Chapter 17

When Wu Ciyun left the capital years ago, she was utterly destitute, and many who wished to see her fail sneered behind her back. Now, four years later, she returned to the capital under the illustrious title of meritorious official, basking in glory. Many once indifferent people now sought to ingratiate themselves with her.

Yet Wu Ciyun publicly claimed frailty and refused to meet any visitors during the festive season, effectively turning away all who sought an audience.

Prince Rui, seeing her truly behaved so obediently, felt somewhat reassured. Privately, he gifted Wu Ciyun many rare medicinal herbs and even sent the imperial physician to personally attend to her, demonstrating his regard for his subordinate.

Though Wu Ciyun had politely declined to assist him in ascending the throne that day, Prince Rui did not take offense.

Supporting the young emperor’s enthronement was partly the will of the old ministers and also one of the conditions under which the Liang dynasty was willing to defect.

Now in his prime, if Prince Rui truly became emperor, he would inevitably monopolize power and purge rivals. The old ministers were unwilling to relinquish their authority, and the Liang dynasty did not wish to see the Sheng dynasty produce a diligent and wise ruler. Thus, placing a child on the throne was the best choice.

Yet Prince Rui was indifferent to all this. Even if he was not the rightful emperor, he wielded regent power, governing on behalf of the young sovereign.

For now, he endured silently, waiting for the political situation to stabilize. He planned to later announce the young emperor’s demise and then claim the throne himself, at which point no one would dare oppose him.

Wu Ciyun was a fine blade, but not irreplaceable.

He possessed plenty of swords and blades; whether this particular blade could be wielded by him mattered little. As long as no one else took it up, that was enough.

For now, it seemed Wu Ciyun remained quietly sheathed.

Several intermittent snowfalls fell after New Year’s Eve, and only today did the sky clear. The servants diligently swept the snow from the corridors. A young servant hurried toward the study, seeing Ah Ming standing outside, he quickly asked, “Brother Ah Ming, is the master inside?”

“The master is inside, teaching the two young masters to practice calligraphy.”

Ah Ming glanced down at the item in the servant’s hand and frowned. “Has another letter arrived?”

The servant nodded sincerely. “Just now, a cloaked young lady came, left something, and left immediately.”

Since Wu Ciyun’s return to the capital, no one knew who had been secretly delivering letters to the residence every few days, always leaving them outside the door before departing. At first, Wu Ciyun would open and read these letters, but later she grew too weary and had them burned unread.

“I told you before, if any more such letters come, burn them all without reporting to the master.”

“I was going to burn this one too, but it came with this.”

The servant handed Ah Ming a bundle wrapped in red cloth. Ah Ming glanced inside to find a pair of pearls the size of longans, perfectly round and flawless, their texture as delicate as brocade, glowing softly and lustrously in the light. Even a layperson could tell their great value.

“Brother Ah Ming, this is the first time I’ve seen pearls this big.”

The young servant, still innocent and unable to conceal his curiosity, asked, “Are these worth several hundred taels?”

“These are White Frost Pearls, unique to Proha. They can only be harvested on the day of the frost descent.”

A hoarse voice sounded from behind. Ah Ming instinctively turned to see Jia Weizhen, who had somehow appeared beside him. His greedy eyes fixated on the pearls as he muttered, “At this size, even thousands of taels wouldn’t be enough to buy them.”

Without hesitation, Ah Ming covered the pearls with the red cloth again and coldly asked, “What are you here for?”

Though Jia Weizhen had grown less timid during his stay at the residence, he was still cautious. Seeing Ah Ming’s guarded expression, he promptly and respectfully handed over a wooden box from his hands, forcing a smile. “This is what the master requested. Please deliver it to him.”

Wu Ciyun had not checked the studies of Wu Mingzhu and Wu Liangyu for nearly a month. Since the incident in Ningzhou, she had been busy with the aftermath, unable to attend to this matter.

Now that she finally checked, she discovered that in just one month, the siblings had nearly returned all their books.

“It’s one thing if they can’t recite, but now their handwriting looks like scribbles.”

Wu Ciyun flipped through the characters they had just practiced, her voice cold. “Take them back and rewrite. If you don’t finish tonight, no dinner for you.”

Wu Liangyu and Wu Mingzhu meekly agreed and obediently sat back down to rewrite on fresh paper.

Rong Tan hesitated, wanting to plead but dared not speak when he saw Wu Ciyun’s icy expression. He silently stayed by her side, grinding ink.

After sending the children to practice, Wu Ciyun did not idle. She picked up the letter on the desk, pondered briefly, then wrote half a page in a hurried, sharp hand, striking with forceful strokes unlike her usual handwriting.

When Ah Ming entered the study, seeing Wu Ciyun busy, he dared not interrupt and instead handed everything to Rong Tan.

“What did you bring?”

