A pure heart in a jade pot - Chapter 156
A group of figures walked up the corridor not far away. Obviously, someone had heard the commotion and shouted, "What's going on?"
"There's some young girl wandering around, I don't know what she's doing." They called out over there.
As the group drew closer, it turned out to be Li Qigao accompanying Ning Jin and Wu Zichu's party. He was escorting them back to rest after the banquet, and he was surrounded by six or seven maids, each carrying a bright lantern to light their way.
Mo Yan stared at the two people a few times by the firelight. Strangely, they looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen them before.
"Girl, what happened to you?" Ning Jin frowned when he saw Mo Yan's wet appearance. "Hurry up and change, or you'll get sick."
Upon hearing Ning Jin's words, the two men quickly released their grip and said with a forced smile, "It turns out it was a misunderstanding. We deserve to die. We thought you were a petty thief trying to break into the house on a rainy day."
Li Qigao hurriedly stopped them: "Nonsense! What little thief? This is His Highness's beloved concubine. Hurry up and apologize." It turned out that Mo Yan was dressed as a married woman, and Ning Jin had not explained clearly to Li Qigao, only saying that he had arranged for her to stay next to him. No wonder Li Qigao assumed this.
Mo Yan was still trying to remember where she had seen these two men before, ignoring Li Qigao's words and lost in thought with a furrowed brow. Ning Jin, however, suppressed a laugh and waved his hand, saying, "Never mind, they were just doing their duty."
After saying that, he grabbed Mo Yan and left.
After soaking in hot water and changing her clothes, Mo Yan lay on the bed tossing and turning, unable to recall where she had seen the two men before. Suddenly, she remembered that she hadn't written the letter to Bao Zheng yet, so she quickly jumped out of bed to grind ink.
After holding the pen for a while and thinking it over, she decided it was better to keep it simple. In any case, Judge Bao was very clever and could probably guess whether she was telling the truth or not, so she should save face for both of them. Therefore, she wrote only sixteen characters in the entire document: "Something has come up at home, so I need to take a few days off. As for the case in Jiangnan, I will choose another capable person."
After writing, she dried the letter, folded it, put it in an envelope, and then lay back down on the bed. She turned over a few times and fell into a light sleep.
Nothing happened that night.
Volume 3, Chapter 5
The next morning, as soon as Mo Yan got up, she felt a heavy head, as if she had indeed caught a cold from the rain. This was the first time she had been sick since her illness three years ago. She was a little puzzled; she had only been caught in the rain, yet she had gotten sick just fine back in Kaifeng, where she had been out in the wind and rain without a care in the world.
"See, what did I tell you!" Ning Jin exclaimed, then turned and ordered people to prepare thick, warm women's clothing.
Mo Yan quickly waved her hand: "No need, no need, I have enough clothes to wear."
Ning Jin glared at her and tugged at her sleeve, but she pulled him back forcefully.
"You're just changing between these two sets of quilted robes. Now that you're practically one of my people, you should at least put on a good show for me, Prince Ning. Otherwise, it'll look like I'm being mean to you all. Zichu, don't you think so?"
He also dragged Wu Zichu into the mess.
Wu Zichu had no choice but to nod and advise, "Liao is much colder than the capital, so it would be better to prepare some supplies first."
“I’ve been there before, of course I know,” Mo Yan said.
Ning Jin glanced at her sideways: "If I remember correctly, the last time you went was in June or July, which is the height of summer. You never spent the winter in Liao Kingdom."
"..."
Ning Jin merely gave the order, without spending a single penny, and before setting off, Li Qigao had already delivered the clothes properly.
Mo Yan casually grabbed the black fox fur cloak from the top shelf and wrapped herself in it. She had no intention of giving any money, and cupped her hands, saying, "Thank you, Lord Li. I will return it to you when I return."
