Watching Madame Yang stand frozen in dumbfounded shock, Su Zhouyue remarked languidly, “There is no need for Madame to fret any longer. In my eyes, a fine lad like Feng Chu is bound for great things.”
Madame Yang clutched her silk handkerchief so hard the fabric strained, nearly grinding her teeth to dust. Yet she still forced an air of gracious magnanimity. “Is that so? Then I shall take your kind words as a blessing, Marchioness.”
Seeing Madame Yang linger, Su Zhouyue offered with feigned warmth, “Does Madame have other business? Would you care to stay for a simple meal?”
“No need!”
Madame Yang turned on her heel and swept away. That Su Zhouyue was an out-and-out smiling tiger, every single syllable was aimed straight for her vitals!
Her senior maidservant hurried forward to support her.
Once inside the carriage, the maid inquired softly, “Madame, shall we return to the manor?”
“Return to what manor?” Madame Yang snapped, exasperated. “To the city gates to greet the Marquis!”
“Understood.”
Madame Yang’s countenance turned venomous. So, what if Feng Chu went ahead? She had long since sent Ying’er out ahead of him. Once she fanned the flames with a few carefully chosen words upon arrival, she had no doubt the Marquis would look upon Feng Chu with utter revulsion.
At that thought, a satisfied smirk crept back onto her face.
With Madame Yang gone, the gathered crowd of onlookers quickly dispersed.
Standing atop the manor steps, Su Zhouyue teased her youngest daughter: “And who might this be, refusing to head inside even after the excitement is long over?”
Tong Anying skipped over to Su Zhouyue’s side with a bright grin, looping her arms affectionately around her mother’s elbow. “It’s Mother’s darling daughter, of course!”
Su Zhouyue broke into a helpless laugh.
Side by side, mother and daughter strolled into the residence.
As they walked, Su Zhouyue asked, “Anying, Fengye mentioned you got down midway during the ride earlier. What did you run off to buy?”
“Just some things,” Tong Anying replied casually.
“What things?” Tong Fengye leaned in, sounding thoroughly slighted. “Sneaking around behind your Third Brother’s back to buy them, no less.”
Well, it’s not like I can tell you I bought a slingshot to peg stones into Prince Yong’s Manor, can I?
WHAT?
Tong Fengye could barely disguise his sheer horror. He stole a glance at Su Zhouyue, only to see her lips pressed into a tight, white line, her arms quivering faintly, the unmistakable telltale sign of an incoming volcanic eruption.
What to do?
Should he take one for the team and save his little sister?
Tong Fengye ground his back teeth together and took the plunge.
“Mother, the Academy instructor requested that you pay a visit to the Imperial Academy!”
Both Su Zhouyue and Tong Anying were instantly derailed. Su Zhouyue frowned, her brow furrowing. “A visit to the Imperial Academy? For what?”
Tong Fengye scratched his cheek, hanging his head in theatrical sheepishness. “Well, I was daydreaming through the entire lecture today.”
Hearing this, Su Zhouyue’s fury erupted on cue: “Tong Fengye, is your hide itching for a thrashing again?”
“Mother, have mercy!”
Su Zhouyue chased Tong Fengye all across the courtyard, brandishing her scolding, while Tong Anying’s little excursion was tossed completely out the window.
Tong Fengye: Operation Save Little Sister: Complete.
Night fell.
Having tossed and turned the previous night, Tong Anying drifted off early.
Gazing down at her daughter’s serene sleeping face, Su Zhouyue drew the bed curtains shut and thoroughly checked every window latch in the room.
Only once everything was securely fastened did she quietly slip out of Tong Anying’s quarters and make her way to the study.
Inside the study, candles burned brightly.
Save for Tong Anying, every single member of the Tong household was present.
Su Zhouyue turned her gaze toward Tong Fengye. “Out with it.”
Tong Fengye: “Out with what?”
