The Prime Minister’s Daughter and the Marquis’s Fool – Chapter 29

Biao-xiaojie,¹ you can’t go in.

Early in the morning, the children were all gathered in the training ground. By the time Jin Yunfei sent someone to summon them, all three were drenched in sweat—everyone except Lin Xizhao.

Qu Sheng wouldn’t let Qu Yu teach her swordsmanship, but after watching her two older brothers spar, she couldn’t resist the itch and went up on the stage to challenge one of them.

It was the first time Lin Xizhao had ever seen Qu Sheng practice with a sword. Her style was identical to Qu Yu’s—light, fluid, and elegant—but her blade was faster and more precise than his. At first, Qu Ting was going easy on Qu Sheng, but it wasn’t long before he was struggling to fend her off and had to get serious.

Lin Xizhao watched for a little while and realized that Qu Sheng was using the same techniques she had just seen Qu Yu use while sparring with Qu Ting. She wasn’t skilled in these things herself, but she could see the method behind it.

In just a short time, Qu Sheng had grasped the essence of Qu Yu’s sword moves and even modified them. This little sister of hers was making her more and more curious.

“Jiejie.” Qu Sheng was breathing a little heavily as she stepped off the martial arts stage² and walked over to Lin Xizhao.

Seeing her drenched in sweat, Lin Xizhao took out a handkerchief. With a smile on her lips, she helped wipe the fine beads of sweat from Qu Sheng’s face. “Foster Mother just sent someone to have us come for breakfast,” she said. “But look at you. I think you should take a bath first.”

“Mhm.” Qu Sheng smiled, revealing her pearly white teeth. She slung the sword in her hand behind her back and nodded.

Lin Xizhao had someone prepare hot water, and only after watching Qu Sheng enter the washroom did she return to her own room. She stared blankly for a while at the books Qu Sheng had placed on the desk last night. She didn’t like to touch other people’s things, but today, as if possessed, she found herself unable to stop from going to Qu Sheng’s study.

She had been there before, but she’d almost always just sat to one side feeding Qu Sheng snacks or reading a book on her own. Most of the books Qu Sheng read were ones she had already read herself, but she had never seen the ones on this bookshelf.

Books on military strategy.

Lin Xizhao took one down from the shelf. When she opened it, she saw Qu Sheng’s handwriting. The pages were filled with annotations and insights.

Lin Xizhao recognized Qu Sheng’s handwriting, but just yesterday, Qu Sheng had shown her one of Qu Ce’s calligraphy copybooks³, and the script was nearly identical. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if the writing before her was Qu Sheng’s or Qu Ce’s.

After quickly flipping through one strategy book, Lin Xizhao found another. It was filled with the same handwriting, and judging by the ink marks, it seemed to be quite old.

Lin Xizhao put the book down and looked for other titles on the shelf. She remembered that Qu Sheng had a habit of always placing the books she was currently reading at the very front.

Lin Xizhao came out from between the aisles and went to the bookshelf at the very front. This shelf was usually empty; Qu Sheng only placed books here that she was planning to read or hadn’t finished yet.

Lin Xizhao looked at the stack of books on it. Most of them were miscellaneous records and some ancient texts, but when she got to the very bottom, she saw several books on military strategy.

She had heard of these titles before. Lin Xizhao picked one up, and when she opened it to the first page, she saw a short line of annotation.

Lin Xizhao looked at the dried ink. She gently rubbed her thumb over it, and black ink smudged onto her finger. It seemed to have been written not long ago.

Lin Xizhao’s gaze flickered. She lowered her head to keep reading, and just then, the study door opened.

Qu Sheng came in from outside. Seeing the room empty, she noticed a shadow by the bookshelf and tilted her head for a look. The figure was standing there motionless. Qu Sheng took a few steps forward, and when she saw that the books she had deliberately placed on top of the strategy books had been moved, her brow furrowed slightly.

