Chapter 16: A Qi
The He Family is just the trigger; everything that follows is the real goal.
Back then in the dense forest, He Xu and Zhang Shaode outnumbered them, forcing all twenty-three of them, adults and children alike, into a desperate situation.
Her child who was merely a hundred days old, her accompanying chief clerk, two managing female officials, three personal maidservants, three young maids—all died! In addition, of the twelve guards specially selected for her by the former emperor, only Wei Zhang and Huo Yun’s father Huo Xuan survived.
After pulling off He Xu’s face covering and recognizing Zhang Shaode who had coincidentally arrived, Yue Tang knew right then that she couldn’t escape that night.
She signaled Wei Zhang and the others to move to the cliff edge; only by jumping down did they have that last sliver of hope!
But Wei Zhang and Huo Xuan made a hand gesture to her from afar, telling her to hold off.
Years of master-servant bond had built a tacit understanding; she thus stood at the cliff edge, using her last strength to stay upright, pointing at He Jianzhong and the others while cursing them to stall for time.
Except for imperial family members—no, in fact, even the current emperor had never seen Yue Tang.
This cousin of hers, who succeeded the former emperor in ruling the realm, had been sent to the Imperial Father-in-law’s residence in Jiangling since childhood.
Although Yue Tang was born in the same month and day as him, and both bore the calamity, they had no interaction with each other.
Even the emperor couldn’t recognize her; the only things that could confirm her identity were that seal and the fingerprint impressions kept by the Imperial Clan Court for every imperial family member.
The corpse under the cliff was A Xiu, the real Lin Xiuying, who was her maidservant.
After death, she took over the identity and was brought back to the Marquis’s Mansion by He Jianzhong; the princess’s seal hanging on her body must have been handed over to Du Minghuan.
To confirm she was truly dead, the Du Family must have seen this seal, and the person behind him would surely use this seal to verify the mission’s success or failure.
In this month since returning to the capital, Wei Zhang had already searched Du Minghuan’s study twice and had discovered hidden sentries constantly posted around the perimeter, from which he inferred that Du Minghuan’s study must hold something important.
Yue Tang didn’t dare say for sure that this seal was in the Du Family’s hands, but it had to be investigated.
Zhang Shaode was indeed more cunning than He Jianzhong.
He Jianzhong’s large family each had their own selfish motives, but the Zhang Family was different; apart from Zhang Shi who had married out, after receiving a large sum of reward money, Zhang Shaode still lived in the old three-courtyard house from before, took no concubines, stayed with his wife and second daughter, and lived together with his eldest son and daughter-in-law.
With fewer people, there were naturally fewer leaks and fewer gaps to exploit.
This was Zhang Shaode’s caution.
Cautious people are both good and bad.
What Yue Tang aimed to expose this time was his bad side.
While speaking, the horse carriage entered an alley in the north of the city; Hua Lin and the others had to part ways here to avoid any tails following from behind.
Lan Qin got out first, helping Yue Tang down, and they headed toward the opposite alley.
Crossing this alley would bring them to their residence in the capital.
Ever since Princess Yongjia was murdered in the eyes of the world, her imperial manor and Bie Ye had all been reclaimed by law.
Even the attendants she had left in Bie Ye were taken back according to regulations.
Wei Zhang and Lan Qin were both on the roster, so by rights they should return to the Prince’s Mansion.
But at the time, Wei Zhang decided on his own to follow Yue Tang; after settling her, he swiftly brought Lan Qin and Huo Yun out before the Ministry of Rites officials arrived at Bie Ye.
Of course, he also conveniently brought out the private assets Yue Tang had packed up in advance.
These assets were merely a drop in the bucket compared to the princess’s properties—just some easy-to-carry banknotes and jewelry and the like; they hadn’t cared at the time, but later they were extremely glad to have prepared this package in advance, enough to sustain them for many years.
Back then, for safety reasons, Prince Duan had arranged a fake household registration for her, who liked to travel incognito, to deal with government officials’ inquiries.
And this fake identity later came in handy for her to appear in public.
Yue Tang had a private bank exchange the conspicuous jewelry for different styles, then pawned it all for cash at the pawn shop, handing it to Lan Qin to buy several prosperous shops for generating income.
Three years later, they had accumulated a considerable sum.
While crossing the street, Lan Qin gently reminded her: “The liveliest shop diagonally opposite is Bao Shan Tang; you used to love their pastries the most.”
It seemed everyone had simultaneously thought of the past.
Yue Tang didn’t want to dwell in it; she hummed and withdrew her gaze, but halfway through, it paused and fixed on a tall, slender figure in the crowd.
The capital was north of the river, where people were generally tall, but this man still stood out from the crowd.
His back was to them as he selected a rattle drum at a small stall.
“What’s wrong?” Lan Qin also stopped.
Yue Tang said: “I think I saw A Qi.”
Lan Qin was stunned: “Son-in-law?”
It was just the time pastries were coming out of the oven at Bao Shan Tang; the surging crowd instantly blocked the rattle drum stall.
Yue Tang withdrew her gaze: “Maybe I was mistaken.”
……
A Qi was Yue Tang’s son-in-law.
He was the person found by chance to resolve the Prince’s Mansion succession crisis.
Prince Duan had two secondary consorts, but neither had borne children.
In total, he had only three children with Yue Tang’s mother: Prince Duan’s Heir Apparent Yue Rong, who was two years older than Yue Tang; Yue Tang herself; and her second brother, who had died unborn due to suffocation before he could even be born.
Princess Duan passed away when Yue Tang was six, after which Yue Tang went to live in the imperial manor Bie Ye.
Yue Rong was healthy and intelligent, also Prince Duan’s pride; he married Chu Shi from a great aristocratic family at sixteen. The two had known each other since childhood, studied together, and were childhood sweethearts. After marriage, they were deeply in love and harmonious.
But half a year after the wedding, before Heir Apparent’s Consort Chu Shi could even get pregnant, Yue Rong suddenly fell gravely ill. The accomplished young man in both civil and martial arts grew gaunt day by day, and within less than two months, he succumbed to the heavy illness.
The vast Prince’s Mansion suddenly had only Prince Duan and Yue Tang left.
That night when her brother passed, Yue Tang kept vigil by his bedside all night, facing him who could no longer speak and could only shed tears.
She had just turned fourteen then, looking at the grand yet empty Prince’s Mansion, feeling it shouldn’t be like this.
Before, her brother had helped their father king support the Prince’s Mansion; once he was gone, their father king was left alone and vulnerable, aging several years in just a few months.
On the day of Yue Rong’s full seven weeks, Yue Tang accompanied Prince Duan to the tomb for sacrifice and burning paper money. She said, Father King, I want to take in a son-in-law who marries into the family.
Yue Tang still remembered how her father king’s profound grief turned entirely into shock.
It took him a long time to say, Girl, are you confused? Which talented and principled young man would come be a son-in-law to our imperial relatives?
Ordinary official families’ sons-in-law could still rise with support from the wife’s family and enter officialdom easily.
Even a princess taking a son-in-law might not end well; for the Prince’s Mansion, either no one wants it, or those who come are useless.
Why bother?
But Yue Tang firmly threw paper money into the fire basin: I only want a child, not lifelong companionship; I don’t believe we can’t find one.
