Chapter 54 Hatching a Catastrophe
The flash of amazement and surprise in Qin Zhi’s eyes made Dou Qing’e feel very terrible. Sitting stiffly, she kept tipping Li Weijun the wink all the time. Li Weijun looked more languish than before. Qin Yunuan had heard that she was in bad luck these days. For example, her carriage fell into the gully on her way to visit her relatives, and when she was enjoying the views by a pond, she slipped over and fell into the water. Even when she stayed in her own room and did embroideries, there would be several damned crows that burst into the room and made a big mess.
The master of the Li Family worried so much about his daughter that he nearly fetched a Taoist priest to expel the evil spirits. However, after knowing that at the Wan’an Temple, Li Weijun actually offended the Grand General Leng Changxi. He got furious and grounded Li Weijun at once. So, the birthday banquet of the Grand Commandant Qin was the first time that Li Weijun could come out after being grounded.
In fact, she knew the hint of the winks of Dou Qing’e, but….
“I think this picture….”
“This picture conveys good messages.” Fang Ziying interrupted Li Weijun’s words and praised the picture with a smile, “The mountains and rivers are magnificent and the streams are flowing in a hearty way. There are also lucky clouds and red-crowned cranes on the top. I didn’t expect that the second young master of the Qin Family could be so keen and sensitive.”
The Grand Tutor Fang also seconded his dear daughter’s words with a nod, “This birthday present is very thoughtful indeed.”
Now, things were different. Though Qin Baochuan could not compare with the famous painters in painting skills, his picture was still unique in the way that it showed his own ingenuity. Combined with Grand Tutor Fang’s comment, almost all other guests started to praise this picture as well. Standing in the middle of the banquet, Qin Baochuan had drawn great attention. Nevertheless, what really counted was the attitude of Qin Zhi.
“It’s surely good,” Qin Zhi gave an appreciative smile to Qin Baochuan, and he even asked the servant to take the picture closer for a careful look. Such actions came once in a blue moon. Thinking of his school days in the mountains, Qin Zhi had all sorts of emotions. The emperor always took him as a model for the new official scholars because of his perseverance in studies and extensive readings. At present, Qin Zhi was greatly satisfied in his heart, “Hang the picture in my study.”
In the study!
Qin Yunuan could not refrain from revealing her happiness anymore. She smiled in relief and nodded at Qin Baochuan continuously. Accepting the picture and hanging it in the study showed how much father valued this present. It only softened Qin Zhi’s heart by proving that Baochuan had no relations with Concubine He’s death. Now, this picture named The Thatched Cottage with the Intermountain Streams finally opened Qin Zhi’s heart. He finally accepted this concubine’s son that had been ignored by him for years.
And yet, this was only the first step.
Subsequently, several familiar adults asked Qin Baochuan a few simple questions, like the books he was reading recently and the number of words he could write, to which Qin Baochuan answered glibly and calmly. His confidence and alertness won more praises for him, and Qin Zhi also showed some pride on his face.
Qin Yunuan also noticed that Qin Linfeng’s face was getting darkened. With a smile, she picked out the bass’s bones in her small plate and then looked up at Qin Linfeng with a concerning look. “What’s the matter, big brother? You don’t look well,” she asked.
With a cold snort, Qin Linfeng put down the chopsticks heavily and squinted at Qin Yunuan. In his mind, he seemed to know that he was no match of her. But his ego did not allow him to show any weakness. When he learned that Qin Yunuan was going to rush Qin Baochuan for medical treatment, he had sent servants to guard the back door purposely, knowing that they would get out of the mansion privately by carriage. However, all these efforts had failed.
Qin Zhi caught sight of the unpleasant expression on Qin Linfeng’s face. He was somewhat disappointed with this eldest legal son. The three-year study tour outside had not corrected Qin Linfeng’s flippancy. In contrast, young as Qin Baochuan was, he was eloquent and well-behaved, showing no arrogance as described by others. But that was only a conclusion for the moment. Qin Zhi needed to examine him for a longer time to see his nature.
Dou Qing’e was no less surprised than Qin Zhi, but she concealed her astonishment quite well. She even turned her head to Qin Baochuan and asked him about his living conditions gently, which seemed that she really took this concubine’s son as her own child in other people’s eyes.
After those conventional greetings, Qin Yunuan beckoned Qin Baochuan and handed him a plate of bass without bones. Bass was Qin Baochuan’s favorite. Seeing the delicious flesh of fish half soaked in the soup, he could not help but start enjoying the fish at once.
Halfway through the banquet, Leng Changxi had continued to cast glances at Qin Yunuan, as if it had become his instinct. The seat saved for Su Chenghai had been vacant during the time. It was said that he had left the Royal City in a hurry for some emergency. Even Qin Yunuan did not get the news until she had come to the banquet.
Qin Yunuan had wined to satiety when nurse Liao came to find her from the back of the banquet. She was supposed to guard the back door. So, her appearance meant that something had happened. Not surprisingly, from the signal that they had agreed on before, Qin Yunuan knew what had happened at the back door at once. She took a sip of the Lihuabai wine, and then said to Concubine Liu who was gorgeously dressed, “Well, sister Yuwan said that she did not feel well and wanted to take a walk. How come she has not come back after such a long time? Is she ok? Are there any servant girls waiting on her?”
