Zi Long was sent back, Zou Yunting left, but Song Pingping did not go.
Her martial brother’s injury had not fully healed, but he no longer needed someone to attend to him. Song Pingping had wanted to continue caring for her martial brother for a while longer, but he insisted it was truly unnecessary. After being repeatedly refused, she had no choice but to return.
She was Wen Xin’s companion, and in fact also had the duty of being her close bodyguard. Some matters were easier to handle between women of the same age.
After seeing Zou Yunting off, the three women gathered together again and started chattering.
“Sister Pingping, the literary gathering starts tomorrow. You finally made it back in time.”
“So what if I made it back in time? Watching a group of people show off their literary skills is not interesting at all.”
“It is very interesting. There will be lots of people, it will be very lively, and there will be many vendors selling all kinds of snacks.”
“You silly girl just loves the hustle and bustle. Xin, you will definitely want to go, right? If you go, then I suppose I must go too. Will we have to dress as men again?”
“We definitely have to dress as men. Otherwise, how improper would it be for us three women to stand in a crowd of men.”
Song Pingping stretched her arms out and expanded her chest. “Fine, I will go. I have been cooped up for so long that I am almost going mad. It will be good to go out and see the excitement. I can also cheer for the Wen family. I hope the Wen family will crush the Wan family and win first place in one go.”
At this, Xiao Hong pouted. “I am afraid it will be quite difficult for us to crush the Wan family this time. I heard that the Wan family’s son-in-law who ranked second in the imperial examination, Yin Jizhen, has returned from the capital. He was the top scholar of the previous provincial examination in Ningzhou. It seems he will step forward to compete on behalf of the Wan family.”
“Oh, I heard about that.” Song Pingping lifted her chin towards Wen Xin. “Do we not have Xin’er’s fiance Yu Wenyuan? In the last provincial examination, the ranking gap between Yu Wenyuan and Yin Jizhen did not seem very large. This is not a martial arts contest between us cultivators. I heard that in the literary arts, if the gap is not large, then on-site performance determines who is stronger, and that is not certain. I believe Xin’er’s fiance will definitely beat him. The Wen family will win. Oh, by the way, I heard Yu Wenyuan has already arrived, has he not?”
She looked at Wen Xin. The latter’s reaction puzzled her. In the past, whenever Yu Wenyuan was mentioned, Wen Xin would inevitably show some shyness. But now, she gave Song Pingping a feeling of complete calmness.
Xiao Hong slapped her forehead. “Sister Pingping, please do not mention Young Master Yu. The problem is that he might not be able to compete.”
Song Pingping said in a deep voice, “He cannot compete? On what grounds? Can the Wan family’s son-in-law compete, but the Wen family’s son-in-law cannot?”
“Sister Pingping, it is not what you think. Alas, Young Master Yu…” Xiao Hong started to speak but stopped. She looked at Wen Xin’s reaction. Seeing that her young lady did not stop her, she then pointed at her own head. “The young master overused his brain and injured his spirit. These past two days he has not recovered. He has been somewhat dazed. How can he compete in this state? Whether he can recover by tomorrow is truly uncertain.”
Song Pingping did not understand. “What did he do? He was fine. How did he injure his spirit?”
Speaking of this, Xiao Hong seemed to get angry. She pointed at Yu Qing who was nearby. “It is all his fault. It is all his doing. He cheated while playing chess and deliberately harmed Young Master Yu. I really suspect he is a spy sent by the Wan family to infiltrate the Wen family.”
These words made Yu Qing feel very awkward. He had wanted to provoke Yu Wenyuan and indeed wanted to teach him a lesson, but he had not expected Yu Wenyuan’s mental resilience to be so fragile. He was now actually somewhat relieved. Fortunately, Wen Kui had stopped them in time. Otherwise, if Yu Wenyuan had continued that game of chess, who knows what might have happened.
“Xiao Hong!” Wen Xin rarely scolded her in a stern tone. She had always been the gentle and refined type when speaking. “You cannot entirely blame A Qing for this. It was Young Master Yu who initiated the challenge, and it was also Grandpa Kui who permitted it. If one’s skill is inferior, one cannot blame anyone else.”
“Playing chess… injured his spirit?” Song Pingping roughly understood the meaning, but she did not understand how. She asked suspiciously, “Can playing chess really leave someone unable to recover for several days? What exactly happened?”
“He deliberately set traps and dug pits…” Xiao Hong pointed at Yu Qing and rattled on, explaining the general situation.
Song Pingping was not good at chess, but she knew a little. She hesitated and said, “Is not chess all about setting traps for each other? If you do not trap your opponent, what kind of chess is that? It seems you cannot blame him for that. As for Young Master Yu… scholars really do have delicate constitutions. They are indeed different from us cultivators.”
Xiao Hong stared blankly. She knew these two had not witnessed the process and could not truly understand. The torturous process was something she could not describe in words. But she still snapped fiercely at Yu Qing, “If the Wen family loses to the Wan family, you will be hard to forgive.”
“Xiao Hong, do not talk nonsense!” Wen Xin scolded again.
Yu Qing remained silent. He did not defend himself, and let them say what they wanted…
The next day, outside Jade Garden, a carriage that looked simple but was actually exquisitely crafted stopped at the courtyard gate.
Beside the carriage, Yu Qing had also changed out of his servant’s clothes into ordinary attire.
Before long, Wen Xin, Song Pingping, and Xiao Hong also came out from the garden. They had all changed into men’s clothing and wore felt hats on their heads. The brims were pulled low to make it hard for people to recognise their true faces.
“What are you looking at? Have you never seen this before? Your eyes are gleaming like a thief’s.”
Xiao Hong, passing by Yu Qing, snapped at him again.
