A hand lifted the carriage curtain, revealing a handsome face. Those features had once been Han Yan’s nightly obsession with joy, but now they only brought endless bitterness and desolation.
Wei Ru Feng – she finally saw him in this life. Was such a chance encounter some kind of karmic fate? Han Yan lowered her head. This was the man who had allowed his sister to scheme and poison her. The gentle gentleman she had once loved – who knew what terrifying thoughts lurked beneath that beautiful exterior?
Ji Lan hadn’t expected the carriage’s occupant to be of such high status. She stood frozen, knowing the fault lay with the other party, but unable to bring herself to bow and apologize.
Shu Hong walked to her side and curtsied to the person in the carriage: “This commoner’s sister didn’t know it was the Young Prince’s carriage. We’ve offended the Young Prince – it was our fault. I apologize on my sister’s behalf and hope the Young Prince will be magnanimous enough to forgive her this once.”
Wei Ru Feng furrowed his brow, then turned to meet a pair of clear eyes. Those eyes held resentment and grievance, desolation and helplessness, finally converging into deep despair, fixed firmly upon him.
Wei Ru Feng was startled to find the gaze came from a girl dressed as a maid. The girl’s features were ordinary, and after brief consideration, he was certain he didn’t know her. Why would this stranger look at him with such an expression? While pondering this, he heard his coachman roughly scolding the girl who had offended them: “Such an ill-mannered girl! The Young Prince’s silence surely means he’s angry.”
Wei Ru Feng frowned – it was just a trip to the street, why create such a fuss? He said displeasedly: “It’s nothing. You may go.” When he looked outside again, the girl in the crowd had vanished. Feeling gloomy, his hand trembled as he lowered the curtain and ordered: “Let’s go.”
The coachman had heard the displeasure in his voice and hurriedly drove away. Shu Hong sighed in relief and scolded Ji Lan: “How could you be so impetuous? The carriage alone showed its occupant must be wealthy or noble. Only you would rush forward so thoughtlessly! You’ve implicated the Young Miss – what are you going to do about it?”
Ji Lan pouted in grievance: “But the pastries are all crushed, and their carriage was charging through recklessly. Can the Young Prince just be unreasonable like this? They were clearly at fault first.”
Shu Hong shook her head: “Still thinking about the pastries – where’s the Young Miss?”
Han Yan emerged from the crowd. Earlier, when Wei Ru Feng seemed to notice her, she had instinctively hidden behind a tall woman. Meeting like this was something she had never imagined. She wasn’t ready yet – seeing him suddenly stirred up too many emotions, and fearing he might notice something amiss, she had hidden.
Seeing Han Yan’s pale face, Shu Hong anxiously asked: “Young Miss, were you frightened?” Then she blamed herself: “It’s all this servant’s fault. If I had been more careful, we could have avoided this.”
Ji Lan disagreed: “How can you blame yourself? It was clearly that so-called Young Prince throwing his weight around.”
Han Yan inwardly sneered. They say you can judge people by those around them – with Wei Ru Feng’s coachman being so arrogant, how much better could Wei Ru Feng himself be? Earlier when Shu Hong apologized, he hadn’t even bothered to demur – full of pride. How had she once been fooled by his exterior?
Looking around at the crowd, she saw many young women in their prime gazing adoringly after the departing carriage, love written in their eyes. Yes, that infatuated expression had once appeared on her face. A young girl’s heart, seeing his graceful bearing, secretly giving away her affection. Moreover, in Zhuang Yu Shan’s words, this Young Prince was supposed to be of noble character. Back then, she had believed it completely, thinking how could such a perfect person exist in the world.
Han Yan’s eyes darkened as she pushed these thoughts from her mind, saying: “Let’s not speak of this anymore. Hurry back to the manor, and don’t mention today’s events to anyone.”
Ji Lan and Shu Hong nodded firmly.
Just after returning to the manor, crawling through the dog hole into their courtyard, before they could even change clothes, they saw Madame Chen hurrying over. Seeing Han Yan, she started, then sighed in relief: “Young Miss, where have you been? This old servant searched all through Qiu Xiang Court without finding you. I quietly asked around and heard no one had left the manor today, and thought perhaps someone bad had entered the courtyard. If I couldn’t find you, I would have had to tell the Master.”
Han Yan smiled: “Mama needn’t worry so much. Telling Father would just stir up trouble.” Besides, how could Zhuang Shi Yang truly care about her life or death? If the Zhou mother and daughter added fuel to the fire, this matter wouldn’t have ended so easily.
Only then did Madame Chen notice her clothes: “Young Miss, why are you…” As if realizing something, she was shocked: “Young Miss, did you leave the manor?”
Han Yan nodded: “It’s a long story. Let me change clothes first.”
After Han Yan changed and sat down to tell Madame Chen everything, omitting the part about Wei Ru Feng. After hearing the whole story, Madame Chen couldn’t help but scold: “Young Miss, you’re being reckless! Leaving the manor so boldly – if outsiders found out and told the Master, you’d surely be punished. People outside don’t know the situation – what if something went wrong and someone took advantage of you?”
Han Yan comforted her: “Ji Lan and Shu Hong were with me, and I was dressed as a maid – who would notice me? Mama needn’t worry. In the future, if this happens again, just stay calm. As for Father, if we can avoid troubling him, we should.”
Madame Chen gaped: “In the future? Young Miss plans to leave the manor again?”
Han Yan shrugged: “I need to take Young Master Ming to meet Elder Master Yang, and if I’m to train at the women’s martial arts school later, I’ll probably have to go secretly.”
“Young Miss wants to learn martial arts?” Madame Chen looked at her: “Young ladies are traditionally delicate – why seek such hardship?”
Han Yan poked at the coals in the brazier: “Times are different now. No one in this manor protects us, so we must be clever and protect ourselves.”
Madame Chen’s eyes grew moist, her heart full of mixed feelings. She reached out and held Han Yan in her arms: “Young Miss, you’ve suffered so much.”
Han Yan nestled in Madame Chen’s embrace, the warmth making her very comfortable. She stretched unconsciously, saying: “It’s not suffering.” Compared to her mother and her previous life, this hardly counted as hardship.
Things were peaceful now, but with the Zhou mother and daughter moving into the manor, trouble would surely start soon.
“Ji Lan,” Han Yan called.
Ji Lan quickly put down her needlework and came forward.
“You’re familiar with the people in Concubine Mei’s courtyard, aren’t you?” Han Yan remembered that before her mother’s death, Ji Lan had always been the first to learn news from Concubine Mei’s garden.
“If Young Miss says I’m familiar, then I am,” Ji Lan smiled.
Han Yan waved her hand: “Then go have tea and chat with the maids from Concubine Mei’s courtyard. Tell them that Madam Zhou has entered the manor, the Master greatly favors her, and intends to elevate her to primary wife.”