As Qu Chen Shi turned things over in her memory, she scrutinized her dusty and travel-worn daughter. A few days apart, and her daughter looked like a vibrant flower that had wilted — hair disheveled, clothes unchanged for several days, her face noticeably thinner and darker. How could one not feel for her?
“What are you standing there for?” She shot a look toward the several maidservants hovering awkwardly at the doorway. “Hurry to the kitchen and pass the word — tell them the young miss is back, and have Xigui get busy preparing the dishes she enjoys.” Seeing the maidservants set off to carry out the order, she added: “And first bring a bowl of the warmed snow pear and bird’s nest congee to moisten the young miss’s throat.”
Having given her instructions, she turned back to Qin Yao. “In a little while, once you’ve had your congee, go back to your room and wash up properly. Then we’ll have a proper meal together in the evening, just the few of us.”
“Yes!” Qin Yao nodded obediently, then thought of something and asked, “Mother, where is Elder Brother?”
A layer of worry settled over Qu Chen Shi’s face, and she sighed. “Ill again. The very evening you left he had something of a cough, and these past few days it has only gotten worse. You know how it is — every year when spring comes, your brother can’t escape this bout of illness no matter what.”
Hearing this, Qin Yao quickly turned back and opened the small bundle she had with her. She reached in and pulled out an object wrapped in a silk cloth — and as she happened to glance into the bundle, she noticed a thick stack of “flying vouchers” — cash notes — sitting at the bottom.
The stack of cash notes was a considerable sum. They were printed neatly with the characters indicating they could be collected on demand anywhere, and looked no different from the stack she had seen on the mountain.
How strange — how had these ended up here? She had clearly already refused that young lord.
She frowned and turned it over and over in her mind, then — ah yes. On the road back from Mang Mountain, she and her master had stopped at a roadside tavern several times to buy food. The carriage had been left unattended at the roadside for a time; that must have been when it happened.
Yet neither she nor her master was an ordinary person, and her master was especially sharp-minded and suspicious. For someone to slip the cash notes into her bundle right under their noses — his skills could well be imagined.
Qu Chen Shi saw that a large pile of cash notes had inexplicably appeared in her daughter’s bundle, and that her daughter’s expression was subtly uneasy. She urgently asked, “Ah-Yao, where did all this money come from? Has something happened?”
Qu Qin Yao felt her heart tighten. Her mother had never approved of her being a Daoist in the first place. If she knew Qin Yao had also run into a group of strange men on Mang Mountain, she would probably fly into a rage and go confront her master on the spot.
“It’s nothing,” she said without the slightest change of expression. “This money is something Master was intending to take back to the monastery. He must have been in too much of a hurry when we left, and it ended up with me.”
Qu Chen Shi studied her daughter suspiciously for a long while. Seeing that her daughter’s expression was composed and gave no sign of deception, she reluctantly set aside her misgivings.
“This is no small sum of money — be careful not to lose it. Leave it with Mother for now. When the day comes that you need to go back to Qingyun Monastery, Mother will return it to you then.”
Qu Qin Yao had known all along that her mother would say something like this. She pouted and handed over the stack of cash notes, then thought of something and slapped her forehead. “Look at me — I almost forgot the important matter.” She quickly turned back and drew out the silk-wrapped serpent demon inner core to show her mother, with a light of undisguised joy shining in her eyes. “Mother, Elder Brother’s illness has a cure!”
By the time the evening meal was served, Qu Enzhe had come home. Seeing Qin Yao, the worry he had been carrying for several days was finally relieved. Hearing that the serpent demon inner core Qin Yao had brought back could cure their eldest son’s illness, he was so delighted he didn’t know what to do with himself — his daughter had grown up, and not only had she learned a skill, but she could share in the family’s troubles and find solutions for them.
The family finished their evening meal in a state of high excitement and went to find Ziyu with the medicinal pellet in hand. The moment they entered the courtyard, they heard a grating sound of coughing from inside the room.
Qu Qin Yao listened as the coughing sounded as if it would bring up the organs along with it, and her heart ached sharply. She hurried her steps and went into the room, where she found that Elder Brother Ziyu was indeed sitting before the bed, coughing so hard he couldn’t catch his breath, his face going somewhat purple from the effort.
The head maidservant Haitang stood to one side holding a spittoon, rubbing Ziyu’s back with one hand while gently urging him, “Not to overstep, young master, but you are ill at this very moment — this is precisely the time to cultivate a calm spirit and rest. Why must you insist on pushing yourself to read? Didn’t you often say yourself that one need not exert oneself all at once?”
Qu Qin Yao’s gaze fell on the long stool beside the bed, where a thick stack of classical histories and scholarly texts lay piled up. She sighed inwardly. Elder Brother Ziyu had inherited their father’s gift for learning and had loved to apply himself since childhood. His elementary tutor had once said that Elder Brother showed “a mastery of style and reasoning remarkable in one so young, with prospects of immeasurable promise” — a genuine prodigy. What a pity he had been born with such a frail constitution and spent more than half the year ill.
