“But I don’t want to be alone. Sister, I’m not afraid of death—I don’t want to leave.” Lian Xiaozhou spoke, her eyes already reddening.

After experiencing human warmth, she had begun to fear living alone in solitude.

Seeing Lian Xiaozhou like this, Qin Yining’s own nose grew sour and she nearly shed tears. She pulled Lian Xiaozhou into an embrace and patted her back soothingly like comforting a child: “Rest assured, when I first brought you out of the mountains, you became my responsibility, my sister. I’ve always kept my word and would never abandon you. It’s just that you know the situation Prince Pang and I are in—I fear that if I bring you back with us and your identity is exposed, we won’t be able to protect you.”

Lian Xiaozhou blinked her large eyes sadly, biting her lip: “I know, but I still don’t want to be separated from you.”

She understood the danger of Pang Xiao and Qin Yining’s journey. After being sisters for so long, how could she feel at ease going off to live peacefully while leaving Qin Yining to face the risks alone at the crucial moment? What she feared most wasn’t that Qin Yining would abandon her and never come find her, but that Qin Yining might never have the chance to come find her again.

How could Qin Yining not understand what Lian Xiaozhou was worried about? She held her and patiently persuaded her for a long while.

Seeing that she seemed to have made up her mind, Lian Xiaozhou felt helpless and could only nod her agreement.

Qin Yining then asked Pang Xiao: “Do you have a suitable place in mind?”

Pang Xiao thought for a moment and said: “Wait here, I’ll go ask Mutou.” With that, he lifted his leg and walked away.

Before long, Pang Xiao returned together with Mu Jinghu.

Qin Yining asked in surprise: “Tianji Valley is nearby?”

“Yes.” Mu Jinghu replied: “Not far from here.”

Qin Yining frowned: “But I heard Boss Qiu say that your Tianji Sect is particularly poor—living in grass huts, sleeping on haystacks, even eating from bowls carved from wood.”

Mu Jinghu’s face reddened, and he coughed: “That’s because I’m reluctant to use good things. It’s not as exaggerated as Shanshan described.”

Seeing Mu Jinghu like this, Pang Xiao couldn’t help but laugh: “He’s the most stingy one in their sect. Tianji Zi is a master at accumulating wealth, and the Tianji Sect’s previous sect leaders were all extraordinary people with treasures hidden away. Life in Tianji Valley doesn’t have to be hard.”

Looking at Lian Xiaozhou, Pang Xiao continued: “It’s just that Tianji Valley is someone else’s territory. I didn’t want to arrange for my entire household to go there, lest we disturb the peace of Tianji Valley. But Xiao Zhou is just one young girl, and if I arrange two guards to protect her, that’s only three people total. Mutou should be able to make arrangements.”

Mu Jinghu nodded: “Right, three people can definitely be accommodated. The houses and land are ready-made. They can be self-sufficient, and it’s convenient if they want to go out and buy things. However, to enter and exit that place, there are some special formations to learn, but that’s easy—I’ll teach them.”

Qin Yining asked curiously: “Do mystical arts like the mysterious gates and escaping techniques really exist in this world? Can ordinary people not enter your Tianji Valley from the outside?”

Mu Jinghu nodded: “Yes, though I don’t know them myself.”

Qin Yining nodded and asked again: “Then does Tianji Zi know them?”

“Master Uncle has studied geomancy for a long time, but what she’s most skilled at is fortune-telling and divination. I actually wanted to learn the mysterious gates and escaping techniques back then, but Master said I had a wooden head and wasn’t suitable for great purposes. He only taught me martial arts and medicine. He also said that if he took another disciple in the future, he would teach that person the mysterious gates and escaping techniques.”

Qin Yining laughed: “I understand. Originally your master took you under Tianji Zi’s tutelage, having him teach you martial arts on his behalf so you could protect Tianji Zi. But Tianji Zi was too lazy to take disciples, so he passed you off to a junior brother who hadn’t appeared yet, only having you call her Master Uncle.”

Mu Jinghu smiled embarrassedly and nodded: “That’s exactly right.”

“Since Tianji Zi excels at divination, she must have calculated that she would definitely have a junior brother in the future.” Qin Yining smiled: “Perhaps your proper master is already learning the mysterious gates and escaping techniques.”

Hearing this, Mu Jinghu was stunned. After thinking about it, he broke into a grin: “Perhaps that’s exactly right.”

Pang Xiao laughed: “Alright, we’ve strayed too far from the topic. What do you think about temporarily placing Xiao Zhou in Tianji Valley?”

Qin Yining thought for a moment: “I think it’s good.” She looked inquiringly at Lian Xiaozhou: “What do you think?”

Lian Xiaozhou was naturally full of reluctance, but thinking it over carefully, she knew Qin Yining was doing everything for her own good. Though she felt apprehensive about her future life, she could only accept it.

Qin Yining then said: “Arrange two trustworthy guards to protect her. Additionally, I want to buy two maids to serve Xiao Zhou. For a young lady to have only two grown men around her would be inconvenient. It’s better to buy two maids so she’ll have someone to talk to.”

“That’s good too. Mutou, what do you think?”

Mu Jinghu smiled: “No problem, a few more people can be accommodated. There are empty houses in the valley. However, I won’t tell outsiders how to enter and exit Tianji Valley.”

“That’s natural. You only need to tell the three of them. The others don’t need to learn. When there’s something that needs communication, with you there, we’ll have a way to send messages.”

Mu Jinghu naturally nodded in agreement.

