The twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month.
Rarely, the weather was exceptionally fine.
Chu Zhaohuai’s cold, brought on by the chill, had still not completely cleared. Early that morning, Uncle Zhao woke him to make him take his medicine. The physician of the residence had already been waiting outside for quite some time and was now sitting beside the bed, changing the dressing on his leg.
Chu Zhaohuai was so sleepy that his head kept nodding forward.
After learning yesterday that the Princess Consort was not the useless wastrel described in the rumors, Uncle Zhao’s attitude toward him had become even gentler than before.
“Princess Consort, if you find the medicine too bitter, we can have the kitchen prepare it as medicinal cuisine at noon.”
Chu Zhaohuai could barely keep his eyes open. He shook his head and mumbled, “Medicinal cuisine works too slowly. It’s only suitable for gentle nourishment and long-term recuperation.”
Uncle Zhao was taken aback.
He exchanged a look with the physician of the residence.
The physician employed by the Prince’s residence naturally knew how to keep his mouth shut. He smiled and nodded along. “The Princess Consort is right. Good medicine tastes bitter but benefits the illness. It would still be better to drink the medicine.”
The wound on Chu Zhaohuai’s lower leg had not injured the bone. After a single day, it had already formed a thin layer of scab. Once the medicinal ointment was applied and the wound properly bandaged, it would only take a few more days for the scab to fall away, provided he did not sprint around as though a wolf were chasing him.
Once the physician finished bandaging the wound, he bowed and withdrew.
By then, Chu Zhaohuai had completely shaken off his drowsiness and slowly walked out of the canopy bed.
The moment he stepped outside, he heard the crisp, rhythmic sound of something striking against the bluestone floor.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound was clear and pleasing to the ear and it grew steadily closer.
Chu Zhaohuai looked over in confusion.
Then, right at the entrance to the enormous sleeping quarters, a deer suddenly charged inside, running around wildly like a headless fly.
Chu Zhaohuai: “……”
Where had this deer come from?
The deer seemed to have been frightened, darting madly in every direction. It nearly tripped Chu Zhaohuai and sent him sprawling flat on his back.
Fortunately, Yin Chongshan arrived just in time.
He abruptly yanked on the rope around the deer’s neck and barely managed to stop it.
“The Princess Consort was startled.”
Chu Zhaohuai had not actually been frightened. Instead, he lowered his head curiously and examined the deer.
“Where did this come from?”
Yin Chongshan said solemnly, “His Highness hunted it at the royal hunting grounds the day before yesterday. His Highness is truly formidable and his archery is extraordinary.”
Chu Zhaohuai: “Wow.”
It should have been difficult to hunt deer during winter.
He had even thought Ji Xun would return empty-handed.
He had not expected him to actually bring one back.
And it was alive, too.
Chu Zhaohuai crouched down and gently stroked the deer. His hand suddenly touched a small wooden plaque hanging around its neck, about the width of two fingers.
He looked at it in confusion.
“Commander Yin, why does this deer have a little wooden plaque around its neck? There are even words written on it.”
Yin Chongshan: “……”
Yin Chongshan’s heart sank.
That was a wooden identification plaque from the Court of Imperial Entertainments, marking something reserved for imperial use.
It was over.
His salary for the next ten years was probably going to be deducted until there was nothing left.
Yin Chongshan was, after all, someone who had followed the Prince for years and had seen plenty of the world. His expression did not change in the slightest.
“Let me take a look, Your Highness.”
Chu Zhaohuai removed the wooden plaque and handed it to him.
Yin Chongshan accepted it and calmly said, “Oh. Your Highness, this is a marker used by the residence for deer from which the blood is to be drawn. One wooden plaque means the blood has already been drawn once.”
Chu Zhaohuai nodded thoughtfully.
As expected of the Prince’s residence.
They certainly had all kinds of peculiar arrangements.
It was Chu Zhaohuai’s first time seeing a living deer. The curiosity in his eyes was impossible to conceal and he reached out to play with its antlers.
Thinking of the deer blood, he fell into thought for a moment before saying, “His Highness is physically weak. He really should use some deer blood.”
