Chapter 73: The same path?

Translator's note: I'm once more able to return to return to this project, so the hiatus is over! Updates will resume at their usual pace (twice weekly on weekends). Thank you to everyone who's waited patiently.

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Shen Yanyi had wrapped herself up tightly, terrified that she'd be recognised by someone who knew her. But despite that, standing at Prince Yu's manor's door, she trembled with fear, from time to time turning her head and looking about. Luckily, the skies had already darkened, and there was hardly anyone on the streets.

With a groan, the great doors opened a crack. The person within was also a bit on guard. "Who are you looking for?"

She couldn't be blamed for it; after all, now, everyone's doors were locked tightly; if not for the fact that Han Yu, who followed at the Princess' side, had said that someone might come in the night, telling her to stay sharp, she wouldn't even have opened the door.

Shen Yanyi passed the command token which had been sent along with the letter through the crack in the door, and after a moment, the crack grew a bit larger, just enough to let someone through. Shen Yanyi wasn't a particularly attentive person either, and she turned to the side, hurriedly squeezing in through the crack.

Yang Zhuofei seemed to have long since expected she'd come, and was sitting in the drawing room, waiting leisurely. Seeing her enter, she smiled. "Ah, sit down, why don't you, Shen-daren."

Yet Shen Yanyi didn't pay her any mind, merely standing in the centre of the drawing room. "You met my mother—where is she now? Is she still alive?"

"Ah, don't rush, Shen-daren," Yang Zhuofei said, waving a hand to indicate to Han Yu to pour tea for Shen Yanyi, "first sit down, and we'll chat."

Shen Yanyi couldn't change her mind, and could only sit down. This was the first time Shen Yanyi had seen Yang Zhuofei at close range; before, she'd only seen her once at a distance at the Palace Banquet. Despite her mind not counting as especially sharp, she could tell that this person wasn't a good one to get involved with. But even if she were worse to be involved with, she couldn't leave.

Shen Yanyi assumed that, on sitting down, Yang Zhuofei would explain the matter of her mother to her. But she hadn't imagined that Yang Zhuofei would merely stick to herself and speak with Han Yu, insisting on some trifles of the household, giving her the cold shoulder off to the side. At first, Shen Yanyi could tolerate it; having endured until the oil lamps had almost all burnt down, she finally couldn't endure it any further.

Of course Shen Yanyi knew what Yang Zhuofei wanted to do—that she wanted her to beseech her. But with the current circumstances, the two standing on opposite sides, Shen Yanyi wasn't willing to do so.

"If Dianxia is busy, this minister will leave," Shen Yanyi said, rising as she finished speaking, but unexpectedly, she was stopped by someone.

Han Yu stood in front of her, obstructing her. "The matters of the manor are many and many of them, we as servants can't make decisions on, and can only wait for the Princess to do so. Please, Shen-daren, don't take offence; this servant will leave now."

As she spoke, Han Yu drew Shen Yanyi back; Shen Yanyi, seeing her sincerity, didn't insist, and sat back in the chair. Only now did Yang Zhuofei look at Shen Yanyi, and responded to the question she most wanted to ask.

"This princess truly did meet your mother, and she even left behind something she begged this princess to give to you. It's been a long time, and this princess had originally forgotten of the matter; only today, on hearing Mingyou mention you when he returned, did I recall it, and hurried to write a letter to you. But it really has been too long, and to find that thing, I fear will take a bit longer."

Shen Yanyi's expression chilled, and she rose, walking away.

These words of Yang Zhuofei's were full of flaws; that year when she and Shen Wenlan had parted, Shen Yanyi had already been Princess Yu. But Shen Wenlan hadn't had any backstory, merely an average refugee. A princess generously saving a refugee's life wasn't a strange occurrence, but to say that a princess would remember a refugee's entreaty, and keep the thing she'd left behind for so many years, that was even more fantastical.

More than that, she and Jiang Mingyou hadn't had any sort of interaction; the two had barely said even a single sentence to each other. Yang Zhuofei saying it was because Jiang Mingyou's mentioning that she'd remembered her was even more absurd.

"Stop!" Yang Zhuofei ordered.

