Shengjing Tem Romance

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Shengjing, capital of Qi, was deep in the heart of winter.

Snow had fallen all through the night, blanketing the city in a swath of white. In the misty morning, four servants clad in brown cotton jackets struggled through the snow, bearing a small sedan chair draped in blue cloth. The biting wind flung snowflakes against their faces, stinging cold.

Before dawn, the four had been ordered by the steward to carry the sedan to the Music Bureau and fetch the new concubine the heir had taken a fancy to. Having now collected her and set off toward the Marquis of Pingyang’s residence, their steps had grown somewhat lax.

“Damn this weather—the snow’s too much, it’ll freeze us to death,” grumbled the pockmarked youth leading the way, rubbing his numb face to chase the cold.

“Heh, the last time I saw snow like this was ten years ago. People froze to death in the outer city, and a whole swath of houses collapsed beneath the weight,” replied a companion with a scarred face, smiling as he spoke.

“We’re lucky to have work at the Marquis’s house at all—at least we’re not out there freezing,” another added.

The pockmarked youth curled his lip. Among all the noble houses in Shengjing, servants at the Marquis of Pingyang’s were the worst off. The steward never had much use for them, always pushing the hardest chores their way, yet this fool beside him still couldn’t see the truth.

“Yeah, yeah,” the first youth muttered, then lowered his voice and glanced at the sedan’s curtain. “Is she still crying?”

The scarred one grinned.