Ever since returning to the capital, Chu Zhaohuai had been feeling frustrated and stifled. Today, he had finally gotten to vent some of his anger, and the gloom between his brows had faded considerably. Even the dull ache in his chest caused by all that anger had disappeared.
After returning to the residence, the guards carried his little cabinet down from the carriage. They lost their footing slightly when setting it down, causing it to knock against the ground.
A loud clattering came from inside, as though some precious object had been broken.
Chu Zhaohuai winced in pain and whispered,
“Slowly… please, a little slower.”
The guards acknowledged him and carried it into the bedchamber.
Yin Chongshan was still at the Marquis’s residence, waiting to escort the dowry back with great fanfare.
After Ji Xun was helped down from the carriage, he sat there with his legs crossed, seemingly waiting for something.
Ji Xun had helped him far too much today. Chu Zhaohuai believed in repaying kindness, so he straightened his sable coat and took the initiative.
“Let me push Your Highness.”
Ji Xun smiled.
“Then I’ll trouble you.”
Pushing a wheelchair was indeed exhausting.
Chu Zhaohuai gathered all his strength and pushed with everything he had. The wheelchair moved slowly, the wheels turning and creaking for what seemed like forever.
At last, with a series of squeaks and groans, he finally pushed Ji Xun to the door of the bedchamber.
Ji Xun neither hurried him nor urged him on. Perhaps he was used to moving at lightning speed every day, so experiencing life at the pace of a snail carrying its shell had its own charm.
Seeing that they were finally about to reach the bedchamber, Chu Zhaohuai was overjoyed.
Ji Xun suddenly made a questioning sound.
“Mm?”
His tone was perfectly puzzled, as if his lame legs had somehow extended all the way to his eyes.
“Princess Consort, this isn’t the way to the study, is it?”
Chu Zhaohuai:
“…”
He nearly died on the spot.
If we weren’t going to the bedchamber, why didn’t you say so earlier?!
Sweat appeared on Chu Zhaohuai’s forehead. He struggled to catch his breath before asking weakly,
“May I ask Your Highness where the study is?”
Ji Xun raised an eyebrow.
“Are you tired, Princess Consort?”
Afraid that Ji Xun would once again bring up which general he had supposedly studied under—General Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, or whoever else—Chu Zhaohuai desperately tried to steady his breathing.
“No. The food at the Marquis’s residence was too terrible. I’m hungry.”
Ji Xun laughed.
“What do you like to eat? I’ll have the kitchen prepare some for you.”
Chu Zhaohuai froze.
It was the first time anyone had ever asked him what he liked to eat.
He was so flattered that he forgot all about being teased. After thinking for a moment, he answered,
“I like fish.”
Ji Xun looked at him.
He’s quite easy to please.
Young masters from imperial and noble households usually had very particular tastes. What they liked was often rare and difficult to obtain, such as winter lychees or summer plum blossoms.
Or they preferred bizarre delicacies, such as fire-roasted goose or live-chewed ghost fish.
The rarer and stranger the food, the better.
Someone like Chu Zhaohuai, who was happy as long as there was fish, was exceptionally easy to feed.
“Good. Tonight, have the kitchen prepare a whole fish feast.”
Chu Zhaohuai coughed and tried his best to maintain a composed expression so he would not look too uncultured.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
The thought of a whole fish feast somehow gave him a second wind.
Chu Zhaohuai felt that he could probably push Ji Xun another eighty or ninety thousand li.
Before he could display his full strength, Yin Chongshan returned.
Chu Zhaohuai was startled and immediately assumed something had gone wrong.
“The Marquis’s residence… didn’t… didn’t… didn’t give us the dowry?”
Yin Chongshan saluted first, then looked toward Ji Xun.
Ji Xun nodded.
Only then did Yin Chongshan say,
“Fortunately, I have completed the task. I have already had the dowry that the Marquis’s residence had left out carried back to the storeroom. Here is the inventory. Would the Princess Consort like to go and check it?”
Chu Zhaohuai’s eyes shone so brightly that even the black gauze could not hide it.
