Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 155
Chapter 155 - Heading to the Hunting Grounds
In the blink of an eye, the twenty-first of the ninth month arrived.
Before dawn had even broken, Yun Chu rose to wash and dress, packed her changes of clothing, and brought along Tongtong as she boarded a carriage bound for the palace gates.
Xie Shi'an did not travel with her; instead, he headed to the Imperial Academy to set out alongside his classmates.
By this time, a great multitude of people had already gathered at the palace gates—consisting of first- and second-rank officials and their female relatives who were accompanying this trip to the Yanshan hunting grounds.
"Chuchu," a voice rang out beside her ear.
Yun Chu looked over to see Du Ling, a smile blossoming on her face as she said, "Lingling, your outfit looks truly dashing."
Du Ling chuckled. "I fell ill during last year's hunt, so I've made up my mind to make a splash this year. But look at you—why are you wearing such a long skirt? I was hoping to compete with you."
"Oh, spare me, I beg of you," Yun Chu raised her hands in surrender. "The arduous journey all the way to Yanshan is exhausting enough as it is; where on earth would I find the energy to compete with you?"
That she was able to come this time was due to an imperial edict from Her Majesty the Empress. Presumably, the Empress had something she wished to say to her.
The Empress was by no means a simple woman. To be able to protect the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace for over twenty years—so that even when the Second Prince's faction later gained overwhelming momentum, they failed to shake the Crown Prince's position—meant she possessed no small measure of political savvy. Without such methods, how could she possibly have maintained her status as Empress?
Yun Chu had been pondering all along how she should politely decline if the Empress attempted to draw the Yun family into her camp...
With far too many matters weighing on her mind to navigate, she naturally had no spare thoughts left for horse riding, archery, or hunting.
While the two of them were chatting, the palace gates swung open, and the grand imperial procession emerged in all its majestic splendor. At the very front rode the Emperor, closely followed by the Empress and the Crown Prince, trailed by four or five imperial concubines and numerous imperial princes. Only after the members of the imperial family had taken their positions at the very head of the line did the various ministers and officials fall in one after another according to their status and rank.
The formation expanded rapidly, visibly numbering at least two to three thousand people.
As a fifth-rank female relative, Yun Chu occupied the lowest status among the attendees and naturally brought up the rear of the procession. Du Ling, wishing to keep her company, linked her arm through Yun Chu's and said, "Let me ride in your carriage. The journey will take three full hours and is bound to be dreadfully tedious—we can just use the time to chat."
Yun Chu nodded. Three hours meant the better part of a day, and sitting alone through all of that was indeed far too stifling.
Du Ling swiftly climbed into the carriage, lifted the curtain, and prepared to step inside, only to find two well-behaved little toddlers sitting quietly within. Her eyes widened in astonishment. "Chuchu, did Her Majesty the Empress's imperial edict explicitly state that you had to bring children along?"
Yun Chu shook her head. "No, it didn't."
Du Ling massaged her brow, completely baffled. Since the Empress had given no such instructions, why on earth would Chuchu bring her stepson and stepdaughter along to the hunting grounds?
That scoundrel Xie Jingyu kept taking in concubines one after another and spawning children left and right, yet Chuchu was actually going out of her way to elevate the Xie family's children like this...
Still, this pair of stepchildren possessed exceptionally limpid and luminous features, surpassing her general understanding of children born to concubines. Unable to resist, she reached out and pinched the little boy's cheek.
"Aiya—"
Chu Hongyu let out a displeased squeak.
However, that was of secondary importance.
What he wanted to know was why on earth another person had suddenly appeared inside his mother's carriage.
Could that unreliable fellow A'mao have botched the intelligence gathering?
Standing outside the carriage, Yun Chu was still in the middle of wondering why Du Ling had posed such a question when she heard a familiar voice.
She quickly climbed into the carriage, where she caught sight of the two little ones sitting obediently inside.
"Mother... Auntie Yun!"
Realizing an outsider was present, Chu Hongyu caught himself just in time to alter his form of address, desperately restraining himself from hurling his small body into Yun Chu's embrace.
Du Ling stared in bewilderment. "Auntie? Chuchu, who are they..."
Yun Chu nudged Du Ling to sit fully inside the carriage. Once the door curtain dropped back down, she finally explained, "This is the young Prince of Pingxi, and this little one is the young Princess."
"No wonder I thought they looked so familiar..." Du Ling experienced a sudden moment of realization. She had only ever laid eyes on these two children from afar at banquets, and since children changed drastically day by day, she naturally hadn't recognized them immediately.
