9 - Return

Chapter 9 – Return

“Reporting to Wangye , both the letter and the jade pendant are with His Highness, the Sixth Prince. His Highness is currently leading the other guards to search the mountain. This subordinate will immediately report to His Highness.”

When Fu Teng saw the Wangye nod, he immediately sent a guard to find His Highness, the Sixth Prince. Then he continued to report to the Wangye about all the major and minor incidents that occurred in the Imperial City during his disappearance.

When Si Liufeng received the news, he rushed over in a hurry. The relationship between him and his Third Elder Brother was much better as compared to the other princes. So when he saw his Third Elder Brother, he was unable to contain his joy and hugged him excitedly. Si Liufeng was relieved on seeing that his Third Elder Brother was fine but then he immediately noticed something did not seem right.

“Third Elder Brother, your eyes……..”

“I’m fine. I’ve suffered a slight injury and it will be alright in a few days.” Si Liujing interrupted his Sixth Brother and did not explain further. His eyes had improved and he believed he would be able to regain his vision completely in a few days. At this moment, he was more concerned about who sent the news. “Where is the letter?”

Si Liufeng quickly handed him the letter.

When Si Liujing took out the letter from the envelope, he could feel the jade pendant and although he still could not see clearly, he would know if it was his since he had carried it with him for many years. He moved his fingers over the jade pendant and with a touch, he knew it was indeed the piece he had given to Shui’er.

He was surprised as he did not expect the person who notified the royal mansion would be her. Fu Teng is his confidant and she had directly sent the letter to Fu Teng which is the safest move but is this a coincidence or is this deliberate?

Who is she? She actually has such deep knowledge about him!

Si Liujing asked Fu Teng in a low voice. “Where’s the person who gave you this jade pendant?”

“In reply to Wangye , the other party only sent someone to hand over the letter to this subordinate and didn’t make an appearance. If it was not for this jade pendant, this subordinate would have doubted its authenticity.”

Si Liujing felt something odd with this matter and immediately ordered the people to look for Shui’er. However, after Fu Teng and the others searched around the place, they found there was no one except for them in the room. Then they found the other party had left something behind. It was prescriptions written on a few pieces of paper and sitting on top of the stack of paper, there was a list of instructions and precautions to take note of during the healing process. It seemed that the other party had planned to leave long ago and therefore, these prescriptions were left for them.

Si Liujing thought about this. She looked for people to come over but she disappeared and as soon as Fu Teng and the others arrived, it was just the exact time she left. It could be deduced that the timing was calculated in advance.

“Third Brother, it is not advisable to stay here for too long. Let’s go back to the post station first.”

Si Liujing nodded. His eyes were not good and he did not want too many people to know about it, so he left the thatched house with his Sixth Brother.

Once they arrived at the post station, Si Liufeng immediately summoned a doctor to stay by his Third Brother’s side. Si Liujing took off the commoner clothing and put on royal robes befitting his Wangye ’s status and the jade pendant was also tied back to his waist.

With Sixth Brother and his troop of guards as an escort, Si Liujing returned safely to the Imperial City. The Emperor was furious with the attack on the Wangye and ordered the Justice Department to conduct a thorough investigation. At the same time, he also summoned the imperial doctor to see him.

By now he had regained his eyesight completely and the wounds on his body had scabbed over.

Before Si Liujing returned to the royal mansion, Bai Yuxiao had already quietly returned.

After not seeing their Wangye for a month and heard that their Wangye was ambushed, all the concubines in his mansion were anxious to visit the Wangye, and naturally, Bai Yuxiao had to do the same as well.

Excluding Bai Yuxiao, there were a total of twelve other concubines in this royal mansion and all the women were sent to the Wangye by various forces.

Bai Yuxiao stood at the back of the crowd, and on the surface, she was showing an anxious expression, but in fact, she was feeling very much at ease. The Wangye was saved by her, so naturally, she knew that he was fine. The trip that she made this time proved to be quite rewarding for her.

The attack on the royal family was considered a big case by everyone and with this case, all other small cases were ignored.

At this moment, the Second Housekeeper came out and said that the Wangye needed some quiet time and the concubines were told to return to their individual courtyards.

All the concubines were disappointed when they heard. However, the lips of Bai Yuxiao, who was standing at the back, curved into a smile and it seemed she had already expected this result. She turned around happily and ordered her maid, Zhaolu.

“Come, let’s go back.”

“Yes, Young Miss.”

(Married ladies are usually called ‘Lady’ or ‘Madam’ but since the author referred to BYX as ‘Young Miss’, I will be using the same reference.)

Bai Yuxiao stays in the Wutong Courtyard that is located in the most remote corner in the southwestern section of Ling Wang Mansion and therefore, it is also the furthest courtyard from Wangye’s main courtyard. Although this courtyard is remote, it is also very convenient for her to go about her business.

Zhaolu and Shuang’er are her personal maids and both of them are skilled in close-contact martial arts using fists and legs. All other servants are only allowed to serve in the outer courtyard while only these two maids are allowed free access to the inner courtyard.

