Yu Wenye’s footsteps seed to grow heavier as well.
But no clear change appeared on his face. He only pondered for a mont, then lowered his head and said to Shang Ruyi, "I have sothing to say to her. You go back to Qianqiu Palace first."
Shang Ruyi nodded. "Mn."
She watched Yu Wenye walk toward Jinyu Garden, and saw Chu Ruoyan hastily go up to et him. After giving Yu Wenye a formal salute, she began saying sothing to him in delight, her eyes shimring with tears, yet in the end the joy of this reunion pressed the tears down, and her whole person brightened. Yu Wenye also supported her by the arm and earnestly comforted her a few words, then led her into Jinyu Garden.
Only then did Shang Ruyi lift her feet and continue walking toward Qianqiu Palace.
As soon as she stepped through the main gate, she saw Tushere and Chang Wan leading a group of eunuchs and palace maids standing in the courtyard, all properly bowing and saluting to her: "Greetings to the Princess."
Shang Ruyi smiled and raised her hand slightly. "Rise."
At once everyone stood up, and just as they had straightened, Tushere imdiately dashed over, almost knocking Shang Ruyi down, and blurted anxiously, "Miss—oh no, Princess, you’re finally back. Were you tired along the way? Are you hurt anywhere? And you..."
Before she could finish, Shang Ruyi’s eyes were already curved in a smile.
At the side, Chang Wan tugged her and said, "You should let the Princess enter the hall to rest first, otherwise the refreshnts will get cold."
Only then did Tushere co back to herself. "Oh, right, right. This servant already had hot tea and pastries sent ahead. The Princess certainly hasn’t eaten or drunk well on the road; go in and sit for a bit first. Hot water is ready too, you can bathe at any ti."
This girl, though her temperant is flighty, is quite thorough in what she does.
Shang Ruyi did not say anything, only pressed her lips together in a faint smile and let them surround her as they escorted her into Qianqiu Palace. The place had been cleaned until the windows were bright and the floors spotless; clearly they had not slacked off these days. After she sat down, Chang Wan imdiately went with Wo Xue to take the luggage inside to tidy it away, while Tushere stayed at Shang Ruyi’s side, placing a teacup into her hands with one hand and pushing small plates of pastries in front of her with the other, earnestly saying, "It seems the Princess isn’t injured."
Shang Ruyi took a sip of tea and laughed. "You were hoping I’d be injured?"
"Of course not!"
Tushere widened her eyes. "It’s just that a few days ago we heard them say the battle at Taiyuan was very hard-fought. They said sothing had happened to the Princess, and also that Prince Qin ca back without any military rit. We were worried to death."
As she spoke, she scooted up beside Shang Ruyi, clutching at Shang Ruyi’s knees like a little dog who has been separated from its master for a long ti and, upon seeing them again, can’t wait to bury itself in their arms. "Princess, what exactly happened?"
Shang Ruyi thought that since they had just reunited, there was no need to imdiately ntion her being captured and taken to the Western Turks. She might scare this girl to death; better to bring it up slowly in the future. So she brushed it off with two or three vague sentences, then said, "Prince Qin did not co back without rit either, but the first rit goes to the Han King—oh no, the Crown Prince."
"The Crown Prince?"
"Mn, just now outside the Vermilion Bird Gate, the Emperor already issued a decree, conferring the Han King as Crown Prince."
"What? How is it so fast?"
"What is there for you to question about the Emperor’s decree? When you see him in the future, don’t get muddled."
"...This servant understands."
Tushere pouted and answered, looking thoroughly dejected. After that she couldn’t help but lift her head to glance outside the hall. Seeing no one around and no one entering from outside, she leaned close to Shang Ruyi and whispered, "Prince Qin was blocked by those people from Jinyu Garden, wasn’t he?"
Shang Ruyi gave her a sideways look. "And how do you know?"
Just from that, Tushere knew her guess was right. She fud, "When we were preparing to welco Prince Qin and the Princess, we already saw the people from Jinyu Garden standing at their door the whole ti. Obviously they were getting ready to seize him halfway."
"..."
"Hmph, so annoying!"
"You—"
Shang Ruyi shook her head, set the teacup back on the table, and said unhurriedly, "Prince Qin has been away for these few months, and she hasn’t seen him even once. Now that she wants to see him, it’s understandable. Don’t go looking for trouble."
As she spoke, she asked, "We’ve been gone these days. You haven’t been stirring up trouble with the people over there, have you?"
Tushere imdiately replied solemnly, "Of course not!"
"..."
"It’s just that their people all dislike us. Even the Lady Chu—when she looks at us, her eyes roll straight up to the sky. When we pay our respects to her, she’s icy and indifferent."
"..."
"Hmph, she thinks only she dislikes us, but actually we don’t like her either!"
Shang Ruyi couldn’t help but chuckle.
But in that smile, there was a hint of relief, and she even murmured softly, "Then that’s fine."
Which ant that all of Chu Ruoyan’s energy—one could even barely call it "malicious intent"—was spent solely on matters of the heart. To marry Yu Wenye and stay by his side was her life’s wish. At least for now, she did not seem to truly want to harm anyone, nor did she seem intent on becoming Shang Ruyi’s enemy.
A romantic rival and a true enemy are not the sa thing.
So hearing Tushere say this allowed her, for the mont, to set her mind at ease.
