Chu Wang Fei

by Ning er

  "Old madam!" Rui mama was talking about today's situation with the servant when she saw the old madam scurrying over to them. She quickly went to support the old madam, and they stood together by the gates to peek outside through the small wooden window on the door.

  "Quickly tell me, were the two gongzi able to reach the exam room safely?" The old madam had been extremely anxious, particularly when she heard that the secondary examiner this year was Su Qing's brother, Su Yuan. She had been so worried that she was unable to eat anything, fearing that Su Yuan might deliberately make things difficult for her grandsons, going so far as to deny them entrance into the exam room.

  "Old madam, the two gongzi have entered the exam room. The eldest gongzi also permitted me to report this you, old madam, then to the laoye and furen as well, so that you will not worry about him and his brother." At Yun Yi Heng's instructions, the servant naturally would not say anything about the incident. He only spoke of the information that was pleasant to hear, and the old madam had a smile on her face as expected.

  "What time did they go inside? Was there anyone who made things difficult for them?" Although the old madam's heart relaxed a bit, she was still thinking that Su Yuan might find an opportunity to avenge his younger sister. Therefore, she had asked with concern for fear that this servant was not reporting the whole truth and only the good news.

  The servant did not expect the old madam to be so attentive, but he immediately smiled and said, "Please don't worry old madam, the two shaoye are fine. The amount of exam candidates who went were too many, so they were delayed a little bit."

  The old madam's tensed nerves gradually loosened since it was unlikely for the servant to lie. Afterwhich, she let Rui mama throw an ingot of silver through the small wooden window as a reward for the servant. "Go ahead and serve laoye and furen for a few days at the north courtyard. Once the autumn exam ends, you must go fetch the two gongzi. Don't just have fun and forget the time."

  After having received the reward, the servant would evidently follow every order from the old madam. Bowing and scraping, he said some words of praise and gratitude, then left the gates of xiangfu.

  "Grandmother, you should be at ease now." Upon receiving the news that her two older brothers had entered the exam room, Yun Yi Yi's heart felt quite delighted. And deep inside, she could not help but still rejoice that Yun Ruo Xue had almost been beaten to death last time and was still lying in bed. If she were to run and report these matters to Su fu, it could ruin her two brother's future.

  The old madam just smiled and nodded. With the support of Rui mama, she sat inside the palanquin again and returned to Bai Shun Tang.

  With the disturbance caused by the old madam this morning, in addition to the servant who came to report Yun Yi Heng's safety, Yun Qian Meng was naturally unable to leave xiangfu for the time being. She asked Mu Chun to prepare the uniform of a third rank yatou and bring it inside the room in preparation for when she leaves tomorrow.

  During her leisure time, she went to the bookshelf left to her by Qu Ruo Li and took out an ancient book about Western Chu Liao Yuan. As she slowly flipped through it, she was delighted to find that this ancient book had a complete record all of the measurements of the territories of Western Chu, although the map was not as accurate or delicately sketched as those of modern times. Nevertheless, it had precisely labeled the distance between the cities, giving Yun Qian Meng the impression that she was obtaining a most precious treasure. With single-hearted devotion, she immersed herself among the maps within the yellowish pages of the books and tried to find the location of Luo City.

  Her delicately long fingers followed the marks on the map as they slowly moved; as expected, she found the two words 'Luo City' labeled on it Yun Qian Meng was delighted; her eyes immediately looked for the distance between the capital and Luo City. Afterwhich, she converted the distance by means of travelling through horseback riding: if a person were to travel day and night to Luo City without stopping to rest, perhaps it would take around ten days. It can clearly be seen that the thousand miles distance was not an exaggeration.

  Her fingers covered the words 'Luo City' as Yun Qian Meng's thoughts wandered to other places. It was reasonable to say that even if the plague broke out, it would not necessarily require two distinguished persons like Chu wang and Chu xiang to personally attend to it, and based on their approach towards this matter, it seemed like they had gave utter importance to it. What did Luo City really have that made them both willing to go there this very moment, risking their lives?

  Lightly knitting her eyebrows, Yun Qian Meng gazed at a peaceful scene outside of the window; yet, she felt that the moonlight tonight was a lot colder than last night. She wondered if Chu Fei Yang was taking good care of himself on his journey.

