Chapter 34 Outside Shengjing, a brief recollection of the past…

On the night of the ninth day of the eighth month in the sixteenth year of Tianchen, outside Shengjing.

Shengjing was the capital of the Zhou Dynasty. It was located in the south, at the junction of Jingzhou and Jizhou. The young people set off from Qingshui in Danzhou and it took them more than a month to reach Shengjing.

It was getting late, and they planned to enter the city the next morning, so they parked the carriage in the suburbs.

Zhang Xuan and Qin Tianshu sat on the daybed, with wine cups and jade goblets on the small wooden table in the middle. Zhang Xuan hadn't been home for a long time and was a little nervous, so he pulled Qin Tianshu to drink.

On the medicine table opposite them, Qingyu and Lin Fanxiang huddled together reading books—Lin Fanxiang was reading medical books, and Qingyu was curious about them.

Qingyu: "Fanxiang, have you and Zhang Xuan known each other since you were little?"

Lin Fanxiang flipped through the book, smiled slightly, and nodded to the girl beside her, "Our two families lived close by when we were little, so we know each other."

Qingyu gave an "oh," but before she could continue speaking, she heard Zhang Xuan across from her drinking while sighing "ouch, ouch." Qin Tianshu quietly moved the wine pot a little further away.

Qingyu: "You're still sighing when you get home. Don't drink too much and not wake up tomorrow."

Zhang Xuan waved his hand, "I'll leave in April and come back in August. My dad will definitely nag me."

Although he and his father argued every time they met, he was indeed somewhat at a loss when he left Shengjing for more than half a year for the first time.

"It's always good to go home. We'll take you and Dr. Lin home first tomorrow."

Wen Chuan comforted him by the bookshelf, while Cai Cai ate a late-night snack next to him.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xuan frowned. "Why don't you stay at my house instead? It'll save you the trouble of looking for an inn."

They had spent every day together for a month, and he was still a little unaccustomed to being separated.

“There’s no need to go to such trouble,” Qin Tianshu, who was sitting opposite Zhang Xuan, suddenly said. The scholar lightly held his wine cup, raised an eyebrow with a smile, and said, “I forgot to mention that I also own a property in Shengjing.”

"Really? Aren't you a wanderer?"

Qingyu asked in confusion. She wasn't surprised that Qin Tianshu had been to Shengjing, after all, this scholar had been everywhere. But precisely because of this, why did he buy a house in Shengjing?

Everyone looked at Qin Tianshu, and the scholar sighed softly, "Thinking back to those days, when I first entered Shengjing, I was captivated by its wealth and prosperity..."

Qingyu: "Enough with the nonsense."

Qin Tianshu: "...I saved a very wealthy businessman, and in the end, he gave me a house."

"Um—cough cough cough."

Zhang Xuan suddenly choked on the wine. Qin Tianshu moved his head back, his expression slightly disgusted, "Fruit wine can still make you choke."

They had important business to attend to tomorrow, so what they were drinking was just non-intoxicating fruit wine, which was sweet and not spicy.

Zhang Xuan patted his chest, suppressing the urge to choke, and said, "I wasn't choked by the wine. I just suddenly remembered, isn't your room near the Demon Suppression Pavilion?"

Qin Tianshu: "...How did you know?"

Everyone's interest was piqued, and they listened to Zhang Xuan recount Qin Tianshu's story in Shengjing a few years ago.

Zhang Xuan suddenly fell silent. He glanced at Lin Fanxiang, who was flipping through a book at the medicine table, and then hesitated before speaking.

"That's right, in the eleventh year of Tianchen... which is when I was eleven years old, the home of a wealthy man surnamed Song in Shengjing was haunted. The Demon Suppression Pavilion came several times, but they couldn't find anything. Later, I heard that a thirteen or fourteen-year-old scholar caught the so-called ghost. Then, the rumors in the market said that the wealthy man, in order to thank him and also to mock the Demon Suppression Pavilion, specially bought a large courtyard near the Demon Suppression Pavilion and gave it directly to that boy."

"Smack—"

The scholar opened his fan; if Zhang Xuan hadn't spoken, he would have almost forgotten what happened back then.

