It was only after the carriage had left the General’s Mansion that Xu Chen finally realised what Xu Han had meant by ‘don’t give your aunt a hard time’.
But she would have been better off not knowing. Although the original host’s character had been deliberately corrupted by Emperor Yongji, some of her behaviour was simply too abstract and made her appear rather dim-witted.
As the original host lacked the necessary abilities, Emperor Yongji had assigned her only to the Ministry of War, under the pretext of allowing her to develop her skills gradually.
Meanwhile, the Sixth Princess, Xu Zhao, had been given the Ministry of Personnel; the Fifth Princess had been assigned to the Ministry of Works; and just this year, the Seventh Princess had taken up the Ministry of Rites.
Of the Six Ministries, four had been entrusted to the four princesses to gain experience. It was rumoured that, due to the Sixth Princess’s outstanding performance, which had greatly pleased Emperor Yongji, there were already whispers that even the Ministry of Revenue—the most crucial of all—would be placed under her co-management.
Leaving that aside for the moment, the fact remained that, as head of the Ministry of War, the original host was effectively Yun Qian’s immediate superior.
Yun Qian currently held the post of Commander of Chongzhou, a border region of the Zhou Kingdom facing the sixteen tribes of the grasslands directly; the pressures of training, maintaining and deploying troops were immense.
Compounded by the harsh conditions in Chongzhou, the army’s provisions relied almost entirely on the imperial court for military rations, equipment and pay, all of which had to be supplied without fail every quarter.
Yet the original owner had withheld half a year’s worth of pay for the Chongzhou garrison.
Over the past six months, Yun Qian had sent one petition after another requesting the release of these funds, all of which the original owner had ignored, leaving them piled up on her desk.
The sole reason the Chongzhou garrison had not yet descended into chaos was that Yun Qian had been sustaining them from his personal funds.
Upon reflecting on all this, Xu Chen remained silent for a long while. Yet she soon came to understand: the original host had been utterly spoiled and rendered useless; whatever absurdities she committed were simply a case of sowing the seeds and reaping the consequences, with the root of the problem lying with Emperor Yongji.
Did Emperor Yongji and the Sixth Princess know of this?
Xu Chen suspected they were aware, but they were not concerned—indeed, they might even welcome it.
The more Xu Chen clashed with the Yun family, the more they stood to gain and the more at ease they felt. Coupled with the fact that Yun Qian was a person of profound patriotism—she would rather drain herself dry than allow anything to happen in Chongzhou that might give the grassland tribes an opportunity to exploit—Emperor Yongji naturally felt even less constrained.
Upon reflecting on this matter, Xu Chen immediately placed it on her list of issues requiring prompt resolution. However, whilst important, it was not urgent; it had not yet reached the stage where she needed to deal with it immediately.
After all, she had spent the past six months behaving herself; a day or two more would make little difference. There was something fishy about this matter, and she still needed to get to the bottom of the power struggles involved. The idea of withholding the Chongzhou garrison’s pay was certainly not something the original host had conjured up out of thin air.
Xu Chen issued herself another warning: if something like this could happen, the troubles the original owner had left her were likely to be even more serious than this, and she would have to be even more cautious.
Once inside the carriage, Lu Qiuci relaxed considerably. At the General’s Mansion, he had feared that a poor performance would bring shame upon him and upset Xu Chen; boarding the carriage gave him the feeling that his mission was finally over.
He wanted to speak to Xu Chen, but the moment Xu Chen stepped into the carriage, she sank into deep thought. Not daring to disturb her, he immediately fell silent and sat quietly by her side.
From outside the carriage came the occasional sound of Xuan Ying urging the horses on, the creaking of the axles, and the grinding of the wheels against the stone paving; yet inside, it remained unnervingly quiet.
The carriage rocked gently all the way back to the Princess’s residence, and only then did Xu Chen finally emerge from her thoughts.
“Your Highness, my lord, we have arrived.”
