Who would have thought that Miss Chu, diving headfirst into the Sea of Love, had barely begun to flounder before hitting the rocks, leaving her battered and bruised.
Before Shen Shaoguang could even finish drafting her new menu, the Chu mistress and her maid had unexpectedly returned. The young lady was pale-faced, her eyes brimming with tears, looking nothing like her former self—in fact, she appeared even more disheveled than when she first arrived in the heavy snow that day.
Shen Shaoguang quickly invited her to sit down, but the young lady's hands trembled so violently she could barely hold her teacup.
Her maid, A Jin, looked on with anxious distress, opening her mouth several times as if to speak but swallowing her words each time, instead casting pleading glances at Shen Shaoguang.
After sending A Yuan and A Chang to the front of the shop, Shen Shaoguang sat quietly across from the young lady.
After composing herself for a moment, Miss Chu wiped her tears with a handkerchief and stood up, bowing deeply. "I deeply regret not heeding your advice, young mistress. Going there only brought me humiliation..."
Shen Shaoguang hurriedly pulled her back to her seat.
"When I arrived, Huan Qilang was with several friends. He seemed quite surprised to see me. One of his friends asked..." Miss Chu bit her lip, "'Is this not the Concubine Chu mentioned in Qilang's poetry?'"
"I was stunned. Huan Qi merely glanced at me and smiled in confirmation. His friends then made remarks like, 'Qilang's poetry truly captures reality—what a fine lady this concubine is.'"
Shen Shaoguang didn’t even know what to say in comfort—this Huan Qi was truly...
"I cursed at Huan Qi in anger, threw back the token of affection he had given me, and swore never to have anything to do with him again."
"What about the letters?" Shen Shaoguang asked.
"They're still at the Luminous Nunnery, with the rest of my belongings," Miss Chu replied softly, sniffling.
"So, you don’t intend to use them?"
Miss Chu nodded, then shook her head. "I thought he might evade or delay, but I never imagined the meeting would be so disgraceful. Given how things turned out, why should I sacrifice myself for him?"
Shen Shaoguang clapped her hands. "Well said! There’s a saying from my hometown: 'Cut your losses in time.' And another: 'Who doesn’t meet a scoundrel in their youth?' Once you recognize one, shake them off as quickly as possible."
"He was utterly vile—who knows what he wrote in those poems, making me out to be some disgraceful figure." Miss Chu’s face was a mix of sorrow and shame. "I wish I could go back and slap some sense into my foolish past self."
Shen Shaoguang patted her arm. "Let it go. 'Repent past mistakes and correct future ones.'"
Perhaps Shen Shaoguang’s calm demeanor and compassion gave Miss Chu a sense of security, or perhaps the young lady, still reeling from the ordeal, simply needed to unburden herself—but she began confiding her past to Shen Shaoguang.
"Though my family are merchants, we hold some standing in our hometown. I’m the youngest daughter of my parents, with three elder brothers, and have been doted on since childhood, never suffering the slightest hardship. Last year, during a grand family banquet, I happened to meet Huan Qi... and we began corresponding."
Shen Shaoguang nodded. Sheltered too well, it was easy to be deceived by scoundrels.
"He claimed that because my family was wealthy, he needed to pass the imperial exams before he could propose marriage. After he left for the capital, my father wanted to arrange a match for me, so I told him about Huan Qi. My father said Huan Qi lacked sincerity, and though the Huan family was poor, they were of noble lineage—our statuses didn’t match. Even if I married into their family, I’d suffer. He wanted to find me a better match." Miss Chu covered her mouth, tears streaming down. "I was so unfilial—I secretly ran away with only A Jin."Recalling the hardships along the way—losing money, encountering suspected traffickers—the young lady of the Chu family wept uncontrollably. "I was truly foolish!"
"Miss—" A Jin cried alongside her.
Seeing her handkerchief crumpled beyond use, Shen Shaoguang handed over her own. "Between parents and children, no grudge lasts overnight. Go home, apologize properly to your parents, and just be more careful from now on." This was another advantage of the Tang Dynasty—less conservatism. From the sound of it, this young lady had a good relationship with her family, so she likely wouldn't face severe punishment upon returning.
The Chu lady nodded.
After venting, she seemed somewhat calmer but remained uneasy about Huan Qi's poetry. "What if he writes about our affair in a poem and spreads it for everyone to know?"
Shen Shaoguang understood Huan Qi's motivation—boasting. Bagging a beautiful girl, especially one he had no intention of marrying, would naturally inflate his ego. Composing poetry to brag to his friends was no different from modern-day losers boasting about their many girlfriends on forums.
