Midsummer had passed. Autumn in Dahuang was the most beautiful season of the four seasons – the sky was high with thin clouds, rice and wheat were golden yellow, sunlight was brilliant yet gentle. Even the usually dark, muddy swamps reflected faint golden light, making one constantly think of beautiful words like abundance, surplus, fullness, and harvest.
Jing Hengbo walked along the road. The land beneath her feet was vast and fertile. To the left was a large swamp that had been developed into mulberry-dyke fish ponds. She could see fat catfish drilling through the mud inside. Farmers waded barefoot through the mud, fishing up old lotus roots to take home for making lotus root cakes. Nearby were large mulberry groves and orchards. The mulberry picking season had passed, and farmers were breaking off mulberry branches to grind up for growing mushrooms – by winter there would be fresh fungi to eat.
On the other side of the swamp were large wheat fields. An old farmer in the field laughed while harvesting, “This year we’ll have a good harvest! Who would have thought that planting black clover for two years would really improve the soil quality of this land? Look at our wheat – aren’t the grains plump and full?”
“That’s thanks to Her Majesty the Queen’s great fortune!” A man in another distant field straightened up, wiped his sweat, and laughed, “Our poor mountains and bad waters – before, the swamps wasted large tracts of land, and the alkaline soil was also wasted. Year after year we saw no harvest, rats ran in the granaries, grain jars weren’t even half full. Which year didn’t each village starve a few people to death? Hey, if it weren’t for what the Queen said at that inaugural ceremony back then, and the various countries gradually implementing those measures over the years with real results, how would we have our full bellies now!”
“Have you heard what they’re saying outside – that Her Majesty the Queen is a rakshasa, a death star, a white tiger, an ominous demon!”
“Bah! Don’t listen to those officials’ nonsense. Can anything good come out of their mouths? This old man has lived so long and only knows one thing – whoever lets us eat our fill is the best ruler. If the Queen stood before me, I’d have to invite her to try our catfish with sauce and lotus root cakes. As for those lordships, they only deserve to eat shit!”
“You old fool, bragging again! Would the Queen care about your catfish and lotus root cakes? Who are you telling to eat shit! You go eat it yourself first!” An old woman swayed over from the field ridge, stuffing a steaming lunch basket into the old man’s arms.
“Ha! Egg pancake rolls with braised eggplant – good food!” The old farmer lifted the basket’s cover cloth and called out happily. He climbed up onto the ridge, about to eat, when he suddenly felt someone standing beside him. Looking up and squinting his eyes, he smiled, “Young lady, are you hungry?”
Jing Hengbo looked at the food in the old man’s basket with a smile and nodded. She had heard the conversation just now and was in a very good mood. The suggestions she had made years ago for mulberry-dyke fish ponds and improving Dahuang’s soil quality were now gradually showing results. What was more important in this world than having enough to eat? If even half of the swamps that occupied seventy percent of Dahuang could be utilized, then national strength and people’s livelihood would see tremendous progress. In the future, after unifying all countries and tribes, leaving the swamps, and trading with various nations, it wouldn’t be impossible for Dahuang to become the greatest power.
The old man generously grabbed a large piece of rolled pancake and handed it over, laughing, “Everyone has inconvenient times when traveling. Eat, eat! This year’s harvest is good – young lady, try our new wheat!”
The old woman felt a bit sorry and pursed her lips, muttering, “Get a little praise and you start panting. Eggs aren’t something we eat regularly…”
The old farmer’s fingernails were full of black mud, and several women hesitated a bit. But Jing Hengbo accepted it without hesitation, smiling, “Thank you, old sir.”
She casually divided the pancake, keeping a piece that hadn’t been touched by the old farmer’s fingers, eating while chatting casually, “Old sir, is this your own field or are you tenant farmers?”
“Tenant farmers. This field and the mulberry grove over there both belong to the Zheng family of Puyang. The Zheng family has great wealth and power – they have people serving as high officials in the royal city and also manage the education of scholars throughout our Meng Kingdom. Most of the land in Puyang belongs to their family. But the Zheng family are good people – they charge little rent, never pressure us, open their doors to distribute grain during disaster years, and even send pork to tenant farmers during festivals…” The old man talked on and on. Jing Hengbo listened with a smile, her mouth full of fragrant egg pancake, golden waves of wheat fields before her eyes. All the bloodshed and gloom from this journey seemed to be instantly washed away by this refreshing autumn wind and joyful laughter. The wind was light, clouds were thin, heaven and earth were clear and bright.
