A Willing Mistake, My Lady – Chapter 81

Ye Qingyao’s Escape

Madam Shen Eavesdrops

In Madam Shen’s bedchamber, Shen Hetang brought over some red bean pastries bought from the street, still steaming fresh from the oven.

            

“Ah Tang, how do you plan to handle things between you and Ah Yu? Carrying on like this isn’t a solution! Why don’t you live separately for now? You may both be girls, but living together all the time — it’s ultimately inconvenient!” Madam Shen said, watching Shen Hetang’s expression as she weighed her words carefully.

“What’s so inconvenient about it? I don’t feel that way at all. It’s perfectly fine!” Shen Hetang answered without much thought.

“Sharing meals and sharing quarters — over time, how could that be as convenient as living alone?” Madam Shen was still grasping, feeling that no matter how she looked at it, the arrangement was inconvenient.

            

“Then what do you have in mind?” By now Shen Hetang had noticed something was off with her mother. Her long lashes drooped low, and her temples throbbed involuntarily.

“How about Mother finds her another room? You two can live separately. There shouldn’t be anyone watching you anymore.” Madam Shen continued to probe.

“It’s not out of the question. But if I don’t live with her, won’t the servants in the courtyard think the Young Mistress has fallen out of favor and start fawning on the powerful and trampling the weak? And if word gets out, won’t His Majesty use the lack of an heir as a pretext to bestow two concubines on me?” Shen Hetang weighed the pros and cons, genuinely torn.

            

“But it doesn’t matter. Worst case, when the time comes, I’ll just prepare a few packets of poison and poison all the spies. Mother, do you think that would work?” She discussed the matter with Madam Shen in all earnestness.

“His Majesty’s men — how can you dispose of them so casually? Wouldn’t that be giving yourself away?” Madam Shen was startled by her bold words.

“Then what should we do? Chenyu did want to move out and live separately, but out of consideration for my status, she still made do and stayed with me.” Shen Hetang said with an air of complete seriousness.

            

Madam Shen couldn’t quite tell truth from fiction for a moment. She wanted to say something more, opened her mouth, then gave up — she didn’t have a good solution either.

But something still felt off, strange somehow.

Acting on a sixth sense, Madam Shen stole over to Shen Hetang’s courtyard that night.

            

The moment the lamp was blown out inside, Madam Shen stumbled forward and pressed her ear to the door. She had come secretly, not daring to let the maids know, uncertain whether the two inside were truly up to something.

Shen Hetang was about to climb into bed when she noticed a clear silhouette outside the door — someone with a married woman’s hairstyle and a slightly plump figure. The more she looked, the more familiar it seemed. Remembering the daytime conversation, a flash of insight told her it was most likely Madam Shen.

“What’s wrong, Ah Tang? What are you standing there for?” Jiang Chenyu raised an eyebrow, seeing her frozen in place.

            

Shen Hetang turned and put a finger to her lips, then climbed up to the warm alcove.

“I think it’s Mother, eavesdropping outside the door.”

“Ah? Then what do we do?” She asked what to do, but her eyes narrowed like a little fox’s, her face full of schadenfreude — lively and adorable.

            

“What do we do? Just go to sleep, honestly!” Shen Hetang replied helplessly.

“Oh!” Jiang Chenyu had nothing more to say, but the corners of her mouth stayed raised. She watched Shen Hetang with bright eyes, as if plotting something wicked.

Shen Hetang pulled the bedding over, bundling her in, and saw that the silhouette outside still showed no sign of retreating. She truly felt like ten thousand grass mud horses¹ were galloping through her mind.

            

Suddenly her neck tingled. Jiang Chenyu had leaned in at some point, kissing her neck and collarbone — light, then heavy.

The silhouette was still lurking outside. Shen Hetang was a little nervous, but the tormenting vixen was tracing the curve of her earlobe with the tip of her tongue. So ticklish.

Jiang Chenyu, seeing her dare not move, was in excellent spirits — thinking, So you have your day too. Don’t blame me for not holding back.

