Nightfall, the inner courtyard of the Shen residence.
Jing Zhe and Gu Yu watched as Jiang Zhiyi sat under candlelight, her brows deeply furrowed as she flipped through a medical book, searching for something unknown. They exchanged confused glances.
Ever since returning from the inn today, the Princess had been acting strangely. First, she sat by the window with her chin propped up, staring vacantly at the peach tree in the courtyard, occasionally raising her finger to lightly brush her lips, sometimes frowning, shaking her head.
Then she began pacing back and forth, muttering complaints about the still-unknown author of the story book.
After that, she had them fetch this medical book, studying it while taking her pulse.
Jing Zhe: “Princess, even physicians don’t treat themselves. How can you learn this so quickly? If you’re feeling unwell somewhere, this servant should call for a doctor to check your pulse.”
Jiang Zhiyi’s expression was grave: “I suspect my old ailment has returned…”
“What?” Jing Zhe and Gu Yu were greatly alarmed.
Jiang Zhiyi tentatively felt her wrist: “Look, this medical book says that the pulse for stagnant qi and blood stasis is called a choppy pulse. It feels like lightly scraping bamboo, with difficulty and roughness, has a trembling sensation, uneven pulse strength, sometimes strong, sometimes weak… I’ve checked off every condition!”
Jing Zhe and Gu Yu looked down at the three fingers Jiang Zhiyi was using to check her pulse, blinking in confusion.
“Princess, you’re probably overthinking. This servant saw your pulse-checking hand shake just now, so of course, your pulse would tremble. When you press hard one moment and lightly the next, naturally, your pulse would feel sometimes strong and sometimes weak. Your blood stasis has long been completely cleared. You can rest assured!” Gu Yu offered reasonable reassurance.
But Jiang Zhiyi’s heart didn’t seem to ease. She looked up and glanced at Gu Yu as if looking at someone who couldn’t speak, and closed the medical book expressionlessly, tossing it aside.
…She didn’t have a relapse of her old ailment, but how had she been possessed by Yi Yi at that moment? How had she closed her eyes for him?
Countless voices traversed time and space, echoing repeatedly in her ears—
“Stop liking my brother, like me instead.”
“Jiang Zhiyi, you were right, one can truly hear it—hear that you also have me in your heart.”
“You dislike my brother so much, yet when looking at my face, why can you still feed me shrimp?”
…
Jiang Zhiyi waved her hand, dispersing these annoying voices. Suddenly, she heard two knocks at the door. Looking up, she saw a tall, crane-like silhouette cast on the screen.
Her heart pounded, her limbs momentarily frozen. After an instant, Jiang Zhiyi abruptly rose and ran toward the inner room, leaving a message for her maids: “…Tell him I’m asleep!”
“No need to say that, I heard you.” A smiling male voice sounded from outside the door.
Jiang Zhiyi halted in her steps, slowly turning her head. Even through the door, she could almost see his slightly upturned lips at this moment.
At this thought, the moist, soft sensation seemed to return to her lips. Jiang Zhiyi’s heart trembled, and she nervously swallowed, clearing her throat before calling out: “This late at night, what’s the matter?”
“Can’t I come find you on a matter?”
“What would you find me for if there’s no matter? To get scolded?”
“There is a matter—I’ve come to bid you farewell. Come open the door.”
Jiang Zhiyi was stunned. She looked at her two equally surprised maids to confirm she hadn’t misheard, then walked forward half-believing and half-doubting, opening the door a crack and peering out: “What did you say? Farewell?”
Shen Yuance lowered his head, his gaze landing on her lips that were slightly parted in surprise.
Jiang Zhiyi immediately pressed her lips tightly together, her face full of wariness as she made the door crack even smaller.
Looking at her hands guarding the door like protecting a nest, Shen Yuance smiled: “Commissioner He has asked me to accompany him on a mission.”
Jiang Zhiyi knew the Commissioner He he mentioned, was formerly Deputy Commissioner Shen’s assistant. Since Commissioner Shen’s death, he had temporarily taken over as the Hexi Commissioner. Before leaving the capital in the first month, her Imperial Uncle had also mentioned letting Shen Yuance learn about local governance under Commissioner He.
Jiang Zhiyi’s expression slightly stiffened: “…Where are you going? What for? How long will you be gone?”
“There are eleven prefectures in Hexi, excluding Liangzhou, each with a prefect. I haven’t yet met three of these prefects. You can think of it as a social visit. Family members could accompany us, but further west and north, the geographical climate…”
“Go by yourself, I certainly won’t go!” Jiang Zhiyi quickly interrupted him.
