A’Han rose with a baffled look. “Master—”
Qin Yao was also rather taken aback. She quickly got to her feet and was about to greet her master when Qing Xuzi shot her a glare. “You were the one who tricked your senior martial brother into coming here?”
Qin Yao had not expected her master to be this upset. She froze briefly, then immediately pasted on a cheerful, placating expression and stepped forward to take his arm. “I haven’t been able to share a meal with Senior Brother for so long — I thought, since he loves the food at Fuchun House, I’d bring him here for a proper treat.”
Qing Xuzi swept a glance at the table, and sure enough saw A’Han’s plates piled high with all manner of fine dishes — clearly all that Qin Yao had been heaping onto them for him. While he and Qin Yao had been talking, the young lady beside A’Han had quietly added yet another chopstick-full to the pile.
He paused and looked more carefully at the young lady. She was quite striking, really. Her face was slightly rounded, her forehead full and rounded, her eyes bright with a frank, clear gaze — the look of a person blessed with good fortune. Noticing his scrutiny, the girl quietly stuck out her tongue and very carefully set her chopsticks down.
He looked at A’Han again and saw him still standing at the table, a somewhat guiltily innocent expression on his face. His heart softened. He said coolly, “Finish everything in your bowl before we go. Do not waste food.”
A’Han, receiving his dispensation, responded with cheerful enthusiasm and sat back down to finish eating.
Seeing this, Qin Yao hurried to help her master take a seat and said, “It’s neither early nor late in the day — you probably haven’t eaten the midday meal yet, Master. Let me have the proprietor add a few vegetarian dishes, and you can eat along with us — just make do.”
She was already calling out to the proprietor to add more dishes, but Qing Xuzi stopped her. “What do you mean, add more dishes? Isn’t there enough on the table already? Don’t be wasteful!”
Qin Yao gave an acquiescent sound, understanding that her master had decided to stay for the meal, and was genuinely glad of it. She quickly had the proprietor bring another set of bowl and chopsticks, then smilingly helped her master serve soup and pile dishes onto his plate.
Across the table, Liu Bingyu, seeing that A’Han’s master had not come down on him, felt herself relax visibly. She cast a shy glance at A’Han, sat prim and proper for a while — and then simply could not hold herself still. She opened the packet of Three-Flavour Fruits A’Han had given her and popped one in her mouth.
But the confection had gone a little stale, and the taste that hit her tongue was something indescribable.
Her face scrunched up in a grimace. She asked A’Han, “How long have you had this packet of sweets?”
A’Han set down his chopsticks, thought for a moment, and said with breezy offhandedness, “I made them around Mid-Autumn Festival. But Master said it’s cold weather, so they should still be fine to eat.”
“Mid-Autumn Festival?” Liu Bingyu’s face arranged itself into an expression more pained than an outright cry. She held the packet of sweets, unable to eat them, unable to throw them away, and said with the verge of tears in her voice, “That’s so long ago — how could they still be edible?”
She had only herself to blame for being too eager and popping one in her mouth without even taking a proper look first.
Seeing Liu Bingyu’s expression as though she might burst into tears, A’Han grew flustered. “I… I thought they were still alright to eat. A’Yu younger sister, please don’t cry — I’ll go back and bring you some freshly made ones.”
At this Liu Bingyu’s face dissolved from near-tears into a smile, and she peeked at A’Han and said quietly, “You must remember to bring a good amount.”
A’Han looked at those watery eyes of hers and blinked, then nodded. “All right, A’Yu younger sister. I have plenty of other things to eat back at the temple too — I’ll bring them all when the time comes.”
Qing Xuzi, though occupied with his meal, had been keeping watch on the two of them the entire time. At the sight of this exchange, a complicated shadow crossed his eyes. He let out a quiet sigh.
After the meal, Qin Yao said farewell to Liu Bingyu and Wang Yingning and turned to follow her master and senior brother to Qingyun Temple’s carriage.
Liu Bingyu dallied and dragged her feet — until Wang Yingning gave her a firmly admonishing look, and she finally got into the carriage and left.
On the carriage, Qing Xuzi was silent for a stretch, then suddenly asked Qin Yao, “The young lady at the table just now — which family does she come from?”
Qin Yao immediately understood that Qing Xuzi was asking about Liu Bingyu, and said quickly, “She is the daughter of Liu Zan, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Her name is A’Yu. We studied together at the academy. She is pure and straightforward in temperament, not the slightest bit arrogant despite coming from a noble family, and she’s very loyal and principled. I get along with her very well.”
“Minister of the Court of Judicial Review?” A shadow fell across Qing Xuzi’s face. That family background was simply too high. Even if she and A’Han were genuinely fond of each other, it was simply impossible for them to be matched together.
Qin Yao sat beside her master, studying his expression closely. Given the look on her master’s face, he did not appear to be objecting to A’Han spending time with the young lady — perhaps she had been wrong to assume all along? Could it be that her master had never intended A’Han to spend his entire life as a Daoist priest after all?
