Return of the Swallow c1-644

by Edited by Deyna up to chapter ~100.

  The scales of the old dowager’s heart tipped slightly after hearing her granddaughter’s methodological analysis.

  “Being an official, face and dignity is of utmost importance for father. No matter what the Lus want to do, they must consider the emperor’s reaction. Madame Lu’s not from the main family branch—she’s just the miss of a small side branch. Everyone knows that she’s used to throwing her weight around and kicking up a fuss. Someone will be along soon to take care of her, after she’s declared that she’ll throw us all out onto the streets. I will not go apologize to her! Father still has a job he wants to keep!”

  Qin Yining broke the issue down as much as she could with all the patience she had. She really hoped that her grandmother could understand, and that she wouldn’t act of her own accord to do something that ended up dragging Qin Huaiyuan down.

  The Qin fourth miss didn’t care much for her own face; the family’s attitude was what was important.

  It was Madame Lu in the wrong here. If the Qins were the ones who ended up bowing their heads, then more people would come sniffing around to bully them. Were the Qins supposed to give way to all challengers?

  It was more ideal to throw down with the madame then, making a statement to everyone that the surrendered Great Yan officials were no weaklings.

  Qin Yining paid no more attention to the old dowager and quickly moved to the front yard. When she arrived at the door, Bingtang came up to whisper, “The Commandery Princess Consort of Yan is here.”

  Commandery Princess Consort of Yan… Li Yanyan?

  The old dowager had gotten worked up for nothing!

  Both highly irritated and resigned, a good mood swept over Qin Yining and she chuckled. Stepping into the main hall through the lifted door curtains, the fragrance of good tea wafted into her nose.

  Li Yanyan was wearing a deep purple, plain brocade cape with a hat of similar fabric on her head. The fur-lined brim of the hat came down to her forehead, highlighting the fairness of her skin and suppleness of her red lips.

  Qin Yining curtsied with a smile. “To think that the Commandery Princess Consort of Yan would grace our humble abode. An honored guest truly brings grace and fortune to our home.”

  Such blatant pleasantries faded the smile on Li Yanyan’s face, and her original words stuck in her throat, unable to be voiced at all.

  Chapter 356: A Person of Ice

  Qin Yining was in no hurry. Her unadorned hand reached for the teapot to refill Li Yanyan’s cup, then pushed the refreshment to her visitor’s side.

  Li Yanyan smiled at her host. “His Majesty has bestowed a manor upon the commandery prince. It’s a bit of a distance from your family’s. We’ve just finished moving, so I wanted to come pay you a visit. We’re all from Great Yan, after all. No matter what unpleasantness we had before, we’re all one family now that we’re here in Great Zhou.”

  The commandery princess consort’s visage was gentle and friendly, the same amiable air that Qin Yining had seen on Mt. Eternal Spring.

  The reversion was surprising, but the Qin fourth miss smiled and didn’t express anything. “So His Majesty has already gifted you a manor. I’m stuck in the Qin residence all day and have become a frog at the bottom of a well. I don’t know anything about what’s happening outside, so am deeply embarrassed that Your Highness has visited before I’ve tendered my congratulations on your new home.”

  Li Yanyan heaved a silent sigh of relief to see how polite Qin Yining was being. It looked like she’d been thinking too much just now. There were no hidden barbs within the Qin fourth miss’ greeting of ‘an honored guest truly brings grace and fortune to our home’.

  “Not at all. Everyone’s in the same difficult straits, having newly arrived in Great Zhou. I understand, even if nothing is explicitly said.”

  Qin Yining responded only with a gentle smile. It suddenly felt bizarre to be speaking of matters of the heart when the two of them weren’t that close. They were only acquaintances to begin with, and then enemies after both ended up in the Great Yan palace. It was then that the Qin fourth miss had known that the two of them wouldn’t suddenly become fast friends.

  Seeing that her host wasn’t saying much, Li Yanyan proposed topics of her own. She mostly stuck to the prosperity of the Great Zhou capital or what print fabrics were most in vogue. What she never brought up was the purpose of her visit.

