In the blink of an eye, it was time for the annual imperial hunt. Taking advantage of the days before New Year’s Eve, the imperial family wanted to seek good fortune and would go to the hunting grounds to hunt. All the noble children and ministers had to participate, also to dispel the year’s evil spirits and relax.
The hunting ground was at North Guang Forest, where high mountains and deep valleys created complex terrain, but also housed many rare birds and exotic beasts, presenting a unique challenge for these wealthy official children. This time it was especially lively.
Jiang Dan had finally managed to persuade the emperor to take her along. That day, the palace maids had risen early to select clothes for her. Since she was now a consort rather than a noble family’s daughter, she couldn’t dress in bright riding attire like them. After donning elaborate court dress, Jiang Dan looked at the woman in the mirror and finally grabbed the pearl-adorned hairpin from her hair in annoyance, saying: “What is this? This hairpin looks far too old-fashioned. Do you think I should wear such things?”
The palace maid was startled and immediately knelt down to beg forgiveness. In fact, there was nothing wrong with that hairpin—it was commonly used by the ladies in the palace. This particular one was of excellent quality, given as a reward due to the emperor’s current great favor toward her. But Jiang Dan was somewhat agitated and began rummaging through her jewelry box herself, looking at the pearls, jade, and enamel with great dissatisfaction. Unlike Jiang Li, though Jiang Dan pursued elevated status, she wasn’t as vulgar as her sister in hanging wealthy ornaments all over herself. She valued and cherished her youth and beauty. Now as the emperor’s consort, she had to constantly mind her status and couldn’t dress like a young maiden. Sometimes she even felt that the little palace maids around her looked younger than herself.
Entering the palace to live with a man old enough to be her father, competing with various women for this man’s favor, and having to dress herself more maturely than her peers—why, when she was clearly in her flower-like years? Her gaze fell on a bright red velvet flower in the jewelry box, and she suddenly thought of Jiang Ruan.
Though both daughters of the Jiang residence, Jiang Ruan could dress as she pleased without worrying about propriety. Even though she was also a first-rank lady and Princess Jinying, she could still dress like other young girls because Xiao Shao simply didn’t mind such things. Moreover, Xiao Shao was much younger than the emperor—he was at the perfect age, handsome and elegant. Why was Jiang Ruan so fortunate? Even when forced to desperate straits by Xia Yan, she had enough good luck to turn things around, while she herself could only trade her youth and freedom for temporary elevation. Yet all the wealth before her was still like flowers in water and moon in mirror, likely to vanish at any moment.
“Your Majesty…?” Seeing her prolonged silence with an almost sinister expression, the palace maid became frightened and spoke up to remind her.
Jiang Dan came back to her senses, slowly clenching the bright red velvet flower tightly in her hand with such force she nearly crushed the petals, yet her lips curved into an eerie smile.
It didn’t matter. No matter what, everything would soon be over. After this matter passed, she would be the only remaining daughter of the Jiang family, and nothing in this world could threaten her anymore. She would forever be among the elevated elite.
…
At Prince Jinying’s residence, Jiang Ruan looked at the enormous luggage before her with some annoyance, could only glare at Xiao Shao, who deliberately turned his head away, obviously pretending not to see her expression.
Steward Lin was still chattering endlessly: “Young Madam, these are pastries this old servant specially had the kitchen prepare, and osmanthus wine too. You young couple, both being young people, going out properly for the first time like this should have some food and drink prepared. But fearing Young Madam might drink too much, I also prepared some sobering soup with honey added—it won’t be hard to swallow and tastes sweet and mellow. Oh yes, there are also some poetry collections and miscellaneous records that might be useful. This old servant already had people load the Jiaowei qin onto the carriage too. Young Madam probably doesn’t know yet that Master plays the qin extremely well. Hmm, there are also some medicines, cough, ah, let this old servant think what else hasn’t been loaded… we should probably prepare some camping supplies too. How about candlesticks? They’ll look nice when lit at night.”