Seeing Lin Xizhao standing in front of her with her back turned, she called out, “Jiejie.”

The sudden voice in the quiet study made Lin Xizhao jump, her whole body trembling for a second. Realizing it was Qu Sheng, she steadied her breathing and turned around with a gentle smile. “You’re done with your bath?” Lin Xizhao felt guilty, but only she knew what she had to feel guilty about.

Qu Sheng glanced down at the strategy book in Lin Xizhao’s hand, then looked back up at her. She gave a soft “mhm” and said nothing more.

At that, Lin Xizhao also looked down at the book in her hands. It was a bit awkward, but she forced a calm expression and asked, “Is this your writing on here?”

Hearing this, Qu Sheng looked at Lin Xizhao and, after a moment, nodded.

From Qu Sheng’s perspective, her Qu family was a lineage of military officials; it was perfectly normal for them to read books on military strategy. But for Lin Xizhao to be interested seemed a bit hard to explain.

In the eyes of outsiders, Qu Sheng was a simpleton. For her, books on military strategy should be the most useless of things.

“Could I borrow it for a look?” In that short time, Lin Xizhao had already suppressed her guilt and now looked perfectly composed.

Qu Sheng never refused Lin Xizhao when she asked to borrow something, but this time, she seemed to hesitate.

“I can’t?” Lin Xizhao sensed Qu Sheng’s reluctance but insisted on borrowing it anyway. She really wanted to see what kind of insights this little sister of hers had on military tactics, and whether she was hiding something from her.

“You can.”

In the end, Qu Sheng agreed. She knew that the more she refused, the more curious Lin Xizhao would become about these books, so she might as well just let her take them.

She knew that Lin Xizhao had never dabbled in military strategy. It was true that her annotations were on the pages, but Lin Xizhao was already aware that she studied literature and practiced martial arts. Dabbling in military strategy shouldn’t be that strange.

Hearing Qu Sheng agree, Lin Xizhao’s eyes curved into a smile. She placed the book back on the shelf and said, “Let’s go eat first.”

Lin Xizhao reached out and took Qu Sheng’s hand. Seeing the lack of expression on Qu Sheng’s face, she raised her other hand to stroke her somewhat rosy cheek. “Why so unhappy after a bath?” she asked softly.

At her words, Qu Sheng’s gaze shifted slightly. She glanced at Lin Xizhao, then pressed her cheek against Lin Xizhao’s hand.

Seeing her obedient look, Lin Xizhao smiled and led her out of the room.

After the two finished breakfast, they returned to the Qu Marquis Estate. As soon as they entered the schoolhouse, they saw Zhao Jiayu shaking one of Xiao Bingying’s hands with both of hers, whining, “Pretty please? My dearest jiejie.”

Xiao Bingying looked at her, an involuntary frown on her face. Even Qu Sheng, who had just walked in, felt a chill run down her spine.

This bizarre act of Zhao Jiayu’s was a rare sight indeed.

Hearing Zhao Jiayu whine, Lin Xizhao smiled and asked, “Trying to strong-arm Bingying into doing something difficult again?”

When Zhao Jiayu heard Lin Xizhao’s voice, she immediately flung Xiao Bingying’s hand away and cleared her throat. “Why are you two here so early today?”

Lin Xizhao laughed at her. “If we hadn’t come early, how would we have gotten to see such an adorable side of the great Miss Zhao?”

At that, Zhao Jiayu’s brow twitched. She shot a sideways glance at Xiao Bingying and deliberately changed the subject to deflect Lin Xizhao’s teasing. “I was just asking my ajie⁴ to take me to see the Xiao family villa.”

Lin Xizhao led Qu Sheng to her seat, then turned her head and asked, “What for? What are you going to the Xiao family villa for?”

When Zhao Jiayu heard her ask, she gave a rather chicken thief⁵ smile, sidled up to Lin Xizhao, and whispered, “I heard my jiaofu⁶ has collected a lot of fine wines and hidden them in the villa’s cellar, but I don’t know the exact location.”

