Once the two of them were ready and about to head out, Qin Yao suddenly remembered Madam Zhou. With the weather growing colder by the day — though the household had already lit the underfloor heating, thin clothing alone still wouldn’t be enough — she stopped and said to Wen Gu with a smile, “Wen Gu, send some winter clothes over to Madam Zhou in the west courtyard later.”
Wen Gu agreed.
At the gate, just as Lin Xiao was about to help Qin Yao into the carriage, a carriage suddenly appeared from the far end of the street, rattling straight toward the entrance of Prince Lan’s residence.
At the sight, not only Lin Xiao and Qin Yao but Chang Rong and the others all paused in the middle of mounting their horses.
At a glance, the carriage was clearly one belonging to Prince Lan’s residence; the two men driving it were guards of the household, one surnamed Chen, the other surnamed Wang.
When they arrived, the two guards got down and bowed to Lin Xiao. “Young Master, we have brought Madam Zhou’s daughter back from Dingzhou.”
Madam Zhou’s daughter? Lin Xiao frowned. He naturally knew who Madam Zhou was, but when had a daughter of Madam Zhou’s suddenly appeared?
After a moment’s thought, he recalled that not long ago he had heard Qin Yao mention that Madam Zhou’s family had all been harmed by the scorpion spirit, leaving only a daughter, who was for the time being staying at her maternal grandmother’s home.
It seemed Madam Zhou must have asked Qin Yao to have her daughter brought back to Chang’an, and Qin Yao in turn must have had Chang Rong and the others handle the arrangements — and from what he saw before him, the girl had clearly already been brought there.
He nodded, having no interest in concerning himself with such small matters, and left the whole affair to Qin Yao to handle.
Qin Yao walked up to the carriage, and the person inside lifted the curtain and stepped down — indeed a girl of fourteen or fifteen, looking very much like Madam Zhou, with the same kind of beauty, though her expression was cold and withdrawn, and her eyes were slightly swollen and red — she must have shed plenty of tears along the way.
Besides her own maid, there was also a stewardess sent by the household, who led her up to Qin Yao and Lin Xiao and said by way of introduction, “This is the Young Master and Young Madam.”
At these words, Miss Zhou said nothing further and dropped straight to her knees, knocking her forehead to the ground again and again. “Thank you, Young Master and Young Madam, for saving my mother’s life.”
Qin Yao hurried to help her up, comforting her gently. “There’s no need for that. You must be exhausted after such a long journey. Your mother has been waiting for you for a long while — she’s settled in the west courtyard now. Go in and reunite with her soon.”
Miss Zhou’s tears kept falling without pause, and she refused to get up, silently kowtowing three more times to Qin Yao before finally rising and standing still.
The stewardess bowed to Lin Xiao and Qin Yao, then took Miss Zhou away.
As they walked past the gate, Chang Rong stood there rooted, forgetting to move for a long while. The stewardess gave him an odd look and gently reminded him, “Guard Chang?”
Only then did Chang Rong come back to himself. Blushing, he scratched the back of his head, unable to resist stealing several more glances at Miss Zhou with his head lowered, before carefully stepping aside.
By the time Qin Yao and Lin Xiao arrived at the palace, everyone who was supposed to be there had already arrived, except for the newlywed couple themselves.
The Emperor, on seeing Lin Xiao, beckoned him over at once and asked about the matter of the female official’s suicide at the academy. Lin Xiao recounted everything he knew, point by point, including the fact that a Daoist from Qingyun Temple had come the night before to clear out evil spirits, withholding nothing as he reported it all in full to his Imperial Uncle.
On hearing this, the Emperor showed an expression of great satisfaction. “You’ve always handled things steadily, child. Your Imperial Uncle clearly hasn’t misjudged you.”
Having said this, he thought again of the unexpected death at the academy and could not help feeling some displeasure — it was inauspicious enough, and on top of that the students would likely grow frightened and refuse to keep studying there.
