Chapter 12
Chapter 12
After the New Year, I turned sixteen, and my monthly cycle actually arrived.
I was in the middle of a horse stance when blood began dripping down my pants. My father and I stared at each other in stunned silence.
Then, he let out a piercing wail: “Wife! Wife! Our son is bleeding!”
Fortunately, we were in the inner courtyard. Aside from my mother’s wet nurse, no one else knew.
Though my parents aren’t the most meticulous people, my courtyard is right next to theirs, and I live there alone without a single attendant.
They claimed this was so I wouldn’t “indulge in pleasure.”
Xiao Yu and the others stayed in the front courtyard and wouldn’t come to the inner courtyard unless there was a reason. They only accompanied me when I called for them to head out.
When Nanny Kong learned I was a girl, she looked as if her soul had left her body.
“Nanny?” I waved my hand in front of her face. “Nanny?”
“Ah? Oh, You-no, Miss, this old servant…” Nanny was in a state of sheer panic.
I found it amusing and patted her shoulder. “Just call me Young Master. I’m used to it.”
After teaching me the basics of being a woman, Nanny Kong turned around and gave my parents a blistering lecture.
“How could you raise a perfectly good girl like this?” she demanded. “How is she supposed to get married in the future?”
“She’s sixteen and only just started her cycle, and her chest hasn’t developed at all. This is what happens when you raise a child so carelessly! How is she supposed to bear children later?”
My father muttered, “It’s not even certain she can be married off.”
Nanny Kong was so angry her eyes rolled back. She glared at my mother. “Princess, you are her mother. Did the Late Emperor and Late Empress raise you like this?”
My mother curled her lip. “At worst, we’ll just recruit a son-in-law to marry into the family. What’s the big deal?”
Nanny Kong finally fainted from sheer frustration with the two of them.
After a flurry of activity to wake her, Nanny Kong grabbed my hand and wept. “My poor child.”
I could only nod along with a pitiful expression.
In truth, I didn’t feel pitiful at all.
Compared to those high-born ladies in the capital who never stepped foot outside their homes and spent their days memorizing the ‘Precepts for Women’ and ‘Women’s Virtues,’ I was incomparably happy.
Living my whole life in men’s clothing didn’t seem bad at all.
It was free and easy, and I could do as I pleased.
Chapter 23
Nanny Kong became very strict with me.
No touching cold water, no drinking cold things, and no going outside to be blown by the wind or step in the snow.
She even moved into my courtyard to stay.
She kept me cooped up for seven days, making me drink bitter medicine every day. It wasn’t until the Lantern Festival that she finally let me out.
During the Lantern Festival fair, I took Xiao Yu and headed straight for the festive lanterns.
I was determined to win some lanterns for Xiao Hu, Xiao Gang, and Xiao Chu, who were still nursing their injuries.
Unfortunately, my academic skills were limited. Xiao Yu and I racked our brains, but we couldn’t solve a single riddle.
Just as I was knitting my brows in frustration and growing increasingly irritable, Xiao Yu nudged me. “Look over there.”
Good heavens, Ye Qing was holding several lanterns already!
And every time he stood in front of a display, he’d have a new lantern in hand moments later!
“Zhou Xuesheng!” Zhao Yu popped his head out from the crowd.
“Hey, over here!” My eyes lit up.
Once he squeezed through, I immediately pulled him toward a stall. “Quick, solve it.”
He read the riddle fluently enough, but when it came to guessing, he went mute.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Haven’t you studied for years? How can you not solve this? The vendor said this is the easiest one.”
“I studied so I could understand military texts, not to solve lantern riddles.”
Fair point.
I called over Li Jingsong and Ye Lan as well. Together with seven or eight attendants, we struggled immensely just to win three lanterns.
We were still short by several!
I got annoyed. “You lot are supposed to be sons of the capital’s elite. Is there not a single scholar among you?”
Ye Lan pointed toward Ye Qing, who wasn’t far away. “The Top Scholar is right there. He’s the best at studying.”
I decided to go for it. I aggressively pushed through the crowd, grabbed Ye Qing’s wrist, and pointed at an eagle-shaped lantern on the rack. “Solve it!”
Perhaps intimidated by my momentum, Ye Qing didn’t say a word. Whichever one I pointed at, he solved.
As expected of the Top Scholar, he was the best. Every guess was correct, and he was so fast it seemed effortless.
Once I had collected all the lanterns the people back at the manor wanted, I patted Ye Qing’s shoulder with a beaming smile. “Thanks, Lord Ye! I thank you on behalf of everyone at my house, young and old!”
Ye Qing nodded. “Mm.”
Then he spoke with a hint of hesitation. “Do you…”
“Hmm?”
“Is there one you want for yourself?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Do you want to go release river lanterns?”
“No.”
I had to get back and show the lanterns to Xiao Hu and the others.
Ye Qing left.
As he walked away slowly, his back actually looked a bit lonely.
I thought he was acting very strange today, but I couldn’t figure out why. I asked Ye Lan, “What’s up with your brother?”
He shook his head. “I don’t go to my eldest uncle’s house often, so I’m not sure.”
I picked out a decent-quality jade pendant from a stall and had Ye Lan take it back to Ye Qing as a thank-you gift for helping with the riddles.
It’s only polite to return a favor.