            

Watching her lie there with closed eyes, pretending to sleep, Chenyu tucked her fallen long hair behind her ear. Her fingers deftly worked open the buttons, and she left a trail of red marks along the way.

As the strange sensation came from in front of her, Shen Hetang glanced at Madam Shen, who still hadn’t left, and felt her head swell. What had gotten into her mother, to come eavesdropping at her door in the middle of the night? She was going to lose her mind.

She bit her lower lip. The hand on Jiang Chenyu’s waist squeezed and pressed hard, as if trying to stamp the shape of her fingers onto that slender waist.

            

The moment the silhouette left the window, the person under the quilt was yanked out. Shen Hetang gripped her chin and kissed her — a fierce, possessive kiss that stole her breath away in an instant.

Probing deep, the relentless entanglement left Jiang Chenyu’s eyes lightly closed, her mind blank, her whole body tingling, unable to catch her breath.

Ah Tang rarely kissed her this fiercely. She felt as though her chin no longer belonged to her, yet the love in her heart only intensified. Looking at this person who was usually so cool and noble, now entangled with red-rimmed eyes, her heart softened beyond words.

            

Madam Shen heard nothing and suspected she had overthought it. But should she secretly find a couple of male kept lovers² for her child? She would just pay to support them and not expose her daughter’s identity — wouldn’t that be fine? She was only worried that after being single so long, Ah Tang might go astray.

By now Madam Shen’s thoughts were racing like a runaway cart. The most effective solution, she decided, would be to find a couple of men for Ah Tang to try.

After all, Ah Tang couldn’t return to her female identity anytime soon — the right age had long passed. Better to take advantage of being home now and keep a lover outside. If there could be a child, even better — secretly born and raised. Madam Shen’s thoughts wandered further and further, her lips curling with excitement, as if she would be holding a grandchild any moment.

            

Shen Hetang knew nothing of these wild, fanciful notions. Had she known, she would have been frightened to death.

The long-unseen County Princess Qingyang, after redeeming her little white flower³ from the Marquis Manor, had settled her in her own mansion. She had been very busy these days and hadn’t had time to attend to her at all.

At the County Princess Mansion.

            

Zhao Lanyin had someone pack everything they would need for the journey, and said to Ye Qingyao, “Ah Jie, we set out in three days. As long as you stay by my side, I will protect you completely. Don’t worry too much.”

“Mm!” Ye Qingyao forced a smile, her hands never pausing as she continued packing.

She carefully tucked away silver notes and jewelry right in front of the County Princess, and even small items like clothes, shoes, headscarves, and veils — not a single one was left out of the bundle.

            

“No need to be so thorough. Clothes and such — we’ll have everything back home.” Seeing Ye Qingyao pack so meticulously, Zhao Lanyin thought that as a city lord, how could she possibly lack those few things she needed?

“But these are all things I’m used to. It’s easier to bring them along.” Ye Qingyao said stubbornly.

“Fine, fine, fine — whatever you want. Pack whatever you like, I have the space.” She rested her chin on Ye Qingyao’s shoulder, her arms naturally wrapping around her waist.

            

Ye Qingyao suppressed her racing heart and let herself be held. After the two had crossed paths at General Shen’s wedding banquet, she had wanted to pack up and run, but within days Zhao Lanyin had brought her back.

She didn’t know how Zhao Lanyin had convinced the Dowager Empress. In the past, with the Dowager Empress as a shield, she could rightfully refuse her.

But now the Dowager Empress had turned a blind eye to the matter, and Zhao Lanyin was about to take her back to the south. She didn’t want to go.

            

But Zhao Lanyin would never leave her behind here. She hadn’t prepared herself to be with her yet — she had to run.

The night before departure, Zhao Lanyin came to her room and refused to leave, insisting on sleeping together.

“You can sleep here, but you have to behave. You can’t… can’t…!” She trailed off, not sure how to say it.

