Chapter 235: The Bride's Flaw
“What way?”
Zhou Yuanqi was extremely curious and immediately asked his older brother.
“If you want to know, figure it out yourself,” Zhou Yuanshen said. “A learned scholar like you ought to be clever enough to guess.”
Zhou Yuanqi: “...”
He turned to Cheng Zhao. “You don’t want to know?”
“Lord Duke will tell me,” Cheng Zhao said with a smile.
He’s only keeping it from you.
Zhou Yuanqi’s cheeks puffed up in anger, and Cheng Zhao could not help laughing.
Second Madam laughed along with them. It was rare for her to be in such a relaxed mood.
Yet she could also sense that a storm was brewing in the household, much like the days before the fire at Nonghua Court.
After living in one place for a long time, even the courtyards seemed to acquire souls of their own. Whenever trouble was about to break out, they gave off an uneasy warning.
In the past, Second Madam had deliberately ignored such feelings, attributing them to bad weather or shortness of breath.
They chatted a little longer, with Zhou Yuanshen and Cheng Zhao teasing Zhou Yuanqi. It was getting late, so the young couple returned to Chengming Hall.
“Your Young Uncle is hiding something from you,” Cheng Zhao said again.
She could not help feeling somewhat worried. “Why won’t he simply tell us? If he did, we could think of a solution together.”
“Once it’s spoken aloud, the matter will become even more troublesome,” Zhou Yuanshen said. “I’m also keeping something from him.”
“What is it?”
Zhou Yuanshen gently stroked her hair. “It has nothing to do with the Chen State Duke’s residence.”
After a long silence, he said, “It’s an old matter concerning the Fan family. It was also something that weighed on Grandfather’s mind until the moment he died.”
“If he couldn’t let it go even on his deathbed, then it must be serious,” Cheng Zhao said. “You’re hiding something this important from him? And you haven’t told the Fan family?”
“Mm.”
That was why Zhou Yuanshen could understand Fan Xiao’s difficulties.
Cheng Zhao sighed.
She was not the sort of person who liked to force others, so she said, “You arrogant men always think you’re acting for the sake of your loved ones, so you shoulder everything yourselves. May you all have good fortune, and may everything remain within your control.”
Zhou Yuanshen pulled her into his arms. “With you by my side, I’m sure to have my wish.”
Cheng Zhao: “...”
When had she acquired such miraculous powers?
Her life continued as usual, moving steadily forward.
Winter in Shengjing was clear and bright. The brighter the sky, however, the more bitter the cold. The wind cut like knives.
The Dowager Madame’s Shou’an Court was very quiet.
Nanny Sun personally oversaw every medical consultation and every dose of medicine, taking care over everything.
At the beginning of the eleventh month, a heavy snow fell.
This snowfall was much heavier than the first.
The gatehouse steward was a man named Sun Cheng’an. He was the son of one of the Dowager Madame’s personal attendants and enjoyed her deep trust. Anyone who could work at the gatehouse was a trusted confidant.
Cheng Zhao was extremely wary of him. On the surface, however, she deliberately tried to win him over and treated him with great courtesy.
“...Nanny Sun sent someone to invite Master Qingshan, and she also sent for Master Zhao, the retired former chief physician of the Imperial Medical Academy,” Sun Cheng’an reported.
“Master Qingshan? He rarely comes out to see patients. And didn’t Master Zhao return to his native town? He retired several years ago,” Cheng Zhao said.
“Yes. Both of them are difficult to summon. Most likely, they won’t come unless Lord Duke goes personally. Nanny Sun is even planning to enter the palace and ask for an audience with His Majesty,” Manager Sun said.
Cheng Zhao appeared astonished. “Is Grandmother seriously ill?”
“This servant doesn’t know. Nanny Sun hasn’t told anyone anything about Shou’an Court. Aside from her, probably only the chief steward knows,” Manager Sun replied.
Cheng Zhao rose to her feet, looking worried and somewhat helpless. “What are we to do? I’ll send someone to find Lord Duke.”
“Madam, Nanny Sun forbade me from telling you or Lord Duke. If you fail to keep this secret, Nanny Sun will never forgive me,” Sun Cheng’an said.
Cheng Zhao forced herself to calm down, though she still looked rather flustered. “Then I won’t say anything. Grandmother has a noble destiny. Nothing will happen to her.”
And indeed, she did nothing.
Zhou Yuanshen returned rather late that day.
He said to Cheng Zhao, “Nanny Sun went to the palace gates and tried to request an audience with the Emperor. The guards at the entrance ignored her. I heard it from some of the guards on duty.”
He had bought off quite a few informants within the inner court.
The government was in complete disarray, and the inner court was equally corrupt and rotten.
With a murderous, deranged emperor on the throne, the entire imperial court was constantly on the verge of collapse.
Nanny Sun was merely a servant. She had no right to request an audience with the Emperor.