Yin Chongshan’s eyelid twitched violently.
“Physically weak?”
“Mm.”
Ever since revealing his true identity, Chu Zhaohuai had become much more relaxed and at ease than he had been in the previous days. He no longer needed to watch every word he said or painstakingly maintain his clumsy disguise.
While stroking the deer’s head, he casually continued, “His Highness doesn’t like to move much and then there’s…… well, that thing. Ahem, yes. Deer blood is quite useful.”
It was said that taking powerful medicines for many years could cause a man to become impotent. Because of this, when some fraudulent Daoist priests refined pills, they would sometimes mix in aphrodisiacs to confuse people and make their concoctions appear more effective.
Although such substances could supposedly allow a man to perform seven times in a single night, they would also deplete the body from within even more severely.
Ji Xun used powerful medicines prepared by the imperial court, so there was no reason to suspect that such filthy substances had been mixed into them.
However, deer blood was said to nourish the blood and essence, promote circulation and strengthen the kidneys. It really was something he ought to try.
Yin Chongshan: “?”
He had a strong feeling that whatever Chu Zhaohuai meant by “that thing” could not possibly have been anything good.
After proudly showing off the deer His Highness had heroically hunted, Yin Chongshan considered his task accomplished and led the deer away.
Chu Zhaohuai drank his medicine, leaving his mouth bitter.
Among the dishes the maidservants had arranged for breakfast was a bowl of tremella soup. It seemed to have been sweetened with osmanthus honey.
He picked it up and was just about to take a bite when the unmistakable sound of Ji Yi’s voice came from the doorway.
“Don’t stop me! This heir has something important to discuss with the Princess Consort……”
“Your Highness!”
“Uncle Zhao, what’s wrong with you? Why do you keep stopping me every single day? You never used to do this before.”
“……”
Chu Zhaohuai naturally looked over.
Ji Yi had broken through Uncle Zhao’s attempt to block him. Tugging Liang Fang along with him, he came bouncing into the room.
The young heir seemed to change his clothes every day.
Today, he was dressed in a bright blue long robe. Its wide sleeves hung loosely around him, restraining some of his usual noisy, boisterous energy. A snow-white sable-fur cloak rested over his shoulders and he came charging in with such momentum that he seemed almost like a gust of snow blowing straight into the room.
Ji Yi announced, “This heir has arrived.”
Chu Zhaohuai took a sip of his porridge and imitated Ji Xun’s manner of speaking.
“Mm. The people on the mountain three hundred li south of the city gates have already heard the commotion of the heir entering.”
Ji Yi: “……”
“You’re becoming more and more like my father.”
Ji Yi pouted, then dragged Liang Fang over and sat down.
“Are you feeling better? When I came in, I saw the physician of the residence leaving from here.”
Chu Zhaohuai was not accustomed to having other people worry about him, so he brushed it off casually.
“Mm, I won’t die, Young Master Liang, how have you been feeling these past few days?”
Liang Fang was dressed in a flowing white robe, his long hair half-tied and the rest cascading loosely over his shoulders. Ever since he entered the room, his gaze had remained fixed on Chu Zhaohuai’s face.
At those words, he lowered his eyes and smiled gently. His tone was sincere as he said, “Your medical skills are indeed remarkable. I spoke out of turn a few days ago and I hope you won’t take offense.”
Chu Zhaohuai liked it best when people treated him as though he were some otherworldly master of medicine. He did not even bother drinking his porridge, instead doing his utmost to keep his face composed and suppress the smile threatening to break through.
With a faint, indifferent expression, he said, “It’s nothing.”
Ji Yi was enthusiastically chattering away beside them. “Liang Fang has been praising you these past few days. He even said that if the divine physician Baiji from Jiangnan came here, he probably wouldn’t possess medical skills as miraculous as yours.”
Chu Zhaohuai froze for a moment. “Baiji?”
Liang Fang lowered his eyes as he drank his porridge. Thinking Chu Zhaohuai did not know the name, he considerately explained, “I heard my father mention that the divine physician Baiji practices medicine in the Jiangnan region. His whereabouts are mysterious but his medical skills are extraordinary.”