  Chapter 114: Part 2: Imperial Examination, Cousin is Grounded | Chu Wang Fei

  The next morning, Yun Qian Meng dressed herself up like a yatou using the clothes on the table. Mu Chun wrapped up her usual dress in a cotton cloth. Holding it in her hands, she followed behind Mu Chun as she left from a corner gate on the northwest side of xiangfu since there were fewer people.

  It was early morning this time. Servants of xiangfu started to awaken to work; because fewer people were living on the northwest side, it was easy for the two of them to leave from the corner gate and, according to Yun Qian Meng's request, Xi Lin had already parked the horse carriage outside of the corner gate waiting for her.

  When both of them entered the horse carriage, Xi Lin personally drove the carriage as they rushed towards Fu Guo Gongfu.

  This time the horse carriage did not enter through the main gate of Fu Guo Gongfu; on the contrary, it picked the west side gate where Le Yao had already been waiting inside the side gate. Seeing Yun Qian Meng descend from the horse carriage wearing the clothes of a yatou, Le Yao's expression turned slightly blank. Afterwhich, she quickly recovered and went out to greet her, "Greetings, xiaojie."

  "Let's talk inside." In response, Yun Qian Meng nodded and lead Mu Chun into the side gate, immediately sitting inside the soft palanquin towards Ting Yu Xuan.

  "How is my cousin these days?" Yun Qian Meng lightly lifted up the curtain; her delicate eyes observed the inside of Fu Guo Gongfu, seeing everything else was normal. Ting Yu Xuan, the residence of Qu Fei Qing, being the only exception. The guards made it seem like a prison.

  "Our xiaojie has missed you so much." Le Yao cleverly responded as they approached Ting Yu Xuan.

  Yun Qian Meng released the palanquin curtain and, during that time, the palanquin had changed directions, now proceeding towards a room which was usually used to entertain guests.

  "Xiaojie, we humbly request you to change into the clothes of our yatou." Yun Qian Meng stepped down from the palanquin and was led into the guest room by Le Yao. A set of third rank yatou's clothing laid on top of the clean table with ornaments and cosmetic cases, as well as a tray holding a plate of fruits.

  "Go and keep watch by the doorway, I have Mu Chun here to help me." Not being used to undressing in front of strangers, Yun Qian Meng sent Le Yao away. She picked up the clothing on the table and, with Mu Chun, they entered the inner room to quickly change clothes.

  Mu Chun helped Yun Qian Meng arrange her clothes, then she assisted Yun Qian Meng to sit down in front of the dressing table. Mu Chun untied the originally fixed hair bun on Yun Qian Meng's head and arranged her hair into a bun that the yatou of Houfu usually wear, only picking some simple hairpins and ribbons. She then tied them up in Yun Qian Meng's hair quite successfully.

  Yun Qian Meng opened the cosmetic case to try disguising herself. After a while, an unfamiliar face appeared before the copper mirror, a face that even Mu Chun was not able to recognize.

  "Xiaojie, you are?" Amazed, Mu Chun felt that Yun Qian Meng's makeup skills were indeed without rival that even she herself was not able to recognize Yun Qian Meng as her xiaojie anymore.

  Yun Qian Meng gave Mu Chun a light smile through the copper mirror as she in
structed, "Just wait here. I shall go and meet my cousin. I will be back after a while."

  Hearing the familiar voice of Yun Qian Meng, Mu Chun nodded head. Afterwhich, she proceeded to the outer room and opened the door, allowing Le Yao to come inside.

  At first, Le Yao was startled, seeing a completely unfamiliar person, then she immediately and doubtfully asked, "Yun xiaojie?"

  "Don't just stare like that, let's hurry!" Yun Qian Meng knew why she was curious, but this was not the time to explain everything. Holding up the fruit tray from the table, Yun Qian Meng took the lead out of the room with quick steps as they proceeded towards Ting Yu Xuan.

  Aware of the situation, Le Yao knew that they were running out of time. As the two of them approached the doorway of Ting Yu Xuan, Yun Qian Meng deliberately slowed her steps and stayed behind Le Yao.

  "Who's here?" The guards by the doorway obstructed Le Yao and Yun Qian Meng.

  "According to the xiaojie's command, we have brought some fresh fruit from the kitchen. Do you need to inspect them?" Le Yao stood in front of Yun Qian Meng, not allowing the guard to see her face.

