Chapter 39 – The Crowing of Roosters Warns the Dawn

Just as Tang Chaoyang was glaring angrily at Fei Yan, she sensed something was wrong—bad!

She grabbed Liu’er and turned to run.

Several cold, gleaming arrows shot out from within the alley, all whistling through the air toward them at nearly the same instant.

Tang Chaoyang bit her lip hard, her heart tightening. There were assassins hiding in the alley, too!

In that hair’s-breadth moment, several figures suddenly appeared at their side, blocking the arrows.

Tang Chaoyang pulled Liu’er, running toward the area where the soldiers were gathered. Once she felt they were finally safe, she turned to look back. She saw Fei Yan and Guard Cheng fighting the assassins.

In less than the time it took to burn a single stick of incense, the surroundings gradually fell silent. The air remained thick with the stench of blood.

“Husband!” Dong Xinrui lifted her skirts and hurried out of the restaurant.

As she passed Tang Chaoyang, her cold gaze briefly swept over her before she rushed straight toward Fei Yan.

The golden hair ornament in her hair swung with each of her quick steps, the beads glittering in the sunlight.

Tang Chaoyang saw Dong Xinrui’s chilly look and was a bit speechless.

Dong Xinrui reached Fei Yan’s side, her eyes anxiously fixed on his arm. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s just a small wound, nothing serious. I’ll have Guard Cheng escort you home first,” Fei Yan said evenly. “Don’t worry.”

Dong Xinrui knew she couldn’t stay here and get in Fei Yan’s way. Still, she fretfully reminded him to see a physician about his wound as soon as possible before she finally turned to leave.

She looked at Tang Chaoyang’s retreating figure, her gentle gaze carrying a hidden sharpness.

From the restaurant, she had seen everything clearly just now. Fei Yan’s injury had been sustained while saving Tang Chaoyang.

Tang Chaoyang led Liu’er to sit beneath a large banyan tree. In a soft voice, she said, “Liu’er, you rest here a while. I’ll go get An’an and come right back for you.”

Liu’er’s face was still as pale as paper. The harrowing scene just now had left her shaken. She shook her head. “Miss, forgive me—this maid is too timid. I’ll go with you to the academy.”

She hopped in place a few times to make her legs stop trembling.

Tang Chaoyang saw her pallor hadn’t improved and said with amusement, “Just wait here and rest a bit. An’an is still waiting for me, so I’ll fetch him quickly and return.”

The scene today had been too bloody. They had narrowly escaped with their lives. Liu’er’s fear was only natural.

Tang Chaoyang herself was also afraid.

She simply forced the fear to the bottom of her heart.

If Fei Yan and the others had been even a step slower, she probably would have been shot dead by those arrows.

This attempt on Fei Yan’s life might have been because of the memorial he had submitted about confiscating property, or perhaps, as Gu Yuan had analyzed, the new emperor had already begun to move against a certain powerful clan.

Tang Chaoyang quickly sorted her thoughts and hurried to the academy.

When she arrived, she saw Fei An’an already standing at the gates waiting for her.

As soon as he spotted her, he called out happily, “Mother!”

He ran toward her with delight.

Tang Chaoyang crouched down and spread her arms to hug her son. She buried her face against him, breathing in his scent to calm her heart, which still held the fear of having nearly been killed.

But as she inhaled—“?”

There was a strange smell on her child.

“An’an, what did you get on yourself? You smell strange.”

Tang Chaoyang stopped sniffing him and loosened her hug to look him over.

Fei An’an lifted his little sleeve and sniffed around like a puppy. “An’an doesn’t smell anything.”

“…”

Tang Chaoyang reached up and plucked a chicken feather from his hair.

Fei An’an looked at the feather and scratched his head. “Teacher took us to see roosters and hens today.”

Tang Chaoyang’s gaze dropped to his boots, which—sure enough—had chicken droppings stuck to them. “…”

No wonder she’d smelled something odd.

Mother and son waited a while, and soon the driver arrived with the carriage.

Tang Chaoyang sighed helplessly, took off Fei An’an’s fouled boots, and lifted him into the carriage.

That teacher really had a way with children—taking them to see roosters and hens.

After she climbed in herself, she instructed the driver to go pick up Liu’er.

Out of curiosity, she asked Fei An’an, “Why did you go look at chickens?”

Fei An’an swayed his head solemnly. “Today we learned an idiom—‘the crowing of roosters warns the dawn.’ The rooster has already crowed, so when you get up to check, dawn has long arrived.”

Tang Chaoyang lifted an eyebrow, leaning lazily back, and deliberately asked, “What does that mean?”

Fei An’an sighed in mock seriousness. “Teacher said we must be like the rooster—treasure time, work diligently, and rise early to crow.”

“Mother, let’s buy a rooster too, okay?”

Her son blinked those bright eyes at her, his whole little face spelling out Buy me a rooster.

Tang Chaoyang fell silent a moment. She thought of how every day at the General’s estate you could hear roosters crowing already. She couldn’t help but laugh. “An’an, when we get back, you have to ask Great-Grandmother whether she agrees. We are living in someone else’s home right now.”

Fei An’an nodded obediently.

Tang Chaoyang also began to consider telling her grandmother in a couple of days that she intended to move out to her own place for convenience.

As the carriage neared the General’s estate, Tang Chaoyang reminded Liu’er not to speak of today’s incident. She didn’t want to worry her grandmother and the others.

Liu’er nodded earnestly. “Yes, Miss.”

*

At the Prime Minister’s residence—

Dong Xinrui returned home, and the scene of Fei Yan saving Tang Chaoyang played in her mind. In a low voice, she asked Nanny Huang, “Has Madam Su made any moves?”

Nanny Huang respectfully replied, “Madam Su has already arranged for Tang Chaoyang to be considered by the Wang family of Xiangping. Madam Wang’s youngest son, Wang Quan, teaches at an academy in the capital. He has had two wives who both died, so he is rumored to be cursed to bring death to his spouses. Wang Quan’s elder brother, Master Wang, is the sixth-rank regional judge of Xiangping.”

Dong Xinrui’s brows lifted slightly, and a cold smile touched her lips. In a quiet voice, she said, “A fitting match. Nanny, keep watching the Su family’s movements. If you hear anything else, tell me at once.”

Nanny Huang replied, “Yes, Madam.”

Dong Xinrui then asked about Old Madam Fei. “Has the Old Madam been sleeping any better?”

As Nanny Huang helped her change clothes, she answered, “Last night she was finally able to rest.”

For some unknown reason, the Old Madam had been sleeping poorly for some time. After taking her medicine for so long, she had finally had a good night’s sleep yesterday.

Just then, a senior maid stood outside the inner chamber and announced that she had something to report.

When Nanny Huang permitted her to enter, the maid stepped inside.

“Madam, Second Master’s wife has come with the young masters and the young lady. They are with the Old Madam now. The Old Madam sent a maid to ask you to come over.”

At these words, Dong Xinrui’s brows knit together slightly.

The Second Master had committed crimes in Tiancheng County and been personally ordered punished by the Emperor. Barring surprises, he would be executed after the autumn trials.

His family had probably come to the capital now to seek refuge with Fei Yan.

After Nanny Huang finished helping her tidy her clothes, Dong Xinrui steeled her expression and went toward Rong’en Hall.

On the way, she adjusted her demeanor and arranged a gentle smile on her face.