Chu Zhaohuai let out an “Oh.”
He had not treated that many people himself. Apart from curing one particularly unusual poison, he had barely had the opportunity to practice medicine and yet, his reputation had already traveled all the way to the capital?
The three of them finished breakfast together, after which Chu Zhaohuai took Liang Fang’s pulse.
The prescription was indeed effective. It simply needed some adjustment to the dosage.
Chu Zhaohuai got to his feet and slowly made his way back to the canopy bed. He opened the small cabinet beside it and began searching for the silver needles he used when practicing medicine.
Ji Yi did not consider himself an outsider at all and simply followed him inside.
That little cabinet of Chu Zhaohuai’s was so battered and shabby that even if someone left it by the roadside, nobody would probably want it and yet, for some reason, it was fitted with a small lock, as though it contained some priceless treasure.
The moment he opened the lock, a little wooden horse rolled out with a click.
Ji Yi had assumed that something valuable must be hidden inside. He lowered his eyes to look and his face immediately turned green.
The little cabinet certainly held quite a lot. It was stuffed with all kinds of miscellaneous odds and ends: an old Kongming lock, a bamboo dragonfly, a kite that had been torn in half and countless other bits and pieces. Looking through it, the only thing that seemed truly valuable was a small handful of gold tucked away in one corner.
Ji Yi said faintly, “Did you put all the antiques from the previous dynasty in here?”
Chu Zhaohuai continued rummaging through the cabinet for his silver needles and answered casually, “Antiques from the year before last.”
Ji Yi nearly burst out laughing at that. He crouched down and looked over the pile of miscellaneous objects.
“You like playing with these things? I’ll send you some more another day.”
Chu Zhaohuai shook his head. “My mother bought these for me when she was alive.”
Ji Yi gave an awkward “Oh,” rubbed his nose and searched desperately for something else to say.
“Then why don’t you put them out? The cabinets beneath this canopy bed are empty anyway. Keeping them all crammed together like this makes it easy for them to get damaged.”
Chu Zhaohuai shook his head again.
Even when he had been at the Bai residence in Lin’an, he had never taken out and displayed even a single one of all his belongings. If he were ever thrown out in the future, he could simply have someone carry the entire cabinet away with him.
It was more convenient that way.
Ji Yi still seemed as though he wanted to say something.
At last, Chu Zhaohuai found the pouch of silver needles. He looked at Ji Yi with a faintly gloomy expression and said, “After I finish treating Liang Fang, shall I give the prince a session of acupuncture while I’m at it?”
Why couldn’t he be more like his father and say less?
Ji Yi curled his lips. Since he still needed something from Chu Zhaohuai, he could only shut his mouth.
Chu Zhaohuai was extremely efficient when administering acupuncture. He called Liang Fang over to the canopy bed and, in three quick movements, had him covered with needles from head to toe, making him look almost like a hedgehog.
Ji Yi watched from the side, his face twisting as he grimaced. “It really doesn’t hurt?”
Chu Zhaohuai simply picked up a needle and pricked it directly into the Hegu point on Ji Yi’s hand.
Ji Yi immediately let out an “Ow!” and jumped to his feet, his face turning pale with fright but once he calmed down, he realized that it truly did not hurt.
“Your medical skills must definitely be better than that Baiji fellow’s.” For once, Ji Yi actually said something sensible. “Everyone makes that divine physician sound so impressive but I think he’s probably just some half-trained wandering quack.”
Chu Zhaohuai: “…”
With a smile that was almost suspiciously sweet, Chu Zhaohuai pricked him with another needle.
This time, Ji Yi cried out in pain.
When Chu Zhaohuai first began administering acupuncture to Liang Fang, the needles looked perfectly ordinary yet before long, beads of sweat as large as beans had already appeared densely across Liang Fang’s forehead, while a trace of pain surfaced between his brows.
Ji Yi was startled.
“W-Won’t something happen to him?!”
Chu Zhaohuai glanced over and remained completely calm.
“He won’t die.”
Ji Yi was still extremely nervous. He stared at the silver needles, which seemed to have taken on a faint blackish hue and swallowed.
