It rained that night. Quite a few young ladies who harbored ambitions of making a spectacular showing felt somewhat dejected—this spring hunt rarely included women from the inner chambers. Though it was said to be because Her Majesty the Empress was fond of young ladies, who among them wasn’t sharp-eyed and clear-minded? Several younger princes, the Crown Prince’s grandson Crown Prince Grandson, and Zhou Weiqi born to Liangdi Fan were all about of marriageable age.
Since ancient times, spring hunts where noble men and women gathered had been excellent opportunities to assess prospective sons-in-law and select daughters-in-law. Over time, this had become an unspoken, tacitly understood rule. Now with this spring rain pattering down, wouldn’t tomorrow’s archery competition be ruined? And once it was ruined, who knew when there would be another such opportunity to openly display their talents? They weren’t Song Family’s Sixth Miss, who could become known to everyone through a single horse race with the Ninth Princess.
Song Chuyi also had some trouble sleeping. She tossed and turned in bed, unable to close her eyes. Tonight there were no stars filling the sky outside, nor the unique fireflies and frog calls of early summer in the countryside. She sat up clutching her blanket, frowning as she listened to the rain outside, momentarily lost in thought.
Ziyun was alert and quickly climbed out of her bedding on the floor to ask her, “Miss, are you thirsty?” Seeing her shake her head and hearing the rain outside, she smiled consolingly, “Miss, are you worried the rain will affect tomorrow’s matter?”
Song Chuyi nodded. If this rain continued like this, tomorrow’s archery competition couldn’t proceed, and Chen Xiang definitely wouldn’t make her move when there were many people around. If afterwards there were no such large gatherings where accidents could easily occur, whether on the road back to the capital or simply waiting until returning to the capital to make a move against her, doing whatever they wanted to a young girl would be very simple for the Imperial Guard, and leaving no traces wouldn’t be difficult either.
Ziyun came forward to tuck in Song Chuyi’s blanket and consoled her softly, “Miss, don’t worry. When you wake up, I guarantee the ground will be completely dry, without even a trace of water. If you sleep early enough, you won’t even know it rained during the night.”
She had grown up in the countryside and was accustomed to running around there, always sensitive to weather: “Our capital and this place are the same. After a little rain, blown by the wind at midnight, it dries completely before morning. It definitely won’t interfere with your plans, Miss.”
The next morning when Song Chuyi went out, she knew Ziyun’s words were true—the hunting grounds didn’t have paved tiles or cement, but the expected pitted and potholed scene was completely absent. Except for some truly low-lying areas, other places were indeed so dry you couldn’t tell it had rained last night. Moreover, gentle breezes carried the fragrance of wild roses, making people feel refreshed and revitalized, their spirits involuntarily lifted.
The little bit of worry in her heart immediately flew to the heavens beyond—she had just been rumored to have the Death Star of Solitary Fate pattern that presaged bloody disasters. At this time, having some accidents at the hunting grounds where accidents most easily occurred would be very logical. If she missed this opportunity, Chen Xiang would have to wait until she returned to the capital. Based on her understanding of Chen Xiang and Prince Duan, neither of them were patient people who would let enemies live longer—the several Elders had already returned to the capital three or four days ago, and the case must have made at least some progress. At this moment, who could be more anxious than Prince Duan?
And if something happened to her at this time, first it could be blamed on the bloody disaster reputation, and second it could make Song Chengru restrain himself somewhat—this was Prince Duan’s usual tactic, constantly enjoying threatening people, as if afraid you didn’t know his methods.
The hunting grounds were already packed with people. Originally worried that today they couldn’t gallop on horseback and make a spectacular showing, but suddenly seeing today’s weather was moderately overcast with perfect conditions—what an unexpected joy! Even the Cui sisters were somewhat eager to try—their father had often taught them to ride horses when he was in Fujian, and their skills were quite refined.
Chen Mingyu first called out loudly for Sixth Sister. Being at the hunting grounds, there weren’t as many restrictive rules, so she didn’t care whether this was improper. She intimately came forward to pull Song Chuyi and looked her up and down, then laughed with a snort, “Yesterday we were still talking about you, thinking you would surely be affected by those rumors and gossip. Who knew you’d see through it yourself—this is truly wonderful.”
Today Song Chuyi wore a white jacket with yellow flowers all over and a cross-collar, with a goose-yellow embroidered pleated skirt below. She stood lightly in the wind, as if she could be blown away at any moment, ethereal and unworldly.
Seeing her outfit, Chen Mingyu guessed she wouldn’t be competing today. She pulled her hand again and said, “This outfit is truly beautiful—it makes us all pale in comparison. Sister, you’re right to do this. Why take monks’ and Daoists’ words to heart? These things exist if you believe in them, don’t if you don’t. I don’t believe in them at all. What Death Star of Solitary Fate and bloody disasters—they only sound frightening. Don’t be afraid.”
As she spoke, the green jade earrings on her ears that shimmered with watery light made her rosy cheeks even more radiant, and the cinnabar beauty mark between her brows became even more vividly red, captivating the eye.
Standing not far from Song Chuyi, Shen Huiyi, who had originally wanted to come over and be friendly, couldn’t help but pause—these things exist if you believe, don’t if you don’t. She happened to be one who believed.
Today’s judge was Elder Du’s wife, Old Madam Du. She originally didn’t want to take on this duty, feeling that taking care of a group of pampered and privileged young ladies comprehensively was truly a troublesome matter. But unfortunately, in terms of seniority she was the highest, and in terms of status she was also the highest among the ladies with official honors. This year the situation was somewhat special—Consort Xian, who presided in previous years, was obviously unsuitable this year—so she could only steel herself and accept this hot potato.
After chatting with several ladies for a while in the pavilion on the hill and watching the liveliness below, she first recited a Buddhist invocation in her heart—why did the young lady who was judged to have the Death Star of Solitary Fate have to come today of all days?
She felt somewhat of a headache coming on. Supporting her chin with one hand, she shook her head, only hoping that today nothing would happen during the archery competition to fulfill the prophecy. Otherwise, she would be in an impossible position with everyone.
But what you fear often comes to pass. Her Buddhist invocation had just finished in her heart when chaos erupted below.
The cause was that the horses to be used for the young ladies’ competition had all gone mad and were charging into the crowd. Several of the Yulin Guards standing watch outside were trampled and injured.
She gripped the railing and stood up in shock. Looking carefully and intently, she was almost scared out of her wits—a full twenty or thirty horses, all with firecrackers tied to their tails, were charging crackling and popping into the crowd.
Song Chuyi lowered her head and curved her lips in a smile. It hadn’t been in vain that she dressed so conspicuously today—the fish had finally taken the bait.
Good morning, good morning! Qidian had issues yesterday… I couldn’t access the backend all evening, I was anxious to death.