Chapter 15
Yongxing Street was close to the imperial city and had always been a place where high-ranking officials and nobles liked to spend their leisure time. Among all its liveliest and noisiest spots, none surpassed Wangyou Tower.
It was nearly noon, and Wangyou Tower was packed with guests.
The moment Yu Qingci stepped inside, she smelled the rich aroma of food.
Before coming, she had asked around nearby and heard that the head chef of Wangyou Tower had come from the imperial kitchen. The dishes in the restaurant focused on refinement and expense, and the court officials and noble elites who could live near the imperial city were not short of money. Its positioning was clearly very precise.
Yu Qingci slowly walked inward. Before she had gone five steps, a waiter warmly came up to greet her.
“Honored guest, this way please. Would you like a screened booth on the first floor, or a private room on the second…”
The first floor was spacious, with small booths divided by screens. It could be considered a way of protecting the guests’ privacy, but it did not stop those people from looking out.
There were very few people who did not recognize Yu Qingci.
Not to mention the princess’s grand wedding two days ago. Yu Qingci had ridden a horse around the city, drawing far too many people’s eyes.
It would not be convenient to handle matters while being watched here, so Yu Qingci waved her hand directly. “Second floor.”
There were still two private rooms empty on the second floor. Yu Qingci walked into the one closer to the inner side and sat down. Before the waiter could speak, she directly said, “I want a table of Chuijin Zhuanyu, all vegetarian.”
The waiter froze, then hesitated. “Honored guest, are you serious?”
Yu Qingci raised a brow, displeasure faintly showing in her eyes. “What, do you think I cannot afford it?”
The waiter immediately lowered his head. “Please wait a moment, honored guest. I will go invite the shopkeeper at once.”
Half a quarter of an hour later, the shopkeeper of Wangyou Tower, Liu Fushuang, entered the private room. She wore a set of blue-green clothes and looked brisk, capable, and valiant.
Yu Qingci took the initiative to rise. “Greetings, Shopkeeper Liu.”
Liu Fushuang gave a soft laugh and returned the salute. “Consort, you are too courteous. I should be the one greeting the consort.”
Seeing that the other party stated her identity outright, Yu Qingci also went straight to the point. “I came today not for food, but for information about one person. I ask Shopkeeper Liu to tell me the whereabouts of my aunt’s wife, Tan Jing.”
“Oh?” Liu Fushuang sat down, the smile on her face not diminishing. “Why doesn’t the consort first tell me who told you to come to Wangyou Tower to buy information?”
Yu Qingci sat opposite her, her eyes curving with a smile. “Then how much silver does Shopkeeper Liu plan to offer to buy this information from me?”
“It seems the consort does not wish to say. Then as for the information you want, I am afraid…” Liu Fushuang stopped mid-sentence.
“Will this not do either?” Yu Qingci took a banknote from her robes and pushed it over.
Liu Fushuang looked at the mark of “ten thousand taels” on the banknote, and a hint of surprise appeared in her expression.
Yu Qingci looked at that banknote. Though her heart ached, it was still all right.
After all, this money could also be counted as something Qiao Yun had given her. Now that she was taking it out to save Qiao Yun’s wife, it was reasonable to use it this way.
Once the money entered Wangyou Tower, it was the same as entering Yan Lingshu’s purse. That could be counted as moving money from the left hand to the right hand.
Liu Fushuang pinched that banknote. She was a businesswoman. It was impossible for her not to be tempted by money. It was just…
“Consort, please wait a moment. I need to first confirm whether we have the information the consort wants.” Liu Fushuang put down the banknote and turned to leave.
Yu Qingci waited patiently. As she waited, her nose suddenly twitched, and she turned to look at the landscape painting behind her.
She seemed to have smelled Yan Lingshu’s scent pheromones.
Was it her imagination?
Yu Qingci rose and approached the landscape painting, her fingertips hovering over the mountain peak.
On the other side of the mountain peak, Yan Lingshu stood before the hollowed-out wall, watching the light and shadows shift across the painting.
A moment later, a very soft sentence came from next door. “It smells so good.”
The gland at the back of her neck pulsed slightly. Yan Lingshu listened to those words and furrowed her brows.
She turned and entered the secret room. Liu Fushuang was already waiting inside, asking for her instructions.
