Yangzhou is two thousand three hundred li from Changan.
If you ride a horse, you can reach it in ten days.
If you travel by boat, it takes about half a month.
Zheng Shi was worried that Yun Ran would not adapt to the water and soil, so she deliberately slowed the pace, switching from boat to carriage, moving forward with frequent stops.
It took nearly a month before they finally caught sight of Changan’s Boundary Stele.
Traveling with them was Yun Ran’s Fourth Elder Brother, the Fourth Young Master Yun of the Marquis of Changxin Manor— Yun Shang.
Yun Shang had come with Zheng Shi to Yangzhou, originally intending to climb the mountain to see his younger sister.
But Zheng Shi, considering that Shuiyue Temple was a nunnery and did not receive male guests, had Yun Shang wait in the city instead.
He ended up waiting for several days, and at last, when he finally saw the legendary “little sister,” Yun Shang looked her up and down as if she were some rare treasure, examining Yun Ran from head to toe several times.
He stared until even Yun Ran, who always prided herself on being thick-skinned, blushed.
Only then did Yun Shang rub his hands together and carefully call out, “Sister?”
Yun Ran also rubbed her hands together and replied, “Brother?”
The siblings were only three years apart in age, and their blood ties were close.
As soon as their four eyes met, they both broke into smiles at the same time.
There was no need for Zheng Shi to deliberately foster closeness; the siblings grew familiar naturally.
After spending a month together on the return journey, they became even more affectionate, as if they had never been separated since childhood.
Now, Zheng Shi and the Marquis of Changxin had been husband and wife for many years, raising five children together.
She had given birth to four sons in succession, but Zheng Shi was determined not to give up; she gritted her teeth and tried once more.
Her wish was finally fulfilled when she joyfully gave birth to a daughter.
Who would have thought that after just three years, her daughter would be abducted during the Lantern Festival?
From then on, Zheng Shi pined day and night, shedding countless tears both openly and in secret.
Fortunately, the heavens took pity, and she was able to find her daughter again within her lifetime.
“We just passed Ba Bridge. At most, in an hour, we’ll be in the city.”
On the carriage speeding toward Changan, Zheng Shi gazed lovingly at her youngest daughter sitting by the window.
“Your father and I sent word ahead. When we enter the city gates, your Elder Brother and Third Brother will come to meet us.”
Yun Ran had now changed her attire; she no longer resembled the rough, plain girl Zheng Shi had first met.
Her hair was styled in the fashionable Chaoyue bun favored by Changan’s noblewomen, and she wore a Tianshui blue Hangzhou silk skirt.
Around her neck hung a choker strung with a pure gold ‘May All Go Well’ lock pendant, and at her waist was a grass-green floral satin sash.
As the saying goes, clothes make the person and a saddle makes the horse.
Even when dressed in rough cloth and hairpins, Yun Ran’s delicate beauty was hard to hide.
Now, clad in fine garments, her fair face looked even more radiant, like a budding peony about to bloom on a jade cup.
“Mother, I’m a little nervous.”
After spending a month together day and night, Yun Ran had become much closer to Zheng Shi, and now called her “Mother” without hesitation.
“Fourth Brother said Elder Brother is very fierce, and Third Brother can’t stand idiots who lack learning… Other than reciting scriptures, I haven’t read any other books. Will they think I’m ignorant and dislike me?”
“Don’t listen to your Fourth Brother’s nonsense. Your Elder Brother and Third Brother aren’t like that at all.”
Zheng Shi silently cursed her fourth son for being a troublemaker, then grasped Yun Ran’s hand.
“Your father wrote in his letter that your brothers are all looking forward to our return. Even your two sisters-in-law, who usually don’t get along, have been working together to tidy up your courtyard.”
Yun Ran had also learned a bit about her family’s situation.
Among her four brothers, the first three were already married.
Except for her Second Sister-in-law, who was stationed with Second Brother in Yuzhou and not in Changan, the other two couples lived in the Marquis of Changxin Manor.
Thinking of the Marquis of Changxin Manor— that closest yet unfamiliar “home”—and the family members she had never met, Yun Ran gently stroked the Thunderstruck Jujube Prayer Beads her Master had given her.
Her heart was both expectant and anxious.
Suddenly, a mournful funeral tune drifted in from outside the carriage.
Mother and daughter inside both froze.
When they lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, they saw a Funeral Procession streaming out of the city gate, with a Nanmu Coffin in the center.
Zheng Shi instinctively frowned.
To encounter a funeral right upon returning to Changan—how unlucky.
“Mother, don’t frown.”
When Zheng Shi turned around, she saw Yun Ran smiling at her, eyes curved.
“See a coffin, get rich—great fortune and prosperity.”
Seeing her daughter so unconcerned, Zheng Shi laughed as well.
“Ranran is right. See a coffin, get rich— great fortune and prosperity.”
“But Mother, do all Changan funerals have such grand displays?”
Yun Ran lifted the curtain for another look, marveling, “As expected of the capital—even funerals are so impressive.”
Hearing this, Zheng Shi also glanced outside again.
This time, she spotted several familiar faces and couldn’t help but be surprised.
