Chapter 8: A Pie Falling from the Sky

The Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Wang Baochuan was lying on a rattan chair in the courtyard, basking in the sun. The chair was covered with a snow-white sable fur, soft and warm. She was wearing soft silk clothes, her hair simply tied up in a bun, and she was lazily reclining.

Xiaolian was leading two maids to help her dig up the prepared peony oil. The blooming peony petals were carefully picked and dried, then gradually added to a small amount of vegetable oil, sealed in jars, sun-dried, left to ferment through the dog days of summer, a little bit of purple root was added, and then buried in the ground for seven days before being dug up, leaving a fragrant and nourishing oil.

“Miss, I’ve noticed that you’ve been paying more attention to your appearance these days.” Xiaolian said diligently.

Wang Baochuan changed to a more comfortable position, propping her chin on her hand, “When have I ever not cared about my appearance?”

When she was digging wild vegetables! Her hair was unkempt, she wore coarse linen clothes, and her hands were rougher than those of her servants!

What was she thinking back then?  Had she been cursed?

“Miss must have met someone she likes, right?  They say that a woman will beautify herself for the one she loves, I think my Miss is about to get married.”

Xiaolian was still thinking about the man she had met that day, he was dignified and handsome, a perfect match for her Miss.

“Don’t be so talkative.” Wang Baochuan was unhappy.

Xiaolian didn’t realize that her mood was off, and she continued, “That gentleman’s eyes lit up when he saw Miss, he must be interested in you.”

Wang Baochuan sat up and gave an example, “Xiaolian, if you haven’t eaten for five days, and there’s a bowl of braised pork in front of you, would you eat it?”

Xiaolian thought for a moment and couldn’t help but swallow, “Of course I would.”

“What about if it was a steamed bun?”

“I’d eat that too.”

“What about if it was your least favorite coarse grain rice?”

Xiaolian looked hesitant, “I’d eat it, there’s no other choice.”

“So, that man isn’t showing his affection for me, he just knows that my identity is not simple.”

“Ah!” Xiaolian widened her eyes in shock, “But you didn’t tell him your identity.”

Wang Baochuan was helpless, she felt that she should find a smarter and more capable maid to serve her.

The big sign on the Prime Minister’s mansion carriage, anyone who wasn’t blind and could read two characters would recognize it!

Xue Pinggui was an accountant, he could read!

She calculated the time, in her previous life, she had only met Xue Pinggui two or three times before she fell in love with him.  Then her father wanted her to marry, but she refused.

Coincidentally, two young men from the court proposed to her, and the matter reached the Emperor.  The Emperor couldn’t decide, so he came up with the idea of a lottery for marriage.

As soon as she thought about this, she became restless.

The lottery for marriage was truly up to fate, she didn’t want to marry, and she was even more worried that the embroidered ball would be thrown to Xue Pinggui!

She had to find a way to change things.

Moreover, the most important thing right now was that Xue Pinggui should have already met Dai Zhan, the princess disguised as a man.  Three days later, they would jump over the wall of the Prime Minister’s mansion’s back garden to avoid being pursued.

In her previous life, she had protected them and saved them.  This time, she had to think about how to do it.

She didn’t actually hate Dai Zhan, on the contrary, she admired a woman who could ride a horse and wield a sword, and govern a region.

Moreover, in matters of marriage, Dai Zhan seemed not to know that Xue Pinggui was already married.

It’s just…  Those who are not of our race have different intentions.

After all, she was the princess of Xiliang, the only apple of the Xiliang King’s eye, and that Ling Xiao was also a prince of Xiliang.

They escaped into the Prime Minister’s mansion, what was the difference between that and gold falling from the sky and landing on your bed?

Don’t blame her for being unrighteous, she just wanted to be a loyal daughter of the Great Tang!

Wang Baochuan made up her mind and immediately started preparing.  She found an excuse about catching a thief and asked her brother-in-law, Su Long, to secretly increase the number of guards in the back garden, and also hid many secret agents there.

Everything was ready, all that was left was for the prey to come to her.

The autumn wind blew, and the fragrance of osmanthus filled the air.

A group of maids, dressed in their finery, escorted Mrs. Wang into the back garden.  As soon as Wang Baochuan saw her mother coming, she felt guilty.  She didn’t even have to wait for her mother to speak, she knew that her mother had come to talk about her marriage again.

Sure enough, as soon as Mrs. Wang sat down, before Xiaolian had even finished making the tea, she said, “Baochuan, the Minister of Justice came to visit today, he wanted to propose marriage for his eldest son, your father barely managed to refuse, and now here comes the Duke of Wen.”

“You have to settle your marriage, otherwise, your father will offend half of his colleagues.”

Wang Baochuan tried to persuade her, “Mother, you see the situation, if Father agrees to anyone, he will offend someone, why don’t you just tell them that I want to become a nun and don’t want to marry.”

“Nonsense!” Mrs. Wang was a little angry.

She was the Prime Minister’s wife, of course she knew how complicated the situation in the court was.  And their Wang family held the highest position in the court, their two sons-in-law were also from the best families and had good character, so there were countless people in the court who wanted to marry into their family.

They didn’t want to marry Wang Baochuan, they clearly wanted to have the connections of the Wang family, the Su family, and the Wei family.

The current Emperor was in his prime, although he relied heavily on Prime Minister Wang, he was also afraid of his power becoming too great.

Mrs. Wang sighed, she and her husband had discussed it carefully, and they only planned to let Baochuan marry a scholar with good character and a decent family background.

This way, he would be a member of the literati class, and there would be no suspicion of forming a clique.

“Mother, don’t worry, I will give you an answer in two days, and then you and Father won’t have to worry about my marriage anymore.”

Mrs. Wang was half-believing, her daughter was always good at coaxing her, she didn’t quite believe her.

Wang Baochuan nodded solemnly, “Just trust me.”

“You, you’ve been spoiled by your mother and father, look at your elder sister and second sister, how obedient they are.”

Wang Baochuan perfunctorily agreed, “Yes, yes, if I could meet a man like Big Brother-in-law, who has been with Big Sister since childhood, I would have married long ago.”

Three days later, late at night.

Wang Baochuan was walking in the back garden with her maids, and she vaguely saw someone jumping over the wall.  Sure enough, many things were unchangeable.

Xue Pinggui still met Dai Zhan, they rescued each other, and then they were in danger and escaped into the Prime Minister’s mansion.

Thinking about it, even if her father and Wei Hu didn’t trouble Xue Pinggui, his military career wouldn’t be smooth.  This man was destined to become the King of Xiliang and marry Princess Dai Zhan.

“It’s you?” Xue Pinggui was very surprised to see her.

Xiaolian was about to scream, but Xue Pinggui covered her mouth.

Dai Zhan was injured, and the three of them had nowhere else to go, so they ran into the Prime Minister’s mansion.

“Who… who are you?” Wang Baochuan pretended to be scared and was about to call for help.

Dai Zhan covered her wound, held a sword to her, “Save us, or we’ll all die together.”

Before Wang Baochuan could reply, the secret agents jumped out and shot a dart, knocking the sword out of her hand.

“Help! There’s an assassin!”