Chapter 109 Cloud Nine: Unintentional
“Luodi!” Qi Jianqiu and Xue Yiqi headed straight for Feng Luodi"s courtyard. Scarlet came out of the room and into the courtyard, a washbasin cradled in her arms.
“My greetings, Young Miss Qi and Master Xue.” Scarlet curtsied.
Qi Jianqiu"s gaze landed on the pinkish water in the washbasin and frowned. “Were you tending to her wounds? Is it still that bad?”
“Young Miss is much better already.” Scarlet smiled. “If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave.”
“Go ahead.” Qi Jianqiu nodded, watching as Scarlet turn to leave the courtyard. She glanced at Xue Yiqi and raised an eyebrow. “Are you really going to go into a girl"s room?”
Xue Yiqi"s cheeks flushed red and he took a step back, stammering as he spoke. “I…I…I"ll just wait outside then.”
“Ps.h.!.+” Qi Jianqiu chuckled. “I was just joking. You can wait in the living s.p.a.ce outside her bedroom.”
“Okay.” Xue Yiqi nodded obediently, following behind Qi Jianqiu as they entered the room.
“What a boring fellow.” Qi Jianqiu muttered under her breath. “It"s no fun to poke at him.” Quickly moving to Feng Luodi beside the bed, she looked apologetically at Feng Luodi"s pale face, her lips tightly pressed together.
“I"m so sorry for not being on time that day, Luodi. If I had arrived with you, Princess Shangrong wouldn"t have had their way.” If it wasn"t because of that d.a.m.ned Gan Qingjia, I wouldn"t be late that day!
Feng Luodi shook her head. “It"s better that you weren"t there that day, Jianqiu. I don"t think they"ll let you off so easily if you were there with me.” Feng Luodi turned to Xue Yiqi and nodded in greeting.
Qi Jianqiu looked guiltily at Feng Luodi"s hands swathed in swathed in thick white bandages and pouted. “When will your hands recover?”
“In about a month, I guess.”
“What? So long?” Qi Jianqiu"s face fell. “I wouldn"t get to hear you play the zither for another month!”
“Well, you can go to the zither parlours if you wanted to enjoy music.” Feng Luodi commented offhandedly. Qi Jianqiu and Xue Yiqi looked away uncomfortably, Feng Luodi catching their expression. “What"s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Qi Jianqiu shook her head furiously. “I"ve been learning how to cook herbal stews recently; I"ll feed you a bowl every day when I"ve mastered it!”
“I"ll be looking forward to that then.” Feng Luodi smiled, gesturing for Scarlet to pour tea for the two guests as she slowly eased into the chair by the table.
Qi Jianqiu reached forward to help her but gasped when her fingers touched Feng Luodi"s arm. “You"re burning!” She quickly turned to Scarlet. “Go and get the physician back here!”
“No need for that.” Feng Luodi signalled for Scarlet to leave the room, smiling at Jianqiu. “Don"t worry, it"s just a small fever; I"ll be fine in a few days.”
Qi Jianqiu sat down opposite Feng Luodi, eyeing her doubtfully. “Alright, alright. Anyway, I"m here to deliver good news.” She turned to Xue Yiqi. “Tell her what happened; it makes me sick to even think about those people.”
Feng Luodi looked expectantly at Xue Yiqi, who took over from Qi Jianqiu.
“Miss Feng, I"m here on behalf of Elder Brother Situ to inform you of the proceedings in court today morning.”
“Situ?” Feng Luodi blinked.
“Chamberlain Feng and Elder Brother Moyin had submitted a statement in court, accusing the Commandery Prince of Huaiyang of not disciplining his son, Chu Huaicai, and for the negligence of his duty as the Governor of Huaiyang. The Minister of the Right and Elder Brother Situ had also impeached the officers of the Xiao clan, a charge supported by many others in court. His Majesty had suppressed the charges for the time being, but a result should be announced soon.”
“The Xiao clan?” Feng Luodi questioned, unfamiliar with the n.o.bility of Chang"an.
“It"s the extended family of Concubine Hui.” Xue Yiqi explained. “That is to say, the grandfather of Princess Shangrong and their relatives.”
Xue Yiqi continued. “Elder Brother Situ tells you to not to worry about anything and just to rest well. He will take care of everything for you.”
Feng Luodi lowered her head, not meeting his eyes. “Thank him on my behalf.”
“Situ is pretty good towards you, isn"t he?” Qi Jianqiu grinned. “I told you he was interested in you.”
Qi Jianqiu looked excitedly at Feng Luodi, antic.i.p.ating her response but all she got was an awkward smile from her friend. Quickly catching on to the atmosphere, Qi Jianqiu tried to continue the conversation. “Anyway…there is nothing we can do at the moment. Let"s just sit by and watch them go at it.”
“Mmm.”
The awkwardness in the air slowly getting more palatable as the seconds pa.s.sed. Feng Luodi broke the silence as she smiled at Qi Jianqiu. “Why don"t you guys head to the zither parlours or teahouses instead?”
