Chapter 91: Sending a Letter
The First Imperial Princess’s eyelids were twitching wildly for some reason today.
She paced around the manor, unable to bear the torment. A personal attendant carefully came up and asked, “Does Your Highness want to call for an imperial physician?”
The First Imperial Princess sighed, “Forget it, forget it. A twitching right eye is not a good omen. I shouldn’t call for an imperial physician, but a fortune-teller.”
“Then shall this servant go and get a fortune-teller?”
“You’re too easily influenced,” the First Imperial Princess was in a bad mood, so she picked on the attendant’s mistake and said with a straight face. “Have you forgotten that I don’t like those nuns and Daoist priests? Your monthly salary for this month is gone.”
The attendant said, “Yes,” dejectedly, thinking to herself, You said it yourself and you’re not admitting it. After a moment, she suddenly remembered something and said, “Hey, why don’t you ask the State Preceptor to take a look? Perhaps you’ve been possessed by an evil spirit, or there’s some disaster. The State Preceptor can probably see it.”
The First Imperial Princess suddenly slapped her thigh, “That’s right, why didn’t I think of that? Go and get the State Preceptor! Your monthly salary for this month will be doubled!”
The attendant was overjoyed and went off in high spirits for half a day, but she came back with her head down, and there was no one behind her.
“Is the State Preceptor not at the manor?” the First Imperial Princess frowned and asked.
The attendant sighed, “She is at the manor, but she is having a great chat with General Shen and Her Highness Huai’an. This servant couldn’t get her to come.”
“With the two of them?!” The First Imperial Princess’s voice was more than twice as loud. “How did they get together? Did you hear what they said?”
“I didn’t hear,” the attendant said with a pained expression. “As soon as I went, they changed the subject. And the people there are very tight-lipped, so I couldn’t ask anything.”
The First Imperial Princess sat down on a stone stool with a grand air, propped her head on her hand, and said, “This is probably bad.”
“Your Highness, don’t scare yourself—”
“Oh, you don’t know—” The second half of the First Imperial Princess’s sentence was about to come out, but she swallowed it back.
She waved her hand and said, “You can go. Let me sit here alone and think.”
Actually, there was nothing to think about—the State Preceptor must have “defected,” the First Imperial Princess thought.
…The State Preceptor was a person who acted as she pleased. Since she had agreed to help her before, she could definitely agree to help Shen Zhishu and the others now. After all, apart from the Emperor, the State Preceptor did not seem to care about anyone.
If she could help the State Preceptor find someone, the Eldest Princess could definitely do it too, and perhaps she could find them faster and more accurately.
The First Imperial Princess rubbed her brow and thought to herself that she probably couldn’t count on the State Preceptor anymore. The matter of “Jiyuan” had probably also collapsed halfway. If she wanted to get Xie Jin, she had to think of other ways—
Suddenly, she saw that young attendant run over again, holding a letter in her hand, looking quite excited.
The First Imperial Princess sighed, “Didn’t I say not to disturb me? Your monthly salary for this month and next month is gone.”
“No, no, it’s something important!” The attendant’s small face was flushed. “A letter from the State Preceptor has arrived!”
The First Imperial Princess was surprised, “Isn’t she having a great chat with General Shen and the others? Does she have the time to write a letter?”
“Perhaps she wrote it before…” the attendant’s voice became lower. “Does Your Highness want to open it and see first?”
The First Imperial Princess idly rubbed her temples and said lazily, “In that case, you can open it and read it to me.”
The attendant hurriedly said, “Yes,” tore open the envelope in a few moves, cleared her throat, and said with a cadence, “Does Your Highness aspire to the clouds and have the heart of a dragon…”
The First Imperial Princess: ? No way, it’s so explosive right from the start???
She hurriedly snatched the letter and then waved her hand to let the attendant go. The attendant stuck out her tongue and retreated, but was suddenly called back by the First Imperial Princess by her full name.
The attendant’s butt tightened, and she turned around with a braced expression, and saw the First Imperial Princess slowly raise her head, her tone casual, “What did you see just now?”
“This servant didn’t see anything!”
“Is that so?”
“Absolutely true!”
The First Imperial Princess stared at her for a while and suddenly laughed, “Since you didn’t see anything, why are you so nervous?”
The sweat on the attendant’s face came down with a swish.
The First Imperial Princess sighed and said in a gentle voice, “Alright, no need to be afraid. Keep your mouth shut and don’t say what you shouldn’t.”
The attendant nodded like a garlic pounder, feeling that she had escaped a disaster, but she did not know that after she had left, the First Imperial Princess lowered her eyes and snapped her fingers.
A secret guard immediately jumped down from a tree and knelt on one knee, “What is it, Master?”
The First Imperial Princess did not open her mouth immediately, but rubbed her brow for a long time.
