Chapter 251
Chapter 251
It was late at night, but Zhaoyang Courtyard was still brightly lit.
Zhao Wan was fuming, unable to let go of what had just happened.
“Were my eyes playing tricks on me? But I distinctly saw a human head in that tub!”
“Where on earth did that Xia girl come from?”
Xiaoxizi was busy trying to remove her “female ghost” makeup. Hearing this, she could not resist replying, “Your Highness, there must be something wrong with that courtyard. Surely we weren’t both imagining things?”
Resting her chin on her hand, Zhao Wan frowned deeply. “No. That Xia girl must have been playing us!”
“…”
At a loss for words, Xiaoxizi could only fall silent.
Zhao Wan abruptly rose from her couch and summoned all four of her personal maids, named for the four directions: east, south, west, and north.
“Give me some ideas. How can I get the better of her tomorrow?”
The maids exchanged looks, none daring to speak first.
Zhao Wan pointed at the first. “Xiaodongzi, you tell me.”
Xiaodongzi could only brace herself and say, “Your Highness, didn’t you say you wanted Young Marquis Ren to see you in a new light? You’ve spent so many years practicing riding, archery, and swordsmanship! Don’t you want to show him what you can do?”
Zhao Wan’s eyes lit up at once. “Well said! That’s an idea!”
The second maid, Xiaonanzi, seized the opportunity. “We can invite the Young Marquis to the training ground first thing tomorrow morning!”
Xiaoxizi offered no opinion, but Xiaobeizi suggested, “Wouldn’t going to the training ground seem a little too deliberate? I think there ought to be more people present, to give Your Highness a chance to shine!”
“Exactly!”
That was just what Zhao Wan wanted to hear. She added, “That Xia girl had better be there too! That sickly thing surely doesn’t know how to do any of those things. All she’ll be able to do is envy me…”
She asked them, “Then where do you think we should go?”
Xiaonanzi suggested, “Your Highness, why not the estate outside the city? There happens to be a riding ground there too.”
Before anyone else could speak, Zhao Wan clapped her hands. “Good idea! It’s settled!”
Delighted, she put all her earlier displeasure out of her mind and retired to bed in perfect contentment.
Early the next morning, Zhao Wan sent her maids to deliver messages to the guest courtyard and Zhenxia Courtyard, while she first went to pay her respects at Princess Consort Wu’s residence.
Princess Consort Wu, Lady Yang, had contracted a strange illness ten years earlier that made walking difficult. Since then, she had scarcely left her rooms.
Over the years, she had taken many rare medicinal ingredients, but her condition had never improved.
When Zhao Wan arrived, medicine was simmering inside. Its smell was so pungent that, even after all these years, she had never grown used to it.
The maid tending the medicine saw the princess arrive, hastily put away her fan, and came forward to pay her respects.
“Is Mother awake?” Zhao Wan asked softly.
“Your Highness, the princess consort woke between five and seven this morning. She’s sitting by the south window waiting for you.”
Zhao Wan looked through the layers of gauze curtains toward the south window. Sure enough, she saw her mother there and walked in.
Hearing the footsteps, Lady Yang did not turn. She merely asked, “I hear we had guests arrive last night?”
Zhao Wan was in no hurry to answer. She went to her mother’s side and began massaging her shoulders, deliberately keeping her in suspense. “Yesterday, I went out of the city to catch the thief. But at the gate, I ran into someone…”
Only then did Lady Yang turn to look at her daughter.
Years spent indoors had given her pale skin a bluish cast. Her eyes were dark and utterly devoid of light, and even her voice held little warmth.
“I know. The Young Marquis of the Ren Family.”
Zhao Wan was a little startled. “Did you guess that yourself, Mother, or did someone tell you?”
“Apart from that young man of the Ren Family, what other man could catch your eye?” Lady Yang asked.
After returning from the capital all those years ago, Zhao Wan had often spoken of Ren Fengjue. She had even considered asking her father to petition the emperor for a marriage decree.
Had the Ren Family not already been bound by a marriage agreement with the Xia family, Prince Wu might well have agreed.
Yet it could hardly be said that Zhao Wan liked Ren Fengjue all that much. She simply enjoyed the thrill of competing for someone.
“That’s not quite true…”
Zhao Wan hastened to explain. “Ren Fengjue is certainly handsome, but it’s not as though I’ll marry no one else. I just… want him to like me.”
At that, a smile appeared on Lady Yang’s face instead. “And if he… doesn’t like you? What will you do then?”
Zhao Wan frowned slightly, unable to answer.
Watching her, Lady Yang suddenly patted her hand gently. “All right. Go and enjoy yourself. Trust your mother. Young Marquis Ren will certainly come to like you.”
Her mother’s words instantly filled Zhao Wan with confidence.
She knew that anything her mother promised her would come true.
For instance, years ago, her father had always made her go to Zhenxia Courtyard and talk to Concubine Du’s belly. Deeply unwilling, she had told her mother about it.
Her mother had patted her hand just like this and comforted her. “Before long, you won’t have to go there anymore.”
Sure enough, Concubine Du had disappeared not long afterward.
There had been many similar incidents. Zhao Wan never looked too closely into whether they were coincidences.
But she had always believed her mother’s words without question.
“I’ll be going, then, Mother.”
As Zhao Wan was about to leave, Lady Yang added a reminder. “Remember to keep what I gave you on your person.”
“I know.”
Watching her daughter go, Lady Yang slowly let her smile fade. Suddenly, she beckoned gently to the older serving woman beside her and whispered a few instructions in her ear.
In the guest courtyard, everyone turned to Ren Fengjue upon learning that Princess Fenghua wished to invite them to the estate outside the city for an outing.
The Young Marquis knew at once that Zhao Wan must have some ulterior motive.
Yet they could hardly refuse. They had only just arrived in Liangzhou and still had to show her the proper courtesy.
Offending the princess would do nothing but harm the work that lay ahead.
Thus, after breakfast, they left the guest courtyard with Steward Sun guiding them.
Concerned about Xia Ximo, Ren Fengjue asked Steward Sun about the situation at Zhenxia Courtyard.
“There is no need to worry, Young Marquis,” Steward Sun replied. “Miss Xia will be sharing the princess’s carriage shortly.”
That left Ren Fengjue rather uneasy. “Was that the princess’s idea?”
Steward Sun shook his head. “It seems to have been Miss Xia’s idea.”
Ren Fengjue was surprised once more.
At the same time, Zhao Wan emerged from Zhaoyang Courtyard surrounded by her personal maids and spotted Xia Ximo in the distance.
She stood before the gate of Zhenxia Courtyard, as though waiting for her.
As Zhao Wan wondered about this, Xiaodongzi leaned close and whispered, “The messenger said that Xia girl wants to share Your Highness’s carriage. Apparently… she has something to discuss with you in private.”