As it turned out, the old woman’s skills were far beyond what Qin Yao had anticipated. Not only was she not restrained by Qin Yao, but she turned with the motion of Qin Yao’s grip, using it as leverage to counter-lock her arm, and reached directly for Qin Yao’s shoulder like a phantom.
The move came fast and true. Qin Yao quickly flung herself backward to narrowly dodge the grab, then, without waiting to right herself, delivered a fierce kick — landing it squarely on the woman’s abdomen.
She had assumed that kick would surely send the woman flying, but the old woman appeared to have cultivated some extraordinary technique such as the Iron Shirt, for despite the full force behind the blow, her body did not move a single inch, and not the slightest trace of pain crossed her face.
Qin Yao thought grimly: not only had the attack failed, but she had openly exposed a gap in her defense.
Sure enough, the old woman grabbed Qin Yao’s ankle in a firm grip, then leaned forward to seize the initiative and press on her acupressure points, saying all the while, “Miss need not be afraid — my young master wishes to see you, and has instructed me to escort you to him.”
Qin Yao was both shocked and furious. She summoned every last bit of strength and rolled across the cramped floor of the carriage, evading the hand reaching for her, then used her free foot to kick violently at the old woman’s arm. She snapped back, “Who does your young master think he is? If he wants to see me, that means I must go?”
The old woman absorbed this blow, yet the hand gripping Qin Yao’s ankle held firm as an iron clamp. Only then did Qin Yao realize that this old woman, though unremarkable in appearance, was a top-tier martial artist by every measure, with a strange and singular fighting style. If she continued to tangle with her, she would inevitably be subdued.
Thinking this, she quickly reached into her garments and produced a talisman, muttering an incantation under her breath, intending to cast an Immobilization Technique on the woman.
The talisman had barely been extended when Cai Ping, who had finally recovered her wits, saw that her young miss was about to be outmatched. With a loud cry, she hurled herself headfirst at the old woman.
The old woman’s chin took the full impact of Cai Ping’s head, right where she hadn’t anticipated it. She let out a low sound of pain, and the grip that had been clamped around Qin Yao’s limb loosened momentarily.
Qin Yao quickly pulled her foot back, sat cross-legged on the floor, formed a hand seal with one hand, and pinched the talisman between her fingers with the other, preparing to cast the incantation anew.
The old woman gave Qin Yao no room to breathe. She swiftly regained her footing and lunged hard into the carriage.
She had just bent forward when an arm suddenly extended from behind her, yanking her back into a stumble. At precisely that moment, Qin Yao’s Immobilization Technique flew into her chest. Caught between two simultaneous assaults, the old woman lost all capacity to resist and toppled to the ground like a wooden log.
Though the old woman had been subdued, Qin Yao remained on guard, eyes fixed on the outside of the carriage, wary that the woman might have accomplices.
A moment later, Chang Rong appeared, leaning in from outside with a look of concern. “Miss Qu, are you all right?”
Only then did Qin Yao fully relax and nodded wearily. “I am fine.”
She rose and stepped out of the carriage, studying the old woman. “She claimed to have come on the orders of some young master, and her martial skill is remarkably formidable — I nearly got abducted. I wonder who this person really is.”
The old woman kept her eyes firmly shut and paid not the slightest attention to Qin Yao’s words, like a fish laid out on a cutting board waiting for the blade.
Chang Rong blinked inwardly. What origins could she have? This old woman was plainly Liu Qing, one of the Second Young Master Xia’s personal guards — a specialist in disguising himself as a woman, whose martial skill ranked among the very finest in all of Chang’an. That the Second Young Master Xia had even deployed Liu Qing to invite Miss Qu was, to put it charitably, by any means necessary, and to put it less charitably, thoroughly shameless.
No wonder the Young Heir guarded against the Second Young Master Xia as against a thief — he had sent several men to keep watch on him back at Jade Spring Mountain, for fear he would pester Miss Qu. And it seemed the Young Heir’s foresight was perfectly accurate: this Second Young Master Xia was truly capable of anything.
At this point Qin Yao asked curiously, “Guard Chang, what brings you to be here?”
Chang Rong scratched his head with a grin. “Has Miss Qu forgotten? The last time at Jade Spring Mountain, the Young Heir said that once you came down from the mountain, he would find an opportunity to explain in detail about the creature in the pool. Today he sent me to invite you to the South Marsh Garden, to wait for him there — he will be along shortly.”
Qin Yao suddenly understood and laughed. “If you hadn’t said so, I had nearly forgotten.”
The memory of what had occurred at the edge of the jade spring that night arose in her mind, and her face was suffused with a flush of red before she could suppress it. Afraid that Chang Rong and Cai Ping might notice, she quickly turned her face slightly away.
Cai Ping, seeing Qin Yao’s unconvincing composure paired with the obvious bashfulness on her face, asked in puzzlement, “Miss, what is the matter? Why is your face so red? Could it be that you were injured by that old woman just now?”
Qin Yao immediately let out a loud, deliberate cough, straightened herself up, and said in a serious tone, “Quite possibly. Oh — I also have a few classmates meeting at the South Marsh Garden today. That works out nicely — no need to run to two different places.”
A few classmates as well? Chang Rong privately felt a flicker of anxiety. It seemed some additional arrangements would need to be made, so as not to spoil the Young Heir’s plan later on.
