A Rebirth: Joined As One - Chapter 16

Earlier, when Commandery Princess Qingyang and Chen Chen were arguing noisily, Jing Ya had been doing two things at once, writing while listening to them quarrel behind her. For a moment, she did not notice that the Princess Royal had turned around. When her hand was touched, her brush slipped and dragged across the paper.

Jing Ya looked at the ink mark on the paper. She paused, did not move, and only lifted her eyes to look at the Princess Royal.

The Princess Royal also paused under her gaze. Her brows furrowed slightly. “What is it?”

Jing Ya pressed her lips together, calmly set down the brush, then picked up the ruined sheet of paper, folded it twice, and put it aside before replying, “Nothing. Does the Princess Royal need something?”

The Princess Royal glanced at the sheet she had placed aside. “Nothing either.”

Hearing this, Jing Ya looked at the Princess Royal. “…”

The Princess Royal could only touch her nose and say, “I wanted to ask whether you know how to ride a horse.”

Jing Ya withdrew her gaze and replied while spreading out a fresh sheet of paper, “A little.”

The Princess Royal said, “Then you should practice properly. If you don’t know how to ride, then those ten days in Luoping will be terribly boring for you.”

Jing Ya nodded. “I understand. Thank you for your concern, Princess Royal.”

The Princess Royal glanced at Jing Ya again, but in the end, she swallowed her words, nodded, and turned back around to sit properly.

It just so happened that Chen Chen slapped the desk at that moment, and the lecturer entered right after. Everyone in the classroom quieted down along with him.

After the half-day lesson finished, everyone went back excitedly. Only Chen Chen wore an unhappy look, while his study companion followed behind him with a nervous expression, seeming not to know what to do.

During the final few days of the third month, the students in the palace school were all endlessly excited. Even in class, they whispered and chattered nonstop. The lecturers at the front repeatedly emphasized calming their minds, but not a single person managed to take those words in.

Fortunately, the one who was least likely to listen had asked for leave and did not come to palace school at all during the remaining days.

Jing Ya looked at Chen Chen’s empty seat, then glanced at the Princess Royal. For the time being, she pressed her questions back into her heart and did not ask more.

Finally, on the last day of the third month, the spring hunt procession heading to Luoping Mountain set off at last.

According to the rules, Jing Ya did not ride in the same carriage as the Princess Royal. Instead, she shared a carriage with Commandery Princess Qingyang and the granddaughter of Grand Preceptor Jiang.

Inside this carriage, Jing Ya held a book and did not speak. Commandery Princess Qingyang leaned against a soft cushion to catch up on sleep. That left only Grand Preceptor Jiang’s granddaughter, Jiang Ling, looking left and right from time to time as though she could not sit still.

During the month at palace school, aside from following the Princess Royal, Jing Ya had rarely interacted with anyone else.

Firstly, it was to avoid suspicion. Secondly, there truly was no one worth wasting time on when she could spend that time with the Princess Royal instead.

In her previous life, there had been one person in palace school worth associating with, but the timing did not match. That person would not enter palace school until next year.

Unfortunately, by this time next year, the Princess Royal would already have come of age, and Jing Ya, as her study companion, would naturally leave palace school along with her.

Thus, Jing Ya and Jiang Ling were not familiar with each other.

But this Jiang Ling acted very familiar on her own. Without even greeting her first, she leaned toward Jing Ya and spoke in a tone that carried a few traces of easy intimacy, smiling as she said, “Sister Jing, what book are you reading? Is it good?”

Jing Ya lowered her brows slightly and silently shifted a little to the side before answering with a faint, casual sound.

Yet Jiang Ling was very lacking in tact and continued leaning toward Jing Ya. “Sister Jing, do you especially like reading? When I see you on ordinary days, you are either reading or writing. You rarely even play… Actually, palace school is very relaxed. Sister Jing, you should play a little too. Don’t tire yourself too much… And Her Highness the Princess Royal too, she…”

Her incessant voice was not exactly quiet, and its pitch was somewhat sharp, scraping unpleasantly against the ears. And so, Commandery Princess Qingyang, who had been catching up on sleep, became angry.

