After navigating the rugged and winding mountain paths, the carriage finally entered the official road, and the journey became somewhat smoother.
Yuan Fuyu sat on the fox-fur rug and opened the sandalwood box carved with a precious vase design.
Inside, apart from the address of Cui Siniang’s maternal grandfather and the letter from Cheng Shi to him, there was also a sachet embroidered with the characters for “peace.”
Beneath the sachet were over a dozen banknotes of varying denominations, totaling more than sixteen hundred taels, along with some loose silver coins for convenient use.
Cheng Shi had considered everything for Cui Siniang, truly embodying the heart of a loving mother.
Yuan Fuyu picked up the sachet, which contained a yellow talisman for peace. By the flickering light of the glass lamp inside the carriage, she could see that from the embroidery to the tassels, the sachet was entirely crafted by Cheng Shi herself.
After placing the peace talisman back into the sandalwood box, Yuan Fuyu leaned against the Hidden Cushion and dozed off for a while.
It was only when a gust of cold wind slipped through a gap in the fluttering curtain, causing the charcoal in the brazier to crackle and spark, that she slowly opened her eyes.
Yuan Fuyu raised her hand to lift the curtain and looked outside. The morning light was gradually intensifying, and the hazy sky brightened from afar to near.
Jinshu, dressed in martial attire and wrapped in a cloak, gently tugged the reins and approached the carriage window. Bending slightly, she said to Yuan Fuyu inside, “Miss, we’ll arrive in less than half an hour.”
No sooner had she spoken than the guard leading the way suddenly raised his hand and called out loudly to halt.
Jinshu’s expression darkened as she spurred her horse to the front of the procession. The female guards bringing up the rear also rode forward, surrounding Yuan Fuyu’s carriage protectively. Each held the reins with one hand while resting the thumb of the other on the hilt of their waist swords, the cold gleam of the blades barely concealed in their scabbards.
“Elder Sister! Elder Sister…”
Hearing Cui Wuniang’s call, Yuan Fuyu lifted the curtain.
Cui Wuniang, wrapped in a cloak and wearing a fox-fur hood, hurried toward her from the side of the horse team, clutching a small bundle in her arms. Behind her trailed Cui Siniang’s foolishly imaginative younger brother, Cui Liulang.
Cui Wuniang ran to the carriage, urged the coachman to lower the stepstool, and climbed aboard.
Yuan Fuyu used a handkerchief to lift the teapot from the red clay stove in the carriage and poured two cups of hot tea for Cui Wuniang and Cui Liulang, whose faces were pale and purple from the cold.
“Elder Sister, yesterday I overheard my aunt and her maid saying… Father is troubled about the mining operations. Taking you to the capital this time might very well mean he intends to offer you to the nobles there.”
Before even catching her breath, Cui Wuniang hastily shoved the bundle she had been carrying into Cui Siniang’s arms. Then, she removed the bracelets from her wrists and the earrings from her ears, stuffing them into the bundle as well.
“Elder Sister, you mustn’t go to the capital with Father and Second Uncle. Hide for now! This contains all the private savings my younger brother and I have accumulated over the years. It should be enough to support you for a while.”
After learning of this matter, Cui Wuniang and Cui Liulang had discussed it late into the night.
They gathered all the gold and silver gifts they had received from elders over the years, sneaked out of the Cui Family in the middle of the night, and waited along the route Yuan Fuyu would take to the west station of Wu City.
Cui Liulang unfastened his cloak and urged, “Stop dallying! Change into these clothes quickly!”
Yuan Fuyu watched as Cui Liulang hastily removed his cloak and outer garments. “You mean… for me to put on your clothes and leave?”
“We found out that Father and Second Uncle plan to take the water route first, then the land route to the capital. Once we reunite with them later, as long as I don’t step out of the carriage, no one will notice until we reach the ferry!”
Cui Liulang tossed the cloak onto Yuan Fuyu’s lap and began unfastening his own garments. “I am Father’s legitimate son. Even if he discovers I’ve switched places with you, the worst he’ll do is give me a beating. I’m used to taking lashes for all the trouble I’ve stirred up over the years! But if you go to the capital, your entire life will be ruined! Stop hesitating and take off your outer robe! Once day breaks, you won’t be able to leave!”
Cui Wuniang nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Ever since three years ago, when Yuan Fuyu stopped Prefect Liu Chengzhang from diverting the floodwaters to Taiqing—an act that caused the Cui Family to offend other wealthy and influential families in Wu City—Cui Wuniang had been taken back to Wu City by her birth mother, Song Yiniang. She had not set foot in Taiqing since, fearing Master Cui’s wrath.
This was only their second meeting in three years.
Thus, Cui Wuniang and Cui Liulang had no idea that everyone outside was under Yuan Fuyu’s command.