Jiang Ruan somewhat wanted to cover Steward Lin’s mouth. Ever since Xiao Shao had revealed his background completely, she could no longer look directly at Steward Lin. Occasionally seeing Steward Lin’s wrinkled old face, she couldn’t help wanting to go pull at his facial skin, preferably to tear that face right off and see if the true face underneath was indeed as rumored to be elegant and refined.
Regardless of what his true face looked like, having to chatter more than the nannies in the courtyard while bearing the identity of a former dynasty’s third-place scholar was truly demanding too much. Jiang Ruan rather admired Steward Lin—even if he went to the street claiming to be a former dynasty’s third-place scholar, probably no one would believe him. The difference was simply too great.
Jiang Ruan finally interrupted him: “Steward Lin, we’re only going hunting, not traveling for pleasure.”
“Hunting is pleasure,” Steward Lin waved his hand grandly: “Let the young master hunt some wild beasts for you to play with. The pelts can be stripped to make cloaks, and if there are cubs, you could probably raise them for Young Madam’s amusement. Young Master, you should bring Tiger Tyrant too.”
“What use is bringing a pigeon?” It was Lu Zhu who spoke. Xiao Shao’s message-carrying snow pigeon being named “Tiger Tyrant” was indeed incomprehensible. Lu Zhu continued: “Are there letters to deliver?”
“Bringing it to intimidate the prey would be good too,” Steward Lin said: “Tiger Tyrant is very clever.”
Now Lu Zhu fell silent too, probably really not knowing how such a pigeon could “intimidate” prey—confusing prey would be more accurate. Was this the legendary honey trap? Jiang Ruan thought about it and couldn’t help laughing.
Xiao Shao turned to glance at her. Jiang Ruan quickly said: “As you wish. It’s getting late, let’s board the carriage first. People are waiting at the hunting grounds—if we’re late, it’ll just invite gossip.”
Steward Lin busily went to arrange the carriage outside the residence gates. Xiao Shao walked out of the room with Jiang Ruan. Outside, the sky was clearing after snow, the snow-covered earth spread white and vast, trees hung with bright crystal-white icicles—a complete snowy landscape. Today Jiang Ruan wore a riding outfit of twisted gold and silver thread with auspicious cloud patterns, the upper body a neat little jacket with disk collar, the lower body knee-length brocade pants with white-fur-trimmed fox boots, covered by a thick brocade fire-rat fur cloak with eight medallions of “joyful encounters,” so brilliantly red it was striking. It set off her usually bright and charming face with additional dashing heroic spirit today, making her even more beautiful.
In the snow, Xiao Shao still wore all black, the hem embroidered with golden qilin patterns, covered by a same-colored dark gold crane cloak. His features were like a painting, yet handsome and aloof, appearing as cold and clear as a solitary moon in the sky. Jiang Ruan looked once and smiled: “You’re so well-favored that taking you to the hunting grounds, I feel all the prey combined wouldn’t be as precious as you alone.”
Xiao Shao raised an eyebrow, turning to look at her: “Prey?”
“I must keep a close watch,” Jiang Ruan said with a smile, then jumped onto the carriage Steward Lin had prepared for them. Xiao Shao also jumped in. After the two settled, Lian Qiao and the others followed with Jin San and several hidden guards in the carriage behind. Steward Lin gave detailed instructions again before pulling down the curtain. The coachman cracked his whip with a shout, and the carriage began moving slowly.
North Guang Forest was over ten li from the capital, with very complex terrain, making the journey rather boring. Jiang Ruan looked at the small table before her—Steward Lin had arranged the carriage interior very thoughtfully. Upon entering, it resembled some wealthy family’s small residence. The table even held a small wine pot and several plates of pastries. In broad daylight, were they really expected to drink?