“Why on earth your sister was slinging stones over the walls of Prince Yong’s Manor, of course!”
Tong Fengye mumbled under his breath, “It’s not like I’m the roundworm living inside Fourth Sister’s belly.”
“Tong Fengye, you managed to dodge me this afternoon,” Su Zhouyue said with an arched brow, “but right now, do you reckon your father and eldest brother can’t pin you down?”
Eep!
Tong Fengye’s rear end gave a sympathetic throb. With a long-suffering grimace, he whined, “Didn’t we already move past this?”
Su Zhouyue retorted, “That was an act.”
Tong Fengye fell silent.
He grumbled under his breath, “Old ginger truly is spicier than young shoots.”
Su Zhouyue shot him a stern glare, her tone ringing clear and firm. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Your sister’s uncanny abilities are expanding by the day. The more people who catch wind of it, the more covetous eyes will fall upon her. Your father already has more than enough political rivals in court. If any of them were to abduct Anying.”
The grim scenario blanched the color straight from Tong Fengye’s cheeks. He blurted out hastily, “She probably went to warn Prince Yong’s Heir that someone is plotting his assassination!”
He laid out the entire sequence of events from the apricot grove from start to finish.
Su Zhouyue murmured, “That does sound like something she would do.”
Both Su Zhouyue and Tong Baibo knew their daughter inside and out. Even if it was just a stray kitten or puppy soaked by the rain, Tong Anying would insist on carrying it home. There was no way she could idly watch Prince Yong’s Heir walk into an ambush and perish.
“Prince Yong’s Manor may look deserted on the outside, but its waters run deep and murky,” Tong Baibo noted, catching the lingering trace of worry on his wife’s face. “Anying was likely spotted by the young heir the very instant she launched those notes. Yet he chose to keep quiet and take no action, which suggests he recognized and accepted her goodwill.”
Su Zhouyue nodded slowly, though her brow remained furrowed. “Let us hope so.”
Tong Fengye interjected thoughtfully, “Father, Mother, Eldest Brother, Second Sister, Fifth Sister, haven’t you noticed? Everyone who can hear Anying’s voice seems to be pure of heart?”
After a pause, he amended, “Or at the very least, harbor zero malice toward Fourth Sister.”
“That is for the best,” Su Zhouyue breathed, releasing a quiet sigh of relief. She turned back toward Tong Baibo, nudging his elbow. “How are things progressing on Lin Yu’s end?”
Tong Baibo looked to Tong Yibin.
Tong Yibin reported, “Lin Yu maintains close, frequent contact with the Eastern Palace. He is almost certainly the Crown Prince’s man.”
Tong Baibo pressed, “And beyond that?”
“I cannot pursue the investigation any further.”
Tong Fengye’s round eyes opened wide. “Why not?”
“Because if I dig any deeper, I become the Crown Prince’s man as well.”
Tong Fengye: “?”
He glanced around the room, only to find everyone else nodding in silent comprehension.
Tong Yibin added dryly, “Read more books.”
Tong Fengye: “?”
First Prince Yong’s Heir, now the Crown Prince, the Marquisate will be dragged into these turbulent waters sooner or later! Above all else, Anying’s safety comes first!
Seeing the heavy atmosphere weighing down the room, even little Fifth Sister was wearing a solemn, crumpled pout, Tong Siyan spoke up gently: “Fourth Sister’s gift is hardly a bad thing. Besides, what could possibly outmatch our family standing united as one?”
Su Zhouyue nodded in agreement. “Indeed. In the imperial court, we have your father and eldest brother holding the line; within the inner manor, Siyuan and I have things handled. As for the Imperial Academy.”
She reached over and patted Tong Fengye firmly on the shoulder. “We are counting entirely on you.”
Tong Fengye suddenly felt a mountain of responsibility pressing down upon his young shoulders. He nodded with grave determination.
Tong Yi’an looked up at her mother with wide, pleading eyes. “What about me? What about me? I want to protect Fourth Sister too!”