Commandery Princess Qingyang opened her eyes and glared at Jiang Ling. “Can you stop talking? Didn’t you see I was sleeping?”

Jiang Ling looked at Commandery Princess Qingyang aggrievedly and defended herself in a small voice. “But… but it’s noisy outside too… My voice isn’t that loud…”

However, Commandery Princess Qingyang, who had always grown up spoiled and cherished, did not accept her pitiful act at all. She said directly, “Since that is the case, get down and talk outside to your heart’s content! If you come back up and keep talking, then you can walk to Luoping yourself!”

Jiang Ling did not dare speak. She looked toward Jing Ya with pleading eyes, only to discover that Jing Ya had long since lowered her head and gone back to reading.

With no other choice, Jiang Ling could only shrink herself as far into the corner as possible, striving not to let Commandery Princess Qingyang find fault with her again, so she could sit safely in the carriage all the way to Luoping.

Commandery Princess Qingyang gave a cold hum, pulled the blanket over herself, wrapped up properly, leaned against the soft cushion, and went back to sleep, no longer paying attention to her.

And so the carriage became quiet again.

When the journey was halfway through, the procession finally stopped for a short rest.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Jiang Ling glanced at Jing Ya, who was still sitting upright and reading, and at Commandery Princess Qingyang, whose eyes were closed in rest. She bit her lip, then lightly and quietly got out of the carriage.

Once she left, Jing Ya did not move, but Commandery Princess Qingyang, who had been resting with her eyes shut, moved first.

Commandery Princess Qingyang gave a heavy hum toward the door curtain. “What’s so special about her? What can she do besides pretending to be pitiful? To think Grand Preceptor Jiang even keeps her by his side and raises her personally. If she had been raised far away, who knows how shallow and ostentatious she would become in the future!”

Hearing this, Jing Ya lifted her head and glanced at Commandery Princess Qingyang, but made no comment on what she had said.

Matters between little girls… mm, it was better for her not to get involved…

Just as Jing Ya was about to continue reading, Commandery Princess Qingyang called her. “Miss Jing, you must not interact with her much. Aside from causing trouble for others, she is of no use at all!”

Jing Ya could only lower her head and raise a hand to touch her nose, then nod and reply, “I understand.”

Only then did Commandery Princess Qingyang nod in satisfaction. She put aside the blanket and soft pillow, then rose to get out of the carriage. Qingyang walked over and lifted the curtain. Remembering something, she turned back and asked Jing Ya, “Is Miss Jing not getting down to rest?”

Jing Ya thought for a moment, set down the book, and answered, “I will get down, but Commandery Princess may go first.”

Qingyang answered straightforwardly, “All right.”

After the two got down from the carriage one after the other, they each went their own way.

There was no need to say much about Qingyang. The moment she got down, she immediately ran to find her Third Brother and Xie Ru Yi. As for Jing Ya, she stood where she was and looked toward the front of the procession. She saw the Princess Royal’s carriage, but she did not run over like Qingyang.

The Princess Royal’s carriage was toward the front, directly behind the young Crown Prince’s. Ahead of that were the emperor and empress’s carriages.

At a time like this, whether it was Jing Ya or the Jing family, they ought to appear less in front of the emperor. After all, she had previously declined the emperor’s side in order to attach herself to the Princess Royal, and that had already greatly displeased the emperor.

Otherwise, back when the palace attendant went to the residence to announce the decree, his attitude would not have been so casual.

Jing Ya rubbed her fingertips together, withdrew her distant gaze, looked around at the surrounding environment, and chose a place with fewer people to stroll for a while.

Soon, someone came to announce that the procession was about to set off again, so Jing Ya returned to the carriage.

After a while, Commandery Princess Qingyang also returned.

Only Jiang Ling was nowhere to be seen, even when the procession started moving again. Commandery Princess Qingyang did not care about Jiang Ling, and Jing Ya was not idle enough to deliberately ask a question for the sake of an unrelated person.

And so, the carriage continued toward Luoping with one person missing…

The author has something to say:

It is finally, slowly, slowly starting to warm up, haha.