Chapter 166: Hello Chang’an
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**Chapter 166: What Does She Know?**
Ming Luo’s gaze settled on the girl opposite her.
The girl was dressed in men’s clothing, her face free of any makeup, andher hair was tied up simply and casually. There were damp water stains on her robes and boots, looking like she had just walked through a puddle—there was nothing about her that seemed like a lady.
Oddly enough, the girl had an exceptionally beautiful face. When dressed in a skirt, she could astonish anyone with her looks, truly deserving of the title of the capital's most beautiful woman.
But once she dressed like a man, without much embellishment, she actually resembled a true young man, with no sense of incongruity in her actions or demeanor.
When Ming Luo had first seen Chang Suining at Xuanzhe Manor, she hadn’t recognized her as a woman right away.
Under the silent scrutiny of Ming Luo's gaze, Chang Suining instinctively felt a slight sense of offense, as if she was being probed. Yet her expression remained calm, and she looked at Ming Luo, speaking again: "If you have something to say, Miss Ming, you may speak freely."
"That’s exactly what I wanted to say to you, Miss Chang." Ming Luo fixed her gaze on the girl’s especially calm and composed eyes. "From copying Buddhist scriptures at the Dayun Temple during the Spring Festival, to painting at Dengtai Tower, you've repeatedly shown handwriting resembling Princess Chongyue’s. What exactly is your intention in doing so?"
Chang Suining's eyes flickered slightly. She didn’t move her gaze and instead responded with a question of her own. "What do you think my intentions are, Miss Ming?"
Ming Luo’s eyes grew colder, her voice slow: "You are deliberately imitating Princess Chongyue, aren’t you?"
Chang Suining laughed lightly. "Is there something wrong with imitating her?"
Princess Chongyue wasn’t exactly a rare and precious figure—what was wrong with mimicking her?
Ming Luo, somewhat irked by her impudent attitude, chuckled ambiguously.
"Then, may I ask why you chose to imitate Princess Chongyue specifically? You’ve never even met her, and if you were trying to find some connection, you were saved by the former Crown Prince, not by the princess herself. You’ve had no interaction with her, but you still choose to make it seem as if you share some deep bond with her. Not to mention that this past Flower Banquet, you made an appointment with Madam Wei to visit Princess Chongyue’s mansion for a memorial ceremony…"
Looking into those eyes that seemed to scrutinize her with an air of superiority and mockery, Chang Suining revealed the faintest hint of realization.
The mention of "being saved by the former Crown Prince" and "having no connection with Princess Chongyue" made her realize that this Miss Ming didn’t know the full extent of her past misfortunes.
The faint realization on Chang Suining's face didn’t go unnoticed by Ming Luo, who quickly furrowed her brow—what was that expression?
That familiar feeling of not understanding and not being able to figure things out grew stronger, especially since Chang Suining didn’t react to her inquiry. In that moment, Ming Luo couldn’t shake the feeling that Chang Suining might know something that she herself didn’t.
This wasn’t the first time this sense of unease had appeared. Over the years, she had sensed that both her aunt and Grand Commandant Cui had been withholding something about Princess Chongyue's past from her—something she hadn’t pursued because she didn’t want to overstep her bounds.
But now, Ming Luo realized that the very area of uncertainty in her life might be the one thing that Chang Suining had uncovered.
Could this be Chang Suining's advantage?
The thought made Ming Luo restless. She stared at the girl before her. "You’ve gone to such lengths to associate yourself with Princess Chongyue’s name, clearly trying to attract Holy Emperor's attention… What exactly are you hoping to gain from this?"
Chang Suining finally responded, but with a question of her own. "What does Miss Ming want to gain?"
Ming Luo suppressed her emotions, sneering. "Right now, I’m the one asking the questions—"
"Must I answer?" Chang Suining asked calmly, glancing at the young female officer before her. "Or rather, by what position or identity is Miss Ming questioning me? Are you the one who set the precedent?"
Ming Luo’s eyes slightly trembled, her face growing darker. "What did you say?"
Chang Suining’s gaze silently swept over the interior of the carriage.
The moment she stepped into the carriage earlier, her confusion was resolved.
No wonder she had felt strange when she first met Ming Luo—she had felt as though she was looking into a mirror, but the reflection in the mirror was obscured by mist, distorting her image. The reflection seemed like her, but not quite.
The one who was truly imitating Princess Chongyue was Ming Luo.
Perhaps that was why Ming Luo had been chosen by Empress Ming to be raised and taught by her.
