Chapter 13: May Your Heart Be Mine, Never to Part

Midnight.

It was time for the shift change. Ding Suian returned to the West Courtyard with Chest Hair and Hu Jiangjiu.

Before heading to the backyard alone, Ding Suian pulled out a handful of sachets from his 懷裡 and tossed them to everyone, one by one. “Here, sachets for safety. I queued for an hour at Shouzheng Temple to get them. They’ve been blessed, one for each of you!”

Hu Jiangjiu, having never owned such a thing before, played with it admiringly upon returning to his room.

“Brother Wang, why did the boss give us these?”

Aside from a faint fragrance, these sachets had no other use, at least not for rough Soldiers like them.

Wang Xigui was also examining his sachet, and casually said, “Maybe the boss thinks we stink and bought them for us to mask the smell.”

“Do we stink?” Hu Jiangjiu leaned in and took a deep sniff of his armpit, let out a ‘retch’, then chuckled foolishly, “Yeah, a little bit.”

“Hey, there’s a note hidden inside.” Wang Xigui dug out a small, finger-length piece of paper from the sachet, but being illiterate, he quickly went to Gongye Ni. “Gong, help me see what it says?”

“Longing day and night, sharing a bed with you.”

Gongye Ni, with his stern, square face, recited the contents of the note seriously.

“Brother Gong, I have one too, help me read it.”

Hu Jiangjiu offered his note as if presenting a treasure.

Gongye Ni glanced at it. “To meet you by appointment, battling under the brocade canopy at night.”

“Brother Gong, what does that mean?” Hu Jiangjiu scratched his head, puzzled.

Gongye Ni was expressionless, enunciating each word: “The boss, wants to screw you.”

“Ah!”

Hu Jiangjiu instinctively clasped his Buttocks with both hands, tears streaming down his face in fright. “I, I can’t! If my mother found out, she’d beat me to death. Brother Wang, you go serve Brother Sui’an in my stead.”

Wang Xigui “?”

“Pfft~ Hahaha.”

Chest Hair, who was sitting on the edge of the heated brick bed picking his feet, finally burst into laughter. “Your sister-in-law’s milk! You fool, these sachets are clearly sold by those children at the entrance of Shouzhen Lane, meant to coax young Jie’er. Our boss must have felt sorry for them, so he bought them all and distributed them to us. He probably doesn’t even know there are notes inside.”

Chest Hair was indeed knowledgeable, guessing the truth in one go.

Back room of Chengxi Hall.

Lin Hansu let down her hair, took off her mourning clothes, and wrapped in a brocade quilt, gazed at the bed canopy, pondering what other schemes Madam Wu might have. Since that day she had her elder sister deliver a secret letter to Princess Xingguo in her desperate situation, she knew it was a life-or-death struggle with Madam Wu.

In the letter, she promised not to produce an heir, and after the mourning period, she would request to resign her title, citing ‘this concubine has no merit, and dares not idly consume the court’s 俸祿’.

This way, she indeed gained a glimmer of hope, but she cut off the lineage of The Du Family.

Madam Wu would surely notice some clues and would certainly not let it go.

However, compared to the overwhelming dread of the two days before the Prince of Lanyang’s death, Lin Hansu had inexplicably gained some confidence these past few days.

As her thoughts drifted, her hand unconsciously kneaded the sachet she had just received tonight.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly sensing something unusual inside the sachet, Lin Hansu brought it to her face for a closer look, then untied the string at the top of the sachet.

There was a note.

Unfolded, a line in small script:

‘May your heart be mine, never to part’

Lin Hansu’s mind buzzed, her heart pounded like thunder, and she froze for several breaths.

For a moment, she couldn’t quite describe the feeling; there was the fear of being discovered by outsiders, a three-tenths thrill of defying womanly virtues, and a hint of sweetness from an unknown source.

In just a few breaths, a thin layer of sweat broke out.

Lin Hansu got out of bed, pinching the note and moving towards the candlelight, but her outstretched hand stopped midway. After much hesitation, she pulled it back and put the note back into the sachet.

Slowly, she retreated to the bedside and sat down with a thud.

She sat there for a quarter of an hour.

After a long while, she suddenly said coldly, “Little thief, how dare you!”

But before her scolding finished, she couldn’t help but let out a giggle.

Then she turned over, face down, and buried her head in the brocade quilt like an ostrich. “How cheesy, tsk tsk tsk~”

On the 28th of the eleventh month, the Prince of Lanyang’s funeral was held.

The Lanyang Ancestral Tomb was located at the foot of Dingding Mountain, thirty li north of the City, with its back to the mountains and facing water, a propitious burial site.

However, Du Jue died young, and as there had been no prior preparations, the mausoleum, built according to princely regulations, had only just begun construction and would require at least another year to complete.

After completing various funeral rites, the coffin was temporarily interred at Jintai Temple at the foot of Dingding Mountain, awaiting final burial once the mausoleum was finished.

Upon returning to the mansion, the Dragon Guard Army’s An Squad moved from the second-entry West Courtyard to the third-entry Diying Garden.