After eating a corner of the pancake, she quietly placed a piece of broken silver in the old man’s lunch basket. She returned to the shade of trees on the other side, where Gong Yin was sitting cross-legged in meditation. Jing Hengbo poked his arm and handed him the piece she had specially saved, saying, “This corner is clean – I specially saved it for you.”
She had thought Gong Yin would surely refuse to eat such coarse food, but to her surprise, the corner of his mouth curved up. He took the pancake and slowly tore off pieces to eat.
Jing Hengbo was in an excellent mood and beamed, “That’s right! One must stay grounded. When we get to the city, I’ll buy you some colored clothes. Don’t always wear that deathly white – it’s not auspicious when visiting people’s homes.”
She squinted her eyes and imagined Gong Yin wearing green, yellow, red, and blue clothes, but somehow couldn’t accept it, so she shook her head.
Asking him to be grounded – actually, she still preferred this fellow’s supreme purity of snow-white robes unstained by dust. From her eyes to the bottom of her heart, it was all clear, transparent joy.
Gong Yin just smiled and didn’t object to her arrangements. Despite all their disagreements and hardships since they met, he had gradually learned to let go in these small matters. As long as she liked it, he was even willing to let her put a tall hat from Meng Kingdom on him. He just didn’t know why, ever since entering Meng Kingdom, Jing Hengbo had been particularly sensitive to the green tall hats that Meng people wore, pointing and laughing at them all day. She had nearly caused misunderstandings and fights several times. He didn’t know what strange story green hats held for her.
“Have you inquired about the Zheng family?” he asked.
“Their reputation is quite good.” Jing Hengbo nodded with satisfaction. “I originally received such sudden news and thought Meng Hu had suffered some grievance, but it turns out I was overthinking.”
The corner of Gong Yin’s mouth curved up, and his eyes were also quite satisfied.
Half a month ago, just as the Floating Water incident had been cleared up, Jing Hengbo received an invitation and a leave request, both sent by Meng Hu. Meng Hu, who was stationed at Di Ge, was originally from Meng Kingdom. Having followed Gong Yin for many years without returning to his hometown, he recently received news from his family that the old matriarch’s health was poor. She worried about having a grandson who still hadn’t married, so she personally arranged a good marriage for Meng Hu, asking him to quickly hand over his duties to the Queen or request leave to return home for the wedding.
Meng Hu was naturally very surprised, but news of his grandmother’s poor health after years of separation also made him quite anxious. He immediately sent a leave request to the Queen, and to show respect, also attached the invitation. Since leaving Floating Water, she could go either to Liuli or to Meng Kingdom. Jing Hengbo decided to go to Meng Kingdom, taking her time to enjoy the journey and attend Meng Hu’s wedding. Her reply to Meng Hu had to be sent back to Di Ge first, and Meng Hu was probably still on the road. So she planned to take advantage of arriving first to have a look at Meng Hu’s bride and check up on the most trusted commander of herself and Gong Yin.
Now they had already entered Meng Kingdom territory. After inquiring all along the way, she learned that the Zheng family, Meng Hu’s future father-in-law’s family, was a famous scholarly clan in Meng Kingdom. They had people serving as Minister of Rites and Academicians in court, and also controlled the prestigious Bifeng Academy, famous throughout Meng Kingdom and even all of Dahuang. The family had a hundred-year heritage with strict family traditions, never oppressing common people or exploiting the countryside. The Zheng family’s young ladies could all be called virtuous and accomplished in the four feminine virtues. They had always been the preferred choice for head wives among Meng Kingdom’s officials, scholars, and even royalty. Though Meng Hu’s family could be considered royalty, in the eyes of such a noble family, he wasn’t necessarily a good match. It was only because Old Master Zheng had some friendship with Meng Hu’s grandfather in earlier years that he agreed to the marriage proposal from Meng Hu’s old grandmother.