“This… Is this the Cui Family’s funeral? Could it be Old Madam Cui…”
She didn’t finish her thought, instead stopping the carriage and sending Fourth Son Yun Shang to inquire.
Before long, Yun Shang returned.
Through the window, his tone was regretful: “It is indeed the Cui Family’s funeral, but it’s not Old Madam Cui. It’s the Sixth Miss Cui.”
“Sixth Miss Cui?!”
Zheng Shi was even more shocked.
“Isn’t that child only sixteen? I remember seeing her well at the Spring Banquet earlier this year—how could…”
Yun Shang replied, “They say she suddenly developed an intestinal abscess in the middle of the night and passed away before she could be saved.”
Hearing this, Zheng Shi was silent for a long time, struggling to speak.
Yun Ran didn’t quite understand and asked softly, “Mother, is this Cui family lady related to us?”
Zheng Shi collected herself and shook her head.
“Not relatives, but the Cui Family and our Zheng Family are both old families of Changan, and we’ve been close for many years. The mother of this Cui lady often visits me… Sixth Miss was gentle and refined, such a good child— how could this happen… Sigh.”
Yun Ran felt a pang of sorrow as well.
A young girl in the prime of her life, gone so suddenly because of an acute illness.
“Mother, Cui Boxu is coming.”
Outside the carriage, Yun Shang suddenly spoke.
Yun Ran and Zheng Shi looked out the window together and saw a young man in plain mourning clothes striding over.
Zheng Shi introduced in a low voice, “That’s the Cui Family’s legitimate son, Sixth Miss’s full brother, Third Son Cui Boxu.”
Yun Ran nodded, remembering the name.
Looking again at the young man— just over twenty, with jade-like features and handsome brows, though exhaustion clouded his face, his eyes were still bright and upright.
As he walked, his robe fluttered lightly, making him seem as solitary as a pine, as lofty as a crane.
Even though Yun Ran had grown up in a nunnery and had little contact with men, she could tell that this Cui Family young master was among the most outstanding in Changan.
While she pondered, Cui Boxu had already reached the carriage, exchanged greetings with Yun Shang, and bowed toward the carriage.
“This nephew greets Aunt Zheng. May Aunt enjoy peace.”
The brocade curtain was lifted halfway.
Zheng Shi sat upright inside, looking at the polite young man outside.
“Virtuous nephew, please rise— no need for formalities.”
Cui Boxu straightened up.
Zheng Shi said, “I just returned to the capital today and only now learned of this tragedy in your family. Sixth Miss was such a good child— what a pity.”
She paused, then added, “Are your grandmother and mother well? Losing a child is hard for anyone to bear. Please make sure they take care of themselves.”
Cui Boxu lowered his gaze.
“Thank you for your concern, Aunt. Grandmother and Mother are being comforted by our family, and their spirits are holding up.”
Zheng Shi nodded, then seemed to remember something and turned.
“Ranran, quickly greet your Cui Family brother.”
Yun Ran was never shy around outsiders.
Suddenly called upon, she boldly poked her face out the window, her black eyes looking at the man outside.
“Hello, Cui Family brother. I am the Fifth Miss Yun, Yun Ran. It’s nice to meet you— please look after me.”
This rather odd introduction made Cui Boxu pause.
But when he met the overly clear black eyes of the little girl, he didn’t feel awkward at all.
“Greetings, Fifth Sister Yun.”
Cui Boxu returned the greeting as an equal, then turned his gaze to Zheng Shi.
“I had heard before that Aunt was traveling south this time to search for your little sister. Now that the lost pearl has been found, it is truly worth celebrating.”
Zheng Shi smiled a little but said no more.
After all, the Cui Family had just lost a daughter; it wouldn’t do to flaunt her own happiness in someone else’s sorrow.
Just as Zheng Shi was about to end the conversation, a servant of the Cui Family rushed over in a panic.
“Master, Master—”
Seeing the servant so flustered, Cui Boxu frowned.
“What’s happened to make you so anxious?”
“It’s the Jing… Jing Prince…”
The servant, out of breath, pointed behind the funeral procession.
“The Grand Steward of the Jing Prince’s Manor has come to deliver funeral offerings!”
This gasp made everyone’s heart leap.
When they heard it was only the Grand Steward and not the Jing Prince himself, Zheng Shi quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Yun Ran noticed this and was surprised.
After Cui Boxu took his leave and the curtain was lowered again, she eagerly leaned close to Zheng Shi.
“Mother, who is the Jing Prince? Why did everyone tense up when you heard his name?”
Zheng Shi’s expression stiffened slightly, but seeing her daughter’s eager look, she lowered her voice and explained:
“The Jing Prince is the current Empress Dowager Zhao’s youngest son, the Emperor’s own brother, and the only special-ranked imperial prince in this dynasty. The late Sixth Miss Cui was his fiancée.”
She paused, then added with a hint of secrecy, “The third one.”
Yun Ran’s bright eyes instantly widened. “The third?!”
Zheng Shi nodded.
