The Old Madame was probably also afraid she might have another mishap, especially since Shen Run had both deceived and frightened her with his warnings. Therefore, when she went to Bijin Temple the next day, she didn’t specifically ask the Old Madame for people, but the Old Madame voluntarily assigned more than ten attendants to follow her. After paying respects in the morning, she set out by carriage, with an unprecedented grand procession along the way.
When the temple supervisor saw her arrive, she clasped her hands and said “Amitabha Buddha,” continuing, “We didn’t expect Fourth Young Miss to encounter such an incident on her way back that day. People from your noble household came from one group after another. I said everything was fine when she left, with nothing amiss, who knew something would go wrong halfway.”
Qingyuan merely smiled faintly. She knew these people were skilled at following the wind, and didn’t care to say much to her. Instead, Baoxian spoke from the side, half-seriously and half-jokingly: “Supervisor should start earlier today. It was precisely because the ceremony ran too late last time that our Young Miss encountered danger. Didn’t you say earlier it would be done by the hour of Shen(3 PM – 4 PM)? How did it drag on until the hour of Xu(7 PM – 8 PM) that night? Honestly, it was too coincidental – thinking about it now, it truly seems like there can be no story without coincidence.”
The supervisor’s face showed embarrassment as she fingered her prayer beads, saying: “Young Miss doesn’t know, that day we added two scrolls of disaster-averting sutras, which naturally took an extra hour or so. If we had known trouble would occur, it would have been better for Young Miss to return to the manor first. Fortunately, Young Miss was unharmed – otherwise, all our years of merit would have been cultivated in vain. How could we face your household’s Old Madame and the Master and Madame?”
As Baoxian was about to argue further with her, Qingyuan stopped her. She still maintained a friendly expression and said to the supervisor: “Today is the last day – completing it properly won’t waste all my rushing about these days. The robbery incident wasn’t your fault; Supervisor need not take it to heart.” She glanced toward the paper offerings under a distant shed. “Regarding the items to be burned later, how do they look? If anything is missing, there’s still time to add it now.”
The supervisor said yes. “I’ve already checked – all the courtyards, carriages, and sedan chairs are there, nothing is missing. We’ll finish the remaining sutras in the morning, and Young Miss will only need to appear in the afternoon. I’ll come to notify Young Miss then.”
Qingyuan said good, standing far away under the phoenix tree, watching people come and go from the small Buddha hall. Soon the murmuring sound of sutra chanting came forth. She sighed, looking again toward the distant mountains, which remained dark green under the sunlight. Thinking of Zhenglun’s words yesterday, she was surprised that Li Congxin had truly gone to Hengtang as he said. A thousand li journey! Rushing back and forth in such hot weather – for the pampered young Marquis, it was no small ordeal.
As the sun climbed higher, Baoxian said: “Young Miss, let’s go rest inside, lest you get heat stroke.”
So they moved to the side room prepared by the supervisor. With nothing to do, she sat by the window reading sutras. Outside, the pine trees rustled in waves, with cool mountain breezes blowing in, stirring the hair by her temples and the pages at her fingertips. For now, there was no scheming or fighting – simply passing days in such leisure made her heart extremely peaceful.
But this peace probably only lasted an hour or so. Qingyuan had only drunk half a cup of tea and read half the book when suddenly she heard muffled thunder rolling across the sky. The wind picked up and the sky darkened – it was going to rain.
Baoxian hurried to close the window, muttering: “There was no sign of weather changing this morning, yet it came so suddenly…”
However, when the window was half closed, Qingyuan stopped it. That rumbling sound wasn’t thunder – it was more like hoofbeats. She looked outside through the latticed window and indeed saw more than ten fast horses galloping toward the temple gate. At first, it startled her, as the fear from the past two days still lingered in her heart. But looking more carefully, she saw the riders’ clothing – uniform brocade round-collared robes. She suddenly became anxious, pacing around the room. Seeing a chest in the western corner about half her height, just right for hiding in, she pushed Baoxian and said, “Shen Run has come again – why won’t this person’s ghost leave me alone? Cover for me – say I wasn’t feeling well and went back already.”
