In a small hall in the east wing, Ziqing had only just arrived and hadn’t even finished her first cup of tea when Madam Gu came rushing in.
“You… you must be Ziqing?”
Madam Gu recognized her at a glance, hurrying forward to take her hand, her face full of excitement and joy.
“Yes, and you are… Madam Gu?” Ziqing said politely, noting the old woman’s gentle brows and kind eyes, her first impression a good one.
“Yes, that’s right, it’s me.” Madam Gu said, looking Ziqing over from head to toe, both praising her and fretting over her at once. “Why didn’t you send word ahead before coming? Did you run into the hurricane at sea?”
“I was just about to ask the same — please, don’t rush so, sit down, we’ll talk,” Gu Jun said with a helpless laugh. Only then did Madam Gu come back to her senses. “You must be exhausted from the journey, sit, sit. Someone, bring the thousand-year-old snow ginseng from my quarters and stew it up for our young mistress, to help her recover!”
“Young mistress?”
“To help her recover?”
These unfamiliar words struck a quiet chord in Ziqing’s heart. It sounded so much like family — this was the first time an elder had ever spoken to her about “recovering her health.”
Was this, perhaps, what having a mother felt like?
She was about to speak when Madam Gu, still holding tight to her hand, continued, “Ziqing, that hurricane only just passed — did you run into it? If you were going to come, you really should have sent word first. Coming so suddenly like this, it’s far too dangerous. What if something had happened to you — how would we ever explain it to Beiyue?”
As the old woman spoke, her eyes suddenly reddened, and she sniffled, turning her face away.
Ziqing didn’t quite know how to respond. Such genuine concern from someone so unfamiliar to her — though this kind of warmth was exactly what she, an orphan, had longed for her whole life, exactly the weakest, most vulnerable spot deep within her heart — coming so suddenly like this left her feeling flustered, unsure of what to do.
“I happened to avoid the storm. Where’s Beiyue? I want to see him.”
The moment she arrived, upon seeing the family head, she had asked about Beiyue right away, only to be told he was still unconscious — though the doctor said he should wake within the next couple of days.
She was just about to go see him when Madam Gu walked in.
“Beiyue’s at the main residence. Come, let’s go, I’ll take you to him!”
Madam Gu said this while pulling Ziqing along, not having let go of her hand since she’d entered the room. The mountain paths between the east wing and the main residence wound and twisted, yet she walked with such urgency that Gu Jun, following behind, kept calling out, “Slow down, wife, slow down, it won’t make that much difference.”
“How can I not hurry? Qing’er has come from so far away, it’s been so long since the two young ones saw each other — who knows, maybe once Qing’er arrives and speaks to him, Beiyue will hear her voice and wake up right then!” Madam Gu said earnestly.
Ziqing followed along quietly, taking in every word Madam Gu said, watching her anxiousness. Physician Gu’s letter had mentioned that Madam Gu never held it against Beiyue that he wasn’t her birth son, treating him with the same tender care as her own child. It seemed to be entirely true.
“Wife, slow down, you still haven’t fully recovered!” Gu Jun kept urging.
Ziqing, feeling a bit guilty, gently held Madam Gu back. “Madam, there’s no rush, don’t fall.”
Only then did Madam Gu stop, looking at Ziqing with a helpless smile. “Truly, no rush?”
Ziqing nodded. “Mm, it won’t make much difference.”
“All right then, shall we go back to the east wing and sit a while?” Madam Gu said, deliberately testing her.
“Sure,” Ziqing agreed readily, her stubborn nature showing through as she genuinely turned to head back.
But Madam Gu didn’t stop her, actually starting to walk back the way they’d come. Only then did Ziqing find herself at a loss. Just as she was about to speak, Madam Gu reached out and gently smoothed her bangs, saying with feeling, “Silly girl, you say there’s no rush… but… but…”
Her voice caught, choked with emotion. “You may not be in a rush… but Beiyue will be anxious for you!”
Those words struck Ziqing’s heart like a needle. Her own eyes reddened at once, and she finally spoke her true feelings quietly. “I really do want to see him.”
“Let’s go!”
Madam Gu declared loudly, pulling Ziqing along and quickening her pace. But before they’d gone more than a few steps, Madam Gu suddenly stumbled and fell hard!
“Madam!”
Ziqing cried out in alarm, quickly catching her before she fell any further. Gu Jun rushed forward as well, both anxious and exasperated. “Didn’t I tell you? Your body hasn’t recovered yet — can’t you slow down?”
He immediately ordered a servant to fetch Doctor Hua. Madam Gu’s ankle had twisted, and though her brow furrowed in pain, she still quickly instructed, “Someone, take the young mistress up first!”
If Ziqing left her behind now, wouldn’t that seem terribly unkind? She crouched down at once and said flatly, “No rush. Even if I go now, it won’t help since he hasn’t woken. Let me help — this twisted ankle doesn’t need a doctor, I can massage it and it’ll be fine. I know how to do this.”
As she spoke, she took hold of Madam Gu’s small foot and began gently massaging it.
Madam Gu and Gu Jun exchanged a glance, both deeply moved. What a good child this was. If only their own two daughters had even half this girl’s kindness, they would already be content.
No matter how exhausted she was, when had either of her daughters ever personally massaged her shoulders or rubbed her back?
Ziqing’s technique was excellent, her pressure precisely measured — Madam Gu felt no pain at all, only comfort, as Ziqing worked with quiet, focused attention, her head bowed low.
They say that a person who can throw themselves into a task with such single-minded focus must have a pure heart. Was that true of this girl, Ziqing, as well?