Xuan Yu’s respectful voice drifted in from outside, but Xu Chen did not rush to dismount. Instead, she turned to Lu Qiuci and said, “You performed very well today. What reward would you like?”
Lu Qiuci froze instantly, staring blankly at Xu Chen, unable to fathom whether the words were earnest or a ruse.
In truth, Lu Qiuci already had a rough idea of the role Xu Chen wished him to play, and the reason he had strived so hard to fulfil it was, naturally, because he too had his own expectations of Xu Chen.
However, Lu Qiuci wasn’t sure whether he should go along with Xu Chen’s suggestion and make his own request at this moment.
He was afraid—afraid that Xu Chen was merely toying with him maliciously, luring him into making a mistake. Xu Chen’s reputation in the outside world had cast far too long a shadow over him.
Yet another voice within Lu Qiuci urged him to speak up. He had only heard rumours about the former Crown Princess, but the Crown Princess before him was someone he had actually interacted with and grown close to.
He knew Xu Chen might have a temper, but whatever came from her lips was bound to be her word of honour.
Although his time with Xu Chen had been brief—indeed, one might say extremely brief—and hardly sufficient to gain a deep understanding of her, he simply had this feeling: whatever Xu Chen said, she would certainly see through to the end.
So, should he make his request?
Logically speaking, if he chose to take a step back for the sake of progress and did not make a request of Xu Chen at this moment, she might well regard him more favourably.
Yet he had compelling reasons to seek Xu Chen’s assistance.
As he pondered, Lu Qiuci couldn’t help but bite his lower lip lightly; Xu Chen, for her part, showed no impatience and made no haste of him.
Outside the carriage, all was silent; Xuan Ying and Xuan Yu, having been personally trained by Xuan Mu, knew exactly how to conduct themselves.
After a few moments, Lu Qiuci finally steeled his resolve and addressed Xu Chen.
He dared not think for too long, lest he keep Xu Chen waiting.
“Your Highness, I wish to ask for a favour: to grant my mother and father permission to visit me at the Princess’s residence.”
Xu Chen had not expected Lu Qiuci to make this request. Though she did not care what Lu Qiuci might ask of her, for whatever reward he desired, she could grant it.
This request did not cross any lines; in fact, it fell far short of being a reward.
But since Lu Qiuci had asked for this, Xu Chen would not grant him anything else.
“Very well, I grant it.”
“It seems you do not yet have an errand-runner at your side. I shall have Uncle Lin assign another to you; you may send him to deliver a message to the Lu residence.”
Having settled the matter of the reward, Xu Chen finally deigned to dismount. She instructed Xuan Yu to escort Lu Qiuci back to the Yuhua Courtyard, whilst she herself did not enter the inner quarters.
Upon returning to his own courtyard, Lu Qiuci let out a long sigh of relief, his face flushed slightly with excitement.
In this life, the greater the risk one takes, the greater the reward; in the end, it was all worth it.
Rumours outside claimed the Crown Princess was cruel by nature, yet in all the days he had spent in the Eastern Palace, he had never once seen Xu Chen casually punish her servants, let alone whip someone to death.
Rumours also circulated that the Crown Princess was a hedonist, preying on women and men alike, yet in all these days, Xu Chen had not set foot in the inner quarters beyond the Yuhua Courtyard.
As for that young master Liu from the General’s Mansion—charming and delicate, with the complexion of a lotus blossom—Xu Chen had not so much as spared him a glance.
He did not know why Xu Chen was so different from the rumours, but he knew that, at least for the time being, he had placed his bet correctly.
Lin Yi arrived very quickly, soon bringing a plain-looking maidservant to the Yuhua Courtyard; the girl immediately curtsied to him, acknowledging him as her master.
Thus, Lu Qiuci now had Di Liu to manage domestic affairs and Mo Xiao to run errands outside the home.
Lin Yi told him that since he was to entertain his parents, he should feel free to make any requests; she would certainly see to them and assured him he need not worry.
Lu Qiuci suddenly felt as though he had, in an instant, gained a solid pillar of support.
