Underneath A Thousand Skies ✔️

23 Favoring Qie Over Wife (23)

In no time at all, the Qixi or Qi Qiao festival had arrived. All the xiaojie [1] in the capital had dressed up meticulously, showing their best appearance. Even the gongzi [2] from different noble houses occupied nearly all of the restaurants and teahouses, eagerly waiting for a romantic encounter with a beauty.

The streets of the capital were teeming with people, and the clamor of vendors selling their market wares along with the chatter of the crowd made it so noisy that one would have to speak to their companions in a louder volume just to be heard. The festival was a place of unrestrained joy, showing a riot of colors that could rival even the colorful flowers of the imperial garden. The air tasted heavenly with the food sellers cooking along the streets, every delicious thing piping hot and ready to be eaten.

In the zhengfang, Song Jia was adjusting the laces of her boots, ignoring the wails of Ruolan and Minglan. She wore a veiled hat that covered her entire face, but her eyes and the red lotus flower that was drawn on her forehead could be clearly seen. The veil was thin enough to show that the person behind it was a beauty. It only covered most of Song Jia's features for her not to be recognized.

"Wang fei, please don't do this!" Ruolan threw herself to the ground and grabbed the hem of her dress that had been embroidered with persimmon patterns. The sash on her waist was red, matching the drawn lotus flower.

"Wang fei, please rethink your decision!" Minglan followed Ruolan and threw herself to her right.

No matter what, they could not let wang fei sneak out of the wangfu!

Their desperate movements revealed the boots that Song Jia had hidden under her dress again. They weren't ordinary boots, but anti-gravitational boots that Song Jia had pulled out of her storage space ring. She was planning to use them to get out of the tightly guarded wangfu.

As for the reason why Song Jia had to sneak out?

Of course, it was because of her biased husband again! He had called her to his study a few days ago to tell her that since Bai Mei Lien had 'suffered a fright' and 'needed something to liven her up', he had decided to accompany her to the Qi Qiao Festival. Song Jia could only paste a smile on her face and agree. It was not conventional for Zhao Cheng to bring his two wives outside to go out and play; he would have to choose one or the other.

Facing a decision between Song Jia and Bai Mei Lien, who didn't expect this kind of outcome? As weeks turned into months and Song Jia was starting to sink into her role, she found herself to be siding closer and closer on Li Jia's side.

If he wasn't the future monarch that she had to protect, she would have slapped him by now!

Song Jia sidestepped Ruolan and Minglan's clutches and appeased them, "I'm wearing a veil. No one would be able to recognize me. You two just guard the zhengfang in my stead and do your duties as usual."

"Wang fei..."

Ruolan and Minglan made a grab for her dress again, but before they could react, Song Jia seized a fistful of her dress, lifted it up, and jumped out of the window. Behind the zhengfang was the houzhaofang, or the north pavilion. After that, it would be the wangfu's high walls that Song Jia knew were being patrolled by Zhao Cheng's secret guards. She had done her preparations early for this prison break. Using her spy cameras, she memorized all of the possible routes and the daily schedules of the servants.

Song Jia jumped from the ground and into the roof, almost like a bird that took flight. Each of her landings were light and quiet, and soon, she was standing on the walls of the wangfu. She stayed there for a brief second before jumping off and melting in with the crowd.

There were many carriages that created a small traffic on the road. Curtains were opened by lily-white hands, showing their eager occupants who wore thick make-up. In this kind of hot weather, it only made the xiaojie of various noble houses look ghastly. Song Jia patted her cheeks that were beautified by 23rd century's advanced make-up kit and felt relieved that she had thrown them into her storage space ring at the last minute.

Song Jia bought a fan with a life-like illustration of a bamboo forest from a nearby vendor and slowly went along with the flow of people. There were colorful lanterns, accessories, and interesting trinkets with every stall that she passed by.

Zī zī zī[3]...Song Jia saw that ahead of her was a vendor selling fried sweet rice dumplings and her stomach grumbled. She couldn't resist and bought a few pieces, instantly bringing the bamboo skewer into her mouth to have a taste.

Ah, but she couldn't eat with her veil. It was too cumbersome.

Song Jia lifted her veil with one hand while blowing on her snack to cool it off. Having done so, she was about to take a bite when a surprised voice was heard just beside her ear, "Qin wang fei?"

Song Jia glanced sideways and choked. Immediately, her gluttonous expression disappeared and was replaced by a dignified and graceful lady-like appearance. Her eyes were calm as a still lake and her smile was seven parts reserved, three parts embarrassed. Even the bamboo skewer was held by her hand in an orchid manner [4].

"Oh, what a coincidence it is to see Wen daifu. We meet again."

[1] Daughter of a noble
[2] Son of a noble
[3] Sizzle; onomatopoeia of deep frying
[4] join the thumb and middle finger while the other fingers are extended; used to elegantly hold a tea cup