wouldn’t be together.

But since she and Shen Lingwei were already married, even if only in name, Fan Chuan still felt she should try her best to take care of her.

 

After returning to the Marshal’s residence, Fan Chuan had her own things taken to the storeroom, to be brought along when they left the capital.

 

Then she took the wooden box and a package of osmanthus cakes back to the bedroom.

In the bedroom, Shen Lingwei was lying on the soft couch, reading a travelogue.

Seeing Fan Chuan return, she quickly put down the book and sat up.

“You’re back?”

“Mm.

I bought you some osmanthus cakes, and some rouge and powder from Yicui Ge.”

Fan Chuan looked at Shen Lingwei and said.

 

Shen Lingwei was surprised for a moment.

Her relationship with Fan Chuan was awkward.

She hadn’t expected Fan Chuan to go and buy these things for her.

And Fan Chuan hadn’t asked her; she must have asked Xiao Tao.

“Thank you, Marshal.”

Shen Lingwei walked to the table.

She untied the string around the oil-paper package, wiped her hands with a cloth, and then pinched a piece of osmanthus cake from inside.

 

Shen Lingwei didn’t eat it right away.

Instead, she brought the osmanthus cake to Fan Chuan’s lips.

“This shop’s osmanthus cakes are very delicious.

I’ve loved them since I was a child.

Marshal, would you like to try one?”

“I’ll do it myself.”

Fan Chuan said, reaching for it.

But Shen Lingwei caught her sleeve with her other hand.

“You haven’t washed your hands yet.

Let me feed you.”

As she spoke, Shen Lingwei brought the osmanthus cake even closer to Fan Chuan’s lips.

 

She looked at Fan Chuan with a smile, waiting for her to eat.

 

Fan Chuan averted her gaze for just a moment.

Seeing that Shen Lingwei was insistent, she had no choice but to lean in and take a bite.

 

These osmanthus cakes weren’t large; one bite was half the piece.

Fan Chuan chewed a few times, her mouth filled with fragrance.

It was indeed delicious.

But no one had ever fed her like Shen Lingwei did.

Fan Chuan felt her heartbeat quicken again, unable to be suppressed.

 

Seeing there was still half left in Shen Lingwei’s hand, Fan Chuan leaned in again and ate the other half.

 

Shen Lingwei’s eyes curved.

She asked, “How is it?

Good?”

“Mm, good.”

Fan Chuan nodded, quickly changing the subject.

“Take a look at those rouges and powders.

I didn’t know which kind you liked, so I just bought a selection.”

 

Shen Lingwei’s gaze finally fell on the wooden box.

She wiped her hands, opened the box, and saw that it had two layers, completely filled with rouge and powder.

Shen Lingwei smiled helplessly.

With this much rouge and powder, she probably wouldn’t be able to use it all up in years.

“I like all of Yicui Ge’s rouges and powders.

But this is too much.

Would you use them with me?”

Shen Lingwei looked at Fan Chuan, her eyes curving.

 

Fan Chuan instinctively pressed her lips together, then nodded.

“Alright.

But I don’t use them much when I’m in the military.”

“That’s fine.

You can use them at home.”

Looking at the rows of rouge and powder in the wooden box, Shen Lingwei felt quite happy.

 

Regardless of Fan Chuan’s motives, at least she was quite considerate and proper.

 

She closed the wooden box, wiped her hands, and then took a piece of osmanthus cake for herself, eating it.

“Mm, delicious.”

 

As Shen Lingwei ate the osmanthus cake, her gaze was still on Fan Chuan.

Fan Chuan couldn’t handle Shen Lingwei staring at her so directly.

She quickly said, “I still have things to do.

I need to go.

You enjoy it yourself.”

 

With that, without waiting for Shen Lingwei to reply, Fan Chuan hurried out of the bedroom, a bit flustered.

 

Shen Lingwei was amused.

She had only looked at her a few times.

Why was she panicking?

 

***

 

On the other side, Wei Lan was currently having the servant boys in her courtyard help her pack.

She had accumulated quite a few carvings.

If she didn’t deliver them to Xiao Nanyan soon, Xiao Nanyan would probably come and corner her herself.