Having made the decision, the group naturally stayed temporarily in Liang City. Qin Yining’s recovery was one aspect, but more importantly, they needed to prepare for life after entering the valley.

Bingtang and Ji Yun naturally learned immediately that Lian Xiaozhou was leaving. Though reluctant, they understood that if the Princess Consort was willing to let Lian Xiaozhou go, it must be because leaving would be better than staying by her side.

Bingtang treated Lian Xiaozhou like a younger sister. Though heartbroken, she couldn’t interfere and could only prepare a whole bunch of medicinal pills and powders for her, also giving her the medical notes she usually kept for treating patients and preparing medicines.

“When you’re bored there, you can look through these. Don’t forget what I taught you.”

Lian Xiaozhou’s eyes were swollen from crying like walnuts. She nodded with sniffles, keeping the notes close to her body.

The two young maids Ji Yun bought were personally examined by Qin Yining, who confirmed they were both from innocent, impoverished families with many children who couldn’t make ends meet and had to sell them.

The older one was ten years old, named Pandi, with an extremely cheerful disposition. The younger one was eight years old with a somewhat timid nature, very honest, and surprisingly had no name—her family always called her “Hey,” “You,” or “Dead girl.”

Qin Yining smiled: “Xiao Zhou, you give them names. From now on, they’ll be your maids.”

Lian Xiaozhou thought for a moment: “Pandi will be called Maidong.” Looking at the timid eight-year-old maid, she smiled: “You’ll be called Banxia.”

“All medicinal herbs?”

“Yes.” Lian Xiaozhou smiled: “They’re all medicinal herb names that Sister Bingtang told me about. They sound nice and are easy to remember.”

Qin Yining smiled warmly: “Our Xiao Zhou’s talent for naming is much better than it was at first.”

Lian Xiaozhou remembered how she had insisted on being called Lotus Seed Congee’s Zhou, and couldn’t help feeling both amused and wistful.

Qin Yining patted Lian Xiaozhou’s hand comfortingly: “With Maidong and Banxia to accompany you, I can feel at ease. I’ll come find you as soon as possible. You just focus on living well, and we’ll definitely be reunited.”

Lian Xiaozhou nodded.

Qin Yining then looked at Maidong and Banxia: “You must serve Miss Lian well and be loyal to her as your mistress. Your benefits won’t be few in the future. However, though Miss Lian has a good nature, I’m not a soft persimmon easily bullied. If I learn that you’ve been disrespectful to her or betrayed her…”

“We wouldn’t dare! We wouldn’t dare!” Maidong and Banxia were frightened into kneeling and kowtowing repeatedly.

They didn’t know who Qin Yining was, only feeling that this lady was as beautiful as a fairy and very imposing—she must be the wife of some great household. They had heard about how great households dealt with disobedient servants. Being frightened like this, how could they dare harbor any ulterior motives?

Qin Yining played the villain, naturally leaving the role of the benevolent one to Lian Xiaozhou.

Lian Xiaozhou understood this in her heart and promptly helped the two maids up.

When Qin Yining’s cold had improved, Mu Jinghu brought Lian Xiaozhou’s group and quietly left the inn under cover of night.

Qin Yining didn’t go to see them off. Before departing, Lian Xiaozhou only came to sit quietly beside Qin Yining, holding her hand for a while.

They didn’t speak words of farewell.

But sending away another person who had always been by her side left Qin Yining’s heart feeling empty.

Even Bingtang and Ji Yun seemed unable to lift their spirits.

It wasn’t until two days later when Mu Jinghu returned and carefully reported that everything in the valley was well that Qin Yining was forced to put the matter completely aside.

The group once again set out on their snow-covered journey back to the capital.

This year, for some reason, they encountered few clear days along the way. The closer they got to the north, the more violent the wind and snow became, considerably slowing their progress. On New Year’s Eve, just as Qin Yining had predicted, they didn’t make it to Mao City at all, instead spending it in an earth god temple at the head of a small village with only seven or eight households.

Everyone stayed in the temple while goose-feather snow fell outside and howling wind could be heard. With several fires burning in the temple, Qin Yining and Pang Xiao wrapped themselves in fur, drinking the strongest burning liquor to keep warm while listening to their traveling companions tell interesting stories from their days in the Huben Army. Though simple, this New Year was quite meaningful.

The group traveled through the harsh winter, and by the time they reached Daxing, still two or three days’ journey from the capital, it was already the twentieth day of the first month in the eighth year of Shengchang.

Pang Xiao had his own estate in Daxing, so he naturally brought everyone there to stay for a few days, rest up, and consider their next moves.

In the main room of the main courtyard of the estate, the window-side heated brick bed was burning warmly. A square table was placed on the bed with tea bowls, sunflower seeds, peanuts, candies, and dried fruits.

A group of people sat around the square table in a circle, paying no attention to hierarchy or seniority as they gathered together to talk.

Qin Yining sat beside Pang Xiao, cracking sunflower seeds in her hands, smiling: “It’s safe for us to talk here, right?”

“It’s fine, don’t worry. I’ve arranged people outside.”

“Good then.” Qin Yining placed the sunflower seed kernels to one side and picked up another to continue cracking: “Actually, I’ve thought of an idea these past days. I’m bringing it up today to ask Mr. Xie and Mr. Xu to help consider it.”

Xie Yue and Xu Weizhi smiled: “We wouldn’t dare claim to be advisors. Princess Consort, your wisdom and resourcefulness have long earned our complete admiration. Please speak freely.”