After learning this, Jing Hengbo couldn’t help but feel both happy and amused for Meng Hu. It was hard to imagine whether that rough man Meng Hu, after marrying such a properly raised young lady from a scholarly family, would have to change his way of living in the future.
Meng Hu’s family was also prominent in Meng Kingdom, being a branch of the royal family. His grandfather held the title of Prince, which after two generations was reduced to Duke. Meng Hu’s uncle inherited the Duke title, while his father was the general of one of Meng Kingdom’s two largest border armies, the Chihu Army. As the second son, Meng Hu had no burden of inheriting the family business or title from childhood. He left Meng Kingdom early to travel around various parts of Dahuang and was recruited by Gong Yin early on, becoming his trusted confidant and following him for many years. He was actually older than Gong Yin and should have married long ago.
“Puyang City isn’t far from here. It’s still early – why don’t we enter the city early and stroll around?” As soon as Jing Hengbo suggested shopping, several people’s eyes blazed as they turned their faces toward her. Jing Hengbo sniffed and sighed – too many followers was really annoying. Look at Pei Shu’s expression, look at Yelu Qi’s smile – it was unbearable.
Fortunately, the followers also had their own followers. Meng Potian suddenly jumped out and grabbed Pei Shu, “The other day you broke my jade bracelet, and you promised to compensate me with one! Now we can go to Puyang City to buy it!” Without allowing discussion, he dragged away Pei Shu, who was about to sidle over.
As for Yelu Qi’s side, the gentle and refined Ji Wen stood gracefully in front of Yelu Qi, smiling charmingly, “Now that we’ve reached Shangye Prefecture of Meng Kingdom, Ji Wen will take the shortcut through Shangye back to Ji Kingdom. With this parting, we don’t know when we’ll meet again. I wonder if you would be willing to spend these few remaining days together accompanying Ji Wen to see the scenery of Meng Kingdom once more?”
Ji Wen’s smile was always so perfectly appropriate. Her tone and expression showed no sorrow, no intention to coerce with favors or feelings, yet made one feel this woman’s smile was distant and empty, considerate and intimate, unable to arouse feelings of annoyance or speak words of rejection.
Especially for someone like Yelu Qi, who was always considerate of others’ feelings, facing such an attitude and smile, such tone and words, he could only smile and say, “This would be my honor.”
Jing Hengbo watched as the four of them left separately and let out a long breath. She sincerely prayed that Meng Potian and Ji Wen could successfully break through the barriers. But in her heart she also felt that though Pei Shu and Yelu Qi had different personalities, stubbornness was a common trait of such excellent men. For Meng Potian and Ji Wen, the road of pursuing love would be long and arduous, requiring perseverance and even more importantly, opportunity.
Reunions gained through hardships were always precious. She took hold of Gong Yin’s sleeve, “Come on, let’s go stroll around the city too!”
To be able to shop alone with Gong Yin, Jing Hengbo strictly ordered all guards not to follow. Besides the Hengge Army guards around her now, she also had some retainers from the Zuoqiu clan. Zuoqiu Mo had taken the other retainers who had joined her, along with those two “royal husbands,” back to Di Ge first. They were about to temporarily take over from Meng Hu and help Yu Chun manage the city defenses of Di Ge’s Yuzhao Palace.
Having shaken off those people, they strolled on the main street of Puyang City in Meng Kingdom. Puyang was a relatively prosperous city in southern Meng Kingdom, with shops lining the streets, heavy traffic, crowds of people, and green hats everywhere…
Having been in Meng Kingdom territory for several days, Jing Hengbo still couldn’t help wanting to laugh when she saw those tall green hats. What was even more wonderful was that in Meng Kingdom, green hats represented social status by their height – the higher one’s position, the taller the hat. So just by looking at the hats on people’s heads, you could tell their approximate social status. Jing Hengbo very much looked forward to when Meng Hu returned to his country, he would wear a groom’s red robes with a green hat tall enough to pierce the sky to receive her.
Two green hats by the roadside seemed to be old friends meeting after a long separation, constantly bowing to each other with excitement, “Brother Wang, long time no see!” “Brother Li, have you been well…” The two tall green hats bumped together with thumps. Jing Hengbo giggled and suddenly let go of Gong Yin’s hand, ducking through the green “archway” formed by the two hats. The two old men cursed in unison, “Where did this wild girl come from! Disrespectful! Disrespectful!”
