Daring to be angry but not daring to say anything, Chu Zhaohuai silently sat down and continued eating his oranges.
Ji Yi watched him in horror.
How could he be so utterly careless about etiquette? Was he really not afraid that his father would kill him?
Ji Xun sat there, his expression giving away neither anger nor happiness. Gathering his courage, Ji Yi cautiously said, “If the assignment from the palace isn’t important, A’Yi is willing to share Father’s burden.”
“Mm, it’s not particularly important.” Ji Xun casually peeled an orange and handed it to Chu Zhaohuai. “It’s merely that some bandits have been causing trouble outside the capital recently. They have been killing and robbing people, though they are hardly a force to be reckoned with. A’Yi, since you’re so willing to help, go take two guards and eliminate those several hundred bandits.”
Ji Yi: “……”
Chu Zhaohuai: “Cough, cough, cough.”
Ji Yi had long since grown accustomed to his father speaking words that made no sense. He bowed awkwardly. “Then this son will take his leave first.”
“Mm.”
Ji Yi supported Liang Fang, who was sleeping so deeply that he seemed completely unaware of the world and left.
After Chu Zhaohuai finally steadied his coughing, he could not help asking, “There are bandits around the capital too?”
The capital’s wealth and splendor were dazzling enough to make anyone lose sight of reality. He had always thought that banditry only existed in places like Jiangnan, where the sky was high and the emperor was far away.
Hearing that unmistakable Jiangnan accent that Chu Zhaohuai made no effort to conceal, Ji Xun had originally intended to pretend he had not heard it but when he saw Chu Zhaohuai completely relaxed, happily munching away at his oranges like a greedy golden hamster, he suddenly became interested.
“Mm. In places too far outside the city, there is no city defense. It is inevitable that there will be some bold individuals lurking about but Wangfei has learned that Jiangnan accent rather well.”
Chu Zhaohuai: “……”
He immediately did not dare eat anymore and answered stiffly, “Y… yesterday I listened to some opera and learned a few lines.”
Ji Xun gave him a half smile. “Then why don’t you sing a few lines?”
How could Chu Zhaohuai possibly know how to sing opera? His mind went completely blank. Only a few lines of a little tune he had heard while walking through the streets floated into his mind and before he knew it, he hummed them and blurted them out.
“…This poor woman has such a bitter fate. After entering the household, I wear white robes and now that the man of the house is dead…”
Ji Xun: “……”
Yin Chongshan, who had remained silent all this time, silently reached for his saber.
Singing a little widow’s mourning song about burying her husband right in front of the Prince, this was outrageously bold.
The moment Chu Zhaohuai finished singing that one line, he suddenly came back to his senses and his entire face turned green.
Wasn’t he essentially cursing Ji Xun to die?
That was far too inauspicious.
Before Chu Zhaohuai could find a way to explain himself, Ji Xun smiled and said, “Not bad. Graceful and melodious, lingering and pleasant to the ear.”
Chu Zhaohuai blinked.
He wasn’t angry even at that?
Ji Xun really was such a good person.
Yin Chongshan expressionlessly put his hand back from his saber and silently came up with a reason to explain the Prince’s unusual behavior to himself.
Forget it. The Prince must have some great use for treating him with such special favor.
Perhaps he was the key to bringing down the Crown Prince!
Ji Xun’s “kindness” gave Chu Zhaohuai the courage to become increasingly audacious. He cleared his throat and tentatively said, “Prince, I… I was confused last night and forgot that the court opens gambling games on the Little New Year’s Eve. Those pieces of gold…”
Ji Xun raised his brows slightly and smiled. “Are the Fengxian oranges delicious?”
Chu Zhaohuai did not understand why he was asking that but he obediently answered, “They’re delicious.”
“That’s good.” Ji Xun said, “They were bought with the gold Wangfei handed over last night. There was enough to let Wangfei eat them all the way until the New Year.”
Chu Zhaohuai: “……”
Chu Zhaohuai was utterly incredulous.
A hundred pieces of gold and he had spent them all on three crates of Fengxian oranges?
The oranges might be golden and dazzling but they were not actually made of gold. Why on earth were they so expensive?!
Chu Zhaohuai was practically about to be driven to madness by Ji Xun’s extravagance. What made it even worse was that he had squandered Chu Zhaohuai’s own money. Clinging to his final shred of hope, he asked, “Did you spend it all?”
“Mm.”
Chu Zhaohuai almost wanted to die right there in front of him.