"So it is the young Prince and the young Princess," Du Ling said with a smile. "Shouldn't the two of you be traveling within the imperial procession? How did you end up inside the Xie family's carriage—did you board the wrong one?"
"This Madam, you also know this is the Xie family's carriage, so why are you inside it?" Chu Hongyu tilted his head and asked her.
Finding his demeanor utterly endearing, Du Ling smiled and replied, "Because your Auntie Xie and I are dearest friends, and we agreed to share a carriage."
"I am also a dearest friend of Auntie Xie." The little fellow lifted his chin proudly. "In fact, I was the one who went to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, had Her Majesty the Empress issue an imperial edict to Auntie Xie, and commanded her to join this hunting trip."
Yun Chu looked at him in surprise. "Because of a single word from you, the Empress sent me an imperial edict?"
The little fellow nodded smugly. "I told her that Auntie Xie crushed my cricket to death and that I demanded compensation, so the Empress agreed."
The hunting trip would last a full five days, and he and Changsheng would get to spend five whole days side-by-side with their mother. Such a rare opportunity was too precious to miss—how could he possibly let it slip away?
Yun Chu: "..."
The little scamp hadn't thought to mention this earlier, leaving her to fret day and night under the mistaken impression that the Empress was trying to recruit the Yun family...
Still, it was a relief to finally understand what had happened. She no longer needed to obsess over the Empress's intentions and could set her mind at ease to enjoy a pleasant excursion in Yanshan.
She reached out, scooped the quiet little girl Chu Changsheng into her arms, and said softly, "The journey ahead is rather long. Lean against Auntie and take a little nap."
The little girl nodded, wrapped her arms around Yun Chu's neck, and rested contentedly against her chest.
Chu Hongyu's eyes turned green with envy.
Yet knowing his younger sister had a frail constitution and that getting to leave the mansion required immense effort and persuasion on his father's part, he decided to concede this minor matter and not compete with his sister.
Du Ling, who was a mother herself to a son and a daughter, read the look in the little boy's eyes instantly and chuckled. Scooping the little fellow up, she placed him right on her lap. "As for you, young Prince, you can just lean against me for a quick snooze. By the time you wake up, we'll have reached our destination."
"No, I don't want to!"
The moment Chu Hongyu's body brushed against Du Ling's lap, he scrambled away with all his might.
He refused to be held by any woman other than his mother.
Clinging to Yun Chu's arm instead, he coquettishly pleaded, "Auntie Yun, once we arrive at the destination, will you hold me for a little while too?"
Yun Chu gently patted his head. "Of course."
Du Ling huffed in mock exasperation. "Well! Does this young Prince think I'm covered in thorns?"
"Madam, we aren't close, so we won't trouble you," Chu Hongyu replied while maintaining the height of polite decorum.
Du Ling bumped her elbow against Yun Chu's arm. "When on earth did you get so close to these two?"
Yun Chu couldn't quite put it into words either.
When had they grown so close?
Their very first meeting had started off somewhat unpleasant, yet somewhere along the way, her heart had inexplicably been captured by these two children, rendering her utterly unable to part with them ever again.
She lowered her gaze to address the children. "This is my dearest friend, Madam Ji, whose maiden surname is Du. You may call her Auntie Du."
Chu Hongyu immediately chimed in with a sweet voice, "Auntie Du! Since my younger sister cannot speak, let me speak for her—greetings, Auntie Du!"
"Well then, I shall accept this honor without standing on ceremony!" Du Ling felt her heart completely melt. "I didn't bring anything particularly special, but let these pendants serve as a greeting gift—this bracelet for the young Princess, and this jade pendant for the young Prince."
Chu Hongyu glanced over at Yun Chu. Seeing her nod in approval, he reached out to accept them. "Thank you, Auntie Du."
From a nearby parcel, Yun Chu retrieved a pair of custom-designed pendants she had crafted herself, utilizing the raw jade piece previously gifted to her by the Prince of Pingxi.
The reddish jade pieces had their respective names inscribed upon them, embellished with carved auspicious clouds and blooming flowers—all personally sketched by her and engraved by skilled artisans.
As the two children received their pendants, they were practically beaming with joy. Chu Hongyu inspected his from every possible angle, seemingly unable to get enough of it, when his fingers suddenly paused. Tilting his head, he asked, "Auntie Yun, didn't you make one for Father too?"
Yun Chu: "...”