Chapter 68: Orchids in a Gilded Cage

After the meal, Fan Chuan instructed people to prepare the carriage and horses, and of course, to bring along some gifts for the return visit.

Yun Heng arranged everything, then went to Fan Chuan’s bedroom to report.

“Marshal, everything outside is arranged.

You and the lady may depart now.”

Yun Heng bowed and said respectfully.

Fan Chuan nodded and looked at Shen Lingwei.

“Let’s go.

We’ll stay one night at the Prime Minister’s residence and return tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.”

Shen Lingwei nodded slightly, stood up, and walked beside Fan Chuan towards the bedroom door.

Yun Heng, Xiao Tao, and a crowd of maidservants and guards all followed behind the two.

Xiao Tao looked at the two ahead with a complex expression.

Logically, her young lady had been married to the Marshal’s residence for three days now.

These three days had not been as bloody and violent as she had imagined.

Fan Chuan seemed quite polite and proper.

Her young lady had been no different from when she was at home, reading in the bedroom or walking in the garden.

The scene of the Marshal’s residence ‘devouring people’ that Xiao Tao had imagined had not occurred.

But she was still worried, afraid that Fan Chuan was only pretending while in the capital, and that her true nature would emerge once they left.

Fan Chuan, naturally, was unaware of this.

She and Shen Lingwei walked all the way to the main gate of the Marshal’s residence.

A carriage was already waiting at the gate, along with accompanying guards and servants carrying gifts.

A servant had already prepared the wooden stool for boarding the carriage.

Fan Chuan looked at Shen Lingwei beside her.

“Let me help you.”

“Okay.

Thank you, Marshal.”

Shen Lingwei smiled at her and offered her left hand.

Fan Chuan helped Shen Lingwei by holding her hand with one hand and supporting her back with the other, helping her onto the carriage.

After Shen Lingwei was seated, Fan Chuan nimbly boarded the carriage as well.

Xiao Tao looked inside the carriage, knowing she couldn’t go in to accompany her young lady, so she simply sat on the empty side at the door, ready to attend to Shen Lingwei at any time.

Even sitting in the carriage, Shen Lingwei remained upright, practically looking straight ahead.

But when the carriage passed through bustling markets, Shen Lingwei unconsciously tilted her head to listen.

If she were alone with Xiao Tao, she might have secretly lifted the curtain to look outside.

But now, sitting in the carriage with Fan Chuan, she naturally wouldn’t do that.

Fan Chuan, however, spoke up.

“The capital is indeed livelier.

Zhuozhou doesn’t have such bustling markets.

If you want to buy anything in the next few days, just send someone to get it.

We might be leaving the capital soon.”

“Okay.”

Shen Lingwei nodded, her face calm, as if she were already prepared.

Looking at Shen Lingwei in front of her, Fan Chuan was at a loss for words.

She was not naturally talkative, and on top of that, Shen Lingwei’s identity was special – she was someone the old emperor had planted by her side.

The more she said, the more mistakes she could make.

Fan Chuan didn’t want to leave any leverage for others.

The carriage was completely silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After a long while, perhaps feeling the atmosphere was too strange, Shen Lingwei spoke.

“Could you tell me what the northern border is like?

I’ve lived in the capital since childhood and have never been anywhere else.”

Mentioning the northern border, Fan Chuan’s expression softened considerably.

The capital was indeed bustling, but the northern border was where she had lived the longest.

“The sand flies there, especially at the border.

Beyond lies endless desert.

On the Gobi Desert, there are places like markets.

When there’s no war, the northern barbarians trade with the border people.

But most of it is bartering.

Anyway, it’s completely different from the capital.”

As Fan Chuan spoke of the northern border, her face held an unmistakable smile.

“It sounds beautiful.

Are the deserts the sand dune hills described in travelogues?”

Shen Lingwei was very curious about things she hadn’t seen, and she loved reading travelogues.

She had seen descriptions of deserts in them before.

“Yes.

Endless stretches of them.

Sitting on them and looking at the moon and stars, it feels like you can reach out and touch them.

It’s a very different kind of scenery.”

“If only I could see it someday.”

Shen Lingwei smiled and shook her head.

She was just speaking casually.

Her relationship with Fan Chuan was awkward.

After arriving in the northern border, she would probably just be sitting on the sidelines in the Marshal’s residence.

How could she have the chance to see such beautiful sights?

“Of course you can.

When we return to the northern border, I’ll take you to see them.”

Seeing that she seemed genuinely interested, Fan Chuan quickly said.

“Alright.

Then thank you in advance, Marshal.”

Shen Lingwei said this, but only thought Fan Chuan was speaking casually.

