Money, money, money—my money!
Chu Zhaohuai was furious but didn’t dare say anything. He silently sat down and continued eating his oranges.
Ji Yi watched in horror.
How could this person be so completely unconcerned with proper etiquette? Wasn’t he afraid his father would kill him?
Ji Xun sat there, his expression impossible to read.
Ji Yi cautiously said, “If the assignment from the palace isn’t important, A-Yi is willing to help Father shoulder the burden.”
“Mm. It’s not particularly important.”
Ji Xun casually peeled an orange and handed it to Chu Zhaohuai.
“It just happens that there have been several hundred bandits causing trouble in the mountains outside the capital recently. They’ve been robbing and killing people, though they’re hardly anything impressive. Since A-Yi is so eager to help, take two guards and go deal with those several hundred bandits.”
Ji Yi: “…”
Chu Zhaohuai: “Cough, cough, cough.”
Ji Yi had long since become accustomed to his father’s refusal to speak like a normal person.
He bowed stiffly.
“Then I’ll take my leave first.”
“Mm.”
Ji Yi helped the half-asleep Liang Fang out of the room.
After Chu Zhaohuai finally stopped coughing, he couldn’t help asking,
“There are bandits around the capital too?”
The capital was so dazzlingly wealthy that he had assumed bandits only existed in places like Jiangnan, where the emperor was far away and local authorities could barely keep things under control.
Hearing Chu Zhaohuai’s unmistakable Jiangnan accent, Ji Xun had originally intended to pretend he hadn’t noticed.
But Chu Zhaohuai looked so relaxed, happily eating oranges like a golden hamster stuffing food into its cheeks, that Ji Xun suddenly became interested.
“Mm. Places too far outside the city don’t have proper defenses. It’s inevitable that some bold people will take advantage of that.”
He paused.
“But the Princess Consort has learned the Jiangnan accent quite well.”
Chu Zhaohuai: “…”
He immediately stopped eating.
He answered stiffly, “I-I heard some local folk songs yesterday and learned a few lines.”
Ji Xun’s expression was half amused, half teasing.
“Then sing me a few lines.”
Chu Zhaohuai couldn’t sing at all.
His mind went completely blank.
The only thing that surfaced was a little tune he’d heard in the streets.
So he hummed a few notes and blurted out:
“…Poor little widow that I am, I married in wearing white, and now my husband has gone to his grave…”
Ji Xun: “…”
Yin Chongshan, who had been silently standing nearby, quietly reached for his sword.
How audacious.
To sing a song about a little widow mourning at her husband’s grave right in front of His Highness?
Chu Zhaohuai had barely finished the line when he suddenly came back to his senses.
His face turned green.
Wasn’t I basically cursing Ji Xun to die?!
How unlucky!
Before Chu Zhaohuai could desperately try to explain himself, Ji Xun smiled.
“Not bad. The melody is graceful and pleasant to listen to.”
Chu Zhaohuai blinked.
He isn’t angry?
Ji Xun really is a good person.
Yin Chongshan silently sheathed his sword again and came up with an explanation for his master’s unusual behavior.
Forget it.
His Highness must have some important reason for treating him so specially.
Maybe this person is the key to bringing down the Crown Prince!
Ji Xun’s “kindness” gave Chu Zhaohuai the courage to push his luck.
He cleared his throat and cautiously said,
“Your Highness, about last night… I-I was confused and forgot that the court opens the gambling games on Little New Year’s Eve. Those gold coins…”
Ji Xun raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“Were the candied oranges delicious?”
Chu Zhaohuai didn’t understand what he meant, but obediently replied,
“They were delicious.”
“Good.”
Ji Xun said,
“They were bought with the gold you handed over last night. There was enough to let you eat them until New Year.”
Chu Zhaohuai: “…”
Chu Zhaohuai stared at him in disbelief.
Over a hundred taels of gold—and he spent it all on three chests of candied oranges?!
The oranges might have been golden in color, but they weren’t made of gold!
Why were they so expensive?!
Chu Zhaohuai was practically about to have a stroke from Ji Xun’s extravagance.
And what made it worse was that Ji Xun had spent his money.
Clinging to his last shred of hope, he asked,
“You… spent all of it?”
“Mm.”
Chu Zhaohuai wanted to die.
Ji Xun watched him with great interest.
The miser who had been happily devouring oranges earlier had stopped eating with such enthusiasm after learning that they had been purchased with gold.
He didn’t even bother removing all the white pith anymore.
One tiny segment of orange could take him half a day to eat.
For no particular reason, Ji Xun began laughing again.
Chu Zhaohuai took advantage of the gauze veil covering his face and boldly glared at him.