He was about to rush over, but then realized something and turned back toward Ji Xun.
“Your Highness, may I go take a look?”
Ji Xun nodded.
“Go ahead.”
Chu Zhaohuai happily followed the servants.
Yin Chongshan watched him leave, looking as though he wanted to say something but could not bring himself to speak.
The midday sun was strong.
Ji Xun had Yin Chongshan push his wheelchair to the lake in the courtyard. He lowered his eyes and looked at the faint outlines of fish beneath the frozen surface.
Then he asked casually,
“What is it you want to say?”
Yin Chongshan could not hold back.
“Marquis Zhenyuan has handed you such a massive weakness. Your Highness, why don’t you use him as leverage?”
Ji Xun blinked.
“Hmm? Who?”
“Chu Zhaohuai.”
Ji Xun absentmindedly watched the fish in the lake.
“Chongshan, every spring, when the city moat releases little fish fry, take a net and catch them. Catch, catch, catch until their entire clan is wiped out and they have no descendants left.”
Yin Chongshan:
“…”
Yin Chongshan had grown up alongside Ji Xun and was already accustomed to his gentle yet vicious way of speaking.
After struggling to pick useful information out of that pile of soft thorns, he finally understood.
Ji Xun must have a very important reason for keeping Chu Zhaohuai around.
Yin Chongshan relaxed.
Ji Xun was the sort of person who acted on whatever idea came into his head.
On a whim, he ordered the servants to break open the ice covering the lake.
The fish were startled by the enormous disturbance and immediately fled to the bottom.
The lake fell silent again.
Ji Xun raised a hand.
Yin Chongshan’s sleeve seemed capable of holding an entire river. He reached inside, rummaged around, and pulled out a large bag of fish food.
Ji Xun lazily scattered a handful into the lake.
Before long, fish began appearing on the surface.
Only then did he casually ask,
“What have you figured out?”
Watching the fish scramble over one another for food, Yin Chongshan suddenly had an epiphany.
He straightened solemnly.
“I understand now. Only by throwing out bait can we lure the big fish hiding deep beneath the lake. Your Highness deliberately held back today so that you could draw out the true mastermind behind Marquis Zhenyuan.”
As expected of His Highness. He truly thinks far ahead.
Ji Xun made a small sound.
“Ah.”
Then he said,
“No. I just wanted to go fishing. Bring me a fishing rod.”
Yin Chongshan:
“…”
Yin Chongshan brought him a purple-bamboo fishing rod.
Ji Xun did not even bother putting bait on the hook. He simply cast the bare hook into the lake and began fishing with an air of complete serenity.
Yin Chongshan knew his master’s illness had flared up again.
He said nothing and simply held an umbrella over him to shield him from the sunlight.
With no bait on the hook, it would be difficult to catch a fish even if he sat there until the end of time.
Ji Xun was extremely patient.
His hand holding the fishing rod remained perfectly steady, without moving even slightly for a long while.
As the sun began to sink toward the horizon, the steward hurried over.
“Your Highness, Lord Qin from the Ministry of War requests an audience.”
Plop.
The calm surface of the lake suddenly rippled.
The tip of the fishing rod dipped downward.
A fish had taken the hook.
Ji Xun opened his eyes and steadily lifted the rod.
The fish dangled from the thin line, flopping wildly in midair before falling with a slap into Yin Chongshan’s hands.
It was a small fish.
Yin Chongshan removed it from the hook.
Seeing that Ji Xun seemed to be trying to remember who “Lord Qin” was, he reminded him,
“Qin Jian, Vice Minister of War. He is very close to the Crown Prince. At the beginning of the month, while Your Highness was unconscious, he recommended that one of the Crown Prince’s men be sent to guard Jinling Prefecture.”
Jinling Prefecture was located on the frontier and was also part of Prince Jing’s fief.
The purpose of sending someone from the Crown Prince’s faction there was obvious.
Ji Xun did not seem particularly concerned.
He held up the palm-sized fish and thoughtfully considered whether one fish would be enough to make an entire fish feast.
