Chapter 23: The Maidservant Zheyue

Mist drifted and swirled, shrouding the ruined temple. Crumbling walls and broken eaves emerged and faded in the morning fog, their surfaces laced with climbing vines — like the etchings of time itself.

By now, Elder Wu had already seen Zhao Lan off and returned to the ruined temple.

"Let's go. We can talk once we're outside."

Pei Su and the others stepped out of the ruined temple together.

The first thing that met his eyes was Jiang Suining pressed close against the old woman's side. Pei Su couldn't help but smile wryly.

"I have to ask, Granny — are you planning to come back to the Imperial Capital with us?"

The old woman paid him no mind. She leaned close to Jiang Suining and murmured softly, "Your Highness, I'll be taking my leave."

Jiang Suining gave a gentle nod and released Granny Ling's hand. Her eyes were like the clearest autumn water — pure, without a trace of impurity.

Pei Su watched quietly as Jiang Suining and Granny Ling parted, until the old woman's silhouette leapt over the treeline and vanished entirely from sight.

At that moment, the far edge of the sky had begun to pale with the first light of dawn. The night was retreating; the sun was about to rise.

The early light draped over the countryside like a veil of silver gauze. The ruined temple emerged and faded in the morning mist, its crumbling walls threaded with vines.

Beside the weathered blue bricks and faded red tiles, a young woman in a pale golden cloak stood gazing into the distance.

It was as though the very first ray of sunlight had fallen upon the tips of her hair, kindling a faint shimmer of color.

Jiang Suining stood like that for a long while, until not even the faintest trace of Granny Ling remained.

She sensed a gaze drifting over her from behind — faint, almost imperceptible — and her heart gave an inexplicable flutter.

From today onward, barring any unforeseen circumstances, she would be staying by the side of the Heir of the Northern Marquis…

And then there was what Granny Ling had said… something about… Young Lord's consort… It was simply…

The moment those thoughts surfaced, Jiang Suining's mind fell into disarray. She didn't dare meet Pei Su's gaze and kept her back turned toward him.

"I have to ask… Your Highness, how much longer are you going to stand there staring?"

Only when Pei Su's voice drifted over did Jiang Suining finally turn around, her eyes cast slightly downward.

"Young Lord, where are we going now?"

Pei Su said nothing at first. He simply looked at her for a moment, then smiled.

"There's no rush. Before we head back to the Imperial Capital, we ought to sort out the nature of our relationship. Surely I can't keep calling you 'Your Highness' or 'Miss Jiang' forever?"

Jiang Suining blinked.

She hadn't considered this problem before, but now that Pei Su raised it, she realized he had a point.

She was indeed a princess — but a princess of a fallen dynasty. The Great Jin Dynasty had its own princesses now.

As for the surname Jiang — while it wasn't exactly forbidden, it was a topic few people brought up. If anyone learned her surname was Jiang, suspicion would inevitably follow.

"Then…" Jiang Suining ventured cautiously, "should I use an alias?"

Pei Su furrowed his brow and thought for a long moment.

"How about this — once we return to Duke Pei's Manor, you'll temporarily serve as my personal maidservant. It'll be a cover. Does that work?"

The moment Pei Su finished speaking, Banxia beside him opened her mouth slightly, a mischievous glint dancing in her eyes.

His Lordship had been planning this all along!

Making a princess serve as a maidservant — there was probably no one in the entire world who could pull something like this off except His Lordship.

No wonder he waited until the old woman had left before saying it. She didn't dare imagine how furious Granny Ling would have been otherwise.

"Well? What do you say?"

Seeing Jiang Suining still standing there in a daze, Pei Su pressed her with a cool, unhurried tone.

Jiang Suining didn't know how to respond. She had never been a maidservant before. And besides, this seemed rather different from what Granny Ling had told her…

For some inexplicable reason — perhaps a strange, prickling embarrassment welling up inside her — Jiang Suining blurted out:

"But Granny Ling told me you wanted to make me your Young Lord's consort."