Jiang Ruan found the wine pot quite cute and exquisite, with a gilt body featuring raised figures that looked lifelike, obviously carved by skilled craftsmen. She rotated the wine pot to face the figured side toward herself, and was immediately stunned—it clearly showed two naked people together. She wasn’t stupid; no matter how poor her eyesight, she could understand what that was. Before she could react, Xiao Shao suddenly reached out to snatch the wine pot from her hands and set it aside, saying matter-of-factly: “Nothing worth seeing.”
Thinking to ease the atmosphere, Jiang Ruan picked up a wine cup nearby and said: “This wine cup is actually quite refined…” Before finishing her sentence, she stared speechlessly at the figures on the cup.
Xiao Shao silently collected the wine cup too. Jiang Ruan widened her eyes and surveyed everything in the carriage, finally discovering that besides the wine pot and cups, the table legs, tablecloth, candlesticks, pastry boxes, and even the carriage curtains all had hidden depths. The paintings within were vivid and lifelike, truly making one’s heart race.
Steward Lin was indeed too thoughtful—this was simply pervasive. Perhaps he was most suited to lead the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Such thoroughness was truly both amusing and exasperating. Jiang Ruan turned her head to see Xiao Shao’s fair handsome face flushed red. He was still somewhat uncomfortable and turned away, but perhaps feeling this was truly self-deceptive, he quickly turned back to stare steadily at Jiang Ruan, as if proving he felt no guilt.
Jiang Ruan couldn’t help laughing. Xiao Shao was truly endearingly stubborn about certain things, especially his awkward insistence on saving face no matter what. Her laughter annoyed Xiao Shao, who simply pulled her over and wrapped her in his dark gold crane cloak.
“Still laughing,” he said coldly.
Jiang Ruan wasn’t afraid of him. In fact, Xiao Shao wasn’t frightening at all—at most he’d put on a cold expression, and he could never even manage that in front of Jiang Ruan. He truly had no intimidating power.
Xiao Shao raised an eyebrow, seeming to think Jiang Ruan was becoming increasingly bold, so he held her tighter and lowered his head, slowly approaching. Perhaps he only intended to frighten Jiang Ruan, but somehow his gaze ultimately fell on Jiang Ruan’s lips, his movements gradually becoming gentle.
Jiang Ruan quietly watched his handsome face draw closer and closer. Others couldn’t imagine what the usually aloof Xiao Shao looked like when moved by passion, but only she had seen such a Xiao Shao—as if instantly all coldness and indifference retreated, leaving only bone-deep tenderness. She slowly closed her eyes, then the carriage lurched, and Jiang Ruan nearly tumbled forward. Xiao Shao quickly reached out to steady her, preventing her head from injury.
The coachman’s apologetic voice came from ahead: “Master and Madam, there was a troublesome stone just now that the horse kicked. I hope we didn’t startle you.”
Xiao Shao: “…”
Jiang Ruan couldn’t help laughing. Xiao Shao looked at her helplessly as she laughed for a while. When Jiang Ruan finally stopped laughing, she touched Xiao Shao: “Seriously, are you nervous about this hunt?”
Xiao Shao drew her back into his embrace, carefully wrapping her snugly in the crane cloak, leaving only her palm-sized face exposed, and said lightly: “Not nervous.”
Jiang Ruan let him hold her through the cloak and said: “I’m somewhat nervous though. Jiang Dan will definitely take action during this hunt. I heard from your Embroidered Uniform Guards that Jiang Dan has already gotten involved with Xuan Hua. She moves quite quickly, saving me a lot of trouble.”
“You needn’t worry about anything,” Xiao Shao’s eyes flashed with coldness.
“I don’t need to worry about anything—they’re already eager to court death,” Jiang Ruan said lightly. “Jiang Dan scheming against me is understandable; our enmity was established years ago, and in this life it’s truly to the death. As for Pei’er wanting to scheme too, that truly displeases me. Now I’m eager to see her defeated.”