Baoxian looked worried, watching her normally composed Young Miss curl up and hide inside, then close the door with a bang. Suddenly she was the only one left in the room. She thought for a moment – she couldn’t stand here, lest she draw people over. So she turned to go out, but before reaching the door, she heard footsteps under the eaves. She could only try to remain calm as she saw Commander Shen stride in. She quickly gave a formal greeting, smiling, “Commander has arrived… what a coincidence, just after our Young Miss… Our Young Miss got heat stroke today and has already returned to the manor… Did the Commander not meet her on the way?”
Those cold eyes moved over, giving her a haughty glance – just one glance was enough to make Baoxian’s heart tremble several times.
“Gone back?” he said casually. “It’s about to rain – your Young Miss will probably get caught in it.”
Baoxian laughed awkwardly. “Nothing we can do about that… the weather hadn’t changed when she left.”
Shen Run made a sound of acknowledgment. “That robbery case is still under investigation. Today we need to question the temple supervisor, priests, and others. I also had some questions for Fourth Young Miss, but since she’s not here, never mind.”
Qingyuan, hiding in the chest, heard this and quietly let out a long breath. The weather was stuffy, and there wasn’t a hint of breeze in the chest – staying inside was quite uncomfortable. But there was no help for it – she was very afraid. She feared he had learned about Li Congxin’s marriage proposal and had come to make trouble for her again. What could she do then? She had repeatedly declined him, then turned around and agreed to Li Congxin. If it provoked him into angry humiliation, he might not listen to her explanation and would only think she was being two-faced and perfunctory with him. When he lost his temper then, what wouldn’t he do? She dared not imagine it – thinking about it made her whole body shiver. She could only meekly hide in the chest – even if it meant seeing him two days later, that would be better.
Baoxian also thought she had covered it up and smiled, saying: “If the Commander has urgent questions, wait until our Young Miss has recovered and then she can respond to the summons…”
Then the voices stopped. The temple chest was built solidly, with not a ray of light penetrating through the tight seams. Qingyuan pressed her ear against the board to listen carefully. She seemed to hear footsteps moving away – it appeared everyone had left. She secretly rejoiced but waited cautiously. Indeed, it was quiet outside, so she carefully pushed open the chest door a little.
The rain had started, with the smell of grass and earth mixed in the wind, refreshingly cool as it came toward her. She took a breath, feeling as if she had returned to the world of the living. The chest door opened a bit wider – within her field of vision there was no one. Very good, very safe.
She felt relieved and gracefully pushed the chest door wide open, smiling as she was about to step out when she suddenly discovered someone crouching behind the chest door, smiling at her: “Fourth Young Miss, are you viewing the scenery from inside the chest?”
Such a large human form suddenly appeared in her vision – Qingyuan was so frightened she almost screamed. Unfortunately, outside the rain roared and thunder rumbled; her terror was swallowed by heaven and earth. Only Shen Run remained, looking at her sympathetically: “To avoid me, Fourth Young Miss has gone to great lengths.”
Qingyuan was in an awkward position, with one toe pointed at the blue brick, not knowing whether to step out or shrink back. This moment was truly mortifying – her previously composed young lady image had completely collapsed. Red-faced, her gaze flickered as she dared not look at him. She wanted to say something, but anything would be inappropriate. She felt like an idiot – everything had been fine, yet she had made herself so embarrassed.
A clean, well-defined hand reached out before her. He sighed and said: “Does Fourth Young Miss still not plan to come out? Isn’t it hot hiding in there?”
When people reach the point of complete loss of dignity, they become especially prone to anger. She didn’t know where she got such courage but angrily brushed away his hand. Without responding to him, she stumbled out of the chest by herself.
Look at her – her hair slightly disheveled, unlike previous times when she maintained the bearing of a young lady. This time her cheeks were flushed red, with moisture from sweat, hair curling at her temples, appearing even more childlike.
Shen Run crossed his arms as he looked her over. “Does Fourth Young Miss dislike seeing me this much?”
Qingyuan turned her face away. “Forgive me, but I don’t wish to speak with the Commander.”
This time she showed quite a rebellious spirit. The only shortcoming was that well-mannered people remained refined even when angry – her desperate resistance lacked force. He even heard a hint of coquettishness in her tone.
Ah, why were young ladies so hard to please? Previously he had dealt with official matters, and been dragged to drink with courtesans – those women would roll up their sleeves and act boldly. He knew proper young ladies were different from them, and he had prepared to be patient enough to win her over, but the results proved this path was truly difficult to walk.