  Impatience brewed when Qin Yining saw that her guest was beating around the bush. But she'd always had a lot of patience and could keep her cool. Since Li Yanyan wasn’t being forthright, neither would she ask anything either. She merely kept her guest company and piped in with a word or two whenever appropriate.

  The princess consort talked herself hoarse, fully imparting the undertones of, “I have something to discuss with you.” But the Qin fourth miss refused to rise to the bait.

  Li Yanyan was quite resigned. When back in Great Yan, this move was more than effective against middle-aged noblewomen. Why wasn’t it working on a girl sixteen years of age?

  Seeing the day grow old, she couldn’t linger much longer. “I have something to discuss with you,” whispered the princess consort.

  Finally out of patience?

  Arching a mental eyebrow with a hidden smile, Qin Yining waved a hand behind her back to Jiyun.

  The maid dismissed herself and the others, while Li Yanyan’s maids also retreated to the covered hallway, standing guard at the doors to prevent anyone from drawing close.

  The Qin fourth miss smiled. “Please speak freely of whatever’s on your mind.”

  “I’m actually here today for the most important matter in your life.”

  “Oh?” The Qin fourth miss raised a brow. “I hadn’t realized Your Highness likes to play matchmaker now.”

  Is she mocking me?

  Li Yanyan held in her discomfort with force of will and smiled demurely. “I didn’t have anything else to do either, and it’s not like I’m worrying about an outsider.”

  She looked at the Qin fourth miss gently. “The commandery prince and I have heard about the suffering you underwent a while ago in the manor of the Faithful Prince of the First Rank. The prince is really quite heartbroken on your behalf. But alas, none of us are in full command of our fates. I know Miss Qin is one with high moral character and won’t have your heart swayed by crass silver and gold. Therefore, I didn’t bring any of that with me today.

  “I won’t talk in circles given our relationship. I’m here today on behalf of you and the prince. The prince only has me and Gu Chang by his side these days. The other concubines have all died, wasted away from illness, or were lost on the way here. The prince genuinely likes you. As long as you give the nod, he will immediately request an imperial decree to welcome you as his concubine.

  “I rather feel that it doesn’t matter if one is a consort or a concubine. The most important thing is that the prince really does like you. I know that younger sister Qin has suffered a lot in the outside world. It’s so wonderful now to have such a good shelter opening his arms in welcome to you.”

  Qin Yining kept her primly seated position as she listened mildly to Li Yanyan’s words. It was impossible for the commandery princess to detect the girl’s preferences, and the former grew more and more uncertain.

  However, she also strongly felt that it was already unparalleled favor for the prince to create a spot for the Qin fourth miss. Surely the girl would understand that she should be content with a peaceful, stable home!

  Ever since Gu Chang’s purposeful words in front of Yuchi Yan, Li Yanyan could feel that her husband’s affections for Qin Yining had grown a little deeper.

  As opposed to having Yuchi Yan raise the issue himself, or let that little bitch claim all the glory, it’d be better for her, the official wife, to think of it first. With Yuchi Yan’s identity, she would be unable to prevent more women from entering through his doors, but it would be easy to be a virtuous wife.

  Qin Yining’s long lashes fluttered down and s
he shook her head after a moment. “Thank you for your sentiments, Your Highness. But you also know the situation at court, right? I’m no longer the noble daughter from before. My father is an official at court and has his hands tied in many things. I’m the same way, being a Qin.”

  The princess consort looked blankly at the response. She didn’t understand what the fourth miss was getting at, but the notes of rejection rang loud and clear.

  If anything was proposed, the Qin fourth miss would refuse to join their household!

  Yet Li Yanyan actually felt relief at this outcome. Gu Chang was already showing her up with those fake, simpering affectations. If Qin Yining came to their manor, then it was only a matter of time before Li Yanyan lost her position of commandery princess consort.

  “Don’t be in a hurry to turn it down, younger sister Qin.” She sighed. “Though Great Zhou is good, it’s still different from our nation. Every man here bristles with strength and martial arts, but that also means a lack of tenderness and care. Why don’t you think about it some more?”

