Chapter Ninety-Two: A Gathering of Nobles, Wildness Like a Storm.

On the morning of February 27, carriages and horses began arriving one after another at the four gates of Xuanjiao Ward, where Anguo Temple stood. Before the second hour had passed after sunrise, the temple had no choice but to hang signs of refusal at the entrances to its various gates, much to the disappointment of the crowds who had hurried there upon hearing the news. Fortunately, Yue the Fifth, brilliantly dressed and clad in martial attire, came out in person to apologize, saying that three days later there would be another performance in the open ground before the Persian Hu Temple in Luoyang’s Shanshan Ward. Only then did the uproarious crowd gradually calm. Thus, when carriages and horses began slowly entering through the carriage gate on the east side of the temple after the third hour, many of the people who had gathered early in the morning had already dispersed, and only a very small number, still clinging to a lucky hope, remained unwilling to leave.

The abbot of Anguo Temple, Master Chongzhao, was now over sixty and counted among the eminent monks of Luoyang’s many monasteries. Since he had personally invited Gongsun the Great to display her art today, most of those who had come to watch were either long-time patrons whose offerings had never ceased over the years, or men of letters who exchanged poems, discussed Zen, and expounded the sutras with the monks of the temple. Among them were sons of powerful clans and scholarly families, local gentry, as well as refined literati; there were also quite a few ordinary devotees. Around the platform built beside the martial arts ground, the monks had already arranged elegant seats in advance.

At this moment, Du Shiyi and Du Thirteen, having arrived neither too early nor too late, were led by a guest monk to one such seat. Just as they were about to sit, Du Shiyi suddenly asked the monk beside him, “When I came yesterday, a young novice named Luo Ying guided me. Is he still here?”

He had simply found the little monk memorable and asked on a whim, yet to his surprise, the guest monk’s expression turned awkward. After a long pause, he said in a low voice, “I fear the patron has mistaken someone else. There is no such young novice in the temple. Please, patron and lady, take your seats inside. I must go and arrange for the other guests. Forgive my absence.”

“Brother?” Du Thirteen had been wondering whether, since the Cui family was in mourning, it was really proper for her to come out and watch a sword dance like this. But Cui the Fifth and Cui the Ninth had both told her it was no matter, urging her to follow them out and see the excitement. Thinking of the performance she had once seen in Dengfeng, she had indeed grown restive with anticipation, so she had come along today. At this moment, seeing her elder brother gazing in thought at the departing guest monk as though he had not heard her at all, she could not help tugging at Du Shiyi’s sleeve again. “Brother, is there something wrong with that little novice?”

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry. I only thought him interesting yesterday and asked casually. Perhaps this person does not know him. I’ll ask someone else later.”

Seeing concern on Du Thirteen’s face, Du Shiyi smiled and shook his head. By the time he led her to their seats, Yue the Fifth, who had been directing the maids in arranging the sword instruments, suddenly spotted the siblings. She immediately abandoned what she was doing and came over with great enthusiasm. Today she wore a brand-new suit of armor; except for the lack of a helmet, at first glance she looked no different from a general resplendent on the battlefield. Reaching them, she even slapped the jeweled sword hanging at her waist with a bright smile and greeted them, saying, “So Duke Du really brought Lady Du with him!”

Nearly three years had passed since they had last met. Du Thirteen had grown into a graceful young lady, yet at this moment, faced with Yue the Fifth’s full figure, charming and radiant features, and bewitching gaze, she could not help but feel a pang of inferiority, and with it an unfamiliar wariness that had somehow arisen from nowhere. So when she heard Yue the Fifth address her as “little lady,” she could not stop herself from saying, “When Lady Gongsun performed her sword dance in Dengfeng before, she stunned everyone there. Now that she has returned to Luoyang, of course I had to come with my brother and see her again. And since a master produces an apt disciple, I also wanted to witness Lady Yue’s sword dance!”

Yue the Fifth had not expected that an offhand use of “little” would draw such a retort from Du Thirteen. After a moment’s surprise, she studied the girl thoughtfully, and a sly smile appeared at the corners of her mouth. “Very well, then please do look carefully. In these past three years I have followed my master to many places and seen many grand scenes I had never known before. Times have changed.”

“Oh, then I shall look forward to it!”

The two girls, seeming of nearly the same age, sparred with hidden barbs and delighted in their verbal duel. Standing to one side with his hands folded, Du Shiyi found it all highly amusing. Especially when he saw Du Thirteen striving to lift her chest and chin as though determined to compete with Yue the Fifth, he felt all the more absurdity in the comparison with her poised, proper, and well-bred demeanor at the Cui household. No matter how one looked at it, the girl had only learned a superficial imitation from Cui the Fifth; in her bones, she still possessed that strange competitive spirit, and it showed itself at once in a place like this.

Yet as he stroked his chin and watched the lively scene, he failed to notice that not far away, two middle-aged men who had been speaking together saw this very exchange. After a brief conversation, they actually walked over side by side.

“Duke Du, the performance is about to begin, so I must hurry back and make preparations.” Yue the Fifth saluted him in the manner of a man, then smiled brightly at Du Thirteen. “Today’s opening piece and finale are both new dances rehearsed by my master. Please enjoy them to the fullest, Lady Du. This elegant seat was arranged by my master’s own request to Master Chongzhao, and it is by no means inferior to the good places reserved for high officials and nobles.”

She turned and departed with a light, graceful step.

