Chapter 110
Xie Sui'an and Qin Sang exchanged a glance and remained silent.
Xie Xiao said that the Prince of Ning'an's departure from the city with his troops was a secret order. On the surface, the order was to assist in the investigation of the disaster relief grain case, but if one were to delve deeper, one could guess what the real purpose might be.
This undoubtedly confirms Xie Xiao's statement.
Thinking of this, both of them became somewhat somber. After all, they had just witnessed the hardships of the refugees; if internal strife were to break out, who knew how many more would perish? What had the common people done to deserve this?
The drive back to the city went smoothly, and even when they were stopped, the two men did not resemble the people in the portrait.
The only dangerous moment was when the curtain was drawn, and the soldiers outside greeted Tan Bi.
Tan Bi was a very perceptive person and the only one who might suspect Xie Suian.
"Wait!" Sure enough, he called for the carriage to stop.
Xie Sui'an panicked slightly and gave Qin Sang a wink. Qin Sang asked in a low voice, "Did he recognize you?"
Xie Sui'an shook his head, then nodded: "We exchanged a glance, but I was dressed as a woman back then..."
Qin Sang understood.
It's better to be safe than sorry.
She immediately put on a smile, lifted the carriage curtain, and greeted the newcomer: "Lord Tan~"
Tan Bi always had a cold expression, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking. Hearing the woman's sweet voice, he subconsciously frowned, a hint of annoyance flashing across his face. But when he saw it was Qin Sang, that annoyance vanished, and he returned to his lifeless indifference.
He walked towards Qin Sang, stopped in front of the car, and subconsciously glanced inside. Qin Sang let him look openly; from this angle, he could only see Xie Sui'an's profile.
"General Tan, why are there still so many refugees outside the city? It's been like this for so long, and people are constantly coming and going, it's very unsettling." Qin Sang was young, and her act of being innocent and cute was truly natural.
Tan Bi, with a cold face and expressionless, asked, "Where did you go?"
Qin Sang hesitated for a long time before finally biting her lip and saying, "Let's go out to the estate for some fun. It's so stuffy in the city."
He looked embarrassed, as if he had done something wrong and was now in a difficult position after being discovered.
There was no other way. If the Xie family's inquiries about Xie Sui'an leaked everywhere, they would only have one reasonable explanation. In any case, Prince Ning'an wouldn't care about it, and he wouldn't let the rumors spread.
Tan Bi gave her a deep look, seemingly lost in thought. After a long pause, he said, "I haven't congratulated you yet on becoming the Princess of Ning'an. Why aren't you staying home? It's so chaotic outside, what are you doing running around like this?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Sang appropriately revealed a hint of sadness and lowered her eyes, saying, "Some things that seem like happy occasions to others may not be so to me."
Tan Bi: "..."
Qin Sang looked up at him and said with a bitter smile, "General, you've been in the capital for many years, why play riddles with a country girl like me? Two of the Princesses of Ning'an have already passed away..." As she spoke, she reddened her eyes and choked up for a moment before saying, "But it's all fate, I know, and I accept it."
Tan Bi didn't speak, but stared at her quietly for a long time before saying, "Only fools die, while wise people try every means to survive. You come from the countryside, so you must know the resilience of weeds."
Qin Sang wiped her eyes: "Actually, it's not really the countryside..."
Tan Bi: "..."
"..." Xie Sui'an was struggling to suppress his laughter in the car when he heard footsteps outside the car gradually fading away.
Qin Sang lowered the carriage curtain and turned around, just in time to meet Xie Sui'an's dark eyes. She said, "What's with that expression?"
“You still used this excuse,” Xie Sui’an said, a little shy but pretending to be reserved. “He must have mistakenly thought that you didn’t want to marry Prince Ning’an, so you wanted to elope with me.”
Qin Sang: "..."
Qin Sang knocked on the car wall: "Uncle Qin, let's go home!"
The two disappeared for three days. Although Madam Xie was extremely worried, when she entered the room, she found that everything was still in order and not chaotic.
Upon seeing the two return, the servants all dropped what they were doing and ran off shouting, "They're back! They're back! The Second Young Master and the Fourth Young Lady are back!"
