Chapter 1192: I Would Be Glad to Accompany the Commandery Princess

Put that way, Shang Shuqing believed her.

Her family truly did regard her marriage as extremely important. Doing this was not strange at all.

Suppressing her doubts, Shang Shuqing returned to her usual gentle nature. Thinking that the sharpness of her tone toward her sister-in-law just now had been rather rude, she softened her voice and asked, "Does Sister-in-law know where the people from Maolu Annex have settled?"

Feng Ruonan said, "That, I truly don't know. I only heard your brother mention that the people from Maolu Annex had arrived."

Then, seeing Shang Shuqing's expression, she added, "Qing'er, what kind of look is that? I'm not lying to you. Is there any need to lie about something like this? You already know they're here. All you have to do is ask around and you'll find out. Could I really hide it from you?"

Shang Shuqing thought about it and realized that was true.

She bowed farewell and turned to go find out for herself.

Feng Ruonan called after her, "Take more guards if you're leaving the residence."

"I know." Shang Shuqing continued away.

Feng Ruonan hurried out the door and called again, "Qing'er, has Young Master Fu gone home?"

"Uh..." Shang Shuqing's steps stopped.

She turned back awkwardly. "Not yet. He's still waiting over by the rear garden. I'll go tell him now."

Feng Ruonan's face instantly darkened.

The moment this sister-in-law of hers heard the people from Maolu Annex had arrived—even though Niu Youdao himself was not among them—she had actually forgotten a living man like Fu Junlan entirely.

Just how little did she truly care?

Whatever her usual outward behavior might suggest, this one incident alone revealed Fu Junlan's real place in her heart.

"Ah!" Watching Shang Shuqing leave, Feng Ruonan could not help sighing.

She understood.

In truth, she knew very well how bitter things were in Shang Shuqing's heart.

With her learning, talent, and breadth of vision, Fu Junlan was not the husband Shang Shuqing would have chosen in her dreams.

But there was no helping it.

Shang Shuqing's circumstances were what they were. Her face was ugly, and she was no longer young.

A truly exceptional man, a dragon or phoenix among men with every condition in his favor, a man who had no need to cling to the Prince's residence for advantage—why would such a man choose her?

Faced with her family's pressure to marry, Shang Shuqing had been driven to the point where she had no other way out.

She was simply choosing the tallest among a group of short men and settling for someone acceptable.

But her family was doing this for her own good.

Wasn't that still better than forcing her to marry someone outwardly impressive, only to suffer resentment and humiliation in his household afterward?

"Go. Report to the Prince at once," Feng Ruonan suddenly ordered after coming back to herself.

"Yes!" A servant accepted the order and ran off.

...

Inside the rear garden, Shang Shuqing hurried back to the shaded corridor.

Fu Junlan was still standing there obediently waiting.

Seeing her return, he immediately cupped his hands with refined courtesy.

Shang Shuqing returned the greeting. "I've kept Young Master Fu waiting again."

Fu Junlan smiled. "No matter."

Then he asked with some curiosity, "The Commandery Princess mentioned Maolu Annex just now and hurried off. Did something happen?"

Shang Shuqing had returned precisely because she did not know how to raise the matter.

She had invited him here to meet her. Was she now supposed to invent an excuse and send him away simply because she wanted to go see someone else, wasting his entire trip?

She could do that.

Fu Junlan probably would not object.

If she said something had come up, he would not continue lingering and would simply leave.

But that was not how she wished to treat people.

And this was not some ordinary matter.

When it came to Fu Junlan, she had her own thoughts.

Since her family had already chosen him and she herself had decided to accept the arrangement, then this Young Master Fu would be her future husband, the man with whom she would spend an entire lifetime.

She wanted to be somewhat honest with him.

She did not want to conceal things from him or deceive him merely because his family, status, and background were inferior to hers.

Yet she truly could not suppress her desire to go.

Wanting to see old friends was only one reason.

She was also puzzled.

Under normal circumstances, if people from Maolu Annex arrived, they would come directly to the Prince's residence. Why had they not come this time?

And those two cultivators earlier—why had they said she misheard them?