Whenever Bai Yuxiao sneaked out of the mansion, the two maids would take turns to change their appearances to look like her, and regardless of body shape or height, both the maids were similar to Bai Yuxiao. They handled their duties intelligently and their responses were sharp which was the reason why Bai Yuxiao brought them into the royal mansion with her.

This time, Bai Yuxiao stayed outside the mansion for a month, and as soon as she returned to her courtyard, she thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being served by her two personal maids.

Being a mistress is much better!

Bai Yuxiao sighed with contentment. She had just been served and assisted with her bath and is now lying on the soft chair under the Wutong tree. While enjoying the morning breeze and the chirpings of birds with her eyes closed, she was about to doze off.

(Wutong Tree is the Chinese parasol tree, an ornamental plant that can grow up to 16m tall.)

(Please read the original translation of this story on Foxaholic. If you are reading from any other site, the translation is copied without permission. If you intend to upload this to any other site for your convenience or for offline reading, kindly refrain from doing so. )

After a hectic month, she just wanted to have proper rest during the next few days and the backyard of the royal mansion is the most stable place. This small Wutong Courtyard belongs to her and it is also her sanctuary. She is very satisfied with this place.

On normal days, she would not be disturbed inside the courtyard and she can do whatever she wants. Just like this moment, she is casually lying down on the reclining chair and her lips, without a trace of lip rouge, are curved into a smile as she yawned languidly.

“Young Miss had never been out of the mansion for such a long time. In the past, the longest time was only half a month. Before Young Miss came back, this servant was really worried.” The maid, Zhaolu, spoke as she helped Bai Yuxiao comb her long hair. Usually, they were the only people in the courtyard, so Young Miss would dress very simply. She would only comb a simple small bun that is held in place with a jade hairpin while leaving the rest of her hair down and Zhaolu is even allowed a freehand in styling her hair. Bai Yuxiao enjoyed being served this way and she is like a pet cat that is too lazy to move.

She closed her eyes and her voice sounded soft and husky.

“Don’t worry. The greatest benefit of this Ling Wang Mansion is leisure. There are no in-laws above to serve, the position of the Mistress is still vacant and we don’t have to offer morning greetings. All-day long, I’m able to eat well, drink well, and sleep well. No one will take notice of me, this low-ranking concubine.”

(T/N: All the secondary wives and concubines regardless of rank, especially in a large family setup, had to offer greetings to the eldest in the family every morning. The elders sitting at the highest level would be the in-laws followed by the husband and the main wife.)

According to the rank regulations of the Daxing Dynasty, the ranks of the Wangye ’s wives and concubines are positioned from top to bottom. The ranks starting from the top position would be the main wife, Wangfei, followed by the concubines, Cefei, Shufei, Ji, Liangdi, Liangyuan, and lastly Ruren .

Bai Yuxiao’s rank in the royal mansion is only the fifth-rank Liangdi. The Wangye did not marry a Wangfei and neither did he take a Cefei . Presently, the only concubine with the highest rank is Lan Shufei and then followed by Liu Ji , Xie Ji, and Zhang Ji , and following that would be Bai Liangdi and the rest are Ruren .

Since her Wutong Courtyard is located in a far corner, normally, the other Sisters would not come over, therefore, she was not worried at all.

At this time, Shuang’er came in from outside and quickly walked to Bai Yuxiao’s side to whisper into her ear. “Young Miss, the Wangye was not seen in any courtyard yesterday. Many of them are working their brains over the preparation of supplements and they are setting up stoves in their small courtyards, devoting themselves to stewing supplements to curry favor with Wangye . Should we follow and do the same as well?”

Shuang’er is her spy who is in charge of gathering information. A lot of gossips in the inner courtyards was gathered by Shuang’er and reported to Bai Yuxiao.

Bai Yuxiao thought for a while and then ordered. “Take out the salted seabass that I brought back yesterday and later, Zhaolu can stew a pot of ginseng seabass soup according to my instructions. Send over a bowl of that soup to Wangye during lunch.”

When Shuang’er and Zhaolu heard that there would be seabass soup, their eyes lit up. Although the mansion’s food was very delicious, too much emphasis was placed on lavish foods, and one would get tired after eating over a long period, unlike the authentic local dishes that tasted delicious and homely.

Whenever Young Miss comes back, she would bring home some famous dishes from different places so that they could enjoy together and Young Miss would also learn the local recipes and then come back to teach Zhaolu. In the other courtyards, the mistresses and servants would only spend their time in the embroidery of shoes or purses or elegantly practice on their zithers, play chess, practice calligraphy and paint to pass the day.

However, in Wutong Courtyard, they would be busy with new issues every day. Shuang’er is responsible for gathering information, Zhaolu is in charge of the kitchen while Bai Yuxiao runs in and out of the mansion to conduct her business.

The three of them, mistress and servants, lead a busy and fulfilling life in the small courtyard.