In years past, the autumn hunt at Mount Shouhuai usually lasted around ten days. Since Qin Yao was to come along this time, preparations naturally had to be made in advance.
Aunt Wen and Cai Ping worked busily until midnight before finally getting Qin Yao and Lin Xiao’s personal belongings all properly arranged.
Before dawn the next day, a palace carriage arrived at the gates of the residence of Prince Lan to collect Qin Yao. Since it was not practical to bring too large a retinue on the autumn hunt, Qin Yao chose only Cai Ping to accompany her to Mount Shouhuai.
Lin Xiao saw the mistress and her maid settled into the carriage, instructed Chang Rong and the others to attend them at all times, and then went into the palace to prepare for the Emperor’s journey.
By the time the carriage was halfway along the road to Mount Shouhuai, Qin Yao noticed a string of carriages from Yunyin Academy gradually catching up from behind, and only then realized that her schoolmates were also heading to Mount Shouhuai.
She quickly had Eunuch Zou pull the carriage to the side and sent Cai Ping to ask after Wang Yingning and the others. Before long, Cai Ping returned with word: “Miss Wang, Miss Liu, and Miss Pei are all together, in the third carriage back. Miss Liu asked me to inquire of the Consort whether, since it has been so long since they last saw you, they might come ride with you for a while.”
Qin Yao smiled at once. “Of course, please invite them over.”
Had she not been so busy these past few days searching for the Ghost Swordsman, she would have gone to see Wang Yingning and the others long ago.
She lifted the curtain and looked out with eager anticipation, only for a lone horseman to come galloping swiftly past the carriage just then. The moment he caught sight of Qin Yao, he yanked sharply on the reins and turned to look back at her.
Sensing the man’s gaze upon her, Qin Yao turned to look and found a young general with long, elegant brows and striking features — none other than Xia Di.
He stared at her without blinking, his gaze unrestrained and even tinged with a kind of greed, making no effort at all to conceal it.
Chang Rong’s expression darkened. He flicked the reins and rode his horse forward, blocking Xia Di’s line of sight completely.
The moment Qin Yao saw Xia Di, her good mood was utterly ruined. She quickly sat back down and let the curtain fall coldly into place.
Xia Di withdrew his gaze, glanced indifferently at Chang Rong, then raised his riding crop and galloped on ahead.
Before long, Pei Min and the others, wearing veiled riding hats, climbed down from their carriage and clambered, laughing, into the one from the residence of Prince Lan.
At the sight of Qin Yao, Pei Min was the first to sit down beside her, pulling her close for a thorough look. She saw that Qin Yao’s hair was swept up high into a Moon-Chasing bun, and though her face wore no powder or rouge, it looked as lovely as a freshly budding orchid stalk. Her layered skirts were a deep, saturated peach-pink, and against her skin, pale and luminous as jade, the color appeared not the least bit gaudy but instead rich and resplendent. Pei Min nodded, laughing. “Marriage really does change a person — you’ve become as beautiful as an immortal maiden out of a painting.”
Liu Bingyu settled down on Qin Yao’s other side, looking her up and down without ever seeming to get her fill, and teased with a laugh, “Just from this outfit alone I can tell how much the Heir of Prince Lan dotes on you. And I recognize this hairpin too — made from Donghai cold jade, a treasure beyond price. Honestly, if some bandit ever decided to rob people on the street, robbing you alone would set him up for half a lifetime.”
Qin Yao plucked a grape from the small table and popped it into her mouth, scolding in mock anger, “Not even food can stop that mouth of yours.”
Wang Yingning brushed her sleeves lightly as she sat down and smoothed her madder-red skirts into place, smiling. “Bingyu and A’Min have been talking about you constantly at the academy these past few days, saying that since you’ve been married a while now, you must surely be done with whatever needed attending to, and wondering whether they might come visit you at the residence of Prince Lan.”
Qin Yao, remembering that the Ghost Swordsman had recently abducted someone else, thought to herself that before returning to Chang’an, she must explain the matter to them in detail and urge them to avoid going out as much as possible until the Ghost Swordsman had been subdued.
But with the four of them finally reunited after so long, she did not want to spoil the cheerful mood, so she only smiled and said, “If you all want to visit, just send word ahead of time. I’m idle at home all day — you have no idea how much I look forward to you coming to see me. Let me know in advance when the academy lets out, and we’ll get together, go out and buy good food and have fun, just like always.”
