Prince Hui kept his word. He truly had Fei Quan deliver a written pledge he’d personally written, enclosed in an envelope: During residence in Lingshan Town, accompany my lady out for excursions six or seven times monthly, no breach of contract permitted.
The signature was a single character: “Sui.”
Yao Huang looked it over several times back and forth, put away the pledge and tucked the envelope under her pillow, then recalled the various events of last night and let out a long breath.
That the plan had progressed so smoothly—aside from her acting convincingly enough, it was also thanks to Prince Hui’s soft heart. If he truly regarded her as a low-born princess consort who could be summoned and dismissed at will, not caring in the slightest whether she felt wronged in her heart, even if Yao Huang cried herself blind it would only make Prince Hui increasingly detest her for not understanding propriety.
Of course, Yao Huang also tailored her approach to the person. If Prince Hui were truly that cold and icy, Yao Huang wouldn’t have even had the plan to come escape the summer heat in Lingshan.
This day she rested well just lying in bed. On the evening of the thirteenth, Yao Huang’s body felt much lighter. She ran to the front courtyard to discuss with Prince Hui: “Shall we eat dinner a bit early, then go out for a stroll after eating?”
In Zhao Sui’s eyes, the princess consort wore a white short jacket and a bright red long skirt embroidered with colorful butterflies among flowers. The skirt alone was vivid enough, and adding a face of breathtaking beauty—Zhao Sui could already imagine when such a beauty pushed a wheelchair-bound husband walking through the streets and alleys, what kind of looks the passing common folk would cast, and what gossip they’d whisper in low voices after walking past.
But he’d agreed with his own mouth and even written her a pledge.
“Mm.”
Yao Huang smiled and told Fei Quan, who was waiting in the courtyard, to fetch the new elm wood wheelchair Master Deng had made. The rattan chair was still better suited for use at home.
Before departure, Yao Huang had shown Prince Hui the new elm wood wheelchair, only saying that Master Deng thought she might still need an elm wood wheelchair and had made one just to be prepared.
Prince Hui wore an expression of indifference, probably thinking that once he arrived in town he wouldn’t go out at all, so he’d have no use for the sturdier elm wood chair.
For dinner, Gao Niangzi stewed two soups—winter melon and spare rib soup for the prince, and Chinese angelica mutton soup for the princess consort. Each was served in a soup bowl, about two bowls’ worth, with rich fragrance.
Yao Huang slowly blew on it and finished drinking one bowl of soup. Beads of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose, and her cheeks were flushed red.
She both felt she didn’t need such daily variety in nourishment, yet couldn’t resist Gao Niangzi’s excellent cooking. She could only complain to Prince Hui: “Just watch, Second Master—by year’s end I’ll definitely be a whole size fatter than when we just married.”
Zhao Sui glanced at her mutton-fat-white neck and silently drank the spare rib soup the princess consort had ladled for him.
After the meal, the husband and wife briefly freshened up in their respective courtyards. Then Yao Huang came to the front courtyard to fetch Prince Hui.
Neither Qing Ai nor Fei Quan felt at ease letting the princess consort push the prince out alone. Not daring to speak to the prince directly, they eagerly used their eyes to consult the princess consort.
Yao Huang smiled: “If you two brothers like strolling, go stroll yourselves. Don’t follow us husband and wife around getting in the way.”
This refusal guarded against walls having ears.
Elder brother-in-law Qing Ai and younger brother-in-law Fei Quan were even more left speechless, only hoping that those secret guards who’d moved over in advance would dutifully perform their tasks and not let the prince and princess consort meet with danger.
Fei Quan stepped forward to open the east courtyard’s main gate that had been tightly shut for three days. After the princess consort pushed the prince out, he closed it again from inside.
Before the gate was a stone-paved road wide enough for a carriage to pass through comfortably. At the other end of the stone road was that stream about five zhang wide. Willows, peach trees, plum trees and such were planted here and there along both banks. There were also stone steps and embankments extending from the shore to the water’s edge for people to moor boats or crouch at the water’s edge washing clothes and preparing vegetables. The river channel ran fairly straight—looking over it at a glance, from east to west there were actually five stone bridges spanning across it.
Bright evening sunlight poured down from the west—no longer scorching like at noon but still dazzling.
The neighbors were probably all eating at home. There weren’t many people on the road for the moment. Yao Huang pointed east: “Let’s walk this way first, stroll to that bridge farthest away, turn to go to the opposite bank, circle back to the bridge beside us, then go to the main street ahead and see what shops there are. What does Second Master think?”
