“I spent my days in an anxious haze when I couldn’t find you. All I could think about was finding you. Time passed swiftly, and I was a little bit more at ease when I heard you were in Tatar. Time suddenly slowed down then.

  “After discussing it with father-in-law, we decided that it wasn’t a good timing to leave the capital in search of you. I could only wait at home since I couldn’t be bothered with things at court. I filled my days with whittling something or another, and this signboard is one of the fruits of my labor from then.”


  To think that not only had he written the words, but he’d created the signboard as well!

  Qin Yining chuckled, but her eyes misted up again. Pang Xiao’s heart ached with resignation when he saw the twinkling glisten of her eyes. He walked inside the residence with her.

  “How come you’re crying again?” She seemed easily turn emotional ever since becoming pregnant.

  Embarrassment prickled at Qin Yining as well, but further pity and anguish swept over her when she thought of how her beloved had passed the days after her disappearance. If she’d been in his shoes, she probably would’ve lost her mind long ago.

  The servants didn’t dare stare for too long when they saw the prince come back with his princess consort in his arms. Merriment playing out across their faces, they drew up the satin door curtains and pinned it up.

  Lamps had been lit inside and the soft glow peeking out from silk lampshades cast a particularly cozy hue over the room.

  Pang Xiao gingerly set Qin Yining down on the bed carpeted with soft blankets and took down pearl hairpins looped in dizzying patterns around her head. He spread out her long wavy hair behind her and stooped at the edge of the bed to take off her socks and shoes, loving gentleness marking his movements.

  Qin Yining propped herself up with her arms and looked happily at her husband. When he occasionally lifted his head, he’d involuntarily smile as he looked into her limpid eyes.

  After their wedding, they’d yet to become familiar with their marital home before having to leave the capital. Now that she’d come home, Qin Yining could finally relax, though there were still a few things on her mind.

  “Grandpa, grandma, and mom will be returning tomorrow, right?” she asked.

  Pang Xiao nodded. “Father-in-law is conscientious and I asked him to hide them when I left the capital. I was worried that the emperor would vent his spleen on them when I was gone. He did so in secret, hiding them so well that even I couldn’t find them.

  “Whenever I converse with father-in-law, I always think everything he does is right and everything he says should be listened to. Although I know that he is surely correct, it really feels like I’ve been entranced. It’s so strange!”


  “What strangeness,” Qin Yining burst out laughing. “Father’s just a very charismatic man.”


  Pang Xiao nodded. “That’s very true as well. Ah right, I see that the two young ladies from your household have also come. I fear that trouble is only a matter of time when they’re together with the old dowager. Why don’t I keep an eye out and see if there’s anyone suitable for them? They’re about that age as well.”


  “It’d be for the best if you could manage it.” Qin Yining nodded with a smile, extremely touched that her beloved was thinking of her family in all possible ways.

  The two spent a night in wonderful sleep, feeling very reassured that they were by each other’s side.

  The next day after noon, when Qin Yining was napping on a warm chair after lunch, a maid reported, “Your Highness, the grand-lord, grand-madame, and old madame have returned!”


  Delighted, Qin Yining scrambled off the chair and rose so swiftly that her head spun when she stood up. The maids next to her hastily reached out when she swayed.

  “Don’t be in a rush, Your Highness. The grand-madame and old madame will certainly head back to Pinecrane Hall after their return. Why doesn’t this servant help you that way first?”


  With her being pregnant, she wasn’t inclined to run around or she would’ve rushed out already. She could only nod and slowly follow the maid outside.

  When they left Pineheart Garden and took the long covered hallway to Pinecrane Hall, the servants along the way paused their motions and respectfully greeted her as “Princess Consort”. Qin Yining was wearing a pale pink shoulder wrap and had one arm around a maid’s waist. An old mama stood by her side with her arms spread out, like a hen protecting her chicks. Four second rank maids behind her completed the entourage and she swiftly shuffled ahead.

  The sounds of conversation suddenly crossed her path and Qin Yining lifted her eyes to see a tall and bulky, slightly chubby née Ma in wonderful spirits. She walked ahead with the beautiful née Yao, followed by Pang Xiao and Yao Chenggu. They were happily exchanging words and laughter.

  Née Ma smiled broadly when she saw Qin Yining and rushed up to her granddaughter-in-law, leaving her daughter behind.

  “Good girl, come let grandma take a look at you!”


  “Grandma!” Qin Yining bent her knee and wanted to dip in a curtsey, but née Ma gripped her hands tightly without letting her down.

  “Don’t, don’t, our family doesn’t bother with that. Good girl, you’ve suffered incredibly outside! It’s good that you’re back, all that matters is that you’re back. I’ve already beat that stinking Dafu for losing you, we’ll see if he’s so one-track-minded in the future! What else is he good for when he loses even his wife!”


  She whipped her head back with a hard glare at Pang Xiao, who smiled foolishly back with his grandfather. Née Yao smiled faintly without a word.