 

Wei Lan looked at the two large landscape ornaments, five small hand-held pieces, and a set of twelve zodiac jade plaques in front of her, her mood very good.

Soon, all these carvings would be turned into silver.

 

Wei Lan planned to give the silver she earned to her wife.

That way, she could ask Lu Zijin for a reward again!

 

Thinking this, she was full of motivation.

She had two servant boys carry one large jade carving each, and put the remaining plaques and hand-held pieces in a bundle for Xi Ye to carry.

 

Wei Lan took the three of them and left the Lu residence.

Come to think of it, since she had sent Chen Zhou to jail last time, she hadn’t been out yet.

She wondered how Chen Zhou was doing inside, if he had broken down yet.

 

Of course, Wei Lan didn’t really care about a clown like Chen Zhou now.

Focusing on her career was more important.

 

Soon, the group arrived at Yuyaxuan.

Zhao Chengye saw Wei Lan arrive and immediately came forward to greet her.

“Please come in.

Our owner has been waiting inside for a long time.”

 

Wei Lan smiled and nodded.

“Okay.

Let’s go then.”

“Yes, please follow me.”

Zhao Chengye led Wei Lan and her group into the courtyard.

 

Wei Lan, very familiar with the place, went directly to Xiao Nanyan’s study.

The study door was open, and Xiao Nanyan was sitting inside, looking over account books.

 

Hearing the commotion, Xiao Nanyan looked up and saw Wei Lan arriving with her people.

“You’ve finally come.

I’ve been waiting since early this morning.”

 

Wei Lan had sent Xi Ye over last night to tell Zhao Chengye that she would be coming today to sell jade.

That was why Xiao Nanyan had arrived so early.

“Good food comes to those who wait.

I saved up this time and brought a lot, more than last time.”

Wei Lan said, beckoning to Xi Ye and the others behind her, signaling them to put the jade items on the round table.

 

Xiao Nanyan also stood up and walked over.

“You have no idea, I’ve been driven crazy by those people lately.

Every day, someone comes to my door asking for carvings by Carver Qinglan.

I couldn’t take it anymore, so I pretended to be sick and closed my doors for over ten days.

Otherwise, even more people would have come to bother me.”

 

Wei Lan was amused.

“It’s not that exaggerated, is it?

I’m only a little famous in Panyang City.

Who knows me outside of Panyang?”

 

Xiao Nanyan waved her hand.

“You are completely wrong.

Quite a few people from the surrounding areas are very curious about you.

They also want to buy your jade carvings from me.

But I didn’t have any stock before, so even if they wanted to buy, they couldn’t.”

 

As she spoke, Xiao Nanyan looked at the bundles on the table.

“What did you carve this time?

Let me see.”

 

Wei Lan smiled and opened the three bundles.

One bundle contained the lotus-pink landscape ornament.

Another was a large landscape ornament made of white mutton-fat jade.

The last bundle contained five hand-held pieces and a complete set of twelve zodiac plaques.

 

Xiao Nanyan was shocked.

“There are so many carvings this time?”

“Of course.”

Wei Lan looked at these carvings with great pride.

But these jade plaques and ornaments had almost been thrown away by her wife last time.

After that, Wei Lan didn’t dare stuff these jade carvings into her blanket anymore.

 

Xiao Nanyan and Wei Lan were already familiar with each other.

She didn’t stand on ceremony with Wei Lan, directly picking up an ornament and examining it very carefully.

“This lotus-pink landscape ornament is too beautiful.”

Xiao Nanyan couldn’t help but exclaim as she looked at it.

 

This piece of material was already very clean.

The landscapes, birds, and flowers carved on it were even more vivid and lifelike thanks to Wei Lan’s carving.

Xiao Nanyan didn’t plan to sell this ornament.

Such a beautiful thing, of course, belonged on her collection shelf, properly preserved.

“Oh, by the way, let me borrow your machines for a while.

I still have some leftover scraps I couldn’t bear to throw away.

I’ll use your machines to turn them into beads.”

Wei Lan said.

“Sure.

You can use anything of mine.

But you really are frugal.”

Xiao Nanyan couldn’t help but remark.

 

After all, Wei Lan could sell her jade carvings for a lot of silver.

Plus, her wife had money.