Concubine Liu smiled brightly and answered in a sweeter tone, “Oh, it is a luxury for the Third Miss to care about your Second Sister. Don’t worry. She was just uncomfortable. Maybe she has returned to the Lixiang Courtyard.”
“It’s rude of Second Sister to get back willfully while father is still at the banquet.” Half hidden by the hanky, Qin Yunzhuang looked around charmingly with her bright eyes. At last, her eyes lingered on Sima Ray who sat beside her.
Today, Sima Ray wore a dark green robe with purple embroideries. The white cloud pattern on his sleeves and the hairpin made of Yangzhi Jade added radiance and beauty to each other. His faint smile brightened Qin Yunzhuang’s heart like the moonlight. Though Sima Ray looked very attractive, Qin Yunuan knew that he was also extremely dangerous.
Qin Yunzhuang explained to Sima Ray with a smile, “I wish Prince Ray could excuse my sister. She is not a good drinker.”
Sima Ray just nodded with a smile. But it could tell from his gestures and expressions that he had been examining Qin Yunuan inquiringly. In his impression, Qin Yunuan used to a concubine’s daughter who was not passionate about him. However, things became different these days. Recently, he heard from several shops that he had been running secretly that here came a Boss Shen who was a generous spender. While Sima Ray was seeking to cooperate with him, Boss Shen actually settled on the embroidery samples from a nobody. And this “nobody” with concealed identity, under his exhaustive investigation, turned out to be the third daughter of Grand Commandant Qin. Right now, Qin Yunuan, this concubine’s daughter, was sitting before him with cold looks in her eyes.
Well, she was getting more and more interesting.
“It’s okay,” Sima Ray seemed to have a sense of elegance and romance when he smiled, which made him quite approachable, “I saw that Second Miss left alone with no servant girls following her. What if there’s something wrong?”
“That’s right. Out of the yard is the pond. It would be dangerous if Second Miss were drunk and alone when she left,” Concubine Chang said after Sima Ray.
Listening to what they said, Concubine Liu was not as calm as before. Driven by nervousness, she turned to a servant girl beside her and said to her, “Find Second Miss and see if she’s okay.”
Suddenly, a crack arose after Concubine Liu’s words. Not very loud, it was clear enough to be heard from the sound of singing and dancing.
Frowning, Qin Zhi seemed to be holding back his anger. The chopsticks in his hand were broken into two pieces before other people noticed. Seeing the abnormal action of the master, the servant behind Qin Zhi, who came in from the back door to report message, paused for a while and then reported with extreme caution, “Master, rumors have been spreading at the back door that Young Master Shangguan got very hot-tempered. He was drunk and felt offended after he was stopped by Grand Young Master’s inferiors. Even Butler Xie cannot deal with him.”
Taking a deep breath in his heart, Qin Zhi barely held back his anger and straightened up. He nodded to the present colleagues and explained that he wanted to take a break because he did not feel well. A short while after Qin Zhi left, Qin Linfeng and Concubine Liu were also fetched by servants. Seeing the surprised look on Concubine Liu’s face, Qin Yunuan just looked down, as if it had been none of her business.
Several guests took leave of the banquet after the hosts left the table. As it was getting late at night, nurse Liao also took Qin Baochuan back to the Fuxi Courtyard to sleep. But Qin Yunuan became more clear-headed by the cool and wet wind from the pond in the midnight.
In her eyes, the brightly decorated banquet in the distance that was coming to an end could not compare to this peaceful and quiet place.
As the wisteria flowers rustled with the wind, a long shadow was approaching alongside the bank of the pond. A pair of boots made of white buckskin walked on the soft mud of the bank without making any noise.
Having noticed that someone was coming closer, she turned back with her eyes wide opened. But the lights in her eyes faded immediately after she saw who that was. She made a curtsy and said, “My greetings, Prince Ray.”
“Why?” Sima Ray smiled lightly, “You seemed to be disappointed seeing that it was me.”
“No,” Qin Yunuan said modestly, “Are you also coming out for a relax, Prince Ray?”
“No. Actually, I followed you especially when I saw you come out in the middle of the banquet,” Sima Ray replied bluntly, and he continued as Qin Yunuan revealed a hint of surprise, “Grand Commandant Qin, Grand Young Master Qin, and several concubines left one after another. So, I guess something important might have happened. Why? Won’t you feel curious and come there for a look?”
“Things that will happen in the womenfolk are predictable. One day, it would be that something was broken or lost in a certain courtyard. The other day, it would be that someone used other people’s hanky or rouge without permission,” Qin Yunuan said in a naughty and innocent tone, “You should have seen those things a lot in the Imperial Palace.”
“That’s true,” Sima Ray had a pleasant feeling that he never had, “There really are many trivial matters in the Imperial Palace. Sometimes, I really envy my seventh brother living far away from there. Though he was alone and plain at the Imperial Mausoleum, he should have a secluded and undisturbed life there.”
He sounded sincere. But in fact, he was the one who made his brother, the seventh prince Sima Qiu, leave the Imperial Palace for such a long time. He was really a “good” brother.
At this time, a servant girl ran along the pond bank to Sima Ray and Qin Yunuan. After greeting them separately, she said anxiously, “Third Miss, master asked you to come to the backyard. Someone… someone had died.”