No wonder Mother Consort clearly preferred Rong Pu more, yet didn’t speak much about him in front of her.
Tie Ci thought that if they visited his shops one by one, they probably wouldn’t finish even in three months.
Murong Yi drove the carriage both smoothly and steadily, to the point that Tie Ci grew drowsy.
She was normally alert when sleeping and never slept during the day, but now for some reason—perhaps because she had returned to the capital, perhaps because she was surrounded by loved ones—her guard suddenly dropped to zero. She first fell asleep leaning against the carriage wall.
Consort Jing was about to speak with her when Tie Yan said: “Shh—”
Both fell quiet.
Tie Yan carefully removed his cloak and covered her with it.
The carriage jolted, and Tie Ci’s head tilted to rest on Consort Jing’s shoulder.
Consort Jing looked down at her daughter, gently smoothed the slightly disheveled hair by her temples, then cradled her head and laid it flat on her lap.
Tie Yan looked at Tie Ci’s long legs dangling off the seat with nowhere to rest, thought for a moment, then lifted his daughter’s legs to place them on his own lap, tucking the cloak around her properly.
He also pulled the curtain down further, afraid people might see and give those idle censors something else to impeach about.
Murong Yi didn’t turn back, but as if knowing Tie Ci was sleeping, he slowed the carriage speed and drove even more steadily.
Tie Ci slept very comfortably. The surface beneath her was soft and warm, surrounded by the faint familiar fragrance that brought her peace, as if she were still sleeping on the bed in Ruixiang Palace during her youth. She lazily turned over and continued sleeping.
Her long hair was somewhat disheveled, piled at the back of her neck. Consort Jing, afraid she might press on her hair, gently pulled it outward, then suddenly made a small sound of surprise.
Tie Yan glanced at her.
But Consort Jing looked puzzled, thought for a moment, then said nothing.
She remembered that Tie Ci seemed to have had a virginity mark applied when she was very young, just after becoming Crown Princess. The Empress Dowager, in order to humiliate her, had used the pretext that the Crown Princess must maintain her purity and chastity to have the mark applied. At the time, Tie Ci had said she hoped it could be placed somewhere she couldn’t see, otherwise seeing it would make her feel ashamed.
Virginity marks were supposed to be applied to the limbs, as that was said to be most effective, but Tie Ci had firmly resisted. Since the Empress Dowager’s main purpose was merely to humiliate her, the mark was eventually placed on Tie Ci’s neck, slightly below the nape.
When Tie Ci had turned over just now, her collar had shifted, revealing a section of her back. That section of skin was snow-white with some faint bruising, but there was no trace of the bright red mark.
So much time had passed that not only had Tie Ci herself forgotten, but Consort Jing could barely remember where exactly the mark had been placed.
The place where she remembered it should be showed nothing. Had she remembered wrong, or…?
“What’s wrong?” Seeing her strange expression, Tie Yan thought she had discovered some injury on Tie Ci and became nervous.
Consort Jing was uncertain and didn’t dare speak, so she shook her head.
The carriage suddenly stopped—they must have arrived—but Murong Yi didn’t turn back to urge them to get out. He sat there quietly waiting.
Tie Yan had been prepared to make him wait if he came to request their alighting, and had planned to glare at him while doing so. Who would have thought he’d be so perceptive, knowing not to disturb Tie Ci? His expression softened slightly.
Three people inside and outside the carriage quietly waited for Tie Ci to wake up.
But Tie Ci was someone who could sense atmospheric changes even in her dreams. She soon opened her eyes and asked: “Have we arrived?”
When her eyes first opened, they still held traces of drowsiness, but by the time she finished those two words, her gaze was already clear and alert.
Tie Yan looked at her with something close to heartache, very much wanting to say they hadn’t arrived yet and she should sleep more. But Tie Ci had already noticed her position and sat up abruptly, her expression blank for a moment.
Though she had been beloved by the Emperor Father since childhood, “Emperor Father” still carried the word “Emperor,” with many restrictions and inevitable constraints. The Empress Dowager loomed like a shadow day and night, the palace seeming full of hidden dangers everywhere. The Emperor Father hadn’t dared to be too close to her.
As for Mother Consort, even less need be said—like a startled bird, the impression she left was mostly of crying, trembling, tearful smiles, forever pitiful and forever uneasy.
She had grown up in stern vigilance, forever unable to relax like her parents, never daring to hope for the warmth of a family of three, for all the ordinary happiness of mortal life.
She didn’t consider this a regret or source of dissatisfaction, because she was the Crown Princess. Since she had accepted this wealth and honor, it was proper to pay some price for it.
This was the first time in eighteen years that she had slept with her head on her mother’s lap and her legs resting on her father’s.
She was bewildered, her whole body stiff, her fingers digging into her palms, trembling slightly.
Seeing this made Tie Yan’s heart burn and ache, as if hot tears might pour from his eyes like a flood.
Outside the carriage, a group of people suddenly passed by—this must be some sightseeing area. Among them was a little girl’s voice, sweetly calling for daddy to carry her.
A man’s hearty laugh responded as he lifted his little daughter and hoisted her onto his shoulders.
The obviously much-beloved little girl raised her hands shouting “giddy-up, giddy-up,” her joyful laughter spilling across her father’s broad back.
The flood in Tie Yan’s eyes could no longer be controlled.
Everything that was simplest for ordinary people was so difficult for his A Ci.
So much so that someone as calm and composed as she would lose her composure at this moment.
He quickly turned his head to look at the carriage window.
The window reflected his face. Looking at his slightly haggard features, he thought hazily that A Ci had already grown up, while he had grown old.
