Chapter 169: A Nighttime Date for the Couple
The Empress received the ladies.
She spoke a few words but seemed drained of energy, her smile strained.
This time accompanying the imperial carriage, none of the high-ranked consorts had come—only she alone, and she was struggling.
Her niece Guo Hanzhang said at her side, “All the ladies must be weary. Please go rest. Less than three li from the traveling palace is the grassland outside the hunting grounds. If you are not too tired, you may go out riding.”
The young ladies were excited; most of the married women, like the Empress herself, ached all over from three days of jostling in carriages.
The guests took their leave and withdrew.
Guo Hanzhang also walked out, with her mother.
“...The Duchess of Chen truly is unskilled at riding and archery?” she asked Cheng Zhao.
Cheng Zhao: “Yes.”
“The women’s academies in the capital also teach riding and archery,” Guo Hanzhang said.
Cheng Zhao: “I never attended any women’s academy. I was instructed at home from an early age.”
—The Cheng family had not only clan schools, but also women’s academies.
Guo Hanzhang heard her words and glanced at her: “The Cheng clan of Wu Commandery indeed has deep foundations.”
“Our ancestors were diligent, and we descendants simply enjoy the fruits of their labor. When it comes to foundations, none can match the Guo clan,” Cheng Zhao said.
Guo Hanzhang: “...”
Her gaze was complicated.
Somewhat irritated, a touch disdainful; she wanted to seize on a fault of Cheng Zhao’s and make an issue of it, but feared her aunt’s anger. Empress Guo and Grand Princess Fukang were both very fond of Cheng Zhao, and they were both right here. If Cheng Zhao complained, Guo Hanzhang would be scolded—not worth it.
She left first.
Second Madam then said to Cheng Zhao, “Before your grandmother, you praised the Zhou family as number one in foundations in this dynasty.”
“Words are just embroidery patterns. Stitch whatever colored thread you like—effortless, Mother,” Cheng Zhao said.
Second Madam: “...”
She couldn’t help laughing.
Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law returned to their courtyard and spoke of Guo Hanzhang.
Second Madam said that Guo Hanzhang was spoiled and willful by nature, and the Guo family’s standards were too high, so she had reached eighteen without being betrothed.
“If I were Madam Guo, I would be anxious,” Cheng Zhao said.
Second Madam: “Anxious over what? With Grand Preceptor Guo’s standing and power at court, Guo Hanzhang’s nobility rivals that of a princess. She may pick whichever sort of man she wishes.”
Cheng Zhao: “It’s precisely because she rivals a princess that it’s frightening. The court’s weakness is beginning to show; the north and the south are both unsettled. Suppose a vassal state sends troops to raid and harass, then comes to the capital to beg forgiveness and demands a ‘princess’ for a peace marriage—and the emperor has no daughter of marriageable age. Then the unmarried daughters of meritorious noble families would be in danger.”
Second Madam: “...You think very far ahead.”
“Others may not need to consider such things, and parents may not want to think about them, but when disaster comes, crying is too late,” Cheng Zhao said.
Second Madam took her hand: “Zhao Zhao will be a good mother one day.”
“Yes.”
They both laughed.
Come nightfall, Zhou Yuanshen actually appeared.
Cheng Zhao and Second Madam were mildly surprised.
Second Madam asked him, “Were you not with the others up front?”
“Today’s duties are finished, and I have some free time now. I’m not staying here—just came to check in,” he said.
Second Madam looked at him, then at her daughter-in-law, and couldn’t help smiling. “You two talk for a while. I’ll go refresh myself.”
She excused herself.
Cheng Zhao poured him a cup of tea and asked, “Did you get soaked this morning?”
“Just my trouser legs.”
“Do you have enough clothes to change into?” Cheng Zhao asked again.
“Enough.”
“The trunk I packed for you wasn’t wet. The clothes in it are all dry,” Cheng Zhao said.
Zhou Yuanshen hummed in acknowledgment.
He reached out.
Cheng Zhao paused briefly, then placed her hand in his palm.
His palm had thin calluses, hard knuckles, and he clasped her hand with slight force. “Go out riding.”
Cheng Zhao looked at the sky outside, surprised. “Now?”
It was already dark.
