Chapter 276

Zhao Ling was naturally delighted that Fu Tingjun had agreed. The two discussed the matter of hiring tutors for the children—besides the martial arts instructor, Youyou was already six years old, and it was time to find a proper scholar to begin her formal education. In Fu Tingjun's view, since she was raising the children alone, it would be best to hire an old Confucian scholar over sixty. But in Zhao Ling's opinion, elderly scholars—especially those who had failed in the imperial examinations—were mostly rigid and pedantic, and would teach the children to be dull and wooden. It would be better to find someone younger.

Fu Tingjun couldn't help feeling somewhat disheartened.

Zhao Ling also knew this matter was not easy to handle, so he offered a suggestion: "Why don't you discuss it with Third Cousin one of these days, and see if Third Cousin's husband has any suitable candidates?"

That would have to do.

Fu Tingjun nodded.

Zhenzhu came in to report: "Lord Jin has arrived!"

Hadn't they said they were returning to the capital quietly?

Fu Tingjun looked at Zhao Ling with confusion.

Zhao Ling explained in a low voice: "I need someone to help me. Yuanbao is meticulous as fine hair—careful and prudent, the most suitable person." Then he instructed Zhenzhu: "Show him in!"

Zhenzhu acknowledged and left.

Fu Tingjun then instructed Yuwei to inform the household to keep Zhao Ling's return to the capital strictly confidential.

Yuwei solemnly agreed.

Zhenzhu brought Jin Yuanbao in.

Fu Tingjun hurriedly invited Jin Yuanbao to have breakfast.

"No need," Jin Yuanbao said with a smile. "I had breakfast before coming." He added, "I also brought a few trunks along."

Fu Tingjun couldn't help showing an appreciative look.

Bringing a few trunks over—if anyone asked, he could say he had been entrusted by Zhao Ling to deliver some things to the house.

The children each greeted Jin Yuanbao in turn.

Jin Yuanbao smiled and hugged Youyou, saying, "Our young miss has grown so tall."

Youyou was quite pleased with herself and said, "I'm even taller than Cousin Yuanxiao."

Jin Yuanbao chuckled, then took out small trinkets like clay figurines and rattles from his bosom, giving them to Youyou, Xi-ge, Tushu'er, and Xu Ge'er.

The children were all delighted.

Fu Tingjun knew they must have important matters to discuss, and the children had mostly finished eating, so she led her daughter and son to take their leave of Jin Yuanbao and went to the study in the west wing, where she supervised Youyou's calligraphy practice and told Xi-ge'er stories.

After about half an hour, Jin Yuanbao emerged from the inner chamber with a grave expression and came to take his leave of Fu Tingjun.

"When do you leave?" Fu Tingjun asked him.

"I'm leaving tonight," Jin Yuanbao said. He knew that Zhao Ling kept nothing from Fu Tingjun regarding outside affairs, so he added, "Ninth Master will set out in two or three days. There are still a few people he needs to meet."

Fu Tingjun nodded, had the children say goodbye to Jin Yuanbao, and personally escorted him to the hanging flower gate.

Zhao Ling then asked Fu Tingjun: "When will A Sen be back?"

Lord Wang and Madam Wang felt that Zhao Ling was like a parent to A Sen, and hoped Zhao Ling would preside over the wedding of A Sen and their eldest daughter Jingtong, but they had never found the right opportunity. Now that Zhao Ling had gone to Guizhou, such a chance seemed even more remote. After consulting with Zhao Ling, the two families had set the wedding date for the eighteenth day of the eleventh month this year. When word reached Fuzhou, Madam Wang's mother decided she would come to the capital to attend the wedding of A Sen and Jingtong. By the time Madam Wang learned of this, her mother had already arrived at Yangzhou. Startled, Madam Wang took her two daughters to Tongzhou to receive her. Fu Tingjun recalled that in earlier years Madam Wang and her mother had been at odds, and now that Madam Wang's mother could come to attend Jingtong's wedding, Madam Wang must be overjoyed. So she had A Sen go along as well—if anything came up, he could help run errands, which would also be a sign of respect toward Madam Wang and her mother.