Shen Yuance curved his lips: “My wife needn’t rush, I had no intention of making you suffer hardship.”
Jiang Zhiyi turned her head away and closed her eyes briefly, really wanting to slap this mouth that kept coming forward today.
“Ten days at the shortest, half a month at the longest. I’ll return as quickly as possible.” Shen Yuance reached through the door crack and gently rubbed the top of her head.
Her scalp tingled and itched. Jiang Zhiyi’s gaze flickered as she avoided his direct gaze: “N-no need, you’d better take your time, give me a few more days of peace…”
Shen Yuance chuckled: “Aren’t these days peaceful enough? If you want more days, then why not be lively with me tonight?”
Jiang Zhiyi froze, noticing his eyes glancing toward her bedchamber behind her. Her mind heated up, and she slammed the door shut: “…In your dreams! Who would be lively with you? Go pack your luggage!”
Early the next morning when Jiang Zhiyi arose, she heard that Shen Yuance had already left the city. Before leaving, he had come to her bedroom, sat by her bed for a while, and when the time came to depart, seeing she hadn’t awakened, he quietly left.
Gu Yu commented that Young General Shen, waiting for her to wake, yet not daring to wake her, looked exactly like little Yuan Tuan, who came every morning wanting to be held.
Jiang Zhiyi muttered, “He’s not as cute as Yuan Tuan,” held Yuan Tuan, and went to enjoy the sunshine and her peaceful days.
However, unexpectedly, after just one peaceful day, on the second night, San Qi brought a proud-looking carrier pigeon to the inner courtyard and handed her the message tube tied to the pigeon’s leg, saying it was a letter from Shen Yuance.
When San Qi arrived, Jiang Zhiyi was lying on a daybed applying a thick layer of facial cream and couldn’t open her eyes to read the letter, so she asked Jing Zhe to read it aloud for her.
Jing Zhe opened the letter and began reading: “Yi Yi, I hope this letter finds you well. Two days apart, and the countless stars in the nine heavens above cannot express my longing for you. The high mountains…”
Jiang Zhiyi’s body trembled, and she suddenly sat up from the couch, raising her palm to stop Jing Zhe.
Jing Zhe and Gu Yu were both startled.
With a face covered in grayish-green facial cream, Jiang Zhiyi curled her toes tightly: “No need to read the beginning, read further down…”
“Where should this servant start reading from?”
“Start from—after ‘cannot compare to the firmness of my heart.'”
“Oh, how does the Princess know that’s the next line?”
Because Shen Yuance is just a copycat! After copying her poem, now he’s copying her letter!
“Princess, your facial cream hasn’t dried yet and is about to drip. Please lie back down quickly.” Gu Yu reminded her from the side.
Jiang Zhiyi lay back on the daybed, folding her hands across her body, breathing in and out to calm herself: “Continue.”
Jing Zhe continued reading word by word: “After two days of riding at full speed, tonight I arrived in Ganzhou. The Ganzhou prefect is a hospitable man and arranged a welcoming banquet for me. The banquet had many delicacies and beautiful food, with singing, dancing, and entertaining women. After the banquet ended and I returned to my lodging, there were still two dancers who claimed they were sent by the prefect to serve me in bed…”
“What?!” Jiang Zhiyi abruptly sat up again, her eyes widening in shock.
Beside her, Gu Yu was also both surprised and angry: “How could Young General Shen be like this, not even of age yet and already indulging in such vices! And, and one wasn’t enough, he had two!”
Jiang Zhiyi tremblingly pointed a finger toward the northwest: “This Princess hasn’t yet formally broken off our engagement! Is that Ganzhou prefecture tired of living? Is he tired of living, too?”
“Princess, please calm down, there’s more, there’s more—” Jing Zhe pointed at the letter and quickly continued reading.
“Unfortunately for them, their mouths weren’t as fast as my accompanying guards’ hands. Before they could state their purpose, they had already lost two arms…”
Jiang Zhiyi’s pupils contracted, and she blinked lightly, imagining the scene, drew in a breath, raised her hand to rub her own arms, and lay back down.
“Amid misfortune, the blessing is that today it was my accompanying guards who first entered the room. If it had been me, they might already be souls under my sword. I had the guards reattach their arms and returned them to the Ganzhou prefect, apologizing to him and suggesting that next time, if he wishes to entertain guests with such dancers, he should find some who speak quickly and clearly, to avoid bloodshed.”
