Back at the same tea house, the familiar second floor. Since the first time he saw Jia She there, he often came when he was unhappy. Wang Fu watched Situ Xuan gaze out at the pier, suspecting the truth but finding it too absurd. Situ Xuan had been a man of immense patience and cunning in his youth, stepping carefully to reach the throne. Wang Fu had been at his side for years and had never seen him bestow his heart on anyone.
When the Lin family ship finally docked, Wang Fu’s heart tightened. Seeing Situ Xuan stare without blinking, he was so terrified he nearly forgot to breathe. He lowered his head, determined to take this secret to his grave. If he leaked the Emperor’s private life, his entire clan would thank him.
Situ Xuan waited, but Jia She did not disembark. He instructed Wang Fu, “Go down and find out why Jia She has not come out yet.” Wang Fu complied, hiding his shock. He returned quickly, whispering, “Master, I have inquired. The General was severely seasick throughout the journey and finally managed to fall asleep. The servants did not dare wake him and were waiting for him to wake naturally.”
Situ Xuan had only intended to catch a glimpse of Jia She, not to approach him. But he overestimated his own self-control; the news of Jia She’s suffering made his legs move on their own. Wang Fu followed, his heart in a state of chaos. “Master, it is quite a coincidence today. General Jia is with Master Lin’s daughter. Would you like to summon her?” Wang Fu was a man of bold and meticulous nature; he knew Situ Xuan better than anyone. He knew that if the Emperor returned to the palace without seeing him, he would only stew in his own frustration, and the one to suffer would be him.
Situ Xuan’s lips curved upward. “Lin Ruhai has merit. I hear his daughter has been frail since childhood. Do not trouble her to disembark; I shall go see her myself.” His pace quickened. He was going to see Lin Daiyu, not Jia She. Wang Fu relaxed, his mind racing to find a way to please Jia She without being overly obvious.
Situ Xuan approached the boat and was intercepted by Lin Zhixiao. Wang Fu stepped forward, sternly rebuking him, “Bold! Do you know who you are stopping? Do you value your life?” Lin Zhixiao, seeing Situ Xuan’s noble air and his resemblance to Situ Ruo, felt his legs go weak and he knelt on the ground.
Situ Xuan’s voice was deep. “I heard your Master suffers from seasickness and has brought Lin Ruhai’s daughter with him. Where are they?”
Lin Zhixiao felt as if he could see his ancestors beckoning him. Wang Fu nudged him, “What are you dazed for? The Master is asking you a question.” Lin Zhixiao scrambled up and led them inside.
When they reached Jia She’s cabin, Wang Fu intercepted Lin Zhixiao, who had wanted to follow. Once again, Lin Zhixiao felt a jolt of terror he was actually daring to follow the Emperor inside. He gave Wang Fu a fawning smile, and Wang Fu, eager to win favor with Jia She, lowered his status to chat with Lin Zhixiao, appearing quite affable. Lin Zhixiao was flattered, answering everything respectfully, though he remained smart enough not to reveal Jia She’s martial arts skills.
Situ Xuan entered the room, bypassed the screen, and smelled a fresh, herbal fragrance. He looked up to see a little girl holding a brush, staring at him in confusion.
“Who are you?” Lin Daiyu knit her delicate brows.
Situ Xuan walked a few steps into the room, saw Jia She sleeping soundly under the covers, and motioned for silence. Lin Daiyu sensed no malice and, lowering her voice, asked, “Might I ask, honorable Uncle, are you the Prince of Virtue?” Jia She had told her he had two reliable friends in the capital: the Minister of Revenue, Liu Hongyun, and the Prince of Virtue.
Seeing Situ Xuan’s refined attire and his chill, commanding air, she remained calm. Situ Xuan walked to her desk with a smile and, lowering his voice, asked, “Don’t girls usually prefer the Book of Songs? Why are you practicing with the Great Learning?”
“My Great Uncle told me to read less poetry, so I have been studying the Great Learning.”
Situ Xuan found this amusing. He glanced at Jia She, who remained asleep, and then back at Lin Daiyu. “Why would your Great Uncle tell you to read less poetry?”
“Great Uncle says most poetry is just moaning without an ailment, and girls can easily change their character if they read too much of it.”
Situ Xuan looked back at Jia She. He had never heard such a take; it was quite novel. Lin Daiyu saw that Situ Xuan intended to wait for her Great Uncle to wake up and served him tea. Situ Xuan asked to see her writing and whispered his praise: “Your calligraphy is quite good; one can see you are very diligent.”