Lin Xizhao understood. The last time Zhao Jiayu got her to open the wine-meat⁷, she’d developed a craving for it. She’d heard that the Xiao family did have a business in the wine trade, so that villa was probably where they stored the shipments.

“Ajie, just take me, please? I promise I won’t sell you out. You can just wait for me outside.” It was no problem for Zhao Jiayu to enter the Xiao family villa, but if Xiao Bingying went in, she was afraid that her jiumu⁸ would make an issue of it and use it as an excuse to punish her.

Zhao Jiayu hugged Xiao Bingying’s arm and shook it again, and in the end, Xiao Bingying reluctantly agreed.

Qu Sheng sat down and began to practice her calligraphy. Lin Xizhao glanced over at her. Seeing how focused she was, it seemed she wasn’t the least bit bothered about her borrowing the strategy books.

When class let out in the afternoon, Zhao Jiayu urged Xiao Bingying to pack up quickly. It’s not clear what method Zhao Jiayu used, but she even managed to persuade Lin Xizhao to come along.

And if Lin Xizhao was going, she certainly wouldn’t leave Qu Sheng behind. The four of them boarded the Zhao Estate’s carriage and were out of the city in no time.

The Xiao family villa wasn’t far from the capital. At this time of year, the sky grew dark slowly, so the four of them arrived at the Xiao villa very quickly.

Xiao Bingying stayed in the carriage. Zhao Jiayu led Lin Xizhao and Qu Sheng into the villa. The people here didn’t recognize Zhao Jiayu, but they recognized the Zhao family’s carriage.

The Xiao family owed much of its success to the Zhao family’s support, so they naturally wouldn’t dare to neglect the Zhao family’s Biao-xiaojie.

Zhao Jiayu strode confidently into the villa, called for the steward⁹ inside, and said that she was here today on behalf of her father to fetch a few jars of fine wine, telling him to pick out some of the good stuff.

Hearing that it was the master of the Zhao family who wanted wine, the steward didn’t dare to be perfunctory. He gathered a few men and was about to head to the cellar.

“Hey, wait a minute. I’ll go pick it out myself. You just lead the way.” Zhao Jiayu wanted to see for herself just how much good wine the Xiao family cellar held.

Hearing this, the steward seemed to hesitate, glancing a few times at the three young ladies before him.

“What, I can’t go either?” Zhao Jiayu put on the airs of a young miss of the Zhao family.

At her words, the steward quickly bowed his head. “No, that’s not it. It’s just that the cellar is a bit messy. I’m afraid it might dirty the Biao-xiaojie’s dress.”

“That’s no problem.” Zhao Jiayu wasn’t that delicate. Hadn’t her dresses gotten dirty or ruined plenty of times when she practiced her martial arts?

After she spoke, she saw the steward was still hesitating. A flicker of irritation rose in her, and her voice grew louder, carrying a hint of intimidation. “Aren’t you going to lead the way?”

“Yes, yes, of course. This humble one will lead the way at once. This way, young ladies.” The steward didn’t dare offend Zhao Jiayu. Everyone knew that the Zhao family doted on this Biao-xiaojie, and that she had a terrible temper—she even dared to talk back to their own mistress.

Lin Xizhao watched Zhao Jiayu use her status to pressure the steward here, but she didn’t think Zhao Jiayu was being arrogant. Zhao Jiayu was a paper tiger¹⁰; she was actually very soft-hearted and wouldn’t needlessly give servants a hard time. But the steward’s hesitation did make her a little suspicious.

Lin Xizhao and Qu Sheng exchanged a look. Seeing a flicker of suspicion in Qu Sheng’s eyes, Lin Xizhao paused for a second, then took Qu Sheng’s hand and followed behind Zhao Jiayu.

The three of them followed the villa’s steward down into the cellar. It was called a cellar, but it was actually a huge pit dug out beneath the house.