She looked over at her senior brother and saw him sitting perfectly upright on the seat, now and then drawing out the packet of plum blossom sweets from his breast pocket to look at it. Several times he seemed on the verge of opening it for a taste, then thought better of it and, seemingly unwilling to part with them, held himself back and tucked it away again.
She quietly shook her head. With her senior brother so thoroughly unknowing in the ways of the world — never mind being merely a Daoist of Qingyun Temple — even if he were a young master of wealth and influence, what family would be willing to give their daughter to him?
Qing Xuzi’s eyes held a look of troubled sorrow as they rested on A’Han, the furrow between his brows deepening into a crease. He let out a sigh but said no more.
Seeing her master so weighed down by his thoughts, Qin Yao thought of the matter of Yunyin Academy. She hesitated for a moment, then decided to probe indirectly. She told her master what she and Lin Xiao had deduced, then asked, “If the Maiden Mansion truly lies within Yunyin Academy, why did the demonic energy in Yunyin Academy dissipate so cleanly and completely? Just a few days earlier, even spirits that had cultivated for a hundred years had been appearing in the academy — how could all trace of them vanish in a single night? Master, do you think someone could have laid a Spirit-Concealing Formation at Yunyin Academy?”
No sooner did Qing Xuzi hear Qin Yao mention the theory of the Mansion of the Dipper than his expression grew grave. Hearing the three words “Spirit-Concealing Formation,” his countenance changed dramatically — he was so shocked he nearly leaped from his seat. “Spirit-Concealing Formation? You mean the formation that masks malevolent energy?”
Qin Yao watched clearly. Her master’s expression was one of genuine astonishment — nothing like that of a person with prior knowledge of the matter. She was thoroughly puzzled. Could she have been wrong to assume all along, and her master had known nothing of the strange situation in Yunyin Academy?
But the Spirit-Concealing Formation was an immensely arcane and difficult technique, one that only a practitioner of the highest Daoist attainment could manage. If it was not her master, then who could it be?
It was as though some invisible force had rooted Qing Xuzi where he sat. He stared fixedly and blankly ahead, rigid for a long time — then collapsed back onto his seat as though emptied of all support.
Her master’s reaction was far too abnormal. Qin Yao felt an inexplicable unease and quickly took hold of her master’s arm. “Master — have I guessed correctly? Has someone truly laid a Spirit-Concealing Formation?”
Qing Xuzi appeared not to hear Qin Yao’s words at all. A turbulent undercurrent of complex emotions stirred in his eyes. After a long while, he wrenched his gaze with great effort to look at Qin Yao and, straining to maintain an outwardly composed demeanour, said stiffly, “Don’t forget — after we cleared the academy of resentful spirits that night, we specifically laid the Six-Harmony Formation on the exterior before leaving. The Six-Harmony Formation suppresses evil and drives away malevolence. Unless a demonic creature of great destructive power were to breach it, nothing could break through and enter. That is why the academy became entirely devoid of demonic energy in a single night.”
Had Qin Yao not witnessed her master’s change of expression just a moment ago, this explanation might have been something she could, however reluctantly, accept. But having seen what she had just seen, she could not bring herself to believe a word of it.
She lowered her head and murmured an acquiescent acknowledgement, without challenging or disputing the claim, thinking to herself: from the look of things, her master would sooner forfeit his life than speak the secret locked in his heart. To understand what had truly happened, she would have to find another way.
After seeing her master and senior brother back to Qingyun Temple, Qin Yao rode the carriage home to Prince Lan’s residence.
Halfway there, she had the carriage stopped and called Chang Rong to her side. “Head Guard Chang — starting tonight, have two undercover guards follow my master. If anything unusual happens, report to me and the Young Lord immediately.”
This arrangement served two purposes: to protect her master and senior brother, and to gain clarity on what her master had been occupied with during these recent days. Chang Rong and the others were methodical and thorough in their work — with any luck, they might unintentionally uncover the secret her master was working so hard to conceal.
Chang Rong gave his assent. The Young Lord had long since made clear to the guards under his command that the Young Mistress’s orders carried the same weight as his own — whatever the Young Mistress instructed, they were to carry out directly, without the need to report to him first.
Qin Yao nodded, let down the carriage curtain, and sat back in her seat full of worry.
The following day Lin Xiao still had palace duty, and Qin Yao, mindful of her brother’s affairs, returned to the Qu residence first thing in the morning.
But her brother was not at home, and her mother had gone to the East Market, it was said, to choose some fabric for clothing. She waited for a stretch, but not a single member of the family appeared. She could not sit still any longer, so she too left the residence and headed to the East Market, thinking she might happen to meet her mother there.
At the fabric shop her mother most often frequented, however, there was no sign of her. Qin Yao was a little downcast. She came out of the shop and was about to return to the residence.