They had clearly seemed to be hiding something deliberately.

Had something happened?

Now that Fu Junlan had raised the subject himself, it was easier for her to speak.

She smiled. "Nothing serious. I know the people from Maolu Annex. They're all friends of mine, and it has been a long time since we last met."

"I just heard they've arrived in the provincial capital. Thinking of old friends, I'd like to go see them."

"Would Young Master Fu be willing to accompany me?"

She did not conceal the truth from him.

First, she did not want to deceive him.

Second, since she expected to spend the rest of her life with Fu Junlan, she also wanted to introduce him to the people from Maolu Annex. It would be good to broaden his horizons a little as well. At the very least, if they met again in the future, they would not be strangers.

She had no intention of marrying and then cutting off all contact with the people of Maolu Annex.

In these chaotic times, allowing Fu Junlan to become acquainted with such people could only benefit the Fu family. Perhaps one day they might even be able to help them.

Once she married into the Fu family, she would truly become a member of that household.

That was entirely different from remaining in the Prince's residence.

The Prince's residence controlled military and civil power and had its own interests to weigh. At most, it could give the Fu family some support through the marriage connection.

But in the final accounting, the Prince's residence was still the Prince's residence, and the Fu family was still the Fu family.

If trouble came, the Fu family would ultimately have to rely on itself. The Prince's residence would never upset the larger situation merely for the sake of the Fu family.

Shang Shuqing had seen too many similar situations over the years.

Take, for example, the upheaval involving her brother and her sister-in-law's family in the past.

If Feng Ruonan had not stood on the Shang clan's side, the Shang clan could never have tolerated her.

Back then, to what point had everyone in the Prince's residence forced Feng Ruonan?

The same principle applied to Shang Shuqing.

Once one became involved in power...

If Fu Junlan married her, the Fu family would inevitably be drawn into power as well.

She could already imagine what would come next.

Her brother would certainly instruct Mr. Lan to arrange an official position for Fu Junlan so that he could begin gaining experience and being cultivated.

There was no possibility that Shang Shuqing's husband would remain an ordinary commoner forever.

Emotionally or logically, that would make no sense.

As time passed, the Fu family would inevitably develop interests of its own.

And when that day came, if Shang Shuqing did not stand on the Fu family's side, the people of the Fu household would find it difficult to tolerate her too.

That was not heartlessness or lack of loyalty.

No household could tolerate a member whose heart forever faced outward.

Such a person was an enemy within!

If a married woman could not understand this principle, she would only end up unwelcome both in her husband's household and in the family of her birth.

Shang Shuqing had spent many years at Maolu Villa and knew something of how those people operated.

Their power was considerable.

They could oppose the imperial court, stand above Nanzhou, and control forces spread across several commanderies and prefectures.

Building connections with people like that could greatly benefit the Fu family.

As for broadening Fu Junlan's horizons in other respects, such as Nanzhou's military and governmental affairs, those involved confidential matters and could not be shown to him casually.

Rules were rules.

She could not simply bring him into such places.

But taking him to meet the people from Maolu Annex was different.

If Fu Junlan was too timid to go, she would not force him.

By raising the matter this way, Fu Junlan would naturally excuse himself and return home if he did not wish to accompany her.

Then it would not count as Shang Shuqing deliberately ending their meeting and casting him aside.

Fu Junlan's temperament was decent enough.

He answered quite readily, "I would be glad to accompany the Commandery Princess."

Shang Shuqing smiled and nodded. Extending one hand, she said, "Please."

Once the Commandery Princess decided to go out, and since Feng Ruonan had already notified Shang Chaozong beforehand, there was little Shang Chaozong could do to stop her now that she already knew.

All he could do was focus on her safety.

The Prince's residence immediately arranged retainer cultivators, a carriage, and additional manpower to ensure the journey was secure.

The carriage and horses left through the rear gate of the Prince's residence.

When they departed, no outsider knew who was sitting inside the carriage. That made it harder for any assassin to identify a clear target.

Inside the gently rocking carriage, a man and woman sat facing each other.

