Chapter 44

Chapter 44

In the main hall on the first floor.

Xiao Jingmo had ordered a table full of dishes. Zhu Laosan had taken rather good care of the Xiao Family along the way, and now he was no longer being harsh with them. The silver Xiao Jingmo had on hand was enough to support them until they reached the Northern Frontier.

So whenever they stayed overnight at a courier station, he was willing to spend a little extra to treat Zhu Laosan and Li Si to a decent meal.

Outside the pass was unlike inside the pass. Supplies were scarce here.

It was only mid-July, not yet the dead of winter. Logically speaking, vegetables and meat should have been plentiful.

Yet in this courier station, there were only a pitiful few edible vegetables to be had.

Xiao Jingmo ordered a roast chicken and a steamed fish. Since this place was fairly close to the Bohai Sea, fish was not considered anything rare here.

On the entire table, there were only two vegetarian dishes: a plate of small greens and a plate of wild scallions scrambled with eggs.

Even so, for the Xiao Family as they were now, this already counted as an extremely abundant meal.

The dishes had just been served when another party arrived at the courier station.

At this time of year, most people traveling outside the pass were merchants, and staying at inns was common enough.

But those who could lodge at an official courier station were either people of the imperial court or members of great aristocratic families.

A group of maids and older serving women clustered around a woman wearing a veiled hat. Beside her followed a boy of seven or eight.

The boy had exquisitely handsome features. Perhaps because the journey had been rushed, he looked a little travel-worn, with a faint weariness between his brows.

“Shopkeeper, two upper rooms.”

A maid with regular, proper features stepped up to the counter and set down a silver ingot.

The shopkeeper’s manner became exceedingly attentive. After taking the money, he led them upstairs to the Heaven-class rooms.

The Xiao Family paid it no mind. Once this brief interlude passed, they lowered their heads and began eating.

Jin Bao sat in Pei Wanqing’s arms. In front of her was a porcelain bowl piled full of fish from which all the bones had been removed.

Fish was easy to digest and very suitable for children. Along this journey, Jin Bao had gone hungry one meal and full the next with them. Pei Wanqing worried that eating like that would ruin the child’s stomach. Now that there was finally food suitable for Jin Bao, she patiently picked out the bones one by one.

Jin Bao was also holding a roasted chicken leg. With an “awoo,” she bit down and tore off a big chunk of meat. Her little mouth grew shiny with grease as she ate, and she narrowed her eyes in satisfaction.

Nanny Chen stood to the side holding a bowl of soup, carefully wiping Jin Bao’s mouth while feeding her spoonfuls.

By the time the Xiao Family had nearly finished eating, the maid from earlier came downstairs.

“Shopkeeper, send up some hot water. Also bring two bowls of plain congee and a few light side dishes.”

The shopkeeper hurriedly agreed.

The maid turned to go upstairs. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Old Madam Xiao, who was seated in the hall.

She frowned slightly and muttered inwardly, Why does that old madam look so familiar?

But the maid quickly shook her head. This was outside the pass. How could she possibly run into someone she knew?

Inside a Heaven-class room.

“Grandmother, are you tired? Your grandson will rub your shoulders for you.”

An elderly woman with a kind face was reclining on the soft couch. Her hair was graying, but she still looked to be in fairly good spirits.

Hearing him, she took the boy’s hand and sat up.

“Yanzhi, my good child, you’ve suffered on this journey.

“You accompanied Grandmother back to our hometown to visit relatives this time, and you never once complained of hardship. That truly hasn’t been easy.

“You were raised in the Chancellor’s Mansion, spoiled by your mother since you were little. When have you ever endured such jolting travel?”

The elderly woman was none other than Old Madam Zheng of the Chancellor’s Mansion.

The boy was the Chancellor’s Mansion’s youngest legitimate son, Xie Yanzhi.

At the beginning of the year, a letter had arrived from Chancellor Xie Chengyan’s ancestral home, saying that the clan head had passed away and that a new one needed to be chosen.

Originally, this was not a major matter. A single letter in response would have sufficed.

But when word of it reached Old Madam Zheng’s ears, she wanted to make a trip back outside the pass to visit old acquaintances.

Moreover, she had heard that her closest childhood friend was also in poor health, so she discussed it with the chancellor and prepared to return to her hometown for a visit.

How could the chancellor possibly agree? But Old Madam Zheng was a woman of deep feeling. At her age, she felt that for many people, each meeting might be one fewer in this lifetime.

Many of her old acquaintances were outside the pass. The older a person grew, the more they longed for the customs and scenery of their homeland. Otherwise, even when she closed her eyes for the final time, she would be left with regrets.

In the end, the chancellor could not dissuade her, so he had Xie Yanzhi accompany his grandmother back to their hometown.

