Returning to the Fengyi Palace, Yan Zhiyu sat on the couch, looking blankly at the child in his arms and the paper flower in the child’s small hand.
When they had first met, Ling Lie had also given him a flower just like this one.
That day, he had argued with someone and crouched alone behind the rockery to sulk, only to be run right into by Ling Lie, who had come to attend the banquet.
At sixteen, Ling Lie’s stature was already outstanding among his peers. Standing there, he instantly blocked out a vast expanse of the sky.
He didn’t want to talk to anyone, so he simply buried his face in his arms like a hatching quail.
Seeing this, Ling Lie didn’t walk away. Instead, he crouched down, tilted his head to look at him, and greeted him. “Are you someone from the Yan family?”
Yan Zhiyu ignored him and continued playing the quail.
Seeing that, Ling Lie reached out and poked him, annoying to the extreme. Under normal circumstances, Yan Zhiyu would have directly called someone to chase him away. But back then, he only wanted some peace and quiet all by himself, so he merely lifted his face and glared at him.
Perhaps it was because the weather that day was scorching hot, so hot that his face was flushed red, or perhaps it was because he had just cried, making his eyes red and looking utterly pitiful, which instantly pierced straight into the young imperial prince’s heart.
Ling Lie immediately shuffled his little steps closer to his side and asked him again. “Then are you a guest?”
Yan Zhiyu pressed his lips together and didn’t say half a word.
At that moment, several male voices drew closer, chatting as if passing by.
“Did you not see how he was just now? His face was so red with anger.”
“No matter what, he is the General’s Mansion’s young master. If this gets out…”
“Would he dare to go tell anyone? Arrogant, domineering, and attention-seeking. If not for his status hanging there, who would bother flattering him?”
“Exactly! If this matter gets spread out, it’s the General’s Mansion that loses face! Who told him to always look down his nose at people? This is called reaping what he sows.”
“But I heard…”
The voices gradually drifted away, and the latter words became indistinct, but the earlier ones fell word for word into both of their ears.
In the Great Zhou dynasty, besides men and women, there was a minority of men who could conceive and bear children, known as ge’er. Ordinary men reached adulthood at twenty, whereas ge’ers reached adulthood at fifteen. Today happened to be Yan Zhiyu’s coming-of-age ceremony.
His family doted on him and threw a grand banquet, firstly to celebrate, and secondly to look around for a suitable husband family for him. Therefore, besides acquaintances, the people who came included eligible young bachelors from the capital, and the ones who had just been speaking were actually among those he considered good friends.
Usually, those people appeared very warm whenever they saw him, and he regarded them as true friends. When servants told him they had arrived, he had wanted to go meet them, never expecting to overhear them speaking ill of him.
Yet, just as they had said, he was a member of the General’s Mansion, and everyone today was a guest attending his coming-of-age banquet. If a scene were to be made, regardless of whether he was in the right or what the outcome would be, it would only turn the General’s Mansion into the laughingstock of everyone’s tea-table gossip.
He simply hadn’t expected that even though they saw him earlier, they still dared to talk behind his back.
Yan Zhiyu felt increasingly distressed. He buried half his face into his arm bend, holding his aching nose without making a sound.
Seeing him like that, Ling Lie instantly understood. “You’re the young master of the General’s Mansion?” As soon as he finished speaking, he was glared at again. It was still that soft, incredibly aggrieved look, so he softened his tone, carrying a trace of conciliation he hadn’t even realized himself. “You are Yan Zhiyu.”
Since the other had already pointed out his identity, if he continued to ignore him, he would be criticized for lacking upbringing by the General’s Mansion. Yan Zhiyu had no choice but to wipe his face, stand up, and give the other a proper, formal bow.
Seeing him behave this way, Ling Lie’s eyes instantly curved into smiles.
He was good-looking, and when he smiled, he looked exceptionally pleasing. Among all the young lords who had come to attend the banquet today, he was top-tier. Even the gloom in Yan Zhiyu’s heart was dispelled by two parts because of that smile.