The words fell, and everyone went silent at once. Even Pei Su froze for just a moment.

He had counted on Jiang Suining being pure-hearted, unassuming, and unlikely to push back — and had planned to have a little fun making her play the role of a maidservant.

The idea of putting a princess of a fallen dynasty to work as a servant amused him greatly.

As for the Young Lord's consort — that had been nothing more than an empty promise Pei Su had tossed out offhandedly. The Pei clan's current scheme was not to become rulers of all under heaven, but first to use the Empress to seize control of the court.

Granny Ling knew this too. Whether the Pei clan and the Jiang clan could ever stand on the same side was far from certain.

And this princess — could she actually have taken it to heart?

Bad enough that she had — but she'd gone and said it out loud, leaving Pei Su in the rare and uncomfortable position of being embarrassed. An awkward silence settled over the group.

Flustered and irritated, Pei Su strode directly up to Jiang Suining and grabbed her wrist, his smile turning cold.

"Oh? So you're that eager to be my Young Lord's consort? No problem!

"We'll turn right back to Lin'an Commandery this instant, and tomorrow night we can have our wedding. Never mind that there's no grand palanquin or phoenix coronet — the conditions may be a little rough, but please don't hold it against me!"

Jiang Suining was startled by Pei Su's sudden fury. A haze of mist gathered in her eyes, and she shook her head on her own.

Banxia, standing not far away, opened her mouth slightly.

My Lord, how could you bully a girl like this?

If the Jiang clan ever saw this, every last one of them would want to fight His Lordship to the death.

"No — no, that's not necessary."

Jiang Suining swallowed the lump in her throat and said softly.

Had she known the Heir of the Northern Marquis had this side to him, her resolve to stay by his side would never have been as firm as it had been before.

Pei Su released her wrist, his brow furrowing slightly.

He had only meant to give her a scare. He hadn't expected she'd actually tear up. Fine — no more teasing.

"Even though I've never been a maidservant before, I'll… I'll learn earnestly. I won't let anyone see through it."

"One mention of a wedding night and you're suddenly willing to be a maidservant? You haven't forgotten that a personal maidservant is also expected to attend her master at night, have you?"

Jiang Suining's shoulders trembled slightly. She held her tongue.

"Alright, alright — I'm just teasing you! Your Highness, surely you can tell the difference between someone speaking seriously and someone making a joke?"

Pei Su clasped his hands behind his back and glanced around at the surroundings.

"If you're to serve as my personal maidservant for the time being, I'll need to give you a name to go by."

Pei Su closed his eyes for a long moment. The autumn wind brushed past his ears. Slowly, he opened them again.

"'Zheyue returns at the start, and the blind wind begins to rise…' You and I met in the time of Zheyue — so I'll call you Zheyue. Does that suit you?"

Zheyue?

Jiang Suining murmured the name softly to herself, then gave a gentle nod.

When she looked up, she caught Pei Su smiling.

"So then — where are we going now?"

"We continue south. Back to the capital."

The capital…

Jiang Suining's heart gave a small, anxious lurch.

That was the grandest, most magnificent city in all the realm — the place where the dragon-qi of Great Jin coiled and gathered.

It was also the great city that her Jiang clan had once ruled over.

Yet from the moment of her birth, she had never had the chance to lay eyes upon it. That city existed only in the words of Granny Ling and the other elders who had come before her.

In the distance, mountain ranges rolled and undulated like the raised spine of the earth, their silhouettes carved against the sunlight — grand and powerful, yet somehow soft.

A procession of carriages and riders wound its way down along the mountain range. Above them, the deep blue sky stretched like an enormous sapphire.

From within the carriage, a head occasionally peeked out, gazing at the scenery along the distant horizon.

In that gaze — a flicker of hesitation, a touch of uncertainty, and a faint, fragile thread of anticipation.