"That's right, that's me."

Qingyu turned her head to look at Wenchuan. They exchanged a glance, and the girl turned to Qin Tianshu, saying in an upbeat tone, "At thirteen, you're famous and own a house in Shengjing. You're quite something, Qin Tianshu."

"Heh," Qin Tianshu sneered twice upon hearing this, "Don't even mention it. I only stayed in that room for two days before a kid started coming over to cause trouble every day. It was so annoying that I ran away after just a couple of days."

Zhang Xuan peeked at Qin Tianshu, who was speechless, and the young man, sitting opposite the scholar, took a big gulp of fruit wine, feeling guilty.

Qingyu frowned upon hearing this. "If you put it that way, the house has been left unattended for five years. It must be very messy and dirty."

Qin Tianshu: ...You're complaining even though I'm offering you free accommodation.

The scholar snapped his fan shut, a smile playing on his lips as he gritted his teeth. "You'll find out when you get to my house tomorrow."

Qingyu silently pursed her lips in her heart. She would clean it up if it got dirty, and consider it payment for the room.

Is your house very big?

Surprisingly, Lin Fanxiang looked up at Qin Tianshu and spoke. The girl was always aloof and rarely asked such a sudden question.

Qin Tianshu thought for a moment, "It's quite big, a two-courtyard house with a yard and rooms, and can accommodate seven or eight people."

After saying that, the scholar paused again and added, "Even if the five of us are together, it won't be a problem."

Lin Fanxiang nodded, hesitant and embarrassed to tell her what was going on. Qingyu suddenly approached her, the girl smiling at her, "Fanxiang, are you in a hurry to go home tomorrow? If not, come with us to go back to that house and take a look."

Lin Fanxiang glanced at Qingyu, then smiled gently at the people in the carriage and said softly, "I'm not in a hurry."

Her family situation was somewhat special. She had just had a big argument with her mother when she left Beijing, and her father didn't care. So, honestly, she really didn't want to, and didn't need to, go home.

Wen Chuan and Qin Tianshu were indifferent to the matter. Wen Chuan was not the owner of the house, and to be honest, Qin Tianshu did not consider himself the owner either. The world is vast, and there is a place to stay everywhere. It would be better for friends to live together.

Only Zhang Xuan, the young man, had perhaps had a few drinks, his face slightly flushed. He glanced at Lin Fanxiang with concern, worried about her family.

Lin Fanxiang ignored his gaze and spoke softly with Qingyu.

As the girl whispered, Zhang Xuan let out another deep, deep sigh.

Qin Tianshu was speechless. What was wrong with this kid sighing every time he drank?

"Stop sighing, you're sighing away all your good fortune."

Zhang Xuan: "...You sound like something my wet nurse would say."

Qingyu burst out laughing, a double whammy of age and gender, implying that Zhang Xuan must drink more alcohol—she leaned against Lin Fanxiang, who was also amused by Zhang Xuan's words.

Wen Chuan smiled and shook his head by the bookshelf, then picked up a book and started flipping through it.

Qin Tianshu: "..."

He actually felt there was something wrong with what he said; he had seen it in a storybook last night. It's really scary to read too many different kinds of books.

...

The night was quiet.

Only Lin Fanxiang and Zhang Xuan remained in the carriage.

Zhang Xuan was no longer drunk. Looking at Lin Fanxiang, who was about to go to rest, the young man asked, "Sister Fanxiang, Her Highness the Princess, is she...?"

Lin Fanxiang paused, then turned back to give him a reassuring smile, her soft voice carrying a casual and carefree air.

"You don't need to worry about me. She doesn't need to see me, and neither do I."

In this world, there are those who are close to each other, those who hate each other, and those who are heartless. Such relationships are commonplace everywhere, so why be trapped in them?

...

On the tenth day of the eighth month of the fifteenth year of Tianchen, in Shengjing.

In front of the Prime Minister's residence.

Inside the carriage.

Zhang Xuan, dressed in fine clothes and all his gear neatly arranged, walked back and forth in the carriage—he had been like this since early morning, and no one could persuade him otherwise. He stubbornly walked from the east end to the west end, then from the west end to the south end, and then from the south end to the north end, making everyone's eyes blurry.