After saying this, Situ Xuan unfastened the jade pendant from his waist and held it out to her. Lin Daiyu glanced at the sleeping Jia She, then shyly accepted it. “Thank you for the reward, My Lord.”
Situ Xuan did not correct her. “Just call me Uncle.” Since she called Jia She “Great Uncle,” calling him “Uncle” put them on the same generation.
Lin Daiyu curtsied again. “Thank you, Uncle.”
Situ Xuan kept his eyes on Jia She while chatting with her about her life in Yangzhou and the scenery on the journey. Lin Daiyu was not overly nervous and chatted along. “The scenery on the road was beautiful, unlike anything I had seen before. Great Uncle even made a travel plan, but he was so seasick that the plan was abandoned.”
Situ Xuan became interested. “Where is the plan? Find it and let me see.” Lin Daiyu searched her desk and found Jia She’s travel guide. Situ Xuan looked at the messy, unformed characters on the paper and was stunned. “Is this written by your Great Uncle? I remember his calligraphy was not like this.”
Although Jia She was not a great scholar, he had once been capable of writing a beautiful Liu script. Lin Daiyu looked at Situ Xuan, her eyes filled with sorrow. “Do you not know, Uncle? A few years ago, Great Uncle fell from a horse and injured his wrist. His right hand can no longer write; he suffers from tremors, so to have written it like this is already quite good.”
“Uncle, please do not mention calligraphy in front of Great Uncle. I have seen that Great Uncle rarely writes, and the injury to his wrist must be a painful subject for him.”
Situ Xuan looked at the handwriting again, his heart growing heavy. How severe must the injury have been to change his writing so drastically? What was the Jia family doing? No one had summoned an Imperial Physician for him after such a serious injury? At the thought of Jia She dying, Situ Xuan wanted to slaughter everyone in the Jia mansion. The sudden burst of killing intent from Situ Xuan caused Lin Daiyu to catch her breath, her face turning deathly pale, and startled Jia She, who was meditating.
Jia She awoke in a haze, seeing a tall man sitting in the room. Even after squinting, he could not make out the man’s features. Having not eaten for so long, his seasickness and hypoglycemia combined to blur his vision. Seeing Jia She awake, Lin Daiyu hurried over. “Great Uncle, the Prince of Virtue is here to see you and has been waiting since you were asleep.”
Situ Xuan smiled at Jia She, waiting for him to recognize him. Jia She had Lin Daiyu help him up, but she was too weak, so he prepared to call Lin Zhixiao. Situ Xuan took three large steps, sat on the edge of the bed, and wrapped an arm around Jia She’s shoulder, pulling him up with ease. The sudden movement made Jia She feel dizzy, and he breathed heavily. “Prince, please do not shake me; I feel quite ill.”
Situ Xuan froze, realizing Jia She did not recognize him, and ordered Wang Fu, “Go call the Imperial Physician.”
Jia She was familiar with Situ Ruo’s voice, and this man’s voice was much colder—it was not Situ Ruo. He tried to push Situ Xuan away, but was pinned down instead. “Your Majesty, please do not move, I have already sent for the Imperial Physician.”
If he couldn’t see the man’s face despite being this close, had his condition worsened? Lin Daiyu was stunned; with the title of “Your Majesty,” this was not the Prince of Virtue, but the Emperor himself. Jia She was also terrified, thinking the Emperor was here to settle old scores. But the debts belonged to the original owner, not him! He had already repaid the戶部 debt upon arrival; if the Emperor was coming for old scores, he should not be coming for him!
Jia She moved cautiously, distancing himself from Situ Xuan. Situ Xuan noticed Jia She was avoiding him and withdrew his hand with extreme reluctance. Jia She looked too timid; he must not frighten him.
Situ Xuan turned to Lin Daiyu, his voice gentle. “Your father sent me a letter, asking me to look after you. It is quite a coincidence that I happened to run into you today.”
Jia She breathed a sigh of relief. The Emperor was here for Lin Daiyu, not to settle old scores. So that was why the Emperor valued Lin Daiyu so much; no wonder the Jia family fell apart the moment she died in the novel.
Situ Xuan discovered that Jia She was truly easy to deceive; one sentence was all it took for him to be convinced. Jia She slowly stood up to dress and bowed, but Situ Xuan raised a hand. “I am traveling in secret; no need for formalities.” He was too worried about Jia She to care about bowing. Worried that Jia She would insist, he grabbed Jia She’s arm and sat him back on the bed.
Wang Fu brought over the Imperial Physician, Li, who had treated Jia She at the temple. Seeing the Emperor and Jia She, he knelt and kowtowed immediately. Situ Xuan stepped aside, gesturing for him to check Jia She’s pulse. Physician Li felt immense pressure. The moment he touched the pulse, he widened his eyes and asked, “Might I ask the General, have you taken any special medicine recently?”