Xiao Shao tightened his embrace and pressed his lips together without speaking. Jiang Ruan smiled slightly. Xiao Shao’s crane cloak was very warm. In her previous life, she had also longed for this imperial hunt—then Jiang Susu could participate because she was an unmarried official’s daughter, while she could only remain in the deep palace, yearning through red walls and green tiles for freedom that would never be possible. Now in this new life, she was going to places she’d never been, only this time it was to enter a chaotic battle. This was indeed a hunt—everyone wanted to be the hunter rather than the prey. She glanced at Xiao Shao, treasuring the warmth under the crane cloak, and leaned closer to him. The most skilled hunter was right beside her; at least she had nothing to worry about.
…
By afternoon, the carriage finally reached North Guang Forest. Jiang Ruan and Xiao Shao were actually the latest arrivals except for the imperial entourage. This year’s imperial hunting ground was much livelier than previous years, with the enthusiasm of official children running quite high. As soon as Jiang Ruan arrived, Lin Zixiang pulled her over, saying: “You’re really too late. I thought you weren’t coming.”
Many noble daughters were around, all pointing and whispering when they saw Prince Jinying’s carriage arrive. When they saw Xiao Shao, they unanimously fixed admiring gazes on him. When Xiao Shao spoke with Jiang Ruan before walking to the men’s side, the looks directed at Jiang Ruan immediately filled with hostility.
Jiang Ruan wasn’t stupid and naturally understood the source of this hostility, wondering curiously: “Is he really so popular? But before our marriage, he wasn’t as sought-after as today.”
“Fool,” Lin Zixiang rolled her eyes at her: “Back then people saw your Prince Xiao as cold-faced and cold-hearted, afraid they couldn’t catch his eye, so who dared mention it easily? They all dismissed their hopes. Who knew that now seeing your Prince Xiao treat you gently and considerately, and being so handsome too—aren’t they regretting it? Everyone’s trying their best to squeeze into your prince’s residence.”
Jiang Ruan thought about it and felt at ease. Xiao Shao’s talent, appearance, and power were indeed among the finest in the Great Jin Dynasty. When she married him, everyone said this good cabbage had been rooted up by her, a pig. Now it seemed countless people coveted this cabbage. Jiang Ruan was considering when to pen this cabbage up when Lin Zixiang pursed her lips angrily: “Look, here’s one who regrets it.”
Following her gaze, Jiang Ruan saw a woman standing beside the crown princess, about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing light green crossed-collar gauze garments with a deep slate-colored cloak over them. Among the competing beauties in their various colorful clothes, such attire was so plain it could be called austere. This woman seemed to sense their attention and turned around, meeting Jiang Ruan’s gaze directly. She showed no surprise but smiled slightly.
This woman had delicate eyebrows and a small mouth. Her features individually weren’t particularly special, but together created a unique beauty—excessively refined. Most importantly, she had an air of dignified magnanimity between her brows that added considerably to her appeal. She was definitely someone who appeared very comfortable and proper at first sight.
Jiang Ruan vaguely guessed this woman’s identity and heard Lin Zixiang say: “You probably don’t know who she is—the precious daughter of Governor Yao’s family from the coastal region, Yao Niannian.”
The Yao family’s daughter. Jiang Ruan lowered her eyes. She’d heard much about her—mostly that the emperor intended this Yao daughter to be Princess Jinying, but somehow Xiao Shao had ultimately chosen Jiang Ruan instead. By these accounts, Xiao Shao was quite wronged. Jiang Ruan had always laughed off such rumors. Regarding Yao Niannian, she was rather curious. She’d heard this Yao daughter knew astronomy above and geography below, unlike so-called talented women like Jiang Susu who only knew music, chess, books, and painting. Yao Niannian understood both court authority and common people’s suffering. The Yao family’s prosperity was partly due to Yao Niannian’s contributions.