"This minister doesn't have time to put on a farce with you; if Dianxia wishes to play take this minister for a fool, you ought to abandon that intent as soon as possible."

"You think this princess is lying to you?" Yang Zhuofei rose, coming to Shen Yanyi's side. "If this was all made up by this princess, how could I know your mother's name, or recall you based on a few of Mingyou's words?"

"Is that so?" Shen Yanyi turned to look at Yang Zhuofei. "Then please, Dianxia, tell me, how was it that you recognised this minister?"

"Shen Wenlan told this princess your name, and mentioned the birthmark on your lower jaw. Sharing a name is common, but a birthmark, that's uncommon to find." As she spoke, Yang Zhuofei's fingers brushed Shen Yanyi's lower jaw. There, there was a round, red birthmark; in her youth, Shen Yanyi had faced a good deal of bullying because of it. "Mingyou said that there was a minister with the surname Shen who followed Xie-daren in calling out, and whose lower jaw had a shocking birthmark. This princess felt it strange, and called for someone to ask about, and so found a match to the description Shen Wenlan had given so many years ago. What, could Shen-daren still be unsatisfied with this answer?"

Shen Yanyi, hearing this, stilled; she felt, vaguely, that Yang Zhuofei's words had reason to them; after all, she'd never mentioned her mother's name to anyone else. She sighed, and said, "What do you want me to do?"

"Ah, such words," Yang Zhuofei said, wiping away a few false tears, "your mother and I were kindred spirits; it's just a pity that she was unlucky and passed away too soon, and wasn't able to make it to now. Now, this princess has found her old friend's child, and there's still an opportunity to watch over you; how could I be willing to ask you to act for this princess?"

"Dianxia, why don't you just speak directly," Shen Yanyi said, not appreciating the gesture. "There's just one condition—things that would harm her majesty, I can't do."

Yang Zhuofei put away her tears, and sat on the chair. "This princess wishes for you to withhold the city guards' pay and provisions for half a moth."

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Though Liu Zihe, Wu Dongmu, and the others echoed each other in wanting Jiang Mingyou to properly return to his identity as Shizi, it was still merely that of an heir. Prince Yu had been gone many years, and Jiang Mingyou succeeding his status was natural, but there wasn't anyone who was raising this matter.

Not only that, though he came to the morning court day after day, he didn't even have a part-time official's position, and it was as if he were invisible.

But today, he was the first to stand up and demand on the delayed provisions for the city guards, impeaching Shen Yanyi, and even managed to draw out a not insignificant amount of echoes from the other ministers.

"Such a small matter still requires Us to deal with?" Jiang Changbai was a bit irritated, but she looked at Shen Yanyi, and said, "Is this true?"

The Minister of Revenue, Lin Yingqing, had reported as sick for a good while now, and recently, the Ministry of Revenue's matters had all temporarily been conducted by Shen Yanyi. Shen Yanyi was someone who'd been selected from refugees by Jiang Changbai, and she'd always trusted her. Jiang Changbai had initially assumed that it was Jiang Mingyou was causing trouble out of nothing because he wished to have a sense of presence; she hadn't imagined that Shen Yanyi would fall to her knees with a pu-tong.

Shen Yanyi, ceaselessly kowtowing, said, "This minister overlooked this matter; please, Bixia, punish me."

Jiang Mingyou stilled, mind full of shock. He'd already made preparations for Shen Yanyi to face off with him, and even had, the night before, memorised the entirety of the "script" that Yang Zhuofei had prepared for him. But beforehand, in order for him to look more similar to the original Jiang Mingyou, Yang Zhuofei had found a cultivator to do some alterations. As a result, he couldn't form too expressive expressions, and though he was astonished internally, his face was still quite stiff.

Jiang Changbai stilled as well, her expression darkening. Shen Yanyi was the one she'd promoted against the opinions of others, and she'd originally thought that, if Lin Yingqing were to keep reporting in sick, she'd let Shen Yanyi drop the title of "temporary leader", and become the legitimate Minister of Revenue. She hadn't imagined that she'd let such a thing happen, and even let Jiang Mingyou find something that could be used against her.