Outside, heaven and earth were dark, with lightning accompanying the downpour. Inside the room, the light was dim, making it almost impossible to see facial features. Shen Run supported himself on his knee, bringing his gaze level with hers. Though his posture was accommodating, his tone was teasing: “Fourth Young Miss must have done something to wrong me, that’s why you dare not see me, right?”
Qingyuan said no, but she couldn’t help feeling guilty again. Why feel guilty? Even she found it strange when she thought about it.
Shen Run slowly straightened up, looking down at her sideways. “Fourth Young Miss…”
But before he could finish speaking, her hands lifted, still holding that familiar small sachet, waving it once before him. “I’ve been carrying it with me.”
Shen Run was speechless – he rarely had moments when he couldn’t continue speaking. Now encountering her, words could be neither light nor heavy, needing to be turned over thrice on the tongue before they could come out. Well now, she had learned to stop his mouth.
He looked at the sachet somewhat awkwardly. “That’s not what I meant.”
Qingyuan could only continue playing dumb. “Then what did you mean?”
She had forgotten her “don’t wish to speak with the Commander” now. In such misty weather, such dim light, two people standing face to face in the room. Suddenly it seemed their titles and official positions had been stripped away, leaving just two simple people – one sulking, one harboring anger, one pursuing relentlessly, one carefully evading, yet their soft words carried a special kind of intimate whisper…
Before coming, he had heard about her and Li Congxin’s matter. The little girl was audacious, daring to agree to another’s proposal behind his back. What kind of place was the Dianqian Si? All intelligence in the world fell under their jurisdiction – obtaining such news was as easy as turning over one’s palm. When he first heard it, he sat there for a long while without speaking. The guard below said: “Whether it’s a fox monkey or horse monkey or the Marquis of Danyang, this subordinate will go chase him down now, cut off his horse’s hooves and break his neck, see if he still dares compete with the Commander for someone!”
Of course, using such methods would be too dishonorable, and the Marquis of Danyang was imperial kin – his son wasn’t so easily dealt with. After much thought, he could only find Fourth Young Miss to have a good talk. He wanted to ask her why she had repeatedly declined him yet easily agreed to Li Congxin. After accepting his token, she turned around to maintain ambiguous ties with another man – though Fourth Young Miss was young, her courage wasn’t small. But strangely, upon actually seeing her, he wasn’t as angry as before. Scaring her into hiding in a chest could be counted as a kind of victory! He laughed at her childishness but couldn’t show it before her – he had to let her know he was very angry, only then could he intimidate her. So he furrowed his brow and said coldly: “Young Miss should give me an explanation. What principle is there in stringing along two men like this?”
Qingyuan was stunned, shrinking back as she stammered: “I’ve never strung anyone along – Commander, please don’t make false accusations.”
“Still denying it?” He smiled mockingly. “What do you think my Dianqian Si is? If we couldn’t even get this bit of news, we wouldn’t be worthy of serving His Majesty. Tell me, how did you plead with me at my mansion last time? You said when I came calling, you had no room to refuse, but with others, you could still bargain with your Old Madame. I haven’t wronged Young Miss, have I?”
For a moment, Qingyuan’s face was blank. Of course, she remembered what she had said, but given the current situation, it was difficult to explain. She slowly shifted her gaze to the ceiling. “Did I… say that?”
Commander Shen narrowed his eyes. “It seems Fourth Young Miss doesn’t remember.” As he spoke, he advanced toward her. Those long eyelashes were densely woven, and in a line of daylight, there was a faint glitter, bright as stars, smiling with ill intent. “I’m very willing to help Young Miss remember.”
Seeing trouble coming, Qingyuan hurriedly waved her hands saying: “No, no… no need to trouble the Commander. I seem to remember now. I did say that before, and I still plan to do so now, without any intention of deceiving the Commander.”
That small young lady, even when trying to fool someone, maintained such an innocent expression. If he weren’t so worldly-wise, he would almost have been deceived by her.
Shen Run smiled. Dealing with such a girl, the force wouldn’t work – one had to match wits and courage, not yielding an inch. “If that’s so, why did Young Miss agree to the Marquis of Danyang’s son’s proposal?”