“It’s cleared up, and the starlight outside is bright enough. The next few days, I’m afraid I won’t be able to accompany you,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
Cheng Zhao: “We’re both escorting the imperial party—this is official duty. I don’t need you to accompany me, since I still have to attend to the Empress.”
They weren’t out for pleasure.
Simply put, the emperor and empress were the ones enjoying themselves; everyone else’s task was to make the imperial couple happy.
“Then steal a moment of leisure,” Zhou Yuanshen said, giving her hand a gentle tug.
Cheng Zhao rose to her feet, following his lead. “I’ll change into riding clothes.”
“Good.”
Her various garments had already been sorted by Suyue, close at hand—available at a moment’s notice. Even away from home, Cheng Zhao was never thrown into disarray.
Qiubai helped her change.
Cheng Zhao informed her mother-in-law.
Second Madam smiled. “Go along. With Yuanshen leading you, everything is safe.”
Cheng Zhao acknowledged.
They hadn’t had dinner yet, and she didn’t feel like eating.
Ningzhou Prefecture was dry. There had been a sudden downpour during the day, but after it cleared in the afternoon, by evening the moisture had mostly evaporated, and the ground wasn’t too muddy.
Zhou Yuanshen picked two horses. Behind them followed his two deputy commanders; Cheng Zhao brought Qiubai along, and they headed for the hunting grounds.
The sky over Ningzhou Prefecture was high, and the night vault was especially clear; the brilliance of the stars rivaled moonlight. Once the eyes adjusted, it didn’t feel dim, and riding came easily.
Because the grassland was less than three li from the traveling palace, they could ride at a slow, easy pace.
There were no mosquitoes.
The night breeze was exceptionally fresh—a night after a rainstorm, with cold that carried the chill of mid-autumn.
Cheng Zhao and Zhou Yuanshen rode side by side.
She thought of asking what the true purpose of this hunt was, what the emperor intended to do. But then again, even if there were no ears behind the walls, knowing too much was bad for her.
What if she let a little slip later and brought trouble upon Zhou Yuanshen?
Husband and wife ought to respect each other’s boundaries.
Zhou Yuanshen had already gone beyond protocol to warn her; Cheng Zhao now wisely kept her mouth shut, not hindering him.
“...Back with the Empress, there was a Miss Liu—the daughter of the Grand Court officer—who said this hunt would release a white wolf,” Cheng Zhao said, finding a topic.
“A male wolf,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
Cheng Zhao caught the implication and smiled. “What, there’s a female one too?”
“Half a year ago, hunters reported to the authorities that the pack had two white wolves, one male and one female. They led the pack raiding villages, killing at least three hundred people. The male was picky—it wouldn’t eat cattle or sheep; it singled out young children to eat,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
Cheng Zhao’s smile faded.
She shuddered hard. “Damned beast.”
“Wolves are beasts by nature, regardless of color. Eating meat is their instinct. The local hunters lost over a dozen men before they laid traps and captured the male. The female escaped, and for most of the year, there was no sign of her. That kind of creature has a certain cunning—she’s likely still a menace,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
Cheng Zhao’s expression grew grim. “Then why put the male wolf out as prey? What if it escapes, and all that effort is wasted? Then it will keep terrorizing the villages.”
“Many people lack your foresight and your caution, Cheng Zhao,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
Cheng Zhao understood.
The emperor wanted to show off.
Even though capturing the beast had cost so much sacrifice, the emperor hadn’t killed it—he was saving it for the hunt to make a grand display, using it as a centerpiece prize.
The villagers who died in the wolf’s claws, the children swallowed into its belly—meaningless in the emperor’s eyes.
Cheng Zhao’s face turned unpleasant.
Her mood instantly grew heavy.
She remembered her father-in-law once saying over dinner that he had never witnessed the spectacle of a wise sovereign and worthy ministers, even having lived through two reigns.
As a woman, Cheng Zhao did not participate in state affairs, but she could faintly grasp the helplessness behind her father-in-law’s words.
If governance were clear and proper, that white wolf would already be nothing but a pelt—a very small matter, yet one that revealed a few grains of sand from a vast desert of troubles.
"We've arrived," Zhou Yuanshen said.