Chapter 151: Unfortunate Mandarin Ducks
When leaving the Hongfu Gambling House, the rain started again.
The summer rain was torrential. Silver bead-like raindrops splattered on the blue stone slab road, kicking up fine mist, shrouding Shangjing City in a hazy mist.
Wen Jia walked closer to the donkey cart.
Dong Xu quickly shook out a handkerchief to wipe the seat.
After the Princess was seated, Dong Xu urged the horse with a “hiss” and flicked the reins, preparing to drive back to the Imperial Palace.
As the donkey cart reached Tian Shui Alley by the city gate, a figure in dark blue suddenly flashed out of the rain. The man held a bamboo-ribbed umbrella, the brim pulled down very low, revealing only his dark boots splashing through puddles as he directly blocked the donkey cart.
“Whoa—” Dong Xu yanked the reins urgently, scolding in dissatisfaction.
“How do you walk, you person…”
The brim of the umbrella lifted slightly, revealing Lu You’an’s clear and handsome face.
Dong Xu exclaimed in surprise, “Young Master Lu… Young Master Lu?”
The splashing water quietly dampened the corner of Lu You’an’s robe.
His voice, wrapped in the rain mist, drifted softly into the carriage.
“Kindly Princess, please move your carriage.”
He gestured to the side, and a carriage was parked by the alley. The carriage window was draped with a green gauze curtain, its four corner tassels gently swaying in the wind and rain.
Wen Jia slightly lifted the curtain, her fingernails unconsciously pinching the damp cloth curtain, forcing herself to remain calm.
“Young Master Lu, are you intending to have a private exchange with this Princess?”
Lu You’an saw the mockery on her face, moved the umbrella closer, his eyes darker than the rain.
“The axle of the Princess’s carriage has been tampered with; I fear it cannot be driven back to the Imperial Palace…”
Wen Jia’s expression changed.
She and Lu You’an exchanged glances for a moment, then slowly nodded.
Dong Xu hurriedly jumped down from the shafts and helped her out.
Through the rain curtain, Wen Jia saw that Lu You’an’s shoulder was wet with rain, yet he stubbornly tilted the umbrella towards her.
She suddenly felt a dryness in her throat, “Thank you for the warning, Young Master Lu. However, how did you know about this matter?”
Lu You’an shielded the carriage curtain with the umbrella, offering her a steadying hand. After Wen Jia was seated in the carriage, he slowly said, “I was returning to my mansion from the Academy today and saw the Princess entering the city by the moat. I also saw two attendants from Princess Ping Le’s mansion following the Princess and tampering with the carriage axle…”
He had once been Princess Ping Le’s Imperial Son-in-law, so he was naturally familiar with the people in her household.
Wen Jia had not expected that Princess Ping Le, even under house arrest, could still send people to spy on her. She couldn’t help but give a sad smile.
“What a despicable tactic.”
Dong Xu quickly found an old carriage maker from the carriage guild.
The old carriage maker’s grizzled goatee was covered in rainwater. He grinned, pointing to the crack under the axle’s tenon, and said to Dong Xu, “Fortunately, Young Lady discovered it early. If you had traveled on a mountain road, this carriage would have fallen apart, and that would have been a major incident!”
On the way back to the Imperial Palace, there were several steep and treacherous slopes. If the carriage had jolted, it could have easily plunged into the ravine below the cliff.
Wen Jia and Lu You’an exchanged a glance, neither speaking.
After the carriage was repaired, Wen Jia alighted.
Lu You’an stepped forward again, holding the bamboo-ribbed umbrella over her head, “Princess, you should bring more attendants when you travel in the future to ensure your safety…”
Wen Jia stood under the umbrella, watching the rain fall from the brim in a silver thread, and smiled faintly.
“I cannot compare to Princess Ping Le, with her endless retinue and inexhaustible servants…”
Lu You’an understood her unspoken feelings and said no more, quietly placing the umbrella handle into her palm.