Yu Qing was speechless. He did not know what medicine this maid had taken the wrong way these past two days. She was always fierce towards him. He was puzzled. Yu Wenyuan was not even her fiance. Wen Xin herself said nothing, so what was she angry about?
The three women dressed as men got into the carriage and let down the door curtain. Yu Qing also sat sideways on the shaft, his back against the door frame.
The coachman sitting on the same shaft cracked his whip, and the carriage clattered away.
When the carriage exited through the side gate of the Wen residence, eight mounted guards who had been waiting in the alleys on both sides spurred their horses to follow. Some rode ahead to clear the path, some followed behind, and some guarded the sides.
Having learned that Wen Xin was going out to attend the literary gathering, the Wen residence had made security preparations in advance. These were only the visible guards. There were also hidden personnel.
“Alas, we will have to stand for ages once we get there. Why does the Wen family not let us sit in the seating area? Really. Only you, Xin, like this kind of literary showing off.”
Wen Xin’s gentle voice rang out. “Sister Pingping, the seating around the venue is limited. Many elders do not even have places. How could we run off to sit there? If we really sat there, anyone with eyes would know who we are. It would be inappropriate to be pointed at by people afterwards. It is already good that the family can arrange standing positions near the front for us.”
Song Pingping humphed. “Xiao Hong and I are not afraid of people pointing fingers. Only you would be afraid of people saying you are showing your face in public. This is not allowed, that is not allowed. You even have to dress as a man to go out. You really live a boring life. Now, we agreed. We will first go stroll around ‘Blue Bridge’, and only go to the venue when the competition is about to start. I do not want to stand in the front row by the stage early in the morning.”
Wen Xin said, “Do not worry. You will not have to wait idly. Grandpa Kui has already arranged for people to secure good positions for us.”
“Oh!” Xiao Hong clapped her hands lightly and cheered. “That is wonderful. There are lots of delicious food and fun things at Blue Bridge. I have not been there for a long time either.”
Yu Qing, sitting against the door frame, listened silently to the discussion inside. He had no interest in the literary gathering. When he got there, he planned to shrink behind the crowd to avoid being recognised by Yin Jizhen and Wen Yan’an who would be present.
The carriage turned, and sunlight fell on the carriage door.
Inside the carriage, Wen Xin, who was chatting with the two women, kept looking at the figure on the door curtain from time to time. Sorrow rose in her heart again.
Song Pingping suddenly grasped her hand. “Are you still worried about Young Master Yu? Come on, do not worry. If there were really something wrong, they would have asked my master to go and treat him long ago. The fact that my master was not called means it is nothing serious. Did not the doctor say that a few more days of rest will be enough?”
Since returning to Jade Garden this time, she had discovered that Wen Xin seemed different from before. She often drifted off in a daze. Occasionally, a faint sadness would flow between her brows and eyes. The sorrow seemed pent up in her chest. That irresolvable melancholy always gave people the feeling that she was forcing a smile. Even as a woman herself, Song Pingping felt heartbroken looking at her.
She had never been like this before. It must definitely be because of Yu Wenyuan’s health.
Wen Xin did not quite know how to reply. She only shook her head, and secretly looked again at the figure on the door curtain. She was wondering again how much longer he could stay. She did not know how he would leave. Would he disappear without a word and never be heard from again?
Remembering his words about taking her far away, and remembering his devastated look after she firmly refused, she felt heart-wrenching pain.
These past two days, she did not even know how she had got through them. It seemed everyone thought she was worried about Young Master Yu. So Xiao Hong kept venting her anger on her behalf, constantly blaming A Qing to comfort her.
But she knew clearly that it was not so.
She also did not understand. Had she not always been waiting shyly for her wedding day? Had she not always been looking forward to the day she would marry Yu Wenyuan? Why could a person who suddenly appeared, and a sudden confession, make her lose her soul like this?
She repeatedly told herself that this was wrong. She could only constantly use reason to suppress her wicked thoughts.
She believed she had developed wicked thoughts.
Yu Qing, leaning against the door frame, heard Song Pingping’s words and knew Wen Xin was worrying about Yu Wenyuan. A faint bitter smile involuntarily appeared at the corner of his mouth. He once again felt very foolish. More than that, he felt heartache.
Knowing that Wen Xin was constantly caring about Yu Wenyuan hurt him even more than when Wen Xin had rejected him last time.
He likewise did not understand. It was not as if he had never seen beautiful women. Tie Miaoqing was even more beautiful than Wen Xin, was she not? But why? How could a woman he had not known for very long give him such an intense, heart-tearing feeling? How could she make him, who had always prided himself on being calm, almost unable to face things with normal reason?
He told himself that when he returned, he would find Zou Yunting again to urge him on. He would find the answer he wanted as soon as possible and leave. He must leave the Wen residence as soon as possible…
Blue Bridge was one of the famous sights of Ningzhou City.
It was called Blue Bridge because the bridge embankment was built from blue-green stones. It was also the longest bridge within Ningzhou City.
On both sides of Blue Bridge, the water sparkled and the scenery was beautiful. Pleasure boats came and went without pause. By the weeping willows on both banks, tourists were as numerous as weaving threads. Vendors of all kinds carried poles and set up stalls to hawk their goods. There were also quite a few beggars stretching out their hands by the roadside.
The capital official Yin Jizhen, dressed in ordinary cloth clothes, stood with his hands behind his back beneath a weeping willow, admiring the beautiful scenery on the lake. Compared to when he had first entered the capital, he had shed much of his youthful inexperience and appeared even more steady.
The slightly plump man accompanying him by his side, with a stalwart build, was Wan Shengqun, Yin Jizhen’s future elder brother-in-law.
Guards were scattered all around, openly and secretly. They were all sent by the Wan family to protect Yin Jizhen.