[Alternate t.i.tle: They're Busy Right Now

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Jiahui hadn't run into Mu Qian again since. She'd occasionally hear about how he was always distracted and had quieted down quite a lot recently. She didn't know what to say, and every time she heard so, she couldn't help but sigh.

Time came in the blink of an eye for Prince Ning to return to the capital to make an in-person report of his work. Zhongli Luo is within the ranks of this return trip, but what wasn't the least bit expected was that Mu Qian was also among them. Everyone knew that once he had been appointed over here at age eighteen he'd never gone back, and it wasn't that an imperial decree was disallowing him from doing so, but rather that he himself wasn't willing to. No one knew the reason why he was, not even Prince Ning, who only has a rough guess. After a whole twelve years, the Northwest had since become his home.

Where Zhongli Luo goes, Rong Jiahui obviously must follow. What the heck would she be doing just hanging around in the Northwest for? Their endless journey goes on and on, and the further they go the more fearful Jiahui is… well, it's her dad she's fearing. Having temporarily run away from home with no notice, her return will probably result in her being scolded to death. She's taken notice of how when she wrote letters home, her dad didn't write back, and it was only her mother sending her a few replies, the majority of which berate her for being in the wrong. She already knows that she's in the wrong and should be beaten and scolded, but knowing that she deserves it is one thing, and actually being willing to be beaten and scolded is another.

Zhongli Luo's decent work had earned her a decorated and s.p.a.cious carriage, leaving plenty of room for more people with the two of them in it. It's rare that she can spend time with Jiahui without any regard for how much time that is, and the latter is a master of spewing out words. It's been a while now and it seems like she isn't slowing down, going from how Officer Chen's son has started calling her ‘aunt' to how the pigs raised by Xiao Zhao's wife have made a few piglets.

Zhongli Luo is happy to listen to her, giving an occasional few words of reply before letting her continue to speak.

Every once in a while, Jiahui would get tired of talking and lift the carriage's curtain to look outside. As those who sat at the forefront of the procession were the most decorated, the rate their big procession is moving at is rather slow. The last time she'd gone on such a long trip, she'd thrown up and then thrown up some more, but this time it's cozy and easy-going.

Upon arriving at the waystation, there were more people than there were rooms, with only those like Zhongli Luo getting roomed by themselves. The majority of folks here are crammed together in a big ma.s.s. Jiahui isn't the sort to get buddy-buddy with people, so she resolutely steals into Zhongli Luo's private room while holding a quilt. Zhongli Luo had clearly thought of this beforehand, as she had prepared a floor mat before the other had gotten there.

Therefore, Jiahui was greeted with the sight of the woven sleeping mat when she stepped in.

She didn't quite understand and got a bit bitter, slam-dunking the blanket she had onto the mat. “What is this? Are you wanting to make me sleep on the floor?”

Zhongli Luo, truly believing that she'd misunderstood, rushed to explain. “No, I'll be doing that.”

Jiahui drummed her cheeks and pointed at the bed. “The bed's small. I don't sleep still and like to roll around. What if I fall off it?”

“I'll be at your bedside and act as a cus.h.i.+on. You won't get hurt if you fall.”

Jiahui kinda wants to vomit blood. “You're skin and bone. Falling on you would definitely be horrifically painful.”

“I…”

Seeing that she wanted to say some stupid stuff, Jiahui pushes her away, picks up the quilt, throws it on the bed, and rolls the mat back up.

“Here. I'm not sleeping on the floor and am afraid of falling off, so I'll sleep on the inside and you on the outside,” she suggested as she held the rolled-up mat.

Zhongli Luo doesn't have much of a choice in this. “Jiahui, don't make trouble. We have to hurry on tomorrow.”

Jiahui put away the mat and gave her a look. “What trouble am I making? Are you insisting on sleeping on the floor, hoping that little bugs come crawl into your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, then wander around in your stomach and dance around in your head?”

Her delicate and soft voice setting the scene word by word gives Zhongli Luo some lingering fear.

Jiahui smiles, patting her on the shoulder. “That's why, Sister Luo, in order to keep on living, you have to sleep next to me.”

Zhongli Luo is fully aware that her words have no real meaning, but for some reason, she felt there was a bit of sense in what she'd heard.

Noticing that she wasn't against it, Jiahui jumped into bed and dug under the covers, beaming as she looked at her.

Zhongli Luo shuffled over to the side of the bed with some embarra.s.sment, then planted her b.u.t.t on it, back facing Jiahui. “Scoot inside a bit more.”

Jiahui grinned. “Hey, I'm up against the wall. How can I get further in?”

She then lifted up the side of the blanket. “Hurry, hurry, we have to get going tomorrow.”

Zhongli Luo obediently laid down, but only on the very edge of the bed. Jiahui doesn't know how to feel about that. Everyone's a girl here, so what's with this awkwardness? If it weren't for the fact that she still cares deeply for her, she probably would have kicked her off the bed a long time ago, and probably wouldn't have had to do it very hard. With this person and this sleeping position, one b.u.mp would toss her off.

So she waited quietly, and when the one at her side seemed to have genuinely fallen asleep, she gently s.h.i.+fted over, looped her arms around the other's waist, and dragged Zhongli Luo in her direction. She'll be d.a.m.ned if how this woman's sleeping is comfortable.

After putting half of her blanket over Zhongli Luo and making it lay flat, she pillows her little head back down. Seeing that there wasn't any reaction from the other girl, she finally let out a sigh of relief. That series of actions just now had her on-edge in fear of waking her up. Now she can, literally, rest a.s.sured.

