“As expected of my wife!” Zhao Si admired Yun Qing to the point of complete submission.
Yun Qing looked into Zhao Si’s eyes and teased, “Don’t forget your Tianjiao.”
“Mm-mm,” Zhao Si nodded vigorously, only to see Yun Qing beckon toward the doorway, whereupon she watched Yan’er step into the private compartment.
As soon as Yan’er entered the compartment, she immediately approached the table, picked up the jade kettle, and poured tea for both Zhao Si and Yun Qing.
Zhao Si thought to himself that Yan’er had arrived at just the right moment. Figuring that Yun Qing might be about to leave, she hurriedly took over the jade kettle of tea from Yan’er and poured a cup for Yun Qing.
Yun Qing smiled as she accepted it, took a small sip, and then stood up, saying, “Husband, please sit upstairs. Allow me, Yun Qing, to go meet Shi Qing.”
Yun Qing walked away naturally, leaving Yan’er and Zhao Si alone together in the room. Seeing this, Yan’er turned around, walked over to the compartment door, and pulled the sandalwood door shut.
Once the door was closed, the compartment grew a fraction quieter.
Amidst the silence, Zhao Si pursed her lips. First, she raised her eyes to sweep across the dozen or so jade ornaments on the sandalwood shelf against the right-hand wall of the compartment, then she reached out to touch the soft, greenish-black silk brocade armrest with golden round-flower patterns on her chair. Finally, she lowered her head to cradle the cup of tea Yun Qing had just drunk from, and made small talk with Yan’er: “This is truly new tea from this spring. Indeed, the tea fragrance is refreshing and clears the mind.”
“Does the husband also know how to appreciate tea?” Yan’er stepped closer to the table again, picked up the teapot, and refilled Zhao Si’s cup, the admiration in her eyes impossible to conceal. “When we first met, I took the husband for a rough person, but I never expected the husband to be coarse on the outside yet meticulous within, with refined subtleties hidden inside. Ying’er said the husband has lost all his memories and comes from a humble, impoverished background. That must surely be untrue.”
“What Ying’er said wasn’t entirely wrong.” Zhao Si held the cup of tea in her palm, took Yan’er’s cup, and gestured for Yan’er to sit down, speaking with complete honesty: “When Ying’er found me, I was indeed penniless, disheveled, and clad in rags.”
“Then how did the husband meet the Miss?” Yan’er sat down opposite Zhao Si without a trace of coyness.
“I don’t know,” Zhao Si scratched her head, resting the Tianjiao bow on the table. “Let’s talk about you instead. How did you meet Yun Qing?”
“That’s a long story.” Yan’er glanced at the bow on the table, looked out the window, and then turned back to say to Zhao Si, “Husband, I reckon the grand competition between the Miss and Miss Shi will still take another two incense sticks’ time. If you’re bored, why doesn’t Yan’er tell you a thing or two about the Tianjiao bow?”
“Alright!” Zhao Si raised her hand to pour tea for Yan’er.
Yan’er lowered her voice in a hoarse tone and said, “Just now, when husband drew the Tianjiao bow, you could tell that this bow is considerably longer than other heavy bows of the same kind. Don’t underestimate this single detail; it requires numerous craftsmen spending half their lives just to forge such a bow. With craftsmanship of this scale, naturally only the Imperial Family would be willing to part with it. Why would the Imperial Family be willing? It entirely relies on the former Crown Prince’s outstanding military achievements. And where did those military achievements of the former Crown Prince come from? It was all because he once picked up an sworn younger brother. That sworn brother’s name and surname were unknown, but he was exceptionally tall and robust, coupled with deadly accurate archery skills, allowing him to repeatedly achieve miraculous feats on the battlefield.”
“Putting it that way, the former Crown Prince must have treated his sworn brother quite well?” Zhao Si lowered her head to drink her tea, masking the curiosity in her eyes. “To actually be willing to gift him the Tianjiao bow.”
“More than just the Tianjiao bow.” Yan’er also took a sip of tea. “Not only did the former Crown Prince bestow the Tianjiao bow upon his sworn brother, but he also once invited his younger brother, the fourth imperial prince, Prince Duan, to personally cast golden arrows to match the Tianjiao.”
Hearing this, Zhao Si realized there was bloodshed tied to the Tianjiao bow, and fearing that her wife might become embroiled in it, she hurriedly pressed further: “Then how did my wife manage to acquire the Tianjiao bow?”
“Its owner is dead.” Yan’er’s voice grew lower, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Zhao Si pursued: “How did he die?”