Seeing the two unfamiliar men approaching arm in arm from over there, Yue the Fifth took them to be other guests come to watch the sword dance. After a nod and a smile, she paid them no further mind and went on her way. The two men, as though unmoved by Yue the Fifth’s dazzling beauty, strolled casually to Du Shiyi and Du Thirteen’s seat. The older one sat down without even asking, while the slightly younger one looked at Du Shiyi with a smile and asked, “Has this young gentleman become acquainted with Lady Gongsun’s disciple?”

The pair were both dressed with studied informality. The older man, sitting down heedlessly, uncorked a wine gourd and drank deeply in large gulps, showing no concern for the weather, cool though it still was despite the hint of warmth in the air; not only was his outer robe open, but the lambskin coat beneath it was open as well. The one who had spoken even had a few flecks of ink on his sleeves, clearly a man who cared little for convention. Moreover, this elegant seat had been arranged long in advance, with each place assigned by the temple, and with Du Thirteen, a lady, present, their abrupt intrusion seemed altogether too presumptuous.

Thus, faced with these two uninvited and unusually familiar strangers, Du Shiyi could not help frowning. Just then, the middle-aged man sitting cross-legged and drinking heavily suddenly set down his wine gourd, pressed his thumb before him in the air, and muttered to himself as though writing something. A thought flashed through Du Shiyi’s mind, and with a composed smile he said, “A few years ago my younger sister and I were fortunate enough to see Lady Gongsun and Lady Yue perform sword dance in Dengfeng, and thus formed an unbreakable bond with their art. Now that I have learned Lady Gongsun is again in Luoyang, I have brought my sister to see it once more.”

He had barely finished the word “see” when a hearty voice came from over there: “Duke Du the Nineteenth!”

Du Shiyi looked toward the sound and, after quickly leaving Bamboo Shadow and Tian Mo to attend Du Thirteen, went forward joyfully. “Brother Wang, I thought for certain you must have returned to Chang’an!”

“I had meant to leave. But when the sovereign returned to the capital last year, the weather was already cold, and I feared for my younger brother’s frailty, so I planned to set out in the third month. Who would have thought we should just then meet Lady Gongsun arriving in Luoyang! And who could have imagined that you, without a word, would have returned as well!”

After a year apart, Wang Wei seemed somewhat thinner than before. Smiling as he greeted Du Shiyi, he stepped slightly aside and pointed to a young man behind him whose features strongly resembled his own, saying with a smile, “This is my younger brother, Wang Jin, Wang the Fifteenth. Fifteenth, this is Duke Du Shiyi of Duling in Jingzhao, Duke Du the Nineteenth, whom I told you about!”

The two brothers, dressed in flowing white, stood there side by side, and Du Shiyi could not help but sigh inwardly that all the spirits of mountains and rivers had gathered in them. As Wang Jin bowed, Du Shiyi was momentarily distracted, then quickly returned the salute. Since his own seat had already been visited by uninvited guests, he simply invited the two men warmly to sit with him. Wang Wei, seeing that the spot was excellent, immediately agreed with a laugh, while Wang Jin lagged one step behind. As Du Shiyi led the way in front, Wang Jin gently tugged at his elder brother’s sleeve.

“Brother, Duke Du the Nineteenth’s seat is in a very good place. It must have been arranged for people of rank and power. Would it not be inconvenient for us to go over so casually?” Wang Wei was the eldest son of the family and ranked thirteenth among the Wang clan’s generation. Wang Jin had long been accustomed to following his elder brother in all things, yet now he could not help lowering his voice to remind him. “And those two sharing the seat— they seem rather unconstrained…”

“Hm?” Only then did Wang Wei notice that beside Du Shiyi’s seat, where he was leading them, there were indeed two other people besides Du Thirteen. He examined them for a moment, then suddenly strode forward without a second thought and seized Du Shiyi’s arm, asking in a low voice, “Duke Du the Nineteenth, are those two at your seat Zhang the Mad and Wu the Maniac?”

“Hm?” Du Shiyi had already been suspicious of these two uninvited guests. Hearing Wang Wei’s question, he was stunned for an instant, then drew a sharp breath. “Could they be Zhang Xu, Zhang Bergao, and Wu Daozi?”

“Though I have roamed between the two capitals and only seen them two or three times, there is no third person who conducts himself quite like they do. I should not be mistaken. It is said they are both extremely fond of Lady Gongsun’s sword dance, but since Lady Gongsun’s movements are elusive and unpredictable, when such an opportunity arises they will certainly do everything they can to seize the best seats.”

“If not for Brother Wang’s explanation, I was just wondering who these two uninvited guests might be!” Du Shiyi said with a smile. Then, noticing that behind Wang Jin there followed a servant boy carrying a pipa, he laughed and said, “Come to think of it, Brother Wang, you truly are in high spirits to have even brought a pipa with you!”

“I imagine those two are here to seek inspiration from watching the sword dance. In truth, I have also gone quite a long time without composing any new music. Since today Lady Gongsun is displaying her unmatched sword-dance art here at Anguo Temple, if I can gain inspiration from it, this trip will serve two purposes at once.”

By the time he entered the elegant seat together with Du Shiyi, he saw that Du Shiyi, as though he had not recognized those two renowned men at all, had simply gone straight to sit beside Du Thirteen. Wang Wei could not help nodding to himself. Turning his head, he saw Wang Jin studying Zhang Xu and Wu Daozi with a pensive expression, and immediately pulled him down into the seat at the rear right. Before Wang Jin could speak, he lowered his voice and said, “As for those two, Zhang the Mad and Wu the Maniac, one must not judge them by ordinary standards. If you recognize them, it is best to pretend you did not. On ordinary days, when high officials and nobles go to them seeking calligraphy or paintings, they often run straight into a wall. Much less people like us, still only junior students. Just wait and see.”