Seven days later, Wei Yexue returned.
The rumors in Shunjing City spread like wildfire, and every teahouse and tavern in the city was talking about one thing—
The daughter of General Wei's household had vanished without a trace on her way to a temple to offer incense, disappearing for a full seven days before being found.
The gossip blazed uncontrollably. Some said Miss Wei had been kidnapped by bandits; others said she had eloped with a poor scholar. Speculation ran rampant, and the reputation she had once enjoyed as a talented lady was utterly ruined.
The prominent families who had originally intended to propose marriage all backed out, no longer mentioning the matter at all.
In Chonghua Palace, Jun Suining, still recovering from her injuries, was listening as Cang Ling shared the gossip with a sigh—
"Ah, poor Miss Wei."
"This servant heard from the palace maids in Consort De's palace that Her Highness was searching for a principal consort for the First Prince, and had originally favored Miss Wei. But now, well…"
Jun Suining silently enjoyed the show. Her father the Emperor had many children, and the First Prince was eighteen this year. In her past life, she had never paid any attention to Wei Yexue and Yue Tingyu at this time, so she truly hadn't known that Consort De wished to form a marriage alliance with the Wei family.
"And then?" Sui Ning urged Cang Ling to continue as she sipped her tonics.
"Consort De is planning to hold a Hairpin Flower Banquet in the palace, inviting all the noble young ladies, in order to select a principal consort and side consorts for the First Prince. The banquet is in three days. Consort De even sent Miss Wei an invitation—no one knows what she's thinking."
"Her intentions are as plain as day," Jun Suining said with disdain. "Reputation versus military power—which matters more?"
Since the death of her father the Emperor's first wife, he had never taken another principal wife, so he had no legitimate-born children. The First Prince held the title of eldest son, and so Consort De had developed ambitions for the succession.
After the Marquis of Zhenbei's treason case three years ago, military authority over the Zhenbei Army had returned to her father's hands. Everyone had assumed her father would, in his anger over the Marquis's treason, turn against General Wei, whom the Marquis had personally promoted. But the outcome was unexpected—her father not only continued to trust General Wei, but even placed him in command of the Zhenbei Army.
To this day, Sui Ning had no idea what her father intended by this move.
And Consort De had simply set her sights on the military power the Wei family controlled.
"Ah! Could it be that Consort De wants Miss Wei to be a mere side consort?" Cang Ling suddenly exclaimed, then turned to see the young man who had appeared at some point, and sighed, "You never make a sound when you walk!"
A-Qi paid no heed to Cang Ling's exclamation. Passing right by her, he walked straight up to Sui Ning.
Cang Ling didn't mind. "Your Highness, are you really going out of the palace?"
Since her injury, Jun Suining had been confined to bed rest for nearly ten days—ten whole days without seeing A-Yu! Thinking of going to Nan Sansi today, her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Today, Jun Suining wore a light apricot-colored quju dress with straight sleeves and loose stitching, an auspicious tasseled silk sash and a sachet embroidered with broken-branch flowers tied around her slender waist, and a pearl-tasseled hairpin tucked into her exquisite cloud-like coiffure. She looked playful yet elegant—she had dressed up with special care.
Outside Chonghua Palace, a sedan chair with apricot-colored curtains matched her outfit perfectly.
The exquisite carriage passed through the palace gates and wound through the bustling, crowded streets of Shunjing City. Jun Suining lifted the carriage curtain and saw shops lining the streets, the aroma of delicious snacks drifting to her nose. As the carriage passed a tea cake shop, she suddenly remembered the way A-Yu ate Victory Cake, and immediately called for the carriage to stop.
She was going to buy A-Yu a Victory Cake.
The main hall of the tea and cake shop was bustling with noise and laughter. While waiting for her Victory Cake, Sui Ning's attention was drawn to the storyteller at the center of the stage. The long-bearded gentleman was holding forth on a bittersweet tale of love…
Just as Sui Ning was beginning to be moved, she suddenly noticed something off. Listening again as the storyteller railed on with all his might—
"They parted at the very height of their love, and the betrothal made in childhood became a laughingstock."
"His family was convicted of a crime, and overnight, Nangong Tieshu fell from noble marquis's son into the dust, becoming a rootless eunuch."
"His glory, his wealth, his standing—all vanished in a single night."
"And Ximen Cuifang, the woman who had once sworn to spend this life with him, became a joke as well because of his downfall. Ximen Cuifang tore up the marriage contract in fury, vowing she would never marry a eunuch."