Yan’er slammed her empty teacup heavily onto the table, filled with righteous indignation: “The former Crown Prince was framed by treacherous villains, and his sworn brother likewise lost his life to the netherworld because of it.”
“What does this matter have to do with you?” Zhao Si stood up, picking up the jade kettle, only to see Yan’er press her palm down over her teacup, saying angrily: “How could it be unrelated? To become the ‘former Crown Prince’, one must first be the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is the heir apparent. Once the head of a nation’s reserves is deposed, naturally the pond fish suffer when city gates catch fire.”
Yan’er’s scolding was refined, so Zhao Si simply sat back down and listened to her vent.
Yan’er said: “Once the Crown Prince was deposed, which of the Grand Preceptor’s, Grand Tutor’s, Grand Mentor’s, or Junior Mentor’s households could escape disaster?”
Zhao Si nodded, stood up to pour tea for Yan’er, and feigned understanding.
Yan’er continued: “Once the Crown Prince was deposed, who among the Crown Prince’s primary consort, secondary consorts, and various concubines could escape disaster?”
Zhao Si nodded again, stood up once more to pour tea, and feigned empathy.
After Yan’er cursed through three more rounds of people, and Zhao Si poured three more rounds of tea, Yan’er finally reached the critical point Zhao Si cared about.
With a half-mocking, half-sarcastic tone, Yan’er said: “The former Crown Prince was imprisoned in the Yaoguang Palace, and all his disciples and old associates were brutally slaughtered, leaving only his younger brother, Prince Duan, to escape unscathed. Does the husband know the reason why?”
Zhao Si shook her head cooperatively, thinking to herself that she only knew the jade kettle in her hand was empty.
Yan’er said angrily: “It was entirely because Prince Duan presented a beauty named Liu Xu’er to the Crown Prince!”
Upon hearing the name Liu Xu’er, Zhao Si immediately cut off Yan’er’s flow of words. She didn’t dare let Yan’er continue, because Yun Qing seemed to genuinely know a young woman named something like Liu Xu’er.
Thus, Zhao Si uttered a piece of fluff: “Yan’er, you truly have talent and learning.”
As soon as Zhao Si said this, all the resentment and anger vanished from between Yan’er’s brows.
“Husband, do not blame me. It was just Yan’er talking too much.” Yan’er stood up, returning to a blank expression, cold and hard as ice. She turned, took the jade kettle, paused for a moment, and then walked out of the compartment door.
Knowing that Yan’er had gone to refill the tea, Zhao Si turned her head to look out the window, awaiting the grand competition between Yun Qing and Shi Qing.
As it happened, just as Zhao Si’s gaze shifted toward the window, the grand competition on the stage began. Seeing this, Zhao Si called back Yan’er, who had returned with the replenished tea, to watch together. The moment Yan’er approached the window, the previously closed compartment door was pushed open.
Zhao Si looked toward the source of the sound and saw a person wearing a bamboo hat, with ape-like arms and a wasp waist judging by the physique, it was a man. That man locked eyes with Zhao Si and asked straight out, “Does Zhao Ye know Wei Jing san? He has a letter for Zhao Ye.”
“Just leave it here,” Zhao Si tapped her fingers against the table, turning her gaze back to gaze out toward the theatrical stage.
At this moment, two golden tables had already been placed in front of Yun Qing and Shi Qing on the stage. Resting on each table was a purplish-gold brazier, and perched atop each brazier was a transparent glazed pot containing soaking white rice. Beneath each brazier lay a stack of silver banknotes.
Upon hearing Official Hu shout “Begin the competition!”, Zhao Si saw Yun Qing and Shi Qing simultaneously pick up a silver banknote, reach toward the burning candle held by a dedicated attendant to ignite it, and then stuff it beneath the brazier resting on the stack of banknotes. Soon enough, the banknotes in both purplish-gold braziers turned into piles of black ash, while the white rice inside both glazed pots remained entirely unchanged.
Consequently, a designated person used a purplish-gold shovel to remove the black ash, while another person added more banknotes under their respective braziers. Once the banknotes were replenished, Yun Qing and Shi Qing each ignited another banknote outside the brazier to light the ones underneath.
The cycle repeated.
When the fifth pile of ash appeared beneath the brazier, Zhao Si stood up, but was pressed back down by Yan’er’s hand on her shoulder.
Yan’er persuaded her in a cold voice, “Husband need not worry. The Miss knows what she’s doing.”
