Chapter 336: Setting Out
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There was silence all around. It was unclear whether the calming scent of Yuwen Chu or his body temperature on this slightly chilly autumn night had helped, but Mingzhu truly stopped being picky about her sleeping place. In just a moment, she fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up, it was already broad daylight, and Yuwen Chu was nowhere to be seen. Outside the window, the maidservants were chatting quietly, although they spoke softly, their excitement was evident. Mixed with their voices was the chirping of some birds.
Mingzhu casually pulled the golden bell hanging beside the bed, and Su Lan and Su Jin immediately entered with hot towels, smiling and greeting, “Is Wangfei getting up?”
Both of their faces were still filled with joy, smiling cheerfully.
“Waking up to hear you all laughing outside.” Mingzhu had slept well last night, so her mood was particularly good. She first took the saltwater offered by Su Jin to rinse her mouth and asked, “Did something good happen?”
Su Jin smiled and said, “Not really, the steward sent some interesting gadgets over. Inside, there are actually a pair of chicks and a pair of ducklings, fluffy and cute. They said they were for Wangfei to play with.”
Chicks and ducklings? Wasn’t that something for children to play with? Mingzhu remembered that she had fed them when she was five or six years old. She was not good at feeding them, and the more she tried to feed them well, the more they died. Her mother didn’t allow her to feed them anymore, saying that she couldn’t let her keep wasting lives. She remembered that she had only managed to keep one duckling alive. She had impulsively wanted to take it to the palace to show her aunt, but encountered the late emperor and Funing in Changxin Palace. Funing asked for it, but she refused. They ended up having a fight, and Funing was no match for her. She felt triumphant, but when she woke up from her nap, she found that the duckling had been strangled in the box.
It was really an unpleasant memory.
Mingzhu shook her head, got up and dressed, then walked out to see what was going on. Several little maids were squatting in the corridor, feeding the chicks and ducklings with millet. The four little balls of fluff were chirping incessantly, always trying to get out of the box but being caught back each time.
Mingzhu squatted down and extended her finger to the chick. The chick, not understanding, pecked at her fingertip a few times, not hurting at all, but feeling ticklish. Zheng Momo quickly said, “Be careful, Wangfei, don’t let this little thing hurt you.”
“Where could it hurt me?” Mingzhu glanced at the obviously restrained maidservants and ordered, “If you like them, take good care of them. Don’t kill them. If you don’t like them, send them back early.”
Suddenly, she heard Yuwen Chu’s loud voice nearby, “Does Wangfei not like them?”
Then came the slightly sarcastic voice of Fu Mingzheng, “It’s not that she doesn’t like them, it’s that she knows herself well. If she gets hold of these things, one comes, one will die, a pair comes, and a pair will die. She’s afraid of harming them.”
“How come Fourth Brother is here?” Mingzhu couldn’t help but smile broadly, completely forgetting to retort. She thought it was just her and Yuwen Chu playing here, but unexpectedly Fourth Brother was also here. This time, it wouldn’t be boring. Fourth Brother might have a sharp tongue, but he knew how to have fun. When they were kids playing at the farm, whether it was scattering grain to catch sparrows or setting traps for wild rabbits, Fourth Brother was always the best at it.
“His Royal Highness Ying Wang ordered me to come, so I had to.” Fu Mingzheng glanced at Mingzhu. Even a blind person could see that she was living a very comfortable life, full of vitality, with bright eyes. Satisfied with what he saw, he decided that when he later shared the results of his investigation with Yuwen Chu, he would slightly favor him a bit more.
Yuwen Chu smiled at Mingzhu and said, “Fourth Brother-in-law was nearby on official business, so he happened to run into us. I invited him over for a visit.”
How coincidental? Mingzhu glanced at these two men who were used to speaking with hidden meanings, feeling very skeptical. She always felt that these two were probably conspiring something secretive and cunning.
“I’m starving. Is there anything delicious?” Fu Mingzheng was not at all polite. After surveying the furnishings of the house, he showed a hint of satisfaction. His attitude towards Yuwen Chu became even friendlier: “Your Highness, my sister is lazy, stupid, and bad-tempered. She pretends to be smart, hasn’t she caused you too much trouble?”
Yuwen Chu suppressed a laugh, “It’s alright.”
Mingzhu was about to order someone to prepare something delicious for him, but upon hearing this, she immediately became furious, “Fourth Brother, you’re too much! How can you mock people as soon as you meet them? If you say something nice…” Would you die? But as she was about to say “die”, she couldn’t bring herself to say it and changed her words, “…would you lose a piece of meat?”
Fu Mingzheng frowned, “Are you asking me to irresponsibly tell lies? Is that okay? His Majesty Ying Wang knows what kind of person you are.”
Mingzhu was so angry she didn’t want to talk to him anymore, so she couldn’t help but hit him a few times, “I won’t give you any food. You’re becoming more and more annoying!”
Yuwen Chu grabbed her hand and said lightly, “Be respectful!”
Remembering that he never liked her playing around with Fu Mingzheng before, Mingzhu reluctantly withdrew her hand and stood properly. Then Yuwen Chu said, “You’re already married. You’re not the pampered little girl from your family anymore. Guests are here, especially your elder brother. If you can’t treat him with respect, that’s one thing. But being disrespectful and rude like this, do you think you should be punished or not?”
Although he was reprimanding her, there was a lot of intimacy in his tone. Fu Mingzheng, seeing the two of them, relaxed more than half of his worries.
After dinner, Yuwen Chu asked Mingzhu to change into men’s clothing and go out for horseback riding and hunting. Mingzhu happily ran to change into a set of green male clothing and put on leather boots. Feeling very handsome and spirited, she ran out, secretly gesturing towards Yuwen Chu, who was talking quietly with Fu Mingzheng, and proudly asked him with her lips, “How do I look?”
Yuwen Chu smiled as he looked her over and, without sympathizing with her feelings at all, directly praised her, “Very handsome. Be careful on the road, don’t let the young ladies snatch you away to be their husband.”
Being praised like this in front of Fu Mingzheng made Mingzhu feel a little embarrassed. She replied seriously, “It’s thanks to Your Highness’s clothes being well made.”
Unable to stand it, Fu Mingzheng, the bachelor, suddenly felt melancholic. He shook his head and said, “I’ll go arrange things up front.”
Mingzhu was about to ask Su Lan and Su Jin to follow, but Yuwen Chu shook his head, “They don’t need to come. Just the few of us.”
Leaving the estate, they first rode horses along the main road for nearly half an hour, then turned onto a mountain path. Mingzhu had originally thought they were going hunting, but as they walked, she began to feel something was wrong. Except for her, the group was all men. Besides Yuwen Chu, Fu Mingzheng, Jing Song, and a few familiar guards, the rest were all strangers—silent, strong, and expressionless. Even the hunting dogs they brought were muzzled and quiet. There were also several mules carrying many packages wrapped in oilcloth behind the team.
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