Wind And Snow On The Jade Steps - Chapter 7

Yes, eleven years. Shen Zhishu thought with a sudden realization.

 

That year, she was eleven, and Xie Jin was twenty.

 

On a certain evening in mid-spring eleven years ago, her mothers sent her to the street to buy steamed cakes. Passing a residential house in a small alley, she saw someone sitting in front of the door, crying.

 

That person cried in a very strange way. She was clearly heartbroken, yet she grit her teeth to keep from making a sound, desperately wiping her face with her sleeves.

 

Shen Zhishu stood there, watching the sunset squeeze through the narrow gaps in the wall, shining on the person’s smooth, shimmering hem and reflecting light yellow patterns.

 

Shen Zhishu wondered, since that person could afford to wear silkworm cloud brocade, why was she crying? She had just given a steamed cake to a little beggar on the roadside, and the beggar had smiled more happily than someone who had just passed the imperial examinations.

 

Shen Zhishu didn’t understand it, but she had acted with a generous spirit since she was a child. She suddenly stepped forward, handed over a toasted, golden, and crispy flatbread, and asked, “Do you want to eat?”

 

Her movement was too fast, and the servant following behind couldn’t pull her back. They watched helplessly as the person sitting on the stone steps raised her head and looked over.

 

Their eyes met, and for a moment, neither spoke.

 

Shen Zhishu pushed the flatbread forward again, “Do you want to eat? It came out of the oven half a quarter-hour ago. It’s crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the skin is fragrant with oil, and I haven’t even brought myself to eat it yet.”

 

The person wiped her face and said nothing else, only reaching out to take the bread and offering a word of thanks.

 

Her voice was very hoarse, and she cleared her throat twice with a strained neck.

 

A servant whispered a reminder from behind, “Miss Shu, it’s time to go. If we don’t return home soon, the Madames will be anxious.”

 

Shen Zhishu, who didn’t want to worry her mothers, felt quite a bit of regret because she still didn’t know why the person was crying. She let out a sigh like a little adult, took two steps to the side, and was about to leave with her hands behind her back when the person on the stone steps spoke up.

 

“May I chat with your young master for a few more moments?” She pulled a waist token from her sleeve and showed it to the two servants, “Why don’t one of you go back to report first? Just say you encountered Captain Xie Jin on the road, and she invited the young master for a short chat.”

 

One servant took the order and left.

 

Shen Zhishu stared curiously at Xie Jin’s tear-stained face, choosing her words for a while before suddenly asking, “Is the Captain no longer crying now?”

 

“Hmm? …Yes.”

 

“Then why was the Captain crying just now?”

 

Xie Jin sat in the sunset, lowered her head, and looked at her cloth shoes stained with a bit of green mud. After thinking for a moment, she gave a self-deprecating laugh, “Because I haven’t reached enlightenment.”

 

“What does ‘not reaching enlightenment’ mean?”

 

“Life, old age, sickness, and death are part of human nature, yet I have been grieving over this for over half a year. Perhaps the deceased has already been reincarnated and has long forgotten who they were in their past life, but I still cannot let it go. I went to seek guidance from a Taoist priest, and he said my roots of wisdom are insufficient, and I haven’t reached enlightenment.”

 

Shen Zhishu looked down and kicked a blue pebble on the road, muttering, “Me too.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“The rabbit I raised died three months ago, and I still feel sad for it every day. So… have I also not reached enlightenment?”

 

Xie Jin moved aside a bit, and Shen Zhishu sat on the stone steps after patting her bottom.

 

Xie Jin turned to look at her, “No, your roots of wisdom are stronger than mine. Perhaps you won’t be sad tomorrow.”

 

“My mother said the same,” Shen Zhishu said. “She said that maybe I will dream of the rabbit tonight, and the rabbit will tell me she is doing well after reincarnation. After hearing that, I won’t be sad anymore.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“So, Captain,” Shen Zhishu raised her head, “Maybe you will also dream of the person who makes you sad tonight. She will say many things to you, and then you won’t be so sorrowful.”

