Early on Tuesday morning, Xialuote woke to warm sunlight and the maid's soft call.
She no longer resisted being waited upon, as she had when she first transmigrated into this world. Instead she naturally held out her arm and let her personal maid, Laila, place a handkerchief soaked in warm water into her hand. With the maid's help she washed, had her hair arranged, and changed into clothes for going out.
According to the memories this body had left behind, traditional noblewomen of Yindisi at formal occasions often wore gowns so layered and elaborate that the side skirts were wide enough nearly to block a doorway, together with towering wigs built of feathers, pearls, and fresh flowers, so that a person looked like a walking garden.
The mere thought of such a scene left her feeling stifled.
Fortunately, Yindisi no longer took complexity and exaggeration for elegance. The flourishing of salon culture, the spread of Enlightenment ideas, and a general distaste for overly elaborate ceremony had led aristocratic circles gradually to seek once more the beauty of the body's own lines. After the defeat in the Three-Year War against the Luen Kingdom, the Luen fashions that entered Yindisi made the nobility admit that dress which was simple, neat, and suited to movement could look respectable as well.
Besides this, the Suolun royal family had long prided itself on a tradition of women wearing somewhat masculine clothing. Spreading downward, layer by layer, through aristocratic circles, the fashion had gradually influenced many provincial nobles. Nowadays, away from balls, many young ladies chose fitted dresses that showed the figure rather than merely piling on cloth, or an outfit with something like a man's coat above and a long skirt still worn below—just as Xialuote had dressed the last time she went to church.
Of course, a lady wearing men's trousers out of doors was still considered not respectable, so today she still wore a long skirt that fell to the tops of her shoes. Above it was a fitted coat of a pale color, with lace at the collar and cuffs that was not overly showy. The waist was set very high, so that the already slender proportions of this body stood out all the more.
Before the long skirt went on, she still had to put on her stockings with the maid's help and fasten them with garters.
When Laila half-knelt on the floor to straighten the tops of the stockings and the hem of the skirt, the overly intimate contact soon made Xialuote's ears burn. She could only turn her face stiffly away and look out at the garden beyond the window.
Only when everything was finished did she realize that, even without being tormented by panniers and a wig, she had already spent a full hour at the dressing table.
Is this the daily life of a noble young lady...? No wonder, in my memories, so little real work ever got done in a morning. Putting this "equipment" on and taking it off every day is a major undertaking... Grumbling inwardly, she left the bedroom and went down the carpeted stairs toward the first floor.
Baron Suolun was already waiting in the front hall.
Today Lawuer wore a deep red coat, with the family coat of arms at his chest. A few silver threads showed among his striking red hair. At his waist hung a slender sword that was more for ornament than for use, and with a manservant's help he was arranging a silk neckcloth.
As Xialuote drew near, she noticed a very faint trace of blue still on the tip of the thumb he had resting on the sword hilt.
"Father," Xialuote reminded him quietly, "there is still paint on your hand."
Lawuer started slightly, glanced down, and then smiled.
"I went to bed rather late last night and didn't notice."
With that, he took a handkerchief from his pocket and rubbed hard at his fingertips.
Gone to bed late... because he had stayed up painting in the studio? Oil paintings hanging on the walls all through the residence rose in Xialuote's mind, especially the one behind the two of them that showed the whole family of five, and for a moment she felt a swell of emotion.
Her father was not a man skilled at managing the family estate. At least judging by how things stood now, he could not be called competent at all.
Baron Suolun had originally owned several well-situated properties and businesses in Telier. Even if they could not compare with the main house, which truly held power, they had been enough for the baronial family to maintain a quite respectable life.
Unfortunately, over the past few decades finance and commerce in Yindisi had developed faster and faster. Private capital, trades of every kind, and the profits of commerce with other countries had gradually eroded the value of traditional land and property.
Lawuer's father, however, had failed to keep pace with the change. Like many conservative nobles, he still relied on land rents and a stipend from the royal family to maintain respectability, and he could not bring himself to seek cooperation with commoners. He was soon left behind by the tide of the age. After the title and the estate passed into Lawuer's hands, neglect of their management led to considerable debts, and some of the properties were sold to pay them off.
After he lost one loved one after another, the heavy blow made the baron lose all interest in Telier's society and its games of power. He left the capital in a manner that was not very respectable and brought his only young daughter back to Suxite, back to the old residence his aunt had left.
The pace of life here was slower than in Telier, and there were no frequent dinners and balls. For a disheartened Lawuer it was a good place, but that did not mean he could rest easy and enjoy the life of a noble without care.
At present the household of Baron Suolun had an annual income of about five thousand gold louis, including rent from the remaining properties in Telier, land rent from the baronial domain, and the stipend the royal family granted to collateral members of the Suolun family.
That sounded like a great deal, but the trouble was that keeping up a respectable noble establishment cost still more.