Before, his pulse had been on the verge of exhaustion; now, it was merely frail. Being near death versus being frail were two very different things! Jia She didn’t understand the reaction. “Does a century-old ginseng soup count?”
Lin Zhixiao, who was anxious, spoke up when prompted by Wang Fu, “Reporting to His Majesty, I received a strange ginseng in Yangzhou; the farmer said it was a thousand-year-old ginseng.” Jia She twitched his lips; it wasn’t thousand-year-old, just a mutated one. But it didn’t affect the energy, so he had Lin Zhixiao boil it. He didn’t bother explaining; misunderstanding was easier than explanation.
Physician Li nodded thoughtfully. “We often call three-hundred-year ginseng ‘thousand-year ginseng.’ The General’s health has improved significantly. It is now merely frail. But you must not be careless; your previous illness was quite strange and may return.” The Physician’s grandfather had taught him to never be entirely truthful with patients, always leaving room for uncertainty.
Jia She was stunned. What strange illness? I never had one. He wanted to ask, but seeing Situ Xuan, he kept his mouth shut. One less thing to worry about.
Upon learning Jia She was out of danger, Situ Xuan laughed and rewarded Lin Zhixiao. Jia She felt bewildered; Situ Xuan’s behavior suggested he valued him highly. Feeling dizzy again and afraid that faking a faint would be discovered by the physician, he chose another method: he attacked himself with spiritual energy, intending to fake a faint by sustaining a minor injury. He miscalculated and coughed up blood.
Before losing consciousness, Jia She thought, I’ve coughed blood; surely the Emperor won’t blame me for such a display. He would have to use less spiritual energy next time; that was far too painful.
Situ Xuan caught him mid-fall, his eyes fierce as he glared at Physician Li. “What is going on? Did you not say he was out of danger?”
Physician Li, fearing for his life, scrambled to check his pulse. His expression turned bizarre, and he chose to speak the truth. “Reporting to His Majesty, the General suffered a great fright, combined with his seasickness, causing him to vomit blood.”
Situ Xuan hugged Jia She, incredulous. “What do you mean? I frightened Jia She?” Even if Jia She had become timid over the years, he shouldn’t be that terrified! This was a problem; if Jia She was scared of him and it affected his health, he would be devastated. Physician Li did not say Jia She was scared to death by the Emperor, yet every word implied it. Situ Xuan had not faced such a defeat in a long time. He had meticulously chosen his clothes to see Jia She; he had envisioned many scenes, but never one where Jia She would vomit blood from fear.
Situ Xuan looked awful as he put Jia She back to bed, ordered the medicine, and left in a foul mood. Lin Zhixiao was terrified, and Lin Daiyu stood by the bed with tears in her eyes. After Situ Xuan left, Lin Zhixiao paced like a headless chicken. “What do we do? His Majesty seemed angry!”
Lin Daiyu, however, took the prescription and told him to calm down. “Steward Lin, go brew the medicine; I will wait here for Great Uncle to wake up.”
Lin Zhixiao forced himself to be calm. Even if the Emperor was angry, he was just a servant; there was nothing he could do about Jia She’s fate. Jia She woke up before the medicine was even finished, relieved that Situ Xuan was gone. Lin Daiyu hurriedly offered the medicine, but Jia She, as usual, hid under the covers. “I am fine; I will not drink the medicine.”
He would do anything to avoid the bitter brew. Lin Daiyu couldn’t persuade him, so he used the excuse that he could stand up and return to the manor to avoid it. After he arrived at the East Courtyard and soaked in a bath, he felt reborn.
“Did Daiyu eat this morning?” he asked Lin Zhixiao.
“Miss Lin had a small bowl of chicken soup yesterday, but she was so distraught she vomited it up before sleep. This morning, she only had a little porridge, and she had a piece of pastry at noon, but has not yet had a proper meal.”
Jia She frowned. Lin Daiyu’s health was already frail, and the continuous leakage of spiritual energy—whatever its source—would certainly affect her physical well-being. Jia She dressed and instructed Lin Zhixiao, “Go to the kitchen and have them brew a nourishing soup. Do not wait for meal times; have her drink some periodically.”
After Jia She had finished his bath, he felt much better, though he remained somewhat weak. Soon after, he received the news from Situ Xuan through Wang Fu, who brought rewards and a message that Lin Daiyu was to serve as a princess’s companion in the palace, alongside more rewards for Jia She. He breathed a sigh of relief. His trip to Yangzhou had been eventful, but at least the danger was over.