Ji Xun laughed even harder.
After teasing him enough, his conscience finally returned.
“I noticed a few days ago that you like venison. It snowed recently at the imperial hunting grounds ten li outside the city. I’ll be passing by there in a few days and can bring you some venison when I return.”
Chu Zhaohuai froze.
It took him a while to realize that Ji Xun was trying to comfort him.
Very few people had ever cared about his feelings like this.
Even fewer had ever tried to make it up to him in such a roundabout way.
Chu Zhaohuai’s face grew warm.
He awkwardly twisted the orange peel in his hands, unwilling to throw it away.
“There’s no need. I’ll be fine with fish.”
“Then shall I have a small cabinet made for you?”
Ji Xun’s voice became even gentler.
“I noticed that the little cabinet from your dowry is missing a corner. It doesn’t look like it can hold much.”
Chu Zhaohuai shook his head.
“No need to trouble Your Highness.”
He already had food and a place to live.
That was enough for him.
Besides, his little cabinet had the words “May You Live a Hundred Years” carved into it by his mother herself.
It had traveled with him from place to place and contained everything he owned—medical books, prescriptions, and money.
Most importantly…
Poisons.
Ji Xun smiled.
“Then if you want anything, just tell Uncle Zhao.”
“All right.”
Chu Zhaohuai hesitated before cautiously asking,
“Then… can I ask Uncle Zhao to withdraw some silver from the treasury?”
“Of course.”
Chu Zhaohuai immediately brightened.
He hadn’t earned much money practicing medicine in Jiangnan.
Later, he somehow offended some powerful figure, who sent people after him to kill him. He had been chased around until he was practically screaming for his life, then spent nearly half a month traveling by boat back to the capital.
By then, he had barely any money left.
His mother’s dowry naturally couldn’t be touched, and he couldn’t bring himself to spend his gold.
So he could only pinch every copper coin and prepare to get some money from the Prince Jing residence.
Then he could take another large sum of money and hire the two servants from last night to spread more rumors.
They were repeat customers now.
Surely they’d work even harder this time.
Chu Zhaohuai happily skipped out.
Ji Xun watched the young man’s lively retreat, a faint smile appearing in his eyes.
Yin Chongshan frowned.
“Zhou Huanfei’s carrier-pigeon message from Jiangnan mentioned the words ‘greedy for money’ nine times in just two pages. Aren’t you afraid he’ll secretly pocket the silver from the residence’s treasury?”
Ji Xun ignored the question.
“Call Liuchu over. We’ll leave the city tomorrow.”
Yin Chongshan was stunned.
“To suppress the bandits?”
“To hunt deer.”
Yin Chongshan: “…”
If he hadn’t followed His Highness every moment to protect him, he would have thought that Chu Zhaohuai had used some kind of demonic spell on his master.
Just then, Steward Zhao hurried over and reported,
“Your Highness, the Princess Consort just withdrew some silver from the residence’s treasury.”
Yin Chongshan sneered, wearing an expression that said I knew it.
Now that His Highness had given him permission, surely this person would withdraw several hundred taels of gold and squander it.
Ji Xun asked,
“How much?”
Steward Zhao answered timidly,
“Five taels.”
Yin Chongshan: “?”
What could five taels possibly buy?!
Five taels was enough to bribe two servants into spreading rumors for him!
Chu Zhaohuai changed his clothes, put on his gauze veil, and went out to spread more rumors.
While the Prince Jing residence remained peaceful and harmonious, the Marquis of Zhenyuan’s residence was in complete chaos.
Chu Jing slammed his teacup onto the floor, shattering it.
His breathing was heavy with anger.
“Who allowed these rumors to spread?!”
Sitting below him was a man dressed in white.
Even in the middle of winter, he was lazily waving a folding fan.
A conspicuous red birthmark marked the area between his brows. Judging by his scholarly bearing and refined gestures, he was clearly a man of learning.
“It must have been Prince Jing,” the man said calmly.
“Without his permission, no one could have spread this throughout the entire capital overnight.”
Chu Jing pressed a hand against his forehead, his head throbbing.
“What exactly is Ji Mingchen trying to do? He knows perfectly well this was a substitute marriage, yet he’s indulging him like this. Could he have another move planned?”
The man calmly replied,
“If Marquis had sent the Young Marquis to the Prince Jing residence from the beginning, none of this would have happened.”
Chu Jing’s gaze turned cold.
“I know Marquis values the Young Marquis. But if Prince Jing eventually ascends the throne, given his vengeful nature, do you really think the Marquis of Zhenyuan’s residence will be able to stay out of it?”
The man smiled.
