Return of the Swallow

CH 54

Default Dyslexic Roboto Lora

indest heart.”

Qin Yining tucked stray strands of hair behind Tang Meng’s ears.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to change your name though, and Ruilan too.
Why don’t you two talk about it over the next two days? I haven’t read much, so I can’t think of any pretty sounding names.
Pick one you two like.”

“I’ll go back and discuss this with big sister Ruilan.
But mine is easy.” Tang Meng’s eyes rolled rapidly.
“Call me Bingtang.”

“Bingtang, as in crystal sugar?” Qin Yining smiled.
“Alright, this name suits you.
You’re definitely a sweet one to begin with.
If you’re Bingtang, your days ahead will be sweet and full of happiness.”

“Right, sweet and full of happiness.
Crystal sugar is delicious and pretty to look at.
Isn’t it wonderful?”

The two smiled at each other, their spirits greatly lifted.
“Let’s go down from the mountain,” Qin Yining reminded.
“We don’t want the elder madame to worry.
Don’t tell her anything when we see her, just pretend nothing happened today.”

“Alright, I understand the importance of this.” The two adjusted each other’s clothing and didn’t leave until everything looked exactly as it was before.

They say Bao-mama peering up the mountain as they reached its foot.
The old servant seemed to be relieved of an enormous burden when she saw the two girls happily coming back hand-in-hand.
“You’re back, miss.
Come into the carriage to warm up.”

“Thank you, Bao-mama.
Grandmother must have waited for a while? I was looking around with Miss Tang and took some more time than I thought I would.” The two came to the carriage and stepped on the red lacquer footstool to hop in.
The duchess was smiling merrily in the center seat.
Qin Yining picked some lighthearted topics of no importance and started a conversation about their sightseeing.

When the topic had been exhausted, the duchess asked gently, “Did you meet anyone just now?”

“No.” Qin Yining’s heart skipped a beat, but she maintained the same expression on her face.
“Just a young, married woman in the distance.
We didn’t come face to face though.”

The duchess nodded and thought for a bit, but said nothing after she glanced at Tang Meng.
Qin Yining understood that the duchess might’ve recognized the empress and wanted to tell her that this august personage had been at the nunnery.
But her grandmother didn’t want to make Tang Meng sad, so she just swallowed her words.
How would the duchess even dream that they’d seen that awkward thing in the temple just now? She’d even heard the imperial couple’s conversation and learned that the emperor was taking pills that Priestess Liu had refined.

All emperors and kings of old searched for the way to immortality, and Emperor Qinglong , the current Great Yan sovereign, was no exception.
What surprised Qin Yining was that such a seemingly materialistic person as the priestess would be skilled in the pill refining arts as well.
She is truly unfathomable! She still wasn’t sure whether the priestess was truly a disreputable merchant or if it was all just an act, much less how wide the priestess’ net of connections were.
Which of her arts are real, and which are just a sham?

The carriage took Tang Meng back to the Cloudsoar Inn first before sending Qin Yining back to the Qin Manor.
After Qin Yining bid farewell to her grandmother, she opted to visit Steward Zhong before returning home.
She had him prepare 1,600 taels of silver and deliver them to Celestial Nunnery to Priestess Liu.

The steward was taken aback by the large sum.
“This is extortion!” He felt a flash of guilt.
After all, his miss had been dragged into this matter only because he’d gone and asked her for help.
There had been risk enough in going to the Ning Manor, but now she had to pay such a large sum for Tang Meng to resume secular life.

Qin Yining smiled.
“Money is earned to be spent.
We just need to make sure that we spend all of our money in proper pursuits.
Miss Tang is a living person.
There’s no reason that she’s not worthy of this expenditure.
And to use something the Duchess of Ding said, this is just accumulating good karma for myself.”

“You are gracious, miss, and kind and benevolent too.
Life will do you a good turn in the future.” Steward Zhong personally oversaw the orders for this matter and escorted Qin Yining back to the Qin manor.

Dusk had fallen by the time she returned, almost curfew.
Qin Yining took a wax-papered carriage to the inner doors and made directly for Garden of Loving Piety.
Qin-mama and Jixiang were chatting in hushed voices in a covered hallway on the wings of the compound.
They walked up with happy greetings when they saw Qin Yining.

“You’re back, Fourth Miss.
The old dowager was just worrying about you, especially since the roads aren’t safe at night.
She was afraid that something had kept you.”

“It’s my fault to have caused the old dowager to worry over me.
Has she rested for the night?”

“Not yet, please do go in, miss.” Qin-mama led the girl inside, sending a runner inside while helping Qin Yining out of her cape.

When they received the old dowager’s permission, Qin Yining entered the inner room and curtsied.
“Old Dowager, your granddaughter has returned.
We were delayed because the roads aren’t very good.
It’s my fault for causing you worry.”

The old dowager was wearing a dark green, lightweight jacket and sitting cross-legged on the bed.
She took two breaths of the pipe before responding.
“What could possibly happen to you when you were with your maternal grandmother? It was just me worrying needlessly.
Did everything go well today?”

“Everything went well.” Qin Yining purposefully ignored the tones of jealousy in the old dowager’s words.
“Have you eaten dinner? Did you eat well?”

The old dowager flicked at the small tobacco pouch hanging off the pipe and sighed.
“No, how could I have eaten anything?”

Qin Yining looked curiously at Qin-mama, a silent question in her eyes.

His title means a grand and prosperous emperor.