In the past, she had thought Qin Linfeng’s care for Qin Yunzhuang was unusual. However, it never occurred to her that Qin Linfeng’s love was beyond the love between brother and sister, but the one between a man and a woman. The love of committing incest would be a burning shame and a great sin in the mansion of Grand Commandant, where people always emphasized moral rules and family characters.
The reason why Ting Xue hesitated to tell her lay in the fact that the truth was bad for her and the Qin Family. If the reputation of the Qin Family was ruined, Qin Yunuan couldn’t get away either.
“Have you told others the secret?” Qin Yunuan asked.
“Absolutely I won’t tell others about this important thing. However, the longer Grand Young Master lingers in the brothel, the more people will get to know it. So I think it better to tell you first.”
“Good,” Qin Yunuan nodded, “From now on if there is anything like that, you should only tell me. Remember, you are my servant girl first, then you are the servant girl of the Qin Family.”
Ting Xue nodded to answer the order and asked what to do next.
“Keep watching him. He now uses the excuse of looking for further study to leave the mansion of Grand Commandant. We need to find a proper time to take off his mask of hypocrisy.”
Three days soon passed. While summer was not the best season for paddock hunting, the Royal Paddock bought some reindeer and hares for free-range farming, so that the imperial envoys from North Di could enjoy themselves to the full.
This day was fine, with no clouds in the sky. The emperor of Qi, Sima Xiu, sat on a carriage pulled by five large horses, which were carefully chosen. Their oily hair was the evidence of their purest blood.
On the left side, there were princes responsible for guarding, riding the horses in the order of their age. Although Sima Han looked stupid, he was the best at the horse-riding among them. He alternated between playing on the back of the horse and performing his excellent equestrian skills in front of Sima Xiu, making him laugh. More importantly, he was in the limelight in the face of Wanyan Su, the seventh prince of North Di who rode on the right side.
North Di was a regime built by nomadic people. Horse riding, archery, and hunting were basic skills that every man of them would practice from childhood. At the beginning of the war between the two countries, the Qi army had suffered losses in battles of pursuit, because most Qi soldiers were infantry from the Central Plains and Qi troopers were far worse than the ones in North Di in flexibility and power. After the practice in the passing years, the Qi troopers made progress, but they were still looked down upon by the North Di troopers. The latter even gave the former an ironic nickname: “Coward on the horse”.
After Sima Han’s performance of leaned horse riding, which was of great difficulty. Sima Xiu smiled, turned to his right side, and said to Wanyan Su, who kept silent, “I’ve heard that your horse-riding skill is great. What’s your comment on my Fourth Prince’s skills?”
Wanyan Su was big-boned and a head taller than the Qi resident, which was the shape of a typical North Di resident. He got thick arms and his upper body was a standard inverted triangle, reflecting his long experience of learning martial arts and leading the army. However, his behavior was not so rude as most North Di residents did. He spoke in a low voice, good manner, and standard Central Plain accent, which was quite attractive adding his manly face with a delicate contour, thick eyebrows, and large eyes.
He nodded slightly, “The horse-riding skill of that Qi prince can be counted as above the average in our North Di. It’s estimable that he can reach the level at such a young age.”
His word was pleasing to Sima Xiu’s ears. He praised the skill of Sima Han as well as protecting the dignity of North Di people. The North Di prince was really good at speech.
However, Sima Han was not happy. He turned his face to another side and spoke in a childish tone, “Humph! If my master competes with you, he will definitely beat you!”
“Han, mind your words,” although Emperor Zhaoxuan, Sima Xiu, blamed Sima Han orally, a faint smile appeared on his face.
“Well, who is your master?” Wanyan Su seemed interested.
Sima Han turned his face again and spoke arrogantly, “His fame will scare you to death! Have you ever heard of Leng Changxi, the Cool Face General? He is my master. I’ve studied for five years. Only to learn a little from him.”
Wanyan Su nodded and smiled, “I undoubtedly heard of the name of the first general in Qi. In the world nowadays, there is nobody but him having the ability to kill the general in millions of soldiers. Now that I’ve come here and got the luck to hunt with the emperor of Qi, I won’t be happier if I can see the general in legend.”
Sima Xiu remained calm to the surprising enthusiasm of Wanyan Su. Since the Qi and the North Di had been in war for such a long time, the imperial matrimony for peace was more or less suspicious. He looked straightforward and raised his head slightly, “At the time of horseback archery race, you will see him.”
He knew what Wanyan Su was thinking. Having said so much, he wanted nothing but a competition.