At sixteen, Elder Brother had pushed himself through the district examinations by sheer force of will, having given half his health to pass, and had just barely managed to gain the title of provincial graduate. But after that his health deteriorated steadily — never mind sitting further examinations, even going out on ordinary days was an effort.
Seeing Elder Brother so feeble, their father had long since abandoned any hope of Elder Brother entering official service. But Elder Brother was proud and tenacious by nature, and would not hear of living uselessly at home under their father’s protection. So he had spent no small time working strenuously in secret, away from their parents, hoping that as he grew older his body would grow stronger, and that one day he would win recognition through his own efforts.
Looking at the scene before her, Elder Brother had probably been secretly preparing for this year’s spring examinations again.
She thought about it, feeling a quiet ache in her heart, and called out, “Elder Brother!” Ziyu heard and raised his head. His pale face suddenly lit up. “Ah-Yao! You’re back!” Haitang also showed a look of delight. “Young miss!”
At this point the Qu couple entered the room as well. Taking in the scene inside, their eyes both went red at once. Qu Chen Shi pulled out her handkerchief to wipe her tears. “My child — why must you put yourself through this?”
Qu Ziyu forced a smile and beckoned to Qin Yao. “Ah-Yao, come here and let Elder Brother have a proper look at you. Was that demon easy to deal with? You weren’t injured, were you?”
Qu Ziyu had been born with a clear-cut, elegant face; had he not been ill, he would have been counted among the finest-looking men in all of Chang’an without question. Smiling now, though haggard and worn, the shadow of his once-striking handsomeness was still faintly visible.
Qu Qin Yao’s nose stung. She quickly went forward and sat affectionately close beside her brother, smiling as she said, “This time, not only did your little sister capture the demon on Mang Mountain — I even took back the serpent demon’s inner core. Master says this serpent demon had a thousand years of cultivation and is a rare treasure in the world, the very best thing for strengthening the body. Elder Brother, take this inner core tonight and your body will soon be right again.”
A thousand-year-old serpent demon? Qu Ziyu looked quietly at his younger sister’s smile, still touched with a childlike quality, while his heart was swept by tumultuous waves. Going to Mang Mountain — what sort of dangerous and desperate situation must his little sister have faced? However many years of Daoist cultivation she had, she was only fourteen. How could she ever have been a match for a thousand-year-old demon on her own? It was surely some kind of desperate, life-or-death struggle.
Yet now she said not a single word of it, and could only think of his health…
His eyes stung. He said in a low voice, “Little sister…”
Lin Xiao did not return to Siru Study from Mist-and-Waves Pavilion until the night had grown quite late.
The early spring nights were cold and lingering. Siru Study was warmed through with a brazier burning inside. Madam Wen, together with Listening Wind and the other senior maidservants, sat by the fire in the lamplight doing needlework. Chang Rong idled alongside them from time to time, adding some entertainment.
Lin Xiao came in and saw this warm and genial scene, and felt a warmth rise in his heart. The unpleasantness that had built up from the time spent with his father the Prince was instantly dispersed like smoke in a breeze.
Chang Rong looked up and saw Lin Xiao, and quickly rose to his feet. “The heir apparent has returned.”
Lin Xiao gestured for Listening Wind and Judging Snow to withdraw, then accepted the cup of tea Madam Wen had steeped and took two sips. He asked her, “Nurse, have there been any unusual happenings in the estate these past days?”
Madam Wen was bewildered. “There haven’t been any unusual happenings.”
A peculiar feeling flickered through Lin Xiao’s mind. He thought for a moment, then said to Chang Rong, “Send someone to Youzhou to make inquiries about Cui Shi’s family — especially about the young lady whose given name is Lingling. If anything is found out, report to me immediately.”
Hearing this, Chang Rong understood that this young woman called Lingling was the niece whom the princess consort had brought into the estate, and that there was likely something not quite right about her. He promptly agreed.
Then, remembering something, he spoke with a hint of reluctance. “Wei Bo has returned. He says he has, as instructed by the young lord, secretly slipped the money to that female Daoist. He also says that the female Daoist is the own daughter of Court Astronomer Qu Enzhe of Chang’an. As for why she came to be a Daoist, he was not yet able to uncover the reason. He will inquire further in the coming days and report back to the young lord.”
Lin Xiao saw Chang Rong’s expression, faintly tinged with unspoken disapproval, and for some inexplicable reason felt a slight flush of embarrassment. He gave a light cough and replied evenly, “Understood.”
Madam Wen, however, had been listening from the side in complete bewilderment. A female Daoist? Money? She looked at Lin Xiao in astonishment. “Heir apparent, when did you come to know a female Daoist?”
Please don’t tell me he was deceived by one of those women from the three teachings and nine schools of the marketplace.
Lin Xiao saw Madam Wen’s expression and immediately understood she had misunderstood. He smiled, intending to explain in detail — but seeing that the hour was already quite late, he rose and said, “Nurse, I still have to pay a visit to the Duke of Lu’s estate tonight. We’ll talk about it in detail another day.”