allonlinenovel Chapter 9: You'll all be one family, all together!
Chapter 9: You'll all be one family, all together!
As the sun sets, the sky is filled with golden clouds, and a gentle evening breeze blows.
Cheng Yan strode into the inner courtyard, bathed in the glow of the sunset.
He was eager and hurried, wanting to see her as soon as possible.
But when he stepped onto the bluestone slabs, he felt as if he were walking on soft clouds, which felt unreal and made him feel a little uneasy.
He still remembered that right after the New Year, news came from the court that Prince Cheng and Prince Rui had rebelled. He was ordered to quell the rebellion, and before leaving the Qin capital, he made a special trip to see her.
She had caught a cold and was feeling unwell, so she didn't want to talk to him. The two of them just sat there in silence.
If he hadn't been worried about her health and gotten up to leave, she could have stayed up all night in silence with him like that. Every two weeks, he would write her a letter and ask Empress Dowager Cheng to deliver it. He also said that if she had anything she wanted to say to him, she should write a letter and give it to Empress Dowager Cheng.
But he never received a single letter from her.
But this time when she came back, her attitude had changed.
Cheng Yan's initial joy gradually subsided, and he suddenly slowed his pace.
Could it be that something happened while he was away from Qindu that caused this change in her?
"Lord...Lord Marquis?"
A surprised voice came from not far away. Cheng Yan turned his head and saw a young woman wearing a pink spring dress and a hairpin walking quickly towards him.
She was so excited that her face turned slightly red, yet she also seemed a little shy, fidgeting and acting quite affectedly.
"you are?"
“My lord, I am Rufang. Don’t you remember me? My brother is Zhao Rushan. He took an arrow for you last June.”
Cheng Yan knew Zhao Rushan; he was one of Zhao Rushan's personal guards.
Last May, the Yun family of Pingzhou colluded with the Southern Qi to rebel. When he led his troops to quell the rebellion, he was nearly hit by a hidden arrow. It was Zhao Rushan who shielded him, injuring his arm in the process.
The arrow was poisoned, and Zhao Rushan ultimately severed his own arm to save his life.
"So it's Rushan's sister. How is he doing these days? What are you doing here?"
"My elder brother is alright. Although he lost an arm, the Marquis gave him a lot of money. After returning home, he married a wife and opened a martial arts school to make a living. As for me..."
As Zhao Rufang spoke, a blush crept onto her face, and she said shyly, "I admire the Marquis and do not wish to leave Qin Capital, so I came to beg the princess to let me become the Marquis's woman..."
Cheng Yan: "?!"
He asked, "Did the princess agree?"
Zhao Rufang blushed, but nodded repeatedly: "When the princess heard that my brother lost an arm for the Marquis, and seeing that I admire the Marquis, she naturally agreed. She arranged for me to live in Lanfang Courtyard, and even said... she also said that when the Marquis returns, she will arrange for me to serve him..."
Cheng Yan's face immediately darkened.
Is it really necessary to do it this way? First there was Wang Xianrong, then Song Pingping, and now there's Zhao Rufang.
Does she really want to push him onto someone else?
Cheng Yan, his face dark, dodged Zhao Rufang's touch and asked her, "So where are you going now?"
“Of course, I’ll go to Chunxie Courtyard!” Zhao Rufang answered quickly. “The princess has ordered the kitchen to prepare a welcome banquet for the Marquis, and she just sent someone to invite me over.”
"Are you going too?"
"Of course, I am still the Marquis's woman, and this family should be united..."
Cheng Yan's face darkened further, and then he turned and walked back.
"Hey! My lord, where are you going?"
"You guys eat by yourselves, I'm not going!"
You should all be a family, all together!
What does it have to do with me what she takes as a concubine!
Thinking of the matter of taking a concubine, Cheng Yan stopped again, turned around and looked at Zhao Rufang, and said to her, "I know nothing about the matter of taking a concubine, nor do I acknowledge it. I will write a letter to your brother and ask him to come and take you back."
After saying these words, Cheng Yan left with a dark face, without the slightest hesitation.
"Lord...Lord..."
Zhao Rufang wanted to chase after him, but after walking for a while, she reached the second gate. Beyond that was the outer courtyard. Just as she was about to walk out, she was stopped by the old woman at the gate.
“Aunt Zhao, according to the rules of the manor, you cannot leave without the orders of the princess and the marquis. Please go back.”
Having no other choice, Zhao Rufang stomped her foot and turned to walk towards Chunxie Courtyard.
At this moment, in Chunxie Courtyard, Qin Yizhen was having tea with two other concubines from the household.
There are three concubines in the Pingxi Marquis's mansion: Zhao Rufang, Wang Xianrong, and Song Pingping. These were all arranged by Qin Yizhen for Cheng Yan.
Among the three concubines, Concubine Wang, Wang Xianrong, was the most noble, being the legitimate daughter of the Wang clan.
Wang Xianrong had been in love with Cheng Yan since she was young. After Cheng Yan married Qin Yizhen, she was heartbroken and attempted suicide several times. The Wang family had no choice but to come to Qin Yizhen for help, saying that Wang Xianrong could marry into the family and become a concubine.
Qin Yizhen was moved by Wang Xianrong's deep affection for Cheng Yan, and nodded in agreement.
As for Song Pingping, she was a pitiful woman who came to Qindu with her fiancé to participate in the imperial examination. Her fiancé passed the exam, married into a wealthy family, abandoned her, and even sent people to hunt her down.
Alone and homeless, she was rescued by Qin Yizhen and temporarily stayed at the Cheng family's house.
Later, upon learning that Qin Yizhen was deeply troubled and depressed, she stayed to accompany Qin Yizhen and became Cheng Yan's concubine.
"The tea has a delicate fragrance, like a faint orchid scent. The aroma lingers for a long time. One sip leaves a pleasant aftertaste. It's Maojian tea. Princess, am I right?" Song Pingping asked Qin Yizhen, tilting her head.
She was dressed in a white and blue double-breasted shirt, with a turquoise silver hairpin in her hair. Her attire was extremely simple, but her clean and bright face made her look like a lotus emerging from clear water.
Qin Yizhen stared quietly at the courtyard gate not far away, seemingly lost in thought and oblivious to what she had heard.
Song Pingping waved her hand in front of her face before she snapped out of her daze.
"What's wrong?" Qin Yizhen asked.
Song Pingping raised her eyebrows and smiled: "I asked the princess, is this Maojian tea? What are you thinking about so intently?"
"Cheng Yan".
Uh-huh?
Song Pingping blinked, somewhat surprised. Meanwhile, Wang Xianrong accidentally knocked over a teacup, which shattered on the ground, spilling tea everywhere.
Qin Yizhen and Song Pingping both looked over.
The maidservants quickly stepped forward to help Wang Xianrong up and clean up the broken pieces and tea.
Song Pingping frowned: "Aunt Wang, how could you be so careless? This teacup of the princess is very expensive. What if you break it and can't afford to pay for it?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Xianrong's face immediately turned somewhat ugly: "How could I not afford to pay? Do you think I'm short of money?"
Song Pingping rolled her eyes at her: "Is this about money? Most of the teacups here, Princess, are tributes. They were either bestowed by Her Majesty the Empress Dowager or ordered to be prepared by the Marquis. Aren't they precious?"
"Besides, if you break one piece of this tea set, the whole set is no longer complete."
Wang Xianrong's heart pounded with anger: "What do you intend to do?"
“Naturally, we will compensate the princess with a new set.”