哥哥 gege – big brotherOn the third day, everyone in the xiangfu was, under Yun Xuan Zhi’s lead, sending off Yun Qian Meng and her sisters at the great entrance……
“da xiaojie, nubi has prepared three carriages, one for each xiaojie. This way, the seating will also be more s.p.a.cious!” Liu yiniang, after instructing each of the mama to move all of the necessary daily implements onto the carriages, smiled towards Yun Qian Meng and reported!
“Liu yiniang is really treating us like outsiders too much! The three xiaojie are blood-related sisters, what harm is there in sitting together in the same carriage? Even better, they can improve their sisterly relations.h.i.+p! Isn’t that right, da xiaojie?” But Su Qing who was being helped over by others swept her smiling eyes to glance at Yun Ruo Xue, before she spoke warm-heartedly!
Yun Ruo Xue saw the cue given by Su Qing and stepped forth enthusiastically. Happily pulling Yun Qian Meng and Yun Yan’s arms, she said with a tender smile, “yiniang is right, we, three sisters, have always had a good relations.h.i.+p. Naturally, we should ride on the same carriage!”
As she said this, Yun Ruo Xue turned to instruct w.a.n.g mama who was beside her, “mama, quickly go and move my luggage onto jiejie’s carriage, so that we won’t delay the time for our departure!”
When Yun Xuan Zhi heard her, his already smiling eyes glowed brighter with an approving look, and he generously commended her in front of everyone, “It still is Xue’er that is obedient!”
After Liu yiniang heard this, although the smile on her face remained, her heart became extremely unhappy. Especially after seeing Su Qing and her daughter’s one-hundred-and-eighty degree turn today, her already worrying heart had become even more anxious!
Yun Qian Meng watched as everyone in front of her echoed after each other to put up a display of the harmonious nature of their inner courtyard for the populace, then saw w.a.n.g mama command a few yatou to stuff the cloth-wrapped bundles they were holding into her own carriage; her eyes flas.h.i.+ng with a hint of a cold smile. But, she gently said, “Please wait! Father, since the first carriage will be ridden by the three of us, we shouldn’t fill it with too much stuff! nü’er sees that er mei has quite a lot of luggage, so why don’t we leave the second carriage to er mei, and let the elderly mama take the third carriage?”
Su Qing saw that the critical juncture of her plan was once again being broken by Yun Qian Meng, and secretly gritted her ivory teeth. But she a.s.sumed a concerned expression once more, “da xiaojie, there is important jewelry in those; so it’s still more appropriate to keep them close to the body! Besides, how can we let Xue’er keep an entire carriage to herself?”
As Yun Qian Meng saw that she was unwilling to let the matter drop, a cold chill floated onto her smiling eyes, and her tone turned slightly severe, as she said, “Does Su yiniang not feel at ease with the people father has arranged? When we are away from home, we shouldn’t flaunt ourselves excessively! Moreover, father is an honest, uncorrupted official. What reason is there for er mei to bring such a large amount of precious jewelry?”
Yun Qian Meng knew that Yun Xuan Zhi cared deeply about his government reputation, so her words never strayed from that topic!
Sure enough, when Yun Xuan Zhi heard Yun Qian Meng call attention to these matters, the words he originally planned to say in Su Qing’s favor were swallowed back into his stomach. Instead, he stiffened his expression to lecture the originally self-satisfied Yun Ruo Xue, “When away from home, everyone must listen to da xiaojie’s commands! Especially Ruo Xue, don’t always act like a child. When you step out of the entrance of the xiangfu, your every word and action represents the family principles and upbringing of our xiangfu, you must definitely not get into trouble!”
Yun Ruo Xue hadn’t expected that Yun Qian Meng, with just a few sentences, could borrow Yun Xuan Zhi’s mouth to reprimand her, and immediately felt anger bubbling up in her heart!
But she managed to recall Su Qing’s instructions from yesterday, and forcibly kept her fury under control, then lowered her head to bow towards Yun Xuan Zhi, deferentially answering, “Yes!”
Still, the unwillingness in her eyes that she was unable to wipe away even at the end, had fallen into Yun Qian Meng’s eyes……
Soon after, the three of them bid their farewells to Yun Xuan Zhi, then they each, with the aid of their respective yatou, climbed into their carriages, and the party set off towards Su city in a grandiose fas.h.i.+on……
Su Qing slightly narrowed her eyes and looked as the carriage gradually got further away, while the hands in her sleeves had already formed fists!