"..." Qin Sang slowly looked at Xie Sui'an: "Who is the Fourth Miss?"
Xie Sui'an shook his head. He was also puzzled.
Soon, Cen Biyun was followed by a group of people, all of whom came to greet her in the front yard.
"Where have you been?!" Cen Biyun punched him, "Are you worried your mother to death?!"
He hadn't thought much of it before, but now, seeing his mother's red and teary eyes, Xie Sui'an couldn't help but tear up as well.
He grabbed Cen Biyun's hand: "Mother, please stop hitting me. I'm back safe and sound."
"Good heavens, you still know how to come back! You!" Cen Biyun pulled her hand away and slapped him hard on the back again.
"Ouch!" Xie Sui'an almost had his wound reopened by her slap.
Cen Biyun's face stiffened, and she forgot all about crying: "What happened? Are you hurt? Where are you hurt? Let your mother see, where are you hurt..."
Xie Sui'an quickly comforted her, "Mother, let's go inside and talk, okay? My clothes are still dirty. I'll go back and bathe before apologizing to you. Also," he looked at Qin Sang, "how did she become the Fourth Miss?"
Only then did Cen Biyun notice Qin Sang, who had been pushed aside. She paused, then her expression changed again. "Oh dear, you're here too," she exclaimed, her voice noticeably softer, "Why are you joining An'er in this nonsense? Are you alright?"
"Injured? Who was injured?" Upon receiving the news, Madam Wang Huiwen arrived with her entourage and happened to hear Cen Biyun's last words.
Qin Sang is an important figure in the family now. She has been missing for several days. Even on the day the Emperor issued the decree, they could only hide it from her by saying she was seriously ill. If she was injured somewhere, how could they explain it to Prince Ning'an?
Upon hearing that someone was injured, her heart leaped into her throat, and she walked out with a pale face. Cen Biyun hurriedly pulled her back: "Sister-in-law, don't worry, it's An'er who's injured. I was just asking. The girl shouldn't be hurt, right?" As she spoke, she looked at Qin Sang.
Then everyone was stunned. Qin Sang's hands were wrapped in rough gauze... she looked much more seriously injured than Xie Sui'an.
"Hey, how come I didn't notice when I first came in?" Cen Biyun secretly blamed herself.
Wang Huiwen frowned, walked up to Qin Sang, raised her hand, and asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"
"A damaged nail will grow back and be fine." Qin Sang was noticeably calmer than the others. "Also, why do I keep hearing them call me Fourth Miss?"
"Did you hurt your nail? Did your nail fall off?" Wang Huiwen's tone changed, but he still didn't answer Qin Sang's question. He was completely focused on her hand, and he tried to pull it up to remove the gauze, but his hand trembled and he didn't dare to move.
Qin Sang didn't understand why she was so nervous. If a nail falls off, it will grow back. In her opinion, it wasn't a big deal.
Wang Huiwen sternly ordered her personal maid, "Go, immediately go to Anhe Hall and fetch Doctor Sui."
"Yes, Mistress," the maid replied crisply and left immediately.
"Fortunately, I heard that Prince Ning'an's old illness has flared up again and he will need some time to recover." Wang Huiwen seemed to be comforting herself and breathed a slight sigh of relief, but she still pulled the people up and down and looked them over carefully again. "You are going to the palace to express your gratitude. You don't even have fingernails. What kind of state are you in? If the Emperor sees this, he will think that our Xie family is abusing you."
As she spoke, she looked at Qin Sang through teary eyes, smoothing her disheveled hair with a motherly expression: "Where have you been these past few days? We've been looking for you so frantically. If you weren't here, our Xie family would have committed a heinous crime of deceiving the emperor, do you know that?"
"..." Qin Sang answered honestly, "I didn't know it would be such a coincidence that the Emperor would issue the decree to bestow the marriage at this time... I just... happened to encounter a little accident and thought I would be back in a day. I'm sorry for making you worry about me."
