Zhang Yuan knew he was a dead man and dared not utter another word about the First Prince.
But among the onlookers, there were some eager troublemakers who had already loudly answered for him: “He said earlier that he works for His Highness the First Prince!”
Xiao Chonghua raised an eyebrow, a meaningful, shallow smile playing on his lips.
“Oh? So you are my elder brother’s subordinate?”
Zhang Yuan, suppressing the terror in his heart, trembled as he tried to lie. “N-No, this lowly one was just talking nonsense earlier.”
Xiao Chonghua didn’t care in the slightest.
Even if he wasn’t, he had to be now.
With a wave of his hand, the guards flanking him immediately hauled Zhang Yuan to his feet.
“Drag him to the market square and beat him to death!”
Zhang Yuan’s eyes widened in horror. “Your Highness the Third Prince, have mercy! This lowly one—”
His words were instantly cut off as a wad of coarse cloth was stuffed into his mouth, lest he utter anything that might soil the Third Prince’s ears.
Zhang Yuan, accustomed to throwing his weight around and bullying others—even able to boss around the General’s Manor’s steward, let alone commoners—had finally kicked an iron plate today.
He whimpered and sobbed from his throat as he was mercilessly dragged toward the market square.
Leaving behind two streaks of yellowish liquid.
The swarming crowd of onlookers all followed after.
They were used to watching beheadings, but they had never seen someone beaten to death before.
In no time, the surrounding crowd dispersed completely.
Without Xiao Chonghua even needing to give a look, an attendant promptly produced a silver note and handed it to the old man standing nearby, stunned.
“This is two hundred taels. Please, old sir, you must accept it.”
The old man was utterly frightened out of his wits.
He never imagined that merely seeking justice could escalate to such a degree.
First, General Huo arrived, and in the end, even a prince was roused.
He was just a farmer who had tilled the land his whole life; how could he have ever witnessed such a scene? He waved his hands in panic:
“I couldn’t possibly accept this! I couldn’t!”
Xiao Chonghua spoke with amiable warmth. “When an elder brother errs, it is only right for the younger brother to share in the punishment. Please do not refuse, old sir. If you are uneasy, I can send guards to escort you home.”
Shangguan Luoyue gracefully took the silver note, folded it neatly, and placed it in the old man’s hand.
“Don’t be afraid, elder. This is what you deserve. Please, go home quickly.”
The old man looked at Shangguan Luoyue, then at “Huo Ci” and Xiao Chonghua, swallowed hard, bowed deeply to them all, and gratefully stumbled his way home.
Staggering and faltering all the way, stepping deep then shallow.
He wouldn’t dare to dream such a dream!
The silver note tucked inside his robes felt scalding hot against his chest.
There really are many good people in the capital!
Shangguan Luoyue made a graceful curtsy. “Today, thanks to General Huo and Your Highness the Third Prince upholding justice, this humble woman is endlessly grateful.”
Jiang Xingyan took a step back, avoiding her courtesy.
“It was all His Highness’s doing. Huo merely passed by.”
Shangguan Luoyue gazed at “Huo Ci” with shining eyes, her look one of infatuation. “To act upon seeing injustice and draw one’s sword to help—General Huo is also a man of noble spirit and warm heart.”
The smile that had been hanging on Xiao Chonghua’s lips faded. Lowering his eyes, he took his leave of the two. “I must still enter the palace to report today’s events to His Majesty, the Emperor. I cannot stay longer. Please, both of you, carry on as you wish.”
He ascended his two-horse carriage of golden nanmu wood carved with cloud and dragon patterns with deliberate grace. As it passed Jiang Xingyan, he lifted the side curtain as if suddenly remembering something and smiled at her:
“General Huo, Her Majesty the Empress is very fond of the pastries from your esteemed wife’s shop. Might I trouble you to ask your wife to have someone deliver more to the palace?”
Jiang Xingyan frowned.
Why tell her this?
“Huo has been preoccupied with military affairs recently and has not returned home. Your Highness can simply send someone to the manor to inform my wife directly.”
—There’s really no need for me to relay the message.
“Huo Ci” remained so stubbornly unyielding, yet Xiao Chonghua showed no annoyance. The smile at the corner of his lips deepened, as if his objective had already been achieved.
He nodded, lowered the side curtain, and the carriage rumbled away.
Jiang Xingyan was speechless: What a weirdo.
Turning sharply, she didn’t miss the flash of undisguised admiration in Shangguan Luoyue’s eyes.
She was all too familiar with that kind of look.
She herself used to gaze at Huo Ci just like that, with shining eyes.
Jiang Xingyan was momentarily dazed.
So, this Princess Huaiwan hadn’t taken a liking to the eagerly preening Xiao Chonghua, but had instead set her sights on “Huo Ci.”
