Qingyuan had no choice. After careful consideration, she could only tuck the beast-faced jade pendant into her sleeve pouch.
Large wine urns were arranged in rows in the courtyard, with several servants crouching nearby to guard them. Seeing her approach, they hurriedly stood up and bowed, addressing her as “Fourth Young Lady.”
Qingyuan nodded and went to inspect the seals. Cowhide paper covered the urns’ mouths, carefully tied with thin hemp rope. At first glance, they truly looked like jars filled with aged wine. She didn’t concern herself with how much silver was inside—money wasn’t her responsibility, and she would never open them to look. She simply said, “The Old Madame instructed to prepare carriages. Load the urns onto them and cover them thoroughly with oilcloth. Don’t let anyone catch a glimpse.”
One servant acknowledged and ran off to make preparations. She turned to ask the remaining ones, “Has anyone come by here earlier?”
The servants thought for a moment and replied, “Master came with two guests. He only said these were fine wines from Jiangnan, to be delivered to the guests’ residences later for their enjoyment.”
Qingyuan understood—those two guests must have been the Shen brothers. The Old Madame’s arrangement for her to come here wasn’t a casual instruction after all, and her earlier encounter with Shen Run in the corridor was no coincidence. Sending money and throwing in a daughter—the Xie family was making quite an extravagant gesture this time.
But had the Old Madame considered that such an ambiguous arrangement, even if accepted, would reflect poorly on the Xie family’s reputation? Or perhaps a minor concubine-born daughter’s reputation wasn’t so important? Even if she couldn’t become the primary wife, being a concubine would still be acceptable.
Qingyuan recalled the earlier encounter in the corridor and couldn’t help but shudder. This Shen Run probably understood their arrangements perfectly well. Qingyuan suddenly felt herself pathetically small, being manipulated like this. Shen Run was at least a gentleman—even with alcohol in his system, he hadn’t done anything to her. If he had taken advantage of the night to do something improper, who would have stood up for her? The Old Madame might have even been pleased, quickly packaging her up to send straight to the Commander’s residence!
She retreated from the courtyard, carrying a lantern through the corridor. The moonlight was dim, and the high walls echoed her footsteps. Her heart felt lost, uncertain of where to go. It was bad fortune that made it difficult to leave such a family. She used to think she wouldn’t have to be like other girls, desperately hoping for marriage to change their fate. Now it seemed that no matter how high her aspirations were, she couldn’t escape such arrangements.
Sighing again, for now, she could only remain cautious and wait until Master passed through this difficult period. Once he had good prospects, the Old Madame would forget about her, perhaps even change direction and arrange a proper marriage alliance using Qingru instead.
But what about this jade pendant? It weighed heavily in her sleeve, hitting against her leg with every step. That Commander must have truly been drunk, right? The day before yesterday, he had seemed so dignified, unlike the frivolous young masters outside. Perhaps tomorrow, after he sobered up, she could return the item as it was. Once they were even, she wouldn’t have to worry anymore.
Qingyuan was still young after all, with little experience in such matters. Her thoughts weren’t too complicated. After consoling herself, her mind quickly cleared. She hurried to Yi Ou Chun and reported to the Old Madame: “Everything has been prepared as instructed, Grandmother, please don’t worry.”
The Old Madame said good, watching for her reaction. Seeing her still as composed and cheerful as usual, she figured everything must have gone normally during her errand.
Indeed, a girl who had just come of age, a whole cycle younger than others—how could someone like Shen Run, who had seen so much of the world, be interested in such an unworldly young girl? The Old Madame’s hopes dimmed, and she decided not to dwell on this matter anymore, continuing to make small talk with the noble ladies. As it approached the hour of Hai, a servant came from the western flower hall to report, standing at the bottom of the steps: “Old Madame, Master’s banquet is ending, and he asked me to inform you.”
Hearing this, the ladies all stood up, smiling and saying, “Thank you for your hospitality today, Old Madame. The food was excellent, and the opera performance was delightful. In a few days, we shall host a banquet at our home and invite Old Madame and the ladies to gather again.”
After exchanging numerous pleasantries, they finally saw the guests out. Outside, each family’s carved carriages were waiting. The male and female guests weren’t separated, all exiting through the same gate. Qingyuan and Qinghe stood aside helping the ladies into their carriages. Looking back, they saw the men beginning to bow farewell. The officials had their own set of formal courtesies to exchange, while the Xie sisters stood with the Old Madame under the lanterns to see them off. Because of the jade pendant, Qingyuan unconsciously searched for Shen Run in the crowd. The Commander of the Palace Guard was an eye-catching presence even in a crowd—she found him almost instantly. She had thought he would be tipsy, and somewhat confused, but looking carefully, his eyes were clear, showing no signs of intoxication as he smiled and bowed goodbye to everyone.