“But I’m worried Shi Qing is playing dirty. I, I can’t sit still.” Zhao Si brushed aside Yan’er’s hand, stood up, closed the window, and sat back down. Between standing and sitting, Zhao Si heard a “creak” sound once again.
Zhao Si looked sideways and saw a round belly protruding through the crack of the door.
It was Cui Qian! Zhao Si decisively grabbed the letter delivered by the man in the bamboo hat and hid it inside the front of her robe.
Upon seeing this, Cui Qian simply pushed a mass of green, oily things forward, smiled while bowing to Zhao Si, and said, “Zhao Ye! Do me a favor! Live reporting of the ‘Yun-Shi’ grand competition, only one Liang of silver!”
“I have no money.” Zhao Si averted her face on her own accord. She still remembered the trouble Cui Qian had given her earlier.
At that opportune moment, Zhao Si heard a child’s voice.
“Zhao Ye! Zhao Ye! Have mercy!”
Zhao Si looked back and saw a small child dressed in a green satin robe standing right in front of Cui Qian. The child was no more than five or six years old, standing only as high as Cui Qian’s waist, with a face round as the full moon, red lips, and white teeth, exuding the auspicious look of wealth and fortune.
Zhao Si cursed inwardly that Cui Qian had truly fallen into the money pit, even buying children this young to work in the Yulu Pavilion.
Yan’er had already fished a piece of silver out of her sleeve, tossed it to the child, and urged in a cold voice, “Speak quickly!”
The child caught the silver, performed a front flip right in front of the table, struck a pose, then pulled out bamboo clappers, beat the rhythm, and sang and chimed in a milky, childish voice: “Hey! Sister Yan’er! Thank you so much! Speaking of that Official Hu when the match began, Miss Shi and Miss Yun Qing stood on either side. Guarded by military and civil guards on both sides—heh, the military and civil guards started opening the chests!”
The child took a step to the left, bowed and extended his hands—one hand down with a bent elbow flipping over, while the other continued beating the clappers—and shouted: “Opened on the left is Miss Yun’s chest, with thousands upon thousands of silver notes inside, every single one of face value at the very top. It scared Young Master Liu of the Liu estate!”
The child took a step to the right, pinched his hands together with a look of disgust on his face, and sang: “Opened on the right is Miss Shi’s chest, with thousands upon thousands of silver notes inside as well, yet every single one is a denomination of five, making little deer my heart flutter with panic!”
Singing up to “heart flutter with panic,” the child patted his own chest. “Heart flutter with panic, I hide in the crowd, and bump into Young Master Liu of the Liu family. Young Master Liu makes a solemn vow to me, saying Miss Yun’s silver notes still number in the thousands, and those notes of varying denominations are all the food in the mouths and makeup on the faces of the common people in Cangzhou.”
“Makeup on the face hey, little me opens my eyes to look, only to see Miss Yun’s plain face rivals a fairy maiden’s. Her face is kind, her heart is compassionate, and her complexion is lovely. Little me bets she’ll definitely open for business! Ha, definitely open for business!”
At the end of his song, the child executed another backflip, landed back in front of Cui Qian, and bowed to Zhao Si.
Zhao Si inwardly praised his clean and agile skills.
“A fine bet!” Yan’er flipped her sleeve and rewarded the child with another ingot of silver.
The child caught the silver, joyfully bowed again, and said, “Thank you for the reward, Zhao Ye! Thank you for the reward, Sister Yan’er!”
“Go play!” Yan’er waved her hand, signaling the child to lead Cui Qian out of the compartment. As the compartment door closed, Zhao Si pushed the window open to look out again. On the stage, the process she had witnessed earlier was still repeating itself, prompting her to sigh and say, “I really am useless. Clearly it’s my wife’s grand competition, yet I’m even more anxious than she is. What about you, Yan’er? Aren’t you worried?”
“Concern brings confusion. Yan’er isn’t worried.” Yan’er sat upright with great composure.
“You’re betting Yun Qing will win too?” Zhao Si closed the window once more.
Yan’er shook her head and said coldly, “The husband is mistaken. The Miss never gambles.”
“Then she…” Zhao Si’s heart ached for her, thinking to herself: judging by Yan’er’s vague implication, for her wife to achieve a sweeping victory over Shi Qing, wouldn’t she still need to go through a bitter battle?
Yan’er raised her hand to refill a cup of tea for Zhao Si, and provided her answer without rushing: “Yan’er means that the Miss she only ever wins.”