They treated one another with the courtesy due an honored guest, neither daring to cross the slightest boundary of propriety.

Fu Junlan appeared calm on the surface, but Shang Shuqing could still tell he was somewhat nervous.

She therefore tried asking, "Does Young Master Fu know what sort of people we're going to meet?"

Fu Junlan replied, "Friends of the Commandery Princess naturally cannot be ordinary people."

So he really was nervous because of that.

Shang Shuqing smiled. "Young Master Fu said earlier that you've never heard of Maolu Annex?"

Fu Junlan shook his head. "I truly haven't. I've only heard of Maolu Villa."

Shang Shuqing asked, "Then may I ask how much Young Master Fu knows about Maolu Villa?"

Fu Junlan answered solemnly, "According to rumors among the common people, Maolu Villa is the powerful support behind the Prince."

"The master of Maolu Villa, Niu Youdao, is a great expert of the cultivation world. He commands the winds and clouds, and no one ever knows where the divine dragon's head or tail may appear."

"He is also said to be benevolent."

"Nanzhou does not suffer the harsh levies and miscellaneous taxes found elsewhere. The province grows more prosperous by the day, and the common people can live and work in peace."

"Rumor says all of this is thanks to him."

"Many households have even set up longevity tablets in his honor and regard him as Nanzhou's guardian deity!"

Shang Shuqing smiled gently.

It seemed the local common people had practically turned Master Dao into a figure of legend.

But overall, what Fu Junlan said was not truly wrong.

Of course, her brother and the others had also contributed greatly to spreading such stories.

Some things could not be helped.

After all, the Shang clan had been raised up by Master Dao's own hand.

If one ate another man's rice, one naturally had to hold his bowl.

The common people needed something like this too.

In chaotic times, they needed a "god" to soothe the unease in their hearts.

Were the people of Nanzhou supposed to worship some unrelated wandering immortal instead?

For now, Shang Shuqing did not explain too much about the absurdities in Fu Junlan's account.

She merely reminded him, "Maolu Annex and Maolu Villa are the same thing."

"Maolu Annex is simply the new name used after the people of Maolu Villa moved elsewhere. In truth, they're the same group of people."

She deliberately kept the explanation simple and easy to understand.

She did not mention anything about moving to Zijin Cave.

That would only leave Fu Junlan unable to follow and force her into endless explanation.

Some things could only be taught gradually.

"Ah!" Fu Junlan was greatly startled.

How could he possibly know such things?

How would an ordinary household in Nanzhou know what had happened to Maolu Villa, why its people had moved to Zijin Cave, or which courtyard inside Zijin Cave was called Maolu Annex?

These were not matters openly discussed among the secular population.

Would anyone really let ordinary commoners boil over in public debate about who was right, who was wrong, or who deserved death?

At most, common people heard scraps of rumor, chased shadows, and turned unreliable stories into conversation over tea and meals.

"Commandery Princess! Are we going to meet the legendary master of Maolu Villa?"

This time Fu Junlan was visibly uneasy and nervous.

Even meeting Shang Chaozong already filled him with pressure.

Now he thought he was about to meet someone who stood even higher than Shang Chaozong. How could he not be nervous?

There were some things he could hardly say in front of Shang Shuqing.

Rumor held that everything Shang Chaozong possessed today had been given to him by that man.

One could imagine the pressure a figure like that exerted on Fu Junlan.

He even began to regret agreeing to come.

Had he known he was going to meet such people, he would never have joined the trip.

And through this, he felt the vast gulf between himself and Shang Shuqing even more sharply.

Shang Shuqing soothed him in a gentle voice. "Master Dao, the master of the villa, is not in this mortal world at present. He's cultivating in another world right now."

"We're going to meet the people beneath him."

"Young Master Fu needn't worry."

"Apart from being more capable than ordinary people, in everyday conduct they're really not so different from anyone else."

"In appearance, in thoughts and feelings, in speech and behavior, they're all ordinary human beings."

"They aren't bad people, and they won't look like terrifying fiends."

"Treat them as you normally would. As long as you remain courteous, that will be enough."

[End of Chapter 1192]