Chapter 43: The Flying Ball

That day, Marquis Xiangyang celebrated his birthday.

The daughters of Marquis Fu'an arrived early at Xingguo Lane.

As soon as she stepped down from the carriage, Second Lady Wei spotted Han Fifth Lady at the gate.

They were of similar age and had once been classmates at the same girls’ academy.

Second Lady Wei quickened her steps and approached Han Fifth Lady.

“Sister, why did you arrive so early?”

Han Fifth Lady: “Sister, you’re not late either. I’ve long heard that Marquis Xiangyang’s mansion is vast and luxurious—today I see it’s truly worthy of its reputation.”

“Look, there’s that old maid from the Qin family. The one just walking out is her sister-in-law.”

“That sister-in-law of hers is famously stingy.”

Second Lady Wei: “Hahaha, you’ve heard too? She once tried to arrange a match with our Fifth Young Master.”

“She couldn’t even scrape together a dowry—who would have her? I’d say she’s lucky to marry some poor scholar or merchant’s son.”

Second Lady Wei: “Look at her clothes—that style was fashionable three years ago.”

Even our top maids dress better than she does.”

“How dare she show her face? She’s shaming our noble families.”

“Come on, let’s go inside.”

Qin Second Lady stepped out of her carriage, her expression unchanged as she watched her sister-in-law ignore her.

Beside her, the maid Xiang cast a quick glance around and whispered:

“Miss, the Xu family hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Let’s go in.”

Qin Second Lady entered the bustling Marquis Xiangyang’s mansion and saw nothing but noblewomen dressed in lavish silks.

Walking to the mansion’s garden, the maid Xiang asked a servant for a cup of tea, letting her mistress sip slowly.

After a while, she took the empty teacup and moved to fetch fresh tea.

At that moment, a maid from Marquis Xiangyang’s household approached.

She saw Qin Second Lady, who stood with her back turned, admiring the flowers.

Seeing the woman’s plain attire and lack of hairpins or ornaments,

she didn’t think twice and called out:

“Miss, could you help me carry this chest? Miss?”

Qin Second Lady turned around, her face filled with confusion.

The maid Xiang stepped forward.

“Miss, please open your eyes and look properly—don’t call out randomly.”

The Marquis’s maid froze, realizing from Qin Second Lady’s bearing that she had made a mistake.

She hastily covered her face and bowed low:

“Forgive me, noble guest, forgive me! I’ve been overwhelmed with work.”

She then lifted the chest with effort and hurried away.

“Miss, let’s move to a spot farther out. I know Miss Xu Pingmei and Miss Xu Anmei—they’ve arrived, and their Third Young Master should be here too.”

The mistress and maid walked through the garden.

From afar, noblewomen occasionally glanced over, then covered their mouths to whisper.

The maid Xiang’s face had flushed red, but Qin Second Lady remained calm, even returning their glances.

Some noblewomen caught in idle gossip paused when they saw the original subject watching.

In this courtyard of gold and jade, Qin Second Lady was indeed plainly dressed.

The groups of women playing touhu, chuiwan, or kicking shuttlecocks had no interest in the mistress and maid.

After waiting a while, as Qin Second Lady gazed absentmindedly at the clouds, the maid Xiang tugged her sleeve.

Qin Second Lady looked over: five women—four adults and one child—were walking toward them, followed by seven or eight maids.

Farther off, five boys of varying heights headed toward the men’s quarters, each accompanied by their own young servants.

Too far away to distinguish, Qin Second Lady couldn’t tell which was her acquaintance’s nephew.

The newcomers were Bai Shi and Sun Shi, with the girl being Gu Tingyi.

Gu Tingyu, Gu Tingye, and the three Xu brothers had arrived together.

Bai Shi and Sun Shi had few friends in the Jingcheng noble circles—Bai Shi came from merchant stock, and Sun Shi was an adopted marquis.

Though the current Marquis Xiangyang was also adopted, his talented heirs, favored by the Emperor, were clearly different.

Through the connection of Sun Shi’s maternal grandmother, Xu Zaijing and his brothers, as junior relatives, came to pay their birthday respects.

Xu Zaijing noticed the Marquis Xiangyang had grown unfamiliar with the distant branches of his family from Qingcheng.

It was the old steward who whispered an explanation into the Marquis’s ear.

The Marquis nodded, his gaze gradually clearing as he sorted out the relationship between Xu Zaijing and his household.

“All fine children! Fine children from the Gu family.”

Because Gu Tingyu and his brothers were more closely related by blood, they had already paid their respects ahead of the Xu family and now stood behind the old Marquis.

Beside the Marquis Xiangyang stood a little boy, three or four years old, mimicking the posture of Gu Tingye.

He was Qi Heng, the son of Princess Pingning.

After paying respects, the younger boys—Gu Tingye, Xu Zaijing, and others—left the room.

The older ones—Gu Tingyu, Xu Zaiduan, and the rest—remained inside, listening as senior ministers and the Marquis discussed state affairs.

Only the sons of pure-stream aristocratic families, generations of court officials, enjoyed comparable treatment.

Gu Tingye and Xu Zaijing stepped into the courtyard, where the men’s quarters featured not only touhu and chuiwan, but also open grounds where men played cuju.

From the open field where cuju was being played, shouts rang out:

“Good shot!”

“Young Xian has excellent skill!”

The praise was clearly heartfelt.

Behind them, the young Qi Heng followed the group out of the room.

A slightly older personal servant trailed behind him.

One of the cuju players, a boy about Gu Tingye’s age, spotted Qi Heng.

As the group approached, a flash of malice crossed his face.

He kicked the cuju ball hard—straight toward Qi Heng’s head.

The ball, wrapped in cowhide, would at most dishevel his braid or scrape his skin.

But such a sudden blow would surely startle a child Qi Heng’s age.

A frail child might even be frightened into illness.

If carelessly tended, who knew what consequences might follow?

The ball was about to strike Qi Heng—the boy’s eyes gleamed with amusement and vengeful satisfaction.

But—

“Pam!”

A hand struck the cuju ball clean out of the air.

Qingyun, accustomed to tracking arrows aimed at Xu Zaijing’s target, could clearly see the flight of each shaft.

Even when wind deflected arrows low, he could block them with his shield.

This cuju ball, flying at such speed, was slow to him.

Hearing the sound, Xu Zaijing and the others turned around.

Behind them, the young Qi Heng widened his eyes, clearly startled by Qingyun’s display.

The little Qi Heng had not yet processed what had happened.

Behind him, Buwei rushed forward to shield his young master, his eyes filled with gratitude as he addressed Qingyun:

“Thank you, brother—for stepping in. I’ll report this to Princess. Thank you, brother.”

He then looked back at the cuju players, still trembling with relief.

Qingyun noticed Xu Zaijing watching him and politely nodded to Buwei.

The boy who had fetched the cuju ball, lacking subtlety, glared at Qingyun and shouted:

“Hey, you servant—bring me back the ball.”

Please kind readers point out any errors~~~

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(End of Chapter)