Ya Qiuying was very delighted to see Wet Nurse Zhao and Yuewan.
She held Su Rong’s hand, looked up with her small face, and her big eyes wide open, "Sister Su Qi, can I mention in my letter to my uncle about you bringing Wet Nurse and Yuewan to keep me company in the Eastern Palace?"
"Sure," Su Rong nodded, "As long as it doesn’t involve the affairs of the Crown Prince and the internal matters of the Eastern Palace, you can talk about anything."
Things that happen inside the Eastern Palace naturally cannot be made public. But Ya Qiuying’s letters, even if they are sent to Ye Guixue, would be checked rigorously by the Eastern Palace. She merely wanted to remind her, to prevent her letters from being blocked from delivering, which would only upset her and make her cry.
Ya Qiuying nodded seriously, "Don’t worry, Sister Su Qi. My uncle has already told me everything."
Su Rong smiled, pinching her nose, "Your uncle is indeed extremely reliable and meticulous, thinking about everything."
Ya Qiuying raised her small nose with a proud expression, "My uncle is the best."
Su Rong nodded in agreement, "Indeed, he’s awesome."
Not long ago, she received a message from Fang Yue that the second young master of the Ye Xiang Residence from Nanchu was attacked a few hundred kilometers outside the capital. However, he was unharmed while none of the assassins were spared. She suspected it was someone from Nanchu who wanted to kill him. After all, the news of their broken engagement was not publicly announced, so people inside Nanchu currently should only know about their engagement. Killing Ye Guixue would certainly weaken her greatly.
Especially since Ye Guixue placed Ya Qiuying in the Eastern Palace, this was also a form of declaration.
Ya Qiuying asked, "Sister Su Qi, when will you be back?"
"I’m not sure, it could take one to two months or even longer," Su Rong said. "Listen to Wet Nurse more and don’t pick up Yuewan’s bad habits."
Yuewan, who was standing to the side, was dissatisfied, "Miss, apart from my love for food, what bad habit do I have?"
Su Rong began to count on her fingers, "You love sleeping in, you’re lazy, you love looking at comic books, you cry easily..."
Yuewan: "..."
She touched her nose, turned her head, and stomped her foot indignantly after a while, "Aren’t my bad habits your doing?"
Su Rong concluded, "So, don’t spoil the child."
Yuewan mumbled, wondering who exactly was spoiling the child. Everyone had heard that their little miss from the Ye Xiang Residence, who behaved so obediently when she first arrived in Capital City, was now jumping around, laughing heartily, and no longer acting as the well-behaved lady she used to be.
After bidding goodbye, Su Rong had dinner with Yan Huisheng in the Eastern Palace before returning to Dong Si Hutong and visiting the master’s room to inform her about leaving the city tomorrow.
The master glared at her, "You’re leaving the city tomorrow and you only inform me tonight?"
Su Rong hooked her arm, "Oh, mom, there’s no need to prepare anything, so why would I inform you earlier? I’ll be leaving early tomorrow, lightly loaded. You don’t have to pack for me."
The lady of the house shook off her irritation, "Your wings have really hardened."
Su Rong smiled, coaxing her, "I’m just going to Jibei. After solving Jibei’s problems, I’ll be back. My elder brother will also go there in a month or so. I’ll go first to scout the situation. Just stay in the capital and wait for the good news about my brother and me crushing the enemy in Jibei! Maybe after this trip to Jibei, my elder brother can get promoted."
"May Amitabha bless you both." The lady of the house grumbled, "Just be careful, do you know where Jibei is? I know what kind of place it is. I heard that Zhang Ping is a crafty person with a formidable army, which he has nourished over the years. The nation’s silver is flowing into Jibei, fattening him and his soldiers."
"Don’t worry," Su Rong said in a low voice. "I have soldiers too. The Crown Prince arranged for the Duke Residence’s third son, Zhou Che, to secretly dispatch 100,000 troops to the outskirts of Jibei."
The lady of the house sighed in relief, "That’s good, proceed with caution and don’t underestimate your enemy. Zhang Ping is a cunning and difficult opponent."
"Understood," Su Rong also said in a low voice. "The Crown Prince has also arranged for Imperial Concubine Zhen to go with me."
"Imperial Concubine Zhen? The one that abducted us, got imprisoned, and was deprived of her status today, and sent to the Imperial Mausoleum?" the lady of the house asked.
"Mhm," Su Rong nodded, "Indeed, her. Besides her, there won’t be any other Imperial Concubines."
The lady of the house sighed, "Back in Jiangning county, I often heard people talking about the Imperial Concubine Zhen in the palace, she was adored and had the power to change dynastic laws. Unexpectedly, in a blink of an eye, she had been deposed."
She still remembered how she had used Imperial Concubine Zhen to educate Su Rong, comparing their beauty and saying that Su Rong would never be able to match even a single finger of Imperial Concubine Zhen. Now... her own girl turned out to be more powerful.
She turned her head to look at Su Rong, "Isn’t she pregnant? In such a freezing weather, take care not to harm her."
"Well, I can’t control that," shrugged Su Rong, "As long as she can help me."
After all, the child isn’t hers, and the Emperor doesn’t lack children either. As for Imperial Concubine Zhen, since she agreed to take revenge herself, she probably wouldn’t mind.
After chatting for a while, as the sky grew completely dark, the lady of the house urged her to leave, "Go home, rest up, and be careful on the path. Remember to write."
"Understood," Su Rong stood up, "You don’t have to get up early or see me off tomorrow, and don’t draw attention to it."
The lady of the house nodded.
Su Rong returned to her courtyard, and after a simple wash, she immediately fell asleep.
The next morning, Su Rong got up before dawn and arranged for a departure.
All the necessary arrangements were well prepared at the front gate of the residence. Ning Yao and Ning Ze had been awakened early and were waiting inside the carriage. Su Rong left the house. She waved to Fen Ling, who nodded her head, and they both rode on horseback. A guard drove the carriage and they left Dong Si Hutong.
The carriage was arranged in a comfortable manner with a heating unit, hand warmers, tea and dim sum, and a thick curtain to block the outside cold and snow.
Ning Ze quietly pushed the curtain a little to look outside the carriage. Seeing only Su Rong and Fen Ling riding on their horses, he turned to Ning Yao, worried, "Sis, will everything be okay with just the two of them escorting us to Nanping?"
Ning Yao whispered, "Probably there are secret guards around. As far as I know, Su Rong’s secret guard is very capable. She seems to have inherited them from Prince Mingrui, and then they were passed on to her from Princess Zhenmin’s hands. It is said that Princess Zhenmin was able to fake her death and escape Dawei thanks to these secret guards."
Ning Ze sighed in relief, "That’s good."
It was too early, and the city gate had not yet opened. Su Rong took out the prince’s token and the guards at the gate immediately let them leave the city.
As soon as they left, the Second Prince’s Residence received the news.
Yan Lin sneered, "Su Rong and Fen Ling, it’s impressive how they’re willing to personally send the Ning siblings to Nanping."
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