章 21: The Fine Art of Braiding Hair
After chatting some more, the two went their separate ways and Fei Li didn't see Lu Yanlin until later in the evening. He had been heading over to take a bath but just as he was going to pass Lu Qinyi's room, the door slid open. Warmth and light poured out followed by Lin An, who started upon being faced with Fei Li, hastily backing up a few steps, bowing her head in acknowledgement. Fei Li paused, glancing first at Lin An, then past her into the room beyond.
Lu Qinyi sat on the floor, brows furrowed slightly in concentration and hairpin held in his mouth as his fingers deftly braided a strand of Lu Yanlin's hair. She sat in front of him with her legs tucked beside her, chatting with a pleasant smile on her face to Zhao Mei, who was sitting on her knees beside her. Zhao Mei's hair already had similar delicate braids woven through. Zhao Mei's eyes flicked toward Fei Li for only a moment before returning her attention to Lu Yanlin. Yang Xun sat with his legs sprawled out, leaning over to observe Lu Qinyi's movements. "Can you slow down a bit General Lu? Your fingers are moving too fast, I can't clearly see how you're doing it," he complained with a frown.
Lu Qinyi was about to shoot him a look when he noticed Fei Li's presence. He held the unfinished braid in between the fingers of one hand while he spat out the hairpin into the other. He spun the hairpin around his fingers as he greeted "General Fei."
Lu Yanlin looked over, giving a small wave. Yang Xun raised his head slightly, looking toward the door with some surprise. "What's he doing here?"
"Bathroom is past here. He's probably going to take a bath," Lu Qinyi answered on Fei Li's behalf before he casually placed the hairpin back between his lips and returned to braiding.
"You're going too fast again," Yang Xun complained once more, his head spinning, struggling to follow the swift movement of each of the strands of hair as they passed between Lu Qinyi's fingers. Lu Qinyi seemed to be grinning slightly behind the hairpin as he shrugged a shoulder as if to say 'not my problem'.
Fei Li's brows rose as he glanced over the odd scene. It was truly strange that a noble's son and general could braid hair, as such Fei Li couldn't help but comment "General Lu, is there any skill you don't possess?"
Lu Qinyi tied the braid off with a thin piece of black string, taking the hairpin from his mouth again as he gathered a section of hair. He twisted it up and slid the hairpin in to neatly pin it in place. "I only learn useless skills."
"That's a nice way to cover up that you learnt it to do Daiyu's hair since you were worried she would feel left out having been deployed during the Spring Festival. Don't you remember how long you spent practicing on my hair?" Lu Yanlin chipped in lightly.
Lu Qinyi swatted at her shoulder without any force. "Hush you. That was so long ago, I might as well still have been a kid. But if you want to play this game then might I add you were glad I was learning so I could do your hair too. You have all the servants in the world to line your hair with gold thread and yet you had me do your hair for your birthday that year."
"On that note, you're certain Jialee would like me to do her hair?" Yang Xun asked with some doubt.
One side of Lu Qinyi's lips curled up. "Certain. What wife wouldn't want their husband to take the time to do their hair? But only if you can do it right so pay closer attention this time." Yang Xun's face heated up and he shot Lu Qinyi an annoyed look at the other's jabs. But he diligently sat up slightly to watch closely as Lu Qinyi gathered strands of hair to start another tiny braid in Lu Yanlin's hair.
Lu Yanlin started to nod but stopped as she felt the slight tugs of Lu Qinyi starting another braid. "He's right this time. Maiden Xu will surely like it, especially if you braid some flowers in."
"We could ask the only married one here if you're that nervous about it, Yang Ye." Lu Qinyi offered, looking meaningfully toward the quiet Zhao Mei.
She frowned slightly at him and the other pairs of eyes that followed. But the frown couldn't last as she considered whether she would like something like that, the image of her husband doing her hair while her son collected the flowers floating up in her mind. She remained expressionless aside from the corners of her mouth softening into the hint of a smile. "She will like it."
"See? What did I say?"
Fei Li decided he'd seen enough and turned to continue on with his original task. The sounds of chatter continued from behind him until Lin An pulled the door shut, the courtyard falling quiet and shadowed, with only the dim globes of light hung around for illumination.
On his way back from the bath, he crossed paths with Lin An once again. He paused to let her pass, watching as she struggled to carry an overloaded tray back to the room. She was completely concentrated, a light sweat breaking out on her forehead but the tray was simply too full, its items swaying dangerously with each step. Finally, the tray tipped just slightly and a teacup slid from safety. Before Lin An even had the chance to exclaim in horror, Fei Li had swiftly stepped forward, catching the cup before it could hit the ground.
"Oh um... Th-thank you, General Fei." She spoke softly, a slight tremble to her voice that followed into her hands, causing the items on the tray to clatter slightly from the movement.
"It's fine." He glanced at her. Even after all this time she had been serving him, she was still incredibly nervous in his presence. After some thought, he took up the teapot from the tray, significantly lightening its load.
Lin An looked at him with wide eyes before rapidly shaking her head. "There's no need to trouble yourself General, please let me do it."
"You'll break something if I dont help," Fei Li answered mildly, freeing two fingers from the hand that held the cup to open the door then gesturing for Lin An to go first.
She hesitated before nodding her head, timidly tiptoeing past him, the tray in her grip now much more steady. Fei Li followed after her, raising an eyebrow as his gaze fell on the scene before him.
The screen partitioning the room into separate sections had been pushed aside. Lu Qinyi laid lazily on his bed, head resting at the bottom edge and hair dangling down freely. Lu Yanlin sat neatly to one side while Zhao Mei sat on the other with her shoulder leaned against the end of the bed. They were both busily braiding along the lengths of Lu Qinyi's hair. Yang Xun sat to the side, brows furrowed and mouth twitching with irritation as he clumsily practiced braiding with silk bands. With how messy his attempt was it was no wonder he hadn't been allowed to braid on actual hair, the knots he would have made would have taken hours to brush out. Lu Qinyi raised a hand to wave at Fei Li before he made a gesture to Lin An. She seemed to understand immediately, placing the tray down on the low table before taking a roasted nut from one of the bowls. She tossed this to Lu Qinyi who caught it midair and popped it into his mouth happily.
Yang Xun looked up from his disaster of a braid, seeming even more frustrated when he saw Fei Li standing casually in the room. "What do you want this time?"
Fei Li shot him a look before stepping forward to place the teapot down on the table. He fiddled with the teacup a moment before tossing it over to Yang Xun who scrambled to catch it. "Nothing. I was just helping the servant girl."
Lin An lowered her head shamefully, hands clasped in front of her.
"How kind. Thank you General Fei, I'm sure Lin An appreciates it," Lu Qinyi spoke up before Yang Xun could continue his rudeness. He then looked over at Lin An who lowered her head further, fidgeting with the fabric of her dress.
"Thank you for your kindness General Fei," she mumbled, looking at him meekly from under her eyelashes with her head still lowered.
Fei Li gave a short nod, glancing once more at the leisurely General Lu, whose hair was being braided personally by his sister and his right lieutenant. He could only shake his head as he left the room.
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