Chapter 26
“Oh,” said Yin Niang. “You’re not getting any younger, why haven’t you settled down yet?”
Her old-fashioned tone, like that of an elder, left Yan Yunhe speechless for a moment. Noticing the book in her hand, he said, “The sun must be rising in the west. You’re actually reading?”
He reached out to snatch the book from Yin Niang’s hand, but she suddenly raised it high, opening it. There were no pages inside, but a stack of silver notes,1 somehow held in place.
Yan Yunhe was stunned. He had always known that Yin Niang was a money-grubber, but not to this extent.
Somewhat embarrassed, Yin Niang stuffed the book into her bosom. “The fortune teller said I’m lacking gold this year.”
Yan Yunhe asked, “...This kind of gold?”
“You don’t understand. Golden mansions are to be found within books,”2 Yin Niang retorted.
Yan Yunhe gave up arguing. “Golden mansions are to be found within books” wasn’t meant to be interpreted that way. If those bookworms in the capital saw what Yin Niang had done, they would probably point their fingers at her and curse her out.
The two entered the house, finding an entire wall of medicine cabinets in the inner chamber. There was also a scale for weighing medicine on top of a counter, clearly set up with care.
Yin Niang casually pulled out a strip of cloth from a cabinet. “Yu Qin, who came with you, is probably on his way back to the capital.”
Yan Yunhe raised an eyebrow. “How do you know?”
Yin Niang waved the strip of cloth in her hand. “News arrived this morning. The Prince of Wu has entered the capital.”
“Why would the Prince of Wu return at this time?” Yan Yunhe had just finished speaking when realization came over him. He and Yin Niang exchanged a look. “The Grand Sacrificial Ceremony.”3
Yin Niang nodded. “The capital will be teeming with all sorts of characters soon. As a commander, how could Yu Qin stay in Yunzhou any longer?”
There were only ten days left until the Grand Sacrificial Ceremony. Considering how long it would take to travel from Yunzhou to the capital, time was indeed tight.
Curious, Yin Niang said, “I don’t understand how could a bunch of bandits attract two great figures like you. Shouldn’t you be busy with more important matters at a time like this?”
Yan Yunhe’s hair stood on end, and he suddenly turned to Yin Niang. A terrifying suspicion arose in his mind. It seemed he had guessed where that gunpowder might be used next.
Emperor Chengjing was an excellent ruler, and he possessed a keen sense of imminent peril. Why was he so fixated on Zhao Xiang? And why had he ordered him to suppress the bandits? Was it really because of the obvious reasons, or had he already discerned the hidden undercurrents beneath the seemingly calm capital?
Yan Yunhe immediately said, “I’ll write a letter. Have your bird deliver it to His Majesty at once.”
Yin Niang suddenly became shy, her cheeks flushing. “Oh… wouldn’t that be inappropriate?”
Yan Yunhe’s lips twitched. “You’ve tried to send His Majesty a crow every year and you never found it inappropriate.”
Yin Niang stamped her foot. “My Jiujiu is the smartest crow I’ve ever raised, unlike those stupid birds the Imperial Stables give him!”
“How can that old crow of yours compare to anything the Imperial Stables’ aviary has to offer?” Yan Yunhe said with amusement. “Besides, what young lady would send a crow as a gift?”
Yin Niang sighed, “If I don’t send His Majesty something, he’ll forget about me in my exile. I let His Majesty’s looks bewitch me and foolishly joined the Imperial Surveillance Bureau. All my colleagues are in the capital, but here I am, stuck in Yunzhou, where even birds don’t shit.”4 She shook her head.
Yan Yunhe could sympathize with that. “Indeed, beauty makes fools of us all.”
Yin Niang shot him a glance. “So, the wife Chen Qing mentioned does exist.”
Yan Yunhe had lost count of how many times he’d changed the subject today. “The one that pecked me just now is quite clever. Let’s have it deliver the letter.”
The distance from Yunzhou to the capital would leave that crow exhausted.
When Yan Yunhe finished writing the letter, he saw that the crow’s jet-black plumage was now shiny from Yin Niang’s grooming, and a small yellow scarf had been tied around its neck as decoration.
“Take that off,” Yan Yunhe said, somewhat exasperated.
Yin Niang slowly untied the scented scarf, and Yan Yunhe added, “And those colorful things around its feet too.”
After she’d detangled all that mess, Yan Yunhe watched as Yin Niang tied the letter tube to the bird’s leg and sent it on its way. Only then did he say, “I must return to the capital immediately. I wrote down what I need you to do; it’s on the table.”
Yin Niang gave a listless reply. Yan Yunhe couldn’t help but slap her on the back to snap her out of it. “Are you really still thinking about His Majesty?!”
His slap nearly knocked Yin Niang off her feet. “Yan Huaiyang, are you looking for a fight?! That’s none of your business! Besides, why can’t I think about him? I had the chance to enter the palace back then, but I was the one who turned His Majesty down!”
