Chapter 6: Qin Mingxu’s Intentions
I instinctively flinched back.
A hint of concern flickered across his resolute face.
He was so close to me, I could smell the Autumn Wild Tea on him. Unconventional. Intense and surging.
My face flushed without me realizing it.
I had already guessed his identity. Instead, I grew more shy. The wild apricots in my heart had borne fruit, trembling on the branches. Standing beneath the tree, I was too timid to reach for them.
He was my husband. The husband my mother had betrothed me to in childhood. I had entered his household, paid respects to his elders, seen his handwriting, and slept in his bed. Yet, I never expected our meeting to be like this.
A piece of paper fell from his sleeve cuff. It was densely covered with words and bore a bright red handprint.
I glanced at it and realized it wasn’t Silver Notes.
Vaguely, I seemed to know what he was about to do.
I heard Qin Mingxu say he knew the Lord Xun who was beheaded, and that he had narrowly escaped death in a bloody incident this time. Perhaps this document was the reason he was hiding and unwilling to show himself. He wanted to send the document out by any means necessary, to someone of importance.
He noticed my expression and said softly, “A man of integrity lives between heaven and earth, studies the words of the sages, and cultivates a noble spirit. There are things I must do. Perhaps you don’t understand now, but there’s plenty of time, and I will tell you slowly. Go back to the manor and don’t tell anyone. Just pretend I’m gone. The matter is not yet settled, and the fewer people who know, the better.”
I nodded.
“The document is hidden within the Cargo Ships heading to the Capital City. Is there anyone to receive it there?”
“Yes. Lord Geng, the Censor overseeing the granaries in the Supervisory Yuan, was an old acquaintance of Lord Xun.”
He believed me.
He no longer hid such a crucial matter from me.
We looked at each other, an ineffable Pledge like a bridge over a stream, built between us.
Wu Bi returned at some unknown time and was greeting Qin Mingxu at the doorway.
The man beside me glanced towards the door, quickly donned a black straw hat, and leaped out through the warehouse window.
Before leaving, he whispered in my ear, “The road ahead is perilous. If I survive, Madam, I, Cheng Lao Er, owe you a Bridal Chamber.”
After a long while, I touched my cheek; it was burning hot.
I stood up, opened the door, and Wu Bi bowed, saying, “Second Young Mistress.”
I said, “There are two ships of goods departing for the Capital City today. You must be exceptionally vigilant. Keep a close watch at the Ferry Terminal.”
Wu Bi understood and replied, “Yes.”
The Cargo Ships traveled north via Canal Transport, with local officials verifying and signing at each stop as a permit for passage. Upon reaching the Dock at Chongwen Gate in the Capital City, the officials responsible for Canal Transport would also verify and sign before the goods could be unloaded.
The tea bricks containing the document had to pass through layers of inspection.
Not a single step could be wrong.
Wu Bi left, and my heart remained uneasy.
Qin Mingxu looked at me and said, “I came to the counter looking for you. The shop assistant said you were in the warehouse, so I came over. I called out a few times, but no one answered, and I worried something had happened to you inside.”
I replied indifferently, as if everything that had just happened in the warehouse hadn’t occurred, “I was in the warehouse counting goods and didn’t hear any noise from outside. Young Master Qin, what brings you here?”
“I…” He slapped his forehead, as if he had finally thought of a reason, “The clothes you had made at Tiansheng Tower yesterday are ready. I heard you were at the counter, so I came to find you. The clothes are in the main hall now. Take a look, and if they’re not to your liking, I’ll have the tailors alter them.”
“Young Master Qin, you could have just had a shop assistant deliver them. There was no need to come yourself.”
My aloofness was like a wall.
He suddenly smiled, leaned against the doorframe, and looked up, saying, “Miss, actually, when we were on the boat, I saw your Marriage Certificate.”
“You—”
He continued on his own, “When the Bandits attacked, everyone on the boat was in chaos. The bundle your little Maidservant was holding scattered, and fell to the ground. I picked it up and returned it to her. I noticed you from the start of the journey. The boat was rocking, and most people on board had poor appetites, yet you ate your Steamed Buns so earnestly. You told your little Maidservant, ‘Eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, sleep when tired, and leave no room for desire.’ I’ve always remembered that sentence.”
I listened in silence.
The light in the corridor outside the warehouse was dim, like a long, drawn-out dream.
In the dream were my days at the Zhu Residence.
Orphaned of my mother in childhood, my Stepmother remarried, my Father’s perpetual neglect; all my joy and indulgence were buried with my mother’s coffin in the earth. I never thought about what I wanted to gain. Whatever was given to me, I held onto tightly. I never left room for desire.
“Miss, you just married, and your Husband passed away. Do you wish to live a life of sorrow?” Qin Mingxu looked at me.
I walked directly towards the door.
