Huo Ci rushed over to the Taihe Gate in a hurry. He lifted the carriage curtain and took a look outside, and right there he saw the civil and military officials filing out one after another. Their expressions were grave, as if they had just lost their parents.
A sudden, uneasy feeling surged in his heart.
Something major must have happened at the morning court session.
Why hasn’t Ah Yan come out? Could it be related to her?
“Brother, why are you here?”
Wang Qi was the first to notice Wang Fu.
Wang Fu had always been full of love and care for his younger brother.
Now, seeing how capable his brother had become, he felt an even deeper, quiet respect.
So much so that when he answered Wang Qi’s casual question, his tone was serious:
“The general’s wife—ah, no, Miss Jiang—wants to come see the general.”
He turned his head and looked back at the carriage, then scratched his head sheepishly.
“I’ve got a clumsy mouth, brother, I keep messing up the address. The master won’t blame me for that, will he?”
Wang Qi smiled and comforted his brother.
“Brother, don’t you worry about it.
The general and Miss Jiang are both wonderful people. Why would they blame you over something as small as a title?”
Wang Fu nodded slowly. “That’s good then. I was just afraid I’d cause trouble for you.
It wasn’t easy for you to get the general’s care and attention.”
Wang Qi’s nose stung with emotion. “Brother, what are you saying? Am I still your younger brother or not?”
Listening to the two brothers chat about family matters, Huo Ci still didn’t see Jiang Xingyan come out. Feeling uneasy, he spoke up.
“Wang Qi, why hasn’t the general come out yet?
Has something happened?”
Wang Qi replied respectfully by the carriage window. “Miss Jiang, don’t worry. I’ve just asked Imperial Physician Sun about it.
The general and the National Teacher were kept behind by His Majesty in the imperial study.”
He looked left and right, and seeing no one was paying attention, lowered his voice.
“From what Imperial Physician Sun said, during court today, the National Teacher performed a divination and found out that Princess Huaiwan and Beiluo have entered into some secret deal.
This time, the situation is serious. It’s not looking good.”
Huo Ci’s heart sank with a heavy thud.
If Beiluo and Daxia joined forces, would the Western Zhou still have any way out?
He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, but there was nothing he could do.
Ever since he had been swapped into Ah Yan’s body, he could feel the struggles of being a woman at every moment.
Everything he did was restricted, looked down upon.
Even though he worried about the future of his country, he had no way to serve it.
The imperial exams hadn’t exactly banned women from participating, but since ancient times, the Western Zhou had only produced one princess who ruled from behind a curtain.
There was no precedent for a woman holding power beyond that.
Women simply didn’t have the same wide-open futures as men—the same opportunity to achieve great things and fulfill their ambitions.
Even a woman as wealthy as Ah Yan, whose fortune could rival a nation’s, was still criticized and had to carry the label of a merchant’s daughter for life.
The arrogance he had once felt deep down toward women now felt like layers of thorns binding him.
“They’re out! The general and the National Teacher are out!”
Wang Qi called out softly and hurried over to greet them.
“General, Miss Jiang has been waiting for you on the carriage for a while now.”
As soon as Jiang Xingyan stepped onto the carriage, she spotted Huo Ci wearing a veiled hat, and her opinion of him rose a little.
“What are you doing here?”
Even though Huo Ci was dying to know what Xiao Ao and everyone had talked about, he first told them what had happened last night.
A faint blush crossed Yun Chunfeng’s face.
That proactive young lady from last night—he truly couldn’t get enough of her.
Watching the two of them react to the news with no tension whatsoever, just shy embarrassment, Huo Ci realized they weren’t worried at all. In fact, they were probably remembering the intimacy of the night before.
Suddenly, he felt incredibly wronged.
All the tension and danger from last night now seemed like a joke.
Just as it looked like he might burst into tears, Jiang Xingyan quickly coughed lightly.
“In the future, try to relax a bit. From what I can see, Shangguan Hanshan doesn’t seem like someone who’s cold and unfeeling.”
“Hmph!”
Huo Ci turned his body away, stubbornly wiping his tears.
The corner of Jiang Xingyan’s mouth twitched.
Was this man becoming more and more like a woman?
If they didn’t swap back soon, what would the soldiers of the Huo family army think when they saw him like this?
“Alright—”
Before she could finish her sentence, the carriage curtain was lifted, and two people in palace attire squeezed their way inside.