  Although not many would be able to identify Yun Qian Meng, these guards belonged to the Empress Dowager. They were all trained to have discerning eyes; additionally, Le Yao was worried that in the event that she was recognized, it might ruin her reputation.

  The guard indifferently glanced at Yun Qian Meng, and saw her as a third rank yatou of Houfu with her hands merely holding some ordinary fruit, so he nodded to let them pass.

  It was not until they reached Qu Fei Qing's pavilion that Le Yao discovered her palms were already wet with cold sweat, the handkerchief she was kneading in her hands was drenched in it. Her heart was beating wildly and from time to time, she worriedly turned her head to look at the doorway. Only after seeing that the two guards did not suspect them did she exhale in relief.

  Yun Qian Meng thought it a funny, seeing her like this. Afterwhich, with smiling eyes, she shook her head.

  The two of them went inside Qu Fei Qing's inner room. At this moment, they saw Qu Fei Qing sitting beside the window staring at the blue sky with a grim expression that would look very pitiful to others.

  "Xiaojie, we have brought the fruit that you requested." Le Yao announced in a soft voice, seemingly afraid of disturbing Qu Fei Qing.

  Qu Fei Qing immediately regained her focus and, with a happy expression, she stood up and approached where the two of them were standing. Yet, she saw an unfamiliar yatou, lowering her head, holding a tray of fruits. Qu Fei Qing's eyes suddenly became disappointed and regained their frustrated light. She indifferently spoke, "Just put them on the table, you may leave now."

  Yun Qian Meng quietly laid the tray of fruits down on the small round table in the inner room and mischievously responded, "Cousin, is Meng'er unwelcome here?"

  She then blinked her eyes at Qu Fei Qing. They resembled two inverted triangles, causing Qu Fei Qing to stare at her with wide eyes and with some confusion, asked, "Meng'er?"

  "How can you not recognize me, cousin?" Yun Qian Meng sat sadly beside the round table with her chin resting on her hands, gazing at Qu Fei Qing; her eyes looked pitiful.

  Qu Fei Qing did not believe it was really Yun Qian Meng so she quickly approached and dragged Yun Qian Meng closer to observe her from head to toe, clicking her tongue in wonder. "You silly girl, you're quite clever and proficient; if it wasn't for your voice, I really wouldn't recognize you!"

  But, when Qu Fei Qing saw the clothes on Yun Qian Meng's body, her brows creased and she immediately instructed Le Yao beside her, "Go to the cupboard and get a set of new clothes for my cousin to change into it."

  Yet Yun Qian Meng stopped Le Yao and dragged Qu Fei Qing over to sit them both down, then she smiled and said, "There's no need for the trouble. When I go back, I still need to switch back to these clothes, right? Today I especially came to see you, cousin, how are you doing these days? Did laotaijun and aunt come to see you?"

  Qu Fei Qing waved her hand, sending Le Yao to watch the doorway as she approached the window to shut it. She then sat down again, with a serious face, she said, "Mother will come over everyday and sit for a while; laotaijun also had people send me greetings. But after being trapped in this Ting Yu Xuan, I have lost my freedom and have become unaware of things that are happening in the outside world."

  Yun Qian Meng thought of the guards watching outside the gate. She nodded, making the long story short, she immediately said, "Some things were too inconvenient to write in the letters delivered by the homing pigeons, that's why I didn't mention them. Perhaps you are still unaware, Xiao Nie daifu was recently granted the title of an eighth rank imperial physician. It was before he proceeded to Luo City with Chu wang and Chu xiang."

  "What?" After hearing the news from Yun Qian Meng, Qu Fei Qing forgot herself and stood up from her seat. With incredulous eyes staring at Yun Qian Meng, seeing an affirmative glance, Qu Fei Qing suddenly became worried.

  "How could he go to such dangerous place?" Mumbling to herself, Qu Fei Qing was somewhat dazed as she sat down again, her eyes drooping and pitiful.

  Yun Qian Meng sighed and consoled her. "He is a physician; moreover, he is superb in the art of healing. You must trust that he will return safely. Besides, he was also travelling with other imperial physicians from the palace. I believe they will be safe."