Their fingertips touched.
The warmth was fleeting, scorching her heart and causing it to tremble.
“I will have Ruan Ze escort the Princess back.”
Lu You’an stepped back two paces and stood under the eaves, bowing to her. His posture was upright yet carried a hint of loneliness, like a crane with a broken wing.
Wen Jia looked at the slender man under the rain curtain, her fingers clenched white. She ultimately said no more.
The green cloth curtain closed, and the donkey cart gradually moved away.
Lu You’an stood in the rain mist for a long time before turning to leave.
On the second floor of the Wangjiang Pavilion across the street, Princess Ping Le, dressed as a maidservant and wearing a bamboo hat, stood by the window, her heart burning with jealousy, almost tearing the silk sash at her waist.
“What a pair of ill-fated lovers.”
Across the street, with the sound of rain masking their voices, she couldn’t hear what Lu You’an and Wen Jia were saying. However, Lu You’an’s gentle demeanor and meticulous care were things he had never shown her before…
This made her so jealous she was almost driven mad.
“No wonder he insisted on divorcing me; he was already colluding with that slut!”
“Your Highness’s noble personage, why stoop to the level of quarreling with petty individuals?” Gu Jie stood behind Ping Le, looking at her face contorted with anger, a strange sense of satisfaction rising within him.
Xue Liu’s move was truly brilliant.
What could be more satisfying than letting a viper swallow its own jealousy?
And what could be more painful than letting Ping Le witness Lu You’an fawning over Wen Jia with her own eyes?
“The rain is getting heavier. Princess, you should return soon, lest you expose your whereabouts and attract unnecessary trouble…”
Saying this, Gu Jie feigned anxiety and took a step as if to leave, but Ping Le grabbed his collar.
“Tell me, who is more beautiful, you or Wen Jia?” Ping Le’s eyes were bloodshot, her gaze like a bloodthirsty beast.
Gu Jie smelled her sourness and flattered, “Of course, it is Your Highness…”
Before he finished speaking, Ping Le placed her hands on his shoulders, suddenly lunged forward, and bit his Adam’s apple fiercely.
Gu Jie instinctively reached out to push her away…
But the pain in his neck spread to his brain like a burn, reminding him of Xue Yueying’s swollen belly, nearing childbirth, and of Li Yan looking down at him from his horse, his triumphant mockery.
“Princess…” he panted slightly.
“Don’t be impulsive.”
Ping Le’s eyes were red, her voice trembling, her emotions out of control and frenzied, “Why should you and I suppress ourselves and remain chaste for ungrateful and heartless people? … Let them die, let them all die…”
Thunderclap split the sky outside the window.
As if echoing her anger.
It also instantly emboldened Gu Jie.
“Your Highness speaks wisely. She is the one who is dirty, not I…”
Gu Jie embraced Ping Le’s waist, lifting her horizontally. He let her veiled hat fall, her silk skirt sweeping across the tea set on the table…
Amidst the torrential rain, the creaking of the wooden desk and hurried breaths intertwined with the sounds of strings, shouts, folk songs, and clinking glasses from the bustling marketplace…
Melting into a room of madness.
Like this out-of-control rainy night.
—
On the other side of the rain curtain, Xue Yueying stared blankly at the clepsydra.
The Marquis Jingyuan’s Mansion endured hardship to preserve its family’s honor and the future of its descendants, but it would not protect her reputation or honor…
Since being confined, she had not stepped out of her courtyard.
Her belly swollen, haggard and worn, the beauty who once outshone the capital now dared not even look in the bronze mirror.
The Marquis’s Mansion had not mistreated her, only neglected her. But once she delivered the child, would the Empress Dowager want to keep the child and abandon the mother? How would the Marquis Jingyuan’s Mansion deal with her, a wife of questionable character?
It was not impossible to announce a fake death and take a new bride…
Xue Yueying couldn’t help but shiver.