She wasn’t short of silver at all, yet she still wanted to use the leftover scraps to make beads.

“Of course.

Saving is earning.”

Wei Lan had brought quite a few scraps this time, planning to turn them all into beads.

 

Ancient people didn’t seem to like wearing bracelets much; more people preferred jade bangles.

But Wei Lan much preferred bracelets.

She loved the feel of a bracelet in her hand, smooth and slippery.

 

Xiao Nanyan swept her gaze over the items on the table.

She thought for a moment, then said, “Last time, the twelve zodiac jade plaques sold very well, even exceeding my expectations.

So, this time, I’ll offer seven thousand taels per piece.

As for your hand-held pieces, they are also very well carved, and the material is relatively larger.

I’ll offer eight thousand taels each.

For the large landscape ornaments, I’ll offer twenty thousand taels each.”

“Are you sure?

Don’t overpay me and end up not making any profit yourself.”

Wei Lan reminded her.

“Don’t worry.

Your carvings are in high demand right now.

Even at these prices, I’ll still make a profit.”

Xiao Nanyan smiled and continued, “And I don’t plan to sell this lotus-pink landscape ornament.

I’m going to keep it for my own collection.”

“Alright.”

Wei Lan nodded.

 

Xiao Nanyan calculated the total and said, “That comes to one hundred and sixty-four thousand taels of silver.

Luckily, I brought quite a few silver notes today, otherwise I’d have to send someone back to get more.”

 

Xiao Nanyan counted out the silver notes and handed them over.

“Count them.”

 

Wei Lan took the notes, counted them, and said, “Correct.

I’ll go use the bead-making machine now.”

“Go ahead, go ahead.”

Xiao Nanyan didn’t follow her; she wanted to admire Wei Lan’s jade ornaments a little longer.

 

Wei Lan had Xi Ye bring over her bundle of scraps.

She sat down in front of the bead-making machine and started making beads.

This time, Wei Lan mainly made 12mm Qiemo blue beads, as well as some lotus-pink beads.

Even if she didn’t use them now, she would make them first anyway.

 

And so, Wei Lan spent the entire afternoon making beads.

When she finished, she had made 25 lotus-pink beads and 152 Qiemo blue beads.

 

Wei Lan stood up and stretched, wrapped up all the beads, and had Xi Ye carry them for her.

 

Xiao Nanyan saw her come out of the courtyard and asked, “It’s already noon.

Why don’t we go out to eat together?

There’s a tavern nearby that belongs to our Xiao family.”

 

Wei Lan nodded.

“Sure.”

 

If she ate out, she could take a bath when she got back to the residence and then rest well.

 

Xiao Nanyan put on her veil.

Wei Lan took her guards and followed Xiao Nanyan out of Yuyaxuan.

 

Just as Xiao Nanyan had said, the tavern was very close to Yuyaxuan.

They arrived quickly.

 

Xiao Nanyan had the staff arrange for Xi Ye and the others to eat.

She herself took Wei Lan upstairs.

The street-facing private room on the second floor had always been Xiao Nanyan’s exclusive room.

She and Wei Lan walked in, one after the other.

 

Not far away, a Kunze excitedly tugged on Lu Shihuai’s arm.

“Look!

Who is that?”

 

Lu Shihuai hadn’t paid much attention, thinking her friend was just making a big deal out of nothing again.

Then she saw Wei Lan follow a female Kunze with a veil into a private room.

 

It wasn’t that Lu Shihuai and her friends couldn’t afford a private room.

The young girls loved gossip and found private rooms stuffy.

So when they went out to eat, they usually sat at tables in the main hall.

 

Lu Shihuai was also stunned for a moment, then a look of delight appeared on her face.

Since the last signing event, Wei Lan hadn’t appeared for nearly half a month.

She and her friends had gone to the Lu family bookstore several times to ask about Wei Lan, but the manager didn’t know when she would hold another signing event.

 

Lu Shihuai had even begged her father to invite Wei Lan to a banquet so she could see her.

Of course, Lu Feng had rejected this proposal.

“It’s Wei Lan!

Why is she here?

And who is that female Kunze with the veil?”

Lu Shihuai looked at the private room, extremely curious.