Yan Lingshu sat down, suppressing the faint ache in her gland, and said without emotion, “Give it to her. Ask the reason.”
Tan Jing had sought Yu Qingci’s help before. Back then, Yu Qingci had chosen to draw a clear line between them. Why was she now spending a large sum of money to find her?
“At the time, I was foolish and blindly obeyed my mother’s orders,” Yu Qingci said, pushing the responsibility onto Yu Xiao without any burden. “Thinking about it now, my aunt treated me like her own daughter. How could I bear to watch Aunt Tan and my younger cousin wander outside with no place to go?”
“Then after the consort finds them, what do you intend to do?” Liu Fushuang asked.
Yu Qingci smiled shyly. “I won’t hide it from Shopkeeper Liu. My relationship with Her Highness is very good. I imagine Her Highness will not mind if two more people live in the princess’s residence.”
Liu Fushuang choked for a moment. She handed over a slip of paper and, at the same time, accepted the banknote worth ten thousand taels. “Money and goods settled. Consort, look carefully.”
Yu Qingci opened the slip of paper and saw five words written on it: Baitong Village, Qian County.
Yu Qingci was not very familiar with the area around the capital. She memorized the location, then burned the slip of paper to ash before leaving the private room.
Only after returning to the princess’s residence did she call Xiaxi over to ask where Qian County was.
“Does the consort want to go to Qian County? If taking a carriage, it requires one day. This servant has heard that the peach blossoms in Qian County bloom beautifully. Does the consort want to go see the peach blossoms with the princess?”
Yu Qingci was just worrying about not having a reason to go to Qian County, and Xiaxi had directly handed her a good excuse.
“Yes. We will go to Qian County to see the peach blossoms in the next two days, but I need to first ask Her Highness’s opinion.”
As Yu Qingci walked, she thought about how to word it. The more she thought, the more her mind stirred, and she turned into the kitchen.
At dusk, the sunset glow filled the sky.
Yu Qingci stepped into the main hall, followed by maidservants carrying dinner.
One dish after another was placed on the dining table. Yu Qingci leaned her head toward the inner chamber and called out, “Your Highness, dinner is ready! Today’s dishes smell very good, especially this stir-fried spring bamboo shoots with meat. So tender…”
The maidservants of the princess’s residence had always been proper. No one would dare call out to Yan Lingshu like this and tell her to eat.
Yu Qingci, however, was very much not treating herself like an outsider, giving a detailed list outside of just how fragrant today’s dinner was.
Halfway through her introduction of the dishes, the princess, who had not intended to eat, walked out and took a seat by the dining table.
Yu Qingci held back a smile and sat down.
It seemed Yan Lingshu’s anorexia was not that serious after all. The main issue was that the people around her did not dare speak or persuade her, while Yu Su and the others simply did not care about her appetite.
“Your Highness, hurry and try these spring bamboo shoots. They’re fresh and tender.” Yu Qingci picked up the serving chopsticks and placed some bamboo shoots into Yan Lingshu’s bowl, looking at her with bright, sparkling eyes.
Yan Lingshu hesitated for a moment, then picked up her chopsticks and lightly tasted a bite of the bamboo shoots.
Yu Qingci stared at her reaction. Seeing that Yan Lingshu seemed to furrow her brows, she quickly picked up a chopstickful and put it into her own mouth.
The spring bamboo shoots were fresh and tender, with a slight spicy flavor. They tasted very good. Her cooking skills had not gotten worse.
Then why had Yan Lingshu frowned?
Yu Qingci felt a little doubtful of herself. She did not dare ask, afraid that Yan Lingshu truly disliked eating it.
Yu Qingci secretly observed Yan Lingshu and soon discovered that although Yan Lingshu seemed not to like the stir-fried spring bamboo shoots with meat, the dish she ate the most of was also that very dish.
Yu Qingci lowered her head and suppressed the corners of her lips that wanted to curl up.
Hmph. She knew it. How could her cooking skills possibly be disliked?
Besides, Yan Lingshu often ate rare delicacies from the mountains and seas. Occasionally tasting a simple home-style dish would surely have a different flavor, just like the breakfast foods Yu Qingci had bought.
Yu Qingci ate this meal full of confidence.