Diying Garden was not a simple courtyard for servants like the West Courtyard. It was originally the place where the first Prince of Lanyang practiced martial arts.

Inside, there were not only small bridges and flowing water, but also a dedicated open space for a martial arts training ground.

All kinds of equipment were readily available.

More importantly, Diying Garden was separated from Lin Hansu’s Huguai Garden by only one wall, ensuring that they could respond immediately in case of an emergency.

Logically, Madam Wu should have strongly opposed Lin Hansu moving the Dragon Guard Army into a garden only qualified for masters to reside in.

But afterwards, Madam Wu showed no reaction at all.

Even Steward Hou, who managed the front quarters, adopted a cooperative stance with the Dragon Guard Army.

In short, after the twelfth lunar month began, the mansion’s structure was clear: the fifth and sixth entries were still controlled by Madam Wu, while the maids and Nannies squeezed into the fourth entry followed Lin Hansu’s lead.

The servants in the front quarters, however, kept a low profile and avoided conflict with the Dragon Guard Army, each cooking their own meals, as if they intended to remain strangers forever.

Ding Suian absolutely did not believe that Madam Wu intended to stop there.

The current situation was no longer a matter of momentary Vitality; it was a struggle over the immense wealth of the princely estate, far more ferocious than mere hatred.

Currently, Madam Wu was lying low, not bothering with temporary gains or losses. This made Ding Suian smell the scent of a ruthless person who ‘does not act unless it’s to cut the grass by the roots’.

Madam Wu must be planning something big.

Several more days passed like this.

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, during the 巳时.

Granny Xu ascended Ji Pavilion. The second floor of Ji Pavilion was the highest point in Huguai Garden, now used as the Princess Consort of Lanyang’s boudoir.

Logically, a high place was not a good residence in winter, firstly because underfloor heating could not be installed, and secondly because of the strong winds.

But a few days ago, Lin Hansu stubbornly insisted on moving in.

‘Thump-thump~’

“Come in~”

Granny Xu entered the room and immediately felt a chill; it was not much warmer than outside.

Two charcoal basins were clearly burning in the room, but then she saw that the south-facing window was wide open.

“Wansu, what’s wrong with you! Don’t you know to close the window! The Princess Consort just caught a cold last month.”

“.”

Wansu offered no explanation, her face full of helplessness.

“I told them to open it, to air it out~”

Lin Hansu sat at the dressing table by the window, idly combing her hair while looking into the mirror.

Granny Xu was about to offer advice when she suddenly heard a vigorous shout from afar, “Rooted to the earth, waist and shoulders as one.”

Following the sound, the Diying Garden training ground, dozens of steps away, was clearly visible.

A group of Soldiers, following the incantation shouted by Squad Leader Ding, swung and retracted their sabers in perfect unison.

Although he was not old, Squad Leader Ding stood with his hands behind his back, calm and composed.

“Draw the saber like a collapse, retract the saber like a push. Chest Hair, use all your strength! Did you go carousing at the brothels again last night, you bastard!”

Those unruly, rough Soldiers, who looked like a bunch of misfits, surprisingly listened to him.

Granny Xu stood on tiptoe and watched for a while, then suddenly felt something and shifted her gaze downwards. She saw the Princess Consort stroking the strands of dark hair hanging by her ear with one hand, and holding a wooden comb with the other. She appeared to be combing her hair, but her movements had been frozen for a long time.

Her Phoenix eyes had long since flown to the adjacent training ground, her gaze filled with spring water, a faint smile on her lips, staring unblinkingly at a certain person.

“.”

Granny Xu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

Even before the Prince of Lanyang’s funeral, she had already sensed the Princess Consort’s feelings.

Having understood the entire sequence of events, Granny Xu was not surprised. When the Princess Consort was on the verge of death, she couldn’t even rely on her own father, yet it was this Young Master who risked his life to protect her.

Moreover, this Young Master was handsome and spoke amusingly, always making the Princess Consort laugh uncontrollably.

In such circumstances, it would be strange if she didn’t develop some feelings.

Furthermore, the Princess Consort had endured years of suppression and constant melancholy in the princely mansion. Once the seeds of love between a man and a woman sprouted, she would be far more reckless than ordinary women.

Granny Xu felt a headache coming on, always sensing that a major disaster would erupt in the future.

“Princess Consort~”

“Princess Consort!”

“Ah?” Lin Hansu, as if waking from a dream, instinctively turned her head. Her eyes met Granny Xu’s briefly, but it was as if her thoughts had been exposed. She quickly lowered her gaze to avoid eye contact, feigning calmness as she asked, “What is it, Granny Xu?”

Granny Xu knew that if this matter were exposed, the Princess Consort would surely be ashamed and angry, so she first brought up the urgent matter at hand. “The Master has been staying at the inn for over ten days. Today is the Laba Festival. Why don’t you meet the Master, Princess Consort, at least let him come to the mansion to have some Laba porridge.”

Lin Hansu’s expression darkened, as if she wanted to refuse. Then, she unconsciously glanced at the training ground again and surprisingly changed her mind. “Alright, please invite him to the princely mansion.”