Rong Tan stared absentmindedly at the pair of pearls wrapped in red cloth. When Wu Ciyun spoke, he snapped back to attention.

“The wooden box was brought by Jia Weizhen. The letter and the item in the red cloth... must have been sent by the same person who sent the previous letters.”

Wu Ciyun remained calm. She opened the wooden box, took out an exquisite jade seal, and dipped it into vermilion ink, imprinting it directly onto the letter she had just written.

Jia Weizhen’s forgery skills were indeed impressive. He had carved a private seal of Prince Rui with exact precision, down to the worn depths of the engraving.

Wu Ciyun compared it carefully with Prince Rui’s original secret letters. The handwriting, the seal, and even the paper texture were almost indistinguishable. No flaw was visible even under close scrutiny.

She was quite pleased with it. Setting the letter aside, she rubbed her aching temples and casually asked, “What did the letter say?”

Rong Tan unfolded the letter and glanced at its contents. His expression stiffened, and after a moment of silence, he handed it to Wu Ciyun.

The letter bore only a brief sentence: “You once gave me twin pearls; their brightness remains as before. Has your heart never changed?”

Wu Ciyun silently contemplated the message, then relaxed her grip and let the paper fall into the brazier. In moments, it turned to ash.

After a long pause, she spoke softly, “When night falls, have someone quietly open the side gate at the back.”

Rong Tan nodded in acknowledgment.

Wu Mingzhu and Wu Liangyu looked on curiously at these two strange people. Seizing the moment when the imperial physician arrived to take Wu Ciyun’s pulse, Wu Mingzhu tugged on Rong Tan’s sleeve in secret.

“Are you hungry?”

Rong Tan quietly brought over some pastries from the table. “Eat a little first to fill your stomach.”

The children hurriedly grabbed the pastries, muffling their words, “Housekeeper Rong, is someone coming to visit the house?”

“Maybe,” Rong Tan whispered. “It should be an honored guest.”

Rong Tan had quietly investigated and learned the letter’s sender was none other than Princess Zhaoning, Xiao Wan, who had once nearly been married to Wu Ciyun.

Xiao Wan was deeply obsessed with Wu Ciyun. She had fallen in love at first sight. When the arranged marriage was called off, she petitioned the Sheng emperor to have Wu Ciyun become her tutor. Later, when the Wu family fell into misfortune, she seized the opportunity and almost forcibly took Wu Ciyun home as a male companion—only giving up when Wu Ciyun threatened to die.

In the fifteenth year of the Yuancheng era, the year after Wu Ciyun left the capital, Xiao Wan married Zhao Xiang, son of Grand Tutor Zhao. Last year she gave birth, becoming a mother for just ten days before Zhao Xiang suddenly died. Though widowed now, it seemed her heart still lingered on Wu Ciyun.

Rong Tan felt uneasy but knew he had no right to judge. If Wu Ciyun were a Liang subject, he himself could not guarantee he would not resort to even harsher methods than Xiao Wan.

Late at night, as instructed by Wu Ciyun, Rong Tan quietly opened the side gate.

Within half an hour, two furtive figures slipped through the gate. Following the guiding servant, they made their way to the east wing where Wu Ciyun was.

She was resting against a soft couch with her eyes closed when the door creaked open. Before she could react, a figure suddenly fell into her arms.

“Master…”

Xiao Wan’s eyes brimmed with tears, her expression mournful. She pressed herself against Wu Ciyun, sobbing, “You finally agreed to see me. I’ve waited so long, enduring so much pain…”

The young woman in blue who had accompanied Xiao Wan stood at the door holding a child. Seeing this scene, her expression stiffened. She was caught between advancing and retreating and could only lower her head to quietly amuse the child.

“Liu Niang, take Qi’er outside first.”

Realizing others were present in the room, Xiao Wan turned to instruct the young attendant to leave with the child. Liu Niang nodded quietly, hesitated briefly to glance at Wu Ciyun, then silently withdrew.

“Princess, please get up. This is improper.”

Wu Ciyun struggled and pushed Xiao Wan off her. Xiao Wan fell back onto the soft pillows, stunned. Looking at Wu Ciyun’s cold demeanor, her pitiful expression quickly hardened into reluctant bitterness.

Wu Ciyun was always like this.

Forever indifferent toward her, always seeing her only as a princess, never willing to show even a trace of warmth or softness.

Xiao Wan wiped away her tears and calmed herself, her gaze fixed intently on Wu Ciyun’s face. With delicate fingers, she unfastened her dark blue cloud-patterned cloak.

Today, she wore a bright red embroidered cloud robe, with golden phoenixes stitched in gold thread that seemed ready to take flight in the candlelight.

“Master, do you like it?”

Xiao Wan smiled brightly and leisurely said, “To observe proper etiquette, I specially chose this to consummate our marriage tonight.”