Qingyuan knew that before him, lies and clever tricks were useless. She seemed to have grown accustomed to speaking truthfully with him, so she said: “When we were still in Hengtang, Third Young Master had also brought this matter up to the family. At that time, his mother didn’t approve and sent someone to tell me to know my place and withdraw. I thought, given the previous time, this time it definitely couldn’t work out. After all, the Xie family has misgivings, and naturally, the Marchioness of Danyang does too. I agreed to Third Young Master this time to give him a way out, and… my Second Sister also has feelings for him. I did this intentionally to provoke her and Lady Hu.”
Though the explanation seemed reasonable, and he knew she was speaking truthfully, he still wasn’t quite at ease. “Then what if Li Congxin truly obtains his parents’ permission? How will Fourth Young Miss choose?”
How to choose… Actually, until now, she hadn’t figured out why she must make a choice. Just because of this commander’s one-sided affections, she was burdened with heavy shackles – it made no sense. Anyway, avoidance wasn’t the solution; she had to speak clearly with him. So she gestured and said: “Commander has again traveled dozens of li today and must be tired. Please sit down first, and we can discuss this at length.”
Her tone was unhurried, always carrying a kind of soothing power. Speaking of fatigue, he had suffered much hardship before – traveling dozens of li in a day was nothing. But since she invited him to sit, he couldn’t well refuse, so he sat down at the cypress wood square table. Life in the temple was quiet and austere, the woodwork quite crude. Unable to avoid the tree knots, they split the boards to make the tabletop, leaving a deep scar on its surface. She lifted her sleeve to pour him a cup of tea, those orchid-like hands holding it, placing it before him, smiling calmly and peacefully asking him to wet his throat.
“I knew Third Young Master before knowing the Commander. That time it was actually through his introduction that I went to your mansion. Let me speak frankly with the Commander – I am born of a concubine, and my mother carries an inerasable crime. I never dared hope for a very good marriage in the future. I even thought that if one day I could return to the Chen family and accompany my grandparents until they were old, that would be enough. Later at the Spring Banquet, I met Third Young Master. I can’t say I like him, but I’m very grateful to him – if it weren’t for that register of his helping me out of trouble, I don’t know who I would have been matched with by now.” After speaking, she gave a soft glance at the person opposite. “Commander, in your eyes, does someone like me have the qualification to choose my husband?”
He suddenly realized this young lady had spread a net of gentle persuasion, slowly closing it, trying to draw words from his mouth. Everything became interesting – he nodded with great interest: “I still respect Fourth Young Miss very much, otherwise I would have directly abducted you into my mansion. Your Xie family wouldn’t dare come asking for someone back.”
Though these words were outrageous, they spoke the truth. Qingyuan smiled mildly. “I know the Commander is a good person, and I’m also grateful for the Commander listening to my plea. But since the Commander says he respects me, then… could you allow me to choose my marriage?”
She looked at him full of hope. Some words remained unspoken, but he could see through them – she wanted to gamble with this marriage. If Lady Hu couldn’t restrain herself and acted again, she would have a chance to find life in death; if Lady Hu held back, and if Li Congxin could win the chance to marry her, then she would accept the arrangement. At worst, she would still gain the title of a marquis’s wife – it didn’t seem too bad.
So looking at it all, there was no place for him in this plan – his persistence had become her stumbling block. This young lady, to say she was simple would truly be wrong – she had ambition and knew when to cut losses. She quietly did what she wanted to do; if it succeeded, all would be happy; if it failed, she would withdraw completely. She didn’t have so many deeply carved feelings – she was always mild, yet in her mildness, she was utterly heartless.
Unfortunately, no matter how good her calculations, she couldn’t obtain his generous permission. “Fourth Young Miss said she would one day give me an answer – is the plan to thank me for my deep affection after the marriage is settled? I seem to have forgotten to tell you, that I never knew what it meant to facilitate others’ happiness. If others are happy while I’m not, I don’t like it. Actually, why go in such a big circle? You want revenge, I’ll help you take revenge; you want to be a proper wife, I happen to have a vacancy here, to make you a proper wife. Shen Run holds the rank of Second Grade, you will certainly receive an imperial title in the future – isn’t that a hundred times better than being a concubine, bowing low until your mother-in-law dies before becoming a marchioness?”