Finally, the carriage stopped, the wind chimes rang, and Wen Chuan turned around.

"Zhang Xuan, we've arrived."

Qingyu knelt on the edge of the long couch, her body leaning against the table. The girl rested her chin on her hand and sighed to the red-clad boy in front of her, "Stop shaking, you're home, young master."

Zhang Xuan took a deep breath. He hadn't seen his father in so long, and he wasn't just dazed, he was panicked.

Qin Tianshu looked at the book and was too lazy to pay attention to his useless appearance. Lin Fanxiang walked up to him and said...

"Uncle Zhang has not seen you for a long time, he must miss you. It's rare for you to come out, and it's even rarer to come home, so don't think too much about it."

Zhang Xuan nodded, and the young man turned and walked toward the car door with a righteous air, but stopped just before he reached the door.

Qingyu, Lin Fanxiang, and Qin Tianshu looked up at him, and Wen Chuan, who was at the car door, also turned to look at him.

Under everyone's gaze, the boy in red turned around smoothly and quickly walked to the bookshelf—and vigorously pulled at the hair of the vegetables.

"Hook up!"

At Cai Cai's call, Zhang Xuan quickly ran to the car door, jumped out of the car nimbly, and didn't even glance at the four people in the car.

The boy walked away with a carefree air, waving to them, "I'm going home now, I'll come find you another day."

His voice was very loud, filled with excitement and panic at the prospect of returning home.

For a moment, all four people in the carriage watched him with smiles, watching him swagger into the Prime Minister's residence, watching a servant shout with surprise when he saw him, and watching his figure gradually disappear from their sight.

"Tap tap—"

Wen Chuan rode his horse forward, and Lin Fanxiang pointed out the direction of the Demon Suppression Pavilion to him. Qin Tianshu only remembered that the house was near the Demon Suppression Pavilion, but he couldn't remember where the Demon Suppression Pavilion was (the scholar shrugged helplessly).

Just as the horses were about to leave, a magnificent carriage suddenly appeared in front of the mansion next to the Prime Minister's residence.

Fortunately, the alley was very wide, allowing two carriages to pass each other at an angle.

When the wind rose, Qingyu saw the plaque of the mansion from the window—the residence of the Princess.

The current emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty has no daughters. The only one who can be called the eldest princess is—the eldest daughter most favored by Emperor Wen of Zhou, the most respected elder sister of the current emperor, and the most charming and carefree woman in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty.

Princess Jinning.

Qingyu knew about her from the storybook Qin Tianshu gave her. Qin Tianshu said that although few people believed it, the author had personally told the scholar that the prototype of the brave, resourceful, and incredibly romantic female general in the storybook was this princess.

She turned her head slightly and saw Fan Xiang sitting at the medicine table, studying various medicinal herbs. The girl, dressed in a plain dress, had her black hair tied up with a wooden hairpin. In the sunlight, she was cool and simple, focused and beautiful, like a fairy descended from heaven or a divine healer.

She showed no reaction to this place.

Inside the magnificent carriage.

A woman dressed in a magnificent robe and fine jewelry reclines, her black hair tied up and her eyebrows relaxed. Although she is dressed as a married woman, she exudes charm and elegance.

Two handsome young men were kneeling beside her, one massaging her legs and back, and the other pouring her tea and water. They looked quite happy.

A moment later, a pretty woman entered—it was Xueying, the princess's coachman.

"Princess, the princess and young master Zhang have returned to the capital."

"Yeah?"

The woman in the high position spoke softly, her tone calm and languid.

“She entered the capital this morning… The princess didn’t return to the princess’s residence,” Xueying paused, then hesitated, “nor did she return to Jianmu Terrace.”

The woman chuckled softly upon hearing this, "It's her freedom to go wherever she wants. Tell those in the shadows to keep an eye out."

After saying this, Jin Ning closed her eyes slightly, and the three people in the carriage immediately understood and withdrew.

She thought, "I'll go visit Ling'an again during the Mid-Autumn Festival."