Song Jiyun was stunned.
She had not expected the Emperor to have this attitude.
But cheating was one thing.
What she now had to consider was how to make everyone believe that their family’s Sacrificial Porcelain was made honestly and deserved its reputation.
Song Jiyun felt a bit of a headache coming on.
Early the next morning, Yuan Yunzhong came to pick her up.
"I’m sorry!" he said, taking advantage of a moment when the Palace Maids helping her pack were not paying attention, and gently squeezed her hand. He spoke in a low voice, "I’m late coming back!"
"It’s alright," Song Jiyun said. "I thought you wouldn’t be back until August."
He had returned early.
Yuan Yunzhong said, "If it weren’t for the auspicious day for the Heaven Worship Ceremony being set so early, I would have hurried back ten days ago. Then you wouldn’t have had to suffer here."
"I’m fine," Song Jiyun glanced around, noticing that even though everyone was carefully observing them, they all pretended not to be looking. She smiled and spoke softly to Yuan Yunzhong, "Do you know about the Eldest Prince’s situation? The Emperor and the Noble Consort have started arguing again these past few days. The Empress Dowager and the Empress go here and there unpredictably, and for some reason, I get inexplicably dragged into it. If it weren’t for these issues, my time in the palace has actually been quite pleasant."
She even told Yuan Yunzhong about how she moved the Empress Dowager, who almost placed an order for some porcelain from her.
"Ah," she sighed, "it’s truly an undeserved disaster."
Yuan Yunzhong chuckled, and in a likewise hushed tone, said, "Others can’t even dream of it, yet you find it troublesome."
"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it," Song Jiyun said. "I’m not someone adept at playing all sides, so I shouldn’t attempt to do so. I’d rather just focus on making my porcelain."
Yuan Yunzhong nodded repeatedly, and seeing that everything was packed, said, "Let’s go!"
Song Jiyun asked in surprise, "Can I leave without bidding farewell to the Noble Consort and Empress Dowager?"
"No need!" Yuan Yunzhong said. "I made your farewells on your behalf yesterday. Besides, the Emperor is with the Noble Consort right now, so it wouldn’t be proper for you to go there."
Song Jiyun nodded repeatedly, thinking that Nanny Chang was on duty today. She had instructed the Palace Maid serving her to leave a message for Nanny Chang. She had also sent messages and gifts to Nanny Hu, Eunuch Miao, and others before leaving the palace with Yuan Yunzhong.
At the palace gate, someone checked Yuan Yunzhong’s official plaque, and Song Jiyun remembered to ask, "Is it alright for you to enter the Inner Palace?"
"It’s fine," Yuan Yunzhong said. "I went there with the Emperor. The Emperor is aware of this matter."
But it could become a troublesome issue if someone decided to pursue it someday.
Nevertheless, Song Jiyun, recalling the conversation Yuan Yunzhong had with the Emperor, trusted that he had a way to handle it, so she didn’t ask further and they both exited through Shenwu Gate.
"Young Master, Eldest Miss!" Wang Hua came forward with tears in his eyes. He and his companions, Zheng Quan and Zhou Zheng, bowed to them. He quickly took over the bundles from the hands of the Young Eunuch who had escorted them out, exchanging pleasantries with a few eunuchs and slipping them red envelopes with words of thanks.
Zhou Zheng hurriedly discussed the workshop in Diagonal Street No. 2 Alley with Song Jiyun, "The orders from the palace were all handed over to the Manufacturing Office, and they accepted them, opened a receipt, but they said you have to settle the accounts in person. Young Master Hong came by once, but after learning you were in the palace, he left..."
Zheng Quan was queuing behind him, waiting to speak with Song Jiyun.
Seeing this, Yuan Yunzhong waved his hand and said, "Whatever it is, we can talk when we get back. This isn’t the place to talk."
Zhou Zheng and Zheng Quan agreed and went to help Wang Hua and the servant boys with Song Jiyun’s luggage, and the group hurried back to Pocket Alley.
Xiang Zhan had boiled grapefruit water and took a willow branch to sprinkle it over Song Jiyun’s body.