“Why do you just let them talk?” Ling Lie cupped his face in his hands, staring unblinkingly at the delicate and pretty person before him. The forehead was full and broad, the eyes were standard peach blossom eyes shining brightly and full of spirit, and both cheeks carried a lingering trace of baby fat. His lips were pressed together without smiling, looking quiet, restrained, elegant, and noble, at most somewhat aloof, completely mismatched with what those people had said.
Yan Zhiyu knew his speech was unappealing and didn’t want to leave a bad impression on this good-looking young lord, so he simply pressed his lips together in silence and offered another bow.
Thus, in Ling Lie’s heart, he appeared even more pitiful. Clearly of noble birth, yet forced to swallow his anger and endure for the sake of the General’s Mansion’s reputation. How heart-wrenching.
“It’s fine. I’ll help you teach them a lesson.” Ling Lie patted his chest, the smile on his face growing even more radiant.
Yan Zhiyu was taken aback.
He wanted to say that since those people didn’t treat him as a friend, there was no need for him to take it to heart. Today he couldn’t vent his anger, but in the future, there would be plenty of ways to deal with them.
However, if he said that, it would sound even more like he was throwing his weight around and acting recklessly based on his status. So he opened his mouth, but not knowing how to explain it properly, he simply closed it again and shook his head to warn the other not to do anything foolish.
Yet, his momentary friendship with Ling Lie was clearly insufficient to support even the slightest bit of tacit understanding.
Ling Lie thought he was frightened and cast a soothing look his way. “Don’t be afraid. No one will find out it has anything to do with you.” Having said that, seeing Yan Zhiyu’s expression looking as though he were about to cry, he thought for a moment, searched his person, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, folded it into a flower in just a few quick motions, and handed it to Yan Zhiyu. “I’ll protect you from now on. Whenever you have any trouble, you can come find me anytime.”
At the time, Yan Zhiyu had only thought this person was rather clumsy, but looking at that flower, he had instinctively taken it and nodded very lightly.
Thinking about it now, he had started tricking him right from that moment.
Yan Zhiyu closed his eyes, looking at the paper flower before him with a bitter smile. Married for five years, Ling Lie never figured out his true nature until his dying day. Who knew if he would be angry with him beneath the nine springs, or if he would grow impatient and stop waiting for him.
At this thought, his eye sockets grew somewhat warm and red, so he simply placed the flower to the side.
For the sake of this flower, he wasn’t entirely incapable of being a bit kinder to the Regent, as long as the man could honestly and properly act as an idle prince without hatching any inappropriate thoughts.
Ling Lie was already gone. He had to protect their child well.
The little Emperor didn’t understand his father’s thoughts. Seeing him put the flower down, he immediately stretched out his little hands to grab it from the table and play with it, tearing it apart in just a few movements.
His imperial father used to fold many fun things for him too, but he could never learn how; once he tore them apart, he could never fold them back.
Fiddling with it a few times and realizing he really couldn’t fix it, little Xiunuo had no choice but to tug at Yan Zhiyu’s hand with a grievance-stricken expression, showing him the paper pieces in his palm. “Father.”
Yan Zhiyu felt somewhat helpless, reached out to pull a few sheets of paper from the desk, and said gently, “This letter cannot be played with. Father will fold something else for you.”
Little Xiunuo immediately brightened up, stretched out his short little arms to hook onto the desk edge, stood up from Yan Zhiyu’s lap to watch, and obediently waited for his new toy.
Ling Lie’s hands were very nimble. A single piece of paper could transform endlessly in his hands, always able to coax his son into happiness.
Having been with Ling Lie for so long, Yan Zhiyu naturally knew a little bit, but back and forth he only knew those few tricks. He folded a few small boats for his son, instructed him not to run around randomly, and then had someone bring over the memorials from the Zixiao Hall.