“Miss, if your Husband were still alive, I would certainly not say so much to you. Life is long, and do you intend to spend all your years filling a Marriage Certificate? I’ve thought about it, you… if one day, you wish to remarry, I, I, I can…”
I turned around abruptly and said coldly, “Young Master Qin, you are speaking more and more absurdly.”
Remarrying meant becoming a widow again.
This Lecher was truly infuriating.
“Miss, in my half-life of Rashness, I have never deceived you. I am serious.”
A gust of wind swept through the hall.
“Second Sister-in-law, you are here. I’ve been looking for you. How is your Business study going?”
Third Young Miss walked in with a cheerful stride.
Seeing Qin Mingxu head-on, she twisted the Handkerchief in her hand and exclaimed in surprise, “Mingxu Ge, why are you here? Do you know my Second Sister-in-law?”
“We know each other.”
“We don’t know each other.”
Qin Mingxu and I spoke simultaneously.
The answers were diametrically opposed.
I glared at him, signaling him not to cause trouble.
“Qing Shi, Young Master Qin is here to deliver clothes,” I said.
“So that’s how it is.”
Third Young Miss understood, and she smiled at me, saying, “Second Sister-in-law, the tailors at Tiansheng Tower have excellent skills. However…”
She took my arm and said, “However, Second Sister-in-law, you look beautiful even in a Coarse Cloth Garment, like a magnolia in front of the courtyard.”
Although she was speaking to me, her peripheral vision was directed at Qin Mingxu.
Looking, yet not looking.
Seemingly close, yet distant.
Finally, she couldn’t help but ask, “Mingxu Ge, how was your trip north a few days ago? Was it smooth?”
Qin Mingxu seemed to have not yet recovered and replied curtly, “Mm.”
Third Young Miss said, “Did you bring the Kite I asked you to get for me from Qingzhou?”
“…I forgot,” Qin Mingxu said.
Disappointment washed over Third Young Miss’s face, then quickly faded. She asked cautiously, “Mingxu Ge, there’s a Poetry Competition at Qionghua Temple at the beginning of next month. Will you be going?”
Qin Mingxu looked at her, then at me, and said, “Mm.”
Third Young Miss’s eyes lit up, and she said, “Great, I’m going too. Mingxu Ge, you’re so busy, I can never find you…”
She seemed to have many things to say.
The Servant Boy accompanying Qin Mingxu called out, as if something had come up. He cupped his hands and left.
Third Young Miss rested her head on my shoulder and said dejectedly, “Second Sister-in-law, why does Mingxu Ge never talk to me much? He always leaves in such a hurry…”
I stroked her hair.
She looked at me with her clear eyes and asked, “Second Sister-in-law, what do you think of Mingxu Ge?”
For a moment, I didn’t know how to answer her.
Matters of romance are like seeing the moon overhead, or feeling the clear wind in your face; the moon cannot be grasped, nor the wind held. No matter who it is, they cannot explain it clearly.
At this moment, I was only worried about Cheng Huaishi.
He risked his life for loyalty and righteousness. Would the clouds part to reveal the sun?
For several consecutive days, I went to the counter with Wu Bi to manage affairs. In the evenings, I would invariably go to the Ferry Terminal to listen for news from the Capital City.
He Hua accompanied me.
She always stood about three feet away from me, neither too close nor too far.
Whatever I instructed, she would immediately carry out.
At first, I found her too indifferent, but I grew accustomed to it and found comfort in her silence.
She was like the tiles on the eaves, the chair in the room, the brush on the shelf, the ink in the inkstone; always there, always calm.
One day at the end of the month, I heard that Lord Geng, the Censor overseeing the granaries in the Supervisory Yuan, had been summoned by His Majesty to the Xiuyun Temple temporary palace and had not emerged for two days.
My heart panicked, and I stumbled back a few steps. He Hua steadied me.
That matter had finally been exposed.
The document hidden in the Cheng Family’s Cargo Ship had seen the light of day.
However, I didn’t know who His Majesty would believe.
On the first day of the second winter month, the sky was covered with dark clouds.
I had just paid my respects to Old Madam in the North Courtyard.
A Servant Boy stumbled in from outside the door to report: Old Madam, there are many people from the Eastern Depot outside the manor…
Everyone in the manor was greatly alarmed.
Who didn’t know the formidable methods of the Eastern Depot?
If the Eastern Depot orders someone to die at the third watch, they will absolutely not let them live until the fifth watch.
“Could it be that Cang’er made a mistake in his official duties…” Old Madam shakily got up.
Eldest Young Mistress and I helped her to the doorway.
The person at the head of the group raised his head.
A face of exquisite beauty and wild arrogance.
It was Feng Gao, the bloody young man from the Horse Carriage a few days ago.
He walked towards me and bowed, saying, “Elder Sister.”