"She said the old lady should arrive within these two days," she said with a smile. "So he should be back soon. But even after he returns, since the old lady has just arrived and A Sen is the new son-in-law, he probably won't be able to get away for a while."

Zhao Ling thought for a moment and said, "Then we'll wait until he's back." He looked as though he intended to make use of A Sen.

Father and son go to battle together; brothers hunt tigers side by side. Fu Tingjun felt it would be good for Zhao Ling to bring A Sen along to Xi'an Prefecture—not only were they familiar with each other through and through, but they were also parties to the grudge with the Feng family and knew it best. If Zhao Ling did find an opportunity to trip up the Yu family, there would certainly be no problems on Jin Yuanbao's or A Sen's end.

"Then I'll have Yuechuan go and tell A Sen," she said thoughtfully. "Let him come back for a visit whenever he has free time."

"Fine!" Zhao Ling nodded and went to the study. "I need to write a few letters."

Fu Tingjun followed him in, and while grinding ink for him, she said, "As you said, the Feng family and the Marquis of Xiping have gotten tangled up together. Wu Xin may be on good terms with you, but there's still a layer of separation—you're in the southwest, he's in the northwest. The Marquis of Xiping, after all, is a current noble of the court. Why would he think of changing course? Tell me, could there be some scheme behind all this?"

"What conspiracy could there be?" Zhao Ling chuckled. "If the Marquis of Xiping were a man of great ambition and talent, he wouldn't have been pushed into such a corner by the Marquis of Yingchuan and He Fu in succession. As for the Feng family, they rose from humble origins—like Daoist An of Jiugong Mountain, no matter how skilled their martial arts, in the eyes of the world they're nothing more than wandering knights-errant. No matter how much Feng Laosan does for the Marquis of Xiping, in the Marquis's eyes, he's just a more obedient and capable pawn than the average lackey! If all remains peaceful, then fine—but if there's the slightest disturbance, or even a storm, the Marquis of Xiping will certainly sacrifice the pawn to save the king. It would be one thing if the Feng family took the blame for him, but what I fear is that they'll become abandoned pieces. Generations of painstaking effort to wash away their origins could turn to ashes in an instant. Feng Laosan is a clever man—he's likely seen the stakes clearly, which is why he took the risk to contact me. In any case, Feng Laosi, with whom I once had a grudge, died by my hand. During our escape, though Feng Laosan acted for his own sake, the fact remains that he let us go—there's still some bond of goodwill between us. If I were him, I'd also give it my best shot."

Fu Tingjun pressed her lips into a smile. "There's one more reason Ninth Master hasn't mentioned, isn't there?"

Zhao Ling paused, then smiled. "What reason?"

"Ninth Master's righteousness reaches the clouds—you're true to your word and magnanimous in spirit," Fu Tingjun said with a smile. "Isn't that one of the main reasons Feng Laosan decided to reconcile with you?"

Zhao Ling was quite surprised, then a hint of embarrassment colored his expression. "A hero needs three helpers. I'm different from the Feng family—they have power and influence. I'm alone; to establish myself, I naturally must be true to my word. Besides, that's the foundation of being a person!"

Fu Tingjun pressed her lips together and laughed.

Zhao Ling caught Fu Tingjun and settled her onto his lap. "Help me hold down the letter paper."

So she sat on his knee, watching him write letters to Teacher Yao and several of his former subordinates in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Kou'er brought in tea and, seeing this, couldn't help but exclaim "Oh!" before blushing and retreating.

Fu Tingjun pouted coquettishly. "See what you've done!"

Zhao Ling laughed heartily, setting down his brush. With a meaningful undertone, he asked in a low voice, "What are Youyou and the others doing?"

Fu Tingjun's face flushed like the morning glow. She murmured, "Mother Tong is leading them—they're playing cat's cradle in the room!"

"Then we shouldn't be idle either." Zhao Ling grinned, dropped his brush, and scooped Fu Tingjun up, carrying her toward the west side chamber.

Fu Tingjun thought of Zhao Ling's awkwardness that morning, and her heart softened. Half-resisting, half-yielding, she said, "We haven't even had lunch yet?"

