Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 249
Chapter 249 - Tingxue's Thoughts
Charcoal was burning inside the room, making it very warm.
Chu Changsheng sat on the couch, reading the Three Character Classic to himself, occasionally reading aloud and occasionally drifting off into a daze.
Yun Chu was embroidering a sachet, following a pattern that Tingxue had sketched. She had chosen a auspicious cloud design primarily because it was simple.
However, she had never formally studied needlework, and no matter how simple the stitches were, they were not easy to execute. After embroidering for a little under half an hour, she called it a day and put it away, planning to continue tomorrow.
Tingxue gathered the basket of needles and threads, hugged it to her chest as she returned to her own room, and secretly worked on her own sachet.
She figured that if the sachet her mistress embroidered was truly unpresentable, she would simply use the one she had embroidered as a replacement, leaving the last two stitches undone so it looked like her mistress's own handiwork.
"Tingxue-jie'jie?"
Chengxu's voice came from the doorway, followed immediately by his head poking in.
His head was in, but his body remained outside. Standing out in the corridor, he said, "Tingxue-jie'jie is embroidering a sachet? Do you have any extras, spare one for me."
Tingxue put away her embroidery: "Does Lord Cheng have some business here?"
Chengxu pulled out a paper parcel he had been keeping warm inside his sleeve: "Our Prince wasn't free today and was afraid he wouldn't be able to make it back, so he specifically had me buy some delicious roast duck on the street, especially for Miss Yun."
Tingxue hurriedly took the package: "Thank you for your trouble, Lord Cheng."
Chengxu continued rummaging through his sleeve and pulled out a smaller paper parcel: "The roast duck shop also sells a kind of cured sausage, roasted over charcoal fire, which is exceptionally delicious. The shopkeeper gave it as a gift when he saw me buying the duck. I couldn't finish it all, so I brought it back for Tingxue-jie'jie to try."
Tingxue: "..."
So he couldn't finish it and was afraid of wasting it, which was why he brought it back for her?
This...
"Thank you for Lord Cheng's kind intentions," Tingxue said, the corners of her lips pulling up into a polite smile. "I've never been one for these sorts of things. Does Lord Cheng have anything else? If not, I'll go take the roast duck to the back kitchen."
Chengxu rubbed the back of his head.
Why did he feel like Tingxue had suddenly grown unhappy in an instant?
This cured sausage really was exceptionally delicious, and he had deliberately saved some to bring back for Tingxue, thinking she would be pleased. In the end, his good intentions had been misplaced.
Tingxue went to the back kitchen and had the cook slice the roast duck, placing it on a platter to serve to Yun Chu: "This is what the Prince instructed Lord Cheng to bring back for you, Miss."
The roast duck had a golden, glistening hue and a mouthwatering aroma. Unable to resist, Yun Chu took several bites.
She noticed that she seemed to have gained some weight recently, probably because she frequently ate these kinds of treats, which had managed to pack on a round layer of flesh.
As she ate, she noticed Tingxue staring blankly into space: "Why do I get the feeling that you have something on your mind?"
Tingxue hurriedly shook her head: "No, this servant has nothing on her mind."
"Is that so?" Yun Chu said thoughtfully, "A few days ago, Tingshuan wrote a letter saying she was with child. She's about to become a mother herself, yet your lifelong affairs are still unsettled. Coincidentally, I'm about to make a trip back to the Yun family estate; you can come along with me, and I'll have my mother look around for a match for you."
"N-no, thank you!" Tingxue shook her head and her hands simultaneously. "This servant doesn't want to get married anytime soon."
Yun Chu smiled calmly, betraying nothing.
It seemed she wouldn't need to worry about Tingxue's marriage prospects after all.
She just wondered which man it was that had left Tingxue so deeply distracted.
The arrival of the foreign envoys in the capital made the entire city bustling with activity.
Yun Chu was not someone who loved joining in the hustle and bustle, and with the weather turning cold, she simply holed up at home with Changsheng day after day.
As the year drew to a close, auditing the accounts of various shops was enough to keep her busy. Furthermore, with the two children's fifth birthday approaching, she had to make preparations well in advance.
Amidst all this busyness, a formal invitation was delivered from the imperial palace.
