"Could you give us a moment?"
Xie Yu heard Shen Changyin ask politely. The officer nodded and left.
The voice above spoke again. "Alright, now that she's gone, we can talk normally."
Xie Yu lifted her head as slowly as the hand of a clock.
When their eyes finally met with no way to avoid it, she immediately forced herself to look off to the right, fixing her gaze on Shen Changyin's hair. "Did you realize this morning that I was disguised as a beggar?"
Shen Changyin paused for a few seconds. "No."
She didn't notice?
Xie Yu blinked and looked back at her. "Then how did you know I was here?"
"Old Jin went to check on the tea shop and saw a bunch of beggars being arrested. She assumed it was related to the shop, so she went down to the prison. She recognized your voice."
Old Jin was the burly woman with the sharp eagle eyes.
Xie Yu's eyes shifted. "So she didn't actually recognize my disguise?"
The two of them fell strangely silent for a moment.
A few breaths later, Shen Changyin suddenly looked as if she had solved a difficult problem and said, "Your disguise is very skilled. Most people wouldn't recognize you."
"Mm." Xie Yu was satisfied.
"So what excuse did you use to get them to release me?"
Shen Changyin said, "I told them you were the rebellious young lady of a wealthy family in the countryside who refused to take the imperial exam. That family is close to Ji's manor. Lady Ji personally wrote a note to the prefecture asking them to release you."
Xie Yu understood—Shen Changyin had forged a note.
"And they just believed it?"
"There was a private seal from Lady Ji on it."
"You carved a fake seal? Could you do that in such a short time?"
"The seal was real."
"Does Lady Ji know she wrote this note?"
"She doesn't."
"So you had someone steal her seal?"
Shen Changyin didn't answer. She only curved her eyes in a silent smile.
Xie Yu said, "Are you exercising your right to remain silent so everything you say won't be used as evidence against you?"
Shen Changyin still said nothing.
Xie Yu said, "Remember to put the seal back. Don't let her notice."
This time Shen Changyin nodded.
"But I can't leave alone. There's no telling whether those beggars will make it out alive."
Shen Changyin said, "Looks like Lady Ji will have to write another note."
"Mm."
Xie Yu fell silent for a moment, then said,
"Shen Changyin, how do you train your soldiers? People always say soldiers are rough, but yours are much better than these officers."
The night she traveled here, she saw that the rebel troops had incredibly strict discipline. They didn't harass civilians or steal property.
Even when they searched her body, they didn't covet her jade pendant or rough her up. Their hands were impeccably proper.
Almost like a modern army.
"Just copying a certain general I once knew."
Shen Changyin avoided the topic and instead said, "Your Highness the Third Princess seems displeased with the prefecture?"
Xie Yu said, "It's more than that. I wasn't happy with that county officer either, the one cooperating with the corrupt merchant to scam people."
Shen Changyin said, "I actually have a solution."
"What solution?"
"You can take charge."
What?
Xie Yu's eyes widened.
"Your Highness, you're a princess. You naturally have the right to govern. I can submit a memorial at court tomorrow morning. You'll likely take office by tomorrow afternoon."
"Take office as what?"
"The Prefect of Jingzhao."
Xie Yu almost panicked. "I was just complaining. And complaining means I have to take over? Also, how much authority do you even have right now? You can change the prefect with a word?"
"Mm." Shen Changyin nodded naturally. "The prefect can be changed with a word."
"My imperial mother hasn't sent assassins after you yet? That means she's already very patient. And no, I'm not doing it. Isn't this the job of big important people like you?"
Shen Changyin said, "Your Highness, what's so bad about power?"
"Nothing bad. I just don't want it. I want to live my own life. I don't want to get dragged into your mess."
Shen Changyin let out a sudden laugh. "Your Highness, if you want to stay uninvolved, you must learn to be indifferent. If you can't, you'll suffer."
"And what does that have to do with power?"
Shen Changyin was about to answer when a knocking sound echoed from the door. The warden walked in, holding a document.
"Here. Sign and press your fingerprint."
The middle-aged warden stepped forward, took a brush from the desk. "Sign here and you can leave."
As she watched Xie Yu lower her head to write, she suddenly said, "Young people, why can't you talk things out with your elders? Why run away from home to become a beggar?"
"There's no grudge between mother and daughter that lasts overnight. Go home and talk things out. Look how angry your mother is. She's so upset she didn't even want to come pick you up herself."
Xie Yu froze for a moment and thought, If my real mother came out of the palace to bail me out, you'd be out of a job instantly.
Then she remembered that her current persona was that of a rebellious young lady who ran away from home.
So what did that make Shen Changyin?
She suddenly turned her head to look at the other person.
The prison warden went on jabbering. "Also, that child bride of yours, though a few years older than you, has raised you since you were little. She behaves with restraint and even came personally to fetch you. Go home and live a proper life. Don't keep chasing after all those flowers and bright things outside, okay?"
What?
How did she become that kind of spoiled young lady? What on earth had Shen Changyin made up?
She glared at Shen Changyin with her eyes, but all she got back was that innocent, impassive look.
The chief then said to Shen Changyin, "Sister, don't be angry. She's still young. She'll grow out of it. Later you'll live a harmonious life together. Which married pair hasn't had some bumps in the road? Given your family's situation, being able to marry that wealthy family's young miss is already pretty good."
What situation did Shen Changyin's family have?