Xie Shu repeatedly expressed his reliance, “Everything depends on the Commander now.”
Shen Run’s lips curved slightly, “No need for such words. The Provincial Administrator has hosted a grand feast today for myself and the other officials—I understand perfectly. Please wait a couple more days. Once there’s news from the palace, I’ll send someone to inform you immediately.”
Xie Shu expressed profound gratitude—it seemed those dozen or so large wine urns were already showing their effect. Taking someone’s money meant helping them out of trouble—this Commander understood such basic principles.
The group descended the steps, and Shen Run led everyone in another bow to the Old Madame, “Thank you for your hospitality, Old Madame.”
The Old Madame smiled and nodded, “Forgive our modest entertainment, Commander and Commissioner. Please convey to your wife that we understand she was unwell today and couldn’t grace us with her presence. Tomorrow I’ll send someone to inquire about her health. If she’s feeling better, please have her visit us.”
Shen Che returned the courtesy, thanking the Old Madame. As they exchanged pleasantries, Qingyuan carefully observed Shen Run. His gaze passed over her with barely a pause before he resumed talking with others. Qingyuan was puzzled—if it weren’t for the jade pendant still weighing in her sleeve, she would have doubted whether she had imagined everything: Shen Run’s appearance in the corridor, his giving her the beast-faced pendant.
She couldn’t make sense of it. Before mounting his horse, Shen Run cast her a fleeting glance. The small girl standing beside her grandmother looked dazed, quite different from when she had argued forcefully at his residence that day.
He turned his horse around, a hint of amusement in his eyes. Though Xie Shu wasn’t much of a person, his daughter was quite charming.
A wind lantern led the way ahead. Qingyuan looked up to see the military officials mounting their horses with gallant flair. Hooves struck the ground, kicking up clouds of dust. She squinted to watch their figures gradually recede into the distance. Beside her, the Old Madame clicked her tongue, “I thought this Commander would be just a rough military man, but unexpectedly he has such fine features.”
Though his features were fine, his blade was just as sharp—in the blink of an eye, over ten thousand taels of silver had gone out.
Qingyuan wanted to look at Qingru and smiled slightly. Qingru couldn’t understand her meaning and cast her a sidelong glance of disdain.
After all the bustle, a great weight had finally been lifted, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The Old Madame turned and said, “Let’s go back. Tomorrow, once we’ve shown proper courtesy to Young Madam Shen, we’ll have fulfilled all our social obligations.”
Everyone returned to their quarters. Qingyuan sat beside a lotus-root-joint table made of burled wood, watching Baoxian and Chuntai busy themselves in the room, preparing for her bath and bedtime. She suddenly blurted out, “How long does it take for someone to go from drunk to sober?”
Baoxian and Chuntai turned to look at her, puzzled by her question. Chuntai said, “I’ve seen people get drunk one day and still have a hangover the next. I’d guess it takes at least overnight at the quickest.”
“Are there people who can become sober after just a moment of drunkenness?” she asked hesitantly.
Chuntai replied, “How could anyone be like that? If they sobered up that quickly, they probably weren’t drunk in the first place.”
Qingyuan fell silent, lowering her head in thought. Seeing her like this, Baoxian put down the incense burner and came over, asking softly, “Young Lady, did something happen?”
She remained quiet for a moment, then pulled out the beast-faced jade pendant from her sleeve and placed it on the table. The light from the glass lamp fell upon the fierce beast’s face. In contrast to its fearsome design, the jade itself was delicate and warm, like the King of Lanling wearing a demon mask into battle.
“Where did this come from?” Baoxian and Chuntai looked at each other in bewilderment before the table.
Qingyuan smiled awkwardly, “When I was crossing the courtyard, I met Commander Shen halfway—he gave this to me.”
Now nobody knew what to say, three heads bent over the jade pendant in deep contemplation.
“Commander Shen gave this to you while drunk?”
Qingyuan made a sound of agreement, “I could smell alcohol on him.”
Chuntai was startled, “He… he didn’t do anything to you, did he?”
Qingyuan thought for a moment and shook her head, “It was fine… he… didn’t do anything.”
But what did it mean to give her this jade pendant so ambiguously?
“Perhaps the Commander has taken a liking to you.”
But that didn’t make sense either. The Xie family had all but directly stated they were offering the Fourth Young Lady to the Commander. If he were interested, he wouldn’t have so readily accepted all those dozen wine urns. Moreover, such a pendant was a man’s everyday accessory—that grimacing monster would be highly inappropriate as a gift for a young lady. After much consideration, the only conclusion was that he must have truly been drunk and not in control of himself at the time. After all, everyone’s constitution was different; what if the Commander was the type to get drunk quickly and sober up just as fast?
“I’ll return it tomorrow,” Qingyuan looked at the pendant with concern. “Keeping it here will only lead to more trouble—the longer we wait, the harder it will be to explain.”
