For two days running, Sun Shaozong accompanied Jia Lian on his rounds, taking a great many trivial matters off his hands. Moreover, he handled people and affairs with polished ease, managing things even more properly than Jia Lian himself. He seemed nothing like a nineteen-year-old martial man.
After this, Jia Lian's opinion of him naturally rose several notches. His attitude also changed from the warmth of meeting an old acquaintance far from home to the affection of sincerely seeking friendship—the two attitudes both contained warmth, but they were worlds apart.
Thanks to this, the loose ends that had originally been expected to take five or six days were all settled cleanly by noon on the third day.
Jia Lian therefore dragged Sun Shaozong off for a round of "fatigue-relieving wine," then, seven parts drunk, announced that they would set off for the capital early the next morning.
Though everyone in the residence had long been prepared, a flurry of activity was still unavoidable—yet Sun Shaozong found time amid the bustle to take Ruan Rong out for a stroll.
Ruan Rong had originally wanted to bring Daiyu along as well, so that her exceptionally clever sworn younger sister could see her lover's character and appearance for herself, rather than spending all day making wild guesses from scraps of rumor.
But though Daiyu was not rigidly bound by worldly proprieties, she was still in mourning, and not even a hundred days had passed. How could she show herself in public wearing coarse mourning clothes?
She could only decline reluctantly, saying that it would not be too late to meet her "brother-in-law" when they boarded the ship tomorrow.
Sun Shaozong and Ruan Rong left the government office, chatting, laughing, and fooling around all the way, utterly heedless of the looks from passersby.
They first toured Slender West Lake, then paid their respects to Buddha at Daming Temple. Seeing that Ruan Rong was somewhat tired, they found a small riverside shop selling Spiced Dried Tofu. They sat by the window, sampling local snacks while chatting aimlessly.
Although Ruan Rong possessed the gallant air unique to Qian Xiang women, she still ate with the poise of a well-bred young lady, never showing her teeth and chewing each bite delicately. To Sun Shaozong's eyes, this gave her a charm all its own.
He could not help musing to himself that he had already tricked her into letting him hold her little hand that day, but he did not know when he would be able to coax those crimson lips open and enjoy them to his heart's content.
Just as his thoughts began to wander, he saw Ruan Rong poking at the dried tofu on her plate with her chopsticks, looking as if she wanted to speak but could not. A trace of worry showed between her brows.
At the sight, all of Sun Shaozong's improper thoughts vanished. He reached out to take her soft hand and asked with concern, "What is it? Are you missing home?"
Ruan Rong first shook her head, then bit her cherry-red lip and nodded again. After a long pause, she stammered, "Brother Sun, those assassins back then... did they really all come from Zhen Country?"
Sun Shaozong's heart immediately tightened. He knew the crux of her question lay in the words "did they really," which she had started to say and then swallowed back—clearly, she had begun to doubt the assassins' origins.
Yet throughout their journey, they had recalled those events several times, and Ruan Rong had never shown the slightest suspicion. For her to suddenly raise this point now was truly strange.
After a moment's thought, Sun Shaozong had some guesses, but he did not dare be certain. He gently rubbed Ruan Rong's palm and smiled. "We're meant to stay together for the rest of our lives. What private words can't we say to each other? Why be so hesitant and secretive?"
Ruan Rong had never been one to keep things bottled up. At his prompting, she hurriedly confessed everything. "Last night, I was chatting with Sister Lin. When no one else was around, Daiyu suddenly pulled me aside and said that after thinking it over carefully for two days, she found the assassins' actions rather suspicious. It seemed as though someone had deliberately framed Zhen Country. Maybe... maybe it was a scheme set by our Qian Xiang Country, meant to make Great Zhou support Qian Xiang in annexing Zhen Country!"
Tsk.
So Lin Daiyu had indeed spotted the flaw!
Recently, Ruan Rong had stayed in the inner residence and met no one besides Daiyu and her servants—but considering Daiyu's age, it was still rather hard to believe.