Ji Xun watched him with great interest.
After the miserly man learned that these oranges had been bought with gold, he was no longer eating them with the same gusto as before. He did not even bother removing the white pith anymore. Instead, he would spend ages sucking at a single little segment of orange flesh, looking utterly dejected.
For no particular reason, Ji Xun began laughing again.
Taking advantage of the fact that his eye veil concealed his face, Chu Zhaohuai boldly glared at him.
Ji Xun laughed even harder. After teasing him to his satisfaction, he finally found his conscience and said, “A few days ago, I noticed that you liked eating venison. It has snowed recently at the imperial hunting grounds ten li outside the city. I’ll be going there in a few days while I’m out that way. I’ll bring you some venison when I return.”
Chu Zhaohuai froze. It took him quite a while to realize that Ji Xun was trying to comfort him.
Very few people had ever cared this much about his feelings, much less gone out of their way to make up for something that had upset him.
Chu Zhaohuai’s face grew warm. He awkwardly fiddled with the orange peel he had been unwilling to throw away and quietly said, “No need. I can just eat fish.”
“Then shall I buy you a small cabinet?” Ji Xun’s voice became even gentler. “I noticed that the little dowry cabinet you brought with you is missing a corner. It doesn’t seem capable of holding very much either.”
Chu Zhaohuai shook his head. “There’s no need to trouble the Prince.”
He had food and a place to live. He was already satisfied.
Besides, the little cabinet bore the words “Live a Long Life,” hand carved by his mother herself. It had traveled back and forth with him through many different places, containing everything he owned: medical texts, prescriptions and silver.
Most of all, poisons.
Ji Xun smiled. “Then if there’s anything you want, just tell Uncle Zhao.”
“All right.” Chu Zhaohuai hesitated before carefully asking, “Then… can I ask Uncle Zhao to withdraw a little silver from the treasury?”
Ji Xun said, “Naturally.”
Chu Zhaohuai immediately brightened.
He had not earned much money practicing medicine in Jiangnan. Later, he had somehow offended some important person and ended up having a group of people sent after him to assassinate him. He had been chased until they were all shouting and howling and he had made the miserable journey back to the capital by boat for more than half a month.
By then, there was even less silver left in his possession.
His mother’s dowry was naturally off limits. Besides, he could not bring himself to spend his gold, so he could only pinch every penny and prepare to fleece the Prince’s Residence for a little spending money.
Then he would take another large sum and find the two young servants from last night to spread some more rumors for him.
Repeat customers, after all. Surely they would put in even more effort this time.
Chu Zhaohuai happily scampered out.
Ji Xun watched the young man’s lively, bouncing figure disappear, a faint smile surfacing in the depths of his eyes.
Yin Chongshan frowned. “The pigeon message Zhou Huan sent from Jiangnan mentioned this person’s ‘greed for money’ nine times in two pages. Your Highness, aren’t you afraid he’ll secretly pocket the silver from the Prince’s Residence’s treasury?”
Ji Xun ignored the remark and said, “Call Liuchu over. We’re leaving the city tomorrow.”
Yin Chongshan: “To suppress bandits?”
“To hunt deer.”
Yin Chongshan: “……”
If he had not been constantly by His Highness’s side, protecting him at every moment, he would have thought that Chu Zhaohuai had cast some kind of demonic spell on the prince!
Just then, Steward Zhao hurried over and reported, “Your Highness, the Princess Consort just withdrew some silver from the residence’s treasury.”
Yin Chongshan gave a cold laugh, wearing an expression that clearly said, “I knew it.”
Having suddenly obtained the prince’s permission, surely he would withdraw several hundred taels of gold and squander them recklessly.
Ji Xun asked, “How much did he withdraw?”
Steward Zhao answered hesitantly, “Five taels.”
Yin Chongshan: “?”
What could five taels possibly be enough for?!
……
Five taels was enough to bribe two young servants into spreading rumors for him!
Chu Zhaohuai changed his clothes, put on a veil over his eyes to conceal his identity and went out to spread rumors.
The Prince of Jing’s Residence was harmonious and affectionate, with husband and wife treating each other with mutual respect, while the Marquis of Zhenyuan’s residence was in complete chaos.
Chu Jing violently swept the teacup from the table, smashing it into pieces. His breathing rose and fell heavily with anger. “Who told them to spread these words around?!”
Seated below him was a man dressed in white. Even in the middle of winter, he was lazily waving a fan. A conspicuous red birthmark marked the area between his brows. From his scholarly bearing and the refined air in his every movement, he was clearly a man of letters.
