Golden Curtain Pavilion (Chapter Three): The Bondservant Cuiwei

When she counted again, the majority of the women who were willing to stay still formed the larger share, and Zhou Yao was content to keep them. After all, living at another's mercy was always restrictive. At the same time, all the women were deeply grateful to Zhou Yao.

Zhou Yao had the steward prepare brush, ink, paper, and an ink slab, and called a serving boy into the study to grind ink. Once the contract documents had been written, Zhou Yao sent for the remaining women. As they stood outside the folding screen, she called them in one by one in the order of the names on their contracts of indenture. The sale contracts were exchanged for contract documents, with every condition Zhou Yao had promised written in duplicate. Some of the women could not read or write their own names; they helped one another by explaining and answering. By the time everyone had signed and pressed their fingerprints, the sky had darkened.

The city gates had already been closed, so Zhou Yao and the women stayed the night outside the city. That night, with a bright moon hanging high, Zhou Yao could not fall asleep and wandered into the rear courtyard of the estate. A small water channel had been cut through the courtyard, its beauty enhanced by jade ornamentation, and the shimmering, rippling light caught Zhou Yao's attention. If Liuli could be processed and mounted into window frames the way shells were, would it not do away with the disadvantages of paper windows—their poor translucency and their ease in exposing one's private life?

As Zhou Yao was turning this over, she heard the rustle of leaves in the grass behind her. "Come out." The newcomer was Cuiwei. Seeing it was her, Zhou Yao gave her a friendly smile first.

"Today I thank my lady for letting me regain my freedom. If I had known that day how noble your status was, I would certainly not have said those things." Cuiwei's delicate brow knit as she said, with concern, "Should anything have been amiss that day, I hope my lady will forgive..." Cuiwei started to kneel, but Zhou Yao quickly pulled her up and brought her to her side.

"Since you've come, what's the point of discussing these matters? Now that you have regained your freedom, there is no need to mention the past henceforth." Cuiwei seemed somewhat ill at ease by Zhou Yao's side. "I am but of lowly birth; how dare I sit on equal footing with my lady?" "It's no matter." Zhou Yao observed her words and behavior. Seeing her still unable to compose herself, she said, "Very well. If you're not at ease, then let it be." At once, Cuiwei rose to her feet. "You have saved me from the depths of fire and water, my lady. I will repay you with a gift of jade. If my lady trusts me, I will spare no effort in serving you from now on, and would gladly go through fire and water on your behalf without the slightest hesitation."

"From the sound of your words..." Zhou Yao asked, "Have you studied at all?" "A little, in the days before my family declined. We even hired a private tutor at home," Cuiwei answered. "I see your household registration lists you as from Chang'an. What did your family do before?" "My father was a minor official below a hundred dan. After the family was raided and confiscated, I found myself in the Qingyun Terrace." Below a hundred dan? A suspicion stirred faintly in Zhou Yao's heart. She raised her head and looked at Cuiwei closely, studying her brow and eyes carefully. "Are you familiar with the rules of the palace?" "I was schooled in them." A moist, glistening light gathered in Cuiwei's eyes, and Zhou Yao felt her heart soften.

She turned her head, thinking. "If that is so, then from today onward you will attend me in my affairs. But remember this firmly: be tight-lipped and keep your hands clean." Cuiwei smiled, a smile of bright warmth. "I understand, my lady. I thank you once more for your guidance." "Tomorrow, come into the city with me first. I will show you the lay of things." Zhou Yao thought about it, looking up at the moonlight.

Of those who had been trafficked by human traders, Zhou Yao gave enough copper to cover their way home; of those who had been sold into the Qingyun Terrace by their brothers, some, soft-hearted, chose to return home, while others chose to remain. And then there was the last kind—those whose families had all died, who had nowhere else to go. For them, Zhou Yao had taken the initiative to let them stay.