Madam Gu watched in silence. Having spent her whole life, since the age of sixteen, in the position of matriarch of the Gu family, having seen countless people come and go, she could tell a great deal about a person’s character after just a few exchanges and tests. And yet, she found it hard to imagine just how much this girl, only sixteen or seventeen, had endured and carried to rise from a lowly, disregarded concubine’s daughter to become the most honored princess consort in all of Da Zhou.
Compared to the two daughters she had raised herself, this child must have endured so, so much more hardship.
How could that not stir pity in her heart?
If it were possible, she would gladly come to think of this girl as her own.
She wasn’t entirely sure how much conflict her current approach could actually resolve — she only hoped to minimize the harm to both sides as much as she possibly could.
Glancing at the wisp of smoke rising from the main residence, Madam Gu understood that Old Li had already taken care of matters. Only then did she take hold of Ziqing’s hand. “There, there, it doesn’t hurt anymore. Your hands are truly skilled — even better than Doctor Hua’s.”
“It’s just something I happen to know how to do, Madam. Let’s go,” Ziqing said flatly, carefully helping Madam Gu back up and continuing on their way.
Gu Jun, walking behind them, had clearly seen the wisp of smoke rising from the main residence just now — that was the signal from his wife’s personal attendant. Had she deliberately stalled for time just now?
What exactly was going on here?
A complicated look flickered through Gu Jun’s eyes, but he said nothing more, following along behind them. As for household matters, it wasn’t that he didn’t know what was happening — he simply chose to pretend otherwise, leaving all of it entirely in his wife’s hands. With so much already weighing on him as head of the Gu family, these domestic matters could only be entrusted to his wife — he trusted she would handle them well.
Before long, they reached the main residence. The moment Ziqing stepped into the great hall, the first person she encountered was a young woman holding a child.
Ziqing gave a small smile and nodded slightly; the other woman nodded back, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.
“Ziqing, this is Meiting, Beiyue’s elder sister,” Madam Gu hurried to introduce them. “Meiting, this is Ziqing, the princess consort of Yao — your sister-in-law. Look at you staring, come over here and greet her.”
Madam Gu’s remark about “staring” instantly eased the awkwardness. Gu Meiting walked over with the child in her arms, smiling. “Of course I was staring — such a beauty, I really was struck speechless. Beiyue really is fortunate!”
Ziqing offered a faint smile in return, equally hollow, her calm, clear eyes giving nothing away, which left Madam Gu feeling a flicker of unease, sensing that Ziqing seemed to be thinking something she couldn’t quite read.
Madam Gu’s sharp instincts told her at once that something about Ziqing had shifted since a moment ago, though she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. Was it simply because she’d run into Meiting, and was now feeling overly tense herself?
Out of courtesy, Ziqing should have at least greeted the small child in Gu Meiting’s arms, who was staring intently at her. But Ziqing only glanced at him briefly without much interest, and was about to ask after Beiyue when Madam Gu quickly spoke up. “Ziqing, this is Yuan’er, Meiting’s son — six years old this year!”
Only then did Ziqing look properly at Jiang Yuan, saying with a faint smile, “How adorable, so handsome — looks just like his father.”
Hearing the praise, Gu Meiting’s face finally brightened, and she asked quickly, “You’ve met his father already?”
Jiang Yuan, who had been lazily resting in his mother’s arms, perked up with excitement as well. “Is Father back?”
“I met him at the harbor waystation. I didn’t have my token, and he told me to get lost. Later, once I showed him the letter to prove who I was, he apologized to me…” Ziqing said flatly. For a moment, everyone was stunned, quite taken aback — they’d assumed Ziqing was finished speaking, but then she went on, “And then he left. It was Commander Xu who brought me the rest of the way.”
Gu Meiting looked deeply embarrassed. Gu Jun was about to reprimand her, but before he could, Madam Gu jumped in first. “That Jiang Yuan — I don’t know how many times we’ve told him, and still no change. Such an unruly temperament, no manners at all — he’s practically ruined the Gu family’s reputation!”
“Mother! You know how he gets.” Gu Meiting immediately protested, thinking to herself that Han Ziqing, arriving and immediately lodging a complaint, must surely mean she intended to declare war.
“Everyone has their temperament, not just him!” Madam Gu said sharply, then turned to comfort Ziqing. “Qing’er, don’t hold it against him. I’ll have a talk with him later.”
“Thank you, Madam. I’d like to see Beiyue,” Ziqing said flatly, her tone making it clear the pleasantries with Gu Meiting were over.
“He’s in the main bedchamber! Come, this way!” Madam Gu hurried to lead Ziqing toward the bedchamber.
But at the doorway, Ziqing quietly slipped her hand free from Madam Gu’s grasp, and the moment she did, she couldn’t help but begin to tremble, staring at the tightly shut door, wanting desperately to throw it open — yet her hand seemed bound by some invisible force, refusing to obey her.
As bold as she was, she found herself unable to open this door.
Madam Gu pushed the door open herself. Past the screen, Ziqing’s eyes fell at once on the figure lying quietly on the bed. It had been so long, so very long.
Jun Beiyue, Ziqing has come.
“Silly girl, don’t be afraid, come in. He’s fine, he’ll wake up soon,” Madam Gu comforted her, gently patting her on the back, expecting the girl to rush forward at once, to break into loud sobs, to have a thousand things she wanted to say to Beiyue.
But instead, Ziqing did nothing of the sort. With a calm that left everyone puzzled, she only said flatly, “Madam Gu, where are Physician Gu and Yingzi?”