He thought to himself, this is enough. Even if Xu Chen were to revert to her true nature in the future, humiliating and tormenting him as terribly as the rumours suggested, it would suffice so long as Xu Chen was willing to lend him influence.
He would endure it. He had always understood the principle that to gain, one must lose.
……
The front courtyard.
Xu Chen was discussing important matters with her subordinates.
The first person she met was Lu Jingming, a non-native of the capital and from a humble background.
Lu Jingming had sought refuge at the Crown Princess’s residence in the autumn of the fourteenth year of the Yongji era through a friend’s connections. By this time, the original host’s reputation had become utterly despised, which clearly demonstrated just how low her starting point had been; with so many aristocratic families and imperial princesses in the capital, she had been forced to enter the Crown Princess’s residence merely to scrape by.
The original owner did not hold her in high regard, which meant she was treated like a transparent figure within the Princess’s residence—dispensable and inconsequential.
This also made her one of the few members of Xu Chen’s staff with a clean background.
Xu Chen had eliminated all those with questionable ties through an assassination plot, leaving only a handful of people remaining. As she sifted through them, she soon took notice of Lu Jingming.
Though Lu Jingming was by no means without talent, in this era, appointments were heavily weighted by one’s background. The connections of the great clans were like the tangled roots of a towering tree, squeezing every last bit of living space from the soil available to women of humble origins.
Lu Jingming’s lowly birth meant that, no matter how talented she might be, she had no right to choose her master; she could only devote herself to Xu Chen.
Indeed, had it not been for Xu Chen’s purge of traitors, she would never have had such a chance to rise to the top overnight. Xu Chen did not need to explain anything to her; merely summoning her and asking if she was willing to pledge her loyalty was enough to secure a subordinate who was, all things considered, quite useful.
At this thought, Xu Chen could not help but smile.
Fortunately, the Princess’s residence still had a handful of useful individuals left; with a bit of tidying up, they could still be put to use. Otherwise, he would truly have been left with nothing but a skeleton crew.
Lu Jingming entered the study and immediately said, “Greetings, Your Highness!”
Xu Chen looked at her and cut straight to the chase: “Have you completed the task I assigned?”
Lu Jingming composed her expression and began her report: “It has been completed, Your Highness.”
“I specifically sought out a dozen or so ringleaders of the beggars in the Eastern and Western Districts of the capital and instructed them to spread the rumour—through folk songs—that the Sixth Princess was the mastermind behind the attempt on Your Highness’s life. After a few days of ferment, the rumour has now spread throughout the entire capital.”
“I am confident it will soon reach the palace and come to Her Majesty’s ears. We have acted with great discretion; by the time the Sixth Princess and Her Majesty discover the truth, it will be too late.”
“Furthermore, the artisans and merchants Your Highness asked me to find have been located. The artisans are straightforward; they will work for a payment of silver.”
“However, regarding that merchant, I wonder if Your Highness would like to meet her?”
Xu Chen: “Who is it?”
Lü Jingming: “It is a woman of the Zhou family, named Zhou Yan. Her family has been in the textile trade for generations and once possessed a vast estate.”
“A few months ago, her mother was killed by bandits whilst travelling on business. When the news reached the capital, the Zhou family came under attack from other merchants. Compounded by the betrayal of her own relatives and the grief-stricken death of her father, Zhou Yan has been driven to the brink of ruin, with nothing left but a single workshop and a few shops.”
Xu Chen nodded; she was indeed a most suitable candidate.
Provided this young lady of the Zhou family was not a hopeless case, she was worth investing in, turning Zhou Yan into a loyal ally.
Apart from Zhou Yan, Lu Jingming offered Xu Chen several other options, but none were as suitable as Zhou Yan.
Xu Chen pondered for a moment, then said to Lu Jingming, “Make the arrangements. I shall meet the young lady of the Zhou family tomorrow.”
Lu Jingming: “As you command, Your Highness!”
She departed with great enthusiasm.