Yin Chongshan cautiously asked,
“Will Your Highness receive him?”
“It’s already dark,” Ji Xun said.
“Go call the Princess Consort for dinner.”
That meant he would not.
The steward immediately understood and turned to leave.
Chu Zhaohuai spent the entire afternoon counting his dowry, and the corners of his mouth were practically stretched all the way to the back of his head.
Just when he had finally calmed down, he was called to eat the whole fish feast.
If he had not been wearing the gauze veil, his completely uncultured, country-bumpkin-like excitement would have been obvious.
Chu Zhaohuai ate fish and drank fish soup.
For the first time in his life, he was so busy enjoying a meal that he did not know what to eat first.
Ji Xun, on the other hand, was completely different.
He sat there leisurely eating raw fish.
Naturally, the Prince’s residence used the finest fish available. The white flesh was sliced so thinly it was almost translucent, then soaked in wine before being eaten. It practically melted in the mouth.
In front of Chu Zhaohuai was a freshly prepared plate of sweet-and-sour fish.
He loved sweet-and-sour flavors, so he happily ate every last bite.
Ji Xun took a bite and asked,
“How does it taste?”
“It’s delicious.”
Chu Zhaohuai used his chopsticks to poke at the fish head and honestly added,
“Although the fish is a little small.”
Ji Xun’s hand paused.
He took a sip of cold wine, then set down his chopsticks and stopped eating.
Chu Zhaohuai looked at him in confusion.
Ji Xun seems to eat even less than I do every day. He only drinks cold wine all day. Won’t that make his illness worse?
Completely carefree, Chu Zhaohuai finished his meal and happily went back to count his dowry.
Yin Chongshan vaguely sensed that His Highness seemed to be sulking.
After hesitating for a moment, he said,
“This Princess Consort… doesn’t seem to know much about proper etiquette. Should I find someone to teach him?”
When speaking, Chu Zhaohuai showed no sense of rank or respect, casually using “you” and “I” without the slightest reverence.
Earlier, he had even been completely lacking in restraint, questioning Yin Chongshan before His Highness could say anything.
Most importantly, he seemed to have no idea what the responsibilities of a Princess Consort were.
He did whatever he wanted simply because it pleased him, and he had even left the banquet halfway through just to go inspect his dowry.
Even Yin Chongshan could hardly tolerate it.
Yet Ji Xun had not shown the slightest displeasure.
If Yin Chongshan had not personally investigated Chu Zhaohuai’s identity, he might have suspected that this person had some kind of romantic history with his master.
Ji Xun held his cup of cold wine as though he had not heard the question.
“Push me to the courtyard.”
Yin Chongshan’s eyelid twitched.
What does he want to do in the courtyard?
A moment later, Yin Chongshan found out.
Lanterns were lit beside the lake.
Ji Xun sat there beneath the howling northern wind, leisurely casting his fishing line into the lake.
Fishing.
Yin Chongshan:
“…”
His Highness has finally gone completely mad.
Chu Zhaohuai counted his dowry several times and finally gave up hope.
Sure enough, Chu Jing was not stupid.
Even under Ji Xun’s pressure, he had not sent Madam Bai’s letter to him.
The unfinished words of someone who had already died were the things most likely to arouse curiosity.
When Chu Zhaohuai first heard that his mother had left a letter for him, his heart had raced, and he had nearly lost all reason.
He had desperately wanted to know immediately what the only person in this world who had ever truly loved him had left behind.
But now, he had thought it through.
Madam Bai had loved him so dearly.
Whatever she had written in that letter must have been words of love and concern.
Those feelings were already known to him.
Whether he read the letter or not would not change anything.
Mm.
Now he needed to think about how to ruin Chu Zhaojiang’s reputation.
Once he pushed Chu Jing to the point where he could no longer endure it, he would be able to seize the initiative.
Ever since the return-home visit, Ji Xun had become busy.
He did not return to the residence for several days, but he left behind quite a number of guards, claiming they were there to protect the Princess Consort.