Su Zhouyue tousled the little girl’s hair affectionately. “Yi’an’s mission will be ensuring Fourth Sister has plenty of delicious treats every day. How does that sound?”
“Yes! Leave it to me!”
When Tong Anying woke up the following morning, she was completely flabbergasted by the miniature mountain of pastries piled across her bedcovers.
Tong Yi’an hurled herself into Tong Anying’s lap, piping up in her soft, milky voice, “Fourth Sister, I prepared all of these especially for you!”
Tong Anying beamed, stroking Yi’an’s chubby cheeks. “Thank you, Yi’an.”
“You’re very welcome~”
After washing and dressing, Tong Anying headed out to board the carriage for the Imperial Academy alongside Tong Fengye, only to discover that her third brother was sticking to her side like a shadow.
Tong Anying: “?”
Stepping outside the residence, she found that alongside their carriage driver, A’shu, stood a familiar figure: Feng Chu.
Tong Anying: “?”
What has gotten into this world?
Tong Anying and Tong Fengye climbed into the carriage one after the other, and Feng Chu casually slipped inside right behind them, acting entirely at home.
Tong Fengye eyed him with sharp suspicion. “Don’t tell me you plan on riding with us every single day from now on?”
Feng Chu replied breezily, “Of course not, just for today.”
“Good.”
The unvarnished distaste in his tone made Feng Chu scowl. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing at all.”
Feng Chu fell silent.
Recalling what he had come to share, Feng Chu bit back his retort.
Leaning in with obvious relish, he began, “You have no idea how foul my stepmother’s face looked yesterday!”
It turned out Madame Yang had arrived at the city gates shortly after Feng Chu. The moment she stepped off her carriage, she began berating him loudly, only to turn completely green when she realized Feng Chu was standing right alongside Feng Bo, looking like a dutiful son.
She immediately began searching high and low for Feng Ying. Annoyed, Feng Bo ordered his personal guards to hunt him down, only to drag Feng Ying straight out from beneath the bedcovers of a brothel’s courtesan.
“Madame Yang rolled her eyes back and nearly fainted on the spot! My father raised his riding crop high, bellowing that he’d beat Feng Ying to death, which brought Madame Yang snapping right back to consciousness! Hahahaha, you should have seen it, funniest thing in the world!”
“They really dragged him out of a brothel?” Tong Fengye’s interest was thoroughly piqued.
“Indeed they did! Feng Ying hadn’t even buttoned his robes properly!”
Tong Fengye let out a hearty chuckle.
Feng Chu declared with puffed-up pride, “When I left the manor this morning, my father even commended me!”
Yet beneath that proud boast, the rims of his eyes were faintly flushed with pink.
Tong Anying looked at him and said softly, “Just wait. You’ll have plenty more days like this ahead.”
Tong Anying possessed a pair of remarkably limpid eyes. That crystal-clear gaze lent her words an undeniable, comforting weight.
Feng Chu nodded earnestly, then turned his gaze back to Tong Fengye.
Tong Fengye offered, “Well, congratulations.”
Feng Chu: “?”
“Watch your back, or bad luck will find you!”
“Hey! Are you putting a hex on me?”
Tong Fengye made a show of lunging to strike Feng Chu, but pulled his punch at the last second and settled back into his seat.
He cast a smug, fond glance toward Tong Anying and declared proudly, “Don’t you worry. With Anying around, bad luck wouldn’t dare touch me!”
Feng Chu clicked his tongue. With a capable sister like Tong Anying watching his back, of course Tong Fengye wouldn’t run into trouble. Why wasn’t he blessed with a younger sister like that?
Don’t be so sure, Third Brother. Your misfortune might be scheduled to arrive today. Ooh, looks like I’m feasting on my own brother’s gossip now!
Tong Fengye: “!”
Little Sister, put the melon down and save your third brother first!