Lanxiang's news
“Xichun, I just remembered something I didn’t tell you earlier. I saw Lanxiang, that friend of yours with the red mole between her eyebrows, once at a banquet. She’s just as good-looking as you described, and she’s also from Sichuan. I heard she’s the aunt of Lord Meng, the Assistant Minister of Rites. You could try to find her.”
Upon receiving Lanxiang's message, Xichun was overjoyed. She immediately instructed the coachman to drive to the Meng residence, as Aunt Liu had mentioned. The coachman was an experienced navigator of the capital, and having worked for the Prince's residence, he also knew a bit about the officials, both high and low, in the capital. He immediately asked Xichun, "Miss, I know of two officials surnamed Meng, one living in the east of the city and the other in the north. Which house should we go to?"
"Let's go to the one in the east of the city first," Xichun said.
Upon arriving at the Meng residence in the east of the city, they asked the gatekeeper, who shook his head, "We don't have any concubines in our household. My master and mistress are very much in love."
Seeing that this wasn't the right place, they spurred their horses to the north of the city. The gatekeepers at the Meng residence in the north wouldn't speak without seeing the silver; their eyes darted around, and they simply claimed ignorance. Unfortunately, Xichun had just given all her money to Aunt Liu and couldn't produce a single copper coin. Frustrated, she waited outside the Meng residence for an hour without getting anything and had to leave dejectedly. The next day, she returned with two taels of silver, and only then did the two gatekeepers tell the truth.
"There is a concubine named Li, who is quite pretty, but her background is not so respectable. She was originally a maid of my young lady, but she seduced the son-in-law who married into the family and secretly became pregnant with the young master. Fortunately, my young lady was magnanimous and, considering their past relationship, made her a concubine. But she was not satisfied and, half a year ago, she seduced an official who came to visit the mansion, and that official took her away. Poor young master, he has such a shameless mother."
“Wang Liu is right. That Lord Zhou is a governor, but he is over fifty years old. I heard that his daughter is several years older than Aunt Li. I didn’t expect that Aunt Li would still run away with him for wealth and status.”
"Do you know where Lord Zhou is right now?" Xichun asked the two of them.
The two men pouted, their eyes fixed on Xichun's money pouch, indicating they wouldn't answer if they had no money. Seeing this, Xichun gave each of them another tael of silver. Only after taking the silver did Wang Liu's smile return. "We don't know either, we only know that Lord Zhou was previously the governor of Lu'an, and perhaps he's still in Lu'an now."
Back at Chaoxia Courtyard, Xichun was very downcast. After all these years, she had finally managed to find out news of Lanxiang, but Lanxiang was in Lu'an. Lu'an was hundreds of miles from the capital; how could she possibly know anything about Lu'an?
Seeing Xichun's worried expression, Shuixian couldn't help but suggest, "Why don't you go to Ming'an Hall and ask the Prince for help? The Prince will surely be able to find your friend."
Shui Xian's words lifted Xi Chun's spirits. Wei Qiao was now the Prince of Zhao, and he would surely be able to send someone to Lu'an to help her find Lan Xiang's whereabouts. After dinner, she got up, picked up the two sets of undergarments she had made earlier, and went to Ming'an Hall with Shui Xian, carrying lanterns.
Inside Ming'an Hall, Wei Qiao was looking at the menu for the wedding banquet that A Gui had presented. The wedding was in ten days, and the mansion was already decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, with double happiness characters hanging everywhere.
"Your Highness, Miss Xichun has brought you some undergarments," Zhao Yu reported as he entered.
Wei Qiao looked up from the menu at the door, a smile playing on his lips. Sure enough, she had taken the initiative to yield to him. But now that he was about to get married, he feared she would be unhappy to see these wedding gifts prepared for the princess. He decided to wait until after his wedding, and then obtain the imperial decree granting her the title of concubine before seeing her again.
He withdrew his gaze and said coldly, "Tell the young lady to go back and tell her my intention: she should not come to Ming'an Hall again before my wedding with the princess. She should also take the clothes there back with her."
Upon hearing Zhao Yu's message, Xi Chun stood there stunned for a long time, unable to recover. Zhao Yu, seeing the tears welling up in her eyes, also felt that the prince had gone too far. He had clearly been very caring towards the girl before, but now that he wanted to marry the princess, he was leaving her aside and wouldn't even allow her to set foot in Ming'an Hall again. He was truly a heartless man.
Zhao Yu prepared to say a few words of comfort to Xi Chun, "Miss..."
"Please tell the Prince that Jiang Xichun will never set foot in Ming'an Hall again." Xichun gritted her teeth, trying hard not to let the tears welling up in her eyes fall, and turned around to walk back, clutching the tray containing the undergarments.
"How is it?" Wei Qiao's eyes were fixed on the guest list for the wedding banquet in his hand, but his ears were perked up, listening intently to the sounds outside the study. However, Zhao Yu felt that the prince was too hurtful, so he deliberately lowered his voice and stood far away, and Wei Qiao listened for a long time but heard nothing.
"The young lady said she understands and will never set foot in Ming'an Hall again," Zhao Yu repeated Xichun's words truthfully.
"Not in the future?" He clearly said before the wedding. Wei Qiao suddenly regretted having Zhao Yu relay his words. But now that the man was gone, he couldn't very well chase after him to explain.
He glanced at the painting with the jade scroll in the painting vat, the one he had painted for her a few months ago at the inn. Xi Chun was dressed in a stunningly beautiful wedding gown, but she would never be able to wear the bright red wedding dress and marry him in this lifetime; his princess was Ming Chuqing, who had been chosen long ago.
Well, let her be angry now. He knows she still cares about him. He'll make it up to her properly once he makes her a concubine.