"Who said we must have lunch before..." Zhao Ling said, kicking the partition door shut with his foot.

Kou'er carried the tea tray to find Yuwei. "The master and mistress are in the study... what should I do with this tea?"

Yuwei smiled, took a sip from the teacup, and said, "Never mind the tea—go attend to your own affairs!"

Kou'er fled as if pardoned, scurrying away in a flash.

Yuwei smiled at the sight, then went to Youyou's room and joined Mother Tong in playing with the children.

Noon came and went, yet there was still no movement from the study.

Yuwei smiled and instructed Zhenzhu: "Have Mother Zhou prepare dishes the young miss and young master favor and bring them over—we wouldn't want them to go hungry."

Zhenzhu went to the kitchen with a flushed face to relay the message.

It wasn't until after wei hour that Fu Tingjun finally called Yuwei in to attend to her.

Zheng Sanniang quickly brought in the food that had been kept warm on the stove.

In the afternoon, Zhao Ling took the children to swing in the back courtyard, and they retired early again that evening.

When Zheng Sanniang returned home that night, she said to Zheng San: "So many years have passed, yet the master and mistress remain just as devoted to each other." Her tone was full of contentment.

Zheng San was unconcerned. "They're a couple who weathered hardship together!"

Zheng Sanniang thought for a moment, then smiled. "That's true!" Then she glanced at Zheng San. "We're a couple who weathered hardship together too."

Perhaps because she had injured herself during their escape, Zheng Sanniang never conceived again—they had only Linchun, their one child.

Zheng San's face reddened slightly. He coughed uncomfortably and changed the subject. "That little rascal Yuechuan—his legs must have grown up to his arse. I only sent him to Tongzhou to deliver a message to A Sen. Why hasn't he come back by now?"

Zheng Sanniang covered her mouth and laughed. "A round trip to Tongzhou takes seven or eight hours. Even if Yuechuan's legs grew up to his head, he couldn't make it back by now!" Then she sat down beside Zheng San and nudged him with her elbow. "Hey! What do you think—should we let Linchun go with the master to Guizhou?"

Linchun was ten this year. Though he'd studied with A Sen for a few years, he couldn't sit still—to this day he only knew a few characters. Zheng Sanniang figured that since her son was six years older than Xige'er, he was too old to be a personal attendant. Better to let him follow Zhao Ling to Guizhou and gain some experience. Later, he could either become a steward for the Zhao family or beg Zhao Ling's favor to secure a position for their son in the military.

This was exactly what Zheng San had been thinking.

But their family owed Zhao Ling such a great debt that making such a request felt somewhat presumptuous.

He said gruffly, "Let me think about it," then pulled the covers over his head and went to sleep.

Zheng Sanniang sighed and blew out the lamp.

His wife's words were like grass seeds falling on his heart, growing wildly in Zheng San's mind.

He tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

After who knows how long, someone knocked on the door and softly called out "Zheng San."

Zheng San pricked up his ears and listened—it was actually A Sen's voice.

He hastily threw on his clothes, grabbed the key to the Harmony Book from under his pillow, and got off the kang to open the front door.

The sky was still full of stars, brilliant and dazzling.

A Sen was panting heavily, walking quickly inside as he said, "Go quickly and have Sanniang report to Ninth Master that I've returned."

Zheng San thought of what Zhao Ling had done after returning, grinned widely, and said, "You'd better rest in the house first and wait until dawn to talk!" Then he looked behind A Sen, saw no one there, and chuckled, "You left Yuechuan in Tongzhou? You came back alone?"

A Sen nodded and said, "Ninth Master calling me back at this hour must mean something urgent..."

Zheng San grabbed A Sen by the nape of his neck and dragged him toward his own room, saying, "No matter how urgent it is, wait until dawn. Trust me on this." Then he called out to Zheng Sanniang, "Go make something good for A Sen to eat. I reckon he rushed back without even having dinner."

A Sen tried to say something more, but Zheng Sanniang also smiled and said, "Just listen to my husband. Would we ever do you harm?"