When the sun had just begun to slant through the window into the room, Zhou Yao was already sitting at her dressing table, washed and combed. The day before, she had instructed the steward to have the carriage prepared ahead of time. This morning, early, Zhou Yao took Cuiwei directly to the Golden Curtain Pavilion first. The other women need only report to the Golden Curtain Pavilion by the fifth. In the carriage, Cuiwei sat toward the front. Zhou Yao quickly noticed the coarse cloth garment Cuiwei was wearing. After the Qingyun Terrace had fallen, all of its property and possessions had been turned over to the national treasury. These women, it was to be feared, had no money in their hands.

"When you have free time, take the rest of the women to the fabric shop and pick out some cloth you like. As for jewelry, I will have the household servants deliver some to you in a few days." Zhou Yao lifted the carriage curtain to look out at the scenery, and said with affected casualness, "Ahead lies the Golden Curtain Pavilion. Hereafter we will mainly make our living by selling Liuli, jade, and ceramics." Cuiwei stared at that shopfront, too stunned to speak. Previous to this, when Zhou Yao had told her about it, she had only mentioned it was a small shop—never had she said that this small shop was the Golden Curtain Pavilion! She had lived in Chang'an for decades, and whenever she passed by the Golden Curtain Pavilion, she never dared to take so much as a second glance. Yet now, of all things, she was to live here?

When the two of them walked in, a guard from the previous day handed Zhou Yao the counted and compiled list of what the staff under the Golden Curtain Pavilion were skilled in, for her review. Zhou Yao glanced at Cuiwei behind her, thought a moment, and sent the guard down. "Can you manage accounts?" Zhou Yao asked when she and Cuiwei had taken their seats in the front hall. "I have studied some, but I have never actually handled accounts in practice," Cuiwei answered. Zhou Yao nodded, and handed the roster and a token to Cuiwei. "I will place the staff of the Golden Curtain Pavilion under your management. Are you willing?" Zhou Yao watched Cuiwei's expression. "Try for a few days; if it does not work well, we can change it." Cuiwei nodded, and in no time at all was gone to the rear courtyard.

Zhou Yao examined the Liuli that had been brought over yesterday, and ordered the guards to take down all the original window paper and replace it with Liuli. The guards moved quickly, and the Golden Curtain Pavilion, in the blink of an eye, became a whole mess. Zhou Yao did not mind. She looked over the approximate layout of the Golden Curtain Pavilion on the land deed again and again. Only after hours of effort could she barely set out some basic plans. The Golden Curtain Pavilion was roughly of five-hall specification. Setting aside the courtyard that housed the staff lodgings, Zhou Yao still felt that this batch of kiln-fired Liuli tiles would not be enough to go around. Though the current outlays of the business were being propped up by Qi Yanhan's private means, it was, after all, borrowed money, and in the end it would have to be repaid. Having made a circuit through the Golden Curtain Pavilion from top to bottom, Zhou Yao made a momentous decision. For now, only the front hall would be opened for business; the other courtyards would not yet be open to the public.

The night before, at the mere thought of using Liuli and shell to make windowpanes, Zhou Yao had at once sent off a letter to Qi Yanhan's end. Things like shell were not easily come by in Chang'an, it was to be feared. Shell could not match Liuli for translucency, so Zhou Yao planned to use them in conjunction with the differing amounts of daylight in the various courtyards. She had the guards replace the paper windows in the front hall with Liuli tiles, and engaged the services of a craftsman to assist; in no more than half a day, the windows on all five floors had been replaced. After the paper windows had been changed, Zhou Yao had a carpenter first make window lattices. A few days later, when the lattices were made, she installed a small number of shell tiles and Liuli tiles into them. The colors of the Liuli streamed through the windows with the sunlight, making the interior of the Golden Curtain Pavilion even brighter, and when one leaned close to see the street view outside, one did not need to open a separate window as one did elsewhere. Zhou Yao was very pleased with the creation. To speed up the opening of the rear courtyards, she sent the gardener out to buy some flower seedlings, and ordered people to dig water channels and a pond in the garden behind the Golden Curtain Pavilion, with the charge of keeping fish and growing flowers. This kept Cuiwei and Qing'er working for days on end.