“Yeah, isn’t Wei Lan married?

Was that Lu Zijin just now?”

Her friend was also very curious.

 

Several of them were avid fans of Wei Lan.

They had at least dozens of copies of each volume of Wei Lan’s storybooks with her personalized signature.

Now, seeing Wei Lan go to eat with another Kunze, they were all indignant.

Lu Zijin was one thing, after all, they were married.

But that woman just now didn’t look like Lu Zijin.

Because Lu Zijin no longer wore a veil to cover her face after getting married.

 

Whether or not to wear a veil was a matter of personal habit.

Lu Shihuai and her friends didn’t like wearing them.

Lu Zijin and Xiao Nanyan, on the other hand, used to be in the habit of covering their faces with veils.

“What should we do?

Should we go take a look?”

 

Lu Shihuai shook her head.

“That wouldn’t be good.

If we go over now, Wei Lan will think we’re rude.

We should wait until she comes out.”

“That’s true.”

 

And so, the young girls’ eyes were fixed on Wei Lan’s private room.

Of course, Wei Lan was completely unaware.

 

Xiao Nanyan had already sent someone to prepare the meal.

She pointed downstairs and said, “From this spot, you can see the street view.

It’s even prettier at night.

I’m used to eating here, so I just had them keep this room for me.”

 

Wei Lan nodded.

That was true.

Xiao Nanyan was also a rich heiress who didn’t lack money.

Although her family’s main business was jade shops, she surely had other businesses as well.

 

The food was brought in soon.

Outside, Lu Shihuai and the others wished they could take their plates and go inside, but of course, they didn’t.

 

Wei Lan looked at the dishes that were brought: roast duck, clear-braised lamb chops, and a few stir-fried dishes and tea snacks.

“Roast duck is our tavern’s specialty.

Try it.”

Xiao Nanyan smiled.

She was in a very good mood today, having received so many jade items from Wei Lan.

That was all silver!

“Okay.”

Wei Lan was hungry by now too.

She picked up a piece of roast duck, dipped it in the sauce, and ate it.

The duck was roasted quite well, the skin crispy and fragrant.

But Wei Lan was used to dipping duck skin in white sugar, which both cuts the grease and tastes delicious.

“Don’t you serve white sugar with the duck skin here?”

Wei Lan asked.

 

Xiao Nanyan looked at Wei Lan in confusion.

“Why would you eat duck skin with white sugar?”

 

Xiao Nanyan thought Wei Lan’s eating habit was strange, but she respected it.

After all, everyone had different tastes.

She had the server who brought the cheese bring a small bowl of white sugar.

The server quickly went to get it.

 

Wei Lan put the white sugar on the table.

She picked up a piece of duck skin, dipped it in the sugar, and then put it in her mouth.

 

This time, Wei Lan finally found the feeling.

“Mm, delicious.

Try it.

Duck skin dipped in white sugar is really delicious.”

 

Xiao Nanyan thought Wei Lan was talking nonsense, but she couldn’t help herself.

She also picked up a piece, dipped it in the white sugar, and took a bite.

She chewed a few times and found it was actually quite delicious?

 

Duck skin was greasy, so why did dipping it in sugar make it fragrant and crispy?

“It is a bit delicious.”

Xiao Nanyan looked at Wei Lan and said.

“Of course.

Besides this sauce, next time you can have them give customers a small dish of white sugar with the roast duck, specifically for dipping the skin.”

Wei Lan said.

“Makes sense.

Anything else?

Anything else that needs improvement?”

Xiao Nanyan continued.

“I don’t know if you have those thin pancakes here, very thin and translucent.

You dip the duck meat in the sauce, put it on the pancake, add some cucumber, scallions, and other things, and roll it up.

It’s especially delicious, and it’s not greasy.”

Wei Lan continued.

 

Xiao Nanyan was getting hungry just listening to her.

She directly had the server call the tavern’s head chef over.

After all, if it was really delicious, making improvements would also attract more customers.

“Owner, you called for me?”

The head chef bowed to Xiao Nanyan and quickly said.

“Mm.

The roast duck needs some improvements.

Listen to Boss Wei’s suggestions and make some modifications.”

Xiao Nanyan said.

 

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