But if he were to close the academy altogether now, all the effort he’d poured into it over the better part of a year would go to waste, and he truly could not bring himself to accept that. He fell into a brief silence, then let out a long sigh and said to Lin Xiao, “Let the academy be for now. Once Liu Zan and the others have gotten to the bottom of this, we’ll decide whether to close it for good or reopen it. After all, when the academy was reopened last year, no small amount of manpower and resources went into it, and it’s bound up with matters of marriage alliances among the clansmen’s children. If we shut it down over the suicide of a single female official alone, it would make people think this Emperor of theirs too rash.”
These words plainly betrayed his reluctance to give up on the matter. Lin Xiao had long expected his Imperial Uncle would not easily let the academy close again, and was not at all surprised. He simply said, “Imperial Uncle’s consideration is entirely sound.”
On this side, Qin Yao was speaking with Consort Yi. Consort Yi’s complexion lacked its usual freshness, with a trace of weariness about her, clearly the result of poor sleep the night before. And although there was a smile on her face, however Qin Yao looked at it, the smile seemed somehow forced.
Puzzled, Qin Yao finished her conversation with Consort Yi and withdrew to sit beside Lin Xiao. Sweeping her eyes around, she noticed that Prince Wu, across the room, also looked far from well — not at all his usual talkative, easy-going self, and when Xia Yuan came in, he only gave her an awkward smile, without going up to greet her warmly as he usually would.
Qin Yao noted all this clearly and grew ever more puzzled. After thinking it over without finding any explanation, she let the matter drop and swept her gaze toward the people behind Consort Yi. After a moment, she did not see Qin Yuan among them, and supposed she must still be suffering from her “cough illness,” which would not be cured anytime soon.
Qin Yao lowered her eyes and took a quiet sip of tea, glancing toward the palace doorway. A moment later she heard a palace attendant announce that the Princess Consort and the Princess had entered.
Everyone in the hall at once composed their expressions, smiles on their faces as they waited quietly for the newlyweds.
Before long, Feng Boyu and Kang Ping appeared, both dressed in their formal rank robes, stepping together through the hall door and entering side by side. With both of them being so striking in appearance, judging by looks alone they truly seemed a match made by heaven, a pair of perfectly matched beauties.
Feng Boyu’s expression was as composed as ever, no different from on his wedding day. Kang Ping, however, was unusually self-conscious, her face flushed red, every movement betraying a hint of bashfulness. The two of them came before the Emperor and Consort Yi, knelt, and bowed their heads. “We pay our respects to Father, and to Mother.”
The Emperor, his face glowing with pleasure, laughed. “Up, up. Kang Ping, come here in front of me, let me have a good look at you.”
Only then did Kang Ping show her old girlish manner again, running up to the Emperor with a laugh, utterly unafraid of her father’s imperial dignity, chattering and laughing freely as she leaned against him.
A genuine smile bloomed on Consort Yi’s face. She studied her daughter closely for a moment, then turned to look at Feng Boyu, watching him stand quietly in the hall, indescribably handsome and dignified — the more she looked, the more pleased she was, and the smile on her face deepened further.
After the Emperor and Consort Yi had finished bestowing gifts and blessings on the newlyweds, it was the turn of the various elders and the elder brother to formally greet Kang Ping and her consort.
Qin Yao had already prepared the family-recognition gifts for the two of them days in advance.
For Kang Ping, it was a pair of jade qilin. For Feng Boyu, she had originally prepared a set of manuscripts surviving from the previous dynasty — of which only two complete sets remained in the world. Knowing that Feng Boyu had always loved fine calligraphy and ink works, Qin Yao had specially entrusted Pei Min with finding it for her.
Who would have expected that as soon as Lin Xiao saw it, he simply remarked flatly that Kang Ping’s own chambers already held a copy of that same set, and had Qin Yao exchange it for a set of Huizhou gold-inlaid jade scholar’s implements instead. Though the latter could also be counted precious, it was far more ordinary compared to that set of manuscripts from the previous dynasty. But since Lin Xiao had said so, he surely had his reasons, and Qin Yao followed his suggestion and made the switch.
