The Prime Minister’s Daughter and the Marquis’s Fool – Chapter 243
by Little PandaExtra 18
I’m not really in the mood today.
Xiao Bingying had a daily habit of practicing martial arts and never lingered in bed, but today she sat on the bed until her daughter came to call her to the front hall for breakfast.
“Mother, are you feeling unwell?” Zhao Ningying entered the room and saw that Xiao Bingying had only just gotten out of bed. She hurried over and felt Xiao Bingying’s forehead.
Zhao Ningying touched Xiao Bingying’s forehead, then tried it against her own — the temperature seemed normal.
Xiao Bingying looked at her daughter’s anxious expression and smiled gently. “Mother is fine.”
“Then why are you only getting up now? Oh…” Zhao Ningying suddenly thought of something, but on second thought, her Mother had left the residence early in the morning. “That’s not right — Mother didn’t even have breakfast before she left. Did you two last night…”
Zhao Ningying’s words were only half out when she saw Xiao Bingying raise her eyes to look at her. She immediately felt that speculating about what went on in her elders’ bedroom was inappropriate and quickly shut her mouth. “Grandmother told me—”
“Your Mother didn’t have breakfast?” Xiao Bingying hadn’t paid attention to her daughter’s hinting at what went on in their room. Her ears had caught only one thing — that Cheng Xi hadn’t eaten breakfast.
“Hm? Oh, Grandmother said the National Medical Academy has meals prepared for them.” Zhao Ningying replied.
Xiao Bingying had been worried that Cheng Xi might go hungry without breakfast, and was somewhat relieved to hear her daughter’s words.
“Good, then.” Xiao Bingying rose and put on her outer robe, then went to wash up nearby.
Zhao Ningying stood beside Xiao Bingying, handing her rinse water and a towel from time to time.
“Don’t worry, Mother. If Mother didn’t have anything to eat, I would have sent food over long ago — I’d never let Mother go hungry.” Zhao Ningying said with a face full of assurance.
Xiao Bingying, drying her face, heard her daughter’s words. She set the towel aside, smiled, and patted her daughter’s head.
The mother and daughter went to the front hall for breakfast. Zhao Dian was no longer serving in the court, but he had received an honorary title and drew a government stipend.
“You barely ate yesterday. You need to eat more today.” Mother Zhao felt sorry for Xiao Bingying, who had grown thin from her trip away.
Xiao Bingying smiled and said, “All right, thank you, Mother.”
Mother Zhao looked at Xiao Bingying — the more she looked, the more she liked her. Now that Cheng Xi also held a court position, both of their salaries were handed over to her for safekeeping. Neither of the two young people wanted to manage the household, so she had no choice but to continue doing it herself.
As for the silver and salaries — Cheng Xi’s income alone exceeded that of both Zhao Dian and Zhao Jiayu combined. Cheng Xi not only drew a salary from her court position but also ran medicine halls in the capital and various places across Quzhao, occasionally seeing patients in the capital. But these past few months, she had barely had any free time.
The queue of patients waiting for consultations at the medicine halls had already stretched into next year, and some with urgent conditions had already gone elsewhere.
Mother Zhao mentioned this to Xiao Bingying. Qu Sheng had given Xiao Bingying half a month of leave, which happened to coincide with the year-end, amounting to about a month in total, so she would be free during this period.
Moreover, her medical skills had been personally trained by Cheng Xi, so handling difficult and complex cases was well within her ability. But the medicine halls were Cheng Xi’s enterprise, and she had never been involved before, so she needed to go to the academy first and obtain Cheng Xi’s consent.
After breakfast, Xiao Bingying took Zhao Ningying to the National Medical Academy.
The students here came from all across Quzhao to study medicine, from every social class. Some were already practicing doctors who wanted to learn more.
Whatever she knew, Cheng Xi taught without reservation — this was also the original aspiration of Liu Wuxiang’s ideal of traveling to help people and benefiting the world. She was worthy of being Liu Wuxiang’s finest disciple.
The new guards at the academy, hearing that this was Cheng Xi’s wife, immediately ushered Xiao Bingying and her daughter inside.
Xiao Bingying and her daughter sat in the tea room, waiting for Cheng Xi to come over. But they waited until midday, and Cheng Xi never came by. In between, Cheng Xi sent word through someone, telling them to go back first.
Xiao Bingying, hearing the message, had been about to leave, but Zhao Ningying said, “There’s nothing to do at home anyway. We might as well wait for Mother here — we can even have lunch together.”
Xiao Bingying abandoned the idea of leaving and began playing chess with Zhao Ningying in the tea room.