“The Emperor personally granted this marriage. Whether Prince Jing kills the Princess Consort or not, if the Princess Consort dies in Prince Jing’s residence, it would still be considered a grave offense against imperial authority.”
He sighed lightly.
“It is a pity that Prince Jing regained consciousness and did not take his anger out on the Princess Consort. Somehow, he has actually managed to survive until now.”
Chu Jing slowly closed his eyes.
“Mr. Rong, why exactly have you come here today?”
Mr. Rong, a retainer of the Crown Prince, nodded.
“I merely wanted to ask the Marquis… what exactly is the background of your eldest son?”
“What background could he have?”
Chu Jing frowned.
“He has lived with the Bai family in Lin’an since he was seven. He probably learned a few mediocre medical skills from his maternal grandfather. All he knows is how to randomly prescribe medicine for people.”
The family letter Chu Jing had sent to Chu Zhaohuai had claimed that his grandmother was seriously ill.
Chu Zhaohuai had spent half a month vomiting his way across the country on the boat to the capital.
The moment he arrived, without even taking a break, he rushed to see his supposedly “seriously ill” grandmother and tremblingly wrote several prescriptions.
“‘Mediocre medical skills’?”
Mr. Rong glanced at him.
“If his medical skills were truly that poor, how could he still be alive?”
Chu Jing’s brow remained tightly furrowed.
“What do you mean?”
Seeing that Chu Jing clearly had little affection for his eldest son, Mr. Rong simply said it directly.
“The day before his wedding, I had someone poison him. At most, he should have died from the poison within three days.”
Chu Jing was horrified.
Mr. Rong continued,
“But he’s still alive. Last night, he was even lively enough to gamble on the pleasure boat and win more than ten thousand taels of silver.”
Chu Jing instinctively said,
“Impossible.”
He had received a letter from someone in Jiangnan as well.
It had only said that his eldest son was useless apart from having a handsome face and did nothing all day except eat and drink.
Knowing that the son he had abandoned long ago was nothing but a good-for-nothing, Chu Jing had gradually become perfectly comfortable pouring all his paternal affection into Chu Zhaojiang instead.
Seeing Chu Jing fall into thought, Mr. Rong said,
“Could I take a look at the prescriptions the Young Master wrote?”
Chu Jing was distracted and told a servant to fetch them.
Mr. Rong stared at the two prescriptions, each carefully tailored to the symptoms.
His gaze lingered on the signature at the bottom.
Then, suddenly, he smiled.
Whenever Chu Zhaohuai wrote a prescription, he habitually added his signature.
The prescriptions he had written at the Marquis of Zhenyuan’s residence were no exception.
On the crumpled paper was elegant handwriting, with two characters written in firm, graceful strokes at the very bottom.
—Bai Ji.
It was precisely the divine physician the Crown Prince had sent people to hunt throughout Jiangnan for so long, yet had never managed to find.
Chu Zhaohuai suddenly sneezed.
He looked around.
For some reason, he felt as though someone was following him.
Chu Zhaohuai had never developed the awareness that, as a Princess Consort, he was now technically part of the inner household and shouldn’t be wandering around outside.
He changed into another outfit to conceal his identity, spent quite some time haggling over the fare, and finally paid a few copper coins to ride a donkey cart heading in the same direction.
He arrived at the pleasure-boat pavilion from the night before.
The two servants who specialized in spreading rumors were busy serving customers. They were easy to spot the moment he entered the restaurant.
Chu Zhaohuai snapped his fingers crisply at them, signaling them to come over.
The two servants looked at each other.
After being thoroughly frightened by the God of Death last night, they no longer wanted to accept such life-threatening private jobs.
But then they remembered Ji Xun’s smiling words from the previous night:
“If he comes looking for you again to spread a message, go to the Prince Jing residence and tell me.”
They had no choice.
The two servants nervously approached.
Chu Zhaohuai slapped his five-tael fortune onto the table.
“Gentlemen, I need you to spread some more rumors for me.”
The two servants: “…”
They couldn’t say no.
They could only nod through their tears.
Chu Zhaohuai immediately began making things up, thoughtfully preparing the exact words for them.
“It’s truly a sign that people’s hearts have changed. Who was the one saying Prince Jing is the God of Death? I’ve seen him myself. He’s handsome, gentle as jade, and perfectly normal. Where’s the madness? The people spreading those rumors are the crazy ones!”
“Exactly, exactly! Prince Jing is considerate and kind, extraordinarily talented and elegant…”
He paused.
“Well… he is a little sharp-tongued—ah, wait! Don’t spread that part. I’ll give you another tael!”
“Rumors can kill people.”
“Exactly, exactly.”