As it happened, the next day the Old Madame summoned her to talk, asking her to visit Commander Shen’s residence to check on Young Madam Shen. “Go and test the waters. The Shen family has only this one lady managing internal affairs, and with such a large sum of silver involved, she’ll surely have to be consulted. You don’t need to probe too deeply—just see if the Commissioner drops any hints about helping our family out of this situation.”
Qingyuan hesitated, “After accepting the silver, surely they wouldn’t refuse to help?”
The Old Madame slowly shook her head, “Such matters are never so simple. If we had the time to wait it out, that would be one thing, but the court is about to appoint someone else to attack Shibaocheng. Once this great responsibility falls to another, our Xie family will face devastating consequences. My good child, you must take this matter seriously and investigate carefully—there’s no room for carelessness.”
If it weren’t for the jade pendant, she would never have wanted to show her face in public. For a young lady from a respectable household to frequently visit another’s residence would damage her reputation. But now she had no choice—investigating was one thing, but more importantly, she needed to return the item. The details couldn’t be shared with others, so she followed the Old Madame’s instructions and withdrew from the main hall.
Yuejian, who managed all affairs in Huifang Garden, had already prepared the gifts before Qingyuan crossed the garden. However, they hadn’t been loaded onto the carriage yet. “Fourth Young Lady, please wait a moment,” she said. “Now that the weather’s warming up, we need to change the carriage curtains. It should take about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea.”
Qingyuan smiled and agreed. Since returning to the Xie family, she had gotten along well with everyone and was always willing to speak kindly, so none of the servants disliked her.
Today she wore a jade-colored upper garment with a honey-yellow skirt. In this early summer weather, against the misty sky and verdant greenery outside, it had a particularly pleasing, natural charm. Yuejian saw her fanning herself with a magnolia-patterned fan and asked, “Young Lady, did you bring an umbrella?”
The sun was gradually rising higher, and though there wouldn’t be much sun exposure during the journey, getting in and out of the carriage would inevitably mean some time in the direct sunlight.
Qingyuan said she hadn’t, “I left in a hurry and forgot.”
Yuejian smiled and said, “That’s perfect then. I have a newly made one here that matches the color of your fan, also decorated with magnolia flowers. Young Lady, please sit for a moment while I fetch it for you.”
Seeing her hurry off, Qingyuan didn’t refuse, just smiled at Baoxian and waited calmly under the eaves. But it seemed she couldn’t avoid people she’d rather not see—Qingru came through Huifang Garden with Madam Hu. Madam Hu had never acknowledged her existence and ignored her courteous greetings, passing by without a sideways glance. But Qingru slowed her steps, looking at her askance and asking, “Fourth Sister is such a busy person nowadays—where are you off to now?”
Though Qingru was universally disliked, she was still a legitimate daughter with status. If Qingyuan deliberately ignored her, it would only give her more reasons to find fault. So she truthfully explained the Old Madame’s instructions to visit the Shen residence. Upon hearing this, Qingru exchanged a meaningful glance with Qingrong and sneered, “It seems our sister here is about to enter the Commander’s household. I have no other concerns, except I feel sorry for Brother Chunzhi. That register was made with good intentions, but who knew it would become someone else’s ladder to heaven? If he knew you were using his shoulders to climb up to the Shen brothers, I wonder how he would feel?”
Qingru had always said whatever nasty things came to mind, and Qingyuan had heard too much of it to be unfamiliar with her sharp tongue. Perhaps because of the increasingly sultry weather, she no longer had the patience to tolerate it, so she said, “Isn’t that exactly what Second Sister wanted? Now you can report to the Third Young Master, and from now on, his eyes will only see Second Sister. But I should warn Second Sister—Youzhou isn’t Hengtang, and our family is now under the Palace Guard’s supervision. Say one wrong word, and it could bring deadly consequences. It doesn’t matter if you casually insult me, but don’t implicate Commander Shen and the Commissioner. If these words get out, even if Father wants to protect you, he probably won’t be able to.”
After saying this, she felt refreshingly unburdened. Just then, Yuejian’s umbrella arrived, and the carriage awning had been changed. She opened the oil-paper umbrella and held up her fan to compare them, smiling, “They look like they were cut from the same piece of silk. Thank you, Sister Yuejian.” As she spoke, she descended the steps and headed toward the sedan chair hall.
Qingru and Qingrong were left grinding their teeth, “That little tramp has gained some power now.”
Yuejian, standing nearby, disapproved of the legitimate daughter’s petty behavior but couldn’t say anything. She just gestured with her hands and said, “Second Young Lady, Third Young Lady, the sun is harsh in the corridor—perhaps you should move inside.”
Qingru snorted and turned to go inside. The filigree butterfly hairpin in her hair fluttered frantically, matching her agitated state.