Xing Muzheng returned to Honghu Courtyard. Xique, who was on night duty in the side chamber, glanced out. He waved her off, telling her to go back to sleep. He slipped soundlessly into the inner room, changed in the dark, and lay back on the bed.
Because of the child in her belly, Qian Jiaoniang had followed Doctor Bai’s advice and gone to bed early. She now lay quietly on her back, seeming to sleep soundly. Yet the moment Xing Muzheng slid beneath the covers, she turned and nestled against him, burrowing into his arms.
Xing Muzheng had still been thinking of blood and killing, but at this sight, his heart of iron instantly softened into something pliant around her fingers. With practiced ease, he adjusted her into a comfortable position, letting her sleep soundly in his embrace.
Qian Jiaoniang, half-asleep, mumbled with her eyes closed: “Where did you go?”
Xing Muzheng answered softly: “Nowhere. Sleep.”
Qian Jiaoniang then sank back into deep slumber.
Two days later, Qian Jiaoniang still came to know where Xing Muzheng had gone. He did not hide it from her either—he had planned all along to act first and explain later. Before this, Xing Pingchun had already been kneeling for days before her, begging her to remain in Yuzhou.
As for the method Xing Muzheng had used to force Pingchun’s hand, Qian Jiaoniang, though distressed, did not get angry as he had expected. She knew that while she wished her son could live his whole life in peace, carefree and untroubled, the world would not allow it. As the eldest son of the Xing family, he was destined for a road that would not be smooth. And that road, steeped in schemes and blood, could only be led by his father. That was something she, as his mother, could not do.
But as a mother, the torment in her heart was no less. She was willing to die together with Xing Muzheng, but wished only that Xing Pingchun could live well. To let go, to have Pingchun alone bear the storms, to fight against the malice of the world—her heart could not bear it.
What’s more, once Pingchun went to Yongan, if the emperor refused to release him, who knew when she might see her son again.
Even so, though Pingchun knelt before her for two days, she did not relent. When Eunuch Zhao urged for the journey to begin, Qian Jiaoniang, desperate, could only cry alone in her room.
Xing Muzheng walked in lightly. Qian Jiaoniang quickly turned her head and wiped her tears.
“How can you come in without a word?” she said hoarsely. Hearing the roughness in her own voice, she coughed heavily.
Xing Muzheng had deliberately not let the servants announce him. Staring at her reddened nose, he asked, “…Why are you hiding in here shedding golden beans?”
“I wasn’t crying.” Qian Jiaoniang was flustered. She was never the type to cry easily, and thought it shameful, so she didn’t even want Xing Muzheng to see.
“Not crying?” Xing Muzheng lifted her chin, brushed away the tear-stains she hadn’t fully wiped, and put his fingertip in his mouth. “Then what’s this—salty?”
Qian Jiaoniang both cried and laughed, swatting him. “That’s your daughter crying!”
Her words made Xing Muzheng laugh. He tapped her nose, then pulled her into his arms. “Crying over such a small matter! I’ve pampered you until you’re so soft. Chou’er is just going to Yongan as a study companion—someone hearing might think he’s going to the executioner’s block.”
“Can’t you watch your mouth!” Qian Jiaoniang grabbed him in exasperation. “Who’s soft? Who’s crying? I told you—it’s your daughter’s doing!”
“Alright, alright, blame our daughter.” Xing Muzheng coaxed her gently, wiping her face clean, and kissed her cheek with affection. “Tell our daughter not to cry anymore. Her brother has already grown up—he can shoulder his burden.”
Qian Jiaoniang gave a hiccup through her tears, looking up at him with swollen red eyes, pitiful to the extreme. Xing Muzheng, seeing her so fragile outside of the bedchamber for once, did not know how much tenderness would be enough for her.
She buried her head in his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. After a while, her restless heart finally calmed, and the fragility in her gaze gradually turned firm and clear.
At last she gave a bitter smile. “It’s me being weak.” It wasn’t as though she hadn’t endured harder times than now. Besides, everything was still uncertain, and yet she had already cornered herself. Was it her pregnancy making her sentimental, or had Xing Muzheng spoiled her into softness?
Xing Muzheng rubbed her head, laced his fingers with hers. “Just focus on carrying this child. In no more than three years, Chou’er will return to see his little sister.”
Qian Jiaoniang squeezed his hand. “Alright.”
Finally, she resolved herself and began preparing for Xing Pingchun’s journey to Yongan. She arranged all his clothing and shoes for each season of the coming year, and asked Hongjuan and Chunwu if they would accompany him. Along with Wang Yong and Ah Da, they too would go to Yongan. Xing Muzheng also assigned several teachers and selected a few clansmen from the Xing family to accompany the trip.
When Qian Meiniang learned that Pingchun was to go serve as study companion to the princes, she came excitedly to offer congratulations. To her, being able to serve the most exalted dragon sons in the world promised a future full of glory—that was a tremendous blessing. Yet when she heard that Xing Muzheng was ill, and Qian Jiaoniang was pregnant, meaning no one would be going with Pingchun, she grew worried. The child would arrive in Yongan with no kin by his side—if bullied, who would know?
So she and Second Brother Zheng discussed it through the night. Though she herself had never traveled far, Pingchun was their own nephew, and they truly could not rest easy with him going to Yongan without an elder who knew his needs. Though Hongjuan was steady and considerate, she was still an outsider. So Qian Meiniang spoke with Qian Jiaoniang, saying that she and Second Brother Zheng would go to Yongan with Pingchun, while she herself could stay peacefully in Yuzhou to raise her child.
If possible, Qian Jiaoniang would have begged her elder sister to go. At present, their closest kin was her eldest sister’s family. Both Qian Meiniang and Second Brother Zheng were honest and dependable, and she trusted them more than anyone. But she could not let her sister’s family blindly fall into danger.
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