“What? You want me to marry the Crown Prince?”
The “woman” who spoke still held half a skewer of tanghulu in her hand, with candied sugar not wiped clean from the corner of her mouth. She wore a crimson narrow-sleeved, straight-collared ruqun that looked properly worn, but its two sleeves had been carelessly tied up at the elbows with a hand cord by their owner, making for an utterly wild and unrestrained look.
Seeing Chu Muhe put down the secret edict in his hand and cast a helpless look over, Chu Yue’an finally reacted and casually wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, and waved his hand:
“No, no, no. Even if His Majesty dared to point at me, I wouldn’t dare to marry. Second Brother, it’s not as if you don’t know my situation. Pretending is fine in everyday life, but if I really married out, I’d be finished in no time. I can’t agree to this.”
Chu Muhe sighed, reached over and took the handkerchief, wiped off the bit of stain on the side of Chu Yue’an’s face, and only then said slowly:
“Yes. However you put it, this is the crime of deceiving the emperor. Going by what I know of Lu Jingci, if he found out he had married a man, he would probably strangle you on the spot.”
“…Is it that frightening?” Chu Yue’an rubbed the goosebumps that had come up on his arms.
Chu Muhe nodded with feigned gravity: “Of course. Do you think your Second Brother has spent all these years in Yongdu eating free meals? His Highness may look moderate and mild, but after all he is a member of the imperial family, and hard to guess.”
He paused, then said again:
“Haven’t you seen His Highness at the Secretariat? With your ability, surely you couldn’t have failed to see it.”
Chu Yue’an poked him: “Second Brother has too much confidence in me. I haven’t mastered the skill of judging people’s characters yet. Just a few days ago the old man scolded me about this very thing.”
Chu Muhe laughed in spite of himself: “Grand Tutor Xie really should discipline you more.”
“Hey!” Chu Yue’an was about to poke again, but Chu Muhe, who had been prepared, dodged. He quickly said:
“Fine, fine, fine, I won’t say it. But tell me what to do about this marriage.”
Chu Yue’an bit off a haw, and with his cheeks puffed out he propped his chin on the table, mumbling: “Mm…”
“Mm?” Chu Muhe sat back down behind the desk and looked at him with a smile.
In these past six months, Chu Yue’an had first taken advantage of His Majesty’s birthday last winter to secretly follow the convoy of the Chu clan’s General’s Residence of Wuzhou into Yongdu and join him, and later, using Grand Tutor Xie’s letter of recommendation, had secured a minor post as Secretariat Clerk in the Secretariat.
He used the name of Bai Zimu, a son of the Bai clan who had been fostered in the General’s Residence in earlier years, and was seen coming and going only in men’s clothing, so no one discovered that the General’s Residence’s Third Miss had secretly entered the capital.
It was only that last month Chu Muhe had to return to Wuzhou to hold his capping ceremony, so the two had left Yongdu together and gone home, and half a month had passed since.
As for this secret edict—
Chu Yue’an swallowed the food in his mouth, stuffed the skewer with the last remaining haw into Chu Muhe’s hand, then snatched the handkerchief back from his hand and rubbed his fingertips on it, and only then said with satisfaction:
“It’s fine. I thought about it, and this matter actually isn’t that hard to settle.”
Chu Muhe let him do as he pleased, and with his other, empty hand poured him a cup of tea.
Chu Yue’an: “Think about it, Second Brother. The most important thing in this edict is that His Majesty tells you to hurry back to the capital for the Mid-Autumn banquet. My marriage was only mentioned in passing. I can’t say it is of no importance, but at least it won’t be the focus of His Majesty’s attention.”
“And why is His Majesty in such a hurry? Isn’t it because the Prime Minister’s faction and the Crown Prince’s faction are now fighting frequently? Second Brother, as Commander of the Palace Guard, you are also valued by His Majesty, and you just happen to hold the two factions in check and form a triangular balance of power. But once you left, who knows what a mess Yongdu is in now.”