The palace attendant who delivered the invitation smiled and said, "Lady Yun, the palace is holding a grand banquet for the foreign envoys and has invited all the madams and young ladies of the capital to attend."
Yun Chu knew that as someone personally bestowed the title of Lady by the Emperor, avoiding such palace banquets was utterly impossible.
However, after the incident with Gongsun Ning last time, she figured no one would dare meddle blindly in matchmaking again.
Every five years, envoys from various nations surrounding the Great Jin Dynasty would arrive before the end of the year to pay court homage—considered quite a grand event.
The Great Jin Dynasty also gave them ample face, arranging for the Crown Prince, Prince Gongxi, Prince Pingxi, the Fifth Prince, and the Sixth Prince to jointly receive them.
Yun Chu boarded a carriage and headed toward the imperial palace.
Snow had fallen for two consecutive days, leaving the rooftops covered in a thick layer of white, while the long palace pathways had been cleaned exceptionally clean by young eunuchs.
Accompanied by Qiutong and led by a young eunuch, she walked toward the grand hall where the banquet was being held.
The hour was still early, and when Yun Chu stepped inside, she did not see any familiar faces yet.
Thus, she stood out in the courtyard to appreciate the snow.
Snow had settled upon the tree branches and frozen into ice, creating a remarkably picturesque view.
"Miss Yun."
A voice sounded from behind her.
Yun Chu turned her head and saw Prince Zhuang, whose face was completely pale.
She quickly took a step back and curtsied: "Greetings, Your Highness."
Chu Rui's voice also carried a trace of weakness: "I haven't been any sort of prince for a long time now."
"Your Highness," Yun Chu changed her form of address and said politely, "Although the snow has stopped, the wind outside is biting. Your Highness should head inside."
A bitter smile appeared on Chu Rui's face: "Ever since that day's events, I haven't been able to apologize to you in person. Cough, cough, cough... I hope it's not too late now."
Mentioning that incident, Yun Chu's expression paused slightly as she calmly inquired, "Is Your Highness still taking medicine?"
"You said it was detestable, so I cast it away. Naturally, I surrendered my princely title and fief, and naturally, I will no longer use a living person's heart-blood as medicine." A faint smile surfaced on Chu Rui's face. "After abandoning those things, my whole body felt relieved... Cough, cough, cough!"
Clutching his chest, he suddenly began coughing violently.
His face turned deathly pale.
Yun Chu pressed her lips together.
Though she pitied Prince Zhuang for being plagued by illness since birth, she pitied the young girls who had lost their lives because of it even more.
"Elder Royal Brother."
A clear voice rang out from the side, and Yun Chu saw Chu Yi walking over.
The moment Chu Yi stepped into the grand hall, he had spotted Yun Chu standing so close to Chu Rui, seemingly admiring the scenery or perhaps conversing.
That close proximity stirred a trace of crisis within him.
Therefore, he strode over swiftly, seamlessly stepping right between Yun Chu and Chu Rui to separate the space between them.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Chu Rui was still coughing; covering his mouth, he suddenly coughed up blood.
Yun Chu furrowed her brows: "Your Highness is unwell, please hurry inside."
Several palace attendants behind him stepped forward, supported Chu Rui, and half-carried him toward the interior of the grand hall.
Every couple of steps he coughed again, his body arched downward; anyone could tell from his retreating figure just how agonizing it was.
Yun Chu sighed softly.
Since things had come to this, rather than recuperating properly, why bother coming to attend a banquet?
She turned her head: "Just who on earth started the rumor that heart-blood can cure illnesses?"
Using a person's heart-blood as a medicinal ingredient to save lives always felt utterly absurd.
"It was the National Preceptor," Chu Yi said. "The Empress Dowager believes the National Preceptor's words with absolute devotion."
A mocking curve touched the corner of Yun Chu's mouth.
This was precisely why she intended to replace the National Preceptor.
Fortunately, she had not chosen the wrong person; Ding Yiyuan had already gained a reputation among the aristocratic and meritorious families, and the next step was to introduce him to the Emperor—she only needed to wait for the right opportunity.
The appointed hour gradually approached, and the grand hall slowly filled with people.