Li Qigao was, after all, the Prefect of Hejian. How dare she return the clothes she had worn? Li Qigao was clearly not expected her to say such a thing and did not know how to deal with it. Because of Ning Jin and the others, he could only smile perfunctorily.
As Wu Zichu coughed, Ning Jin glared at Mo Yan with annoyance, then turned around and thanked Li Qigao.
Because of her illness, Mo Yan was placed in another carriage, which even had a heater. In her opinion, this was making a mountain out of a molehill; she only felt a little dizzy and had a stuffy nose. Perhaps sweating it out while riding a horse would make her feel better faster.
The cold was more severe than she had imagined. As the carriage jolted, she grew increasingly drowsy. During a rest stop along the way, she ate a little something and took some medicine before falling into a deep sleep.
It was nearly dusk when we entered Liao territory.
The Liao envoy who came to pick them up seemed to have been waiting for several days. Upon seeing the large group arrive, he welcomed them into Yanxie Town and settled them into the accommodations that had already been prepared. Rather than accommodations, these were actually tents erected next to the town, but they were very sturdy and fully furnished, which Ning Jin, who had never stayed in a tent before, found quite novel.
"This thing is interesting, good and convenient. Let's get one to play with when we get back," Ning Jin said to Wu Zichu with a smile, then suddenly remembered, "Has that girl taken her medicine?"
"I've already sent someone to prepare the medicine."
Ning Jin nodded, peeked out of the tent, and said, "We've finally reached Liao territory without any trouble. From now on, the Liao people will handle the annual tribute themselves, which is a relief. By the way, what was the name of the Liao envoy who came to welcome us? Yelü something again?"
“Yelü Pusa Nu is the Deputy Chief of the Privy Council of the Liao Dynasty,” Wu Zichu replied.
"These barbarians' names are really hard to remember: Yelü Longzhu, Yelü Chongguang, Yelü Hongji, and now there's Yelü Pusa Nu..." Ning Jin shook his head with a smile. He only had a brief encounter with Yelü Pusa Nu. After a few pleasantries, the latter sent a smiling, rambling civil official to settle Ning Jin and his party in for rest, while he himself went to busy himself with checking the tribute items. Therefore, Ning Jin only remembered him as a stern-faced young man, and had no other deep impression of him.
Wu Zichu smiled and said, "I have heard that Yelü Pusa Nu is one of the top experts in the Liao Kingdom, proficient in swordsmanship, horsemanship and archery."
"Is that so? It seems the Liao emperor is quite fond of these annual tributes." Ning Jin said nonchalantly, getting up and heading outside: "Let's go see that girl."
Mo Yan was settled in a tent near Ning Jin's residence. She ate porridge and then took her medicine a while later. After three years, returning to the tent felt strangely familiar. She gently stroked the wolf-skin rug on the soft couch, lost in thought...
"Are you feeling better?" Ning Jin asked loudly as he entered, lifting the tent flap.
A gust of cold wind swept in through the gap, carrying a few snowflakes. Mo Yan shrank her neck and asked in surprise, "It's much better now... Is it snowing outside?"
Ning Jin gestured for Wu Zichu to close the heavy tent flap, then nodded and said, "Yes, no wonder the north wind has been blowing all day."
Wu Zichu chimed in with a laugh, "They say it's the first snow of the year in Liao, and we just happened to be there. It was raining in Hejian Prefecture last night, and it's snowing here today. How interesting!"
"Are we in Yanxie Town?"
Mo Yan hesitated for a moment, then asked. When she got off the carriage, she was still in a daze and was led into the tent to rest, completely unaware of where she was.
Ning Jin glanced at her and said calmly, "Yes."
Mo Yan gave a soft "oh" and then fell silent, half-huddled in the fur of her robe, staring blankly at the candlelight with a dejected look on her face.
Inside the tent, it was eerily quiet.
Seeing that neither of them spoke, Wu Zichu felt a little awkward and chuckled twice before saying to Ning Jin, "I'll go out and ask Lord Yelü when we should set off tomorrow."