Jiang Yinyue returned to the residence empty-handed, without preparing any souvenirs to honor the elders back in the capital.
Even Lady Gu, who was not savvy in social niceties, could not help but remind her that she could not return empty-handed, lest she breach etiquette.
“The souvenirs are not urgent; we still need to delay a few more days.”
“Why is that?”
Yesterday, she had still been planning to set off as soon as possible to avoid missing the chance to meet her brother. Why had she suddenly changed her mind?
Jiang Yinyue’s gaze drifted, a blush like rouge blooming on her cheeks.
Du Juan, waiting at the side, seemed to think of something and shook the cloth handkerchief in her hand with a smile. “Second Young Mistress’s monthly period is approaching; it will be inconvenient on the road.”
Lady Gu hurried forward to support Jiang Yinyue. “Does your lower abdomen ache every month?”
“……No.”
“That’s good! Du Juan is right; it won’t be too late to set off after your monthly period passes.”
When her son returned to the residence after traveling through the night, Lady Gu, who had been waiting at the door, quickly stepped forward and whispered a few words into his ear.
Wei Qin leaned in to listen to his mother’s words, took the item she stuffed into his hands, and went straight back to the East Wing Room without paying attention to the activity in the West Wing Room.
A West Wing Room without Jiang Yinyue held no attraction for him.
True to yesterday’s promise, Jiang Yinyue returned to the East Wing Room that night.
The young lady, having shed her outer garments, sat up hugging the quilt and blinked her sleepy eyes. “You’re back.”
In the simple little room, a single candle lamp illuminated the warm-colored bed curtains. The woman inside the curtains was the only vivid presence in the lonely black night.
Wei Qin went to the washbasin stand to clean his hands, then walked behind the screen to change. “Are we setting off tomorrow?”
Jiang Yinyue stared at the indistinct figure behind the translucent screen and said straightforwardly, “I’m afraid Wei Yangwan will target you; we should stay a few more days.”
The man, who had lowered his eyes to untie his belt, showed a faint curve at his lips.
“Mm.”
Jiang Yinyue watched as Wei Qin walked to the bedside. His snow-white ramie undergarments were lit by the lamp, revealing the lean, slender waist beneath in glimpses.
She shifted inward, making space, and solemnly reminded him to be extra vigilant against Wei Yangwan.
“That bad apple was spoiled rotten by Wise Consort Guo. He has endless tricks for tormenting people; plenty of guards and palace servants have fallen victim to his schemes. The more harmless he acts, the more devious ideas he’s hiding in his heart. You must not let your guard down.”
“Mm.”
“He’s come to Yangzhou this time, so he will likely take Minister Tao’s place in investigating the whereabouts of that group of assassins.”
The dispatched assassins had not returned to report, and even someone as steady as Tao Qian would surely be thrown into turmoil.
Jiang Yinyue could not figure it out no matter how she racked her brains. Why had Tao Qian risked sending men to assassinate the Crown Prince? But assassinating Wei Qin was nothing more than an attempt to sow discord between Jiang Song and the Crown Prince.
“Do you think Wei Yangwan knew about Tao Qian sending those assassins?”
Wei Qin lifted the quilt and placed a medicinal pack against Jiang Yinyue’s lower abdomen. “He must know by now, before we set off.”
Only grasshoppers tied to the same string could truly trust each other.
A stone sinks into water without a ripple—that was suspicious, hiding the risk of backlash.
Tao Qian was stretched too thin and could only entrust Wei Yangwan to investigate in secret.
No matter how they speculated, they could not guess that Wei Qin had turned the assassination plot against them. Otherwise, Wei Yangwan would not act so recklessly, wielding imperial authority to lash out at the Crown Prince without leaving himself any room to maneuver.
The darkness in Wei Qin’s eyes washed away cleanly the moment they met Jiang Yinyue’s gaze, leaving only her silhouette reflected in his pitch-black depths.
Jiang Yinyue’s attention shifted to the medicinal pack on her abdomen, and she asked puzzledly, “What is this?”
“Medicinal herbs to dispel stasis and stop pain.”
“My monthly period doesn’t hurt……”
“Mother’s good intentions.”
Jiang Yinyue lowered her head to stare at Wei Qin’s large hand covering her abdomen. Though it was a bit superfluous, since it was her mother-in-law’s gesture, she could not refuse.
But applying the medicine through her clothes would reduce its efficacy, wouldn’t it?
She pulled up the quilt and stealthily tugged out the hem of her garment between her abdomen and the pack, allowing the pack to adhere more closely to her skin.