Wang Huiwen stared at her for a while, then glanced at Xie Suian beside him, hesitated, and finally looked at Cen Biyun before lowering his eyes and saying, "Alright, now that you're back, go back. You're all covered in mud. Tell them to boil water for the young lady and the young master to bathe."
***
It was Wang Huiwen's idea for Qin Sang to become the Fourth Miss, as this was to give her a formal title; otherwise, it would be difficult to convince the public. Thus, the original Fourth Miss became the Fifth Miss, and the ranking of all the remaining girls proceeded in descending order.
Qin Sang was a little surprised after hearing Ling Ding's explanation: "You can do it like that?"
Lingding pointed to a bunch of strange and unusual ornaments that had suddenly appeared in the room and said, "That's not all. Look at these, they were all added in the last couple of days."
Qin Sang touched the sandalwood incense burner, not expecting her treatment to improve so much after her return. Well, after all, she was going to be a princess.
In fact, she understood what Wang Huiwen meant. She was worried that she, coming from a humble background, was unfamiliar with etiquette and needed to familiarize herself with the grandeur of a wealthy family beforehand, so that she wouldn't make a fool of herself after entering the Wang Mansion and cause a stir, which would lead people to say that the Xie family had failed in its upbringing and was no wonder it had declined.
As a result, her daily training time was extended, and her nanny became even stricter. She could only sneak in some personal activities at night.
The doctor Wang Huiwen found prescribed very good medicine, and her injured nail quickly scabbed over and fell off, allowing her to wait for the new nail to grow out. However, she hadn't seen Xie Sui'an for several days after returning home, presumably because he was being held captive by the adults, and she didn't know how his injury was healing.
But it's probably fine; with so many people around, it can't be worse than before.
Every night, Qin Baoyun would bring news, mostly trivial matters. Before returning, the two had analyzed and determined that there was another force stirring up the political situation in the capital, so upon her return, she immediately instructed Uncle Qin and Cao Anmu to carefully monitor the movements of various families.
No matter how small the matter, it can be discussed. By picking out the illogical parts from the daunting information, one can always find clues.
That day, after practicing her sitting posture and smile all day, she took a bath and lay in the courtyard waiting for Qin Baoyun. Qin Baoyun, who had been leaking fluid, climbed over the wall and delivered a message—that the princess's beloved son, Bai Yiqing, had secretly bought a house in the east of the city and was currently renovating it.
The bricklayers who built the house were their people. They overheard the foreman let slip that the house was used by Young Master Bai to keep his mistress hidden away.
"Keeping a mistress in a golden house?" Qin Sang found it strange. Bai Yi's pure and virtuous demeanor, seemingly indifferent to love and affection, hardly seemed like someone who would keep a mistress in a golden house.
Something was definitely amiss, so she decided to investigate herself.
"Where is the house?" she asked.
Qin Baoyun told the truth.
"No one has moved in yet, has anyone?" she asked again.
Qin Baoyun nodded, but added, "However, young lady, you shouldn't take any more risks on your own. I can go and see for myself."
Qin Sang thought for a moment and said, "It's alright, let's go together."
Qin Baoyun couldn't dissuade her, so he had no choice but to agree.
That night, Qin Sang changed into a night outfit and silently leaped over the walls of the Xie residence.
***
The candlelight flickered, illuminating a small corner, and the dim yellow light cast a shadow on the window paper, revealing a touch of loneliness in the early autumn night.
Someone lingered at the door for a while, then turned and left.
Inside, the smell of alcohol was strong.
Xie Jingze originally had fair skin, but after getting drunk, his neck turned as red as a large peach, as if it were congested with blood.
He propped his head up with one hand and held the wine glass with the other, watching the thin stream of wine slowly drip into the glass, splashing up tiny droplets.
Xie Sui'an filled his own cup, reached out to touch it, mumbled "Drink," and then tilted his head back to drink it all.
Xie Jingze lifted his heavy eyelids to look at him and said, "Your injury hasn't healed yet, you can't drink so much."
Xie Sui'an had already poured himself another cup, so Xie Jingze had no choice but to reach out and block the rim of his cup.
The other person paused for a moment, then reluctantly put down their glass, cupped their face in their hands, and began to grieve silently.
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