The matter of the missing dowry had caused the Marquis’s residence to lose a tremendous amount of face.
It had become the favorite topic of gossip throughout the capital.
Surrounded by people, Chu Zhaohuai had wanted to take advantage of the situation and cause some trouble, but he was frustrated by the fact that he was not allowed to leave the residence.
There was simply no way for him to put his plans into action.
A few days later, Little New Year’s Eve arrived.
In the capital, Little New Year fell on the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month.
Dark clouds covered the sky, and the northern wind howled miserably. The bitter cold seemed capable of scraping an entire layer of skin from a person.
It looked as though snow was coming.
Wrapped tightly in his robes, Chu Zhaohuai sat in the courtyard listening to the fireworks and firecrackers exploding outside the residence.
After a while, the steward returned.
“Reporting to the Princess Consort, His Highness has not yet returned.”
Chu Zhaohuai cleared his throat and cautiously asked,
“Then… can I… can I go outside and have some fun tonight?”
The steward looked somewhat troubled.
“Please forgive me, Princess Consort.”
“Oh.”
Chu Zhaohuai did not insist.
After all, over the years, no matter what festival it was, he had always spent it alone, hiding in his little courtyard.
This year was no different.
No.
There was still one difference.
The fireworks in the capital were much prettier than those in Lin’an.
They were beautiful and loud, as though the lights and festivities from every household had also brought some warmth and liveliness to his otherwise empty courtyard.
The steward hesitated as he looked at him.
The young man was frail and slender. Even his layers of clothing could not hide his overly thin shoulders and waist.
He tilted his head toward the sky, watching whichever direction the fireworks exploded in.
Perhaps because it was Little New Year, he was wearing a brand-new piece of jade around his waist, which had been empty for the past few days. From its appearance, it seemed to be a style that had been popular several years ago.
For some inexplicable reason, the steward suddenly felt that the young man looked rather pitiful.
He was just thinking about what to say when a commotion suddenly came from the entrance of Changfeng Court.
“Where is Chu Zhaojiang?! Chu Zhaojiang! Come out!”
“Young Master, please calm down. Last time, you were punished with several days of copying books because you offended the Princess Consort. I heard His Highness will be returning tonight. Please… please restrain yourself.”
“…”
Chu Zhaohuai curiously looked toward the entrance.
Very soon, Ji Yi stormed inside.
He was dressed in dark blue robes with a fur-trimmed cloak draped over his shoulders, his expression fierce and aggressive.
Chu Zhaohuai narrowed his eyes and immediately became alert.
Last time, this ‘dog son’ suffered a loss at my hands.
He must be here to get revenge while Ji Xun isn’t around.
The dog son stopped expressionlessly in front of Chu Zhaohuai.
“You. Come with me. We’re going to Minghu Lake.”
Chu Zhaohuai took a step backward and warily asked,
“Are you trying to trick me into going there so you can drown me?”
Ji Yi glared at him.
He clearly wanted to curse him out, but with the steward standing nearby, he could only move closer and lower his voice.
“Stop pretending you don’t know! We agreed months ago to have a showdown at Minghu Lake. Don’t tell me you’re too scared to go now?”
Chu Zhaohuai:
“…”
So Chu Zhaojiang really had made an appointment with him?
Another mess left behind by Chu Zhaojiang.
Chu Zhaohuai had no choice but to deal with it first.
Besides, this was a perfect opportunity to leave the residence.
He glanced at the steward beside him and deliberately hesitated.
“But I’m already the Princess Consort. If I go and mingle with you people again, I’m afraid it won’t be proper.”
“Last time, I told my father that I wanted to go to Minghu Lake with you, and he didn’t object.”
Ji Yi snorted coldly.
“We’ve already booked the pleasure boat. Don’t tell me you’re really backing out?”
He paused.
“Fine. You don’t have to go. Just pay the five hundred taels for the boat, and we’ll call it even.”
Chu Zhaohuai immediately stood upright with a solemn expression.
“Where is Minghu Lake? Let’s go there right now.”