Second Master Zhao was the picture of lifelessness: “You decide.”
Yao Huang looked down and laughed: “I don’t ask that Second Master smile as broadly as I do—at least show a bit of interest in the outing, all right? You’re the one who agreed to accompany me out. Don’t make it seem like I’m forcing you to come out. If people see us, they’ll think our husband-wife relationship is discordant.”
Second Master Zhao, who had come out “willingly”: “…”
Yao Huang pushed him and set off: “Second Master, just act like when we strolled back in our hometown. Back then you seemed quite amiable.”
Zhao Sui only looked at the road ahead, at the several figures far and near in his field of vision.
Yao Huang first pushed him to the embankment at their doorstep, leaned over to look at the river surface—the water was quite clear, with some small fish fry swimming about.
Zhao Sui looked at the wheelchair’s footrest that had already extended over the embankment edge and his feet resting emptily upon it, then looked at the two small front wheels that seemed liable to continue rolling forward at any moment. He couldn’t deny his heart was beating somewhat faster.
The cloth-clad guard hidden in the shadows who hadn’t yet had a chance to see the princess consort’s true appearance: “…”
Was that beautiful woman who might push the prince into the river at any moment really the princess consort? Commander Zhang had only instructed them to protect the prince and princess consort from harm by outsiders—he hadn’t mentioned whether they should intervene if the princess consort harmed the prince intentionally or unintentionally!
Finally, Yao Huang had looked enough at the water. She retreated several steps, turned the wheelchair, and headed east.
Right beside them grew a peach tree. Yao Huang stopped, pointing among the deep green leaves: “Second Master, look—the tips of those peaches are almost red!”
Zhao Sui raised his head and in the direction the princess consort’s finger pointed discovered five or six egg-sized green peaches. The tip of one was indeed already tinged pink.
Yao Huang: “Too bad this tree grows outside. Just watch—before these peaches are fully ripe, they’ll be picked clean by the neighborhood children.”
Zhao Sui: “If you like them, we can have someone guard them outside.”
Yao Huang: “I’m not that petty. The person who originally planted this peach tree surely did so because peach blossoms look nice in spring, not thinking about eating peaches in summer. Besides, when I was little I especially loved going to pick wild peaches to eat. I can’t just because I’ve grown up cut off other children’s fun, can I?”
Zhao Sui estimated the distance between the princess consort’s head and the green peaches, asking: “When you were little, could you reach them?”
Yao Huang: “Of course! When my brother was there I’d stand on his shoulders to pick them. When he wasn’t there I could use a tree branch to knock the peaches down.”
Zhao Sui glanced at his own shoulders and didn’t speak further.
After viewing the peaches, Yao Huang set off again. Passing by the He scholar’s house next door, Yao Huang saw the door was open and curiously looked inside. Unexpectedly, this family hadn’t built a spirit wall, so one could see the entire courtyard at a glance. The He family of four had moved their dining table into the courtyard to enjoy the cool. Yao Huang looked inward, the He family of four looked outward—they all caught each other’s eyes.
Prince Hui in the wheelchair had originally been looking straight ahead. Because the princess consort had stopped again for some unknown reason, Zhao Sui turned his head, then met four completely unfamiliar faces. Among them, the woman around forty years old actually stood up holding her bowl with one hand, asking with surprise and delight: “Are you the Second Master and Second Mistress from the Liao family who just moved in next door?”
Zhao Sui: “…”
Yao Huang smiled: “That’s right. We just finished eating and came out for a stroll while it’s cool. Auntie, you’re still eating?”
Madam Zhu hurriedly put her bowl back on the table and enthusiastically rushed to the doorway. With a face full of smiles she looked at the young scholar in the wheelchair, then carefully examined Yao Huang, praising without restraint: “This truly opens my eyes! Before today I never knew the world could have such handsome young masters and young wives—you simply make us country folk look like mud by comparison!”
Zhao Sui lowered his eyes. He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but the woman’s saliva seemed to have splattered one or two drops onto his face.
At this moment, Scholar He also walked over with his pair of children, He Wenbin and He Wenqi.
They were both scholars, but Scholar He was older, so he waited for the young man in the wheelchair to greet him first. Unexpectedly, this young man was quite arrogant—never mind calling him Uncle He or Elder, he didn’t even give him a proper look.
Yao Huang saw clearly and smiled: “My Second Master prefers quiet and isn’t good with words. Please be understanding, you two elders. Well, we’ll continue our stroll. You all hurry back to eat. Next time when there’s a chance we’ll come disturb you again.”