Seeing Qin Yao’s sweet smile and the way she spoke just as cheerfully and lively as ever, Pei Min understood that married life was treating her well, and felt genuinely happy for her. “As long as it’s convenient for you to come out, getting together is the easiest thing in the world.”
Liu Bingyu, chewing on a grape, suddenly lowered her voice. “Oh, have you all heard? Feng Chuyue really is pregnant.”
Wang Yingning’s expression did not change in the slightest, clearly having already heard the news, but Pei Min looked mildly surprised. “So soon? How long has it even been since the wedding?”
Liu Bingyu, exasperated at Pei Min’s slow wits, reminded her, “Have you forgotten? At that night banquet at the residence of Duke Lu, didn’t she and the Second Young Master Xia already… you know.”
Wang Yingning gave a light, reproachful cough.
Liu Bingyu’s voice paused for a moment before she went on dismissively, “Yingning, this got out long ago — I’m hardly the only one talking about it. Just this morning I heard Chen Yuqi and the others discussing it too; there’s simply no keeping it quiet. I hear that since the wedding, the Second Young Master Xia has never once returned to the inner courtyard. I wonder whether, now that Feng Chuyue is with child, his attitude toward her will soften at all.”
Listening from the side, Qin Yao found herself more concerned with how Princess Derong and her husband regarded Feng Chuyue than with Xia Di’s attitude toward her. Just as she was about to speak, Pei Min beat her to it. “And Princess Derong — now that she knows Feng Chuyue is pregnant, is she still ignoring her the way she used to?”
Liu Bingyu shook her head. “I don’t know either. But I heard my mother say that whether or not the Duke Wei’s household likes it, Feng Chuyue was still married in through proper rites — her name is already entered into the Xia family register. And the child she’s carrying now would be Second Young Master Xia’s first legitimate son. If anything were to happen to it, never mind anything else, the symbolism alone would be terrible. So Princess Derong will certainly make sure this child is born safe and sound. As for what happens after that, it will depend entirely on Feng Chuyue’s own fortune.”
She lowered her voice further still. “My mother says that if this child turns out to be a son, well and good for Feng Chuyue — but if it’s a daughter, she’ll probably never have any hope of turning her fortunes around, because the Second Young Master Xia would rather bring in a string of new concubines than spare her any attention. Just think about it — anyone who was schemed against like that wouldn’t feel good about it in their heart. Why would he ever go along with her wishes and treat her well?”
Pei Min gave a cold laugh tinged with frustrated disappointment. “I really don’t understand what Feng Chuyue was thinking. Is wealth and status really worth that much? If it were me, I’d rather eat chaff and gruel than swallow that kind of mistreatment from some great household.”
Wang Yingning, who rarely offered her opinions, could not help but sigh. “Everyone has their own nature. What feels like torment to you might simply be Feng Chuyue getting exactly what she sought. In the end, it’s a path she chose for herself, and only she truly knows whether it brings warmth or cold. Why should we go sighing over her the way Sima Xiangru once did?”
“True enough.” Hearing this, Liu Bingyu and Pei Min both suddenly found the topic dull, and at the same time let it drop, turning their attention back to Qin Yao instead, pestering her with smiles. “Come on, tell us what you’ve been doing at home these past few days — why haven’t you come to see us?”
Even as Qin Yao chatted with them, her thoughts drifted to Feng Boyu. She had not heard of him visiting the residence of Duke Wei in recent days, but now that Feng Chuyue was pregnant, if Xia Di kept treating her with the same coldness as before, she wondered whether Brother Feng would be able to hold himself back from confronting Xia Di over it.
As the girls talked, time slipped by quickly, and by the afternoon, Chang Rong’s voice suddenly called from outside the carriage. “Consort, we’ve reached Mount Shouhuai.”
Qin Yao lifted the curtain and looked out to see a towering green mountain rising beside the road, its ranges winding and shrouded in cloud and mist, carrying a faint air of grim foreboding.
She stilled for a moment, then quietly opened her Heaven’s Eye to look more closely, and sure enough, she could make out a faint baleful energy emanating from the mountain’s peak. It was not heavy, but it was impossible to dismiss.
Her hand on the curtain went still, and a deep puzzlement rose within her: this mountain was clearly not as it should be — there was no way Yuan Jue could have failed to notice it. So why had he insisted there was nothing wrong?