It was ventilated from above and cool and damp below. Storing wine here in the summer made it easier to preserve.

Zhao Jiayu walked at the very front. The moment she saw all the wine jars, her eyes lit up. When the steward wasn’t looking, she turned back excitedly and gave Lin Xizhao and Qu Sheng a smiling, raised-eyebrow look.

Seeing how excited Zhao Jiayu was, Lin Xizhao just smiled and shook her head.

Soon, they reached the bottom level of the cellar. The steward turned around and said respectfully, “All the villa’s fine wines are here. The Biao-xiaojie may choose as she pleases.”

The Zhao family often sent people to fetch wine, only needing to report it to the Xiao family master later, so the steward didn’t suspect Zhao Jiayu.

Hearing this, Zhao Jiayu nodded. “There’s nothing for you to do here. I’ll come up myself when I’ve picked out the wine. You can go back first.”

The steward looked up at Zhao Jiayu and smiled. “The wine is heavy. This humble one will wait here to carry it up for you.”

Zhao Jiayu still wanted to let out some of her excitement, but hearing the steward say that, she could only put on a serious face. “Fine. You can wait here, then.”

Zhao Jiayu led Lin Xizhao and the others to look at the wine jars. Other than the different colors of the cloth seals on top, they couldn’t see much of a difference.

“Hey, which wine tastes the best?” Zhao Jiayu shouted to the steward waiting in the distance.

Hearing her, the steward walked over quickly and explained, “Replying to the Biao-xiaojie, the white ones are low-grade, the purple are mid-grade, and the red are high-grade.”

“Then what about this yellow one?” As the steward was explaining, Zhao Jiayu had started scanning the area. There were no yellow jars here, but there was a stray strip of yellow cloth, pinned underneath a wine jar.

The steward gave a dry laugh. “Yellow is for the highest grade. But the master keeps that for himself to drink. The quantity is extremely small.”

Hearing this, Zhao Jiayu’s heart leaped for a moment. Good thing she asked, or she would have missed out on such a fine wine.

Zhao Jiayu feigned a casual expression. “Then give me a few jars of the yellow.”

The steward looked troubled. “This… the master has never given it to anyone as a gift. Perhaps the Biao-xiaojie would like to—”

“What’s with all the nonsense? Just bring it. I’ll tell my jiaofu about it later.” Zhao Jiayu didn’t care whether it could be given as a gift or not. She put on her young miss airs again, but despite that, the steward remained troubled and made no move.

Seeing the steward stand his ground, Zhao Jiayu grew even more curious. What kind of fine wine was this that it would make her jiaofu so stingy?

Zhao Jiayu glanced at the steward and said nonchalantly, “Fine. I’ll pick a few jars of the high-grade myself. You wait here.”

The steward’s troubled expression relaxed, and he smiled. “Whichever jar the Biao-xiaojie fancies, just command this humble one, and I will move it upstairs for you.”

Zhao Jiayu’s expression was calm, but Lin Xizhao knew she must be cooking up some crooked idea again. Sure enough, once the three of them had walked a little distance away, Zhao Jiayu whispered to Lin Xizhao and Qu Sheng, “Let’s split up and look.”

She refused to believe she couldn’t find this highest-grade wine.

Lin Xizhao watched Zhao Jiayu turn and start searching, then gave Qu Sheng a helpless look. But at that moment, Qu Sheng’s gaze was fixed on the wall directly in front of them.

“Is there something here?” Lin Xizhao followed Qu Sheng’s gaze and asked softly.

“A mechanism.” Qu Sheng’s voice wasn’t loud, but Zhao Jiayu, who was up ahead, heard it. She had just been looking around for a bit without seeing any yellow-sealed jars, and hearing Qu Sheng’s words, she looked over as well.

Zhao Jiayu looked at the wall, which seemed no different from any other, then glanced sideways at the villa steward. She then strode over and began searching for the location of the mechanism.