Madam Zhu: “All right, all right, go quickly! The scenery here is lovely—several spots are worth visiting!”
Yao Huang kept walking forward. After passing two more households, she pretended to casually look back and just caught sight of the last bit of clothing as the He family of four returned to their courtyard.
Only then did Yao Huang push the wheelchair to the embankment, asking the gloomy-faced Prince Hui to wait a moment. She took out her handkerchief, walked down the stone steps leading to the water surface, crouched down to wet the handkerchief, then walked back up. Bending at the waist, unable to suppress her amusement, she helped Prince Hui wipe his face: “Common folk in small towns are all like this. When they meet new neighbors they have to at least greet them. Second Master has suffered an injustice.”
Zhao Sui looked at her completely undisguised laughter and asked: “Since you think I suffered an injustice, why can you still gloat over my misfortune?”
Yao Huang turned the wiped handkerchief to the other side and helped Prince Hui wipe a second time: “It’s not gloating. I’m laughing because before, when I kissed you in the carriage, you had to scold me for being improper. Yet now that a strange woman’s saliva has sprayed on your face, Second Master has instead become good-tempered, not saying a word—truly playing the part of an ordinary commoner with me. How about it, is there anywhere else that needs wiping?”
Zhao Sui: “…Forehead.”
Yao Huang put away her smile, making a slightly annoyed expression. While wiping she said: “I seem to have gotten the short end of the stick. My saliva hasn’t even touched this spot on Second Master yet.”
Zhao Sui: “…”
Yao Huang washed the handkerchief three times in all. The first two times were to help Prince Hui wipe clean. The third time was to wash the handkerchief clean.
Zhao Sui just watched her run up and down step by step. Finally she unfolded the wrung-out handkerchief and draped it over the left armrest of the wheelchair that he wasn’t currently holding, smiling: “Drying it here, it just happens to still catch the evening sun. I’ll focus on pushing Second Master, but you must watch it carefully for me. If a young lady’s handkerchief gets lost, it easily invites some troubles.”
Zhao Sui thought of her storybook, where Pan Xuniang’s handkerchief had been picked up by the blacksmith and used for vile purposes in the middle of the night.
Thus, His Highness Prince Hui, who’d been forced to come out and appreciate scenery, had little mood to appreciate scenery at all. His peripheral vision kept fixed on the silk handkerchief draped over the armrest. Each time the wheelchair swayed slightly, that handkerchief swayed along with it. It swayed until Prince Hui prepared several times to reach out and hold the handkerchief down, only for it to rest there perfectly fine.
Finally, Zhao Sui directly removed the handkerchief, folded it several times until it became a palm-sized square, and held it in his palm.
Yao Huang said in surprise: “It dried that quickly?”
Prince Hui didn’t answer.
The stone bridge at the easternmost end of the river was right before them. Further east were several houses and some scattered crop fields, followed by mountains.
Yao Huang suddenly abandoned the wheelchair and ran toward the stone bridge by herself.
Zhao Sui sat in the wheelchair watching the princess consort’s jubilant appearance. He watched her stop in the middle of the stone bridge and turn around, one hand resting on the railing, the other hand waving toward him. Bathed in fiery red evening sunlight, she smiled at him: “Second Master, if we painted the scenery here, wouldn’t it look lovely?”
A cloth-clad couple came up from the north side of the bridge, looking them both up and down. Yet the princess consort acted as if oblivious, only waiting for his answer.
Zhao Sui could only nod.
Yao Huang smiled again and ran back, pushing him onto the bridge. By the time the wheelchair reached the bridge approach, that cloth-clad couple had only a few steps left before descending the bridge.
Above his head rang the princess consort’s familiar tone: “Did you two just return from the fields?”
“That’s right. You two are?”
“We’re the nephew and nephew’s wife of Doctor Liao’s family who just moved to town. We just finished eating and came out for a walk.”
“Oh, oh, oh! I’ve seen Doctor Liao—he’s handsome enough, but I never imagined his nephew could be so handsome they don’t even look like they’re from the same family!”
The woman speaking didn’t care at all about what expression the scholar in the wheelchair wore. She bent down and gave him a thorough once-over, her eyes full of amazement and delight.
Zhao Sui: “…”
Yao Huang smiled: “My uncle is just getting on in years. When he was young he was also very handsome. Well, you two should hurry home to eat. We’ll go have a look at the opposite bank.”
“Go, go! If you have time, come play at our house—we live in the third house down from the bridge, the one with two stone stools at the door.”
“Will do!”