Before Ming Luo spoke, Chang Suining hadn’t found anything wrong with her actions. She hadn’t felt offended or thought there was any need to expose her—after all, it was just a dead person. What harm was there in imitating them? She had even worked hard to imitate Ah Xiao herself. In this world, everything was interconnected. If one could learn from it, why not? Whether for survival or for gain, as long as it wasn’t done for evil purposes, there was no need to be overly critical.
But the problem with this approach lay in the difference between being open to sharing something learned and hoarding it for oneself. The idea that what one had learned could be kept entirely to oneself, not to be touched by anyone else—that attitude was far from likable.
She looked at Ming Luo, whose face had turned pale, as she suppressed her anger. "Since we are both learning from the same source, what gives you the right to question others? If others are imitating Princess Chongyue, and that should be scorned and dismissed, then how should Miss Ming view herself?"
Ming Luo gritted her teeth and forced out a cold laugh. "Are you teaching me how to do things now?"
"No, I simply don’t intend to accept your guidance," Chang Suining replied.
She stood up. The carriage was spacious enough for her to do so.
She lowered her gaze briefly, then turned her eyes back to Ming Luo. "What you said today was rather presumptuous, but I must clarify something. I have no intention of competing with you, nor do I seek to make enemies over such absurd and meaningless matters. Let’s both stay out of each other’s way and go our separate paths."
"That’s all I have to say. If you insist on seeing me as an enemy, feel free," she added calmly.
Anyone who saw her as an enemy would, of course, be considered her enemy as well. And when it came to enemies, there would be no mercy.
Without waiting for Ming Luo’s response, Chang Suining pulled down the carriage curtain and left.
As the curtain fell, Ming Luo’s lips trembled, suppressing the anger that threatened to surface.
"Stay out of each other’s way?"
But the other party had already disrupted her plans for the future and taken what was rightfully hers!
Now, following Cui Jing, even her aunt’s gaze seemed to be drifting away from her…
This was something she could not tolerate!
What was it about Chang Suining that made her resemble Princess Chongyue so much?
Could the answer lie in that secret she didn’t know?
Or was it...?
Ming Luo lowered her eyes, her gaze suddenly fixed on the tea cup before her.
The tea in the small table had gone cold, and the clear liquid reflected the sharpness in her features caused by her fluctuating emotions.
She almost instinctively composed herself, trying to appear as calm and collected as possible, but at that moment, a thought that she couldn’t control emerged in her mind.
Could it be that Chang Suining was so young, which made it easier for people to compare her to Princess Chongyue?
Princess Chongyue was twenty when she married, while she, Ming Luo, was already twenty-one...
The dead never grew older, and she was destined to grow further apart from the image her aunt had of her.
What’s more, now Chang Suining had appeared out of nowhere!
Staring at her reflection in the tea, Ming Luo’s heart was filled with anxiety and anger. She suddenly raised her hand and knocked the tea cup off the table.
The noise startled the maid who had just entered the carriage. "County Princess, what’s wrong...?"
She had never seen Ming Luo lose composure like this.
"Is it because of the woman from the Chang family who just left?"
The maid quickly continued, "County Princess, please calm down. That Chang girl is young and inexperienced, always so brash and rude. Now, perhaps she’s emboldened by General Cui’s support and acting even more recklessly... You are a county princess, there’s no need to stoop to her level..."
But before she could finish, Ming Luo looked up, her eyes sharp like a blade, locking onto her.
"Are you implying that I’m getting old?" Ming Luo asked slowly, each word punctuated.
The maid’s face paled, and she hurriedly knelt. "I didn’t mean that, County Princess!"
Ming Luo closed her eyes, trembling slightly.
She didn’t care about superficial things like youth and beauty—those weren’t what she sought. But she still needed this appearance to stay by her aunt’s side.
As a daughter of a concubine, living in a cold, isolated courtyard with a weak, powerless aunt—those days of being ridiculed and bullied by others were ones she never wanted to return to... She had to stand tall, not fall back into the mud.
When she opened her eyes again, she let out a slow, silent breath, then turned to the kneeling maid. Her voice now calm and measured: "Get up."
The maid hurriedly replied, "Yes," and sat back, lowering her head to tidy up the mess inside the carriage.
The look from earlier still left her shaken, and she dared not lift her head to meet Ming Luo’s gaze.
What was wrong with County Princess today?
...
Due to the war in Yangzhou, the Emperor had placed even more importance on the Festival ancestor worship ceremony. Almost all the prominent royal family members, officials, and their families in the capital were part of the entourage to show their sincerity in the ceremony.
After the Emperor departed with his ministers to the royal tombs, Chang Suining felt as though the government official residences in the capital had emptied out, leaving the city eerily quiet. It was as though the constant power struggles, both overt and covert, had momentarily faded away.
On the eve of the Festival, Chang Suining sat on the stone steps with Ah Dian, gazing at the stars.