 

“I’ll take your blessing. However, I actually dream of her every day.”

 

“Who is she?”

 

“My late wife.”

 

 

As her thoughts returned to the present, Shen Zhishu slung her arm around Xie Jin’s shoulder and said with a smile, “The two of us met because of your wife. Since this matter involves your wife’s former personal servant, I certainly cannot sit idly by.”

 

Xie Jin rubbed her arm and said with a stiff face, “Those words are sentimental enough.”

 

Shen Zhishu raised an eyebrow, “Is that sentimental? If I had said ‘Knowing each other for eleven years makes us family, I don’t ask to be born on the same day but I hope to die on the same day,’ wouldn’t you just faint away?”

 

Xie Jin thought about it, “I really might.”

 

Shen Zhishu stopped smiling and said seriously, “Coming back to the point, Concubine Pure gave birth to a daughter, who is the Seventh Princess. The Seventh Princess is close to the Second Princess.”

 

“Exactly, if we investigate, the connections will likely run quite deep,” Xie Jin sighed. “Let’s start the investigation and see where it leads.”

 

---

 

Xie Jin invited Shen Zhishu to stroll through the streets, but Shen Zhishu couldn’t find the interest and casually made up an excuse to see her out.

 

It wasn’t that she intended to be a killjoy, it was just that because of yesterday’s incident, she truly had a psychological shadow regarding “strolling through the streets.”

 

Shen Zhishu sat idly at home for a while, only feeling bored. She decided to get up and walk around, and as she walked from the south to the north of the mansion, she couldn’t help but think of the words the Princess had said to her under the shade of the trees an hour ago.

 

“Can we do it one more time?”

 

Shen Zhishu: ??

 

Do what one more time???

 

At that moment, she seriously suspected that all of this was a trap set specifically for her, intended to make her walk right into it.

 

Otherwise, how could she explain the Princess’s extremely mysterious words?

 

So she had asked, “Why?”

 

The Princess said, “It was very comfortable.”

 

Shen Zhishu: ??????

 

At least one of them was losing their mind.

 

The volume at which the Princess was speaking at that moment could by no means be considered quiet.

 

Although they were far from the palace road, palace carriages passed by frequently, and someone could step into the area at any time.

 

However, the drooping branches loosely partitioned off a small space, and that imperfect sense of privacy suddenly became ambiguous.

 

In other words, the thrill of potentially being discovered at any moment made her heart beat slightly faster.

 

Just as Shen Zhishu was unsure of how to respond, she saw the Princess lean in a bit closer and look into her eyes.

 

Amid Shen Zhishu’s surprised gaze, she parted her lips and said softly, “Help me one more time and act with me, thank you.”

 

The voice was extremely low and fast, more like a whisper, sounding deep and lingering in her ear, which was completely opposite to the frank tone of the previous two sentences.

 

…What did “act with me” mean?

 

Thinking back to her intentionally raised volume earlier… could it be that those two sentences she said before were a performance for someone else to see?

 

Shen Zhishu narrowed her eyes, her face appearing normal, but her voice was also lowered, “Someone is watching us, right?”

 

The Princess gave a nearly imperceptible nod.

 

Shen Zhishu asked, “Who is it?”

 

The Princess said in a low voice, “I cannot say.”

 

“Was it also her who drugged you before?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You want me to cooperate in a scene, pretending to be intimate with you, to put her mind at ease?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Shen Zhishu narrowed her eyes, understanding the situation.

 

In that case… she would help one more time.

 

She couldn’t exactly offend the Princess to her face.

 

Shen Zhishu raised her arm, her five fingers emerging from her sleeve looking rough and slender.

 

That hand reached forward, brushing past the Princess’s temple.

 

The scent of cedar unique to the Northwest drifted over, floating in the air almost imperceptibly.

 

It caused Shen Zhishu to daze for a moment.

 

Regaining her focus, she tilted her head slightly and said loudly, “There is a white plum petal, this subordinate will pick it for your Highness.”

 

The Princess tucked a stray hair behind her ear and said, “Thank you.”

