Qi Yu spent the afternoon leafing through the Nanyang prefectural gazetteer in the study. When he reached the last page, he looked up and told Qi Xiao that he had never visited his fief. Qi Xiao closed the memorial in his hands. "Then let's go."
The two of them took less than half a day to pack. De'an loaded three trunks onto the carriage while Qi Yu stood in the courtyard directing him, insisting that this had to come and so did that. In the end, even the reclining chair nearly ended up strapped to the carriage roof.
Qi Xiao came out and took a look. "Are we moving house or visiting your fief?"
"This is an incognito inspection!" Qi Yu declared with perfect confidence. "We can't look shabby!"
Standing nearby, De'an thought, The Retired Emperor doesn't even use a ceremonial escort since abdicating. What grandeur is there to speak of?
The carriage left Qingliang Terrace and headed south along the official road.
The autumn sky was high and lightly clouded. Qi Yu leaned against the carriage window to look outside. When he spotted a roadside stall selling sugar-roasted chestnuts, he turned and tugged Qi Xiao's sleeve.
Qi Xiao looked up from his book. "You just had breakfast."
"Breakfast is breakfast. Chestnuts are chestnuts!"
Qi Xiao watched him for a moment, then told De'an to stop the carriage. A Ping hopped down, bought a bag of chestnuts, and passed it inside, the oiled-paper wrapping still hot to the touch. Qi Yu peeled one and popped it into Qi Xiao's mouth, then peeled another for himself.
The chestnuts were sweet and soft. His cheeks bulged as he chewed, and he tossed the shells into an empty dish on the low table. Qi Xiao lowered his head and went on reading. Only