After thinking it over, he smiled and said, “Miss Qu, the hour is not early — shall we be on our way?”
So saying, he hoisted the figure of Liu Qing — who had been trussed up like a rice dumpling — off the ground, strode a good distance away, slung him over the back of a horse, and gave quiet instructions to the men standing nearby.
Qin Yao knew that Chang Rong and the others would handle the woman appropriately, and thought she could always ask Chang Rong about the woman’s origins later. She turned and climbed back into the carriage.
After a moment, Chang Rong and his companions spurred their horses and caught up with the Qu household carriage, riding alongside as escort.
On the way, Cai Ping noticed that the ornaments in Qin Yao’s hair had become somewhat disheveled and askew from the earlier scuffle, and quickly produced a comb from her garments to redo Qin Yao’s hair and restore her appearance.
Qin Yao reached her arm back, trying to feel Cai Ping’s head. After patting around for a while without finding it, she could only say with heartfelt concern, “Cai Ping, that headbutt just now was thoroughly solid. That woman’s chin must still be aching from it. Did your head get a bump?”
Cai Ping’s round, chubby face broke into a smile that showed two deep dimples, and she shook her head cheerfully. “Don’t worry — Cai Ping’s head is as sturdy as can be. After all this time at the young miss’s side, I’ve at least picked up a trick or two. It’s just that person’s martial skill was too high — your maidservant only dared to use the Iron Head technique. Any other moves, even if I’d wanted to use them, probably wouldn’t have done much.”
Qin Yao couldn’t help but laugh and nodded. “You were brilliant. I’ll buy you plenty of delicious things later as a reward.”
When they arrived at the South Marsh Garden, the area was bustling with people — a sea of ladies dressed in splendid finery stretched as far as the eye could see.
At the far end of an enclosed walkway lay an inner lake of emerald water meeting wide skies, which had been dug and built by order of the late Emperor at considerable expenditure of labor and materials. Located south of the city, it was named the South Marsh Garden accordingly.
A graceful arched bridge spanned the South Marsh Garden’s lake, with weeping willows trailing on both sides. In blossom season, countless silken tendrils cascaded downward, and those who crossed the bridge felt as though they had stepped into the imagery of a poem.
Today being the Flower Festival, the lakeside was already dotted with beautifully adorned young ladies and dashing young men come to enjoy the scenery. Viewed from a distance, it was a scene of vivid greenery and brilliant color, entrancing enough to make one reluctant to leave.
Qin Yao stepped down from the carriage and was just about to search for Wang Yingning and the others when someone stepped in front of her and called out softly, “Ah-Yao.”
The voice was as clear and gentle as jade stones striking each other, and was unmistakably familiar to her ear.
Qin Yao was startled. She quickly looked up at the person, and the corners of her lips rose of their own accord. “Young Heir.”
By now the sun had climbed considerably higher than at dawn, and the light fell upon Lin Xiao’s face more clearly and fully than Qin Yao had ever seen it. She looked at his features — so perfectly refined that not a single flaw could be found — and that fluttering, unsettled feeling arose in her heart again. She quickly moved her gaze elsewhere and said, somewhat awkwardly, “The South Marsh Garden is certainly lively today.”
Lin Xiao’s face also flushed faintly with warmth. He followed Qin Yao’s gaze toward the distant lakeshore and said, “Yes, there are quite a lot of people.”
Then he turned to look at her and said, “Ah-Yao, even though the weather is pleasant today, there is still a touch of summer heat. Not far from here is the Crystal Pavilion, which has an excellent position overlooking the entire South Marsh Garden. Why don’t we rest there for a while, have some tea, and then walk around — how does that sound?”
Qin Yao hesitated for a moment, then thought that since the Crystal Pavilion was said to have such an excellent vantage point, sitting by the window to look for Wang Yingning and the others would not be a bad idea. She nodded and said, “That sounds fine.”
The two of them walked side by side. Once they were closer, Qin Yao noticed that his scent was reminiscent of orchids and bamboo — faint, intermittent, and exceptionally clean and refreshing.
The tips of her ears burned. The scent seemed to carry some immense weight, capable of branding itself upon her heart and leaving a mark there permanently. She quietly shifted a few inches to the side so as not to draw attention to it, creating a slightly greater distance between them.
But just then a surge of people came from the opposite direction, and because they had been walking too close together, they were inevitably jostled by the passersby around them, bumping into each other. Qin Yao did her best to resist with her inner energy, but there were moments when she could not guard against every direction at once. Her shoulder tilted, and she accidentally knocked into Lin Xiao — there was a dull thud, and she was not sure where she had hit him, but it must have hurt considerably. She felt terribly apologetic and embarrassed beyond measure. Just as she was about to straighten up and ask Lin Xiao where he had been hurt, Lin Xiao suddenly reached out and gripped her hand firmly, anchoring her to his side.
Qin Yao felt as if her heart skipped a beat. She immediately tried to pull her hand away, but no matter how she tugged, it did not budge in the slightest.
Lin Xiao did not dare turn his head to look at her, and only managed to say with forced calm, “There are too many people — I am afraid someone will knock into you. My inner energy cultivation is somewhat better than yours, so it is safer if I hold your hand as we walk.”