Gong Yin stopped and watched Jing Hengbo giggling, her graceful figure weaving in and out of the green hat archways. He couldn’t help but smile faintly – this woman had endured too many trials and dangers along the way, with few moments of relaxation and joy. What harm was there in letting her play around? Seeing the crowd on the street cursing angrily, some taking off their hats to throw at people, he calmly walked through the crowd and casually collected all the hats that were about to be thrown at his woman. As he passed by, a chill emanated from him, making everyone shiver and look around wondering where such icy cold came from in this golden autumn season. When they looked back, they only saw the retreating figures of the man and woman.
Ahead, Jing Hengbo paid no attention to what people were cursing, smiling as she looked back at Gong Yin. Meeting her smiling face, Gong Yin’s gaze swept over her slender waist before quickly looking away.
He had been thinking about one question – was Jing Hengbo pregnant or not?
No matter how he looked, she didn’t seem pregnant. Her appetite, figure, and behavior showed no changes. The only puzzling thing was that Jing Hengbo always seemed to intentionally avoid letting him take her pulse. Once or twice he discovered her drinking medicine, but afterward he couldn’t find any medicine dregs. When asked, Jing Hengbo said it was to consolidate the medicine’s effects from the previous epidemic to prevent recurrence. It sounded reasonable, but he always had doubts in his heart.
When they were staying at the Floating Water palace with Qiu Jinfeng, the three had separate rooms and ignored each other. In the early days, he and Yelu Qi were each recovering from injuries and couldn’t attend to anything else. Later, when he felt somewhat better, he asked Qiu Jinfeng about Jing Hengbo’s physical condition. Qiu Jinfeng’s expression was quite strange, and just as he was about to say something, he was interrupted by Yelu Qi. After that, Yelu Qi never let Qiu Jinfeng have private conversations with him. This behavior also made Gong Yin suspicious, especially Qiu Jinfeng’s disdainful attitude when mentioning Jing Hengbo – it always seemed somewhat unreasonable.
Unfortunately, after the Floating Water palace incident, Qiu Jinfeng almost immediately parted ways with them and returned to his own people. Otherwise, he had planned to ask him properly.
It was precisely because of this doubt that he had been accompanying Jing Hengbo to Meng Kingdom, ultimately not feeling at ease about her safety.
Suddenly he felt alternating heat and cold in his body. He paused slightly and lowered his eyes to regulate his breathing. Since using his power to save Yelu Qi, his true power loss hadn’t been as Qiu Jinfeng described – immediately completely drained. Rather, afterward, his body seemed to develop cracks. Whenever he used his true qi even slightly, he would uncontrollably lose even more true qi. This wasn’t a good sign, but he dared not think about it further.
Ahead, Jing Hengbo happily turned back and beckoned to him. Gong Yin raised his eyes and immediately put on the shallow smile that would reassure her.
Under the sunlight, that person was as brilliant as a dahlia. How could he bear to let even a shadow of fate fall upon her smile?
“Ha! You like green hats?” Jing Hengbo glanced at the green hats in his hands and laughed as she walked into a clothing shop to buy hats for Gong Yin.
The shop was full of various green hats – silk, satin, cloth, hemp. Jing Hengbo suppressed her laughter as she tried to make Gong Yin try them on one by one, but was finally stopped when Gong Yin grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the shop under the shopkeeper’s puzzled and annoyed gaze.
With her putting one on while laughing, not even getting it on his head before she was already laughing so hard she couldn’t straighten up – she really looked like a madwoman.
Jing Hengbo gave up her original intention of buying hats, fearing she might actually die laughing. Instead, she energetically bought Gong Yin a pile of clothes in every color except white. As she put it, they would soon be attending someone’s wedding feast – surely he couldn’t wear all white to that?
She also bought a pile of flashy clothes and accessories, having the shopkeeper send them to where her guards were stationed outside the city. Those were for the young men from the Longying family. That group adhered to the Longying family’s ascetic rules and were always simple in dress. Jing Hengbo believed that as the de facto girlfriend of the family head, she had a responsibility to dress up the family head’s flowers.