Song Jiyun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Xiang Zhan said, "It was the Eldest Brother-in-law’s instruction."
Yuan Yunzhong was also standing by, saying, "Let’s dispel the foul air." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
Song Jiyun pursed her lips with a smile, letting them fuss over her as she entered.
Shao Qing was instructing Xiang Ye and a few others to hang pouches when she saw her from a distance and explained, "They’re peace charms. The Young Master went to Hongluo Temple himself to pray for these, and asked us to hang them on every door and eave."
Hongluo Temple was located more than a hundred miles to the northeast of the Capital City; even if one rode a horse there and back, it would take two days’ worth of time.
Song Jiyun could not help but smile as she looked toward Yuan Yunzhong and asked, "When exactly did you get back? And you still had time to go to Hongluo Temple?"
Yuan Yunzhong mumbled, "I went there the evening before, and I rushed back by noon the next day."
But Shao Qing seemed to hesitate before speaking.
Song Jiyun felt perplexed.
Could there be some story behind this?
She asked Shao Qing, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Shao Qing glanced at Yuan Yunzhong.
Song Jiyun raised an eyebrow, feigning displeasure as she said, "What? I’m not allowed to know?"
Knowing Song Jiyun’s place in Yuan Yunzhong’s heart, and recognizing her himself, Shao Qing felt a bit anxious when he saw Song Jiyun display such displeasure for the first time. He hurriedly said, "As soon as the Young Master heard that Prince Ning had accused you, he became terribly anxious. He originally planned to discuss with the Imperial Astronomical Bureau about moving up the Sacrificial Rites to an earlier date, but as it turned out, just as the Bureau had predicted, it rained for several days straight, and they dared not change the scheduled time. The Young Master had no choice but to make the sacrifice to the heavens and then head back to the Capital overnight.
"But the people guarding the Young Master to Mount Tai were from the Shang Twelfth Armies, the Emperor’s personal guards, not the kind who are accustomed to hardship. But when returning to the Capital, the Young Master couldn’t just abandon the people of the Twelfth Guard; that would have been too unseemly.
"The Young Master found some people from the Shandong Guard and managed to arrange for each person from the Twelfth Guard to have a mount. That’s how he was able to return to the Capital overnight."
He paused again as he spoke up to this point.
"We only learned after passing Cangzhou that the Elders had also written you a letter." Saying this, he glanced at Yuan Yunzhong one more time, "The Young Master was worried. He simply discussed it with the accompanying Commander-in-Chief, and everyone made the journey back to the Capital with neither day nor night’s rest, and sought an audience with the Emperor. Then he went to Hongluo Temple overnight to pray for these peace charms before going to the palace to pick you up."
When Yuan Yunzhong came to pick her up, it was just the end of the mao period, which means he had not slept all night.
Suddenly, Song Jiyun leaned in close to him to take a look.
The delicate scent of lychee she wore wafted around the tip of his nose.
A softness touched Yuan Yunzhong’s heart.
Song Jiyun fixed her gaze on him, saying, "How come there’s not a single trace of red in your eyes?"
For some reason, a faint sense of melancholy surged in Yuan Yunzhong’s chest.
"That’s how I am," he said. "Back when I used to study, after pulling all-nighters, my classmates would have dark circles and red eyes, but not me."
"Then you’re at a loss," Song Jiyun stepped back and looked at him with a sparkling smile, saying, "If you stay up late again, you should at least pretend to be a bit more worn out. Otherwise, isn’t it like walking in brocade at night, and no one knows what you’ve been up to?"
Yuan Yunzhong couldn’t help but laugh.
"Thank you!" he grasped Song Jiyun’s hand sincerely, "Thank you for not being angry with me."
Gratitude filled his eyes. "I never expected my father to kick you when you were down, while you’ve forgiven me over and over again."
Song Jiyun scoffed.
If she made a fuss with Yuan Yunzhong over these matters, wouldn’t it be a case of "hurting friends and delighting foes"?
She would not conform to their wishes.
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