Chapter 55

Nie Qinglin sat in the chair, smiling as she welcomed the two honored guests from the Yonghe Prince’s residence.

The Princess Consort of Yonghe carried an expression full of deference as she greeted the princess, once again expressing deep apologies.

The elder looked every bit sincere, but the young County Princess beside her wore a face of visible displeasure and indignation between her brows.

This time, Nie Qinglin wasn’t as bewildered as she had been before.

During a recent little gathering at the Ge residence with the other noble ladies, she’d overheard quite a bit about this young County Princess, including rumors of her turning down numerous suitors of great talent and family, and of her suspected hidden affections for the Grand Tutor.

Sigh, the Grand Tutor…his grace and bearing outshine all six palaces, truly a blue face that spells calamity!

(T/N: A handsome man who brings misfortune, usually by stirring romantic trouble.)

Now that she understood the situation, she could also grasp the reason behind the old Princess Consort’s hostility that day.

She patiently went through all the polite formalities, and at last, managed to see the pair off, both their words insincere to the end.

Once they were gone, Nie Qinglin immediately called over Nanny Shan to remove the teacups the guests had used.

Then she moved a small wicker table into the little courtyard.

Lately, she’d had a few grapevines brought over from the Inner Service Bureau and set up a trellis.

The vines had grown quickly, entwining into a leafy canopy of shade.

After rinsing the green-brick courtyard floor with cool water, the heat seemed to vanish at once.

On the little round table beneath the arbor, all sorts of snacks, sweets, and tea were soon arranged.

Not long after, the second group of guests to visit the princess today arrived.

Ge Yun’er, under the guidance of a eunuch, entered Fengchu Palace with a face full of curious joy.

Just inside the gates, she spotted the princess seated at the grape trellis, waving her over.

Beaming, she hurried forward to greet the princess like a younger sister.

In the past, Nie Qinglin had never truly had any close friends because of her identity as a girl pretending to be a prince.

The only one who came close was probably Ge Qingyuan and those few childhood days of friendship with him.

But after becoming a princess, the barrier of status was gone.

Somehow, she had forged a handkerchief friendship with Ge Yun’er.

Come to think of it, her bond with the Ge siblings really ran deep.

Ge Yun’er carried some of her older brother’s childhood mischievousness and when it came to play, she was full of ideas.

After some cheerful chitchat and laughter with the princess, she sneakily opened the book box she’d brought into the palace.

Nie Qinglin looked closely, just the Four Books and Five Classics, nothing unusual.

But lo and behold, there was more than met the eye.

Once the pages were turned, they revealed popular new editions of saucy and charming tales.

“Those palace guards…clearly a bunch of blockheads. When they checked my book box, I nearly died of fright! All they did was flip through to see if there was anything hidden between the pages, but never even glanced at the inner secrets…”

Princess Yong’an watched as Ge Yun’er pressed a handkerchief to her chest in exaggerated fright and laughed along with her.

“And the princess still dares to laugh! If you hadn’t complained last time that the palace only had old books, that you hadn’t seen any of the new releases lately, would I have gone through all that effort and spending the entire night re-covering those books just for you?”

Nie Qinglin picked up a honeyed fruit and popped it into Ge Yun’er’s slightly puffed cheek: “Alright, I know your heart is true. Since you’ve gone to such lengths to deliver these books, tomorrow I’ll report to His Majesty, shall I ask him to grant you a husband of your liking?”

This time, Ge Yun’er turned completely red.

Flustered, she stomped her foot beneath the chair in secret: “Who said I came for a reward? Who said I want to get married?”

Nie Qinglin covered her mouth with her fan and burst into laughter.

Lately, she’d grown somewhat weary of these romantic tales, but Ge Yun’er’s gesture still warmed her heart.

Such childish antics, free from the scheming and power plays of men, made for a pure kind of companionship between close sisters.

Ge Yun’er didn’t often enter the palace.

After their little heart-to-heart, Princess Yong’an took her on a stroll through the rear gardens to see the newly blooming lotuses.

Before her visit, Ge Yun’er’s older brother had already reminded her repeatedly that even if the princess was warm and welcoming, one shouldn’t linger in the palace too long.

So, after their walk, she took the initiative to bid farewell.

Just before leaving, she suddenly remembered her brother’s instruction.

Taking advantage of the distance between them and the servants, she lowered her voice and said, “My brother asks that you meet at the Nixang Pavilion three days from now…”

With that, she smiled and turned away.

Nie Qinglin remained standing, smiling as she watched her little friend leave but her heart grew faintly heavy.

This sudden invitation was definitely not part of her original plans.

With a mind weighed down by thoughts, she slowly made her way back to Fengchu Palace.

Upon entering the gate, she saw Eunuch Ruan standing outside.