After figuring things out, Wei Qiao stopped being upset and focused on preparing for his wedding. The emperor had already granted him leave, and he would return to court after the wedding.
Xi Chun didn't know how she got back to Chaoxia Courtyard. She only felt that her blood had turned cold and her whole body was ice-cold and she couldn't warm up no matter what she did.
"Narcissus, find me a brazier."
Xi Chun threw the two undergarments on the tray and the half-finished garment in the sewing basket into the fire pit. Watching the clothes she had sewn stitch by stitch turn to ashes, her body gradually warmed up.
Since Wei Qiao has chosen Ming Chuqing, she wishes them a lifetime of happiness together, until their hair turns white, and that they have many children and grandchildren.
She would never be a caged bird. The world is vast, and she can live well on her own. As long as she stops looking for Brother Miao, Wei Qiao can no longer threaten her with Brother Miao's life.
Having made up her mind, Xichun wiped away her tears. During the day, she and Shuixian would go out for strolls in the streets every day, secretly keeping track of various routes out of the capital.
Shui Xian noticed her unusual behavior but assumed that she was just too upset by the prince's words at Ming'an Hall that day and needed to vent, so she didn't take it to heart.
Every few days, the prince would send Ah Gui to her to relay a message instructing her to serve the young lady well. As a result, she gradually came to believe that the prince's words that day were just a momentary outburst, and that he actually cared about the young lady in his heart. However, since the prince had instructed her not to reveal their conversation to the young lady, she never mentioned it to her.
Time flew by and it was the first day of the ninth lunar month. The weather was fine and the autumn light was beautiful. Red ribbons were hung and red lanterns were lit everywhere in the Prince Zhao's mansion, and the atmosphere was joyous as they welcomed the bride into the family.
A hundred tables were set up in the front courtyard of Prince Zhao's mansion, and all the guests were powerful nobles and officials of the court. To ensure his nephew's wedding was respectable, Emperor Yan Zhongxing even personally went out of the palace with the Empress to bring a gold and jade ruyi as a congratulatory gift, wishing the newlyweds a harmonious and prosperous life.
Under the emperor's witness, Wei Qiao and Ming Chuqing completed their wedding ceremony. After escorting the bride to the bridal chamber prepared by Yunhe Hall, Wei Qiao returned to the banquet to entertain the guests. After respectfully seeing the emperor and empress off from the palace, the guests at the banquet came over to toast Wei Qiao, the newly noble prince, and racked their brains to come up with all sorts of auspicious words to congratulate the newlyweds.
Unlike the bustling front courtyard, the Pomegranate Courtyard was eerily quiet. There were no large red lanterns displaying the double happiness symbol, nor were there servants bustling about preparing for the wedding of Prince Zhao and his consort. After lunch, Xichun complained of a headache and wanted to be alone, telling Shuixian not to wake her for dinner. Shuixian knew that the consort's arrival today must have been upsetting for her, so she closed the door for her and thoughtfully instructed the maids in the courtyard to behave themselves and not make a sound.
But when night fell and there was no sound at all in the bedroom, Narcissus couldn't help but feel a little worried.
It's good to cry out loud when you're sad, but if you keep it bottled up inside, it will definitely cause health problems in the long run. Narcissus paced back and forth in the courtyard, worried. Night fell, and the first watch gong sounded, but there was still no sound from inside. She couldn't rest easy, so she quietly opened the door to go in and check on things.
To their surprise, when they lifted the bed curtains, the room was empty, the blankets neatly arranged as they had been that morning. Even after lighting candles to illuminate the entire room, they couldn't find the girl.
Shui Xian immediately mobilized everyone in Chaoxia Courtyard to help search, but after a full hour, they still couldn't find the girl. Fearing that the girl might disappear without a trace again, like last time, Shui Xian hurriedly ran to the front yard and found Wei Qiao, dressed in wedding attire, on his way to Yunhe Hall to consummate his marriage with Ming Chuqing.
"Your Highness, the young lady is missing!" Shui Xian said, panting heavily.
Wei Qiao was in high spirits today; everything was going according to his plan. The princess would enter the palace, and after a while, he would elevate Xi Chun to the rank of concubine, so they could have children together, stay together forever, and never be separated again. But upon hearing Shui Xian's words, his previously muddled senses, clouded by drunkenness, instantly cleared.
"You said the young lady is missing. Has the manor searched for her?" Wei Qiao asked her sternly.
"We've searched everywhere, but we haven't found the girl," Narcissus replied, shaking her head and crying.
Wei Qiao recalled her sudden disappearance a year ago. Now it was September again, and she had left him once more. Where was she going? Had she not forgotten Miao Wendao and wanted to find him? Did she want to marry Miao Wendao again?
impossible!
Jiang Xichun, I absolutely will not allow it!
"Prepare the guards, they will come with me to find the young lady and bring her back to the manor!" Wei Qiao instructed A Gui.
Ah Gui looked in the direction of Yunhe Hall with some difficulty, "Your Highness, tonight is your and the Princess's wedding night."
Wei Qiao chuckled, "On our wedding night, I think she was certain I wouldn't come looking for her, which is why she decided to run away. But I'm not going to do what she wants; she can't go far on her own. Agui, send someone to Yunhe Hall to tell the Princess that I have urgent business to attend to and that she should get some rest tonight."
Xi Chun sat silently on a small, melon-shaped boat, gazing at the starry sky. She thought of the Prince Zhao's mansion in the capital, dozens of miles away. At this very moment, Wei Qiao should be in his bridal chamber with Ming Chuqing. No one would know she was gone. In two hours, she would disembark at Juzhou Ferry, transfer to a passenger ship to another destination, and from then on, she would disappear into the world, vanished from sight, never to see Wei Qiao again.
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