“It was presumably the Prince of Jing-” he said. “Without his permission, there is no way this matter could have spread throughout the entire capital overnight.”
Chu Jing’s head throbbed painfully as he pressed a hand against his forehead. “What exactly is Ji Mingchen trying to do? He knows perfectly well that this was a substitute marriage yet he is indulging him to such an extent. Could he have another move prepared?”
The man in white spoke indifferently. “If Marquis Chu had sent the Young Marquis to the Prince’s Residence in the first place, none of this would have happened.”
Chu Jing’s gaze turned cold.
“I know the Marquis places great importance on the Young Marquis but if Prince Jing ascends the throne in the future, with his vindictive temperament, does the Marquis of Zhenyuan’s residence truly think it can remain untouched?”
The man smiled. “The marriage was bestowed by His Majesty. Regardless of whether Prince Jing was the one who acted, if the Princess Consort dies in the Prince’s Residence, that alone would constitute the grave crime of showing contempt for imperial authority. It is merely unfortunate that Prince Jing remained clear headed and did not take his anger out on the Princess Consort, actually allowing him to survive until now.”
Chu Jing slowly closed his eyes. “Mr. Rong, what exactly brings you here today?”
The guest of the Crown Prince, Mr. Rong, inclined his head. “I merely wanted to ask the Marquis, what exactly is the background of your eldest son?”
“What background could he possibly have?” Chu Jing frowned. “He has lived in the Bai family in Lin’an ever since he was seven. He probably learned a little of his maternal grandfather’s mediocre medical skills. All he knows is how to prescribe random remedies for people.”
The letter Chu Jing had sent to Chu Zhaohuai had said that his grandmother was gravely ill.
Chu Zhaohuai had spent half a month traveling by boat, vomiting all the way to the capital. He had not even had a moment to rest before rushing to see his supposedly “critically ill” grandmother, trembling as he wrote out several prescriptions.
“‘Mediocre medical skills’?” Mr. Rong glanced at him. “If his medical skills are truly so poor, then how has he managed to stay alive until now?”
Chu Jing’s brows remained tightly knitted. “What do you mean, Mr. Rong?”
Seeing that Chu Jing had little affection for his eldest son, Mr. Rong simply spoke frankly. “The day before his wedding, I had someone poison him. At most, he should have died within three days once the poison took effect.”
Chu Jing was instantly horrified.
Mr. Rong continued, “Yet he is still alive. Last night, he was even running around the gambling boat full of energy, winning more than ten thousand taels of silver.”
Chu Jing instinctively said, “Impossible.”
Someone in Jiangnan had also sent him word. They had only said that his eldest son was useless apart from having a handsome face and that all he knew how to do was stuff himself with food from morning till night.
Once he learned that the son he had abandoned long ago was nothing more than a good for nothing, Chu Jing had gradually become able to justify placing all his affection as a father onto Chu Zhaojiang.
Seeing Chu Jing sink into thought, Mr. Rong said, “Could you let me take a look at the prescriptions the Young Marquis wrote?”
Distracted, Chu Jing ordered a servant to retrieve them.
Mr. Rong stared at the two prescriptions, each of which precisely treated the corresponding symptoms. He gazed at the signature at the bottom for a long while before suddenly smiling.
Whenever Chu Zhaohuai wrote a prescription, he would habitually sign his name at the bottom. The prescriptions he had written at the Marquis of Zhenyuan’s residence were no exception. On the crumpled sheets of paper was neat, elegant handwriting, with two characters written in firm, graceful strokes at the very end.
“Baiji.”
It was precisely the divine physician whom the Crown Prince had sent people throughout Jiangnan to hunt down for so long yet had never managed to find.
……
Chu Zhaohuai suddenly sneezed.
He looked around, somehow feeling as though someone was following him.
Chu Zhaohuai had no awareness whatsoever that, as the Princess Consort, he was now technically someone confined to the inner residence and should not be going outside to show his face. He changed into another set of clothes to conceal his identity, haggled over the fare on the road for quite some time and spent a few copper coins to hitch a ride on a donkey cart that happened to be heading in the same direction, eventually arriving at the painted pleasure boat pavilion from the previous night.
The two young servants who were particularly skilled at spreading rumors were busy attending to customers. They could be spotted the moment one entered the tavern.
Chu Zhaohuai gave the two of them a crisp snap of his fingers, signaling for them to come over and talk.