Sure enough, when she entered the main hall, the long-absent Grand Tutor was already there.

He lounged on a soft divan, leisurely flipping through one of the “Four Books and Five Classics” from the book box nearby.

The blue cover was neatly marked with the characters Spring and Autumn, but who knew what kind of spring feelings were being performed within?

It turned out that Ge Yun’er had brought in some real heavy-hitters from the world of racy romance, so fiery that even married young ladies would blush and have racing hearts.

Since Nie Qinglin hadn’t had the time to vet the books, she didn’t know which one the Grand Tutor now held delicately between his long fingers.

The princess entered, but the Grand Tutor was so engrossed that he didn’t even greet her.

He just slowly turned to the next page…

Nie Qinglin felt her face flush red-hot all at once.

But she couldn’t just snatch the book away from his hands outright.

Instead, she awkwardly walked over to the divan and said in a deliberately casual tone, “The Grand Tutor seems quite free today, to come sit for a while…”

Still no response.

He lazily turned another page.

Nie Qinglin’s face was burning.

She couldn’t hold it anymore and forcefully plucked the book from his hands.

“Has the Grand Tutor eaten yet? Why not join me for a meal in a while?”

Only then did the Grand Tutor slowly lift his phoenix-like eyes, studying the princess for a long moment before replying with a question of his own: “I heard the princess has recently been diligent reading many Confucian classics… But today, I finally understand what all that diligence is really about.”

Seeing the hint of amusement in the Grand Tutor’s gaze, Nie Qinglin felt utterly defeated.

It was true she’d been reading proper classics lately, now that she was a princess, she no longer feared people thinking she was an ambitious prince plotting for the throne, so she had broadened her studies.

But now, because of that box of racy tales, she’d been completely misread as a princess obsessed with lust and licentiousness.

Grand Tutor… I am nothing like my fourth sister, Princess Leyao, alright!

The Grand Tutor was swamped with official business.

He only heard midway that Princess Consort of Yonghe had come to pay her respects to the princess, so he dropped by to take a look.

Unexpectedly, by the time he arrived, two rounds of guests had already come and gone, and the tea had long gone cold.

Official affairs were urgent and couldn’t be delayed, so after giving the princess a deep, lingering glance, he got up and took his leave.

Once the Grand Tutor had left, Nie Qinglin couldn’t wait any longer and eagerly opened the book she’d snatched away.

The eye-searing title “A Rapid Chronicle of the Jade Maiden’s Passion” practically leapt off the page.

Flipping a few more pages… it certainly lived up to its “rapid” name.

In just a few leafs’ time, the young noble lady in the story had already finished her wild romps with three distinctively flavored men, a coachman, a manservant, and a cousin.

And the locations were just as outlandish: a stable, a grotto in a fake mountain, even aboard a boat… What a fearless, tireless, and thoroughly bold young lady she was!

Nie Qinglin couldn’t bring herself to read any further.

She buried her face into the bedding in frustration and groaned inwardly: “Yun’er! You’ve truly landed me in hot water!”

The next day was a court rest day.

Out of the blue, the Grand Tutor invited the princess for horseback riding.

She changed into her riding attire and headed to the stables behind the imperial garden.

Though the stables weren’t large and couldn’t compare to those by Swallow Lake, they were still enough for a couple of laps on an ordinary day.

But the moment she saw the Grand Tutor leading her into the stables, Nie Qinglin suddenly recalled that scene from “Rapid Chronicle”, the one where the maiden got tricked by a brawny stablehand and lost her maidenhood right there among the hay.

She was so startled she refused to take another step.

The Grand Tutor, unaware of her thoughts, turned his handsome face toward dragon pearl with a slight raise of his brow.

“Why has the princess stopped walking?”

“Grand Tutor… there’s really nothing worth seeing in the stables… Let’s not go…” she stammered.

The Grand Tutor’s eyes flickered with amusement.

“But this humble subject finds the stables quite rich in… unique flavor.”

“Flavor? What flavor? It’s all horse dung…smells awful! What’s there to enjoy?! That book’s author must’ve been making it all up behind closed doors! Pure fantasy and nonsense!”

Nie Qinglin blurted out anxiously.

If this not-so-decent Grand Tutor were to pin her down on this filthy hay, she’d be doomed before the campaign even began!

But the Grand Tutor only looked puzzled.

“Which book does Your Highness refer to? …Ah, I recall now — that ‘Spring and Autumn Annals’, yes? This humble subject merely hoped the princess would pick a horse herself. But listening to Your Highness now… it sounds like you were expecting me to do something else?”

When the Grand Tutor played serious while teasing someone, he truly was without rival! Nie Qinglin couldn’t parry his remarks at all  and she could only blush furiously and mutter again and again, “Grand Tutor misunderstood, I truly just wanted to pick a good horse…”

Last time, when the Grand Tutor taught her to ride, it ended all the way inside a military tent.

