Favoring Qie Over Wife (24)

Wen Heng Zhi was only guessing, but he was surprised that his guess was correct. The woman hiding behind a veil was none other than Zhao Cheng's princess consort, Li Jia.

In unison, they walked towards a nearby restaurant to have some shade. It was too hot and crowded outside where elbows frequently bumped into each other and sweat rolled down like raindrops. While they walked, Wen Heng Zhi craned his neck to search for her guards or maidservants that should be accompanying her. He couldn't believe that a noble lady like her was out here, alone. What was that man Zhao Cheng doing?

"Furen, where's Xu[1] Qin Wang?"

Song Jia fanned herself leisurely. "Oh, he's around here somewhere, sightseeing with sister Bai."

Wen Heng Zhi stopped on his tracks before seemingly recovering himself. That Zhao Cheng brought two of his wives into the Qi Qiao Festival and abandoned the other? Not to mention, it was his main wife. This...had His Highness lost his mind?

Song Jia knew that the man next to her had misunderstood her words but she didn't clarify. How could she explain how she got out of the wangfu? It was better for this misunderstanding to persist.

"Is Wen daifu enjoying the Qi Qiao Festival alone too?" she asked.

"No, I'm on my way to somewhere else and decided to stop by for a short while." He pushed open the door to the restaurant and gestured for her to go first.

Song Jia nodded her thanks, and ordered the staff to book them a private room. Not for any ambiguous reason, but because Song Jia wanted to take off her veil. Wen Heng Zhi thought that it was bad for a married woman and a single man to be alone inside a room, but he remembered that Song Jia had been abandoned by Zhao Cheng and his friend probably wouldn't mind if he accompanied her a little bit.

Song Jia sighed in relief as she took off the stuffy veil. To avoid being recognized, she had styled her hair like an unmarried woman's, and her make-up today was leaning towards seductive rather than her usual dignified and elegant style. The red lotus flower on her forehead was especially bewitching. If Wen Heng Zhi had perhaps not met her before, he would have mistaken her as a high-profile courtesan.

Prostitutes were generally disdained in general by common people throughout the ages, but it was slightly different during ancient times. The Chinese character that was translated as the word prostitute itself, the character 妓 (jì), implies 'a female performer' or women who offered the pleasure of their company through music, singing, dancing, and poetry. In ancient times, it was preferable for noble women to be obedient to her husband, dutiful to her children, mindful of her domestic affairs and ignorant on all other matters. This led to a vicious cycle of loveless marriages where social hierarchy was the law, and men began to feel unfulfilled with their 'dull' wives, thus taking concubines that could entertain them.

Courtesans were the same, only they were trained in the entertainment arts, and they strive to become mental equals to aristocrats, scholars, government officials, and all manner of high society. To give up their body was a choice, but if they want to play a coquette game of 'look at but cannot touch', then that was fine too.

So Wen Heng Zhi did not feel any disgust when he compared Song Jia to a courtesan. Rather, it meant that she looked attractive to him.

He was also very surprised to see her hair down, yet he didn't comment. These kind of 'women matters', he could not lower his face to ask. Since Zhao Cheng permitted her to go out like this, then it was none of his business to inquire further. Although he was his friend, Wen Heng Zhi knew that he was merely a lowly physician that could not even compare to a seventh-ranked official. Li Jia's noble background and her qin wang fei status, as compared to him, could be likened to comparing cloud and mud.

But he still couldn't help wanting to salvage his friend's conjugal relationship.

"Hoping furen will forgive this one's lack in manners, but as a companion that grew up with His Highness, I know for a fact that the third prince never had much experience dealing with women. His Highness' treatment of furen today..."

Song Jia turned her head towards the window. Their private room was facing the street, so she could look at the mass of people moving like a flood below.

She calmly interrupted Wen Heng Zhi, asking, "Wen daifu, do you know the story of the man who fished for the moon in the well?"

Song Jia knew that Wen Heng Zhi had scholarly pursuits, so she opened this type of conversation to ease the awkwardness between them.

Wen Heng Zhi nodded, "I know of it."

It was a common fable story, where a man called Huojia went to fetch some water from the well and found to his dismay that he could see the moon below. He thought the beautiful moon dropped into the well, and tried to scoop it out with a bucket. Due to his excessive pulling, the rope broke apart and Haojia fell flat on his back. He saw that the moon was again high in the sky and sighed with relief and happiness, feeling wonderfully proud of this achievement.

Song Jia's thumb and index finger lightly rubbed the hem of her sleeve as she remarked, "I never wanted to be that man, being laughed by others behind his back for being foolish. This reflection of the moon, I will never try to chase and fish out. I know in my heart that it will always belong in the sky, always beyond my reach, so why bother doing so? Wen daifu's concern as a friend of wang ye is naturally not a bad thing, just, consider it from my perspective..."

Actually, Song Jia had no such feelings. Her pride as a woman was hurt, but that was about it. This was not her body, and in any case, she was only a bystander in this era. Rather than seeing the reflection of the moon inside the well, Song Jia never saw the moon at all.

If Zhao Cheng's heart was biased, then hers was closed shut without any leaks.

[1] Kind of like an honorary name that follows his title as a prince of the first rank.