The old steward coughed lightly. “Princess Consort, mind your words. His Highness is not what you… ahem ahem…”
The steward’s cough was clearly half-hearted, but Yun Jiuqing’s frustration was entirely sincere.
Sure enough, her husband’s miserly nature was hereditary.
And just then, someone with no sense of timing came along to add to her irritation.
The title of Chengen Gong was typically bestowed upon the father or elder brother of the empress, but the late emperor, out of favoritism for Xie Ciyuan’s birth mother, Consort Chen, had granted this honor to her father—the current Chengen Gong.
Later, as Xie Ciyuan accumulated military merits, the Ning family naturally basked in glory alongside him.
The Ning family had once enjoyed boundless prestige thanks to Xie Ciyuan and his mother. Coincidentally, Consort Chen was the eldest legitimate daughter of the Ning family, and all three branches of the Ning household were her younger brothers, so their marriages naturally came after hers.
Thus, among the three generations of wives in the Ning family, the one with the humblest background was ironically Old Madame Jiang, whose natal family wasn’t even in Chu Jing, so naturally no one came to see her off.
Xie Ciyuan’s three aunts-in-law and the wives of his three cousins all came from prominent families. Though each household feared the emperor, they still valued their reputations and sent varying amounts of food, clothing, and personal effects.
Consort Chen’s sisters also sent things over. At this point, each member of the Ning family carried a bundle, so even being exiled didn’t look quite so miserable.
Seeing that no one had come to see Yun Jiuqing off, a woman with delicate features sneered at her, “Some people have ambitions higher than the sky, but lives thinner than paper. They think that becoming Princess Consort Yan means they’ve turned into a phoenix perched on a golden branch, without stopping to consider whether they’ve got the luck for it!”
“Who’s to say otherwise? The moment she stepped into the prince’s manor, the imperial decree for confiscation and exile arrived! And she was supposed to bring good luck by marrying him? I’d say no one’s more unlucky than her! She’s a jinx through and through—no wonder even Master Yun cut ties with her! If she were my daughter, I wouldn’t dare claim her either!”
Everyone present had been born with silver spoons in their mouths, precious souls who had never known hardship in their lives!
Suddenly fallen from grace, they were all brimming with resentment with nowhere to vent it.
Xie Ciyuan was the Ning family’s treasured jewel, and they still hoped to rely on him for a comeback, so no one dared criticize him. That left only Yun Jiuqing, the newcomer with no one to back her, as their target for venting.
But Yun Jiuqing wasn’t one to be pushed around. “Now you know to complain that I’m unlucky? When the emperor decreed that the prince must take a wife, why didn’t you offer up your own daughters to the manor? You climbed up on Consort Chen’s favor and the prince’s blood and sweat, basking in admiration and reaping the benefits without ever having enough. Now you suddenly know how to make snide remarks about the prince dragging you down? Where’s your shame, all of you?”
“You—we are the prince’s aunts-in-law! Even when the prince is awake, he treats us with the utmost respect. You, a nominal bride married in for good luck, dare speak to us like this? What kind of propriety is that? No wonder Yun Daowei didn’t want you—you truly have no upbringing at all!”
“Ah yes, yes, yes, I have no upbringing, and you have plenty. My prince’s blanket is dirty—hand yours over!”
With that barrage, Yun Jiuqing snatched the blanket right out of Third Madame Ning’s arms without a second thought.
Exiles weren’t allowed to use fine things like brocade or silk, so Third Madame’s natal family had sent her a wolf pelt. It didn’t violate any rules and was convenient for keeping warm—Yun Jiuqing had had her eye on it from the start.
She bundled up the blanket covering Xie Ciyuan and tossed it to a guard, then draped the wolf pelt over him in one smooth motion.
Third Madame Ning was so furious she was panting heavily.
“Mother, look at her…”
Unable to swallow her anger, Third Madame went to complain to Old Madame Ning.
The old lady was the steadying pillar of the Ning household’s inner quarters, and she favored the third branch. Whatever Third Madame or her husband said carried weight with her.
But today, Old Madame Ning merely cast a slow glance at Yun Jiuqing before scolding in a low voice, “That’s enough. This isn’t home—put away your petty tantrums!”
Third Madame had been rebuffed by the old lady, so she turned to her husband. “Husband, you—”
Before she could finish, Third Master cut her off. “No matter what, she’s still the Princess Consort Yan. Don’t make a scene.”