Yan Yunhe scoffed, “Turned down becoming a spy in the harem, you mean.”
Yin Niang’s youthful face turned solemn. “I still have some dignity. How could I bear to see what I couldn’t have? His Majesty went too far.”
Yan Yunhe couldn’t listen any longer. Who was really going too far?
However, Yin Niang did have more right to indulge in such delusions than him. For better or worse, she was His Majesty’s confidante; she could enter the palace at any time if she wanted to. As for him? He had been pushed off a mountain by the very object of his delusions…
“Yu Qin shouldn’t be returning to the capital so soon; I have to get there before him,” Yan Yunhe said.
Yin Niang raised her hand, summoning another crow. She stroked its head as if it were a pet. “He’s already set off.”
Yan Yunhe stared at her in disbelief. “What?!”
Yin Niang removed the black bamboo tube from the crow’s ankle. “He changed horses at the relay station just a moment ago. He must have already left the city.”
Yan Yunhe’s face turned pale. “My sword slashed him at least five times this morning, and he took a palm strike with eighty percent of my power. Even if his body were made of iron, he should be resting in bed right now.”
Yin Niang gasped. “You were that ruthless?”
“He’s more ruthless than I am,” Yan Yunhe said.
Yin Niang looked him over. “All I see is a scratch on your arm. Stop being so dramatic.”
Yan Yunhe wanted to refute, but the words wouldn’t come out. For a moment, Yin Niang’s comment made him feel somewhat guilty. Had he really been too ruthless?
Chen Qing was reluctant to leave Yin Niang’s residence. He and Zhang Rong cried in each other’s arms—with mainly Chen Qing crying, and Zhang Rong losing her patience.
Yan Yunhe mounted his horse with Chen Qing and galloped all the way towards the capital. He had to return as soon as possible. Although he suspected that there might be an ambush at the sacrificial ceremony, he still needed to bring Chen Qing along to catch the mastermind. Otherwise, even if they avoided disaster this time, there might be a next time.
In order to conceal his light-colored eyes, Yan Yunhe wore a mask to take the appearance of a man from the Western Regions.5 The Grand Sacrificial Ceremony was usually the liveliest period in the capital, and it was common for people from the Western Regions to visit and experience its prosperity. Chen Qing disguised himself as his attendant.
Two days later, they arrived at a small town not far from the capital. It was very late, and the city gates were already closed, so they decided to rest at an inn.
The journey had been relentless and exhausting. As soon as Yan Yunhe stepped into the inn, he sat down in the main hall and ordered food, which he and Chen Qing ate ravenously.
Halfway through the meal, Chen Qing’s chopsticks suddenly fell to the floor. Yan Yunhe raised his eyes to take a look and saw the source of Chen Qing’s loss of composure.
Enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road,6 indeed. The road was so wide—why couldn’t Yu Qin walk on the other side?
They had clearly set off one after the other, yet somehow arrived at the same town at the same time, and just had to stay at the same inn.
Yan Yunhe handed Chen Qing a new pair of chopsticks. Chen Qing immediately felt ashamed of his reaction when he saw how calm Yan Yunhe was, as if it wasn’t Yu Qin who had entered, but some other passerby.
Yu Qin asked the innkeeper for a room and slowly walked in their direction. His steps betrayed a certain frailty. With just one glance, Chen Qing could swear that Yu Qin was even paler than before—sickly pale, almost translucent. He suppressed his coughs with a handkerchief; he seemed past the point of cure.
Chen Qing feigned nonchalance as he ate his noodles, praying in his heart that this person wouldn’t look over.
Just as he feared, Yu Qin stopped at their table and lowered the handkerchief from his lips. “Hu people?”7
Chen Qing almost choked on his noodles when Yan Yunhe, sitting opposite him, asked in a stiff tone, “What do you want?”
Chen Qing was dumbfounded. Yan Yunhe’s portrayal of a man of the Western Regions who wasn’t fluent in the Han language was spot on.
Yu Qin tucked the handkerchief back into his sleeve. “What brings you to the capital at this time?”
Yan Yunhe stroked his beard and boldly said, “I came to eat meat, drink wine, and look at women!”
“Oh?” Yu Qin’s voice rose slightly. “Do you have a travel permit?”
Yan Yunhe casually wiped the hand he’d just used to hold meat on his robe, pulled out the crumpled travel permit, and handed it to Yu Qin.
When Yu Qin reached out to take it, their hands briefly touched, neither gently nor roughly. The man in front of him burst into hearty laughter and said something in the Hu language.
Chen Qing didn’t understand. He thought Yan Yunhe was just speaking gibberish. He never expected the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to chuckle softly. “Really? My hand feels better to the touch than a woman’s?”
Yan Yunhe’s laughter froze, as did Chen Qing.
“You spoke the Han language so well just now.” Only Yu Qin was smiling. “Why don’t you say more?”
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