The warm cloak settled on the back of Yuan Fuyu’s hand.
She glanced down at the bundle, where banknotes and fine jewelry were faintly visible, then looked at Cui Wuniang cautiously peeking through a slit in the blue silk curtain and Cui Liulang undressing in the flickering candlelight.
In truth, Yuan Fuyu was not particularly close to Cui Wuniang or Cui Liulang. Moreover, Cui Siniang and her younger brother Cui Liulang had always been at odds like fire and water.
She never expected Cui Wuniang and Cui Liulang to intercept her carriage at such a moment.
Involuntarily, she thought of her own younger sister, Yuan Fuqu, and her cousin, Prince Xian, whom she had placed under house arrest.
Who would have thought that in a merchant family known for valuing wealth over loyalty… such sibling affection could still exist.
Yuan Fuyu gently grasped the cloak and tossed it back to Cui Liulang, her tone unusually soft. “I am going to the capital to meet the noble who, during the Wu City flood three years ago, entrusted me with a message for Liu Chengzhang. It is not what you imagine. Put your clothes back on.”
Cui Liulang paused in undressing.
Cui Wuniang had not forgotten the incident three years ago when Cui Siniang relayed a message on behalf of the Inspector Commandant of the Xiaoshi Bureau.
It was also around that time… Cui Wuniang began to feel that the elder sister she had grown up with had become a different person.
Yuan Fuyu placed the bundle beside Cui Wuniang, then rapped her knuckles against the carriage wall. “Jinshu, arrange for two escorts to take Fifth Miss and Sixth Young Master back to the Cui residence in Wu City.”
“Cui Siniang, I know you and Mother both think I’m as heartless and ungrateful as Father, but this is no time for you to quarrel with me!” Cui Liulang’s voice was urgent. “This concerns your entire life! Can’t you drop this false nobility and stubborn pride, just like Mother?”
“Have you lost your mind from reading too many romances?” The warmth that had briefly stirred in Yuan Fuyu’s heart vanished entirely. “If it were as you say, once Father discovers the truth, he would surely come after me. Alone and without travel permits, I wouldn’t even make it out of Wu City. Should I take this gold and silver, hide in the mountains, and bargain with spirits for lodging and food? Or would that be seeking death?”
Cui Liulang stiffened, unable to retort.
“Sixth Brother and I acted rashly out of concern.” Cui Wuniang’s eyes reddened. After a moment’s thought, she pushed the bundle back into Yuan Fuyu’s arms. “Then, Elder Sister, take these with you. Just in case… I mean, if Father intends to keep you in the capital, having silver on hand will help you manage things.”
Cui Liulang pressed his lips together silently, then unfastened the jade pendant from his waist and set it on the table, followed by the precious jade necklace from around his neck.
Seeing Cui Wuniang and Cui Liulang gazing at her with hopeful eyes, Yuan Fuyu accepted their kindness and arranged for their return.
The appearance of Cui Wuniang and Cui Liulang had been entirely unexpected for Yuan Fuyu.
A faint smile glimmered in her eyes as she looked at the baggage and accessories left behind by the two men.
Master Cui and the Second Master Cui were in a hurry to enter the capital for business matters this time, traveling light with minimal luggage. Their carriage procession was far less ostentatious than their usual outings.
Spotting Yuan Fuyu’s carriage procession approaching from afar in the brilliant morning light, Master Cui, unwilling to waste time, boarded his carriage directly. “Send someone to inform Fourth Miss,” he instructed, “and have her carriage join the procession. We depart immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
Master Cui’s trusted aide acknowledged the order, mounted his horse, and galloped to the front of Yuan Fuyu’s carriage procession.
After a brief discussion with Jinshu, Yuan Fuyu’s carriages quickly merged into the Cui Family’s procession, advancing together toward the ferry.
While boarding the ship, the Second Master Cui noticed the female guards following Yuan Fuyu—each robust and seemingly capable of lifting mountains—and widened his eyes in astonishment.
Seeing that Master Cui also appeared surprised, the Second Master Cui realized… Over the past few years, his elder brother had neglected his wife and Cui Siniang at the old residence, likely unaware of what Cui Siniang had been doing there.
But for Master Cui and the Second Master Cui, what Cui Siniang had done at the old residence was unimportant; securing the mining permit was the top priority.
The Cui Family traveled by water from Jinling to Luojing.
After switching from the water route to land, Yuan Fuyu ordered Jinshu to take four people and ride ahead swiftly.
Jinshu went to Xiagui to investigate news of He Yichen, while the four martial servants headed straight for the capital.
On the second day of the twelfth lunar month, the Cui Family’s party arrived in Xiagui during the Shen hour.