As for various trinkets, snacks, jewelry, and a pile of other things, these were carried by Gong Yin. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – if she didn’t quickly experience the treatment of “I’m responsible for swiping cards and shopping, you’re responsible for carrying bags,” she’d be doing herself a disservice.
Jing Hengbo felt that Master Gong’s appearance with things in his hands, hanging on his arms, and cradled in his embrace was the most down-to-earth divine appearance she had ever seen…
Walking from one end of the street to the other, she inadvertently looked up and her eyes lit up in surprise, “There’s even a Beauty Hall here!”
“Beauty Hall” was the general name for her chain women’s shopping centers. Jing Hengbo had been busy with affairs during her inspection tour, so she had handed the mall expansion business over to Chai Yu. She hadn’t expected Chai Yu to move so quickly as to open one even in Meng Kingdom.
This one looked like it had opened recently, with fresh decorations and good business, with people constantly coming and going. At the entrance were fragrant carriages and precious horses. From time to time, veiled women supported by maids would gracefully enter the shop.
Jing Hengbo smiled as she examined this Beauty Hall’s design, and had to express sincere admiration for Chai Yu’s business acumen – this woman had actually designed the top of the Beauty Hall as a high roof covered with green glazed tiles, looking exactly like a green hat!
Jing Hengbo wanted to laugh again. After laughing for a long time and wiping away the tears from laughing, she had to admit that while the green hat Beauty Hall looked offensive to her, it must look particularly novel and welcoming to Meng Kingdom people. So this Beauty Hall even had male distinguished guests.
Many carriages were parked at the Beauty Hall entrance, including a golden carriage with carved saddles and decorated wheels, crystal curtains, jeweled canopy and brocade awnings. It sparkled in the sunlight, practically able to blind people’s eyes. Jing Hengbo laughed even more, showing her teeth but not her eyes. Big spenders! So many big spenders! So much silver flying toward her!
After admiring it, Jing Hengbo approached the Beauty Hall in a very good mood. Just as she walked up the steps, she heard a great commotion inside.
“A complete set of Blackwater Marsh Magnolia Pearl Rejuvenating series! A set of Blazing Fire Swamp Morning Sun Herbal Eye Essence series, a set of Lauder Beauty Whitening Tender Complexion Moonlight Essence, a dozen Natural Goddess Anti-Roughness Moisturizing Soaps, a set of Aili Fine Skin-Fitting Non-Smudging Cosmetics, a box of Blackwater Marsh Blackhead-Removing Deep Water Mud Masks…” A shop assistant was loudly announcing the products a customer had purchased.
Jing Hengbo listened with eyebrows raised in delight – these were all high-end products from Beauty Hall! The prices at Beauty Hall were quite impressive, and this customer must be a big spender. Buying so much at once – no way, she had to get involved and try to make her buy everything including “Blue Sea Mystery Eternal Luxury Golden Face Mask, Sisley Bright Eyes Firming Diamond Starlight Eye Cream, Elizabeth Arden Enchanting Night Shadow No. 7 Perfume, Clarins Skincare Body Firming Lifting Cream…” the whole lot!
She quickly walked toward the shop interior, but suddenly saw people streaming out like water, nearly pushing her down the steps. The rolling crowd rushed out of the shop and scattered into the street. Many young ladies hurriedly lifted their skirts and walked quickly out, climbing into their carriages with the help of their nannies and quickly driving away from Beauty Hall. In the blink of an eye, only Jing Hengbo remained on the steps, and only that particularly ornate gold-and-jade-inlaid carriage remained at the entrance.
Before Jing Hengbo could react, something flew out from inside the door, smashing straight toward her face.
“There are skin flakes in this face cream!”
Jing Hengbo reached out and caught the item – it was a blue crystal box containing white cream. She recognized it as her flagship product, Magnolia Pearl Face Cream.
Before she could open the box to look, several more things flew out one after another with whooshing sounds – red jade bottles, white crystal boxes, purple wooden boxes, seven-colored glazed jars… all her flagship products that had just been sold.
A slightly shrill female voice came out from inside without any restraint.
“There are black spots in the soap! Dried insects in the foundation! Snake skin in the face mask! What kind of black shop is this, daring to sell such dirty, vile things at high prices! Someone come! Smash this shop for me!”