But what adhered to her skin was not just the pack—there was also Wei Qin’s hand.
The rough pads of his fingers rubbed against her, making her a little itchy.
Jiang Yinyue sat there in a daze, trying to resolve the awkwardness of having her abdomen held down with silence.
There was nothing to be embarrassed about. Whenever she caught a chill, Sister Hong Mei would warm her abdomen just like this.
Wei Qin’s fingers sank into the woman’s soft, white belly. He made no extra movements, simply pressing there and feeling the lingering drumbeat from her heart.
The young lady with her raven hair cascading to her waist had tucked her stray locks behind her ears, revealing a pair of dainty ones, their tips bright red. “You’re pressing too hard.”
Wei Qin found it amusing. He had never thought her prone to shyness before, but now he saw how she liked to put on a strong front.
Even in her bashfulness, she put on a strong front, but her reddened ears betrayed her.
“Then cover it yourself.”
“Okay.”
Wei Qin withdrew his hand and crooked a finger to touch her cheek. Those ears flushed from tip to lobe.
Bright and alluring.
“Why are your ears red?”
“It’s hot.”
On this sweltering summer night, bundling up in the quilt only drew more attention to it. Jiang Yinyue kicked off the quilt, lay flat on her back, clasped the pack with both hands, crossed her legs, and dangled her bare foot idly—a picture of carefree nonchalance.
She absolutely would not admit to being shy, holding her strong front to the extreme.
Wei Qin’s gaze swept over the “verdant peaks” of her supine form.
The verdant peaks were alluring, taking vivid shape in his mind.
Wei Qin rose to bathe. When he returned, the woman on the bed still maintained her supine pose.
He pulled away the pack she clutched so tightly and reminded her that it had lost its effect.
With her hands now at a loss, the young lady committed fully to her facade of calm composure, lying motionless on her back until Wei Qin tucked in her hem and covered her white belly.
The string of her strong front snapped in an instant.
She had forgotten to smooth down her hem.
The embarrassed girl slowly rolled over to face inward, cheeks burning.
At dead of night, in the Jade Dawn Tower, incense smoke curled lazily. The red-clad youth stood with hands clasped behind his back by the window, listening to his personal guard Zou Kai’s report before languidly twirling his jade-ribbed fan.
“You’re saying Wei Qin was the sole survivor of the assassination, gravely injured.”
“Reporting to Your Highness, on the day the dead were carted back to the city, there were many eyewitnesses. All accounts agree that Wei Qin was the only one who survived among the bailiffs and prisoners.”
“Do you think Wei Qin alone could have killed all the assassins and hidden their bodies?”
“Impossible. Perhaps the assassins were spooked before they could act, alerting the Crown Prince, who then turned the tables on them.”
Wei Yangwan spun his fan faster and faster. Would the Crown Prince stand by and watch those innocent bailiffs die?
“Those assassins were dead men trained by Tao Qian, no different from walking corpses. They wouldn’t betray him, so they were probably all wiped out.”
Wei Yangwan pondered. It was not that he underestimated Wei Qin; Tao Qian’s dead men were each fierce and valiant, able to take on ten foes. Without divine aid from the heavens, Wei Qin could not possibly have survived.
If those surprise troops were guards pre-deployed by the Crown Prince, would he have let the assassins slaughter the innocents?
“It’s baffling.” Wei Yangwan tapped his forehead with the fan handle. What exactly had gone wrong?
Had another group of experts intervened?
Zou Kai reminded him, “Minister Tao’s charge is urgent: find those assassins, dead or alive, then destroy the bodies.”
Wei Yangwan snapped open his fan to cool himself. “Tao Qian can be such a stubborn fool sometimes—sending out assassins without consulting anyone. Now he’s buried a hidden danger for himself. If those assassins fall into the Crown Prince’s hands, how will he clear his name? And he’ll drag This Prince down with him!”
Either the assassination or the provocation would be enough to warrant his death before the Emperor.
“Your Highness, this is no time for complaints.”
The youth jumped in frustration. “Keep sending people to gather information. Also, screen out the Crown Prince’s traveling guards who have any ties to us and buy them off with heavy gold. We must probe whether the Crown Prince knows about this.”
“What about Wei Qin?”
“This Prince will handle him personally.”
Zou Kai nodded and mentioned another matter. “Tomorrow, Yangzhou’s largest Tile Theater will hold a grand auction.”
Wei Yangwan waved him off. “No interest, no interest.”
He was utterly fed up.
“There are two auction items Your Highness should be interested in.”
The youth narrowed his slender eyes, thudded down to sit on the floor, and propped his hands on his knees. “Speak!”
