Hearing Luo Shu’s question, Yun Xi had little interest in responding.
She fell silent for a moment.
A few unrelated thoughts drifted through her mind instead.
The Dowager Matriarch came from a distinguished family with ties to the Imperial Noble Consort—the current Imperial Noble Consort, in fact, addressed her as a maternal aunt of sorts.
Prince Ling was the Imperial Noble Consort’s son. Since the Imperial Noble Consort, as a palace consort, couldn’t attend the Dowager Matriarch’s seventieth birthday celebration in person, it made sense that Prince Ling had been sent to offer congratulations on her behalf.
As for Prince Cong—when the Dowager Matriarch had first become a mother herself, Prince Cong had also just been born, extremely frail and sickly. The palace had assumed the infant prince wouldn’t survive. Then one day, the Dowager Matriarch, visiting the palace and taking pity on the poor child—who vomited up everything he was fed—had, in a moment of urgency, nursed him with her own breast milk.
To everyone’s surprise, after feeding on the Dowager Matriarch’s milk, Prince Cong gradually stopped vomiting. His mother, the consort, then petitioned the late Emperor to formally appoint the Dowager Matriarch as the prince’s wet nurse.
Given the Dowager Matriarch’s noble birth and her own distinguished record as a female general who had earned merit in battle, becoming a wet nurse to an imperial prince was, in some sense, a step down for her.
As compensation, the late Emperor issued an edict half a year after she began nursing Prince Cong, granting her the formal title of an official’s honored lady.
Having grown up under her care, Prince Cong had always held the Dowager Matriarch in the highest respect, so it was hardly surprising that he would bring his son to pay his respects at her seventieth birthday celebration.
Watching Yun Xi remain silent, Steward Feng grew increasingly anxious inside.
In truth, his mission today—inviting the young lady of the Marquis’s household to the banquet—wasn’t nearly as simple as it appeared on the surface.
On the very day the Dowager Matriarch had arrived in Jinling, she had sternly rebuked both the Minister and the Second Young Master, demanding to know why they kept delaying the marriage arrangement with the House of Zhongyong.
She had even declared that if they didn’t hurry to propose formally to the Marquis’s household, she would don her official robes and go before the Emperor herself to request that he grant the marriage between Pei Lan and Yun Xi by imperial decree.
As the Pei family’s steward, Feng Yi understood perfectly well what the Minister and the Second Young Master actually wanted.
With the House of Zhongyong so thoroughly fallen from grace, if the Second Young Master married such a destitute young lady, it would harm not only his own career prospects but the Pei family’s standing as well.
Yet the Dowager Matriarch commanded such respect, and her words carried such weight, that the Minister and the Second Young Master had no choice but to yield to her wishes, at least for now.
Inviting Yun Xi to today’s banquet was, in truth, merely a stalling tactic.
Pei Ming had said, “Mother only wants to settle the matter of Lan’er and A’Ting’s engagement—let’s at least get through the birthday celebration first.”
Whether the Dowager Matriarch had seen through the Minister’s intentions and was deliberately countering his delay tactics by inviting all these distinguished imperial guests, and arranging a special seat beside her for Yun Xi, hoping to use her own birthday celebration to settle the matter herself, leaving the Minister and the Second Young Master to worry about the consequences—that remained to be seen.
Thinking all this over, Steward Feng wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve and said with an ingratiating smile, “I won’t hide it from you, Miss—before coming to the residence today, the Dowager Matriarch specifically instructed me to convey a message.”
“The Dowager Matriarch said that these past years, she has been well aware of the hardships and ups and downs the Zhongyong household has faced. Even with the Minister occupied with official duties and the Second Young Master away at war, there was no excuse for neglecting to help. The lack of contact between the two households has been the Minister’s and the Second Young Master’s oversight and fault, and she wishes to apologize on their behalf.”
As he spoke, Steward Feng bowed deeply to Yun Xi.
“The Dowager Matriarch’s health isn’t good, yet this year she insisted on making the three-month journey to Jinling, saying she missed the Minister and the young masters. But who’s to say she didn’t come, in truth, simply to see you, Miss? Please, you absolutely must attend her birthday celebration. She’s waiting anxiously at home for me to bring back word. Please don’t disappoint her.”
Yun Xi had no wish to go to the Pei residence.
But with things having been said so plainly, refusing now would seem unreasonable.
Yun Xi finally nodded. “Very well. I will attend the Dowager Matriarch’s birthday celebration.”
After a moment’s thought, she added, “Please tell the Dowager Matriarch, on my behalf, that I’m coming only because I miss her and wish to pay my respects—there’s no need to arrange a special seat for me. I’ll simply take my place according to proper etiquette, like any other guest.”
“Of course, of course.” Steward Feng, relieved that Yun Xi had agreed, breathed a heavy sigh of relief—there was nothing he wouldn’t have agreed to at this point.
He added flatteringly, “But Miss, you are the legitimate daughter of a proper third-rank marquisate. Even seated according to etiquette, how could your place possibly be a lowly one?”
With that, fearing that staying too long might give Yun Xi time to reconsider, he quickly excused himself, saying he needed to hurry back and share the good news with the Dowager Matriarch.
The moment Steward Feng left, before Fang Fulan could say anything, Luo Shu spoke up happily. “A’Ting, this is wonderful news. I thought from your expression earlier that you didn’t want to go to the Pei residence at all, but now it’s settled—we can go together, at least we’ll have each other’s company.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” she added, as though just remembering something. “Did you know Susu will be attending the Dowager Matriarch’s birthday celebration too? Not long ago, at a banquet hosted by the Imperial Noble Consort, I ran into her in the palace. She mentioned that not long after Brother Pei returned to the capital, you happened to run into her while visiting the Privy Council on some errand, and there was a bit of a misunderstanding between you two. She’s felt quite bad about it ever since, thinking it over. I thought this birthday celebration would be the perfect opportunity for me to help clear up the misunderstanding between you both.”