No wonder Xiao Chonghua deliberately emphasized the words “your esteemed wife” before leaving.
Wasn’t he hinting at it for Shangguan Luoyue’s benefit?
To dissuade her from wanting to marry Huo Ci, since he already had a principal wife.
A dignified princess of Great Xia surely couldn’t become someone else’s concubine, could she?
Jiang Xingyan couldn’t help but click her tongue.
This Xiao Chonghua—with a sieve hanging from his chest, a leaking ladle in his belly, a fishing net draped over him—even in his dreams, his mind must make eight hundred turns.
“General Huo, you are so young, yet you are already married?”
Shangguan Luoyue’s tone held a faint trace of regret.
She was too late.
Jiang Xingyan answered bluntly: “Already divorced.”
“Pfft.”
Shangguan Luoyue let out a light laugh.
She hadn’t expected such an unexpected harvest.
She was just about to inquire further when a servant, dressed as a house attendant, found her. “Miss, your family has arrived and asks for your return.”
Shangguan Luoyue nodded, bowed to Jiang Xingyan, and said, “General Huo, this humble woman takes her leave. Perhaps we shall meet again if fate allows.”
Jiang Xingyan cupped her hands in salute and watched as the princess boarded a small sapphire-blue sedan chair.
She turned and returned to her own carriage. Yun Chunfeng asked with concern, “Was there something off about that Shangguan Luoyue?”
Jiang Xingyan was silent for a moment before speaking gravely, “Let’s talk after we return. Wang Qi, to the small courtyard.”
——
The small courtyard Jiang Xingyan had bought was in the eastern suburbs.
The location was secluded, the environment refined.
It consisted almost entirely of residential compounds. There were no noisy peddlers and hawkers, nor the bustling traffic and pleasure quarters—a rare, quiet place within the capital.
Thus, the price for such a courtyard was comparable to those in the bustling city center, yet they were still hard to come by.
If the previous owner of this courtyard hadn’t wanted to return to his roots in the south of the Yangtze, such a fine property would never have been sold.
When Xia Feng brought the property agent’s illustrated booklet for the courtyard, Jiang Xingyan had taken a liking to it at first glance. She didn’t hesitate to withdraw funds in advance from the shop to pay the deposit immediately.
A three-section courtyard with front, central, and rear compounds, plus a back garden filled with bamboo—it was hard not to love.
Even more perfect was that it was also very far from the General’s Manor.
Jiang Xingyan would always remember how excited they all were after Xia Feng and Dongyang returned with the title and land deeds.
Chun Yue and Qiu Yan instantly burst into tears.
“We have our own home!”
At those words, Xia Feng and Dongyang, who had been holding strong, also couldn’t hold back their tears.
“This is the home the Young Lady gave us.”
A real home. One where they wouldn’t be worn down, looked down upon, feel like they were living under someone else’s roof, or be in mortal danger.
She originally hadn’t wanted Huo Ci to know about it.
Who could have guessed that the two of them still hadn’t switched back?
To fool the Emperor during her few days in Qingzhou, Huo Ci had stayed in this small courtyard.
Jiang Xingyan was quite indignant.
She hadn’t even lived in it herself yet!
But she also didn’t want her small courtyard tainted with Huo Ci’s presence, so she rarely came here.
Counting today, it was only the third time.
The courtyard still didn’t have a name.
Jiang Xingyan had long reserved the task for Yun Chunfeng: “On the day I switch back, Brother Yun will name the courtyard. The plaque will also be written by Brother Yun.”
This was also the home she had promised him—a home that had a share for him.
The two pushed the door open and entered. A few maids and servants left to care for the place had kept the courtyard spotlessly clean.
Jiang Xingyan keenly noticed the courtyard held a bit more warmth and liveliness now.
The various flowers blooming in the corners of the yard, the two rows of small round lanterns hanging under the eaves, the goldfish pond in the center of the courtyard, the fire prevention vats at the corners of the buildings.
All were Yun Chunfeng’s touches.
“Brother Yun, thank you.”
Yun Chunfeng wasn’t pleased. “Isn’t this Brother Yun’s home too? To be thanked for adding things to one’s own home… Hmph.”
Jiang Xingyan chuckled.
It was the same old line: “Wait for me in the dream.”
Yun Chunfeng’s face instantly flushed crimson with shyness.
The two went to the study. Qiu Yan and Chun Xue had arranged everything neatly and in order.
Jiang Xingyan didn’t need to search much; she took out a scroll from the cabinet and slowly unfurled it.
Yun Chunfeng used his cultivation to temporarily enhance his vision.
When he saw the person in the painting clearly, he was greatly shocked.
The person in the painting bore an eighty to ninety percent resemblance to Shangguan Luoyue!