            

“Can’t what?” Zhao Lanyin lay down on the bed first, asking casually.

“Can’t do anything!” The little white flower replied with firm eyes.

“But I came precisely for kisses and cuddles. I don’t care, I want them!” Zhao Lanyin’s red lips curved up, her chin tilted — the picture of someone throwing a tantrum. The tear mole at the corner of her eye looked a little seductive, a little coy.

            

Ye Qingyao looked at her, face faintly flushed — a little humiliated, a little helpless.

Her normally fragile, pitiable demeanor had been livened up considerably by her exasperation.

“Come to bed, hurry. Sleep early — we set out tomorrow.” Zhao Lanyin urged with ulterior motives, her narrow eyes slightly narrowed, glinting with a deep, dark light.

            

Ye Qingyao saw that she couldn’t send away this great immovable buddha, and resigned herself to blowing out the lamp.

She slipped a small pill she had prepared into the teacup, waiting to feed it to Zhao Lanyin that night.

It wasn’t any remarkable sedative — just a small pill that would let her sleep soundly for four or five shichen⁴, prepared in advance for her escape.

            

“Ah Yin, would you like some water?” she asked, feigning composure.

“Mm, if you feed me, I’ll drink. If you don’t feed me, I won’t!” Zhao Lanyin continued to throw a tantrum from the bed. In the pitch-black night, she used her gorgeous voice to speak like a three-year-old child, and yet to Ye Qingyao’s ears, there was not the slightest dissonance.

“Fine! I’ll feed you!” As if making up her mind, she raised the teacup and held the tea in her mouth.

            

Zhao Lanyin was still waiting for her to bring the teacup over. The next second, a pair of cool, soft lips pressed against hers.

Zhao Lanyin’s bored eyes lit up, and then flower tea was passed into her mouth — catching her by surprise and delighting her.

She had only meant to tell her to bring the teacup, but since Ah Jie was being so enthusiastic, she would naturally play along.

            

After drinking the tea, she pinned the other woman in her arms for some intimacy, but in less than half an hour, she had drifted off to sleep without even realizing it, her head resting against Ye Qingyao’s neck and shoulder.

As soon as Ye Qingyao saw she was asleep, she pushed her to the side, gathered her collar, got up, and changed into the clothes she had prepared.

Before leaving, she still felt a pang of reluctance. She traced her fingers twice over that smooth face, pulled the quilt up over her, shouldered her bundle, and took one last look at her before vanishing into the night.

            

No one was guarding the back gate of the County Princess Mansion. As long as she was careful, she could leave this street, take the carriage she had hired to the riverbank, and board a boat to leave the capital.

Ah Yin, I’m sorry. She truly needed to go somewhere no one knew her, to hide in peace and freedom for a few years.

If she stayed entangled with her, she feared she would eventually fall too.

            

When the sun rose in the early morning, Zhao Lanyin felt she had slept unusually soundly.

She looked around and didn’t see Ye Qingyao, assuming she had gotten up first.

But her gaze swept past the teapot and landed on a letter on the Eight Immortals table⁵. A bad feeling came over her instantly.

            

She opened the letter reluctantly, and found only one line written on it:

“Lanyin, Ah Jie wants to go see Jiangnan. Don’t worry about me. If fate allows, we’ll meet again!”

Zhao Lanyin’s eyes instantly reddened. Her parents were gone, and now Ah Jie didn’t want her either. Grief and bitterness surged in her chest, along with anger and unwillingness.

            

She stood dazed for a long moment before hearing her subordinates urge her to depart, and only then remembered that today she was going home.

Everything was ready. There was no time to lose.

She gripped the letter tightly and closed her eyes.

            

When she opened them again, she had buried all her emotions. She ordered her subordinates to prepare for departure.

But before leaving through the city gate, she still detoured to General Shen’s manor, asking Shen Hetang to send people to search for Ye Qingyao’s whereabouts. She had no time to linger here — she could only place her hopes in General Shen.

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