“The physicians in the residence seem to use gold needles when they administer acupuncture. Are silver needles really all right?”
Chu Zhaohuai: “…”
“If your medical skills are good enough, silver needles can cure an illness just as effectively.” Chu Zhaohuai glared at him. He had stared so hard that the corners of his eyes had begun to ache and tears gathered faintly in them as he said, “Besides, gold needles are flashy but impractical. I don’t like using them!”
“Oh.”
Once the acupuncture began to take effect, Chu Zhaohuai had nothing to do for the moment. He sat there gloomily eating loquats. After eating for a while, the more he thought about it, the more irritated he became. Suddenly, he stretched out his leg and kicked Ji Yi’s stool.
Ji Yi was in the middle of wiping the sweat from Liang Fang’s forehead when the stool was kicked out from beneath him. He landed heavily on his backside.
“Ow! What are you doing?!”
Chu Zhaohuai glared at him. “My foot slipped.”
Ji Yi had no idea how he had offended him. He curled his lips and climbed back to his feet.
Considering that the man had cured Liang Fang’s poison and, cough, was also quite good-looking, he decided not to make an issue of it.
Before long, Chu Zhaohuai removed the needles from Liang Fang and wrote out another prescription. This time, he remembered not to sign it with the name “Baiji.”
By the time everything was finished, it was already afternoon.
Ji Yi shamelessly stayed for lunch as well. Afterward, he supported Liang Fang, who had fallen into a deep sleep and prepared to leave.
Just before going, he spoke in an awkward, roundabout manner.
“Are you going to the palace banquet tonight?”
Chu Zhaohuai nodded. “I am.”
“Cough.” Ji Yi said, “There are quite a few people in the palace who know ‘Chu Zhaojiang.’ Remember to wear your eye veil.”
Without waiting for Chu Zhaohuai to react, he hurried away while supporting Liang Fang.
Chu Zhaohuai fell into deep thought.
He was not the “Chu Zhaojiang” who had been given a marriage by the Emperor. Things were still manageable at the Marquis’s residence or the Prince’s residence but if this matter reached the palace and he were exposed in front of everyone, wouldn’t that amount to deceiving the Emperor?
So why exactly did Ji Xun want to take him to the palace banquet?
Chu Zhaohuai thought about it for a long while but could not figure it out.
In the end, he simply gave up.
His brain was not suited for thinking about such things anyway.
It was not yet dark when Uncle Zhao came to call him out. The Prince was already waiting outside the residence.
“Why does he always wait outside the residence every time?”
Chu Zhaohuai muttered under his breath. He put on his eye veil and slowly shuffled out of the residence.
Ji Xun was still sitting inside that magnificent carriage. When he saw Chu Zhaohuai carefully stepping onto the carriage step and climbing inside, he set down the thin book in his hand and reached out to help him up.
Chu Zhaohuai obediently sat down.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Ji Xun lowered his eyes and continued looking through the densely written letters one page at a time. He casually said, “Take off the eye veil. Doesn’t it feel stuffy?”
Chu Zhaohuai lifted the eye veil that hung down to his chin and tucked it behind his ear, revealing only half of his face. “It is a little, Is the Prince reading some kind of book?”
Seeing him like this, Ji Xun suddenly, almost as if possessed by some strange impulse, remembered their wedding night. Back then, he had used the bloodstained head of his dove-headed staff to lift the young man’s wedding veil, revealing that beautiful and bewildered face beneath it.
Ji Xun withdrew his gaze and gave a casual smile. “An important confidential matter.”
Chu Zhaohuai hurriedly turned his eyes away, not daring to pry into the Prince’s affairs.
Ji Xun seemed to be in a rather good mood. There was a smile at the corners of his lips as he leisurely turned another page.
The cover of that “book” had several words handwritten across it:
「Notes on the Princess Consort, Twenty-Seventh Day of the Twelfth Month」
Looking more closely, the densely packed pages were actually filled with a detailed record of everything Chu Zhaohuai had said and done throughout the entire day. What he had said, what he had done, even the fact that he had eaten only half a small bowl of porridge during lunch, had all been meticulously recorded.