The carriage curtain suddenly lifted, and Murong Yi’s face appeared very timely, his expression bright with smiles, effectively diluting the somewhat strange atmosphere inside the carriage. As if he had seen nothing, he waved at Tie Ci with a smile: “Do you want me to carry you? You don’t have to call me daddy.”
Tie Ci burst out laughing and kicked him in the butt. Tie Yan had intended to glare at him, but when he turned around, he couldn’t help smiling too.
Only Consort Jing hadn’t sensed anything, lifting the curtain and curiously poking her head out.
Tie Ci got out of the carriage and saw winding roads ahead, lined with maples red as fire. Under the maple trees were many vendors calling their wares, with crowds of people flowing back and forth.
This was the perfect season for viewing maples, still catching the last wave, so there were many people.
Tie Yan and Consort Jing also got out, saying in surprise: “Isn’t this Feng Garden?”
They had thought Murong Yi would take them somewhere unusual.
Tie Ci smiled: “A Yi says he’ll show us a different Feng Garden.”
The disguised guards dispersed into the crowd, protecting this family of three from ten steps away.
Murong Yi pointed toward another direction in the woods: “We’ll take another path. There’s another entrance there.”
Tie Ci had visited Feng Garden before and said in surprise: “I don’t remember there being an entrance there.”
Murong Yi smiled without speaking and led the way. The path required going through the woods. Whether it had been cleared or not, they encountered no one as they passed through the maple forest.
The weather had turned cold recently, gloomy with the threat of snow. The maple trees outside Feng Garden couldn’t withstand the harsh conditions—more than half had withered, their red leaves mottled and branches sparse, which only emphasized a certain desolation. Tie Yan was obviously greatly disappointed and felt somewhat apologetic toward his daughter: “It seems the red leaves have already fallen. Perhaps we should go elsewhere.”
But Tie Ci held him back: “Father, please look a bit more.”
Tie Yan could only follow her deeper. After passing through a section of bare trees, the scenery suddenly changed. The maple trees were gone, replaced by a pristine white Western-style archway. Under the archway was a row of low evergreen shrubs, all neatly trimmed and clustered together luxuriantly. Tie Yan felt the tree shapes were strange, but Tie Ci had already spotted the trick and laughed: “Old Dad, let me show you some Western scenery.”
With that, she scooped up her father and leaped onto a tall tree beside them.
Tie Yan had never encountered such a situation. Startled, he grabbed his daughter’s waist, and only after they had settled on the treetop did he close his eyes tremblingly for a long time before saying: “So this is how martial artists leap about? How terrifying.”
Tie Ci said: “We don’t fly around in the sky all day—what would we be, living targets?”
Only then did Tie Yan open his eyes and look down, making a sound of surprise.
He finally discovered that the low shrubs below had all been trimmed into the shape of characters, which when read together said: “Respectfully welcoming father-in-law and mother-in-law to Feng Garden.”
Tie Yan: “…”
Tie Ci: “…”
Murong Yi’s shamelessness always had the ability to leave people speechless.
After a long while, Tie Yan turned and took his daughter’s hand, saying earnestly: “My child, you should have three palaces and six courtyards, seventy-two consorts after all. Dad will see if he can modify Da Qian’s laws to open a convenient door for you.”
Tie Ci: “…??”
“This one is too good at causing trouble,” Tie Yan said with furrowed brows. “I’m worried that in the future, when you’re managing ten thousand affairs daily, you’ll have to constantly worry about him too—today he’ll act up because you don’t accompany him, tomorrow he’ll act up wanting you to kill loyal ministers. Since you’re used to spoiling him, if this leads to neglecting state affairs or corrupting court discipline in the future, it won’t be a blessing for our Da Qian. If there were more brothers in the palace to keep him busy with palace intrigue, he probably wouldn’t have time to pester you.”
Tie Ci sighed and gripped her father’s hand: “Dad, I really want to do that too. But have you considered whether ordinary men could compete with him? Do you know what level he graduated palace intrigue at? No matter how many men I take in, they’d all just be appetizers for him. Do you want the imperial garden workers to randomly dig up any patch of soil and find my noble consorts and imperial concubines buried underneath?”
Tie Ci: “Dad, Heaven values life—please spare the innocent men of this world.”
Tie Yan: “…”
He recalled this young lord’s various achievements.
Tie Yan tearfully gave up the idea.
Below, Murong Yi suddenly looked up with a bright smile and asked: “What are Uncle and A Ci discussing?”
Tie Yan glanced at that innocent, radiant smile and immediately said: “We’re discussing how clever your idea of using trees to form characters is.”
“Thank you for the praise, Uncle. It wasn’t in vain that I transplanted trees and hired the best gardeners to spend most of a year cultivating and trimming them,” Murong Yi said gently. “Since that’s the case, Uncle shouldn’t arrange seventy-two consorts for Her Highness anymore.”
Tie Yan: “…”
He could only feign surprise and point ahead: “Look, what’s that?”
He had been pointing randomly to escape his embarrassment, but with his considerable eyesight, he actually did see something different in the distant Feng Garden.
Murong Yi smiled: “Uncle will know if you move forward.”
Tie Ci brought Tie Yan down from the tree. Behind them, Murong Yi coughed, and Tie Ci slowed her pace slightly. Murong Yi moved beside her and said quietly: “…I really want to do that too?”
Tie Ci’s expression didn’t change: “What exactly is high-level about Ning Fang Pavilion?”
The two looked at each other for a long moment.
Evenly matched.
Both gave up.
…