"When the Nangong family fell, the Ximen family not only failed to help—they kicked them while they were down!"
"Nangong Tieshu clawed his way through the imperial palace, ultimately becoming the Emperor's trusted confidant, a powerful eunuch of his generation. He thought he would never see Ximen Cuifang again."
"But who could have guessed—the Ximen family rose in the Emperor's favor, and Ximen Cuifang came to the capital as well."
"To find out what happens next, listen to our next installment!"
…
Unbelievable, Jun Suining fumed inwardly. Not a single word named Yue Tingyu, yet every sentence dripped with innuendo about him.
Yue Tingyu had once had a fiancée, a daughter of the Cui family, a prestigious clan from Longbei. The Yue and Cui families were old friends, so the two were betrothed in childhood, but the distance between them meant they never really had much of a relationship.
Still, back when Yue Tingyu had first entered the palace as a mere lowly eunuch, the Cui daughter had publicly denounced him outside, so as to convince the world that there was nothing between them.
"Hold on." As the long-bearded storyteller came down from the stage and passed by her, Sui Ning stopped him. Annoyed as she was, she still kept her courtesy. "Sir, don't you think turning someone else's tragic experience into entertainment is rather disrespectful?"
The long-bearded man gave her an odd look and replied with perfect self-assurance, "Little miss, who says this is someone else's experience? Do you have proof? Besides, the man in my story isn't tragic at all—he's the great male lead, you understand? The great male lead gets everything in the end!"
"You—" Seeing him swagger off with a huff, Sui Ning moved to chase after him and argue, but her wrist was suddenly caught by A-Qi.
Jun Suining turned to see A-Qi holding the freshly baked Victory Cakes in one hand and gripping her with the other, and her anger boiled over. "I was arguing with reason! If you won't help me grab him, fine, but why are you stopping me?"
A-Qi held on without letting go, then gave a slight shake of his head.
"Can't you tell who he's talking about? He's clearly insulting someone!" Sui Ning seethed with indignation, but A-Qi remained unmoved. She turned her head to find the long-bearded man already gone without a trace, and deflated. "Let go, then. I can't catch him anyway."
The moment A-Qi released her, she planted her hands on her hips and declared in wrathful indignation—
"Someday I'll find professionals to arrest him!"
A-Qi's grip tightened on the pastry package. Something seemed to scratch at the bottom of his heart, and in that moment, he wanted very much to ask her why she was standing up for the Nine-Thousand-Year Lord.
Besides… what that man said wasn't entirely false either.
But his lips moved, then abruptly stopped—because he suddenly remembered: oh, right, he was a mute.
Jun Suining pulled herself out of her earlier emotions, only to see the young man before her oddly lowering his eyes. As if possessed, Sui Ning tilted her head, looking up from below at the eyes beneath his silver mask.
She saw his deep, dark eyes, but could not read the emotions hidden within them.
Their gazes met, catching them both off guard.
Sui Ning instantly felt a flicker of awkwardness. She lowered her head, took the Victory Cake from his hand, and walked out of the shop first, saying clearly, "Let's go, to Nan Sansi."
A-Qi concealed the complexity in his eyes and caught up with her in a couple of strides.
…
But what Sui Ning had not expected was that in just the time it took to buy a Victory Cake, Yue Tingyu had already left Nan Sansi.
Looking at the troubled Nansi Guard, Jun Suining did not want to make things difficult for him, yet she suspected Yue Tingyu was deliberately avoiding her, so she pressed on: "What time is it now? It's not even lunch yet—how could he not be here? Then where did he go?"
"Your Highness, this subordinate saw the Commander this morning, but when I went to check just now, he was already gone. I cannot keep track of His Lordship's whereabouts."
The Nansi Guard's face was utterly sincere, and his undisguised honesty made it hard for Jun Suining to reproach him. She sighed softly and handed him the Victory Cake in her hand, asking him to pass it along on her behalf.
Just as she was about to turn and leave, a woman in an apricot-colored dress suddenly emerged from the inner courtyard. Her collar seemed embroidered with mountains and rivers, her hem swaying like spring willows in a gentle breeze. Her manner was elegant and graceful, each step as light as if she were treading on clouds.
Her face was as delicate as a white lotus, the corners of her mouth curving into a faint smile, and between her brows shone a lively intelligence that gave her an air of talent and refinement.
Alarm bells rang in Jun Suining's heart. Her fingers unconsciously tightened around her other arm, and when she spoke, her voice involuntarily turned several degrees colder—
"Miss Wei, what brings you here?"