Luo Shu’s father served at the Privy Council, subordinate to Yao Hangshan, and the two families were on frequent terms with each other—which was how Luo Shu had grown close to Yao Susu as well.
Yun Xi, having been on duty all night, felt rather worn out and had little desire to talk. When she did speak, she preferred to say only what was true and necessary. Luo Shu’s words, though they sounded considerate on the surface, felt oddly insubstantial to her, as though every word floated weightlessly in midair, leaving Yun Xi feeling exhausted just listening.
Not wishing to spar with her further, she simply replied, “You’re overthinking it. There’s nothing between Yao Susu and me.”
With that single sentence, she cut Luo Shu’s line of conversation short.
Then she turned to Fang Fulan. “Sister, weren’t you supposed to see the physician today? I happen to be free—let me accompany you.”
Fang Fulan smiled faintly. “There’s no need for you to come along. Sister Shu offered to accompany me to the pharmacy first thing this morning. You’ve been up all night on duty—go get some rest.”
Yun Xi considered this, then nodded. “All right. Let me at least see you both out.”
The three of them had just reached the courtyard when they saw Tian Si and A’Ling helping Uncle Bai in from the back courtyard, together seeing off the physician who had come to administer the acupuncture treatment.
Ever since starting the acupuncture sessions, Uncle Bai’s leg had been improving day by day. He still couldn’t walk entirely normally, but he could at least manage with a cane now.
The group thanked the physician profusely. Yun Xi, pausing for a moment as though recalling something, called out, “Physician Wu.”
She drew Physician Wu aside and said, “There’s a private matter I’d like to ask you about, if you don’t mind.”
“Please, Eldest Young Lady, ask away.”
Yun Xi looked at him. “I’m curious which noble family it was whose leg injury prompted you to come offer free treatment here at our residence?”
“That…” Physician Wu hesitated. “The noble family in question holds a rather sensitive position, and I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to reveal their name. May I ask… why you ask?”
Yun Xi already had her own suspicions about the free clinic, and seeing his reluctance to answer, she knew further questioning would be fruitless. “Just curious,” she said.
She continued, “Given how much our household owes you now, I truly feel uneasy about it. When you first began the acupuncture sessions, you at least charged ten copper coins per visit, but now it’s dropped to three—that’s far too little. Perhaps I should pay you the original rate instead.”
“Oh, no, please don’t,” Physician Wu said hastily. “You may not know this, Miss, but treating your household under this free clinic arrangement has actually benefited my medical practice greatly. I successfully treated that noble family’s leg condition and received an extraordinarily generous reward from them for it. If anything, it is your household that has done me the favor—treating Steward Bai is simply part of my duty, and I really shouldn’t be charging even three coins.”
Seeing his insistence, Yun Xi could only nod. “Then I’m truly in your debt, Physician Wu.”
With that, she and Tian Si and A’Ling saw Luo Shu, Fang Fulan, and Physician Wu out through the gate, and had Zhao Wu bring around the borrowed carriage to escort Physician Wu partway home.
Before the group could disperse, a constable came hurrying up from the mouth of the alley.
The constable’s name was Ke Yong. Though he didn’t often work directly under Yun Xi, he was someone she trusted a great deal.
Bracing his hands on his knees, he caught his breath and said, “Constable Yun, we found him—the boatman who caused the Third Young Master to fall into the water!”
“Truly?” Yun Xi felt a surge of relief, but then a thought gave her pause—that boatman had been remarkably cunning and an exceptionally strong swimmer; once he dove into the water, he could vanish without a trace. Several times over the past few days she’d nearly caught up with him, only to have him slip away into the Qinhuai River each time. How had they finally found him now?
Ke Yong, sensing her doubt, immediately explained, “He turned himself in.”
“He came on his own?”
“Yes.” Ke Yong nodded, his expression complicated. “He said some extremely powerful figure was trying to silence him permanently, which is why he turned himself in, begging the authorities to protect his life.”
Yun Xi was startled to hear this.
An extremely powerful figure?
Of course—the reason Cheng Chang had sunk to the bottom of the river in the first place was that his sleeves had been stuffed with two gold ingots. The boatman was destitute, so those ingots clearly hadn’t been his own—meaning someone had instructed him to push the Third Young Master into the water.
And now this same person wanted him dead, obviously to silence him for good.
Yun Xi asked, “Did you ask him who wants him silenced?”
“We already asked,” Ke Yong said. “But he doesn’t know either—he only knows the person is powerful, with more manpower hunting him down than our entire Capital Prefecture Office combined. He seemed genuinely terrified, rambling incoherently, and kept mentioning something about the Third Young Master. But we don’t know anything about that matter concerning the Third Young Master, and didn’t dare press him further. We thought you might have some ideas, Constable Yun, so we rushed here to inform you.”
Knowing this couldn’t wait, Yun Xi nodded immediately. “Good. I’ll head back to the office right away.”
She turned back to Tian Si. “Find a city inspector along the way and ask where the Third Young Master is patrolling today. Tell him the boatman has been found, and ask him to come to the Capital Prefecture Office as soon as possible.”
“Oh, and one more thing,” Yun Xi added, remembering something as she took a few steps and turned back. “Please also ask him to bring the attendants who usually accompany him.”