Master Dan raised his white brows. “Indeed? What was inside?”
“Mud from the river and old peasants’ clothes.” The magistrate waved his hand in front of his nose as if the mere mention of those items stank. “I was almost about to throw it back in, but there was a box buried at the bottom. Inside was the most exquisite item.”
What could possibly be more exquisite than the art already in the room? Zhi Lan was dying of curiosity, but she didn’t say so. Master Dan must’ve sensed her eagerness, for he smiled and said, “Pray, do show us, my lord. You are keeping us in suspense.”
Magistrate Bu gestured to his steward, who scampered off into the shelves, then came back with a small handheld scroll with silken ties. He unfurled it carefully.
Zhi Lan gasped.
It was a painting of a dragon done in loose, expressive brushstrokes. Its scaled body wove in and out of a cluster of swirling clouds like a winding river. It had a proud mane, great sapphire horns, and golden claws. The creature exuded pride and strength, but there was a playfulness to it too in the curved flick of its tail. It was so fluid and life-like that Zhi Lan almost thought she saw it move.
“Exquisite, is it not?” the magistrate boasted.
“Oh, yes!” Zhi Lan exclaimed, enraptured. “But where are the eyes?”
Two blank white orbs sat on the dragon’s face. It was missing its irises. Zhi Lan thought it looked achingly incomplete without them. She noticed too that there was no inscription on the paper, and no red seal that indicated the artist’s name.
“Therein lies the mystery,” the magistrate said. “It is an unfinished work by an unknown master. It is a rare painting—one of a kind!”
Zhi Lan looked to Master Dan, who seemed to have been rendered speechless by the piece.
“A mystery indeed!” Master Dan said. “It’s magnificent.”
Magistrate Bu waved his steward away. Zhi Lan watched the servant disappear behind the shelves with the dragon painting, wishing she could look at the piece for a while longer.
“You will have access to this room as long as I am your patron,” the magistrate said, clasping his hands behind his back. “Do you think this collection of mine is a significant source of inspiration, Li Chen? Will you be able to make many pieces of such quality for me?”
Master Dan bowed. “Of course, my lord! I have never been more delighted by a room in my life. You have provided me countless masters to learn from. May I take a look around?”
“Han, show Master Dan the bamboo scrolls,” Magistrate Bu said, waving a hand at his steward, who scampered back to his side. “Miss Zhi Lan. You are welcome to explore as you please too.”
“Thank you, my lord,” Zhi Lan said. She made a move to follow Han and Master Dan, but Magistrate Bu stood in the way, a wet smile on his lips. She smiled back hesitantly, then turned on her heel to the other side of the room. Maybe she’d be able to find the dragon painting and study it a little more. Han had put it away in the far corner, so that was where she would go.
Zhi Lan wandered past scrolls with calligraphy done in massive brushstrokes, delicate paintings of bamboo forests, and intricately enameled bronze containers. Scrolls overlapped on the walls and a vase concealed a delightful jade sculpture of a lion. Master Dan was right. This was a room of countless masters.
It was almost overwhelming. Zhi Lan wished each piece was given room to breathe and be admired.
She ducked into a narrow space where a large silk screen was half hidden behind a circular shelf. The silk was stretched over a polished wooden frame, embellished with gold gilding. At the top right corner was an inscription:
Lovers entwine beneath the willow boughs;
Like spring, passion blooms.
Zhi Lan sucked in a breath at the painting beneath. It depicted a man and a woman in front of a small pavilion beneath a willow tree. The lady was scantily dressed, her robe parted to expose the half moons of her breasts. The man embracing her was wearing nothing at all.
And between his legs was a rather...rude protrusion.
“This painting is calledScenery of the Spring Palace.”
Zhi Lan jumped. Magistrate Bu emerged from behind her, crowding the corner even further.
“Oh,” Zhi Lan said stupidly. Utterly mortified, she made an attempt to escape, but realized that the magistrate was yet again standing in the way of the only exit.
Zhi Lan wasn’t a prude, by any means. She had grown up in a small village, where everyone bathed in the same river, sometimes at the same time. Naked bodies were just that—naked bodies. It was the context and intent in which they were viewed that changed things. Andlovers entwining beneath willow boughscertainly changed things.
“It is one of my favorites,” Magistrate Bu said, smiling his wet smile again. From this proximity, his teeth were quite long and stained yellow. “It is a shame I can’t display it. My wife has rather modest sensibilities.”
Zhi Lan returned his smile nervously. “May I ask who the artist is? The line work is exquisite.”