Before Jiang Xingyan could go on alert, the two pulled off their face masks—it was Yu Jiaojiao and He Han.
“It’s you two! What’s going on?”
Yu Jiaojiao let out a heavy sigh and motioned for He Han to speak.
He Han gave her a doting look, then cupped his hands in salute to Jiang Xingyan. “General, we’ve come to confess our fault.”
“Oh? And what fault is that?”
“We’ve been disguised as palace maids in Changle Palace for several days now, but we still haven’t been able to get close to Shangguan Luoyue.
We didn’t even find out about her plan last night to assassinate the general’s wife.
This morning, she flew into a rage, and we happened to be weeding outside the hall. We caught only bits and pieces of her words and guessed that she had already made a move against the general’s wife.
If not for the general’s exceptional martial arts skills in intercepting and killing the assassin, we would have already made a grave mistake.
Today, we’ve come to hand over our badges as captains of the Embroidered Uniform Camp. Please, general, choose more capable people.
He Han is here to accept double the military punishment. I only ask that the general spare my junior apprentice sister!”
Jiang Xingyan rubbed her chin, thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days.
The fact that He Han and Yu Jiaojiao had managed to send a secret note warning her about Shangguan Luoyue’s poisoning attempt meant that at the beginning, Shangguan Luoyue hadn’t hidden her discussions with her close confidants.
It must have been the sudden, suspicious departure of Huo Ci that day that made her more cautious.
Now, with Shangguan Hanshan keeping an eye on things, their help might not even be needed.
“No harm done. You two go back to the military camp and rest for a few days. You’ve been working hard lately.
If there’s a new assignment, I’ll arrange it for you then.”
Yu Jiaojiao looked dejected. “General, are you saying we’re incompetent?”
“What are you talking about?
The Embroidered Uniform Camp only has seven people right now. We need to expand it quite a bit.
These next few days, I have to focus on Daxia and Beiluo and won’t have time to handle everything. Having you two to help ease my worries—how could that be called incompetence?”
Jiang Xingyan pushed the badges back toward them. “There’s no time to waste. Hurry back to the military camp and keep an eye on things. Don’t let any troublemakers sneak in.”
In Yun Chunfeng’s arms, little Ya reached out her small hand toward Yu Jiaojiao and patted her on the arm.
“Auntie is amazing!”
Yu Jiaojiao’s energy instantly returned. She reached out her palm, placed it on little Ya’s gradually rounding cheeks, and gently squeezed.
“Little Ya is so sweet! Auntie will definitely become even stronger!”
“The general is kind and just. We won’t disturb you any longer. We’ll head back to the military camp now.”
Before He Han left, he suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, general, if you want to investigate the matter of the golden juice [a type of poison or foul liquid, often used in schemes], try searching the west side hall of Changle Palace when Shangguan Luoyue isn’t there.
On the night of the Dust-Cleansing Banquet, I saw two dark figures slip inside there.”
Yun Chunfeng’s expression darkened.
Showing off, are you?
I just divined that and was about to impress the young lady with the news, and you go and say it first?
He cast a displeased glare at He Han.
He Han looked utterly confused.
Why was the National Teacher suddenly so hostile toward him?
Could those rumors outside be true?
But he was just reporting normally to the general…
So possessive!
After He Han and Yu Jiaojiao left, Jiang Xingyan massaged her temples.
Too many things had happened recently. Each event seemed connected somehow, and it was giving her a headache.
“Let’s go check on Xin Zhui first.”
The carriage had barely moved a few steps when someone stopped in front of it.
“General, the palace has sent someone.”
Jiang Xingyan lifted the carriage curtain and saw a maid from the empress’s side bow respectfully to her.
“General Huo, the empress today is craving some tea snacks made from Qianshan Su. Please ask Miss Jiang to prepare them and deliver them to the palace by shenshi* (3:45–5:45 PM).”
[TN: Shenshi is one of the 12 two-hour periods in the ancient Chinese time system, roughly 3–5 PM, so shenshi san ke is that specific time within that window.]
Before she could even respond, another young servant came running up, out of breath, and knelt down to salute.
“General Huo, His Highness the Third Prince requests the general’s presence at Rangchen Pavilion for a discussion.”
The three people inside the carriage looked at each other in bewilderment.
What kind of trick were this mother and son pair trying to pull?