While the men in the front were chatting passionately, Qin Yunuan sat in the carriage in the back, lifting the curtain and showing Qin Yuzhao who Sima Han was. He is the most active man in the crowd.
“Come, Yuzhao. Just come and see,” Qin Yunuan pulled Qin Yuzhao, who was busying chewing the fried dough.
“The man riding in the most front. Do you see him? What do you think of him?”
Qin Yuzhao swallowed the fried dough when the appetizing oil of the pastry flowed from the corner of her mouth. With only one glance, she asserted, “He is a fool.”
Hearing this, Qin Yunuan couldn’t help smiling. She used her handkerchief to wipe the corner of Qin Yuzhao’s mouth. Good that the oil didn’t drop on the clothes, or the time she spent dressing up Qin Yuzhao from the early morning would be wasted. Now Qin Yuzhao was just like a beautiful china doll, with a white face, pink lips, arched eyebrows, and delicate tip of the nose. When she didn’t speak, she was extremely beautiful.
“Well, do you like the fool?” Qin Yunuan asked in a smile.
“Huh. Is he as foolish as I am?” Qin Yuzhao twinkled.
Qin Yunuan thought for a while and said, “He is the same as you. Foolish as he is, he is straightforward and innocent.”
Qin Yuzhao felt happy, clapping her palms, “Well, I like him!”
Reaching the campsite, people were not rushing to hunt. The temporary tents were already pitched. The largest one in bright yellow in the center belonged to the emperor, Sima Xiu. The ones of the princes were all around it, like stars surrounding the moon. The ones in the periphery respectively belonged to imperial concubines, princes, and ministers. Qin Yunuan and other ladies being invited lived in the west corner.
Although the paddock hunting only took several days, the tent was arranged in extreme delicacy inside. There were incense burners for the scent, folding screens for separating space, and copper basins for cleaning up. One tent was large enough for three people to live in. As soon as Qin Yunuan and Qin Yuzhao put down their luggage and Maner and Tong were ready to make the bed, they heard the sound of the third person to live with them entering.
“If Qin Yunzhuang marries Prince Ray this time, my good days will follow. I’m the best friend of Qin Yunzhuang, and she has promised to support me. At that time, you will all have a good time with me.”
The moment the curtain was lifted, Qin Yunuan saw Li Weijun standing at the entrance. What a coincidence! She is the roommate. Looking at the four servant girls following Li Weijun, Qin Yunuan smiled, “What ostentation! Even the Imperial Concubine only took six servant girls with her during the hunting. You, on the other hand, have brought four.”
Seeing Qin Yunuan in the tent, Li Weijun stretched her neck and raised her head to cover her surprise, “It makes sense. If a lady has no servant girls to serve her with tea, perfume, bath, and books, she is too shabby. What do you think?”
It seemed that Li Weijun had bet all she got on Qin Yunzhuang, thinking that Qin Yunzhuang’s marriage to Prince Ray was like flying up into the branches. However, she didn’t know that Qin Yunzhuang couldn’t even protect herself anymore. But Qin Yunzhuang thought the same as Li Weijun did. They proved the saying that birds of a feather flock together.
Qin Yunuan looked at Maner and Tong, and smiled, “The most important thing about servant girls is their loyalty. Those two are enough for me. If there are too many servant girls, one day one of them might cause trouble. What a master fears most is being killed without knowing the reason.”
Li Weijun gave a snort of contempt, acting like a lady and ordering her servant girls behind, “What are you waiting for? Xiaxiang, change the mattress. Chunxiang, burn the best eaglewood. Dongxiang, use hot water to clean the copper basins and wooden tubs. Qiuxiang, go outside and ask how to take a bath these days. Why didn’t I see a place for bathing? I can’t bear it!”
Wow, what hustle and bustle!
Maner made the bed for Qin Yunuan and helped Tong spread the mattress. The two whispered to each other.
“Miss Li is so fond of ostentation and extravagance.”
“She must have learned that from Grand Miss. She learned no good habits but the bad habit of showing off.”
“Ah me! I didn’t know that there was any good in Grand Miss to learn from!”
Their whispering was not heard by people from the Li Family but was caught by Qin Yunuan.
“You two,” Qin Yunuan couldn’t help reminding them, but she laughed like she was amused by the two servant girls, “Those words should be spoken in private. Shut up and mind your own business.”
The sun at noon was scorching, so people all stayed in their own tents for resting. Qin Yunuan just spread her chignon and opened her makeup box to put the hair clasp in when she saw a scrip in it, which wrote: “Come to the range to see me shooting.”