After a moment's hesitation, Shen Shaoguang decided—what the heck. She'd once helped a friend confront a cheating boyfriend in her past life. Might as well do it again in this one.
Channeling the spirits of Jing Ke, Nie Zheng, and even the scheming clerk with the thin mustache from the yamen, Shen Shaoguang cleared her throat. "There might be a way to handle this..."
The Chu lady looked up, her eyes red and bright from crying. "Please enlighten me, Miss."
"What he writes doesn't matter. The key is ensuring no one believes it."
The Chu lady frowned in confusion. How could they possibly control what others believed?
That, of course, required crafting a persona for Huan Qi. "If Huan Qilang were known for countless scandalous affairs—all wildly exaggerated—do you think anyone would bother verifying this one?"
Shen Shaoguang picked up a candied chestnut from the fruit tray and tossed it back. "To hide a chestnut, if you can't eat it, the best way is to throw it into a pile of chestnuts. When the others are bigger and more fragrant, who would notice this one?"
The Chu lady understood the analogy but had no idea how to execute it.
"It's simple. I assume you've read romances before?"
The Chu lady nodded.
"Just write a few romances about Huan Qilang in that style." Shen Shaoguang had no moral qualms about framing someone and spoke without hesitation. "For example, Huan Qilang received favors from a famous courtesan in Pingkang Ward. She thought he'd marry her, but he sold her off instead." This was clearly inspired by the tale of Du Shiniang.
"Or, Huan Qilang encounters a Ghost Immortal Fox Spirit, shares a night of passion, but loses all his luck afterward. Triumph in love, failure in exams." This idea came from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio .
"Or perhaps Huan Qilang meets... ahem !" Shen Shaoguang coughed. "Certain Female Taoist Priests skilled in Yin-Yang Cultivation, who imprison him. He barely escapes, leaving him pale and weakened..." This story was undoubtedly borrowed from less-than-wholesome Ming-Qing era anecdotes.
The Chu lady stared at Shen Shaoguang, her face flushed. After a long pause, she suddenly laughed.
Shen Shaoguang joined in the laughter.
But then the Chu lady began crying again through her laughter.
Shen Shaoguang pressed her lips together. Why couldn't she console her properly?"This trip to the capital, seeing such prosperity and getting to know you, has made the journey worthwhile," Miss Chu said to Shen Shaoguang, her eyes still glistening with tears as she smiled.
Shen Shaoguang merely smiled in return. Some experiences are better left unhad.
She then proceeded to instruct Miss Chu on the various tricks of framing someone: "You should alter the names slightly, but not too much. If left unchanged, it becomes obvious and raises suspicion; if changed too much, no one can guess, rendering it pointless."
"It should be like this: make people pause and wonder—could this be so-and-so? The more they think about it, the more it fits! And when others who read the romance debate over it—is it or isn't it? People always prefer to believe what they've guessed themselves, and that's how you get more readers."
This was the essence of using initials in gossip forum posts in later times—just guessing who "***" might be could generate dozens of replies.
"As for the fabricated stories, it's best if they have some connection to the person's real life—like coming from a poor family, or having a fair complexion..."
At the mention of "fair complexion," Miss Chu blushed again. She probably wouldn't be able to face that term without embarrassment from now on.
After imparting these tactics, Shen Shaoguang also shared non-technical advice: where to find printers in the West Market, which bookshops sold romances, how to hire someone to sell them on her behalf, and so on.
This smear campaign pulled Miss Chu out of her heartbreak and self-pity. By the time she left Shen's Shop, her spirits had noticeably lifted.
Perhaps even sharing the same district's air with Huan Qi was too much for Miss Chu, as she moved out the very next day. Some time later, she sent Shen Shaoguang several printed romances along with a letter.
Shen Shaoguang read the letter first—it was a farewell. Good. For those with a home to return to, going back is always the best option.
Then she skimmed through the romances and couldn't help laughing. "Oh my, Miss Chu is quite the quick learner... This writing, tsk tsk..."
Meanwhile, Pei Fei was also making "tsk tsk" sounds as he showed the romance booklet to Lin Yan.
Lin Yan frowned. "Is this about that Huan Cheng?"
Pei Fei nodded with a grin. "Fascinating! He must have offended some fellow candidates. This year's scholars are quite the interesting bunch. I should get to know them better."
But Lin Yan found the brazen style somewhat familiar, especially when he reached the part about the "Female Taoist Priest," which reminded him of a certain shopkeeper surnamed Shen and her "foster mother" remarks...
Lin Yan took the booklet from Pei Fei's hands and said coolly, "Aren't you supposed to be heartbroken right now?"
Author's note: Shen Shaoguang's moral compass isn't exactly high—please forgive her.
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