Just then, the steward noticed Zhao Jiayu approaching the wall and hurried over. “Biao-xiaojie, what are you looking for?” he inquired.

Zhao Jiayu glanced at him. “Looking for wine, of course.”

The steward laughed. “What is the Biao-xiaojie saying? How could there be wine inside a wall?”

But Zhao Jiayu wasn’t easy to fool. Qu Sheng might be a bit slow, but she was very sharp. If she said there was a mechanism, then there probably was one.

“Xiao Sheng’er, come here.” Zhao Jiayu needed Qu Sheng’s help. The little one had sharp eyes.

Hearing Zhao Jiayu call her, and seeing the guilty yet fawning smile on the steward’s face, Qu Sheng glanced at Lin Xizhao. Lin Xizhao hadn’t wanted to get involved, but Zhao Jiayu walked over and pulled Qu Sheng away from her.

Zhao Jiayu lifted her chin slightly, signaling for Qu Sheng to find the mechanism. Qu Sheng glanced sideways at the steward. Seeing the muscles in his face twitch, she knew there must be something in that wall that couldn’t see the light of day.

Qu Sheng’s gaze fell on a wine jar on the floor. Zhao Jiayu followed her line of sight, and without needing Qu Sheng to say another word, she strode over and moved the jar.

Underneath the jar was a recess, perfectly concealed by it. Seeing the lever below, Zhao Jiayu’s face broke into a clear smile. She bent down to pull it, but in the next moment, the steward scurried over and blocked her outstretched hand with his own.

“How audacious!” Zhao Jiayu’s hand was touched by the steward, and she quickly pulled it back. She didn’t mind being touched, but she did mind him trying to stop her.

“Biao-xiaojie, you can’t go in.” Seeing Zhao Jiayu straighten up, the steward quickly used his own body to cover the lever in the recess.

Watching the steward so desperately protect it from her, Zhao Jiayu began to grow suspicious. What could her jiaofu possibly have that couldn’t see the light of day?

He wouldn’t let her open it, which only made her more determined to do so.

“Move.” Zhao Jiayu’s expression turned colder.

The steward could only lower his head in silence. Lin Xizhao was about to try and dissuade her, but then she saw Qu Sheng glance at her, lower her gaze, and press her half-parted lips together.

If words wouldn’t work, then force would. Zhao Jiayu grabbed the steward with just one hand. She had originally intended to just throw him aside, but after a moment’s thought, she lessened the force of the toss.

The steward was thrown to the side. He was about to try and stop her again, but Zhao Jiayu had already pulled the lever.

A section of the wall split open, the size of a door, and swiveled inward automatically. Zhao Jiayu stared at the scene before her, completely stunned.

Inside were three or five little girls, some even younger than Qu Sheng, dressed in thin clothes. Some weren’t wearing any clothes at all. When they saw the people outside, they just stared blankly.

Their eyes were all lifeless, as if their souls had already left them.

“Steward Li, who are these people?” Zhao Jiayu’s chest felt tight. A guess had already formed in her mind, but she couldn’t believe it was true.

When she was little, she had heard vicious rumors about her jiaofu, all sorts of filthy things, but she had never believed them. Now, it seemed they were probably all true.

“Steward Li, please trouble yourself to go and fetch some clothes.” Lin Xizhao took a few steps closer to Zhao Jiayu, blocking Steward Li’s view.

Hearing her, Zhao Jiayu finally reacted. She turned around and yelled at the motionless Steward Li, “What are you waiting for? Go!” Zhao Jiayu’s voice was so loud it made Steward Li’s shoulders tremble with fright. He scrambled to his feet and ran toward the cellar exit.

---

The author has something to say:

Zhao Jiayu: “My tooth hurts.”

Qu Sheng: “Better a short pain than a long one. Let me break it off for you.”

Zhao Jiayu: “…”

---

---