Ah Dian’s belly was bulging—partly because he had just finished a large bowl of longevity noodles, and partly because there was a small, obedient orange kitten hidden beneath his robe.
It was a birthday gift from Chang Suining, and he occasionally took the kitten out, gently rubbing its face and sniffing it, completely enchanted. "Xiao A Li, how did you know I like cats!"
"You told me last time," Chang Suining replied as she sat on the steps, her hands resting on the ground beside her, her head tilted back as she stared up at the starry night sky.
Ah Dian laughed. "Oh, I don’t remember that."
But the little kitten moving around inside his robe quickly caught his attention. Forgetting his previous thoughts, he proudly said, "Now I have my own little 'li nu'!"
"By the way, what did General Cui give you?" Chang Suining asked casually. She had forgotten to peek inside the box after handing it over to Xi’er earlier that day.
"This!" Ah Dian turned towards her, stretching out his arms like a large dog, showing her his wrist.
Chang Suining noticed the dark-colored armguards he was wearing.
"Pretty, right? Look, it even has paw prints on it!" Ah Dian bragged, showing it off to her.
Chang Suining smiled and nodded. "Yes, very majestic. It suits you."
Ah Dian was skilled in martial arts and practiced his punches daily. The armguards, a thoughtful gift from Cui Jing, would certainly come in handy.
"With this, I can practice an extra set of punches every day," Ah Dian said excitedly.
"How many days until Xiao Sui’an returns home? I want to try his spear techniques."
"Xiao A Li, after my birthday tomorrow, what should we do?"
Ah Dian, holding the kitten, babbled on.
Chang Suining replied, "Tomorrow is the Festival, we will wear dogwood."
"And after wearing the dogwood?"
"We’ll eat the morning meal."
"Morning meal sounds good! I want sweet porridge! And then what after we finish the porridge?"
"After we eat the porridge, I have to go out," Chang Suining said.
...
The next morning, Chang Suining, accompanied by Duan Shi, went to Princess Chongyue’s residence.
When they got out of the carriage outside the residence, Chang Suining, wearing a sky-blue cloak, was holding a few sprigs of dogwood. The leaves were green, and the red berries resembled small beans.
Duan Shi directed the servants to carefully unload a large chest. "Be careful with it..."
Seeing the chest, Chang Suining fell silent.
It contained all the necessary items for the ritual.
Duan Shi instructed the servants to carry the chest inside.
The female servant from Princess Chongyue’s residence, who had been informed of the upcoming ritual, led them to the hall.
Duan Shi personally set up half of the offerings and, as usual, knelt down on the mat to perform the ritual.
Chang Suining followed her lead, feeling calm since it wasn’t her first time.
"Madam Wei, what should we do with the remaining items?" the female servant asked, looking at the second half of the offerings in the chest.
"I’d like to place the rest in the princess's courtyard," Duan Shi said, dabbing at the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief. "Perhaps because of the upcoming Festival, I’ve been dreaming of the days when I used to read in the garden with the princess. I want to go see it."
Her tears were real, but her desire to rummage through the box was just as real.
But reading in the garden was a stretch.
Chang Suining quietly observed her act.
Ah Xiao had once told her that when Duan Zhenyi wasn’t in the study hall, she always read novels instead of proper books, sometimes even secretly swapping book covers.
Duan Shi had been granted permission by the Emperor to perform the ritual, so she naturally had the right to suggest going to Princess Chongyue’s courtyard, and the servant had no reason to stop her.
The servant led the way, taking Duan Shi and her group to Princess Chongyue’s courtyard.
Upon seeing the familiar scenery, Duan Shi became emotional again, and after placing the offerings, she said she wanted to walk around the garden.
The servant did not follow but instead waited outside the courtyard.
Once they were out of sight of the servant, Duan Shi wiped her tears and, pulling Chang Suining along, quietly whispered, "Let’s sneak out from here, and we can wander around. You should also see which garden it is..."
Seeing Duan Zhenyi's sneaky behavior, Chang Suining finally understood: Duan Zhenyi had come today like a thief.
She had initially thought Duan Zhenyi would make an excuse to retrieve some old belongings and then openly take the box. But now, this sneaky approach seemed even better. If she managed to secretly take the items without anyone noticing, there would be no attention drawn, including from Ming and others. If the scheme were to be discovered later, Duan Zhenyi would take the responsibility and embarrassment. After all, the items were hers, and Chang Suining, as a younger generation, wouldn't be implicated.
With this in mind, Chang Suining felt quite at ease. After all, she was paying for the job to be done.
The two of them, accompanied by a servant carrying the empty box, sneaked out through the back door.
-
(End of chapter)
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