Free Web NovelChapter 1061: Chapter 1052: One Step (Part 2)
Xiqiu revealed a gratified smile.
"Rui." Le Xiu walked out, as if she hadn’t heard Xiqiu and Min talking, and said quite naturally, "Did you go visit the Third Prince this morning? Is he any better?"
Min rose to help Le Xiu sit down, and answered with a smile, "Much better. He can eat some light food now, and even walked a round on the ground. Judging from the situation, after a few more days of rest there should be no problem."
Le Xiu nodded slightly. "Later have Chief Su go to my storeroom and fetch some things. I’ve prepared everything for you. Even though you are brothers, you can’t go empty‑handed every time; it’s not proper." She paused, and Min replied a bit embarrassed, "I... I do have things on my side..."
Le Xiu waved her hand. "What you have is yours. You keep those for rewards and gifts; they’re all useful." After that she looked at Xiqiu. "Fourth Madam, stay here for the noon meal as well."
Xiqiu stood up and answered with a smile, "Thank you for your favor, Your Highness, but I dare not stay. I have three children at home; I’m not at ease leaving them." As she spoke she bowed again. "Then I will not disturb Your Highness."
Le Xiu did not press her to stay. She smiled and nodded. "Jinyu, see Fourth Madam out."
Min watched Xiqiu turn around, watched her figure disappear at the palace door, yet she never once looked back. He lowered his gaze, and, just like Xiqiu, went on talking with Le Xiu as if nothing had happened.
Le Xiu looked at him, then also began to smile, her tone becoming all the softer.
Three days later, Tong Quanzi arrived in the Capital. After returning to the Tong Mansion, he came directly with Biwu to see Xiqiu.
"Sixth Sister, you urged me so urgently in your letters—has something important happened?" With that rough voice, Xiqiu almost failed to recognize that the man before her was Tong Quanzi. A full beard, dark skin, wearing a dark‑blue straight‑cut robe, shoulders broad and body robust—every time he spoke Xiqiu felt the ceiling panel above her head tremble.
Xiqiu then looked at the woman standing behind him. Her hair was combed into a married woman’s round chignon, with two hairpins stuck in at the temples. Her brows and eyes were still delicate, yet no longer bore the carefree girlish innocence of the past; her skin too had been tanned and grown coarser. She wore a goose‑yellow long jacket with a Qiuxiang‑colored overcoat over it. Her gaze, bright and burning with longing, rested on Xiqiu. When she saw Xiqiu look over, she choked up and called, "Madam," and knelt down.
Xiqiu was just about to help her up when Tong Quanzi on the side simply reached out and pulled her up. "Sixth Sister is not an outsider. What are you putting on all these empty formalities for?"
Bihuai glanced at Tong Quanzi, then at Xiqiu, her face flushing scarlet.
Xiqiu pressed her lips and smiled, as if she saw once more Tong Quanzi and Biwu from three years ago.
"All right, all right. Sit down, both of you." Xiqiu said with a face full of smiles, then answered Tong Quanzi’s earlier words. "I urged you back in my letter—shouldn’t you be thanking me?"
Tong Quanzi was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Sixth Sister is still the clever one." With that he lifted his tea and gulped down a mouthful, then said, "You don’t know how many families my mother has been talking to me about. Luckily you wrote to say you had business with me. Otherwise I would surely have been trussed up like a five‑flowered roast and sent straight into the bridal chamber."
Xiqiu glanced at Biwu and saw her sitting calmly to one side, her eyes roaming around the room.
Speaking of his marriage was not her place, so Xiqiu smiled and said, "So when you left, Second Uncle and Second Aunt agreed?" Tong Quanzi nodded, looking as if it were only natural. "I’m returning to the Capital to report on my post—that’s proper business. Even if they wanted to stop me, they couldn’t."
Biwu looked at Xiqiu and rubbed her fingers. "Madam, this maid would like to go see Nanny Cen and Chunliu and the others."