  Qin Yining smiled faintly. “You don’t have to try to convince me anymore, Your Highness. My intentions are very clear. I won’t marry into the imperial family. Even if the commandery prince is only former royalty, I still won’t marry him.”

  Li Yanyan was secretly delighted by this declaration. As long as the girl refused to acquiesce, that meant the princess consort still had hope in the fights to come.

  And if the Qin fourth miss was even willing to speak a few good words on her behalf, Li Yanyan was certain that her future would be one of blissful, marital contentment with Yuchi Yan.

  But the princess consort also knew that it was impossible for Qin Yining to say anything good on her behalf.

  “Alright then.” Li Yanyan had delivered her message. Her husband had hinted for her to play matchmaker, and she had done so. Whether or not she had succeeded had nothing to do with her.

  She rose and nodded. “Do think it over, younger sister. Perhaps next time it’ll be His Highness visiting you.” She covered her mouth as she giggled, like she’d delivered a joke.

  Qin Yining smiled faintly and called Bingtang and Jiyun over to send Li Yanyan out.

  When the princess consort reached her carriage, she continuously reminded Qin Yining, “Your family has fallen on hard times now. If younger sister is willing to follow the prince, you’d be able to save your family quite a bit of expense.”

  For a noble daughter who’d never known the value of silver, this kind of excuse perfectly illustrated how pinched for money Yuchi Yan was, and how fixated he was on Qin Yining.

  Chapter 357: Brother Beauty

  “Miss, I’d say the commandery princess consort crossed her own bottom line today.” Bingtang whispered when she came up to support Qin Yining’s arm. “It looks like she’s not getting along with née Gu in the Yan Manor.”

  “The commandery prince seems to pay a lot of attention to his wife and concubine,” added Jiyun.

  “Pay attention? It’s more like he’s obsessed with our miss,” teased Bingtang. “If the prince knew about this, who knows how mad he’ll get again?”

  Qin Yining smiled despite herself when she thought of what Pang Xiao might do. She’d never realized before, but the more time they spent together, the more she could tell that Pang Xiao was the reincarnation of a green-eyed monster. He was an all-mighty tyrant outside, but was petty to the extreme over the slightest of details when it came to her. This kind of juxtaposition was quite amusing.

  The Qin fourth miss shook her head with a smile and turned to go inside.

  Somehow, Bingtang turned out to be prophetic.

  After dinner that night, a soft rustle sounded at rear window of the toilet while Qin Yining was leaning on a pale-blue, satin body pillow on the heated platform next to the window. She was reading by the light of the lantern.

  Working on their embroidery, Xianyun and Jiyun exchanged glances. Xianyun took a position in front of her mistress while Jiyun crept to the back to scout out the premises.

  The guard carefully sidled to the toilet door, but heard Pang Xiao’s voice coming from inside.

  “It’s me.”

  Jiyun blinked, quickly lifted the door curtain to confirm, and sighed in relief when she saw that it was true. “Your Highness.”

  “Mm. Where is your miss?”

  “The miss is reading.” Jiyun curtsied with a smile and led the prince inside.

  Qin Yining had already put her book down and was putting her shoes on.

  Pang Xiao looked around, confirmed that there really was no one else around, and waved a hand at Xianyun and Jiyun.

  The two maids looked at each other and dismissed themselves with secret grins.

  The prince first blew out the lamp and then helped Qin Yining sit back down. He bent over to palm her white sock clad feet in his large hands. Frowning, he noted, “Your feet are so cold. Keep them on the platform and warm them up.”

  “I think it’s going to take a while for me to get used to the climate here,” smiled Qin Yining. She lifted the thin blanket to cover herself, but saw that Pang Xiao had taken his boots off and hopped onto the platform. He sat down cross-legged in front of her, grabbing her feet and hugging them to him.

  “Ai! What are you doing! Let go!” The girl blushed furiously as she set foot on Pang Xiao’s warm and firm abdomen. Her toes curled up as she tried to yank her feet back.