During the greeting ceremony, Feng Boyu kept his eyes lowered, looking neither left nor right, and accepted the scholar’s implements that Qin Yao handed him, offered a word of thanks, and returned to his place in the hall.
Throughout, Lin Xiao watched Feng Boyu coolly from the side, and only after seeing that his words and actions stayed entirely within bounds, with nothing overstepping the line, did he finally look away.
After the family-recognition ceremony, Consort Yi took Kang Ping back to Yongshou Hall for a private talk. Prince Wu hesitated for a moment, then followed after his mother and sister as well, taking his leave of the others.
Once in the inner chamber, Consort Yi questioned Kang Ping closely. She had already seen the morning’s bridal cloth, but had no idea at all how things had actually gone between the two of them — she had only heard the nanny report that after the water had been brought in the night before, there had been no more sound from the bridal tent, and she had no idea whether the Princess Consort had drunk too much wine, or was simply too reserved.
The Princess, too, had been quite straightforward about it — nothing at all had happened through the whole night until dawn.
Kang Ping, all innocence and confusion, could not withstand her mother’s pressing questions and told her everything, point by point. The more Consort Yi listened, the more her temper rose — so this was how the wedding night had gone for the two of them! Such a perfunctory, rough, and hasty affair, with not a shred of tenderness in it — it wasn’t merely going through the motions, it was as though there had been not the slightest trace of love for Kang Ping at all. Only a sincere, foolish child like Kang Ping could be so easily fooled by him.
Hmph, she thought with a cold sneer — was being the imperial family’s son-in-law really such an easy post to hold? Did he truly think the imperial family’s dignity was nothing but a decoration?
Seeing her mother’s expression turn so dark, Kang Ping was startled — had she said something wrong just now? But thinking it over carefully, she still felt Feng Boyu had not really done anything wrong by her. She had known his cold, reserved nature even before they married, and lately he had been speaking to her with even more patience than usual. As for the matrimonial rites, although it had turned out quite differently from what she’d imagined, well — it had seemed more or less the way the picture-books had described it.
She hurried to add, “Mother, this morning at breakfast, Feng Boyu even put a piece of my favorite chestnut cake on my plate. He’s, he’s very good to me.”
Consort Yi, exasperated at her daughter’s naivety, jabbed her hard on the forehead. “You! What am I supposed to say about you! He’s your husband — never mind just putting a piece of chestnut cake on your plate, even ten times, a hundred times better than that should be expected of him! Your father and I raised you cradled in our palms like the apple of our eyes, terrified you’d suffer the slightest grievance — was it for you to go bowing and scraping in front of a man? What is your standing? Can’t you put up a little dignity for your mother’s sake!”
The angrier she grew, the more agitated she became, until she rose abruptly and called out for a palace attendant to come in. “Someone, go summon the Princess Consort here — tell him this Consort has something to ask him!”
Seeing her mother truly meant business, Kang Ping was so anxious she stamped her foot. “Mother, what are you trying to do? Feng Boyu treats me very well — if you insist on doing this, how am I supposed to go on living with him afterward?”
“Afraid I’ll make trouble for him?” Consort Yi glared at Kang Ping, and seeing her daughter’s panicked face, let out a heavy sigh and slowly nodded. “If your mother were as straightforward as you, she would have been picked clean to the bone long ago! Don’t worry, when I question him, your mother has her own ways of going about it — I won’t put you in a difficult position. But your mother must say this to you first: I’ve spent every effort guarding you so you could grow up free of worry, and it was never so that you could be handed off to someone to be trampled on at will. You need only remember — in this world, aside from your father the Emperor, there is no one whose moods you need watch, no one’s grievance you must bear. Now let Feng Boyu come, and I’ll see whether there’s still hope for him. If there’s no hope for him, don’t waste your best years — separate from him while you still can, and find another consort.”