It seemed Lin Daiyu truly deserved to be someone with a protagonist's halo. At such a young age, she already possessed an exquisitely perceptive mind, more meticulous and alert than many adults.
He wondered what sort of people Xue Baochai and Jia Baoyu, who were spoken of in the same breath as her, might be.
As he was musing, Sun Shaozong suddenly felt the back of his hand tighten. Ruan Rong had clasped it in return. With a tense little face, she asked, "Even Sister Lin, such a tiny girl, could see the trick in it. There are so many capable people in Great Zhou's court—wouldn't it be even easier for them? If someone notices the flaw, the two countries won't go to war because of it, will they?!"
Sun Shaozong could not help laughing aloud.
No wonder she had been so hesitant just now. She had been worried that if the two countries came to blows, he would be caught in the middle!
He had originally wanted to tease her a little more, but seeing that she had clenched her little hand so tightly it had turned pale, he could not bear to make fun of her further.
He merely gave her cheek a gentle pinch and smiled. "Don't worry. How could countries go to war so easily? For one thing, Great Zhou has the Mongols and the restless Mohe to the north, while Japanese Pirates and barbarian raiders ravage the southern coast. They have no spare strength at all to deal with your Qian Xiang Country."
Ruan Rong still looked somewhat confused after hearing this, so Sun Shaozong had no choice but to explain it in the clearest possible terms, slowly instilling his own thoughts and reasoning into her.
When he saw Ruan Rong's smile return, Sun Shaozong finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had just picked up his teacup to wet his throat when she giggled, "Brother Sun, your explanation is much more thorough than Sister Lin's analysis—hmph, when we get back, I'll see whether that girl still dares to look down on people."
Given how close she and Lin Daiyu had become over the past few days, Daiyu surely did not look down on her. That meant Ruan Rong's slight indignation was probably on Sun Shaozong's behalf.
Tsk.
Lin Daiyu had likely assumed he too had been kept in the dark by the Qian Xiang People, so some contempt had slipped into her words.
The thought that his intelligence might have been looked down upon by an eleven- or twelve-year-old girl made Sun Shaozong smile, though he was hardly inclined to take offense. He flicked Ruan Rong lightly on the tip of her nose and laughed. "Enough. Is it really so glorious to compare my knowledge with that of a little girl?"
On reflection, Ruan Rong agreed. Her lover was a great man who had even stirred the Emperor of Great Zhou—what was there to compare with some immature little girl?
Still, although she thought so, once she returned, she could not help showing off her lover's great wisdom concealed beneath seeming simplicity in front of Daiyu.
The two wandered all around Yangzhou City, taking in every kind of scenery and sampling all manner of snacks. By the time they returned satisfied, night had already fallen.
After entering through the side gate, Ruan Rong eagerly went to find Lin Daiyu to "settle accounts," while Sun Shaozong had originally intended to return to his guest room. On the way, however, he noticed the small reception hall in the government office's rear courtyard was brightly lit, as though Jia Lian were entertaining guests.
At this late hour, especially when they were leaving early the next morning, where could any guest have come from?
Curious, he leaned over to take a few more looks. To his surprise, Xing'er, Jia Lian's servant, spotted him. From a distance, Xing'er hurried over with a grin. "What a coincidence! My Lian, Second Master was just talking about you, and here you are, back at just the right time—please, come inside!"
Over the past few days, Sun Shaozong had grown familiar with the servants, so he could not be bothered with small talk. He jerked his chin toward the reception hall and asked, "Has some distinguished guest arrived again?"
"What distinguished guest could he possibly be?"
Xing'er curled his lip and said with both disdain and smugness, "That Jia Yucun was originally nothing but a ruined nobody. Later, he desperately attached himself to our Jia Manor as kin, and only secured the lucrative post of Jinling Prefect through the support of our Second Master and the son-in-law. Who would have thought that in recent years, he would curry favor with Grandfather Wang as well? He's about to be promoted to Shuntian Vice-Prefect—and now he has come running over again, insisting on entering the capital together with my Second Master!"
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