The Chancellor’s Mansion had three legitimate sons. Two were already officials at court, so it would hardly do for them to request leave and return home.

As it happened, Xie Chengyan also wanted to use this opportunity to temper his youngest son.
Reading ten thousand books was no match for traveling ten thousand miles. The customs and ways of life outside the pass were vastly different from those inside the pass, and it would do him good to broaden his horizons.

Xie Yanzhi lowered his head and kneaded his grandmother’s arm for her, a faint smile on his face.

“Grandmother, it was only after coming outside the pass this time that your grandson understood the deeper meaning behind Father’s words about traveling ten thousand miles.

“In ten thousand books, one can only glimpse the world as written by sages.

“But now, after making this journey with Grandmother, I have finally seen how hard-won even a single grain of millet in the common people’s bowls truly is.

“What one gains from paper is, in the end, only the peace found amid the scent of ink. Your grandson has learned a great deal.”

Old Madam Zheng’s eyes were full of affection. She patted Xie Yanzhi’s hand gently.

“So long as you understand your father’s intentions. In the future, when you enter court as an official, you must always think more of the people. Only then will you be worthy of the sages’ books you have read, and the grain of the common people you have eaten.”

“Your grandson will remember. Thank you for your teachings, Grandmother.”

Xie Yanzhi’s features still carried a trace of youthful immaturity, yet there was an old soul’s steadiness about him. Before Old Madam Zheng, he was especially respectful and obedient.

Downstairs, after the Xiao Family finished dinner, they each returned to their rooms to rest.

After Pei Wanqing washed Jin Bao clean, she changed her into a fresh new set of clothes.

These clothes had all been bought in the previous little town.

Their circumstances were humble now, nothing like the Marquis’s Mansion of the past, where silk, satin, gold, jade, and jeweled hairpins had been inexhaustible.

But after finally getting a daughter, Pei Wanqing could not help wanting to dress her up whenever conditions allowed.

Pei Wanqing looked at Jin Bao in her pale yellow fine-cotton summer outfit, her hair tied into two little buns with two red ribbons. Her small face was fair and clean, and whenever she smiled, two deep dimples appeared on her cheeks. Pei Wanqing could not have been happier.

“My daughter really is beautiful.”

Jin Bao felt as though these recent days had been like celebrating the New Year every single day.

She had meat, and she could alternate between white-flour steamed buns and meat buns. Now even her clothes were new.

Jin Bao smiled even in her dreams.

“Mother, Baby is very happy here.”

Jin Bao patted her own chest, then giggled and rolled across the bed, tumbling straight into Pei Wanqing’s arms.

Pei Wanqing held her daughter, her eyes filled with tender love, but deep in her gaze was a heavy trace of doubt.

Jin Bao had always been dirty before, with tangled hair and a grimy face, looking like a little beggar. But now that Pei Wanqing had dressed her up, she looked as though she had been carved from the exact same mold as that person.

But hadn’t that woman died in difficult childbirth back then? It was said both mother and child had perished.

Could there truly be two people in this world with no blood relation who looked so alike?

Pei Wanqing suppressed the doubt in her heart. There was no evidence for this matter, and she did not dare tell Old Madam Xiao or Xiao Che.

In the family, she was the only one who had ever seen that Imperial Consort. Now there was not even anyone she could discuss it with. Even if she said it out loud, it would only add to everyone’s worries.

Still, Pei Wanqing felt uneasy. She quickly untied Jin Bao’s little buns and let her hair fall loose. It seemed that when they went out tomorrow, it would be better to put a face veil on the little one.

Among women traveling outside the pass, many wore face veils. Putting one on Jin Bao would not seem out of place.

Jin Bao yawned, turned over, and prepared to sleep.

[“Brother Cui, everyone in the inn has gone to sleep. We can make our move now.”

Zou Yong poked his head out and peered around, clinging to the doorframe as he looked outside. Then he turned back and called in a low voice to the people inside the room.

Cui Jin soon walked out of the room. He stood in the corridor and looked around. Only a few lamps remained lit in the main hall, flickering dimly, and an attendant was dozing beside the counter.

Cui Jin leaped straight down from the second floor and strode over to the young attendant. He reached out and knocked him unconscious.

Without stopping, he quickly headed toward the rear courtyard, took a packet from his robes, poured its contents into the well, then returned to his room as if nothing had happened.]

Jin Bao opened her watery eyes. All sleepiness vanished from them at once, and she flipped over and sat up on the kang.

“Mother, Baby wants to find Second Brother.”

Pei Wanqing already understood the tacit understanding between the two siblings very well. She immediately realized someone was about to make a move. Without delay, she calmly picked up Jin Bao, went to the room next door, and knocked on Xiao Jingmo’s door.