Kang Ping, furious, cried out, “If you make trouble for him and really force him to separate from me, I’ll never marry again — I’ll become a nun like the Eldest Princess of the previous dynasty!”
“You—!” Consort Yi’s brows shot up in fury. She glared at her daughter for a moment, then simply gave up on her and called out to the outer room instead, “Someone! Where has everyone gone?” A moment later, someone indeed came in — tall and elegant, carrying an air of noble grace, clearly no palace attendant at all, but Prince Wu.
“Mother.” Prince Wu stepped forward and bowed to Consort Yi.
At the sight of her son, Consort Yi’s anger surged even higher, and she sneered repeatedly. “What more have you come to find your mother for? To see whether your mother has finally been angered to death? You’d be better off bringing a rope right now to strangle me and put me out of my misery, rather than slow-roasting me piece by piece, coming back to do it all over again every so often.”
Both Prince Wu and Kang Ping changed expression at these words. Prince Wu, especially, dropped straight to his knees and shuffled forward on them to Consort Yi, pleading for forgiveness. “Mother! Your son was wrong! I should not have disobeyed you and acted on willful impulse — but how can this be Jing’er’s fault? She never once missed a dose of her contraceptive tonic before. It was only this time, when she came with me to the villa, that she missed one dose by accident, and that’s how she ended up pregnant without meaning to. Last night, after you sent over the abortion medicine, she drank it down without a word of complaint, and was in pain on the bed for half the night afterward. Watching beside her, your son’s heart ached as if cut by a knife. Mother, when it comes down to it, this is entirely your son’s fault — what fault is there in A’Jing?”
At these words, Consort Yi’s expression eased somewhat. She said flatly, “Did she really drink the abortion medicine willingly?”
Prince Wu’s face was full of grief. “When it comes to it, this would have been Jing’er’s first child, and your son’s first child too — but it simply came at the worst possible time!”
Consort Yi, keeping her face stern, pulled Prince Wu up. “You’re both still young, and Side Consort Kang has always had a healthy constitution — what’s there to fear about not having a son by her later? In a moment I’ll have Liu Quan and the others fetch some good things from the storehouse to help Side Consort Kang recover — just make sure she rests properly for a while and doesn’t let it leave any lasting damage to her health. Keep this matter well concealed — don’t let A’Yuan find out. In another ten days the two of you are to be married, and if any trace of this reaches her eyes, it won’t end well.”
Prince Wu rose, but simply stood there in a daze, lost in his own thoughts, until Kang Ping tugged at his sleeve to remind him, “Mother is talking to you.” Only then did he come back to himself and, low in spirit, gave a murmur of acknowledgment.
Consort Yi looked at her son, and suddenly remembering something, warned him, “No matter how much you favor Side Consort Kang, she is, after all, only a side consort — you ought to keep things discreet in ordinary times. Why go out of your way to elevate her at every turn? Her father was recently promoted by the Grand Marshal to Prefect of Shangzhou — was that something you arranged behind the scenes?”
Prince Wu was startled for a moment, then shook his head. “Your son had nothing to do with this from start to finish. Perhaps Kang Cheng arranged it himself — that’s also possible, who can say.”
“Is that so?” Consort Yi frowned doubtfully. “If no one in the court had elevated him, how could he have risen so quickly? You’d best go look into it.” Prince Wu said, “Your son already has looked into it. It seems he managed to get through via Minister Wang’s connections. Either way it seemed no great concern, so your son didn’t pay it much more attention.”
“Is Minister Wang’s connection something so easily gotten through?” Consort Yi still felt doubtful. “Even if it wasn’t your doing, you really ought to keep a tighter rein on it. It won’t do to let the father of a side consort in your household grow too prominent — it could stir up trouble later on.”
With this, Consort Yi gave extra weight to the warning in her voice. “Listen to your mother — go investigate. This matter is by no means simple.”
But Prince Wu’s thoughts still lingered on Side Consort Kang’s pale, exquisite face, and he answered absently, “Your son understands.”