  However, the prince wouldn’t let her. Still holding onto her ankles, he undid his tunic and placed her feet on his undergarment. He hugged the rest of her legs with his arms and wouldn’t let her get away.

  “How is it, warm?” He drew close with a chuckle.

  The Qin fourth miss glared at him with flaming cheeks, her struggles weakening. His body was like a mini-furnace and it was really very warm in his embrace. It was also quite pleasant to feel his muscles beneath her feet. It felt like a layer of velvet wrapped around a sturdy piece of iron.

  Thinking of where she was stepping on, Qin Yining kept her toes curled and didn’t dare move around. Not only was her face red, so were her ears and neck. Thankfully the lamp had already been blown out to prevent those outside from looking in; it’d be mortifying if someone saw her now.

  Pang Xiao laughed from a wonderful mood and whispered, “Has your family given you a hard time over the Madame Lu’s affair?”

  Not only had he lowered his voice, but he’d drawn very close to her. It was obvious that he was afraid of someone finding out that he was here. Thinking over how small their manor was now, Qin Yining also grew more careful. She wasn’t the only one living in the rear garden.

  “Things have been alright. It’s understandable that people got nervous after the Lus made those threats.”

  Her quieter voice held a different timbre from its usual. It had a charmingly lazy undertone, causing an itch in Pang Xiao’s ears. His voice turned husky as well.

  “You can tell me about any trouble you’re in. If your family can’t take care of it, there’s still me.”

  Qin Yining couldn’t help but laugh softly. “I know that you’ll back me up, but things aren’t that serious yet. Besides, the Lus have a very deep foundation. You all must’ve formed complex ties when you conquered Northern Ji, right? I know that with your strength, you have no need to be afraid of anyone. But you should still be more careful even in things that aren’t important. Don’t go attracting trouble for no reason at all.”

  Listening to the warm words of care, Pang Xiao didn’t feel the disappointment of his loved one doubting him. Rather, he felt comforted from the very depths of his heart, like drinking a steaming bowl of meat soup on a cold winter’s night.

  Qin Yining must also like me very much now too, right?

  He’d occupied a shameless role in the beginning, doing everything he could to bridge the gap between them. He’d shed blood and hopped over walls. When thinking back to all the silly things he’d done to pursue Qin Yining, they were all things that he’d nev
er done for anything else.

  His efforts had borne good fruit; he was his darling’s one and only. All of his hard work had been worth it, and only when he grew even stronger could he take a stand forward for his girl!

  Pang Xiao massaged her calves with his large hands, a smile clinging to his lips despite himself.

  He was actually a bit thankful to Sir Zheng, who’d gone looking for General Pang’s progeny. If it hadn’t been for Li Qitian wanting to unfurl the Pang banner, Pang Xiao might’ve died in the chaos of war torn times or just quietly lived out his life as a little tavern’s keeper. The only sure thing was that he’d never have met Qin Yining.

  How boring would his life be if such a person wasn’t in it!

  He traced her calves into his tunic, palming her feet with a sigh. “You were so young when I first saw you. You’d fallen onto the ground after being thrown out of the apothecary. The items in your broken basket were spilt all over the ground. The sight just absolutely killed me. I’d thought you would cry, but you wiped your face off instead and turned to buy meat buns.”

  Qin Yining started, then jerked her head up to look at the man. “What, what did you say?”

  Pang Xiao looked gently at her. “Sir Zheng had just found me and I happened to hear them talk about the child they’d kidnapped from the Qins. I bugged them for details before finding out that they’d swapped you out for another girl and thrown you away, all in the name of revenge.

  “I’ve always felt that a family shouldn’t be dragged into the sins of an individual. The crimes of the last generation shouldn’t be inherited by the next. So I pleaded with Sir Zheng for the longest time before finding my way to the city of Liang, where I ended up seeing you. But my position was really low and I was under Sir Zheng’s control, so I couldn’t leave too much silver with you.

  “My darling, I’m sorry. You suffered on the mountain for so many years. I didn’t give you that much silver, so it didn’t last too long, did it?