With their kind of relationship, her wife would probably forget her casual remark after today.

The two chatted for a while about the customs of the northern border.

Then the carriage arrived at their destination.

Fan Chuan jumped down from the carriage first, then reached out to help Shen Lingwei.

Xiao Tao, who had been about to help her young lady, withdrew her hand when she saw Fan Chuan was already doing it.

On a return visit, it was necessary to show that the couple was loving.

Otherwise, her young lady’s younger siblings would be delighted.

Xiao Tao didn’t like her young lady’s younger siblings; there was no familial affection between them, just scheming.

Fan Chuan and Shen Lingwei walked to the entrance of the Prime Minister’s residence.

Zhang Qingwen was waiting at the door with Shen Lingwei’s younger siblings.

Seeing them arrive, she came forward very warmly.

“Lingwei is back.

Your father mentioned you yesterday.

He was summoned by His Majesty this morning and hasn’t returned yet.

Come in quickly.”

“We are indebted to my mother-in-law.”

Fan Chuan said respectfully.

“Come in, come in.

Lingwei has been sensible and obedient since childhood.

Have you been getting along well these past few days?”

Zhang Qingwen’s words seemed concerned, but she was actually probing about Shen Lingwei’s situation in the Marshal’s residence.

“Everything is fine.

My wife is gentle and attentive.

Marrying me is truly marrying beneath her station.”

Fan Chuan replied.

She had seen Shen Lingwei’s performance these past few days; she was meticulous in everything, without a single flaw.

No wonder everyone said Shen Lingwei was the number one talented lady in the capital.

“You jest, Marshal.

You treat me very well too.

Besides, you are so young and already a marshal guarding a border region.

How could marrying you be beneath me?

If anything, it’s marrying above my station.”

Zhang Qingwen’s gaze swept back and forth between Shen Lingwei and Fan Chuan.

This wasn’t right.

Logically, these two should be an unhappy couple who didn’t trust each other.

But judging by their demeanor, their relationship seemed quite good?

Zhang Qingwen instinctively felt uncomfortable.

Shen Lingwei was the legitimate daughter of Shen Fangzhou’s first wife, talented and beautiful since childhood.

In the capital’s circle of nobles, when Shen Lingwei was mentioned, no other family’s Kunze could compare.

The more excellent and untainted a person was, the more Zhang Qingwen envied her.

This imperial betrothal was the same.

On the surface, Zhang Qingwen acted anxious and worried for Shen Lingwei.

But in reality, she was happier than anyone else.

What good was Shen Lingwei’s high birth and talent?

She still had to marry a rough soldier who fought all the time, and be ground down for the rest of her life.

But now, what she was seeing didn’t match what she had imagined.

Fan Chuan didn’t seem like a rough soldier at all; she looked more like a pretty boy Qiankun raised in a wealthy family.

And the two weren’t at odds as she had thought.

Fan Chuan and Shen Lingwei seemed very satisfied with each other?

This made Zhang Qingwen very unhappy.

But she couldn’t show it.

For the sake of the Prime Minister’s reputation and her own, she had to maintain the facade of a kind mother.

Fan Chuan and Shen Lingwei were welcomed into the front hall.

Zhang Qingwen continued making awkward small talk with them.

When it seemed they had talked enough, Shen Lingwei finally stood up and said she wanted to take Fan Chuan to see the courtyard she had lived in before her marriage.

Fan Chuan followed beside Shen Lingwei.

Shen Lingwei walked and smiled faintly.

“Wasn’t that just now a bit boring?”

Fan Chuan hadn’t expected Shen Lingwei to say that, and she quickly denied it.

“No.”

“How could it not be?

I even found it boring.

She’s not my birth mother; she’s my father’s second wife.

So, we’re not very close.

We just maintain appearances.”

Having said that, Shen Lingwei stopped the topic.

She pointed to the courtyard ahead.

“That’s my small courtyard.

Come, I’ll show you around.”

“Mm.”

Fan Chuan stepped forward to follow.

She rarely returned to the capital, so she naturally hadn’t known that Zhang Qingwen wasn’t Shen Lingwei’s birth mother.

But Fan Chuan didn’t think too much about it.

She continued following Shen Lingwei.

Soon, an elegant garden appeared before her eyes.

Various flowers were planted in the garden.

In the middle of the garden was a pavilion.

Shen Lingwei used to love sitting in the pavilion, drinking tea and reading.

Opposite the small garden were Shen Lingwei’s bedroom and study.

“Look over here.

I planted most of the flowers and plants in this garden myself, together with the gardener.

There are all kinds.”

