She spoke with Old Madam Song for a long time in the evening—she would be setting out early the next morning. Old Madam Song’s spirits had been somewhat poor recently, and Song Chuyi couldn’t bear to disturb her, so she simply listened that night as Old Madam Song finished giving all her instructions.
Old Madam Song worried about her and held her hand, unwilling to let go, repeatedly admonishing her with the same words over and over: “You must be extra careful along the way. I know you’re capable, but traveling away from home, and you’re all ladies—wherever you can be careful, you must be careful.”
Cui Yingshu couldn’t go. He had received an imperial command to go to Jiangxi. The Song family had no choice but to have Fifth Master lead them.
Xiang Mingzi suppressed her worry and glanced at Song Chuyi, nodding emphatically in agreement: “Great-grandmother is right. You must be careful on the road. Fortunately our family is bringing plenty of people, and Maternal Aunt also has many people with her.”
Song Jue was busy with official duties and couldn’t get away. Song Jie was now also beginning to manage affairs and was busy marrying a wife. Song Yi would soon after the New Year take up his post in Yanzhou Prefecture. The Song family truly couldn’t spare any male relatives. Originally, both by sentiment and reason, several more elders should have gone together, after all this was Old Madam Cui’s birthday celebration.
But even Cui Yingshu had been temporarily selected and dispatched to Linjiang and Pingxiang in Jiangxi to supervise the construction of official roads and rebuild government offices and residences, leaving him no time to spare. As for others on the Song family side, they truly couldn’t get away—this was unavoidable.
Song Chuyi agreed to everything. When she left, she saw Hechun waiting in the outer courtyard, requesting she go to the main courtyard.
Song Yi and Yin Yunduan sat together in the seats of honor. Seeing her enter, they stopped their conversation. After she finished her greetings, Song Yi asked her: “Is everything prepared?”
He should have been the one to go celebrate Old Madam Cui’s birthday, but the Ministry of Personnel had issued a document and he had to immediately take up his post. Going to Jinzhong would delay his duties, so he could only have Song Yan go in his place.
Song Chuyi nodded. Song Yi drily gave a few more instructions, then felt there was nothing more to say and looked back eagerly at Yin Yunduan. It had been nearly twenty days since their marriage. He increasingly felt that Yin Yunduan was pleasing and knew how to handle matters. Moreover, since marrying her, even his relationship with his pair of children had eased considerably, making him even more willing to listen to Yin Yunduan’s words.
Yin Yunduan sighed inwardly but showed nothing on her face. She pulled Song Chuyi to her side and patiently and meticulously instructed her on what to pay attention to during the journey, then pointed out Nanny Sun: “I have some medicinal herbs and small items here. Take them with you—if there’s any emergency, they’ll come in handy.”
When she walked out of the Second Branch’s main courtyard, all the lamps outside had already been lit. Along the roadside, two bronze gilt water-spouting goldfish-base rosewood palace lanterns stood on either side. The goldfish on top were revealed in every detail under the lamplight, extremely lifelike, complementing the purple gauze lanterns hanging from the treetops, decorating the courtyard magnificently.
Qing Ying was waiting in the corridor. As soon as she saw her come out, she hurried forward, touched the hand warmer in her hands, found it somewhat cold, quickly pulled out the hairpin from her head to stir the coals, then handed it back to her, supporting her as they walked outside.
“Commander Lai sent a letter to Luo Gui.” Qing Ying supported her as they walked while telling her: “Luo Gui just delivered it. Would you like to find Eldest Young Master first now, or return to Guanju Courtyard first?”
Today was the day Lu Bingyuan had just entered the capital. The Lu family had reserved a full ten tables at Zhongyin Quarter to welcome him, making quite a grand scene. Song Jue and Song Yan had also mixed in to watch the excitement, promising to return in the evening to tell her whether they had managed to speak with Lu Bingyuan.
Song Chuyi thought for a moment, then turned to instruct Luyi: “You make a trip to the First Branch. See if Eldest Young Master has returned, then ask him to come to Guanju Courtyard.”
Lai Chenglong’s letter said the same thing Zhou Weizhao had said—that the water route to Jinzhong had very difficult river pirates to deal with. Rumor had it they were displaced refugees from when Prince Tai rebelled who had gathered and turned to banditry. They had already become quite a stubborn force that even the local authorities couldn’t handle. She should be careful herself.
Such a force could be employed by whoever paid them. Since both Zhou Weizhao and Lai Chenglong were warning her like this, it meant these people were definitely planning to come after her.
Switching to the land route now would be equally troublesome—if it was really that group from Huangjue Temple wanting to deal with her, whether she took the water or land route would be the same.
Right now, those who wanted her dead through such methods were either the Chen family or Huangjue Temple. She put the letter back in the envelope and threw the whole thing into the charcoal basin, burning it clean.
Rustling sounds came from outside. Song Chuyi glanced out. Ziyun went out first to lift the curtain, and soon poked her head back in to tell her: “Miss, Eldest Young Master is here.”
Song Jue drank a mouthful of hot tea. Seeing Guanju Courtyard tidied up spotlessly, thinking that the mistress of this place would soon be traveling far, his heart held both worry and reluctance. He coughed once before giving the usual platitudes, urging her to be careful and pay attention on the road.
Then he looked at Song Chuyi and smiled: “Everything is proceeding according to plan. By the time you return, the Chen family will be finished.”
Not completely finished perhaps, but at least this Elder wouldn’t be able to continue serving. Since ancient times, few who got entangled in such matters could withdraw unscathed.
Ziyun added hot water for him. He watched the tea leaves float up and down releasing their fragrance, his eyes containing a smile: “This Lu Bingyuan is truly interesting. If you talk to him about the benefits of befriending powerful people, his nostrils point to the sky and he won’t even look at you properly. But if you steer the conversation toward the words of sages and the way of painting and calligraphy, he gradually gets drawn in. Such a person understands human relationships and worldly wisdom not one bit, single-mindedly only reads the books of sages, yet his character is also unrestrained and unconventional. No wonder you said in your dream he ended up in that situation—with his personality, that ending was inevitable.”
To deal with this type of literati who prided themselves on being lofty, you naturally couldn’t use power to pressure them, nor could you tempt them with gold and silk. Only by catering to their interests could you achieve your goal. Song Chuyi held the tea and smelled it, then smiled lightly: “You brought up that painting ‘Spring Waters and Autumn Frost’ from Elder Chen’s household to speak of it, which moved Lu Bingyuan’s heart, right?”
Someone so obsessed with painting—hearing that an authentic copy of this painting existed in the world, how could he not want to view it? As long as you dangled the name of this painting, there was no need to do anything else. Lu Bingyuan would flock to it himself.
Song Jue reached across the small table and tapped her head with a click, glancing at her sideways: “So capable!”
“Looks like I guessed right.” Song Chuyi protected her head and stepped back two paces to sit down in the rocking chair: “Otherwise how would this Young Master Lu be willing to bend his brow and bow to serve the powerful? Elder Brother, you’re also truly clever. After only meeting him twice, you already know where his weak spot is and know to cater to his interests.”