  Qu Fei Qing's eyes still look worried. She lifted her eyes to look at Yun Qian Meng, seeing crystal clear and bright eyes flickering with the usual calm and confidence regardless of the situation, Qu Fei Qing's heart eased a bit, and she nodded. She then mocked herself: "If I had the same temperament as you, I wouldn't be guarded by the Empress Dowager like this."

  Yun Qian Meng only smiled and shook her head. How could she not worry about Chu Fei Yang? But in her heart, she trusted Chu Fei Yang's ability even more, and as a result, the worry in her lightened and was less obvious than Qu Fei Qing's reaction.

  Yet she was still a normal person, equipped with the same emotions a normal person would have. Only, she was used to facing everything with her usual cold face because in her heart she knew that even if she stamped her feet in fury, it still would not change the situation. It was better to adapt to it as soon as possible to make it easier on oneself.

  "Could it be the Empress Dowager has discovered something? Is that why she commanded her people to watch over you?" Qu Fei Qing had a simple and pure nature; she usually expressed her thoughts on her face, so it was not unlikely for other people to be able to see through her thoughts.

  Qu Fei Qing slightly shook her head, and forced a smile. "Luckily, I haven't entered the palace to meet the Empress Dowager these days, or else I might have exposed some loose ends in front of her. I believe the Empress Dowager did this to separate us, so as to avoid me declining the marriage she is preparing for me."

  Yun Qian Meng's expression shifted at Qu Fei Qing's analysis. She felt that Qu Fei Qing was becoming more matured now that she reflected on the problems more thoroughly.

  It was likely that she was the primary reason that the Empress Dowager prohibited Qu Fei Qing from stepping out of Ting Yu Xuan.

  After all, the Empress Dowager naturally would not risk having someone like her, who had a previously declined a marriage, around.

  Judging by the attitude the Empress Dowager had shown her, the Empress Dowager did not seem to like her at all. At the bottom of the Empress Dowager's heart, she must be unwilling to see her and Qu Fei Qing growing close. Hence, the Empress Dowager thought of a way to separate them, so as to avoid any manipulation of Qu Fei Qing by the rebellious Yun Qian Meng.

  "Since that is the case, then you should take good care of your health. Currently, there is a huge uproar due to the plague, then the imperial examinations began just yesterday. In addition to the crown prince and princess of Northern Qi being our guests in the capital, the civil and military officials are busy preparing for everything else. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor would not have the time to foc
us their attention on you, so you just need to relax. If Xiao Nie daifu is able to find a way to control the plague in Luo City, providing good service to our country and the common people, when the time comes he will be rewarded by the Emperor. Once the conditions are right, would you still worry that success will not follow naturally?" Even though Yun Qian Meng was aware that even if Xiao Nie daifu returned to the capital after attaining meritorious deeds, at most, he would assume a position of a fifth rank physician. The Empress Dowager would never involve a minor imperial physician with the eldest xiaojie of Fu Guo Gongfu.

  But for the current plan, she could only pacify Qu Fei Qing so as to avoid her making a mess of the situation. This would not only get her caught up in the dilemma, but also bring danger to Xiao Nie daifu.

  Qu Fei Qing recognized Yun Qian Meng's intentions, then nodded without speaking.

  At this time, Le Yao ran inside, panicked. Seeing the two of them still having a heart-to-heart talk, she immediately reported: "The Empress Dowager's close personal attendant, Lan gugu, has arrived!"

  The two suddenly looked at each other. With sharp eyes and agile hands, Yun Qian Meng lifted the teacup in front of her, then quickly dodged behind the screen and stayed hidden.

  Just as she hid herself, Lan gugu walked inside along with a few yatou.

  "Nubi is here to meet the eldest xiaojie." Lan gugu faced Qu Fei Qing and greeted when she saw that only Qu Fei Qing and Le Yao were in the room.

  "Gugu please stand up. What brings you here today?" Qu Fei Qing said proudly; though, her nervous hands hidden under the table were clenched into fists.

  Lan gugu did not mind Qu Fei Qing's waning enthusiasm and looked away from Qu Fei Qing to point at the items in a palace maid's hands. "The Empress Dowager knew that the eldest xiaojie is fond of embroidery. Consequently, these popular palace satins were especially hand picked to be sent over for you to pass the time. We also have here the new pastries from the palace, also from the Empress Dowager. We hope that xiaojie will like them."