In a cheerful mood, she finished bathing and returned to the inner chamber. She saw that the bed curtains had been lowered, and a figure could be faintly seen moving inside.
Yu Qingci hesitated for a moment, walked to the bed, and asked in a low voice, “Has Your Highness gone to sleep?”
Why was she sleeping so early today? Could it be that she had not slept well last night because of Yu Qingci climbing into bed?
“Come in.” A slightly hurried voice came from inside the bed curtains.
Yu Qingci quickly lifted the curtain and looked inside. She saw Yan Lingshu sitting on the brocade quilt in red sleeping clothes. Her back was facing Yu Qingci, her snow-white neck bent downward, revealing the reddened gland at the back of her neck.
Yu Qingci’s nose twitched. She smelled a hint of green plum wine.
But in the next instant, that fragrance vanished without a trace, just like earlier today at Wangyou Tower.
Had Yan Lingshu really been at Wangyou Tower today?
“What is wrong, Your Highness?” Yu Qingci looked downward and saw Yan Lingshu’s fingertips tightly gripping the brocade quilt, the force making her fingertips turn white. “Does somewhere hurt? I’ll have someone call the physician.”
“No need.” Yan Lingshu tugged at her sleeve. She lifted her eyes to look at Yu Qingci, her face flushed with an abnormal heat. Her words no longer hesitated. “Yu Qingci, mark me.”
“Your Highness, what are you saying?” Yu Qingci suspected she had misheard. She reached out and pressed her hand to Yan Lingshu’s forehead. “Do you have a fever? Why is your face so hot?”
“Do not play dumb.” Yan Lingshu tugged on Yu Qingci’s sleeve, pulling her closer. “If you do not want your scent pheromones to lose control tomorrow, then do what you ought to do right now.”
Qin Shuang’s suggestion had not been wrong. The mistake lay in the fact that their scent pheromones were far too deeply compatible. Yesterday, they had smelled too much of each other’s scent, yet had not taken any real action, which instead made their bodies even harder to endure.
Yesterday, it had been a headache. Today, it was gland pain. Tomorrow, it would be scent pheromones going out of control.
On this kind of matter, Yan Lingshu could not gamble.
Yu Qingci reacted. Suddenly, she felt at a complete loss, and for a moment, she did not know what she should do.
On the night of the wedding, everything had been done on instinct. But now her mind was clear. Under these circumstances, she was supposed to bite Yan Lingshu’s gland?
Yu Qingci’s gaze shifted to the back of the Kunze’s neck. “Your Highness, did you not apply medicine yesterday?”
Yan Lingshu understood what she was asking and turned slightly. “It is fine.”
Yu Qingci frowned. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she still closed it.
Whether or not Yan Lingshu had applied medicine, she had to mark her now.
Yu Qingci raised her hand and gently wrapped an arm around Yan Lingshu’s waist. Feeling the person in her arms stiffen for an instant, she said warmly, “Your Highness, forgive my offense.”
The moment her words fell, the Qianyuan’s scent pheromones poured out.
Unlike the calm Yu Qingci showed outwardly, her scent pheromones were like a fierce beast that had just been released from its cage, impatiently wrapping around Yan Lingshu’s body and seeking out the other woman’s scent pheromones.
Yan Lingshu’s body loosened involuntarily.
The rich Qianyuan scent soothed the faintly aching gland at the back of her neck, while stirring up another kind of wave inside her body.
With her mind clear, every reaction of her body became unusually distinct.
The clearer it was, the more she hated this feeling of losing control.
The scorching breath of the Qianyuan approached the back of her neck.
Yan Lingshu closed her eyes.
Yet in the next moment, soft, warm lips pressed against the back of her neck, cautiously rubbing there with small, uncertain movements, as if not knowing what to do.
Of course Yu Qingci knew how to mark. All Qianyuan had canine teeth used for marking. She only needed to bite down hard.
But if she bit down like that, would that not be adding injury on top of injury?
Would Yan Lingshu not want to kill her even more?
Yu Qingci emptied her head, trying to recall descriptions of marking from novels. It seemed that before marking, one had to first soothe the Kunze’s gland, right?
Let her think. In those novels, how exactly did they soothe it? Was she supposed to first press her lips to it?
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