Chapter 069
Chapter 69: A Narrow Escape
Just then, from the moon gate came the Eldest Miss of the neighboring General’s Manor, Lin Yu Wan, and the Third Miss, Lin Yu Ning. Lin Yu Ning shouted from afar, “Sister Xiao Man!”
Xiao Man set down the book and went to meet them: “Third Miss, what is it?”
“We came to see Elder Cousin,” Lin Yu Ning said, tapping her own little head. “Is he feeling better here?”
Xiao Man smiled and answered, “The Eldest Grandson Young Master is much better now.”
Lin Yu Ning said, “Elder Cousin is still not as tough as my big sister. She practices swordplay every day and never gets hurt!”
Lin Yu Wan’s willow brows pinched as she tapped her little sister’s head: “Little one, stop talking nonsense. You always blurt things out.”
Turning to Xiao Man, her tone gentled: “Is Elder Cousin in?”
Xiao Man shook her head: “He went out at dawn. There is a prayer for rain, and they needed a High Monk to preside. He left before the sun rose.”
“With his injury?” Respect flashed in Lin Yu Wan’s eyes. “Elder Cousin really is full of mercy. He cares for the people.”
Lin Yu Ning, though, leaned in with a conspiratorial squint: “Hey, Xiao Man, did you hear about the Third Princess’s flower viewing feast?”
She waggled her brows: “Do you believe in a Green Peony blooming in winter?”
Xiao Man answered honestly: “To tell the truth, not really.”
“I don’t either,” Lin Yu Wan said firmly. “Peonies bloom in spring, and a Green Peony is rarer still. Saying she found one in winter is strange.”
“If she had found a genius gardener who could raise winter peonies, that person should be sent into the Imperial Palace, not dragged out just to show off to Noble Ladies.”
Lin Yu Ning cut in: “Sister Xiao Man, you don’t know. The Third Princess is a scary lunatic. Last time she forced me to ask Elder Cousin for a sutra.”
Lin Yu Wan nodded: “She is indeed odd. Her banquets are always for her own amusement. This time’s flower feast must be aimed at some particular Noble Lady.”
“She sent her invitations across the whole city. When things are this abnormal, something is wrong.” She leaned closer, lowered her voice, and her gaze turned sharp: “I feel this is a Hongmen Banquet. I just don’t know which gourd she’s hiding her medicine in or who she wants to trap.”
Xiao Man’s heart dropped. [My sixth sense is usually right.] The scene they had stumbled on at the gate flashed through her mind, along with Qiu Ru Ying’s gentle, harmless face. Lately the Capital City whispered a lot about Qiu Ru Ying and Lin Qing Xuan.
Could it be…
“Eldest Miss,” Xiao Man said, suddenly serious, “no matter who she’s targeting, we need to be careful. Especially Miss Qiu. She is as pure as a white sheet. I’m afraid she’ll be sold and still help count the money.”
Lin Yu Wan nodded hard, eyes bright: “I thought the same! So you must go with me to the feast.”
“Me?” Xiao Man pointed to herself, startled. “I’m a maid. How would I go?”
“You can be my personal maid,” Lin Yu Wan said, clapping once as her eyes lit up. “With you there, I’ll feel safe. It’s settled.”
On the day of the flower feast, carriages crowded outside the Third Princess’s Private Estate. Perfume drifted on the air. Noble Ladies arrived in groups, silk and laughter everywhere. Each one brimmed with hope to see the famous Green Peony and to impress the Princess.
Qiu Ru Ying came with the three Lin sisters. True to her word, Lin Yu Wan brought Xiao Man, who wore the plainest maid clothes and kept her head down, trailing at the end.
When they entered the estate, everyone froze. The courtyard was empty. No Green Peony. Not even a bud.
An impatient Noble Lady asked at once: “Your Highness, where is the Green Peony you spoke of?”
Princess Xuan Ji kept her lazy pose, leaning on a couch. At the question, she only tapped the table with nails painted crimson and smiled meaningfully: “The Green Peony is a celestial treasure. Only a fated person can see it.”
She lifted a pale hand and gestured toward the back garden: “The treasure is in the rear court, but no one may enter without a special invitation.”
Murmurs rippled. What fated person? Why so mysterious?
Some ladies found it boring and left with polite excuses. The ones who stayed either wanted answers or wanted to flatter the Princess.
At that moment, a strange maidservant near the Princess walked straight to Qiu Ru Ying. She bowed neatly and said, “Miss Qiu, our Princess says you are the fated one. Please follow me to the rear court to view the flower.”
At once, all eyes turned to Qiu Ru Ying. Envy, jealousy, curiosity. Gazes slid over her like knives.
Qiu Ru Ying herself blinked, cheeks going pink as surprise fluttered through her. Beside her, Lin Yu Jiao nudged her in excitement: “Go, Ruying! You really are fated with the Green Peony. This is a great blessing!”