The chief took the document and left. Xie Yu stared at Shen Changyin, unblinking.
Shen Changyin pointed to herself and said, "Our family is poor. Mother is old, and my younger sister is too young. I was sold into a wealthy household as a child bride to raise the young miss, five years younger than me. I raised her from five until she reached adulthood, half-mother, half-sister, sacrificing everything for her imperial exam path. But that young miss fell in love with a young scholar outside. She abandoned the one who raised her and ran away."
Xie Yu was stunned.
A melodrama called The Foster Wife. What a detailed tragic script.
The other person kept that cool, pale face and said, "A lie needs details to be believable."
Xie Yu waved a helpless hand. "Okay, you win. Hurry and take your young miss home to dinner. I'm starving."
"The carriage is outside, young miss, please." Shen Changyin said with a gentle smile.
They walked out together.
Xie Yu asked, "What's for dinner tonight?"
"The first sprouts of the Chinese toon tree in the courtyard are ready. They make for excellent scrambled eggs."
"Alright, rice or porridge?"
"Rice."
"Save some for tomorrow. Make fried rice with eggs. Is there any meat tonight?"
"There's beef. Eat a little. Don't overfill yourself."
—
After this failed escape, Xie Yu stayed quiet for several days. She only prepared to run again after Shen Changyin had forged another note and delivered it to the prefecture, getting those beggars released.
She had learned the lesson. Disguises and blending into the market were not wrong in principle, but she had messed up the details. She should not have disguised herself as a beggar that anyone could bully.
She needed an identity with a little status, something the officers would not casually arrest, yet still mobile.
After watching the streets for days, she finally realized what to be.
A Taoist.
From the many court Taoists who had been arrested in the hall, she could see that the current empress, her birth mother, was deeply superstitious about Taoism.
Given that princesses five, six, and seven were already taking pills, this superstitious devotion likely started early in the Xie clan.
Fashion trickles down. Taoist authority in the towns was also high. On the streets, people in simple gray Taoist robes were common.
The problem was that Taoist gear costs money.
As an unfavored Third Princess, Xie Yu had little silver. Most of her funds were still in the palace, and having reviewed every inn in the capital these past days, her pockets were nearly empty.
Where to get some money?
That night, she and Shen Changyin sat opposite each other. The pot of braised tofu bubbled on the round table.
She spooned a piece of tofu into her bowl but did not eat it yet.
She was about to speak when Shen Changyin glanced at the tofu and said first, "Is something on your mind?"
Xie Yu blinked. "How did you tell?"
"That piece of tofu in your bowl has been sitting there for more than thirty breaths."
Xie Yu was annoyed. "Maybe I'm just afraid it's too hot."
"Mm, yes. Our Third Princess has a delicate tongue." Shen Changyin did not contradict and simply followed up, "Is there somewhere I can help?"
Maybe it was the steam or the sudden embarrassment. Xie Yu hesitated, then said, "Lend me some money."
She hurriedly added, "I'll repay you. On the fifteenth of next month, after you finish your court duties, you can collect my stipend from the internal affairs office."
"That's fine. No need to repay. But you must do me one favor."
"What favor?"
"The tea stall. Old Jin herself led the raid and among the stolen goods they found a batch of antiques and famous paintings missing from the ministry of revenue. But the most valuable painting, an ancestral piece called 'Pine Stream and Singing Zither', is missing."
Xie Yu sat up straight and, eyes on Shen Changyin, drank the soup with hardly a glance. "Then?"
"The shopkeeper has been caught, but she insists she never received that painting."
"How much is that painting worth now?"
"Three thousand taels. It's the most valuable item among the confiscated goods."
Xie Yu inhaled. She respected such a painting. "I understand. That painting is the thief's fallback. Big-time fence leaders rarely operate alone. She likely entrusted it to a trusted pupil. That pupil would later sell it and give half the money to the fence's family."
"Even if not, whoever has the painting will try to sell it."
She thought for a moment, brow furrowed. "Have Old Jin post a notice saying the painting has been found."
Shen Changyin's eyes showed a faint pleasure. "And then?"
"Then the thief must prove the painting she holds is genuine. She will need a reputable appraiser, someone rare."
Shen Changyin added, "Old Jin will ambush the place ahead of time."
Xie Yu gave a thumbs-up.
"Well done. As per our agreement, here is your payment."
Shen Changyin put a heavy money pouch on the table and pushed it toward her.
Xie Yu weighed it in her hand, mouth open. "This much? I only needed thirty taels."
Shen Changyin: "This is the amount."
Xie Yu couldn't help but marvel. "Shen Changyin, you are wealthy and generous."
Shen Changyin said, "So, will you reconsider marrying someone wealthy like me?"
Xie Yu made a face. "No way."
They finished the meal as usual. Xie Yu returned to her room and rested for a couple of hours.
When the moon was sparse and the sky dim, she stealthily dressed and slipped out without waking Shen Changyin.
The night patrol barely noticed and waved. "Off to run from your wedding again?"
Xie Yu hesitated, then answered, "Mm."
The next morning the sun glinted on Small Sweet Water Alley.
Xie Yu wore a dark blue Taoist robe and a mixed-yuan headscarf. She wore embroidered shoes with trigram patterns, held a compass in one hand and an eight-trigram banner reading "Iron-mouth, Straight Judgment" in the other. She looked the part as she appeared at the houses that were just getting up.
Now she was fully equipped, she thought.
So how should fate be read?
—
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