By Great Zhou custom, palace banquets held to receive foreign envoys were generally scheduled for the hour of the Rooster. Ji Huaiyu, however, had summoned him to the palace at the hour of the Monkey today, and had even sent someone from the palace to remind him again at noon. Ling Jintang could more or less guess what the emperor intended. In any case, matters had not yet been completely settled, and the emperor evidently still had no intention of letting him go.
As usual, Ling Jintang waited outside the Imperial Study. This time, however, it was not Yuan Huai who came to receive him, but another young eunuch who frequently served before the emperor. Smooth and efficient in his dealings, he bowed respectfully and said, “Lord Ling, what a pity. The leader of the Moqin tribe arrived just now, and His Majesty went elsewhere with him to discuss some matters. Before leaving, he instructed me to tell you that if you came, you could wait for him at Yonghua Palace.”
Ling Jintang shook his head, his expression calm. “No matter. I’ll wait here.”
Yonghua Palace was Ji Huaiyu’s private residence. There was truly no need for him to wait there for the emperor to return.
Seeing this, the young eunuch continued, “His Majesty said that if you don’t wish to go to Yonghua Palace, you may walk around wherever you please. You’re familiar with the palace, after all. You could also use this time to think over the few things you said yesterday in a moment of impulse, and consider whether you might have been mistaken.”
Ling Jintang pretended not to hear him. He turned and walked unhurriedly toward the Imperial Garden. The young eunuch hurried after him, as though he could not allow Ling Jintang out of his sight for even a moment.
The weather in February was still cold, but the gardeners had tended the Imperial Garden with great care. Ji Huaiyu especially favored varieties that bloomed in cold weather, so this was when the garden was at its liveliest.
He had only gone a few steps when a small figure came running swiftly toward him from ahead. Ling Jintang crouched at just the right moment and held out his arms. Ji Huaiyue flung himself into them and cried out cheerfully, “Jintang-gege!”
Ling Jintang let him cling to him and act spoiled for a while before saluting him. “This subject pays his respects to the Third Prince.”
Ji Huaiyue did not care about such formalities. He happily pressed his face against Ling Jintang’s and rubbed against his cheek. “Jintang-gege, you haven’t come to see me in so long! Now that you’re here, you have to come play with me!”
Ling Jintang bent down and took his hand. “I haven’t been feeling well these past few days, so I didn’t come to the palace. Naturally, I couldn’t come see Your Highness. How have your lessons been lately?”
Ji Huaiyue answered vaguely, clearly trying to evade the question. “Imperial Brother said he wanted you to come into the palace and study with me. Since you didn’t come, I didn’t feel like studying either.”
Ling Jintang did not know whether spending so much time as the emperor’s companion had made this a habit, but he instinctively wanted to offer a few words of advice. Ji Huaiyue, however, refused to listen. He simply stopped walking and demanded to be carried. The nanny following behind pointed out that such behavior was improper, but Ji Huaiyue glared her into silence. The Little Prince clutched the hem of Ling Jintang’s robe, looking as though he might cry but was trying not to. “Jintang-gege, you haven’t seen me in so long. Didn’t you miss me? If I weren’t forbidden to leave the palace on my own, I would have sneaked out to find you long ago…”
Ling Jintang’s heart softened. He crouched down and lifted him into his arms. Ji Huaiyue immediately swallowed his tears, wrapped his little arms around Ling Jintang’s neck, and said happily, “Jintang-gege is the best!”
He was the late emperor’s posthumous son, and there was no one of a similar age in the palace to play with him. He was bored nearly to death on ordinary days. Now that Ling Jintang had come, he chattered on and on about all sorts of things. Fortunately, Ling Jintang was patient enough not only to listen to every word, but to respond to everything he said, delighting Ji Huaiyue so thoroughly that the boy practically wanted to follow him home to the Ling residence.
He rubbed his soft little cheek against Ling Jintang’s neck, then reached out to pluck a flower within his grasp. In a small voice, he said beside Ling Jintang’s ear, “This is for you.”
Ling Jintang held him with one arm and reached out with the other to accept it. He had not expected Ji Huaiyue to tuck the pearl camellia directly into the hair at his temple instead. Ling Jintang said helplessly, “Your Highness, I…”
Voices speaking in conversation came from not far ahead. Ling Jintang was just about to remove the camellia from his hair when Ji Huaiyue stopped him. The Third Prince cupped Ling Jintang’s face in both hands and whispered conspiratorially, “Don’t take it off. It looks nice.”
Ji Huaiyu was walking with the leader of the Moqin tribe. The two of them had little to discuss beyond the matter of the three cities in the western borderlands. When they reached the Imperial Garden, they stopped. The camellias in full bloom mingled with the apricot blossoms, their overlapping colors spreading in a lavish brocade of flowers and clouds. Ji Huaiyu smiled and said, “The spring scenery of Great Zhou, seven-tenths of it belongs to my Imperial Garden. Wolf King, living in the borderlands, you probably don’t often get to see such beautiful sights, do you?”
The Wolf King did not answer. Following his gaze, Ji Huaiyu looked over and froze as well.