Of course, she hadn't noticed that when she had reached out, Zhongli Luo's originally rigid body instantly went even more so. Were Jiahui's head moved a bit over so it was leaning on Zhongli Luo herself, she might have been able to hear the violent thumping of her heart as if it were threatening to jump out of her body.

Jiahui slept extremely well that night, wrapped like an octopus around the still-stiff Zhongli Luo, not knowing how long she let her mind run until she fell into a deep sleep.

Their large army rushed forth in no less than two months. Zhongli Luo was also embraced like so for no less than two months. Her extreme discomfort from the beginning ultimately, and disgracefully, turned to its current acclimatization.

Such a long and hard trek has everyone travel-weary and dusty. Each of them return to their respective homes to freshen up before their partic.i.p.ation in the welcoming party at the palace that night.

Jiahui had been outside the danger zone for such a long time out in the Northwest. On this momentary return trip to the capital, the big signage of Marquis Zhenguo's Estate seen in the distance has her legs going soft.

“I… I…” Jiahui's nervousness has. .h.i.t its max, leaving her unable to say a full sentence.

“You were going to have to come back home eventually,” Zhongli Luo placates her.

Her head drooped. “I know… but…”

“No buts. We're already here.”

“Ah!” She snapped her head up and lifted the curtain, seeing the truth for herself.

The news of Prince Ning's showy return to the capital had naturally spread far and wide. The Estate's Steward Li already has people coming out to welcome them the moment their carriage arrived.

As for Mister and Madam Marquis, it's only natural that their juniors would be the ones to come pay respects to them.

Jiahui disembarked, chatting with the Steward as she walked, sneaking in a certain question. “Uncle Li, what kind of mood are my parents in today?”

After some hesitation, he replied, “Young Mistress, you… will get more satisfaction seeking the solution for yourself than asking others for it, hm? You didn't hear me say this, but you, ah… were a bit too thoughtless…”

For the Estate to keep this matter under wraps these several months truly wasn't easy, and thankfully those few good friends of Jiahui's were tight-lipped. They would occasionally pretend to come visit her or would act like she had come to their girls' get-togethers. If they hadn't, a big ruckus would have been kicked up long ago.

Jiahui hangs her head and watches her shoes as her feet keep going along, internally wondering about how she should face the thunderous fury her parents are about to have in a moment.

Zhongli Luo clasps her shoulder and tries to console her. “The Marquis and Madam have always loved you immensely. Don't be scared.” The worst case scenario is that they'd make her kowtow once.

Not being scared is impossible. Nothing in Heaven or on Earth scares her aside from her dad. However, thinking of how waiting until a later date might be even more miserable makes her heart calm down a bit.

As for Steward Li, he's looking at the prettyboy who had deviously swindled away their Young Mistress even after their Master had taken him in and thoughtfully taught him out of the kindness of his heart, and his own heart is unhappy to the utmost. He turned his head away and looked no longer.

As Zhongli Luo still had the welcoming banquet to attend, Jiahui couldn't rely on her too much. Upon finally mustering up the courage and going to face her parents in the central building, she ended up not even getting to face their shadows. There was only one of her mother's personal maids, Yu Ru, who said that it was temporarily inconvenient for them to meet her.

Jiahui didn't know what to do. She had expected something involving being beaten, scolded, punished… but she hadn't expected to not even be able to see them. They love her a lot, and she knows better; how could they ever beat or scold or punish her? At some point after, she could act spoiled again like this whole thing never happened. But if she can't even meet them…

She's really scared now.

She implored Yu Ru to pa.s.s a message along. “Auntie, tell my mom… that I know I was wrong now and I'll never do this again! Beating me and scolding me is fine, but… you mustn't ever ignore me!”

Yu Ru silently pushed her hand away, smiling towards her unnaturally. “That's no use.”

Jiahui's anxiety rises with the other's lack of action. “What's the use in you only saying there's no use? Why don't you go hurry and tell them for real that I genuinely know I was in the wrong?! It wasn't as great as I thought it was! If even half a sentence of what I said was a lie, may the Heavens strike me down with lightning!”

Yu Ru looks pained. “Young Mistress, it really isn't that the Lord and Lady aren't willing to see you, it's just truly… not very convenient for them right now. You can come back later, alright?”

“It's just seeing their own daughter. What's so inconvenient?” Jiahui asked.

Saying that, her nose stung and eyes reddened. “I know that's all just an excuse. They're not just angry with me, but they don't even want to see me? Is- Is me kneeling and kowtowing not good enough? They… Auntie Yu Ru, tell me the truth, do they not even want to acknowledge me?”

After she spoke, she choked up with tears.

Seeing Jiahui tearfully blame them and insist on making up theories puts Yu Ru at her wit's end. She covers her face, speaking with exasperation, “That's… Young Mistress, I really am telling you the truth. As it is, the Lord and Lady are… bathing… and no one dares to disturb them right now…”

She'd be an idiot if she couldn't understand what that meant. Jiahui's face went red in an instant, starting from the tips of her ears to the base of her neck, as if she were possessed by Guan Yu [1]…

Those old folks don't know how to conduct themselves at all… they're like, forty… and they're still playing around in the bath like young lovers…

Adding her last life to this one, she's lived for thirty years, and this is the first time she's had such an intense desire to dig a hole and bury herself in it.

“Then… Auntie… when they've finished was.h.i.+ng enough, let me know, alright…?”

After that, the somewhat unattached to life Jiahui silently turned around and left, face still red.

The author says: Jiahui: This carriage isn't going to kindergarten! I gotta get off!

The translator says: It seemed like it would be ANGST, but it was actually EMBARRa.s.sING OLD PEOPLE

[1] Guan Yu was a Three Kingdoms general who, for unknown but likely artistic/symbolic reasons, was portrayed or described as having an entirely dark-red face.