Jiang Ruan also knew that when the former Prince Jinying and his wife faced accusations from ministers due to treason charges, the Yao family had strongly supported Prince Jinying’s residence and even sought justice for Xiao Shao. It was said that Yao Niannian had learned of this matter and returned home to persuade her father. So Yao Niannian and Xiao Shao were at least not adversarial. Jiang Ruan had only casually glanced at Yao Niannian without other intentions—firstly, Xiao Shao wasn’t a philanderer, and secondly, this Yao Niannian had always been the emperor’s wishful thinking, which she truly didn’t take seriously. But in that instant of meeting Yao Niannian’s gaze, she sensed something wrong. That woman’s look seemed somewhat hostile. Though well-disguised, for someone like Jiang Ruan who had grown up soaked in “hostility” from childhood, such gazes were all too familiar.
“You’re talking nonsense again,” Wen Feifei said. Since giving birth, this was her first time out. Accompanying her husband to the hunting ground this time, her mood was quite good. Having overheard Lin Zixiang and Jiang Ruan’s idle chat, she couldn’t help interjecting: “What regret? That Yao daughter is said to be someone with great ambitions, reportedly very generous and tolerant. As for your Prince Xiao, stop troubling Sister Ruan—can’t you see the little couple are perfectly happy like honey mixed with oil?”
“It’s not thieves stealing you should fear, but thieves eyeing your goods,” Lin Zixiang unfortunately wasn’t appreciative and insisted on her view: “All so-called talented women in this world are the same. Claiming generosity is just not wanting to become a laughingstock. It’s still just two words: hypocritical.”
Lin Zixiang had keen intuition about human nature, and in many matters such people were actually the cleverest. This time Jiang Ruan’s thoughts coincided with hers. From just a brief glance, she knew this Yao daughter wasn’t as generous and tolerant as she appeared. At least in that moment of eye contact, she had detected many inexplicable emotions.
Truly, her precious cabbage was valuable—one careless moment and people wanted to steal it.
Just as she was thinking, she suddenly heard a familiar voice: “Sister Ruan, you’re here too!”
Jiang Ruan turned around to see Zhao Jin dismounting her horse. Today she wore bright yellow riding attire—their family being military naturally paid great attention to such things. Dressed this way, she nearly outshone all the other ladies, looking truly spirited and heroic. Quite a few noble young men among the male guests stared openly with undisguised gazes.
“Ah Ruan.” Jiang Xinzhi happened to walk over too. Now he was also among the court’s new nobility, so today’s occasion was essential for him. He strode over with large steps. Jiang Ruan hadn’t seen him for a long time—these days he’d been busy with military camp affairs and visited Prince Jinying’s residence less frequently. Jiang Ruan smiled: “Big Brother, you’re just arriving now.”
Zhao Jin had wanted to speak with Jiang Ruan, but unexpectedly before she could say a word, Jiang Xinzhi arrived. She froze in place, then quickly lowered her head, afraid Jiang Xinzhi would notice her. Seeing this, Lin Zixiang asked curiously: “Zhao Jin, why are you looking down? Is there silver on the ground?”
Now Zhao Jin couldn’t hide even if she wanted to, so she could only steel herself to raise her head and greet him stiffly: “General Jiang.” Then she lowered her head again to look at the stones at her feet, kicking them intermittently as if raising her head would cause disaster.
Jiang Xinzhi looked at her behavior and frowned, seeming somewhat angry.
Jiang Ruan’s gaze swept between the two, her lips curving upward. She wasn’t unaware of what was between them, just hadn’t known Zhao Jin’s influence was greater than she’d imagined. What kind of person was Jiang Xinzhi? Probably one of the world’s rare good men who, except toward enemies, treated people with consistent gentleness and courtesy—a true gentleman. Yet such a person showed his own emotions when facing Zhao Jin. Probably Jiang Xinzhi himself hadn’t noticed this problem.