A sudden sharp pain in her abdomen. She reached for the miscarriage-preventing medicine on the desk, but the celadon bowl fell to the ground with a clatter.
“Qing Hong…”
She called softly, cradling her greatly distended belly.
“Has Fifth Master returned to the mansion?”
It was already the third watch, and Gu Jie still hadn’t returned.
Qing Hong said cautiously, “Replying to Young Madam, this servant just went to check. Fifth Master… has not, has not returned to the mansion…”
Gu Jie had not touched her recently, but to maintain the appearance of marital harmony, he still stayed in the guest room of Wutong Courtyard. They shared a courtyard but not a room, indicating a growing distance…
Xue Yueying’s eyes reddened, and she lightly wiped them with a silk scarf.
As dawn approached, the maid Qing Zhu finally came to report.
“Young Madam, Fifth Master has returned, but, but…”
Xue Yueying asked, “But what?”
Qing Zhu stammered, unable to speak.
Xue Yueying’s expression changed drastically. She lifted her skirt and rushed out.
“Young Madam!” Qing Hong hurriedly went to support her but was pushed away.
Xue Yueying stumbled towards the West Wing and ran into Gu Jie returning. His collar was half-open, and a strange fragrance mixed with the scent of rouge wafted towards her. The bite marks on his throat were a glaring red.
“Where did my husband stay last night?”
Gu Jie’s expression seemed somewhat strange.
Tired, and also excited. In his gaze towards her, there was a sense of vengeful pleasure.
“Mind your own business.”
Xue Yueying stepped closer through the puddles, her long-suppressed anger and full heart of grievances erupting almost instantly. She rushed forward with her pregnant belly, grabbing him.
“Did you go to the pleasure quarters and consort with those courtesans…”
Gu Jie forcefully shook off his sleeve and sneered, “You have the nerve to question me? When you were having a good time with Li Yan, did you ever think of me?”
“Get out of the way!”
Princess Ping Le was passionate like a wild beast, insatiable, demanding endlessly. He was exhausted from a night of it and urgently needed to catch up on sleep…
Unexpectedly, Xue Yueying became fierce, blocking the room door, tightly gripping his sleeve, refusing to let him enter.
“Explain yourself. If you don’t explain clearly today, this marriage is over…”
Gu Jie impatiently pushed her. Xue Yueying lunged forward, crying out, her voice sharp, pulling at him repeatedly.
“Young Master Gu, why are you so heartless? Didn’t you say you would never leave me and would stay together through life and death? The vows of eternal love are still in my ears; how could you forget them so quickly…”
She hit and struck him.
Gu Jie flicked his sleeve and sneered, grabbing her wrist.
“Are you sure you want to know?”
Xue Yueying’s face was streaked with tears, her body trembling. She roared, “Tell me, which vixen has bewitched you… If she is truly a respectable woman, I will not object to you taking her as a concubine. But if she is a prostitute, I will inform my mother. The Marquis Jingyuan’s Mansion has no such rules.”
“Hehehehe… Rules? You dare to mention rules? How laughable!”
Gu Jie slightly raised his chin, his eyes coldly gripping her jaw, with enough force to almost crush the bone. Then, in the softest tone and with the most cruel expression, he uttered two words.
“Ping, Le…”
Xue Yueying was struck as if by lightning.
Her entire body instantly went limp, and she almost fainted.
Qing Zhu rushed forward to support her, her eyes full of tears.
Gu Jie, however, acted as if nothing had happened, completely ignoring her sorrow and dishevelment. He yawned and went straight into the room, calling for a servant.
“Prepare water, I need to wash; I’m tired…”
The room door slammed shut.
Xue Yueying collapsed onto the damp bluestone.
The accumulated water soaked her thin skirt, and the chill shot up from her feet to her heart. At this moment, she finally saw her situation clearly—a pathetic wretch abandoned by everyone.
How did she end up in such a predicament?
To whom should she turn for help?