She had been trapped in this tiny corner of the Prime Minister’s residence.

The only times she could leave the residence by carriage were when other families’ Kunzes invited her to gatherings.

She had never even enjoyed the mountains and rivers around the capital, let alone other places in the Great Zhou.

That was why Shen Lingwei had planted so many flowers and plants, many of which were not found in the capital.

Whenever she saw these flowers and plants, she imagined she had taken a long journey.

Fan Chuan, of course, didn’t know any of this.

She just thought this small garden was very beautiful.

There were many flowers and plants whose names she couldn’t even say.

Such an elegant place suited Shen Lingwei very well.

“Let’s rest in my bedroom.

After my father returns, we’ll probably have to go back to the front hall to report.”

Shen Lingwei said, pushing open the door to her bedroom.

A Kunze’s bedroom was the most private place; no one else was allowed inside except herself and the maidservants in the courtyard.

But now, it didn’t matter, because the person by her side was her wife.

Fan Chuan was also entering a Kunze’s private room for the first time.

She was quite a high-ranking marshal, but suddenly she felt a bit embarrassed.

Still, Fan Chuan instinctively looked around.

Shen Lingwei’s bedroom was very unique, just like Shen Lingwei herself – elegant and refined.

All the furnishings were neat and orderly.

You could tell the owner of this room was a meticulous person.

And, whether it was her imagination or not, Fan Chuan smelled a faint floral scent in the room.

It seemed to be the fragrance of cold orchids, very light; if you didn’t pay close attention, you wouldn’t notice it at all.

“What a beautiful bedroom.

Much neater than mine.”

Fan Chuan praised with a smile.

Compared to Shen Lingwei, she lived a rather rough life.

“It’s fine.

In the future, I’ll tidy up our bedroom properly.”

Shen Lingwei gave her a faint smile, then turned to pour tea at the round table.

The maidservants in the courtyard knew they were returning today, so they had made early preparations, simply cleaned the room, and changed the tea.

Fan Chuan, however, froze in place.

She was still thinking about Shen Lingwei’s smile just now.

Her faint smile was really beautiful.

Fan Chuan took a few deep breaths, but a cold sweat broke out on her back.

No good.

In just a few days, she was already struggling to hold on.

What would happen when they returned to the northern border?

Shen Lingwei was, after all, a person the old emperor had planted by her side.

She couldn’t truly let her guard down.

That was a close call.

This ‘frog in slowly boiling water’ beauty trap was far more vicious than any battlefield strategy.

She had almost lost it just now.

Fan Chuan closed her eyes and gave herself a mental warning.

Only then did her racing heartbeat finally calm down.

By then, Shen Lingwei had already poured the tea.

She turned and handed a teacup to Fan Chuan.

“This is this year’s new tea.

The taste is a bit astringent, but I’m used to having them add candied fruit and sugar.

It has a unique flavor.

Try it.”

“Alright.”

Fan Chuan was a bit thirsty by now.

She took the teacup and drank it down in one go.

The way she drank tea made Shen Lingwei laugh.

“Drink slowly.

Drinking so fast, could you taste it?”

Fan Chuan shook her head.

No, she hadn’t.

She just thought the tea was sweet and quite good.

Shen Lingwei took the cup from her hand and poured Fan Chuan another cup.

This time, Fan Chuan didn’t drink it all at once.

She tasted it carefully and found that the tea had both the fragrance of the tea itself and the sweetness of the candied fruit.

It was very good.

“The fragrance of the tea and the candied fruit mix together.

It’s very delicious.”

Fan Chuan nodded in praise.

“I’m glad you like it.

When we return to the residence, I’ll make it for you like this too.”

Shen Lingwei poured herself a cup, took a sip, and said.

Her gaze towards Fan Chuan was clear, as if they were truly just a wife and wife chatting idly about household matters.

Fan Chuan averted her gaze.

She walked to the table and poured herself a cup of tea, saying, “Alright.

However you like.”

Having said that, Fan Chuan drank another cup of tea.

Shen Lingwei’s gaze towards Fan Chuan carried a hint of scrutiny.

In a short while, she had hurriedly drunk three cups of tea.

Was she that thirsty?

Or was she nervous?

But what could Fan Chuan be nervous about?

She was just a helpless Kunze.

How could Fan Chuan, a great marshal, be afraid of her?

“Well, do you want to rest for a while?

Or shall we go for a walk in the small garden?”

Seeing that Fan Chuan was ill at ease, Shen Lingwei asked.

“I’ll go for a walk with you.”

Fan Chuan breathed a sigh of relief.

She really wasn’t good at dealing with clever Kunzes.

In this short time, she was already sweating.