The moment Ji Huaiyue saw his imperial brother, he had already scrambled down from Ling Jintang’s arms and stood obediently to one side. Ling Jintang seemed not to have noticed anyone there yet. He merely raised a hand and removed the pearl camellia from beside his ear. His fingertips touched the petals, but he did not throw it away. Instead, he slowly tucked it into his sleeve.
He was not attending the palace banquet today as a minister, so naturally he could not wear official robes. At the same time, he could not dress too casually. He had chosen a moon-white, round-collared robe, its cuffs edged with a faint pattern worked in blue thread, and worn over it a dark rose cloak. His hair was half-bound with a green jade hairpin. It should have been an elegant, understated outfit, yet amid the brilliantly colored flowers, he was not outshone in the slightest. Instead, he seemed to shimmer like moonlight brushing across the face, radiant enough to make it impossible to look away.
Ji Huaiyu clenched a fist against his lips and coughed twice. Coming back to himself, he said to Ling Jintang, who had just begun to salute, “Rise.” Then, somewhat displeased, he asked, “Why are you here?”
Ji Huaiyu had not expected the Wolf King to enter the palace this afternoon. The Wolf King had also chosen the very time when he had originally planned to meet Ling Jintang, so he had no choice but to change locations. Yet the palace was enormous, and the Wolf King had chosen the Imperial Garden of all places, while Ling Jintang happened to be there as well.
He had not intended to let the two of them meet.
Ji Huaiyue said softly from the side, “I brought Jintang-gege to this garden in the south. Imperial Brother, I didn’t know you were here.”
Ji Huaiyu waved twice, and the several nannies accompanying them hurriedly led Ji Huaiyue away. The Wolf King, who had not spoken until then, suddenly gave a soft laugh, his gaze resting undisguisedly on Ling Jintang.
He seemed able to speak the language of Great Zhou. His tone was not even particularly stiff, and he had no borderland accent. He drawled slowly, “Emperor of Great Zhou, won’t you introduce him?”
Ji Huaiyu narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased by the Wolf King’s attitude. Still, he said nothing about it and introduced him instead. “This is the eldest son of Grand Commandant Ling, the man you met yesterday. Ling Jintang.”
He said nothing more. As for Ling Jintang’s marriage to Moqin, he had no intention of yielding until the very last moment.
Ji Huaiyu was about to say more when the Wolf King spoke first. He took a step toward Ling Jintang and looked straight at him with a smile. “I am the leader of the Moqin tribe, Natan Subude.”
Though the Moqin tribe lay in the borderlands and was merely a kingdom, in recent years it had faintly begun to stand as Great Zhou’s equal. By rights, there was no need for its king to reveal his full name to a foreign subject. The Wolf King did not seem to care about that, however. He even added, “Or you may call me by my other name, Jiang Tingzhi.”
Ling Jintang looked somewhat startled and saluted him with clasped hands. “Wolf King.”
Perhaps in keeping with local custom, the Wolf King was dressed very differently from the previous day. His hair had been secured with a crown, though several small braids were still woven through it, tiny gold ornaments fastened among the strands. His features were unmistakably foreign, and the young man was handsome, with broad brows and deep-set features. His pair of luminous green eyes turned toward Ling Jintang with a smile. Ling Jintang paused, as if a wind from some distant land had suddenly risen from nowhere and wrapped itself around him with savage force.
Ling Jintang smiled back. A faint glimmer seemed to pass through his eyes as he said softly, “Subude… It means pearl.”
Jiang Tingzhi raised a brow. “You speak Moqin?”
Ling Jintang acknowledged it with a sound. “I can understand it, but I’m not very good at speaking it.”
Ji Huaiyu had been about to say something else, but it had been a long time since he had seen Ling Jintang smile at him without reservation. Now Ling Jintang was smiling so freely at someone else, standing so close to him, that Ji Huaiyu’s mind nearly went blank with anger. For the moment, he would rather give away all three cities than send Ling Jintang away to marry someone else.
Ling Jintang’s appearance was not merely striking, but almost startlingly conspicuous. It would be difficult to find a second person like him anywhere in Great Zhou. At that moment, his smile was as radiant as spring flowers, and the scenery of the entire garden paled beside him. Judging from the Wolf King’s expression, it would not be an exaggeration to call it love at first sight. Ji Huaiyu said coldly, “Luo Yun, go wait for me in the Imperial Study. You needn’t stay here. We’ll discuss yesterday’s matter later.”
Ling Jintang nodded. He was indeed about to leave, but as he passed the Wolf King, the pearl camellia in his sleeve seemed to slip loose. Just as it was about to fall, Jiang Tingzhi reached out and caught it. Ling Jintang lifted his eyes slightly and gave him a fleeting glance. Whether his eyes held amusement or something else, no one could say. Light as a strand of silk, that gaze wound itself around Jiang Tingzhi’s heart.
Ji Huaiyu’s face had already turned livid.
Jiang Tingzhi rolled the camellia between his fingers and finally answered the question Ji Huaiyu had asked him long before. “The borderlands truly don’t have scenery like this.” He smiled. “But I’m afraid that all ten parts of this spring splendor will belong to me now.”