Dizzy and shy, Qiu Ru Ying followed the maidservant toward the back.
The rest could only watch her go, feelings mixed and heavy.
Standing behind Lin Yu Wan, Xiao Man watched Qiu Ru Ying slip under the moon gate into the rear court, and her heart sank. The Princess’s madness, Qiu Ru Ying’s innocence, the vague rumors, and this odd “fated” talk twisted into a dark rope in her mind, tightening until she could barely breathe. [No. Something will happen.]
She yanked Lin Yu Wan’s sleeve. Urgency flared in her eyes. Lin Yu Wan understood at once. She flashed a look to Lin Yu Ning and Lin Yu Jiao to stay calm, then grabbed Xiao Man and whispered, “Come with me.”
She did not take the main path to the rear court, where the Princess must have watchers. Instead, she led Xiao Man behind a rockery. Crouching low, they slipped along the shadow of thick winter shrubs, silent as ghosts toward the back.
The rear court was quiet. No sign of any Green Peony. Only a small, isolated yard with a single side room inside. The door was shut, and a faintly sweet, cloying scent seeped through the crack.
Worse, they could just make out a man’s greasy laugh from within: “Little beauty, don’t hide… let me have a good look…”
Lin Yu Wan and Xiao Man glanced at each other, horror flashing in both sets of eyes.
“Bad,” Lin Yu Wan hissed. She knew that smell. It was a powerful Aphrodisiac Incense.
This Princess was filthy and cruel.
Lin Yu Wan shoved the door. It was barred from the inside. She pressed her ear to the wood. The man’s foul words grew even more vile.
“No time,” she said, teeth clenched. She stepped back, gathered her strength, and kicked hard.
Bang!
The door burst open.
The sight made their eyes burn with rage. A creepy, thick faced man, half dressed, was grinning as he tore at Qiu Ru Ying’s clothes. Qiu Ru Ying’s eyes were shut. Her face was flushed. She slumped on the floor, senseless.
“Beast!” Xiao Man shouted. She snatched a vase by the door and swung it straight into the back of his head.
He gave a grunt and crumpled. Blood showed at once.
“Xiao Man, quick, cover your mouth and nose,” Lin Yu Wan warned, using her sleeve as a mask before rushing to lift Qiu Ru Ying.
Xiao Man copied her. Together they dragged the unconscious girl out, stumbling toward the yard gate.
They had barely gotten through when, from the front court, came the Third Princess’s sharp, fake laugh and a clatter of footsteps: “Come, sisters. Let me show you a real performance. I promise it’s better than any Green Peony.”
Hearts in their throats, Lin Yu Wan yanked Xiao Man and Qiu Ru Ying into a narrow gap beside a tall rockery. They held their breaths. The Princess led a group of Noble Ladies right past them, less than five steps away.
Moments later, the group pushed into the side room. A chorus of cries rang out: “Your Highness, what do you mean by this?”
“You brought us to look at a half naked man?”
Several Noble Ladies backed out in a panic. They thought, [Her tricks are getting worse. Better avoid her parties from now on. What if she plays one on me someday?]
Princess Xuan Ji’s face went black. Where was the girl? The leading lady of her carefully staged show had vanished.
Who dared ruin her plan?
She roared inside but forced a stiff smile on her face, murmuring empty reassurances to the startled ladies.
Meanwhile, Lin Yu Wan and Xiao Man had already gotten Qiu Ru Ying into a carriage outside. Lin Yu Wan sent her maid to fetch Lin Yu Ning and Lin Yu Jiao from the feast and told them exactly what the Princess had done.
When the two arrived, they saw Qiu Ru Ying unconscious and disheveled. Lin Yu Jiao’s face went white. She trembled, tears spilling as regret and fear tore her voice: “How could this happen? I should have gone with her…”
“Was it the Third Princess? Did she direct this?” she asked Lin Yu Wan.
Lin Yu Wan nodded with a sigh.
“That vicious woman,” Lin Yu Jiao said, eyes going red with fury.
Luckily, the sisters were careful and always carried spare clothes for banquets. They fumbled to dress Qiu Ru Ying, but she still did not wake. Her breathing came faster, and her small face stayed red.
“We must get her to a clinic,” Lin Yu Wan decided.
The carriage raced to the nearest clinic. The old physician felt Qiu Ru Ying’s pulse and grew grave. He immediately wrote a prescription for an antidote and had them force the medicine down.
After a big bowl of dark liquid, and a long wait, Qiu Ru Ying woke with a fit of coughing. She blinked at the faces around her, her memory halted at the moment the maidservant led her into the back court: “Where… where am I?”
Seeing her pale, confused face, the Lin sisters and Xiao Man all felt a cold wave of fear. If they had been a single step later, the result would have been unthinkable.