After all, if their guess was correct, tonight Yu Wenquan would likely make arrangents regarding Yu Wenqian and Yu Mingyue. In the future, if Yu Mingyue truly beca Crown Princess Consort, she would be above Shang Ruyi, and dealing with her alone would be taxing enough. Shang Ruyi really did not want to have any further conflict with Chu Ruoyan.
Thinking about it, she had to admit that before she knew about that past between herself and Chu Yang, even after she married Yu Wenye, this much–pampered Princess had never shown her any malice. The "big sister" she used to call her, the smiles and affection from back then, had not been fake.
Only, things remain, people change.
Sotis, the shifting complexity of the world is just like the human heart—hard to read, hard to judge.
With that thought, Shang Ruyi sighed softly in her heart, then said to Tushere, "Whether you like her or not, it’s enough if you understand the rules and keep to your place. Never do anything out of line, understand?"
Tushere answered at once, "Of course I know that, this is the palace!"
Shang Ruyi gave her a playful glare, then laughed.
Co to think of it, she really was a bit hungry. Probably because she had just returned and imdiately received such an important Holy Decree, which truly was quite a "blow" and had drained a good deal of her strength. So she ate several pieces of pastry with the hot tea, and while eating she asked Tushere, "By the way, just now among the officials welcoming the imperial carriage outside the palace gate, I didn’t see Pei Xingyuan. Do you know where he went?"
Tushere shook her head imdiately. "We servants are only in the palace, we don’t know Lord Pei’s affairs."
Hearing this, Shang Ruyi also smiled.
Right, Pei Xingyuan was after all a Minister of the outer court. Even if he was close to them, it wasn’t to the point that all the palace maids in the palace would know his situation. It seed she would have to find soone else to ask.
She could only hope nothing had happened.
After she finished the pastries, Tushere tidied the cups and plates while asking her, "Princess, are you going to bathe now?"
Shang Ruyi wiped her mouth and said, "No, I’ll wait a bit."
As she spoke, she couldn’t help looking up toward the doorway, and just happened to see Yu Wenye walking in from outside.
Shang Ruyi imdiately broke into a smile.
Seeing her smile from a distance, Yu Wenye’s eyes also softened with a hint of laughter. Walking into the hall, he ca upon Tushere, who was gathering up the empty cups and plates and about to withdraw, and she saluted him. He glanced at her and said, "Good timing, bring sothing to eat as well, and a cup of hot tea."
At that, Tushere’s eyes lit up.
Yu Wenye had gone to Jinyu Garden for a while and ca back still wanting food; that ant he hadn’t eaten anything over there. It wasn’t anything important in itself, but it still made her very happy. She agreed at once and went off cheerfully to get it, and before long she brought back pastries the sa as what Shang Ruyi had just eaten, along with hot tea.
Yu Wenye sat down beside Shang Ruyi and, without saying anything, started in on the food and tea. What had taken Shang Ruyi quite a while to finish, he ate in a few bites, and he seed still not quite satisfied.
Shang Ruyi said with a smile, "Eat a little less, there’s still a banquet tonight."
Yu Wenye took a sip of hot tea to settle his stomach, then cast her a sidelong glance. "Will you even be able to eat tonight?"
"..."
Hearing that, Shang Ruyi arched a brow.
That was true enough.
Leaving aside that a feast bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor was never really for eating and drinking, today was, moreover, a celebration banquet after the Crown Prince had been invested. By then the whole hall would likely be full of flattery and cheering for Yu Wenqian. Yu Wenye didn’t care much about such things, but his mood would inevitably be affected.
All the more so as Yu Mingyue would also be present.
Shang Ruyi did not believe Yu Mingyue would behave herself just like that. They had been speculating all along that, given Yu Mingyue’s temperant and way of doing things, even if they didn’t compete for the chance to send troops to Luoyang, she would certainly try to obstruct any possibility of Yu Wenye seizing that military rit. So, she might very well have so trick yet to play.
Tonight’s night banquet would not only be no ti for eating, drinking, and making rry; it would be like the battlefield, and they would have to be extra vigilant.
However, Yu Wenye did not ask for more food. After drinking his tea, he exhaled deeply, then turned to look at Shang Ruyi. Shang Ruyi also seized the mont and said, "What were you talking about just now?"
At her words, a smile he couldn’t quite hide imdiately flickered in Yu Wenye’s eyes.
He said, "I didn’t sit over there long. There wasn’t much to say."
Shang Ruyi said, "Then what did you say?"
Yu Wenye’s lips pressed together again, his eyes curving, and he deliberately gave a little cough before saying, "If it’s sothing you don’t want to hear, I won’t say it. I’ll only tell you what you do want to hear."
Shang Ruyi lifted her brows again.
She truly hadn’t expected that when Yu Wenye was with Chu Ruoyan, there would be anything he could say that she herself would want to hear.
So she raised her chin slightly, putting on an expression of "go on then, tell what you said," and Yu Wenye looked at her with a smile, coughed lightly again, then said solemnly, "Pei Xingyuan didn’t co today because he submitted a dical leave morial. I heard he hasn’t gone to the Ministry of Revenue for several days."
"What?!"
Her face, which had been full of teasing and even a bit of a troublemaking mood as she waited to hear Yu Wenye’s answer, froze when she heard Pei Xingyuan’s na, and then she was startled. "How did he fall ill?"
Yu Wenye said, "Ruoyan sent soone outside the palace to visit him, but the person who went to his residence ca back and said he isn’t sick."
"If he isn’t sick, then he—"
"I heard that he seems to be injured."
"What!?"
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