Qi Jianqiu frowned. “But you"ll be bored out of your wits alone at home!”
“That"s the point, isn"t it?” Feng Luodi laughed a little. “I have to rest. Why don"t the two of you go out together for the day? It"s too good a day to be wasted at home.”
Xue Yiqi flushed bright red at the idea of hanging out alone with Qi Jianqiu. “That….that sounds like a good idea. I"ll…I"ll go shopping with you.”
Feng Luodi patted Qi Jianqiu"s hands with her ‘paw" swathed in bandages. “Go on. Just remember to bring some of your herbal stew with you the next time you come.”
“Alright then.” Qi Jianqiu stood up, a little dejected that her best friend would not be able to go out with her. “Rest well, Luodi. I"ll come to visit you another day.”
Feng Luodi nodded. “Please send her home safely, Master Xue.”
“Definitely.” Xue Yiqi stood up. “Rest well, Miss Feng.”
Scarlet led the two guests to the courtyard and returned to find Feng Luodi coughing heavily. “Young miss!” Scarlet quickly ran to her side. “You"re burning! I"ll fetch the physician immediately.”
Feng Luodi shook her hand at Scarlet. “Go and find out what happened to elder brother. Why is his condition acting up again?”
“You"ve said that last night and Jet is already on it, young miss. Please worry about it no longer.”
Feng Luodi nodded. Before she could say anything else, she collapsed onto the bed, unconscious.
“Young miss!” Scarlet was shocked. She turned and dashed to the courtyard. “Someone! Get the physician! Young miss has fainted!”
The physician returned to the room shortly after, sighing after he checked her pulse. “Miss Feng has a lot weighing on her mind, even while she is supposed to be resting. Her body cannot take any amount of stress right now.”
“Matters on her mind?” Scarlet was confused.
The Imperial Study.
The Emperor looked at the report in his hands, his body shaking in fury. “Poisoning the Commandery Prince of Huaiyang and imprisoning his heir. This fake ‘Heir of Huaiyang" really thinks he has me fooled, doesn"t he?”
Situ bowed. “As far as I know, this imposter has not met with any of his past acquaintances ever since he"d come to Chang"an. It"s normal for your Majesty to not recognise him as an imposter, seeing as how you see him once every few years.”
“Hmph!” The Emperor was furious. “Who is this imposter? Chu Deming? A distant relative of the old Commandery Prince huh? It says here that he has been staying in the Residence a year ago after the death of his parents?” The Emperor slammed his fist on the table. “How dare he ask for the hand of my daughter! How dare he!”
“This man had attempted to deceive you to benefit himself, your Majesty. Please do not let him off so easily.” Situ bowed his head, his expression unseen.
“Of course!” The Emperor"s face was contorted in rage. “My Duke, do you think if the Commandery Princess of Huaiyang knows of this as well? She has spoken on behalf of this Chu Deming multiple times, as I remember.”
“I am not clear about that, your Majesty. But I"ve heard that the two of them have always been close, growing up together since young…” His voice trailed off.
“Then she must know of it.” The Emperor nodded to himself. “But I shall spare her life, seeing as how she is the daughter of my old friend, the Commandery Prince. Strip her of her n.o.bility.”
“Yes, your Majesty.” Situ bowed.
The Emperor slowly calmed himself down and set the report back onto the table. He raised an eyebrow at Situ. “Why thank you for exposing this fraud, my Duke. But I never knew that you were so concerned about the affairs of my kingdom, even after your return to the capital.”
“You are mistaken, your Majesty.” Situ did not so much as bat an eyelid. “Do you know of my third brother, the son of the Minister of the Left, Gan Qingjia?”
“Everyone knows about the Third Gentleman of Chang"an.” The Emperor was unmoved. “I hear that he is quite the womanizer.”
“My brother is an avid collector of quaint rocks and botany. He had sent his men to Huaiyang in an attempt to increase his collection of rocks and had uncovered the chaos in the province by coincidence. It was a pity that he wasn"t a member of the court and had to have me report the matter instead.”
“I am aware of his love for such things.” The Emperor smiled a little. “How old is he again? Why isn"t he an official in my court?”
“Qingjia is twenty-five of age, your Majesty. He should be fit to undertake some responsibilities.” Situ looked squarely at the Emperor.
“I see. Keep your eyes on him for now; if he is indeed worthy of it, I shall bestow upon him a position.” The Emperor spoke calmly. “The matter of Chu Deming can be easily resolved, but the other matter is more troublesome. Do you have any advice for me, my Duke?”
Situ bowed. “I am but a mere man of the sword, your majesty. I"m afraid that I will be unable to help you with that.”
“There you go again, putting yourself down like that.” The Emperor laughed, his fingers tapping the armrest of his chair. It was a while before he spoke again.
“You may return to your residence; it must have been hard on you these few days.”
“It is my duty to relieve your worries as much as I can, your Majesty. I shall take my leave.” Situ backed out of the room, turning only after pa.s.sing the threshold.
Far behind, the Emperor watched his retreating figure expressionlessly.