After these instructions, Zhou Yao galloped immediately off to the Jiuyao Kilns. She had not expected to run into a familiar face there today. It was none other than Chen Yuwen, who had been absent for a long stretch. He still had that idle, unfocused manner, as if no matter in the world could take root in his heart. "Sent my sister back to her hometown a few days ago. Today I returned to Chang'an on purpose to look in on the Jiuyao Kilns. I never imagined I would run into you here." Watching him in a full outfit of silk, standing on the clay ground that had not yet been laid with brick, she could not help smiling. "Young Master, did you forget that silk is precious on your journey home?" Chen Yuwen lifted an eyebrow, unconcerned, and leaned crookedly against a pillar. At this sight, Zhou Yao could not keep from marveling. When she had first encountered him, he had been going to the markets every two or three days to buy rough grain for a meal, with a body of coarse cotton that had been patched and re-patched. That vague, dusty look of his had been, through and through, the look of a proud and pitiable stray cat down on its luck. A single trip home, and it was as if his fate had been exchanged for a different one.

"Mind your silk—it will snag." Zhou Yao gave him warning. "Since you are back, come and lend a hand." Zhou Yao called him over to help. If the two of them worked together, the yield of Liuli should increase by some measure. After that previous occasion of making Liuli, she had secretly tried many more times in private. With a finished-product yield of less than half, plus raw materials that were both costly and hard to locate, it all gave Zhou Yao an especial headache. The melting point required for Liuli was forbiddingly high. The Jiuyao Kilns could just barely satisfy that requirement, but that was on the premise that someone stayed at the side the entire time to watch over it. Whoever she handed this task to, she could not feel altogether confident. And there were still a pile of unfinished matters weighing on her hands.

Chen Yuwen nodded, and agreed with ready cheer. He truly neither lacked money nor spare hours. Had he not loved the whole business of firing, he would not have come from so far away—from Luoyang to the city of Chang'an—to study under a master. As the two talked, Chen Yuwen went into the inner room, likely to change his clothes. His skin was fine and delicate, and he really was suited to silk of that cut. That was what Zhou Yao thought. A division of labor for making Liuli proved fast indeed. Before very long, the two had finished the preparatory work for the first three upper workshops. Because Zhou Yao wanted Liuli for the windows, what had to be assured this time was the color and the clarity of the Liuli. The steps, both knew them by heart.

By the time everything had been taken care of, another half month or more had passed. During this interval, the two of them—Zhou Yao and company—ate and lived at the Jiuyao Kilns. Most of the time Zhou Yao was shuttling back and forth between the kilns and the Golden Curtain Pavilion, so busy her feet never touched the ground. But the results were impressive. The last step of firing the Liuli in the kiln was exceedingly tedious, and Chen Yuwen took it upon himself voluntarily. For that, Zhou Yao was deeply grateful. Chen Yuwen's firing technique was truly masterful, far above Zhou Yao's level by a good measure. This run of Liuli was better than any previous one by a hundredfold or more. After the Liuli had cooled completely, she took it up to admire it and found that, to her surprise, it was not inferior to the tribute brought in from the Western Regions. This time the finished pieces were many more than the last batch Zhou Yao had made. The defective ones were simply irregular, or else had a bubble or two in them. Zhou Yao did not fling them away. Instead, she picked up her polishing tools and worked them anew. In a single morning, she turned them into one bracelet after another. The Liuli was translucent and clear, and it had the mild, unctuous texture of jade. Even she liked it a great deal. The only disadvantage was that Liuli was easily damaged. A hairline crack, or a knock, and it shattered far more readily than jade did. This time produced a rather large quantity of Liuli, and Zhou Yao thought it might be well to use it as gifts in making connections. Liuli was valuable, and fit for such a purpose.