This time, at least, his instruction was proper and by the book.

With his strong arms around her, there was no risk of falling off.

After a few laps around the training grounds with her, he ordered the gates of the horse field to be opened and, with guards in tow, rode straight out of the palace.

They galloped all the way to Mount Youyun outside the city.

Following the winding mountain path, they reached the summit, from where the capital lay sprawled before their eyes.

Generations of prosperity had made the capital a truly bustling sight.

One glance revealed a long scroll unfolding, streets, markets, palaces, all stretched endlessly to the horizon.

Holding the beauty gently in his arms, the Grand Tutor murmured, “Once this land is at peace and steady, we’ll have our grand wedding…”

Nie Qinglin’s heart sank.

She noticed he said “grand wedding.”

And when the grand wedding came… it would be obvious who the Emperor was by then.

For the Grand Tutor to suddenly make such a promise , if it had been that county princess Lin Miaosheng, she’d probably be sobbing with joy and thanking His Grace profusely by now, wouldn’t she?

But who was she? She was once a princess of Great Wei, and now the reigning monarch.

She had spent her life in the depths of the inner palace, and now she’d merely swapped one legitimate title for another — only to continue simmering in the palace for the rest of her life, bearing sons and daughters for the man behind her…

Was such a fate something to be joyfully tearful about?

Naturally, Wei Lenghou wasn’t truly asking the person in front of him, just like always, he had already made a decision that would not be changed…

Originally, Nie Qinglin had harbored deep doubts about Ge Qingyuan’s invitation and had even resolved not to go.

But in the next few days, an unexpected major incident occurred.

In the western outskirts of the capital, there was originally a compound with over a dozen rooms.

Day or night, there were always people guarding the gate.

Though they wore plain blue cloth robes like ordinary commoners, the way they stood as still as stakes made it clear they were no regular folks.

Inside the compound, robust and able-bodied men would come and go at intervals.

If you headed west from the compound for another twenty li or so, you’d reach Mount Xiwu

Though close to the capital, this mountain remained deserted all year round.

The entire mountain was bare and barren, no grass grew, no beasts made their homes there, so naturally, no one cared to go near.

It looked poor and unremarkable, but in truth, it was a veritable treasure trove.

The fine iron recently developed by the Wei dynasty was mined from this very place.

At the foot of the mountain, over a thousand strong laborers swung pickaxes to break boulders into fragments, which were then transported to nearby furnaces for smelting, eventually cast into iron ingots and shipped to the compound.

Last night, there wasn’t a single stir in the sky; the whole earth was shrouded in darkness.

And yet, the firelight from that compound in the western suburbs seemed to be the only glow in all of heaven and earth, attracting countless moths and insects to throw themselves into it like they’d been bewitched.

Then, shadowy figures emerged outside the compound.

They pulled out various components and, in a matter of moments, assembled four specially-designed ballistae.

The shadows spread out, setting up in four directions around the compound, and simultaneously fired round spheres from the ballistae, which landed not far outside the walls.

Whatever those spheres were made of, the moment they hit the ground they let out a faint “poof” and released white mist that drifted toward the compound under the cover of night.

As the mist rose, it quickly turned colorless and enveloped the entire compound.

Most of the soldiers inside were asleep.

Only a dozen or so on night duty were patrolling inside and out.

They caught a strange whiff in the air and felt dizzy, then fell flat on their faces, unconscious.

After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the shadowy figures darted out from the darkness and stormed into the compound.

As they scoured the premises, they opened one of the rooms and only for a sudden flash of blade to cut down the first black-clad man who entered.

Turns out, there was still one soldier who hadn’t been knocked out.

But after he managed to cut down or injure a few of them, he was eventually stabbed to death in a pool of his own blood.

One of the black-clad figures stood at the gate and raised a red lantern, swaying it twice.

Moments later, a line of horse-drawn carts rolled in.

The black-clad men loaded up all the iron ingots onto the carts and disappeared into the night under cover of darkness…

News of the raid on the ironworks made the Grand Tutor fly into a rage.

How could so many carts’ worth of refined iron just vanish into thin air? But after a thorough investigation, there was still no trace to be found.

From then on, the Grand Tutor no longer allowed Nie Qinglin to come and go freely from his study.

It seemed he was wary of her overhearing state affairs.

She only caught fragments of the matter from long conversations with the ladies of the household.

But even from those bits and pieces, her instincts told her that something big was about to happen…

After returning to the palace, she tossed and turned for several nights.

Soon, the day of Ge Qingyuan’s invitation arrived.

Nie Qinglin thought long and hard…and finally decided to go.