But she still wasn't intending to punish her, and merely said, "The Ministry of Revenue's matters are many, and there's only you alone managing them, so a bit of negligence is normal as well. In a bit, hurry to allocate the money, and pay out a bit extra as compensation. We aren't someone who'll defend those close to Us despite knowing they've done wrong, and if punishment is necessary, then there will be punishment; in a bit, report for three strokes, and this matter will be closed; do you have any objections?"

How could Shen Yanyi have any objections? She'd expected such a scene when she'd agreed to Yang Zhuofei, and in comparison to the punishment she'd imagined, these couple strokes truly were too light. So, she kept kowtowing, and kept mumbling, "Thanks to Bixia's boundless grace."

But the ministers who'd followed Jiang Mingyou in impeaching Shen Yanyi couldn't bear to see this leniency of Jiang Changbai's, and stood up once more to speak forcefully some more. But Jiang Changbai didn't pay them any mind, and dodged them all, leaving.

But once Shen Yanyi had taken the strokes and was headed out, she found Xie Qianbing waiting by the gates.

"Is the Ministry of Appointments not busy, that Xie-daren hasn't left yet?" For Shen Yanyi, suffering three strokes truly couldn't be counted as that much, and as a result, right now, she merely walked with a bit of a strange posture. It was strange but not exhausting, and she could still spare the attention to speak with Xie Qianbing.

Yet Xie Qianbing's expression was grave, as if the one who'd just suffered the strokes had been her; she raised a hand to lift up the curtain of the carriage. "I was waiting for you; come up and we'll speak."

Shen Yanyi smiled bitterly. "How could I sit in a carriage like this? If Xie-daren doesn't disdain me, you can walk together with me for a bit."

Xie Qianbing was especially earnest, and persevered. "Her majesty spared you intentionally, and the guards who carried out the punishment most certainly didn't use too much force. More than that, you merely took three strokes; we've known each other all these years—when have you been unable to sit after merely three strokes?"

Shen Yanyi's true intention had been to make a joke, but seeing Xie Qianbing's solemn expression, she didn't speak further. She raised a hand to place on Xie Qianbing's, and, borrowing her strength, got into the carriage. The curtains inside the carriage were drawn, and it wasn't possible to see clearly where the carriage was heading; only once the carriage's swaying had stopped did Shen Yanyi realise that they'd already come to the outside of the city.

The sunlight was just right, and the locust trees on the sides of the road had sprouted new shoots. There weren't many travellers, and on looking, the surroundings only had this carriage. Shen Yanyi recognised in a single glance that this was the place that they had said their goodbyes when Xie Qianbing had been about to leave the capital to go to Boyang and investigate corruption.

"How is it you've brought me here?" Shen Yanyi was somewhat puzzled.

Xie Qianbing didn't pay her any mind, merely pulling her down out of the carriage. The carriage driver, seeing the two of them were standing steadily, drove the carriage back in the direction of the capital. The sound of the horses' hooves sounded rhythmically by one's ear, and Shen Yanyi was even more puzzled. "The driver's gone; how will we get back?"

Xie Qianbing shot her a glance. "We'll just walk back; didn't Shen-daren just want to walk the same road with me?"

Shen Yanyi couldn't comprehend what it was that Xie Qianbing was planning, and could only drag her body, which had just suffered a beating, along, walking unsteadily. But on the way, the only thing Xie Qianbing idly spoke of were the shared memories of their youth, of who was more impressive, of who had embarrassed herself. They just walked in such a slow manner, spoke in such a slow manner, until the sun was hanging at its zenith, when the two finally reached the city gates.

"Xie Qianbing," Shen Yanyi, finally losing her patience a bit, said, "you dragged me out of the city, and then walked this long, merely to say these things to me?"

"I only spoke of these things," Xie Qianbing said, standing still and looking earnestly at Shen Yanyi, "you and I come from the same background, and the first part of our lives were both like that, walking the same path. Shen Yanyi, if you still see me as a friend, and still remember the matters of the past, then I hope, in the path of the future, we can keep walking shoulder to shoulder."

When she finished speaking, she left, not waiting for Shen Yanyi's reply. Shen Yanyi didn't chase after her either, merely watched Xie Qianbing's retreating figure disappear from her line of sight, as if it were the day she'd seen her off to Boyang.

We'll still walk the same path, she thought to herself.

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