Chapter 123: Painted Skin
The midsummer of Chong Zhao’s thirteenth year was unnaturally hot.
Even after the sun had set behind the West Mountain, the bluestone ground was still scorching to the touch. As night approached, the heat in Tan Qiu Courtyard had not abated in the slightest. Ling Yu, too hot to move, drooped its head and dozed by the feed trough.
Ru Yi knelt on the ground, fanning the ice basin with all her might, trying to bring a sliver of coolness to Xue Sui. However, she couldn’t overcome the oppressive heat and drowsiness. Her head bobbed in rhythm with Ling Yu’s slumber, like a pestle pounding garlic…
Xue Sui sat serenely on the Arhat Couch by the window, her fingertips lightly tracing a scroll, engrossed in her reading.
Outside the gauze screen, the cicadas chirped incessantly, making her appearance with the scroll seem even more tranquil and gentle, like a serene painting.
“The refreshing drink is here!”
“Sweet and icy grape drink!”
With a rustle of the beaded curtain, Xiao Zhao burst in, holding a carved red tray, deliberately drawing out her words.
“Purple grapes steeped three times in well water, mashed with crushed ice into a pulp, then mixed with two spoonfuls of cliff honey—it clears the heart, dispels heat, refreshes the palate, and quenches thirst. Step right up, don’t miss out, or you won’t get any!”
This shout instantly shattered the tranquility of Tan Qiu Courtyard.
The iced drink was served in a glazed pottery cup, a thin layer of frost clinging to its surface, making it look refreshingly cool.
Xue Sui took a shallow sip, the icy sensation sliding down her throat.
She let out a contented sigh and nodded with a smile.
“There’s plenty, you can share it too.”
Ru Yi’s back was soaked with sweat from the heat. Hearing this, her mouth watered uncontrollably.
“I’ll serve it, I’ll serve it…”
Xiao Zhao nudged her lightly with her elbow.
“There’s yours, there’s yours. Don’t push me, oh, you little maid… Young Lady, look at her! Tomorrow, I’ll have her sunbathe!”
“If you sunbathe, I’ll sunbathe with you. If you sunbathe with me, then I’ll go. Young Lady, punish me quickly, punish me quickly!”
The two bantered back and forth, laughing heartily.
The maids and old women in the courtyard also joined in the merriment.
Granny Wang, who did the rough work, held her bowl and chanted prayers, saying their Madam was a reincarnation of the Bodhisattva.
Pei Lan, a second-class maid who had recently been promoted, trembled as she took the cup.
She had worked in the Prince’s Mansion for five years and had never seen a master share such fine iced drinks with the servants before…
The chorus of thanks seemed to push back the heat by a few degrees.
Xue Sui turned a page of her book, faint smile lines appearing at the corners of her eyes.
“Send some to the guards on duty outside as well.”
Those two guards were not from Tan Qiu Courtyard. They had their own arrangements for meals and shift changes, reporting to the front courtyard, and had no connection with Tan Qiu Courtyard.
As the drink was brought before them, crystal clear and refreshing, their stomachs, parched from a day of heat, seemed to yearn for it. They couldn’t help but swallow, their hearts filled with gratitude.
“Thank you, Madam, for your consideration!”
The drink contained iced grape pulp and finely crushed ice, sweet and refreshingly cold. The two quickly squatted in the tall shade of the banana grove and wolfed it down, veins bulging on their necks from the effort.
When Jinshu returned in a hurry, the two were still licking their lips, not quite satisfied.
“Aunt Jinshu, off shopping again?”
A guard saw the bulging bundle in Jinshu’s arms and stood up.
Jinshu glanced at him and smiled, “Our Young Lady dislikes this heat and wanted some refreshing fruit, so I went to the market to buy some. I was thinking of making more drinks tomorrow…”
As she spoke, she took out two plump, juicy hawthorn pears from the bundle and handed one to each of them before smiling and stepping over the threshold.
The two guards grinned so wide their mouths almost reached their ears.
Although the Prince’s Mansion did supply fresh fruit, most of it was prioritized for the masters of each courtyard. They, the guards, rarely got any.
Summer duty was already a hardship. When they first arrived, they had complained bitterly. Who would have thought Madam Ping’an would be so approachable?
Jinshu closed the room door, her smile vanishing instantly, her expression becoming grave.
“Young Lady,” she said, squatting beside Xue Sui and lowering her voice.
“Eldest Young Master has sent word that the Xizi merchant caravan has exchanged their pass documents on the Longyou Road and will arrive in Shangjing tomorrow.”
Xizi and Daliang had been in constant friction in recent years, but they had not broken ties or formally declared war. Trade between the two was frequent. Daliang, considering itself the central great nation, received tribute from all directions and embraced all cultures, disdaining to quibble with ordinary Xizi citizens. Therefore, while outwardly tacitly permitting normal trade, they secretly controlled it.
Jinshu took out a secret letter from Tianshu from her embrace.
The letter was marked top secret, and Jinshu did not know its contents.
“Eldest Young Master sent it to you, Young Lady.”
Xue Sui broke the seal and unfolded the letter. It was written in Tianshu’s own hand.
“The High Priest of Xizi, Amun Rah, is mixed in with the merchant caravan. His daughter, years ago, accompanied an envoy to the capital and was presented to the Emperor of Daliang along with Princess Wen Jia’s mother. Her fate thereafter is unknown. Upon entering the capital this time, Amun Rah will undoubtedly try to approach Princess Wen Jia. The information may not be entirely accurate, so Ping’an, please use your own judgment.”
Jinshu looked at Xue Sui, seeing the flickering candlelight reflected in her smiling eyes, and continued, “Gu Jie spent last night at Zui Xiang Lou. This morning, he booked over ten rooms at Tianshui Inn in the north of the city, likely in preparation for the caravan.”
