Chapter 13

Shen Ruozhu was going to Jiangnan with Pei Xun.

This was an unchangeable fact.

It took Qi Yunmiao several days to accept this reality.

Shen Ruozhu, in turn, was deeply worried about leaving Qi Yunmiao behind. In the days leading up to their departure, she showered her with endless instructions: aside from attending classes, she was not to wander around the capital alone; she must always be accompanied by a servant or maid wherever she went; if guests visited, she should inform them of their whereabouts before calling the housekeeper and Nanny Fang to receive them, and avoid talking to guests alone for too long; if invited out, she could visit familiar households, such as the Song family, but she should decline invitations from unfamiliar ones, citing her studies and martial arts training as excuses...

Once she started, these instructions seemed to flow on without end.

"And if you ever truly run into trouble, do you remember what Mother told you?"

On the day of their departure, just before boarding the carriage, Shen Ruozhu repeated these points once more and asked Qi Yunmiao.

Qi Yunmiao nodded. "Go to the Song family, ask Qingyu to take me to Aunt Song, and she will help me."

Having heard these instructions repeatedly over the past few days, she could recite them by heart.

Shen Ruozhu nodded as well.

"If Aunt Song is unable to help you, or if she is away, go to the Imperial Academy and find your brother," she added.

"Brother?" Qi Yunmiao asked, puzzled.

Shen Ruozhu explained, "Your brother is not a bad person at heart. Just because he is unwilling to take care of you doesn't mean he wouldn't save you in a crisis. Do you understand?"

Qi Yunmiao nodded, seeming to half-understand.

Shen Ruozhu patted her daughter's small head.

The sky was only just beginning to brighten, even earlier than Qi Yunmiao’s usual wake-up time. The young girl wore layer upon layer of thick clothing just to see them off.

Her cheeks still held the lingering warmth from her bed, and under the dim, wintry morning light, they looked like unpeeled red-dyed eggs at a banquet.

Taking advantage of the faint light, Shen Ruozhu carefully examined the scar on Qi Yunmiao's cheek.

It had been over half a month since the fight with the Song boy, and the wound had mostly healed. New, soft pink skin had grown over the area, barely distinguishable from her original complexion—a sign of the tender, raw youth of a young girl.

As Shen Ruozhu looked at her daughter's face, she wanted to add more, but Pei Xun suddenly lifted the curtain of the carriage and called out, "Madam."

Shen Ruozhu turned to look at him.

Seeing the urgency in Pei Xun’s eyes, she turned back to Qi Yunmiao. "Alright, Miaomiao, Mother has said all there is to say. You must take good care of yourself. Remember to add clothes when it's cold, tell Nanny Fang if you want to eat anything, and when Mother returns, I will bring you pastries from your grandparents' home."

"Alright, Mother, you must also take care of yourself," Qi Yunmiao replied.

She was truly remarkably sensible.

Unable to help herself, Shen Ruozhu leaned down to embrace her daughter for a long moment before standing up and climbing into the carriage.

Qi Yunmiao watched as her mother boarded, then saw her lift the curtain to wave goodbye.

Qi Yunmiao waved back.

Soon after, the carriage wheels began to turn. She watched as the carriage carrying Shen Ruozhu and Pei Xun rounded the street corner before turning to head back into the Prime Minister's residence.

Today was not a holiday. Qi Yunmiao had risen early to see them off, skipping her usual grooming and breakfast. Now, as the sky turned the color of a fish belly, it was exactly the time she usually woke up.

She stretched as she walked, intending to return to her own small courtyard. Unexpectedly, she ran into Pei Ze, who was just about to leave.

Qi Yunmiao paused.

She didn't know when Pei Ze had returned the previous day.

"Brother," she said.

"Hmm," Pei Ze glanced at her.

Seeing the direction he was walking, she assumed he had risen early to see Pei Xun and the others off as well, so she said, "Mother and the Prime Minister have already left."

Pei Ze replied, "Yes, I know."

Otherwise, he wouldn't be coming out at this hour.

"..."

His response left her with nothing to say.

So, he hadn't come to see them off after all.

Qi Yunmiao didn't bother wondering what his business was.

"Then I'm off to the Song family for lessons. Goodbye, Brother!"

She walked away without letting her gaze linger on his face.

Pei Ze, however, was briefly caught off guard by the girl's aloofness.

He turned to watch her figure, seeing the hem of her light green skirt brush across the frost-covered grass as she ran toward the back garden without a moment's hesitation.

He stood there for a long while before finally turning to leave the house.

—

Although Pei Xun and Shen Ruozhu were no longer at home, it made little difference in Qi Yunmiao's daily life.

Every day, she rose early for her lessons at the Song family, returned home to practice martial arts with Lin Zhouyi, and after dinner, completed the assignments brought back from the Song family.

Her days remained remarkably full.

It seemed that without her mother, the Prime Minister, or Pei Ze, she could live perfectly well on her own.

However, as news of the Prime Minister and his wife leaving the capital spread, others began to think differently.

Wen Tingyao was the first to approach her.

After lessons that afternoon, Wen Tingyao invited a group of children to the flower hall for tea and snacks. While the others were distracted, she quietly walked over to Qi Yunmiao. "Miaomiao, I heard the Prime Minister and your mother are away? And Jingxuan hasn't returned to live at home either?"

Qi Yunmiao nodded while eating a hawthorn cake.

Ever since the incident with Song Xiao, she felt that Mistress Song had become even more attentive to her.

*Perhaps out of guilt,* she thought.

