Jiang Qingmo stamped his feet in anger, the pearls at his temples trembling. "Great! Last month I said I wanted to buy that set of glass lamps, but the shopkeeper said the boss wouldn't let me move!" He then tickled Jiang Songyi's waist, and the three girls burst into laughter. The morning light filtered through the vines under the corridor, casting tiny spots of light on the bluestone slabs.
Jiang Qingzhi emerged from the moonlit gate, account book in hand. Seeing this, she coughed softly, "The carriages and horses are ready. Don't miss the time." Ever since she began learning housekeeping from Xu, she'd become more and more like an older sister. The jade bracelet the old lady had given her the other day tinkled as she flipped through the accounts.
Xu straightened Jiang Songyi's sleeves when she suddenly caught a glimpse of the edge of an apricot-colored garment against the west wall—it was Jiang Shu's personal maid, peeking in. Ever since Jiang Yuyao married, her aunt had claimed illness and stayed away from home, even skipping the morning and evening visits.
"It'll take half a month to get to the mansion." Jiang Qingzhi hadn't finished her words when she heard the sound of galloping hooves. Jiang Jinzhao pulled the reins abruptly, and the horse's hooves kicked up, splattering the morning dew on the bluestone slabs. The young man stared at the jade pendant on his sister's waist. It was the twin lotus he had personally carved when Jiang Yuyao came of age.
"Third brother, are you going with me?" Jiang Songyi asked, looking up. Jiang Jinzhao pursed his lips and said nothing, his dark cloak rustling in the wind. He had knelt in the ancestral hall all night that day, and this morning he had thrown the wolf tooth pendant Jiang Yuyao had given him into the lotus pond.
Xu sighed softly and stuffed the prepared medicine into her quiver: "It's late autumn and the dew is heavy, remember to put on more clothes." Turning around, she saw Bai Linxi stuffing candied fruit into his quiver and warned: "Linxi, don't be too brave, you might run into a black bear."
"If we encounter a black bear, we'll shoot it with a Cloud Piercing Arrow!" Bai Linxi promised, patting his chest. "Last year in Mobei, I even helped Dad hunt snow wolves!" Before he finished speaking, Jiang Dinglian had already mounted his horse, the black iron bow gleaming coldly on the saddle. "If we delay any longer, the Fourth Prince's procession will have already arrived at Mount Li."
Jiang Qinghe suddenly cried out, "Ouch!" and covered her lips with her round fan. "I forgot to tell you that Mr. Zizhu's new work, 'The Mandarin Duck Mistake,' is on sale today." She winked at Jiang Songyi, "I asked the shopkeeper to keep the prince's copy."
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