But this was not Duke Zhenguo’s household — she shared the courtyard with Ren Yao. Would Ren Yao object to a man entering? Ming Huashang looked over at Ren Yao: “Elder Sister Ren, what do you think…”
Ren Yao had the same resolute and formidable air as ever — as though she could not have cared less — and said: “Fine. Since you are frightened, let the arrangements be as you see fit.”
Ming Huashang glanced at Ren Yao but did not call out her stubbornness. Since Ren Yao agreed, that was best of all. Ming Huashang said with a smile: “Then I shall be in Elder Sister Ren’s care for tonight. Elder Brother, my room has already been tidied. You can move into my room; I will go and stay with Elder Sister Ren from the Ren family.”
Xie Jichuan, not far away, heard this and raised an eyebrow. He said with a smile: “Jingzhan is right to be concerned. Tonight, let me also move over to keep an eye on our younger sister.”
“No.” Ming Huazhang refused coldly, casting him a displeased sideways look. “This is a young woman’s private quarters — what would it look like if you moved in?”
“But I am afraid,” Xie Jichuan said. “With you gone, there will be only me left in the courtyard — I would not dare sleep.”
Everyone in the capital knew that Ming Huazhang and Xie Jichuan were close friends; when assigning guest quarters, Princess Taiping had placed the two of them in the same courtyard directly. Ming Huazhang balked for a moment and said nothing, looking at Xie Jichuan with an expression of profound disdain.
Ming Huashang said quietly: “Brother Xie’s intentions are kind — there is no need to be so bound by empty formality. Besides, it is not my private quarters at home — it is Princess Taiping’s guest quarters. I will go and pack up my things; Brother Xie is perfectly welcome to stay.”
Ming Huashang would have been glad to have as many people in the courtyard as possible. Compared with safety, what did the proprieties between men and women amount to? Though Xie Jichuan looked gentle and slight, he was a man at the end of the day — having him there would be one more measure of security.
“You see — even our little sister agrees!” Xie Jichuan pressed his case. Ming Huazhang actually did not want to let Xie Jichuan have his way, but when he looked back he found that both Ming Huashang and even Ren Yao were watching him with faint expectation. Ming Huazhang paused, and then said with reluctant resignation: “Very well. But you sleep in the outer room — keep your eyes to yourself and do not do anything improper.”
“Also — she is not your little sister. Do not call her that carelessly.”
Xie Jichuan exhaled in relief and waved dismissively: “I know, I know. The Xie family has not yet fallen so low as to know nothing of propriety.”
Ming Huashang suddenly found herself with three bodyguards, and felt considerably bolder as she walked. She and Ren Yao went back first to pack their personal things; Ming Huazhang and Xie Jichuan would follow afterward. Ming Huashang took Ren Yao’s hand as they left the palace building and stepped directly into the boundless snow and wind. Ming Huashang looked up, watching the swirling fragments of jade-like snow above her, and murmured: “The wind has come up.”
The wind had come up and snow was falling; Feihong Garden was already built on a mountaintop, and with conditions like this the road down the mountain would be even more treacherous.
An inexplicable thought rose in Ming Huashang’s mind: they were all trapped on the mountain.
Ren Yao noticed Ming Huashang standing motionless, staring up at the night sky, and looked up herself: “What is it — is there something up there?”
Ming Huashang shook her head: “Nothing — I was just letting my mind wander. Let us go, and get back quickly.”
Ming Huashang thought — surely she was just worrying for nothing. With so many powerful nobles on the mountaintop, even Prince Wei and Princess Taiping were here — how could they possibly be stranded?
Ming Huashang no longer had any desire to attend whatever banquets remained. She planned to get through the main banquet on the fifteenth, give Princess Taiping her full respect, and then descend the mountain in the afternoon.
Why Chi Lan had died, why the murderer had killed her in such a brutal manner, and what the strange phrase “Those who look upon me — die” meant — none of that was anything she wanted to know.
If she could endure another half day, she could return to her ordinary life.
Ming Huashang had planned well — but the unexpected proved faster than her plans.
At the fourth watch of the night, Ming Huashang was sleeping deeply when she suddenly heard a dull, rumbling boom. Ren Yao, beside her, grumbled fretfully and turned over. Ming Huashang had never needed to rise so early; she rolled over and went right back to sleep without a qualm.
From the room next door came the creak of a door; someone had come out. Outside the window, what sounded like low voices, and then several more sounds of doors opening and closing. After she did not know how long, a knock came at their door.
“Second Lady?”
Ming Huashang struggled to open one eye: “Mm?”
“Wake up quickly. Just now there was an avalanche — the mountain road is blocked.”
Ming Huashang blinked in a daze. Her body was awake but her mind was not; she could not grasp the meaning of the words. The person outside the window let out a quiet sigh and said: “We may not be able to get down the mountain.”
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