"Go on." Xiqiu smiled and nodded. "Come back for the meal in a while."
Biwu broke into a smile, finally losing that sense of constraint. She stood, saluted Xiqiu, gave Tong Quanzi a glance, then left the room and, following the layout in her memory, went to look for Bihuai.
Bihuai entered the wing carrying a basin, and saw a woman standing at the doorway. She froze for a moment, then called out in disbelief, "Biwu?"
Biwu turned around abruptly and saw Bihuai standing not far away. Her eyes reddened at once and she ran over. Bihuai dropped the copper basin in her hands and caught Biwu in an embrace. The two of them hugged and cried for quite a while. Bihuai pinched Biwu’s face and said, "You heartless little wretch, gone all these years and not a single letter to me."
"Sister Bihuai." Biwu hung her head. "I wanted to write to you, but I truly had no time." Bihuai pulled her into the room and poured her tea. "How could you have no time even to write a letter? What happened?"
Biwu then roughly recounted what had happened these three years in Liaodong. "When Third Master went to Liaodong, he ran right into the war. He couldn’t rest easy about me, so he took me to the accounts office. All the people living there were men, so it wasn’t convenient for me to go out. I hid in the room every day. Later I watched as more and more people came back wounded, on the verge of death. Those soldiers had no one to look after them; sick and injured as they were, they still gnawed on cold, hard buns and drank unboiled water every day. Then I remembered how Madam had taught us how to care for external injuries. At first I was shy about it, but as more and more wounded came in, I no longer had the mind to care about the barriers between men and women. I was so busy every day I didn’t know my head from my tail, and in my spare moments I even helped them cook and wash their clothes..." As she spoke she stretched out her hands for Bihuai to see.
Back in the mansion, though she also worked, it had all been light tasks. Madam had even given them floral lotions for their skin; her hands, if not exactly slender jade, had at least been very smooth. Now when one looked at Biwu’s hands, the skin was rough, and dark scars could be seen all over the backs and fingers. Bihuai knew these were scars left from frostbite in winter. Heart aching, she clasped Biwu’s hands. "Silly girl, how could you be so foolish..."
"It’s nothing." Biwu’s smile was still that same guileless one. "Though I was tired, I was very happy." She paused, then her expression turned a little sweet. "Later Third Master couldn’t bear to see me work so hard, so he sent me into the city. Now I’m idle every day and even have people waiting on me, but I actually miss those days. They were so fulfilling."
"Third Master will have to leave again after he finishes reporting on his post, won’t he? What are you planning to do?" Bihuai couldn’t bear for Biwu to suffer. Every maid by Madam’s side had married well—not exactly to riches, but to a life of no worry for food and clothing. Most importantly, the men Madam chose for them were all excellent. Only Biwu...
"I..." Biwu had not forgotten the words she’d spoken when she left three years ago. "I don’t know." She couldn’t bear to part with Third Master.
Bihuai knew she had misunderstood her meaning and clicked her tongue. "I’m not telling you to stay in the mansion. I mean you might as well stay with the Tong Mansion. Even going to Baoding would be fine. It’d still be better than suffering in places like Liaodong and Jizhou."
"I... I want to ask Madam." Biwu was unsure and lowered her head. Knowing her temperament, Bihuai waved her hand. "I’ll go with you to see Madam in a while."
Biwu agreed, then thought of Bihuai’s marriage. "Has your marriage been arranged?" Bihuai froze, her face flushing red, and was just about to speak when Chunliu lifted the curtain and came in with a beaming smile. "Madam certainly hasn’t forgotten about her marriage." As she spoke, she leaned close to Bihuai and said teasingly, "Haven’t you noticed that whenever there’s something to do in the outer court recently, Madam always sends her?"
"Sister Chunliu!" Bihuai stomped her feet in shame, while Biwu had already pounced over and grabbed Chunliu in a hug. "Sister Chunliu, I’ve missed you so much."