With so many matters lately, memorials were naturally numerous, piling up until they almost formed a small hill, but only a small portion had been brought over.
Yan Zhiyu looked at Xu Jinbao with a puzzled expression. “Bring all of them.”
“Th-there are no more,” Xu Jinbao said with a troubled look. “The Regent had people come over just now and took them all away.”
Yan Zhiyu’s brows furrowed fiercely. “You guys just let him take them away?!” He had just been thinking about being kinder to him, but this person turned around and tried to seize power!
Xu Jinbao also wanted to cry and hurriedly said, “This servant knew after the fact and immediately sent people to chase them back.”
Yan Zhiyu’s expression didn’t improve much.
The people in the palace had been replaced once. The moment he lowered his guard for even two instructions, someone found a loophole. He still needed to reorganize the personnel as soon as possible.
“Make sure they are all chased back.” Yan Zhiyu raised a hand to massage his brow, unsealing both letters to read, and felt an even greater headache coming on.
The contents of the letters were largely similar: congratulating Ling Lie on ascending to the position of Regent so they could go out for a cup of tea sometime. The words carried intentions of political courtship, though not overly obvious.
The court was already unstable, and these people were still stirring up muddy waters here. He still needed to find a way to chase these various imperial princes back to their respective fiefdoms.
Just as he was pondering, Xu Jinbao, who had just gone out, returned with a somewhat peculiar expression. “Empress Dowager, the memorials have all been chased back.”
Yan Zhiyu frowned at him. “Just present them then.”
“But this… the Regent has also come,” Xu Jinbao explained. “The Golden Feather Guards ran into the Prince halfway, and the Prince was bringing the memorials back himself, saying he wanted to speak with the Empress Dowager first.”
Yan Zhiyu’s brows knitted even tighter.
He couldn’t figure out this man’s intentions at all. He took the memorials away without a word, and suddenly remembered to come back and give a heads-up. Surely he couldn’t have forgotten, right?
Ling Lie. Ling Lie really had forgotten. He had wanted to share some burdens for his Empress, but having been used to acting as Emperor, fetching memorials previously didn’t require any notice, so he had directly ordered people to carry them away without anyone stopping him. It wasn’t until he reached the palace gates that it dawned on him: given his current identity, this was likely going to make the Empress suspicious.
He had just said he wanted to help, and right away he started seizing power? What if the Empress mistakenly thought he was just lowering his guard?
He immediately turned around, hot and flustered, and ran back, stopping right at the entrance of Fengyi Palace where he erupted into an earth-shattering fit of coughing. It took him a good while to catch his breath. Looking up at that familiar plaque, he inexplicably felt a sense of timidity upon returning home.
Every time he used to return here, the first person he would always see was Yan Zhiyu waiting by the entrance.
His Empress was virtuous and kind, and his temperament was top-tier gentle. Whenever they met, he would always care about whether he was cold or warm, softly asking if he had dined yet. If his mood was poor, he would say a few more intimate words, pulling him for a stroll in the imperial garden or personally stepping into the kitchen to make some small pastries.
Thinking of Yan Zhiyu’s smiling and pleasant appearance, Ling Lie’s heart grew warm, and a smile unconsciously bloomed on his face. Following Xu Jinbao into Fengyi Palace, he momentarily even forgot to bow.
Seeing that Ling Lie completely disregarded him, Yan Zhiyu’s gaze turned cold, and just as he was about to make a fuss, Ling Lie, who had suddenly snapped back to reality, already dropped to his knees and bowed. “Greetings, Empress Dowager.”
Yan Zhiyu’s words were choked back into his throat once more. For a split second, he even wondered if this Regent was a bit slow-witted, otherwise why did all his actions seem to lag half a beat behind?
Ling Lie secretly lifted his head to steal a glance at Yan Zhiyu, and seeing him looking so blankly stunned, the smile at the corners of his lips deepened even further. His Empress was still just as adorable.