Repairing the residence and maintaining the estate took money. Employing a steward, cooks, a pastry chef, a secretary, menservants and maids, a coachman, and gardeners took money. Attending the necessary social affairs, keeping up relations with the Church and the Municipal Hall, and maintaining the local prestige of the Suolun name took money as well.
Once the fixed expenses were met, hardly any gold coins remained at the end of the year. And the respectable baron would rather paint at home and cherish the memory of the past than lower himself to seek some new source of income.
Respectability. What a deadly word... Smoothing the expensive dress that this same outlay had bought, Xialuote grumbled silently.
If it were she, even if she did not go into trade herself, she would at least cut expenses and then find a way to invest in some steadier ventures, rather than living on rents and a royal stipend while spending beyond his means to save a noble's face.
No wonder he had come slinking back from Telier... The somewhat disrespectful thought had only just risen when she saw Lawuer, his fingertips wiped clean, lift his head and look at her with a gentle gaze.
The flicker of disdain that had just been born weakened a little at once.
Never mind. At least he truly is good to his daughter... And precisely because the household's ready money is hardly plentiful, I have all the more reason to find a way to make money. I can hardly grow smug over pocket money of a few gold louis... At this thought, Xialuote quietly strengthened her resolve once more to better their lives with the knowledge in her head.
Unfortunately, for the moment she could not recall the details of that knowledge and those techniques. Several nights of sitting alone at the desk and thinking had all ended in a sigh. Even the notion of copying bestselling web novels had been dropped, because she simply could not remember the particulars. Every scheme for making money remained at the earliest stage of a plan.
The carriage soon drove west along the broad street. After it crossed the bridge that linked Saint Luoke District with the peninsula, the scene outside the window gradually grew lively.
Unlike the Old City, whose continual expansion had left its planning in disorder, Saint Luoke District was one of the oldest and most respectable quarters of Suxite. The cathedral, the monasteries, ancient noble residences, and a good many properties of the Church were gathered here. Along both sides of the streets were mostly walls of laid stone, orderly trees, and courtyards with ornamental iron gates.
Bo'ersi District lay along the middle of the peninsula. It met Xiakelusi District to the south and backed against the Old City to the north. To the east, across the Suona River, it faced Saint Luoke District; to the west it led toward the Laien River and the Dock District, which carried most of the city's traffic by water. Whether by location or by actual function, it was the true heart of Suxite.
The streets here had been resurfaced many times and were paved with even stone slabs. The drainage ditches were hidden beneath slabs along the roadside, and the shop signs were neater and brighter than in other quarters.
In particular, after the district followed the example of Telier's wealthy quarters and forbade the dumping of slops and refuse in the street, Suxite's newly rich, its lawyers and doctors, merchants from elsewhere, and some provincial nobles who wished to draw closer to the fashions of Telier all preferred to acquire residences in Bo'ersi District.
That included the family of Baron Lai'ang Gusitafu.
Through the carriage window Xialuote saw merchants in neat coats talking with people before their shops, a lady in a broad-brimmed hat going into a perfumer's with a maid in attendance, several young people passing the door of a bookshop with volumes in their arms, and, farther off, several finely decorated carriages stopped outside a coffeehouse.
The people here were plainly more at ease than those of the Old City, and more lively than those of Saint Luoke District.
Before long the carriage stopped before the residence separated from the busy street by a dark brown wooden door.
Because someone had been sent ahead to give notice of the visit, a servant was already waiting at the door. Seeing the carriage of the Suolun household arrive, he came forward at once, bowed, and led Lawuer and Xialuote into the courtyard.
The last time Xialuote had fled here late at night, she had had no chance to look closely. Only now did she find that the residence was newer than her own and better matched the style lately in fashion. The outer walls were pale, the windows tall and wide, and stone columns of simple lines stood to either side of the portico. It lacked the heaviness and gloom common to the ancient buildings of Saint Luoke District.
She followed at her father's side. She had only just entered the main building adjoining the courtyard and stepped into the carpeted principal hall when she saw Baron Lai'ang Gusitafu coming out to greet them.
Today he wore a well-cut heavy coat with a turned-down collar, a curled wig dusted with hair powder, knee-length breeches, square-toed shoes, and stockings. A placid smile was on his face. He seemed an entirely different man from the one who had risen in haste that night.
Behind him was Luosaier Gusitafu.
Unlike the young man who that night had leaned out from the second floor, stopped Aidian with a vase, and looked somewhat dazed amid the sudden chaos, Luosaier today was clearly much more himself.
He wore a dark green coat whose hem was a little shorter than his father's, the front left open to show a beige silk waistcoat and a white neckcloth. Below were the breeches and stockings then common for male nobles on formal occasions.
The bow he made to Lawuer was correct and natural. Only afterward did he look toward Xialuote.
Their eyes met briefly in the entrance hall.
Xialuote dipped a slight curtsy and gave the young man who had saved her a proper smile.
"Good morning, Mr. Luosaier."
Chapter 14