Xue Sui listened quietly.
Gu Jie was a risky move for her.
Whether she could draw him into her scheme, Xue Sui was not entirely certain.
She chuckled softly, a cold glint in her eyes.
“Send someone to keep a close watch on him.”
Jinshu acknowledged, then lowered her voice further.
“There’s movement from Fan Bing’s side as well. He left through the back door of Hongfu Gambling House at quarter to seven in the evening, rented a carriage with a dark curtain from a carriage rental shop, and headed straight for Princess Ping Le’s West Mountain Villa…”
Xue Sui chuckled softly and gently put down the book in her hand.
“He’s quite impatient, isn’t he? As soon as he got the news, he’s this eager… He’s even hired a carriage. Is he planning something big?”
What a pity!
The gifts of fate had long been marked with a price in secret.
What he was going to get this time might very well be his own life.
Jinshu smiled, “As expected of our Young Lady, everything is within your calculations, not a single detail off…”
Xue Sui shook her head gently and smiled sweetly, “It’s everyone’s contribution. What great thing can I achieve alone?”
The “gambling friends” arranged for Fan Bing at Hongfu Gambling House provided him with a shortcut into the West Mountain Villa—his aunt’s maternal uncle’s nephew worked at the West Mountain Villa. This person had many connections. Although the villa had strict security, with a little money for a familiar face, one could easily slip in.
Princess Ping Le didn’t frequent the place often. The servants would take and eat things, and as long as they were generous to the managers, no one would investigate. Everyone turned a blind eye.
Fan Bing believed it.
The desperate Imperial Son-in-law easily fell into this trap.
Xue Sui’s expression was calm. She picked up the white porcelain cup Ru Yi had placed on the wooden desk and took a sip of the grape drink, sighing contentedly.
“What is Ping Le doing at this hour?”
Jinshu replied with a smile, “I heard that Imperial Son-in-law Lu went to the palace yesterday to request an imperial decree for a divorce from Princess Ping Le. When I arrived, the Princess’s carriage was already waiting outside the Yi Gate; she’s likely going back to the Princess’s Mansion to question him…”
Lu You’an requesting an imperial decree for a divorce was like a bolt from the blue for Ping Le, enough to throw her into utter disarray.
Xue Sui narrowed her eyes slightly and suddenly let out a soft laugh, reaching for the wooden cat carving beside her.
The cat’s round, chubby face, full of smiles, turned back and forth in her fingertips, as if brewing something.
A moment later, Xue Sui’s fingers stopped, her eyes full of smiles.
“Doesn’t Ping Le have many spies in her mansion? Then send a message to her—tell her that Fan Bing heard she built a secret room behind the flowing springs and waterfalls at her West Mountain Villa, filled with gold and silver jewelry, so he bribed the gatekeepers and guards and is already heading to the West Mountain by carriage…
“That will be interesting. Let’s see if the Princess wants the person or the money…”
Jinshu nodded slightly, a knowing smile on her face.
“Your maid will attend to it immediately.”
“Wait!” Xue Sui said.
Jinshu stopped, looking at her with confusion.
“Does Young Lady have any other instructions?”
“This little trouble is too easy for her. She wants me to be a painted-skin ghost, so I’ll give her a real ghost play!”
Xue Sui took out a clean white silk handkerchief from her sleeve, gently wiped the corner of her mouth, and continued, “After Ping Le goes to the West Mountain, send a message to Imperial Son-in-law Lu—tell him that Fan Bing, carrying Princess Ping Le’s personal seal, has gone to the West Mountain Villa to admire the moon…”
Emperor Chong Zhao was extremely concerned with his reputation and would never allow his beloved Princess Ping Le to suffer any grievance.
Lu You’an wanting a divorce would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Therefore, upon receiving this news, whether out of marital pride or to find an excuse for divorce, he would definitely go to the West Mountain Villa.
“Is this play going to be this grand?” Jinshu’s heart pounded.
Princess Ping Le was not an easy person to deal with, nor was she a puppet to be manipulated. Such a grand spectacle might reveal a flaw…
“Don’t worry, as long as it concerns Lu You’an, she will lose her composure.”
What if she had doubts?
Once a woman is troubled by love, she becomes blindly impulsive.
When Jinshu looked up again, Xue Sui had already picked up the scroll of 《Qi Wu Lun》 and was reading it with great interest. The silk of her wide sleeves had slipped down halfway, revealing a section of her wrist, smooth as congealed fat.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Jinshu felt that the old scar on her Young Lady’s arm seemed to have faded considerably.
She thought that her Young Lady’s instructions always made sense.
Otherwise, how could she, who was not even the most skilled in ten arts, be chosen as an Imperial Envoy by the three elders of Old Mausoleum Swamp? Was it truly as Seventh Young Master said, that she was good at flattering? Of course not.
Jinshu took a deep breath.
“A brilliant plan! Your maid will ensure it is handled perfectly for you.”
She hurried away.
Xiao Zhao looked at her Young Lady’s gentle face and, in a daze, recalled the night You Zhimu fell from Qiong Tower.
Her Young Lady, with a similar smile, had turned the wooden cat carving and casually said, “Then push him down.”
A single, understated sentence decided You Zhimu’s life and death, marking the turning point for everyone in the picture album.
Xiao Zhao firmly believed.
Everyone in the picture album would, in the future, like You Zhimu, be quietly rewritten by the turning of the little cat in her Young Lady’s fingertips, heading towards their final destination—
I have a bit of a cold, so this is all for today. I’ll update earlier tomorrow, I promise! （Fist Bump, definitely! ）
Li Zhao: Am I not making an appearance today?
Reader: Powerful male leads are usually behind the scenes, orchestrating events. I’ve never heard of one who climbs through windows every day.