Jiang Zhiyi: “…”
“Additionally, I have made it clear to the prefect that I have certain standards regarding the appearance of those by my bed. Those who are not beautiful enough may not enter my sight.”
“?” Jiang Zhiyi slowly sat up straight again. “He dares to tell people he has standards, asking them to select beauties for him? So those two dancers were not beautiful enough, and that’s why he drove them away?”
“…Princess, would you like to hear a bit more?”
Jiang Zhiyi nodded: “Fine, continue reading. I want to hear how he’s going to explain himself this time.”
“The prefect asked me what I considered beautiful, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so he could select accordingly. I told him that in my eyes, only Princess Yongying is beautiful, and no one else is worth looking at.”
As the words fell, the surging anger in the room receded like a tide. After three rises and falls, the person on the daybed finally returned to a state of peace and tranquility. Beyond the tranquility, it was as if someone had gently tickled the bottom of her heart, causing a numb itch.
Jiang Zhiyi raised her hand to touch her cheek under the facial cream, and under Jing Zhe’s gaze, which looked at her like a three-year-old child, she silently lay back down.
That night, San Qi received Jiang Zhiyi’s order requiring Shen Yuance to send one letter every day, reporting his activities from morning to night in detail.
San Qi sent the message to Shen Yuance hundreds of li away overnight, conveying the Princess’s command. From then on, he shouldered the responsibility of waiting for carrier pigeons every night, bringing one after another to Jiang Zhiyi’s courtyard.
One night, when the carrier pigeon hadn’t arrived late into the night, seeing that the Princess’s bedroom light remained lit, as if she wouldn’t sleep until the letter arrived, San Qi anxiously paced outside the courtyard, almost ready to fly to the sky himself to see where the pigeon was.
Close to the third watch, a dejected fluttering of wings sounded, and finally, the long-awaited carrier pigeon landed.
San Qi picked up the exhausted pigeon with its eyes rolling back and rushed into the courtyard, handing the message tube to the Princess’s maid.
From inside came the Princess’s drowsy voice: “My eyes won’t open, read it to me. What did he write?”
San Qi was also curious. The Young General must have been busy and couldn’t find time to write a letter, yet still managed to send a message back. What important activity would he choose to report?
After waiting at the door for a moment, he heard the maid solemnly read out four characters: “No courtesans tonight.”
Days passed one by one, letters came one after another, and soon it was April, when flowers bloomed deeply and willows cast shadows in the late spring of Guzang City.
On the twelfth night, Jiang Zhiyi sat at her desk and pulled open the wooden box where she stored the letters, preparing to place tonight’s letter inside, only to find the box was almost full.
Gu Yu, serving by her side, quickly said: “Shall this servant bring a new box to store them?”
“What do you mean, bring a new one? Won’t he be back before this box is filled? Isn’t half a month enough for him to wander out there?” Jiang Zhiyi snorted softly, looking at the box full of letters.
“Young General Shen said before leaving that it would be at most half a month, but you said then that you wanted a few more days of peace. Perhaps Young General Shen is listening to your words and staying away for a few more days?”
Jiang Zhiyi choked: “He doesn’t listen to anything else, but he listens to this?”
“Princess, do you want Young General Shen to listen or not listen?”
They had thought that with Young General Shen gone, without his lingering presence around the Princess, every day would be comfortable and carefree, just waiting for the Marquis’s people to arrive and escort her back.
But as it turned out, apart from two or three outings with Miss Pei that were somewhat enjoyable, on ordinary days, the Princess’s happiest moment from dawn to dusk was actually receiving Young General Shen’s letter before going to bed each night.
Sometimes she would laugh while reading the letter, sometimes she would get angry, but the most common phrase on her lips was—when he returns, I will do such and such.
Gu Yu suggested: “If you hope for his early return, sending a letter through San Qi is all it takes. It’s not such a difficult thing.”
Jiang Zhiyi frowned. Words she had spoken herself—how was it not difficult to take them back?
Besides, why should she hope for his early return…
“The Marquis’s people coming to escort you are getting closer and closer. If Young General Shen truly listens to your words and delays his return, you might not see him before you return to the capital…”
Jiang Zhiyi sat motionless at her desk as if in a contest of wills, remaining silent for so long that Gu Yu thought the matter was settled. However, she saw her mistress purse her lips, finally pick up a brush, spread out paper, write down a few characters, and hand it over: “Give this to San Qi.”
Gu Yu looked at the extremely brief line on the note and asked: “Princess, this servant cannot read. What did you write?”
Jiang Zhiyi pronounced each word with emphasis: “‘The flowers are blooming along the path, you may slowly return now.'”