This Yun Qian Meng really wasn’t simple! Not only did she manage to keep Xue’er’s luggage placed on its own carriage, she also managed to keep w.a.n.g mama that she had specially sent over under a close watch!
Only, if she thought that this was enough to evade everything, she was gravely mistaken!
In this journey, there would be unimaginable surprises in store for her……
“Butler Zhao, why did da xiaojie go to Fu Guo gongfu yesterday?” After Yun Xuan Zhi had rushed to attend morning court, Su Qing called butler Zhao over on his own for questioning!
“It was reported that she specially went to visit Gu laotaijun, and nothing else!” Butler Zhao looked around for a moment and saw that there was n.o.body around them, before he leaned closer and replied quietly!
Hearing his answer, Su Qing nodded with slight relief, but had already cautiously instructed, “Go to Su family and tell my er ge, his actions must be ruthless; cut the weeds and eliminate the roots!”
That day, the sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly, and the carriage set off from the capital, gradually leaving behind all the hustle and bustle……
Yun Qian Meng had come to West Chu country for so long, but had yet to experience the sights and smells of this country, so she raised her white hands to pull up an edge of the curtains. While her gaze was appreciating the scenery outside, she was still keeping an eye over the actions of Yun Ruo Xue who sat beside her!
“jiejie, please have some tea!” At this moment, a boiling hot cup of tea suddenly appeared before Yun Qian Meng’s face, and the owner of that voice was Yun Ruo Xue!
Yun Qian Meng stared at the cup poking in front of her, as her eyes flashed with a cold light……
“er jie, watch out!” Yet at this moment, the carriage was suddenly jolted, and the hot tea, with the tilting of the carriage, splashed towards Yun Ruo Xue’s flower-like face! But Yun Yan suddenly leapt over, and used her own sleeves to block the steaming tea for Yun Ruo Xue……
Yun Ruo Xue did not expect this turn of events. Just a little bit closer, her face would have been destroyed by that cup of tea. Her face paled momentarily, while she had already thrown the teacup to a corner!
Yun Qian Meng immediately reached out to grab Yun Yan, and helped her stabilize her falling body. Then, she pulled up her sleeves, only to find that her spotlessly white skin had been shockingly scalded, and immediately scolded towards the outside of the carriage, “What’s going on?”
The carriage gently slowed down as the guard captain rode over on his horse and spoke through the curtains, “Answering da xiaojie, there was a big pit on the road. Sorry for startling!”
Hearing this, Yun Qian Meng’s brows slightly furrowed. She didn’t think that something would have happened just as soon as they had left the capital. It seemed that Su Qing had really prepared quite a good show just for her!
After telling them to continue onwards, she called Mi mama and Mu Chun over from the back. She let Mi mama help a dazed Yun Ruo Xue over to the second carriage, while leaving behind Mu Chun to open the medical kit, and personally helped Yun Yan apply medicine. Only, when she saw the huge, red scald, Yun Qian Meng said reproachfully, “You can’t be so reckless in the future! Look at this fair and fine skin, yiniang’s heart would break if she saw this!”
But Yun Yan only smiled bashfully, and replied in embarra.s.sment, “Just now, I saw er jie do something to the tea, but really couldn’t think about what to do! Luckily the carriage just happened to jolt!”
Finis.h.i.+ng, Yun Yan’s cheeks blushed slightly as she stuck out her tiny tongue……
Yun Qian Meng understood her good intentions, having already noticed Yun Ruo Xue’s small tricks from the start. Even if Yun Yan hadn’t thrown herself over, she would still have ways make sure that the tea was poured into the ground!
Still, Yun Yan’s play had just given her a good opportunity to drive Yun Ruo Xue out of the carriage!
As she shot a glance at the fallen teacup, without needing an examination by an imperial physician, Yun Qian Meng could also guess just what kind of drug Yun Ruo Xue had tried to give her. Even so, the time was not ripe, as she still lacked a powerful witness!
After this little incident, the servants on guard paid even more attention to the safety of the road. Thus, the whole journey to the first resting stop pa.s.sed uneventfully……
However, as these young women alighted from their carriages and prepared to enter the tavern, directly walking over from inside was a wildly joyful Yuan Qing Zhou……