Though neither of them was a top-tier player, they were both quite skilled. Zhao Ningying had also received pointers from Qu Sheng and Qu Ning; though young, her technique was solid.
Mother and daughter traded wins and losses, and Zhao Ningying became so absorbed she lost track of time.
It wasn’t until Zhao Ningying twisted her neck to relieve the stiffness that Xiao Bingying glanced outside.
It was already past midday.
“Hungry?” Xiao Bingying asked her daughter gently.
Zhao Ningying gently lifted her head to look at Xiao Bingying, also noticing that the light in the room had grown dim. She glanced outside and asked, “What time is it?”
Xiao Bingying followed her daughter’s gaze and looked outside again, estimating the time. “About the start of Shen Hour1.”
“Ah, it’s already that late.” Zhao Ningying rubbed her stomach and said, “No wonder my stomach feels a bit off — I must be hungry.”
Xiao Bingying smiled and brought out the pastries she had bought on a detour for Cheng Xi. “Have something to tide you over.”
Zhao Ningying saw Xiao Bingying reaching for the food box and quickly said, “Weren’t those prepared for Mother? Your daughter can hold on a bit longer. Why hasn’t Mother come yet?” Zhao Ningying turned to look outside again.
Xiao Bingying’s eyes dimmed slightly at the mention of Cheng Xi. “Why don’t we go back first.”
“You’re not waiting for Mother anymore?” Zhao Ningying asked in confusion.
“Let’s not wait. Your Mother is probably very busy.” Xiao Bingying said as she stood up.
Zhao Ningying noticed there was no smile on Xiao Bingying’s face. She didn’t even pick up the food box as she went out.
The two returned to the residence. Zhao Ningying had eaten a late lunch and then went to King Long’s Mansion.
Recently, Zhao Jiayu had been busy arranging matches for Qu Zhimu. Though Qu Zhimu was only a Commandery Princess2, she was exceedingly doted upon by the Emperor and Empress.
Zhao Jiayu’s requirements for a match weren’t demanding — as long as the candidate had good character and was handsome, that was enough. But even such simple requirements proved extremely difficult to find.
Zhao Jiayu had already hosted several banquets, but Qu Zhimu hadn’t taken a fancy to any of them.
When Zhao Ningying arrived, Qu Ning was also there. The three young girls lay on the bed together. Zhao Ningying asked Qu Zhimu, “Mu-jiejie, out of all those handsome young men, you don’t like a single one?”
Qu Zhimu, wedged in the middle, sighed at the question and replied wistfully, “What’s so handsome about them? Don’t listen to my Mother’s nonsense.”
Hearing this, Zhao Ningying sat up and looked at Qu Zhimu. “Are none of them good-looking? Is Maternal Aunt’s taste bad? That can’t be right — Uncle is so good-looking.”
Zhao Ningying couldn’t understand it. Maternal Aunt’s taste wasn’t bad.
Qu Ning lay there, lifting her eyes to look at Zhao Ningying. Qu Ning had heard from Lin Xizhao and Qu Sheng that the young gentlemen of the capital were all vetted by Zhao Jiayu for selection, and she had seen several handsome ones herself. Could it be that their character was lacking?
“What kind of person does Mu-jiejie like?” Zhao Ningying asked, lowering her head.
Qu Zhimu lay with her eyes closed and didn’t speak for a long while. By the time she opened her eyes, Zhao Ningying had already lain back down.
“What do you two think of last year’s top scholar?” Qu Zhimu said.
Qu Zhimu’s words startled both younger girls into sitting up. They stared at Qu Zhimu with disbelief, making her feel a little flustered.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Qu Zhimu’s eyes darted around, not daring to meet their gazes.
She knew why her two younger cousins were so shocked — because last year’s top scholar was rather unusual.
She was a woman.
“Y-you, did you tell Maternal Aunt?” Zhao Ningying stammered.
“No.” Qu Zhimu replied in a low voice.
Zhao Ningying and Qu Ning exchanged a glance. Qu Ning gave a pretend cough and said, “I’ll ask Mother Emperor later whether Lord Qiao has a marriage arrangement.”
“Really?” Qu Zhimu sat up immediately upon hearing Qu Ning’s words.
Qu Ning looked at Qu Zhimu’s excited expression and smiled helplessly. “Of course it’s real.”
“Then go now.” Qu Zhimu was rather impatient.
“Now?” Qu Ning had only just arrived.
Looking at Qu Zhimu nodding eagerly, Qu Ning could only helplessly return to the palace with Zhao Ningying.
Zhao Ningying entered the palace, walking alongside Qu Ning, and said, “So all this time Mu-jiejie likes girls. If she’d said so earlier, Maternal Aunt wouldn’t have had to go through all this trouble for so long.”