Seeing her small, cherry-red mouth still busy with the pastry, Wen Tingyao continued, "Won't you feel lonely or scared being at home alone, Miaomiao? Why don't you come stay with your aunt for a while? You can be with Qingyu—she only has two older brothers and no sisters for company."

"No, thank you!" Qi Yunmiao swallowed the cake and refused decisively. "Aunt, I appreciate your kindness, but I still have to practice martial arts when I get home. Mother instructed me before she left that I must not be lazy."

"Miaomiao is still learning martial arts?" Wen Tingyao was surprised.

She had assumed that the martial arts training was just a show Shen Ruozhu had put on for them. It had been over half a month; was Qi Yunmiao actually still practicing?

"And General Lin is still at your house?"

"Yes, she is."

Although Lin Zhouyi did not live at the Prime Minister's residence, she came from the barracks every afternoon to teach Qi Yunmiao for a few hours, rain or shine.

Wen Tingyao took Qi Yunmiao’s hand to examine it.

Most young girls' hands were delicate, slender, and soft from needlework and calligraphy. But while Qi Yunmiao's hands were slender and long, a closer look revealed a roughness on her fingertips, unlike that of an ordinary child.

"Do you want to become a swordswoman when you grow up, Miaomiao?" Wen Tingyao asked, letting go of her hand.

"Yes!" Qi Yunmiao nodded firmly. "If I become a swordswoman, I can protect everyone I want to protect."

Wen Tingyao smiled.

She had underestimated Shen Ruozhu.

These hands were clearly accustomed to handling weapons or doing hard labor back in the countryside.

Song Su had mentioned earlier that the child had stunned everyone with her archery at the Imperial Academy.

So she had indeed learned archery.

It all made sense, given that Shen Ruozhu’s late husband had been a hunter.

Yet, even after becoming the Prime Minister’s wife and her daughter becoming a young lady of the residence, she still allowed her daughter to learn such things.

"Well, if you must practice, I won't hold you back. But if you ever need anything, do come to your aunt. I will certainly find a way to help you."

This Mistress Song was truly the best woman she had met in the capital, besides her mother.

Qi Yunmiao readily agreed. After finishing her tea, she bade farewell to Mistress Song and hurried home to resume her training.

She stood in a horse stance, practiced drawing the bow, and worked on her strength before starting her school assignments.

Once finished, she dove under her covers and fell into a deep sleep.

Days passed in this manner.

Except for the occasional pang of longing for her mother, there were no problems at all.

Until the day before a holiday, when Song Qingyu invited her to go see the snow in the outskirts of the capital.

"The Observatory says it might snow for the first time tomorrow. The best place to see the snow is Mount Taihua. My family happens to have a villa there with hot springs! Miaomiao, let's go together!"

Qi Yunmiao had never been to a hot spring!

She loved the snow, so she agreed, promising to check with her master that night.

Even though it was a holiday, she still had to practice martial arts. Lin Zhouyi was very strict and did not allow casual absences.

If Lin Zhouyi didn't agree, she decided she wouldn't go.

Returning home, she told Lin Zhouyi about the situation.

"You want to go see the snow?" Lin Zhouyi looked at her.

"Yes," Qi Yunmiao said. "If I go to the outskirts, I won't be back until the morning of the day after."

Lin Zhouyi studied her.

The little girl had been training with her for nearly a month. She had never once asked for time off, and no matter how exhausting or dull the training, she never complained—she simply did it.

She had also heard that she was diligent with her schoolwork.

That was rare for a girl of her age.

"If you take this leave, you must make it up twofold next holiday. Can you do that?" she asked.

Qi Yunmiao nodded excitedly. "Yes!"

Having passed Lin Zhouyi's test, Qi Yunmiao set off the next day with Song Qingyu, Wen Tingyao, and the others to the Song family’s villa.

They traveled in a long line of carriages. Wen Tingyao rode with the other ladies, while Qi Yunmiao and her pageboy, Green Wax, shared a carriage with Song Qingyu and her page. Song Xiao and his friends were in the other carriages.

Since arriving in the capital, Qi Yunmiao had barely left the city, let alone visited Mount Taihua.

She was full of wonder throughout the journey.

Song Qingyu told her, "Oh, Miaomiao, we'll get to see my eldest brother there too."

"Eldest brother?" Qi Yunmiao turned back.

"Yes."

"Ah."

She remembered that Song Qingyu’s eldest brother was Song Su, who usually lived at the Imperial Academy with Pei Ze.

*Hmm,* speaking of Pei Ze, she suddenly realized she hadn't seen him for a while, not since her mother and the Prime Minister left.

He had said he wouldn't take care of her, and he truly hadn't returned home, remaining at the Imperial Academy instead.

Fortunately, she didn't need his care anyway.

Recalling the small dimples on Song Su’s cheeks, she chatted with Song Qingyu about him and the villa until they reached the foot of Mount Taihua.

At the base of the mountain, the sky was already beginning to flurry with light snow.

It drifted down like willow catkins.

The group excitedly stepped out of their carriages.

Qi Yunmiao and Song Qingyu were the fastest, running ahead.

"Eldest Brother!"

Hearing Song Qingyu’s loud call, Qi Yunmiao looked into the distance. Amidst the falling snow, she saw a figure standing brightly in the remaining daylight. Seeing them approach, he ran toward them with joy.

And walking behind that figure was...

Qi Yunmiao paused.

She had found her brother, whom she hadn't seen in a long time—Pei Ze.