The two young servants exchanged glances.
After being thoroughly frightened by that fiendish prince the previous night, they had no desire to accept another one of these potentially fatal private jobs but then they remembered what Prince Jing had said with a smiling face the night before: “If he comes looking for you again to pass along messages in the future, go to the Prince’s Residence and inform me.”
They had no choice. The two approached him trembling.
Chu Zhaohuai slapped the enormous sum of five taels onto the table. “Two brave warriors, spread a few more rumors for me.”
The two: “……”
The two had no way of refusing and could only nod with tears in their eyes.
Chu Zhaohuai immediately began rattling off the lines, thoughtfully preparing the exact words for them.
“Truly, the hearts of people have grown cold and the world has changed. Who was the one saying that Prince Jing was some kind of fiend? I saw him with my own eyes, he is handsome and gentle as jade. In what way is he crazy? The people spreading such rumors are the ones who must be crazy.”
“Exactly, exactly. Prince Jing is considerate and kind, exceptionally talented and elegant… Mm, although he is a little sharp tongued, ah, wait! Don’t spread that last part, all right? I’ll give you another tael!”
“Rumors and gossip can kill people.”
“Exactly, exactly.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The translator has been bribed with exactly zero coffees so far. Fix this. 😭
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Substitute BrideChapter 2 · Chu ZhaojiangChapter 3 · Very safeChapter 4 · He is the prince’s manChapter 5 · It was really hard to refuse their kind invitation.Chapter 6 · Thankfully it was just poisoning.Chapter 7 · Haha, I spit on “golden and jade hall”!Chapter 8 · Are you not satisfied with the homecoming gift?Chapter 9 · You must keep your identity hidden.Chapter 10 · I like whole fish banquetChapter 11 · BankruptChapter 12 · Add some funChapter 13 · FightChapter 14 · Three taels of silverChapter 15 · Go back to restChapter 16 · They’re all spendthrifts.Chapter 17 · Enough for branches and leavesChapter 18 · Rumors can kill peopleChapter 19 · I want to get closer to the prince.Chapter 20 · Why not move in and share a room?Chapter 21 · Ha, I’m not stupid.Chapter 22 Part 1 · Liang Fang’s prescriptionChapter 22 Part 2 · Liang Fang’s prescriptionChapter 23 · Be more cautious and vigilantChapter 24 Part 1 · Don’t touch meChapter 24 Part 2 · Don’t touch meChapter 25 Part 1 · Golden NeedleChapter 25 Part 2 · Golden NeedleChapter 26 · To avoid suspicionChapter 27 · Committing numerous evil deedsChapter 28 Part 1 · May I receive the worst possible fortuneChapter 28 Part 2 · May I receive the worst possible fortuneChapter 29 · I really didn’t mean to kill youChapter 30 · Protect the prince!Chapter 31 · The bird that fell into the trapChapter 32 · Embracing someone on the couchChapter 33 · The miracle doctor is going home!Chapter 34 · I shouldn’t have wanted to hurt himChapter 35 · A bout of madnessChapter 36 · NightmareChapter 37 Part 1 · SpecialChapter 37 Part 2 · SpecialChapter 38 · Being hunted downChapter 39 · Cause and Bitter FruitChapter 40 · Is he honest and kind?Chapter 41 · I am flattered and overwhelmed.Chapter 42 · No, I want to buy.Chapter 43 Part 1 · When the city gate catches fireChapter 43 Part 2 · When the city gate catches fireChapter 44 · It’s the face of a notorious thiefChapter 45 · Are you trying to comfort me?Chapter 46 · Thank you, Your Highness!Chapter 47 · Thank you, Your Highness!Chapter 48 · It’s delicious!Chapter 49 · SeducingChapter 50 · By imperial decreeChapter 51 Part 1 · Potent MedicineChapter 51 Part 2 · Potent MedicineChapter 52 · Wasn’t it impotence?Chapter 53 · I’m not busy todayChapter 54 Part 1 · Break his legs directlyChapter 54 Part 2 · Break his legs directlyChapter 55 · I really didn’t mean to mess with youChapter 56 · Don’t play the victim when you’re having a medical episodeChapter 57 · Let’s do it one more time!Chapter 58 Part 1 · I’ve got you!Chapter 58 Part 2 · I’ve got you!Chapter 59 · A doctor’s dutyChapter 60 Part 1 · Are you at peace with yourself?Chapter 60 Part 2 · Are you at peace with yourself?