Qu Ning looked back at her without speaking, her expression somewhat grave. Zhao Ningying noticed and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Qu Ning sighed inwardly and said, “I heard from Empress Mother that this Qiao Jin has very high standards. I’m worried that even if she doesn’t have a marriage arrangement…”
She might not look twice at Qu Zhimu.
Qu Zhimu’s appearance, while not top-tier, was that of a first-rate young beauty. Her easygoing nature took after Zhao Jiayu — she didn’t compete for things and was easily satisfied.
Qiao Jin was also from a scholarly family, a household with generations of literary tradition. Her brother had already claimed the third-place spot in the previous imperial examination, and she had topped the exam last year as the top scholar — how could her standards not be high?
“Then isn’t Mu-jiejie going to be heartbroken?” Zhao Ningying said with some worry.
In the evening, Zhao Ningying was kept at the palace for dinner before she was allowed to leave. By the time she returned to the residence, it had been dark for a long while.
When Zhao Ningying arrived home, Cheng Xi had also just returned. She carried a food box in her hand — Zhao Ningying recognized it at once as the one they had delivered during the day.
“Mother.” Zhao Ningying called out to Cheng Xi from behind.
Cheng Xi stopped, turned to look, and smiled faintly. “Ying’er.”
Zhao Ningying walked over, looking down at the food box. “Were the pastries good?”
Cheng Xi knew that Xiao Bingying had gone to look for her today, but she hadn’t yet had a chance to eat the pastries left behind.
“Mm, they were good.” Cheng Xi said with a smile. She handed the food box to Zhao Ningying and added, “Mother didn’t eat much. There’s still some inside.”
Zhao Ningying smiled and took it, opening the food box. Indeed, some had been eaten — but it had been shared among Cheng Xi’s subordinates.
Mother and daughter returned to the courtyard. Xiao Bingying was still reading through some medical texts. She had intended to find Cheng Xi today to discuss doing consultations at the medicine hall, but she hadn’t been able to see her.
Cheng Xi parted from her daughter and returned to the room. Seeing Xiao Bingying reading earnestly, she asked, “What did you need to see me about today?”
Xiao Bingying looked at Cheng Xi, who had already ordered the servants to prepare bathwater the moment she entered the room. She set the book down and replied gently, “Oh, Mother said you’ve been busy lately, and it’s been a while since I did consultations at the medicine hall. Quite a few people have come seeking help at our door. I happen to have some time off, so I wanted to go and see patients.”
“That’s a good thing. You don’t need to ask me about this — just have a word with Manager Nie and it’ll be fine.” Cheng Xi finished speaking, and a servant came from outside to report that the bathwater was ready.
Xiao Bingying was about to say “all right” when Cheng Xi turned to respond to the servant. “Good, I’ll be right there.”
Xiao Bingying’s words went unspoken. She pressed her lips together, waiting to say it when Cheng Xi turned back. But Cheng Xi spoke first after turning around. “I’m going to bathe.”
Looking at the faint smile and traces of weariness in Cheng Xi’s eyes, Xiao Bingying could only nod. “All right.”
Cheng Xi left, and Xiao Bingying continued flipping through the medical book — but the words on the page no longer registered in her heart.
Cheng Xi returned. Xiao Bingying had already lain down. Cheng Xi lay down beside Xiao Bingying as usual and casually extinguished the lamp.
Cheng Xi lay down without moving closer to Xiao Bingying, and Xiao Bingying maintained the same distance between them. In the darkness of the night, Xiao Bingying couldn’t sleep soundly. She moved closer to Cheng Xi, wanting to hold her, but just as she pressed close, she heard Cheng Xi, who had turned over, say, “I’m not really in the mood today.”
Xiao Bingying’s expression froze for a moment. She pressed her thin lips together but didn’t ask for an explanation. After a soft “Mm,” she said in a low voice, “Wife, rest well.”
Cheng Xi, hearing Xiao Bingying’s response, turned back with peace of mind and closed her eyes.
Xiao Bingying, who hadn’t slept soundly all night, vaguely sensed movement beside her in her drowsiness. Cheng Xi rose, put on her outer robe, then glanced back at Xiao Bingying on the bed, and slipped out with light steps.
Xiao Bingying opened her eyes and looked at the sky outside — it was still dark.
Not long after Cheng Xi left, Xiao Bingying got up to practice martial arts.
Zhao Ningying also had a habit of practicing martial arts in the early morning. When she came out, she saw Xiao Bingying already drenched in sweat from her training.
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Xiao Bingying: “Asking: how do you date?”
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