“This Jing Prince, though of noble blood, has a reclusive and eccentric nature. He keeps company with snakes all day, rarely leaves his residence, and is seldom seen in public. A high monk once read his fortune and said he was born under the Heavenly Fiend Fate, destined to bring misfortune to wives, children, and anyone close to him…”
“Before the Cui Family, the Empress Dowager had arranged two other marriages for him, but both ladies died soon after the engagements were set. I never used to believe in this Heavenly Fiend talk, but with the death of the Cui Family’s Sixth Miss, that makes three!”
Zheng Shi clutched her chest in horror.
“I don’t know if, after this, the Jing Prince will ever marry. If he does, whoever is chosen will truly be out of luck.”
Yun Ran had heard of the fate of the Heavenly Fiend Star during her years in the temple, but had never witnessed it.
Now, arriving in Changan and seeing it firsthand, she was both amazed and sympathetic toward the ill-fated Sixth Miss Cui.
She quietly took a ritual instrument from her bundle, sat up straight, and closed her eyes in prayer.
Zheng Shi was puzzled.
“Ranran, what are you doing?”
“Our two families are old friends, and it’s fate that we met today. I’d like to recite a passage from the Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Scripture for Saving from Suffering and Redeeming Sins for the Cui lady, wishing her swift ascension to paradise and peace in her next life.”
Hearing this, Zheng Shi felt both gratified by her daughter’s kindness and wanted to advise her not to do such things.
After all, fortune-telling and ritual chanting were considered lowly occupations, not fitting her current status. If word got out, people might laugh at her.
But when she looked at her daughter’s innocent face, the words stuck in her throat.
Forget it—no need to say things that would hurt the child.
Her daughter had lived among commoners for twelve years, and the habits she’d picked up wouldn’t change overnight.
She could teach her slowly in the future.
–
At dusk, the evening drums thundered.
The golden-red sunset bathed the vast city of Changan and the grand palace walls, as well as Jia Shou Palace, where Empress Dowager Zhao resided.
Upon hearing the eunuch’s report that the Jing Prince had sent someone to deliver funeral offerings to the Cui Family and then closed the gates of his manor, refusing all visitors, Empress Dowager Zhao, dressed in a stone-blue brocade robe, pressed her lips tightly together, her face somber.
Empress Zheng, who was accompanying her, hesitated for a moment before softly advising, “Mother, please don’t worry too much. Imperial Younger Brother Jing must be grieving for the Cui Family lady. That’s why he closed his manor… He’ll be fine after a while.”
“Grieving?”
Empress Dowager Zhao scoffed.
“The marriage was set half a year ago, and he’s never even met that Sixth Miss Cui. What’s there to grieve about? He’s just putting on a show to blame me!”
Empress Zheng felt awkward and didn’t know how to respond.
“How can I be blamed for this? How could I have known that Cui Family girl was so ill-fated, gone in an instant from an acute illness…”
Empress Dowager Zhao clutched the Sandalwood Buddhist Beads in her palm, frowning even deeper.
“He’s already twenty-two. When the Emperor was his age, you already had Yu’er with him. But look at him— not only does he refuse to marry and settle down, he stays cooped up in his manor all day, never meeting anyone, let alone making friends. Now he’s closed himself off even more, acting as if he’s completely cut himself off from the world! I know he suffered when he was held hostage by the Rongdi, and I’ve tried my best to make it up to him, but he still resents me…”
The more she spoke, the sadder she became, until tears welled in her eyes.
Empress Zheng and the palace maids hurried forward to comfort her, and only after much coaxing did the Empress Dowager stop crying.
Unknowingly, the last crimson glow of sunset was swallowed by the vast night.
Empress Zheng left Jia Shou Palace, gazed at the faint white moon rising in the sky, and let out a long sigh.
“His Highness really is something. The Empress Dowager thinks of him in everything, yet he lets her down,” Palace Maid Qiongjv murmured quietly at her side.
Empress Zheng frowned. “Is His Highness someone you can gossip about?”
Qiongjv quickly apologized, “This maid was wrong!”
Having grown up together, Empress Zheng, recalling their bond, only gave a stern warning.
“If you wag your tongue like this again, you’ll no longer stay in the palace.”
Qiongjv agreed repeatedly, helping the Empress into the Feng Nian, and then reported on the details of the Cui Family’s funeral.
At the end, she also mentioned that the Cui Family’s coffin had encountered the Marquis of Changxin Manor’s carriage procession at the city gate.
Empress Zheng was very surprised, sitting up straight.
“My aunt’s little cousin has been missing for twelve years, and she’s really been found?”
Qiongjv replied, “Indeed. Everyone says the Marquis of Changxin and his wife have accumulated virtue through good deeds over the years, moving the heavens to grant them this blessing.”
“Speaking of which, my aunt has really had a hard time these years.”
After all, they were family.
Hearing this, Empress Zheng was happy for her relatives.
“Tomorrow, prepare a congratulatory gift from me and send it to the Marquis of Changxin Manor as a token of my regard.”
“Yes.”
“Oh, and…”
Empress Zheng brushed her jade bracelet as she gazed at the bright moon in the sky.
“The invitations for this year’s Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet are ready, aren’t they? Add my little cousin’s name to the list and send it over as well.”