Chengen Gong and the eldest and second masters of the Ning family had all gone to support Xie Ciyuan and died in Bei Huang. Third Master Ning was the only male head left in the family.
Seeing that her husband wouldn’t back her either, Third Madame immediately quieted down.
The well-wishers had already departed. The escort officer cracked his whip as he approached. “Move your asses faster, all of you! Anyone who dawdles, I’ll whip you within an inch of your life!”
He shot Yun Jiuqing a complicated look. She was just an ordinary official’s daughter—how dare she stick her neck out like that?
No, he’d better keep his wits about him. If he delayed his master’s plans, he’d lose his head.
Yun Jiuqing paid no attention to the commotion around her. She’d somehow produced a piece of wood as thick as an adult’s calf and placed it on Xie Ciyuan’s stretcher.
The guard’s mouth twitched. “What kind of mischief are you up to now?”
His prince might be someone who only took things in and never gave them out, but that didn’t mean he accepted just anything, did it?
He’d only take gold, silver, and jewelry if they’d be useful on the road. What use was this piece of scrap wood on the stretcher, other than adding burden to him and Xuan Lie and digging into his prince’s back?
His prince would only accept this if he’d gotten water in his brain.
Yun Jiuqing ignored them entirely. She stayed close to Xie Ciyuan, studying his complexion, then asked the men, “Do you have a knife?”
They all shook their heads in unison. “This is exile. Allowing us to carry the Prince is already an exception—how could we possibly be permitted to carry weapons?”
In the Emperor’s view, Xie Ciyuan going into exile alone, with no one to care for him and having to do everything himself, exhausted to the point of collapse, would be ideal.
The fact that these guards could accompany him into exile was only because, before the incident, they had deliberately drawn up deeds of indenture, selling themselves to Xie Ciyuan.
Had it not been for that, these men, with their formidable skills, would never have been allowed to remain by his side—after all, the Emperor had resorted to exile only because he couldn’t outright kill Xie Ciyuan. Now that they were kept, he naturally had to be cautious, minimizing their combat effectiveness as much as possible. Supplying them with weapons was utterly out of the question.
Yun Jiuqing understood this, though she was somewhat disappointed.
She pondered back and forth, at a loss, when her hem tugged. Looking down, she saw a chubby little girl standing at her feet, tilting her face up and speaking in a milky voice: “Sister-in-law, the Princess, Yuanyuan has this.”
Yun Jiuqing looked down and saw the girl holding out a hairpin dagger in her hands.
The old steward noticed it too and remarked with slight surprise, “It’s the Eldest Young Madam…”
Yun Jiuqing instinctively scooped up the little girl. The five-or-six-year-old nestled shyly in her arms, her big, dark grape-like eyes fixed on the young woman not far away.
The woman looked back toward them, meeting Yun Jiuqing’s gaze, and gave a kind, slight nod.
The little girl, Yuanyuan, shyly buried her face against Yun Jiuqing’s shoulder.
“Sister-in-law, the Princess, Mother told Yuanyuan to tell you that what happened to us was the doing of bad people—it has nothing to do with you, Sister-in-law.”
“Please don’t blame yourself, Sister-in-law. Once Uncle Prince Yan recovers from his illness, he’ll take us back.”
The little girl’s voice was babyish, yet her words were remarkably clear.
Yun Jiuqing, in a rare moment of tenderness, rubbed her cheek against the little girl’s. “Tell your mother for me that Auntie knows everything now. Auntie will take good care of herself and take good care of Uncle Prince Yan.”
She quietly slipped a Concentrated Energy Ball into the little girl’s mouth, then tucked another into her hand. “Give this to your mother secretly, and don’t let anyone find out—this is our little secret!”
The little girl nodded adorably, looking utterly serious.
Unaware of what she was carrying, the little girl clutched the Concentrated Energy Ball and toddled off toward the Eldest Young Madam of the Ning family.
Yun Jiuqing fiddled with the hairpin dagger on a piece of scavenged wood, muttering in confusion, “By the rules, aren’t girls under ten exempt from exile? How is it that Yuanyuan, so young, has been exiled?”
The old steward wore a grim expression. “If she weren’t exiled, she’d have to enter the Jiaofang Si. Once a person goes in there, their purity is gone forever.”
“Exile may seem harsh, but it was only secured by the Ning family spending a great deal of silver. Though exile is bitter, if she can endure it, Miss Yuanyuan will still be a chaste daughter of a noble house with a bright future. Had she remained in the Jiaofang Si, even if she were lucky enough to be ransomed one day, she would still be scorned by all.”