Chu Muhe nodded, following his line of thought:
“Indeed.”
Chu Yue’an stopped to drink the cup of tea Chu Muhe had poured him, and only then continued his analysis:
“Since that’s so, it would be enough to just call you back. Why mention me?”
“It’s true I have come of age, and by reason this is the age to talk of marriage, but His Majesty is far away in Yongdu, and in recent years the power of the court has gradually been taken over entirely by Gu Shaoshi. How would His Majesty the old man suddenly remember that there is someone like me?”
Gu Shaoshi was the present first-rank Prime Minister of the court of the Great Yan dynasty, second only to one man and above ten thousand, and also the youngest third-place laureate in all the dynasties. He topped the examination at sixteen and was appointed Prime Minister at the age of capping, rising steadily with no one to equal him.
Chu Muhe pondered for a while and guessed:
“Perhaps it is because I asked His Majesty for leave to go home. Although I didn’t deliberately mention you, it would still bring some associations to mind, and even if His Majesty himself hadn’t noticed, someone else would more or less have reminded him.”
“That does make sense,” Chu Yue’an affirmed. “But.” His voice turned:
“Second Brother, do you think His Majesty would, because the Crown Prince is weak and no match for Prime Minister Gu, take the initiative to borrow the strength of the Chu family to support the heir?”
This was more or less treasonous talk, gossiping about the ruler behind his back. But Chu Muhe did not, as he used to in Yongdu, stop him in stern words. He only gave Chu Yue’an a look with a hint of warning:
“That is what I wonder about too. After all, His Majesty feared our Jingyuan General’s Residence in those years. I was exchanged to enter the capital as a hostage, and after all these years I barely managed to become a close subject of the Son of Heaven because of my merit in saving the emperor. That I can go home now is already a grace, but I…” His voice dropped a little:
“But I don’t believe His Majesty has put down his suspicion of our General’s Residence because of this.”
The room fell quiet for a moment.
Chu Yue’an put his hand on the back of Chu Muhe’s hand and patted it carelessly, saying softly: “Second Brother, it has really been hard on you all these years.”
He had said these words to Chu Muhe when he first entered the capital last year, but mentioning them again today, the feeling was somewhat different. Chu Muhe’s heart eased a little, and he gripped his hand back and smiled:
“Rather than worry about your Second Brother, you’d better worry about yourself. Come, will you still eat the tanghulu?” He raised the skewer to Chu Yue’an’s mouth, but Chu Yue’an dodged to one side in disgust:
“No, no. The last one was so sour, this one must be too. Second Brother, you eat it.”
Chu Muhe: “Well, you. You don’t know to save the good things for your Second Brother, you only know how to talk, is that it?” Although he said so, his hands did just as Chu Yue’an had said and bit off the last haw.
He tasted it in his mouth and winked at Chu Yue’an:
“It’s sweet. You missed out.”
He thought Chu Yue’an would at least argue back a couple of words, but Chu Yue’an only looked at him with a cool gaze and said:
“You don’t think I’m still going to fight you for it, do you?”
Chu Muhe, still chewing the haw: …?
Chu Yue’an shook his head with an air of a young man wise beyond his years: “Second Brother, Second Brother, I think you’re the one who’s really childish. One of these days I’ll have the old man scold you too.”
Chu Muhe: …He really never takes a loss.
Chu Yue’an wagged his head, put his hands behind his back and, in a proper manner, poured him a cup of tea as well, then plopped down on a stool and counted for him on his fingers:
“The marriage, well. We can’t guess what exactly His Majesty is thinking, but it’s not that there is no way.”
“Although what we’re looking at now is a secret edict, when the time comes I’ll go back to the capital with you as Chu Yue’an. Being the sister of the Commander of the Throne Guard, that name alone is enough to stir up a lot of excitement.”