 

A rustling sound came from not far behind them, like the noise made by someone peeking from the shadows.

 

“Shall we continue the act?” Shen Zhishu asked lowly.

 

“Get a bit closer, she hasn’t left yet,” a spark of inspiration hit the Princess, and she suddenly said, “Call me A-Yu.”

 

“A-Yu?”

 

“Yes, Jiang Yu, my name.”

 

“And then? What do I say?”

 

“You only need to call me that, I will handle the rest.”

 

Shen Zhishu stepped into character instantly, raising her hand to drape it over the person’s shoulder, calling out, “A-Yu.”

 

Jiang Yu suddenly raised her eyes, her originally indifferent gaze becoming tinted with an indescribable emotion.

 

She asked, “Did you receive the floral tea I sent to you three months ago?”

 

Her voice was lively, rounded, and full, deep with joy and tender affection.

 

One couldn’t see a single trace of acting.

 

This person’s acting skills are truly remarkable, Shen Zhishu thought.

 

Just as Shen Zhishu was about to open her mouth to answer, she saw the Princess take a step back, returning to her usual indifferent and expressionless self.

 

Shen Zhishu was startled at first, then realized, “She’s gone?”

 

“Yes,” the Princess said. “She cannot stand to hear others call me A-Yu.”

 

“I see.” Shen Zhishu didn’t press for details.

 

“Thank you again, General, for today’s matter,” the Princess said. “I will settle things with that person today to ensure I won’t have to trouble the General with this matter again.”

 

“It is this subordinate’s honor to be of help to your Highness,” Shen Zhishu cupped her hands. “There is no need for thanks. If there is anything else in the future that requires my assistance, I will go through fire and water without hesitation.”

 

The Princess nodded gracefully. She didn’t rush to leave but cast her gaze toward the distance, staring blankly at the mottled snow.

 

She seemed to zone out often.

 

Even though she was already above ten thousand and below only one in the Kingdom of Nan’an, did she still have so many things that didn’t go her way, causing her to be so weighed down with worry?

 

Shen Zhishu was focused on returning home with Xie Jin to identify the assassin and didn’t think much of it, so she said, “Your Highness, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave.”

 

The Princess slowly raised her eyes and let out an “Ah,” “Wait a bit longer.”

 

“Hmm? Wait for what?”

 

The Princess said, “She probably hasn’t gone far yet.”

 

Fine, she would see this through to the end.

 

Shen Zhishu had to pull back the foot she had already stepped out.

 

The small space fell back into a dead silence. And a quiet environment easily leads one to reminisce about the past.

 

The past… the snowy night.

 

The snowy night… the startled horse.

 

The startled horse… Stop!

 

Shen Zhishu, who was facing the tree trunk in a mental “time-out,” began to frantically search for topics to break this suffocating silence. She looked for anything to say:

 

“Your Highness… is naturally gifted, the acting just now was very realistic.”

 

“It wasn’t all acting,” the Princess replied in a faint voice.

 

“Hmm?”

 

The Princess paused and then said, “I was indeed quite comfortable yesterday.”

 

Shen Zhishu: ???

 

Was that something she could say????

 

Shen Zhishu was so shocked she stalled. For the first time, she felt someone was even bolder in their speech than she was. Her brain momentarily crashed, “Your… your Highness is too kind?”

 

The Princess didn’t reply to that. She gave her a glance, turned to walk away, her voice drifting out along with her person, “She has gone far. I am returning to my mansion, please suit yourself, General.”

 

The white figure walked away elegantly, gradually merging with the snowdrifts.

 

 

Shen Zhishu stood up from her chair with a dark expression and went to the northwest corner of the General’s Mansion to dig through the snow. As she dug, she thought, What on earth was that??!

 

It was likely the retribution for not having dinner with Mother He yesterday and insisting on going out to wander the streets.

 

She only hoped that the Princess’s words about “settling things with that person today” and “not troubling the General further” were true.

 

She truly didn’t want to have any more entanglements with the imperial family!