“First is a masterpiece by the great painter Qin Baohai. Second is a Soul Revival Pill refined over three years by several esteemed physicians.”
Only then did Wei Yangwan sit up straight. Painter Qin Baohai was a reclusive grandmaster in Yangzhou, elusive as a dragon. Many notables had emerged from his school. Befriending him would only benefit This Prince, who thirsted for talent.
“What’s the Soul Revival Pill for?”
Zou Kai squatted beside the youth. “Your Highness, don’t forget—Grand Secretary Dong is critically ill and in dire need of miraculous elixirs. Word on the street is that the Crown Prince will bid on the Soul Revival Pill for his maternal grandfather to show filial piety.”
“Filial piety? Reviving the dead with one pill? What nonsense. If the Crown Prince really goes, it’s just to win a reputation for being dutiful. Zou Kai, shall we snatch his spotlight?”
“Your Highness decides.”
The youth propped his cheek and huffed, then sprawled out on the floor and fell fast asleep.
Unresolvable worries could wait until tomorrow.
Early next morning, Jiang Yinyue accompanied Wei Ying to the clinic as usual when they encountered midway a red-clad youth hanging upside down from a roadside willow.
“Spoiled Brat, mind answering something for me?”
With Hong Mei at her side, Jiang Yinyue gently nudged Wei Ying, signaling her and Miaodie to go ahead.
“What do you want to know?”
“How did Transport Judge Wei escape with his life?”
“You have the nerve to ask?”
Wei Yangwan dropped from the branch, his face full of innocence and bewilderment. “What does it have to do with me? I’m just asking around. Is asking around enough to make me an accomplice?”
“You know full well who sent those men to assassinate Wei Qin.”
Wei Yangwan dug in his ear and rolled his eyes dramatically. “You know I hate killing the most.”
“Your Highness came with an imperial decree to urge a marriage, but the mission failed. Why linger instead of returning at once?”
“Yangzhou has such fine scenery; This Prince hasn’t even toured it all!” Wei Yangwan pointed at her from afar. “Marry a stuffy man, and you lose all sense of fun.”
Jiang Yinyue had no patience for bantering with him; she just wanted him to leave Wei Qin alone.
“Sister Hong Mei, let’s go.”
As the two girls passed in front of him, Wei Yangwan instinctively reached to grab Jiang Yinyue’s bun, just like in their childhood when the mischievous and spiteful Third Prince would tease the little shadow by the Crown Prince’s side.
“Tag-along, always following Crown Prince Brother.”
“Mind your own business—don’t grab my hair!”
The two little bundles tussled together.
Not long after, with Qi Bao at Jiang Niannian’s side, the protective hound chased the dog-fearing little prince all over the palace corners.
Later on, they were not openly hostile, but certainly strangers.
Jiang Yinyue, nearly having her hair yanked, dodged the hand on instinct without waiting for Hong Mei to act and rewarded him with a kick to the shin.
Wei Yangwan hopped on one foot, clutching his sore knee. “Spoiled Brat! Tag-along! Little shadow!”
Jiang Yinyue ignored him and left with Hong Mei.
The youth landed and shifted from grimacing to eyes full of gloom.
Should he learn from Father Emperor—if soft tactics failed, go hard?
Interrogate Wei Qin personally?
In an alley Wei Qin often took, he was surrounded.
The ruffians with unfamiliar faces forced Wei Qin to retreat step by step.
The man in azure robes half-raised both hands and smiled as he backed away. “Assassins’ corpses? This one has no idea what you gentlemen are talking about.”
“Quit playing dumb. If Transport Judge Wei doesn’t give us an explanation today, don’t blame us for not showing mercy.”
With that, more ruffians appeared at the other end of the alley, all burly brutes.
“The wise choose wisely. Transport Judge Wei is a man of the world; surely you don’t want an undignified end.”
Caught between foes fore and aft, Wei Qin said helplessly, “This Wei truly knows nothing. Gentlemen should still…”
One ruffian swung his fist and smashed Wei Qin’s mouth corner.
“We’re rough folk; we can’t stomach you scholars’ slick arguments.”
Wei Qin touched his bleeding lip, tasting the salty sweetness seeping from his teeth.
A ruffian from behind crooked his elbow toward Wei Qin’s left shoulder.
Wei Qin endured the pain and gripped his shoulder.
“A taste of color for Transport Judge Wei to accept.”
Another rolled up his sleeves to advance, but Wei Qin blocked with his hand, his faint smile unchanged. “Easy, easy.”
“You scholars don’t know the heights of heaven till we get rough. Move! Make it quick!”