“Although the four great families of Yongdu still look like Gu, Xie, Shen and Yao, in the past ten years they haven’t been as stable as in the former dynasty. Not to mention the second-rate noble families, whether well-known or not, just among the humble-origin officials Gu Shaoshi has promoted since he came to power, who doesn’t hope to climb up through a marriage into a prominent household?”
Chu Yue’an tapped the table with his fingertip and said with a deeper meaning:
“It’s hard to say, but even Gu Shaoshi, Prime Minister Gu himself, may want to try wading into this muddy water.”
Chu Muhe was moved: “You mean…”
“As long as His Majesty’s edict, in yellow paper and clear words, is not immediately delivered to the Chu residence, you can just treat this marriage as if it did not exist. If His Majesty asks, you say that you grew up in Yongdu and have a distance from me, this ‘younger sister.’ Wouldn’t that be fine?”
Chu Muhe: “…With your ability, you could casually stir up some waves in the capital then and become close with the other sons of noble families. With your status placed there, and His Majesty giving me some face on account of these words, this marriage would probably…”
“Probably just come to nothing,” Chu Yue’an took up.
“As expected of one taught by Grand Tutor Xie himself,” Chu Muhe couldn’t help praising, and patted the back of Chu Yue’an’s hand: “Hearing you say this, I can rest easy.”
Chu Yue’an was unconvinced: “It was clearly my own idea! Why is that old man dragged in again!”
Unexpectedly, just as the words fell, a sinister cold snort was heard:
“…Which little rascal is badmouthing this old man again?”
Not good!
Chu Yue’an’s body stiffened, and he turned his head sharply, and saw Xie Lezhi, that is, Grand Tutor Xie, who at some point was already standing in the wide-open doorway of the study. He had his hands behind his back and was staring at Chu Yue’an with a smile that did not reach his eyes. Although his face looked kindly, at this moment he seemed to carry gusts of cold wind about him, like a fierce beast or an evil ghost, specializing in catching mischievous, troublemaking imps to be remade in the furnace.
Chu Yue’an stammered: “…What is Master saying? This disciple was just discussing affairs of state with his elder brother, and wouldn’t dare disturb Teacher’s stroll. We’ll leave right now, right now…”
Xie Lezhi smiled leisurely: “Oh? With so much leisure, I suppose today’s schoolwork is already done?”
Chu Yue’an’s eyes wandered.
Xie Lezhi went on: “It is hard for someone to still remember what affairs of state are. Why not tell your teacher about them while you’re at it, and there’s no need to hurry off, is there?”
Chu Yue’an’s leg, which had been getting up, stopped. Seeing that the only exit of the study was firmly blocked by Xie Lezhi, he looked at Chu Muhe with a resentful gaze and pouted: “Second Brother…”
Chu Muhe smiled slightly, did not save him, stood up, and bowed to Xie Lezhi:
“Then this junior will not disturb Senior in teaching his student, and will take his leave first.”
Chu Yue’an’s inner thought: Fine, you’re so lofty, I don’t believe no one can handle—
“Second Young Master, please stay,” Xie Lezhi said.
I told you so! Chu Yue’an changed his posture, and the whole person who had been drooping suddenly stood up straight, and even gave Chu Muhe a smug, swaggering look.
Chu Muhe: …What to do when your own younger brother is a hopeless childish brat.
He stood up straight and looked at Xie Lezhi: “Grand Tutor, please speak.”
Xie Lezhi waved his hand: “Second Young Master need not stand on ceremony.” He flicked his sleeves and walked into the room, and was given a seat by the guilty-conscience Chu Yue’an, who was extremely well-behaved. Then, stroking his beard, he cleared his throat:
“This old man has lived in your General’s Residence for so many years, and should do his part to some degree. If Second Young Master doesn’t mind, please sit down and listen to this old man talk about these useless principles.”
Chu Muhe’s eyes lit up: “This junior is more than glad to!”
Chu Yue’an, however, went “tsk” in his heart.
Hey, this old man’s habit of loving to play teacher has acted up again!