Chapter Thirty-One: An Old Acquaintance

The main hall of the Prince of Yongning’s residence had covered corridors running along both its eastern and western sides. The newlyweds would enter through the center, while the male and female guests, kept apart, would enter the main hall through the eastern and western corridors respectively.

The female guests were on the west, so Qingrou would naturally go that way. The Little County Princess, however, would not.

When they reached the main hall, Jing Hu suddenly stopped. “Sister Qing, I just remembered that I have something to attend to. You go on into the main hall by yourself. I’ll come find you in a little while.”

If she told Qingrou she was going to look for Ke Mingxu, Qingrou would certainly stop her. Besides, a maid from her sister-in-law’s household was accompanying her today.

Her elder brother’s wife, Madam Lu, was the heir’s wife and the current matriarch of the Duke of Dingguo’s household. Every word she spoke and every action she took was beyond reproach. The fact that she had deliberately sent a maid to stay beside Qingrou was proof enough of that.

And once Qingrou began lecturing her, she would go on at length. If she wasted too much time, who knew when she would next get to see the Lord Ke she had been longing for these past two months?

Qingrou thought Jing Hu seemed somewhat suspicious, but said nothing. She merely reminded her, “Then come back quickly. The ceremony won’t take long. You hurried all the way here—if you miss him again, don’t come crying to me afterward.”

Jing Hu smiled and pretended to head toward a nearby ornamental rockery. Only after Qingrou had entered the main hall and the ceremony had continued for quite some time, with no one left around her, did she make her way toward the eastern side hall.

She had not been standing at the entrance for long before she spotted Lord Ke. Surrounded by a group of older men, he stood straight as a pine, utterly conspicuous among them.

Jing Hu immediately regretted wearing such bright colors. This was, after all, a gathering of men. She could hardly disregard all propriety and rush over to drag Ke Mingxu out.

Music and ceremonial instruments sounded all around her. Jing Hu hid herself behind one of the corridor pillars, peeking out as she tried to call to him.

He was standing somewhat far away and appeared wholly absorbed in watching her third elder brother and new sister-in-law perform the wedding rites. She called for him repeatedly, but he did not hear her.

Instead, a young man standing near the pillar heard her. Dressed in a sandalwood-brown robe, he turned and glanced at her.

Then he walked over. “Princess?”

Jing Hu recognized him at once. He was the junior disciple Ke Mingxu had mentioned to her during the Dragon Boat Festival. His name was… Qi Yuanfang.

That day, he had stood far away from her, and she had known only that he was handsome. Today, as he walked toward her and came close, she inexplicably felt as though an old acquaintance had returned.

The sensation was exceedingly strange.

She did not remember ever knowing him. The Dragon Boat Festival should have been the first time she had seen him. And yet, by some coincidence, he recognized her as well.

Jing Hu had always been bold. Though he was a strange man to her, she was not afraid of him. Besides, he knew Ke Mingxu. Perhaps he would be willing to help her.

“You’re Qi Yuanfang, aren’t you?”

The young man stopped. “The Princess knows me?”

Jing Hu nodded, unconcerned. “Of course I do.”

He was not only Ke Mingxu’s junior fellow disciple, but also the husband of the Princess of Huaiyi, with whom Jing Hu had crossed swords earlier that very day.

Qi Yuanfang smiled. “Have you come to look for my senior brother?”

Jing Hu straightened. “You’re older than I am, so I’ll call you Brother Qi. I have something to discuss with your senior brother, but it would be inconvenient for me to enter the reception hall. Could you help me?”

She felt, with strange certainty, that this man would help her.

Sure enough, he nodded. “It is only a small matter. Please wait here, Princess.”

Then he turned and walked toward Ke Mingxu.

Jing Hu’s gaze fell upon him almost involuntarily. The robe he wore today was embroidered with maple-leaf patterns. The workmanship was merely ordinary, nothing like hers; its only virtue was the natural flow of its colors.

Still, a man as handsome as he or Ke Mingxu would look striking even dressed in coarse hemp cloth.

The Lady of Huaiyi certainly knew how to choose a husband. She had married a fine man.

Qi Yuanfang entered the crowd and spoke a few quiet words to Ke Mingxu. A moment later, Ke Mingxu turned his head.

Two months had passed, yet he had barely changed. He was still as handsome as ever, like the clear moon and the gentle wind. The instant Jing Hu saw him looking her way, she raised a radiant smile.

Her delight came straight from the heart.

After finishing his conversation with Qi Yuanfang, he soon walked toward her. In Jing Hu’s eyes, Lord Ke was naturally more handsome than Qi Yuanfang—no, far more handsome.

Ke Mingxu stopped before her, then glanced around. “It is not convenient to speak here. Let us go beneath the corridor first.”

Jing Hu nodded and descended the steps ahead of him, walking behind a nearby ornamental rockery.

She slowed down with every step. Then, suddenly, she turned around.

Ke Mingxu was very close. She was almost in his arms.

She merely pretended not to notice. “Lord Ke, it has been such a long time.”

Ke Mingxu took a step back, unable to keep from smiling. “Little County Princess, you are as radiant as ever. But what made you suddenly decide to address me that way?”

When she called him that, her voice seemed to contain endless delight.

Jing Hu lifted her face to look at him. “When I received Lord Ke’s birthday gift last month, my maid asked who had sent it, and she addressed you that way. I thought it sounded rather nice. Do you like it, Lord Ke?”

He did not answer her question. Instead, he asked, “Do you still like the painting, Little County Princess?”

Jing Hu nodded vigorously. “I love it. It is the finest gift I have ever received. Thank you. It now hangs in the center of the reception room in my private quarters, so I can look at it every day.”

She sounded so obedient as she said this, yet her eyes shone brightly, like those of a small animal. But what kind of animal it was, he could not describe. For the first time, he felt that his command of language and his powers of description were actually rather inadequate.

No matter how much care he had put into it, it was only a painting. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, he suddenly felt guilty, as though the gift he had given her were not good enough.

In that moment, he forgot that there was, in truth, no profound relationship between them.

The ceremonial music suddenly softened, gradually fading into the distance. The rites must have been completed, and the newlyweds had gone to the bridal chamber.

“The new heir’s wife has gone to the bridal chamber. As her younger sister-in-law, you ought to go and see her as well, shouldn’t you? I wonder what brings you to Mingxu today, Little County Princess.”

She actually wanted to speak with him a little longer, but Qingrou was still waiting for her in the western side hall. She could not simply leave her there.

So she said a few quiet words and handed him a sheet of apricot-red letter paper from her purse.

What she had just said was in the Chile language. It meant that she had something to ask him about.

Ke Mingxu was plainly stunned for a moment before accepting the letter paper.

The Little County Princess had learned only the barest rudiments of the language. Noticing his expression, she laughed inwardly, though her face remained solemn. “Lord Ke, you must read the contents of this letter carefully.”

She suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Turning away, she hurried forward several steps, then could not resist looking back.

Ke Mingxu was not looking at the letter paper. He was watching her retreating figure.

Jing Hu raised a finger and pointed from afar at the paper in his hand. “You really must read it carefully.”

Then, like a nimble butterfly, she quickly fluttered away.