She had barely been ushered along by A’Ping and the others past a food establishment when a few carriages came rolling slowly up the street and stopped in front of the eatery. Two people stepped down from the lead carriage — it was Qu Ziyu and Wang Yikun.
Qin Yao’s face lit up. She stepped forward to greet them. “Elder Brother, Second Brother Wang.”
Qu Ziyu turned and saw Qin Yao. He came to meet her. “Why are you out alone? Is the Young Lord on palace duty?”
Today was the fifteenth day of the month — by rights, many offices would have the day off.
Qin Yao smiled. “The Young Lord won’t be back for a couple more days. I had nothing in particular to do, so I came home for a visit — but you and Mother and Father were all out. Elder Brother, are you and Second Brother Wang going in for a meal?”
Qu Ziyu gave a quiet affirmation and, noticing Qin Yao’s thin clothing, worried she might catch a chill. He said to A’Ping, “Did you bring the young lady an extra garment? Fetch it and put it around her shoulders.”
A’Ping agreed and went back to the carriage to retrieve a jade-blue cape and bring it down.
At this point Wang Yikun stepped closer with a smile. “Young Mistress, what a coincidence. Your brother is treating today — why not come in and join us for the midday meal?”
Qin Yao noticed her brother’s expression was a little unnatural and felt something odd about it. She glanced past him and saw Wang Yingning stepping down from the other carriage.
It suddenly dawned on her. She gave her brother a knowing blink and smiled. “Since I’ve had the good fortune to stumble upon this, naturally I’ll join you for the meal. Let’s go in.”
Once inside, Qu Ziyu, as the host, took it upon himself to order the dishes.
The Wang family was originally from Suzhou and Zhejiang, and Minister Wang had deliberately maintained the old family customs — the entire Wang household ate delicately and lightly, with a preference for sweet and tender foods.
The Qu siblings, by contrast, were native Chang’an people through and through, fond of savoury and spicy flavours — their tastes were utterly unlike Wang Yingning’s.
When the dishes arrived and Qin Yao looked them over, she found that more than half of them were things Wang Yingning was fond of eating.
She stole a glance at her brother, who was composed and unhurried, raising his cup to drink as though he had not noticed Qin Yao’s teasing gaze — and yet did not forget to murmur a low instruction to the waiter to heat the cold noodles before bringing them to the table.
Qin Yao herself was healthy and robust, and always ate cold noodles exactly as they were, never warmed. The fact that her brother had given this instruction must mean he was worried the cold noodles would be too chilling for Wang Yingning to take.
Wang Yingning’s cheeks took on a faint colour. She lowered her gaze quietly and drank her wine.
Qin Yao was charmed. Her brother might be meticulous and attentive as a matter of course, but he was also inherently steady and reserved. For Wang Yingning’s sake, he was already behaving like this in public — goodness knew how considerate and thoughtful he must be behind closed doors.
After they had been drinking for a while, Wang Yikun suddenly said with a smile, “I’ve heard that Ji Zhou recently resolved another difficult case. The Ministry of Personnel has already submitted a memorial proposing him for promotion to the position of Deputy Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. The world assumed that marrying into the Princess’s household would wear down his ambitions — yet it turns out he has gone on working as steadily and diligently as ever. Come to think of it, among those of us who entered official service in the same year, you and he have risen the fastest. Your transfer decree for Junior Minister of the Office of the Privy Seal only just came down, and already his promotion is pending.”
Qin Yao gave a small start of surprise. She had not expected that both her elder brother and Elder Brother Feng had been promoted. She was happy for her brother on the one hand, while on the other her mind turned quietly: the Deputy Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was second only to the Minister himself — Elder Brother Feng, in that role, would likely have every case brought before the Court pass through his hands. She wondered whether he had uncovered any leads whatsoever in the case of Female Official Lu.
Wang Yikun finished his observation, glanced out the window, and said with a laugh, “Speak of the devil — look, isn’t that Ji Zhou down below?”
Qin Yao followed the direction he indicated and looked down. Sure enough, there was a figure in an ink-green brocade robe, bearing himself upright as a pine tree, elegant and refined in appearance, just stepping down from a carriage — none other than Feng Boyü.
Hearing Wang Yikun call out, Feng Boyü looked up toward the floor above, and quite unexpectedly caught sight of Qin Yao by the window. He paused with a brief look of surprise.
He was entirely on his own — Princess Kangping was nowhere to be seen, nor was anyone of the Feng household.
Qin Yao gave him a smile and thought to herself: she had not expected to run into Elder Brother Feng here of all places. Since the opportunity had arisen, if the chance presented itself later, she ought to find a subtle way to ask him a few things about the case of Female Official Lu — and to find out why it had been sitting unresolved for so long.
With that thought, a shadow of a vague misgiving drifted through her mind — but it came so lightly and so briefly that before it could leave any mark on her heart, it was carried away like a wisp of down and scattered entirely.