She stared at the path leading out of the courtyard, which the attendant had just stepped on, without blinking. After a moment, she suddenly raised her hand and made a throat-slitting motion.
**
When Shen Zhishu and Jiang Yu came out of the State Preceptor’s Manor, the sun was already setting in the west, and the sky was gradually turning red. The auspicious clouds stretched from the top of their heads to the distant mountains.
Shen Zhishu stretched lazily and smiled, “I’ve been eating at the State Preceptor’s Manor all afternoon, so I’m not hungry at all. I can skip dinner.”
Jiang Yu walked side by side with her on the long road and watched as an attendant brought the carriage over.
She let the evening wind brush over the stray hairs on her forehead, and after a moment, she said in a faint voice, “The General has no guard against the State Preceptor at all. What if she poisoned you?”
Shen Zhishu raised an eyebrow, “She is a noble State Preceptor and would definitely not stoop to such a despicable act. Besides, Your Highness is so meticulous, yet you also had a lot of food. This shows that there is definitely no problem with the food.”
“Is the General so trusting of the State Preceptor?”
Shen Zhishu shook her head with an old-fashioned air, “No, no, I trust Your Highness.”
As the two of them were talking, the carriage had already approached. Shen Zhishu suddenly remembered something and asked Lantiao, who was holding the reins, with a smile, “There is only one carriage, but there are two destinations, the Eldest Princess’s Manor and the General’s Manor, and they are not on the same road. Are you going to send your master back first, or me first? Actually, there’s no need to trouble you. I’ll have Hongli call another one, it’s not a lot of trouble.”
Lantiao turned her head to look at her master’s face, but saw that her master had turned her head and was pretending not to know. She immediately understood and opened her small mouth, “Of course, we’ll go to the General’s Manor first! As for calling another one, there’s no need.”
“Why?”
“Because Your Highness is also going to the General’s Manor!”
Shen Zhishu: …?
Perhaps it was because Shen Zhishu’s expression was a little dazed, Jiang Yu took the initiative to explain, “Didn’t the General agree to set off firecrackers with me before? Have you forgotten?”
Shen Zhishu suddenly realized and smiled, “I haven’t forgotten. We should go to the General’s Manor. But my family doesn’t have any extra firecrackers. Do you want to buy one along the street?”
Lantiao hurriedly volunteered, “That’s not difficult. I’ll just go back to the Eldest Princess’s Manor and get one.”
So, half an hour later, Shen Zhishu and Jiang Yu were standing in a row in the courtyard, with a firecracker that was as tall as a storey in front of them.
And Lantiao was standing by the side with her head held high and her chest puffed out, with a proud look on her face.
Shen Zhishu laughed, “This firecracker is really tall.”
“Of course,” Lantiao said proudly. “This is the biggest firecracker that Her Highness has gotten this year. It was sent by Vice Minister Wen yesterday.”
“Vice Minister Wen?” Shen Zhishu tilted her head and asked. “Why did she send a firecracker?”
“Lord Wen visited the Eldest Princess’s Manor yesterday to wish her a happy new year and specially brought this firecracker. She said she didn’t know what to give. If she gave some treasures, they would just collect dust in the storeroom, and what doesn’t my master have? She probably wouldn’t even look at something of a slightly lower grade. After thinking about it, this firecracker was suitable. The meaning is also good, and it can be used immediately.”
Shen Zhishu replied casually, “She is very thoughtful.”
Lantiao continued, “Lord Wen wanted to set it off yesterday. She said she wanted to set it off with Her Highness to get a good omen. Her Highness said that she had set off too many recently and her ears couldn’t take it, so she politely declined.”
“Hmm? Did your Highness hurt her ears?” Shen Zhishu asked hurriedly. “Is it serious?”
Lantiao smiled, “Her Highness is fine. She just said that to refuse Lord Wen.”
Shen Zhishu was visibly relieved and nodded.
Lantiao was a little anxious, “Why doesn’t the General have any reaction?”
Shen Zhishu was surprised by these words, “What reaction should I have?”
“Lord Wen clearly has ulterior motives!” Lantiao said. “Doesn’t the General know what it means to set off firecrackers together?”
“Oh? I really don’t know,” Shen Zhishu said. “Is there some kind of custom about this?”
“Of course there is!” Lantiao counted on her fingers. “Firstly, it is to ward off evil spirits and pray for blessings, to bless oneself and the people around you with happiness and peace. When the firecrackers go off, all illnesses will be eliminated. Secondly… it also has the meaning of walking towards a new life together, so it also implies admiration. That Lord Wen clearly has ulterior motives!”
“So there is such a saying,” Shen Zhishu nodded as if she had suddenly realized.
“That’s right!” Lantiao said. “So…”
She was about to say, “So if the General doesn’t hurry up, Vice Minister Wen will take advantage of the situation!” but she heard Shen Zhishu casually reply:
“So your Highness wants to set off firecrackers with me, which also implies admiration?”