Wei Qin was shoved forward by those behind, accompanied by fierce shouts.
“Not eaten enough? Keep moving!”
Wei Qin said good-temperedly, “It’s the other side.”
The several men with clenched fists exchanged glances, a bit embarrassed, but the side that had been coerced would not show weakness. They hoisted Wei Qin and turned direction.
“Faster, no tricks!”
Nightfall descended, and bursts of bird cries echoed through the dim bamboo grove path. This place was far from the markets and bustle, with several dilapidated two-story bamboo buildings nearly collapsed, the wind whistling eerily through them.
The timid dared not travel at night.
Wei Qin led the men to a dry well and pointed downward, hinting obscurely.
The rogues shone their lanterns to probe below, only to find it bottomless.
“Hey~”
The echo lingered for a long time.
“Damn creepy.” After careful inspection, one rogue spotted a rope ladder by the well edge. “Transport Judge Wei dares toy with us brothers—next year today will be your death anniversary.”
The originally good-tempered Wei Qin, upon hearing “death anniversary,” had his lowered brows illuminated by the lantern light, turning them deep and secretive.
“I wouldn’t dare.”
“You go first!”
A rogue shoved Wei Qin, signaling him to climb down first.
Wei Qin complied, descending the rope ladder bit by bit into the bottomless dry well.
The others followed closely behind, leaving one man outside to wait.
The lantern-holding rogue yawned and sat idly by the well, occasionally shouting down. Upon hearing the grumbled echoes in response, he grinned, baring his sharp white teeth.
But as he laughed, he suddenly couldn’t laugh anymore.
Screams from his companions came successively from the well.
The rogue sprang up and bent down to ask, “What happened?”
“Aaahhh!”
The response was a piercing shriek, heart-wrenching and terrifying.
The rogue shook off his lantern in fright and reached to pick it up when someone kicked him square in the forehead.
Blood poured from all seven orifices.
Wei Qin, who had climbed out from another well mouth, dusted off his soiled sleeves and abruptly turned toward the nearby bamboo building.
On the second floor, Wei Xichen slowly leaned against the railing, unafraid it might snap and send him tumbling. He looked down at Wei Qin in the verdant path below. Though he had instructed to turn the scheme against them, Wei Qin’s ruthless, unblinking ferocity stung his heart.
No wonder he survived the slaughter.
A clear female voice rang out, deliberately lowered but unable to hide its sweet softness.
“‘Wei Qin only smiles at two kinds of people. One kind is his enemies—once he smiles, their life or death is uncertain.’”
Wei Xichen turned back. “And the other kind?”
“‘The other kind is only for this official’s wife.’”
Jiang Yinyue exaggerated on purpose, her words full of pride. She stepped down from the bamboo building and ran toward Wei Qin.
In the bamboo grove under dim stars and moon, a warm sun suddenly appeared.
The Crown Prince Your Highness, who had originally wanted to toy with Wei Yangwan, looked down at the scene in the path. The man wrapped his arm around the woman’s shoulder and left without looking back.
The trap he had set was turned into a scheme within a scheme by the pair downstairs.
Tonight’s unhappiness wasn’t limited to Wei Yangwan.
A line of guards ran face-to-face with the young couple, all making way for them without prior agreement.
They had no right to block, nor did the one in the bamboo building.
Once they had gone far, Jiang Yinyue, with her shoulder still held, turned her head to remind him, “You’re holding too tight.”
A faint trace appeared at Wei Qin’s lips. “He’s still watching.”
Jiang Yinyue stopped protesting. Fine, let him watch—time to give up.
The youth who had waited nearly three hours at the rendezvous lost his patience. “Wei Qin didn’t escape again, did he?”
Zou Kai rubbed his chin. “If he did, that would indeed show some skill.”
“Whose man are you?”
“This subordinate is just stating facts.”
The master and servant paced in the darkness when Wei Yangwan suddenly rubbed his eyelids.
In the dark alley, dozens of gleaming glass-like orbs appeared.
No! They were the eyes of wild beasts!
“We’re in trouble! Run!”
“Woof woof woof!”
The dog barks were chaotic and deafening.
The youth ditched Zou Kai and bolted, faster than a rabbit, but soon his peripheral vision caught Zou Kai catching up, overtaking him, and leaving him behind.
Lightning-fast.
Kicking up a cloud of dust.
The youth, who had eaten a mouthful of dust, fumed. “You’ve gone too far, daring to abandon This Prince!”
Woo woo woo, he was so scared.
Behind the two, over a dozen hounds barked madly, pursuing relentlessly.