Having served the Dowager Madame for so many years, her ambitions had apparently grown to such a degree that she thought she could meet the Emperor simply by presenting herself.
In the end, she could not even get through the palace gates.
“Something serious must have happened to Grandmother,” Cheng Zhao said.
She looked at Zhou Yuanshen, her voice very soft. “Should we just force our way into Shou’an Court? Even if the Emperor asks about it, we can say we were acting out of filial devotion.”
Zhou Yuanshen fell silent for a moment. “That would be inappropriate.”
“Are we simply going to wait?”
“We can afford to wait. Others cannot. Marquis Qingyuan will be coming soon,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
Marquis Qingyuan was the Dowager Madame’s nephew, a member of her maternal family.
If Nanny Sun failed to summon a divine physician and could not see the Emperor, she would certainly seek out Marquis Qingyuan and ask him to support the Dowager Madame.
Only after the loyal servant and the maternal relatives had each performed their part would it be time for the children and grandchildren to speak. In the Dowager Madame’s heart, the Sun family mattered far more than the Zhou family.
“Yuanshen, if...”
Zhou Yuanshen clasped her hand tightly. “Don’t be afraid.”
“All right.” A flicker passed through Cheng Zhao’s eyes, her emotions rising before she forced them back down.
The husband and wife sat in silence. Neither spoke again. Countless thoughts raced through their minds, yet not a single one could be voiced.
“We won’t go to Jiangyun Court tonight. Suyue, go tell Mother,” Cheng Zhao said.
Suyue acknowledged the order.
The couple had dinner in Chengming Hall.
Zhou Yuanshen still had some business to attend to, so he went to the outer study for a while. Cheng Zhao sat beneath the lamplight and tried to look through the account books. Unable to settle her mind, she picked up her needlework instead.
Snow had piled up along the corners of the courtyard walls. Only the paths had been cleared for walking. The reflected snowlight shone against the windows, making it seem as though there were still daylight outside.
It was colder now.
The floor heating kept the room warm, so Cheng Zhao wore only a light padded jacket.
She embroidered a sachet while waiting for Zhou Yuanshen to return.
He came back after being gone for more than half an hour.
The inner chamber of Chengming Hall was too large, and even the floor heating was not enough to keep it warm at night. The couple had already moved their bed into the heated alcove.
With the folding doors shut, the alcove was as warm as spring, almost like a larger bed.
Neither Cheng Zhao nor Zhou Yuanshen could sleep. They exchanged a few idle remarks. The things they truly wanted to say were difficult to voice directly, so their conversation wandered from one unrelated topic to another.
A few days later, the snow began to melt, and the cold grew even harsher. It was cold enough to split the skin, and in the mornings and evenings people could barely stretch out their hands when going outside.
Marquis Qingyuan did indeed visit the Chen State Duke’s residence.
The gatehouse steward told Cheng Zhao that Nanny Sun had failed to summon Master Qingshan, but had managed to invite Master Zhao, the retired former chief physician of the Imperial Medical Academy.
As for Master Zhao’s diagnosis, no outsider knew anything about it.
Cheng Zhao included.
Cheng Zhao went to Jiangyun Court to have dinner with Second Madam, but did not mention Shou’an Court in the slightest.
Even though the situation there had already been abnormal for several days.
“Mother, when Nanny Li was sorting through the trunks, I found quite a lot of furs.” Cheng Zhao pointed at the chests being carried in by the maids. “I’ll have two thick fur-lined garments made for you and Yuanqi.”
Second Madam smiled. “I don’t need any. Have more made for Yuanqi. It’s cold at the academy.”
She did not think to ask about the Dowager Madame or Huan Qingtang at all. Instead, she cheerfully began discussing her younger brother’s wedding date.
The day of Fan Xiao’s wedding was fast approaching.
Cheng Zhao thought of Third Miss Song, and her heart tightened slightly.
There was no other reason. Third Miss Song was highly skilled with the sword, and her hands were exactly like those of Master Dai, who served beside Cheng Zhao’s third elder sister.
Master Dai’s daughter was also highly skilled with the sword, and her hands looked the same.
Cheng Zhao still remembered how Master Dai had specifically pointed out that the hands of someone who had practiced swordsmanship since childhood were different from those of ordinary people.
Vice Minister Song was a scholar, and the Song family was renowned for its scholarly tradition.
No one had ever mentioned that Third Miss Song was particularly skilled with a sword.
When Third Miss Song met Cheng Zhao and Second Madam, she caught sight of Fan Xiao and avoided him...
Which was only reasonable. An unmarried couple had to keep their distance.
The betrothal was a matter for the elders of both families. The two might not even see each other again until their wedding night; communication between the Fan and Song families was handled by the matchmaker.
Among the women of the Fan family, it seemed that only Second Aunt had seen Third Miss Song once—and even then, she had merely glimpsed her from afar. As her future mother-in-law, the Dowager Madame probably had not met her yet.