The Prince of Jing made no effort to hide it from Chu Zhaohuai. He leisurely finished reading and then asked, “Was the food prepared by the residence’s cook not very good at lunch?”
Chu Zhaohuai blinked. “Huh? It seemed… fine?”
Ji Xun asked, “Then why did you eat so little?”
Chu Zhaohuai did not realize that there was anything strange about the question. A trace of embarrassment appeared on his face but he did not hide the reason and answered sheepishly, “I wanted to save room for the palace banquet, so I only ate enough to line my stomach.”
Ji Xun’s hand paused.
He closed the Notes on the Princess Consort and casually placed it beside him.
Noticing that the Prince’s expression seemed somewhat complicated, Chu Zhaohuai assumed that he was making fun of him. He awkwardly said, “I’ll eat less at the palace banquet. I definitely won’t embarrass you, Your Highness.”
Ji Xun’s voice was gentle. “It’s all right. Eat as much as you want.”
Seeing that he was not嫌弃 him for being unable to conduct himself properly, Chu Zhaohuai finally relaxed. He happily nodded.
“Mm, all right.”
The carriage slowly made its way toward the imperial palace.
The sky gradually darkened. With the New Year approaching, the long streets were bustling with people coming and going, filled with lively activity.
The weather had been clear and bright during the day but the moment the sun sank below the horizon, a biting chill descended. The northern wind seemed to be blowing faintly in the distance and it looked as though another snowfall might be on its way.
Ever since the twelfth month began, the capital had already experienced several heavy snowfalls in succession. In some places outside the capital, the snowfall had even caused disasters.
The common people hurried along the long streets, busy making their way home.
Suddenly, a shrill cry rang out from within the crowd.
“Help!”
Lu Wujiu was patrolling the imperial city with armed guards when he happened to arrive in this area. Seeing the commotion among the people, he immediately urged his horse forward and shouted sternly, “Who is making such a disturbance?!”
When the people saw the guards of the Imperial Army approaching, they hurriedly parted to make way.
On the cold blue-gray stone street, a person dressed in nothing but a thin garment lay trembling violently on the ground. One hand was still struggling desperately to crawl forward.
Lu Wujiu lowered his eyes for a closer look.
The index and middle fingers of that hand were bleeding profusely, as though they had been severed cleanly by force.
Lu Wujiu frowned and dismounted. Before he could even walk over, the person on the ground suddenly raised his head, revealing a face streaked with tears.
A familiar face.
Lu Wujiu froze.
“Young Marquis?”
The “Young Marquis” of the Zhenyuan Marquis’s residence, Chu Zhaojiang, was trembling from head to toe. There were wounds on his cheeks and his entire appearance was like that of a frightened bird startled by the slightest movement. His pupils were scattered with terror as he stared at Lu Wujiu. Only after a long while did he finally recognize him.
“Commander Lu?”
Lu Wujiu reached out to help him.
Lu Wujiu had always been at odds with the Prince of Jing’s residence. As though he had suddenly seized hold of a lifesaving straw, Chu Zhaojiang abruptly grabbed his wrist tightly and burst into tears.
“Commander Lu, that demon wants to kill me! Commander Lu, save me!”
Lu Wujiu’s eyelid twitched.
“Ji Xun?”
The common people gathered nearby whispered among themselves, watching the spectacle with great interest.
“The Young Marquis? From the Zhenyuan Marquis’s residence? Wasn’t it said that he married that demon and became his Princess Consort? How did he end up in such a miserable state?”
“Could it be that the rumors are true, that Prince Jing really is a demon reincarnated and that he likes to eat people?!”
“No matter what, he can’t just cut off someone’s fingers! He’s at least the heir of a noble marquis’s household. Ji Xun is being far too arrogant.”
Lu Wujiu helped the trembling Chu Zhaojiang to his feet and said in a deep voice, “This matter is extremely serious. Young Marquis, do not be afraid…”
Dong! dong!
The bell and drum tower suddenly resounded with a thunderous peal.
Dusk had arrived and the palace banquet had begun.
“Someone, take the Young Marquis into the palace and seek His Majesty’s justice.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
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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?