Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Chance Encounter (3)
Tong Xiyan sat in the courtyard for a while. It was very cold in the morning. Daijuan didn’t dare to persuade Tong Xiyan to go back, so she went to get a cape for her. After sitting in the courtyard for a bit longer, Tong Xiyan said she wished to take a walk in the garden. Thus, the maids and old servant women helped her out of the courtyard.
Inside the room, the warm floor heating made it cozy. Xiqiu took off her jiaao and sat on a chair, taking out an embroidery hoop to stitch. At this moment, Nanny Song’s voice could be heard outside the door, "The young lady from the adjacent family is here!" Xiqiu was surprised, looked up towards the door, and saw Sixing already welcoming the guest and lifting the curtain. Xiao Yanzheng, looking unwell, walked in.
"Why have you come? I didn’t see you at the Grand Dowager’s place just now, and I thought you were unwell. I was planning to visit you this afternoon!" Xiqiu invited Xiao Yanzheng to sit on a chair and asked Sixing to make tea. She then suggested, "Take off your coat, so you won’t sweat later!"
Xiao Yanzheng waved her hand, "No need. I came to take you somewhere." Xiqiu raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Where to?"
"You’ll know when we get there. Hurry and put on your clothes." Xiao Yanzheng took the tea from Sixing, placed it on the table without drinking it, and impatiently urged Xiqiu.
With a helpless smile, Xiqiu complied. Turning to Chunyan, she said, "Please bring me my clothes." Chunyan nodded in agreement, fetching Xiqiu’s jiaao and overcoat, helping her put them on. She also prepared a hand warmer for her.
Xiao Yanzheng, seeing Xiqiu ready, stood up and took her hand, saying, "Let’s not take the palanquin. Since your knee hurts, we’ll walk slowly and have a chat along the way." Xiqiu nodded, adding, "Let them know we’re visiting our eldest sister." As they stepped out of the courtyard, Tong Xiyan was already gone. Xiqiu wondered quietly since Tong Xiyan was not fond of moving around; perhaps she went to Tong Xihua’s room?
The two of them went to Tong Xihua’s room. Tong Xihua was sitting cross-legged on the bed, holding an account book while calculating with Qiuping. Seeing Xiao Yanzheng and Xiqiu enter, she put down the account book and asked, "Second Sister is here? Come in and warm up."
Xiao Yanzheng and Xiqiu greeted Tong Xihua with a bow. Seeing that Tong Xiyan wasn’t there, Xiqiu frowned slightly.
"Second Sister-in-law!" Xiao Yanzheng said with a smile to Tong Xihua, "I’m not staying. I just came to greet you. I want Sixth Sister to accompany me for a walk in the garden..." Tong Xihua glanced at Xiqiu and smiled, "I wondered what it was about. Go ahead! But remember, it’s cold, and the roads might be icy. Be careful while walking."
Xiqiu and Xiao Yanzheng both responded affirmatively. Tong Xihua then advised Xiqiu, "Return early for dinner," showing genuine concern.
"Will do!" Xiqiu nodded in agreement and added, "I’ll be on my way then." Tong Xihua nodded, and Xiqiu left with Xiao Yanzheng, one following the other.
As they exited the courtyard, Xiao Yanzheng relaxed her expression. Xiqiu sensed she didn’t like visiting Tong Xihua’s courtyard and asked with a smile, "Where are you taking me? So secretive!"
"You’ll find out when we get there." Xiao Yanzheng turned back and smiled at her, "Our mansion’s garden was built as a secondary residence for the Fourth Prince by the late Empress Dowager, but the prince died young, and the residence remained unoccupied. The Grand Empress Dowager awarded it to Father, but Father, remembering the Fourth Prince, left the layout unchanged when he moved in, making our garden one of the finest in the Capital!" She paused and continued, "Later, Father and Mother opened up a plot in the back garden and planted many vegetables and fruits." As she spoke, her face was full of longing, "When I was young, I often watered Father’s vegetables with Fourth Brother. We even secretly dug up sweet potatoes, built a fire in the garden to bake them, nearly burning Father’s garden. Father punished Fourth Brother by making him kneel in the ancestral hall all night."
Xiqiu couldn’t help but laugh, not expecting someone like Fourth Master Xiao to have been so mischievous as a child.
"I didn’t get to eat the sweet potatoes, so I kept thinking about it every day, begging my eldest brother, then my second brother, until the third brother brought some back from outside. I ate them but thought they weren’t as fragrant as Father’s, so I squatted by Father’s vegetable garden daily. One day, my eldest, second, third, and fourth brothers all came, each with a shovel. I still vividly remember the joy I felt, almost flying to the skies!"
Childhood was filled with protective brothers. Even without witnessing it herself, Xiqiu knew they must have been happy times. She asked with a smile, "What happened after? Did you get to eat it?"
Xiao Yanzheng nodded, "Yes, and it was the best sweet potato I’ve ever tasted!" Such times never came again.
Xiqiu smiled gently, noticing they had passed through the Marquis Mansion’s back garden. The air was filled with a faint fragrance. She tilted her head to find the source, and Xiao Yanzheng laughed, "No need to look, it’s over there!"
Following Xiao Yanzheng’s gesture, Xiqiu looked ahead, spotting a small hillside not far away, planted with a grove of plum trees. Snow weighed down the branches, and the glimpse of crimson amid the snow was truly unparalleled in clarity and beauty!
"Let’s go there." Xiao Yanzheng held Xiqiu’s hand, leading her onto a stone-paved path. The path divided into two forks, one leading left to a lake with a small island housing a two-section courtyard. Guards dressed in attire stood at attention inside and outside the courtyard, and this was the first time Xiqiu saw guards within the Marquis Mansion. They wore dark blue long robes, folded their arms without visible weapons, guarding the only entrance to the island. She instinctively felt this might be the strategist’s center of the mansion. Xiao Yanzheng, noticing Xiqiu’s silence, looked back and saw her gazing at the island. With a smile, she explained, "This used to be Father’s study. After Father left, it became Eldest Brother’s study. I’ve only been inside once." Pointing to the guards, she added, "They’re very fierce, questioning you with no leeway!"
Her eyes widened with a mischief seldom seen, making Xiqiu burst into laughter. In a mansion like the Marquis’s, the Marquis’s study would surely be guarded by experts. These visible ones weren’t scary; the hidden ones around were the ones to be wary of.
"They only obey the Marquis, showing no mercy to anyone else." As Xiao Yanzheng quickened her pace, pulling Xiqiu along, "We’re almost there!" Increasing the speed intensified Xiqiu’s knee pain, which she endured for a long time before it became unbearable. Seeing her expression, Sixing immediately came to support Xiqiu, exclaiming, "Miss, are you alright?" secretly blaming Xiao Yanzheng, knowing Miss’s knee was injured yet still rushing.
Realizing her mistake, Xiao Yanzheng lightly tapped her forehead, "Sorry, I forgot!" She pointed to the plum grove, "There are seats placed inside; let’s rest."
Xiqiu smiled and nodded, and the two of them entered the grove.
As they stepped inside, Xiqiu realized the grove wasn’t as vast as it seemed from the outside; it was about half an acre in size. As promised, Xiao Yanzheng had set up a black lacquered, snow-collapsed, red-plum-decorated round table with two fine redwood circle chairs on either side, depicting magpies resting on branches.