“You!” Bai Ziyao was furious, and seeing him now made his anger flare even more. He stepped over the threshold and was about to smash a fist into his face, but Chu Yue’an had expected it, raised a hand, and firmly gripped his wrist:
After all he was one of the people of the General’s Residence, and even a female member of the household practiced martial arts from childhood. How could Bai Ziyao, an eldest young master pampered since childhood, be his match?
Chu Yue’an gave a soft laugh, pushed forward with force in his hand, and pushed Bai Ziyao over. He was then caught by the household servants in a flustered scramble, his face swollen red with rage. He stretched out a finger, pointing at him, about to burst into abuse, but was stopped by a look Chu Yue’an suddenly cast over:
“Young Master Bai, I advise you not to let trouble come out of your mouth. The master told you to invite me, not to have me carry your shoes.”
Bai Ziyao was cowed by his presence, and his face turned from red to white: “You, you, you…how do you know!”
Chu Yue’an couldn’t be bothered to waste words on him. From somewhere he produced a folding fan with a jade face inlaid with silver, opened it with a “swish,” and, fanning himself, walked toward him step by step, unhurried. The air about him was entirely that of a dashing young gentleman, many times better than Bai Ziyao, who was still slumped in the servants’ arms with his clothes in disarray. Not only him, even the Bai family’s guards were bluffed by him and, following his movements, retreated a step for each step he took, and soon entered the main courtyard.
Fortunately, Bai Ziyao was a fool, but the elder Bai clearly was not. Master Bai, hearing the commotion, had just reached the front courtyard, and seeing “Bai Zimu” properly and impressively dressed and refined and elegant in manner, was at once thrilled, and then seeing Bai Ziyao’s slovenly state, his anger went “whoosh whoosh whoosh” upward:
“Bai Ziyao! Look at what you look like! Is this acceptable! Laifu!” Master Bai called the steward. “Take this unfilial son back to his room for me! Confine him for half a month!”
Chu Yue’an watched from the side the whole process of Bai Ziyao being seized by many hands and taken away, laughing quietly inside, but on his face he closed the fan and gave Bai’s father a dignified bow: “Greetings, Master. I wonder what business Master has called this nephew for?”
Seeing him like this, Bai’s father was very satisfied in his heart, stroked his beard, and said kindly:
“It is nothing big. Please, nephew, move to the study for a detailed talk.”
“…So that’s how it is.”
Chu Yue’an sat upright before the desk, bowed his head and took a sip of clear tea, and then showed an apologetic smile:
“I am deeply grateful for Master’s promotion, but, forgive me, this nephew cannot agree.”
Bai’s father was somewhat anxious: “Why? Do you still resent that we sent you to the General’s Residence back then? I will go to the Chu residence in person another day and fetch your identity papers, and you needn’t worry…”
“That is not it.” Chu Yue’an shook his head. “On the contrary,” he raised a contented smile at the right moment, his cheeks lifted slightly, “Miss treats me very well, so it is not that this nephew is unwilling to return to the main family, but that this nephew is unwilling to leave the General’s Residence.”
Seeing that his manner did not seem false, alarm bells rang in Bai’s father’s heart: “Could it be that you…”
“Yes,” Chu Yue’an nodded without blushing or his heart skipping: “I am already Miss’s guest of the curtain.”
Bai’s father drew a sharp breath.
Chu Yue’an secretly observed his expression, knew he believed it eight parts, and kept acting:
“Bai Zimu” showed a slight embarrassment and turned his face to the side. His looks were originally ordinary, but with this emotion entering them, he suddenly became much more vivid and eye-catching. One saw only his narrow, long eye corners and drooping lashes, his face powder-white, and the slender, scallion-green knuckles gripping the folding fan whitened from the force, appearing rather sensual. His lips were peach-pink. He opened his mouth, hesitated a moment, and then began slowly:
“This nephew trusts Master, and so will not hide it from you, but this is not a clean matter to tell, and the dignity of the General’s Residence is not something our Bai family can touch, so I hope you will keep your mouth shut.”
Bai’s father had clearly not recovered from this news, but his ears first caught “our Bai family,” and he could not stop smiling and agreed in every word: “Of course, of course. Miss’s affairs are our Bai family’s affairs.”
Who wants to be one family with you, thought Chu Yue’an. But on his face he avoided the subject and nodded:
“With Master’s guarantee like this, this nephew can rest easy.” He paused, then suddenly sighed and took out of his sleeve the papers prepared in advance: “In that case, the other day the eldest young master came on Master’s orders to demand this nephew’s papers. It is indeed right that they now be handed to the main family for safekeeping.”
Bai’s father was slightly stunned, then suddenly understood the meaning of his words and was overjoyed in his heart:
This was an outright declaration of allegiance.
If just now was laying his cards on the table, now “Bai Zimu” was pledging allegiance to him and the Bai family. After all, his original intent had only been to negotiate with the Chu family and have them return a son of the Bai family, and he had not expected that his muddled son would snatch back the person’s identity papers directly, and the Chu family had not even stopped it.
And now “Bai Zimu” did not mention it at all, and took the initiative to give him a step down. He had said so: if “Bai Zimu” were truly thriving like a fish in water in the Chu family, why would he come alone? Sure enough, it must be that the Chu family’s eldest young lady did not treat him well, and “Bai Zimu” was powerless to resist, so he took this chance to obliquely ask the Bai family for help!
The more Bai’s father thought, the more he felt his line of thought was entirely correct, and the more fervent his gaze at Chu Yue’an became. He coughed twice, putting on an act, but his hands very eagerly filled Chu Yue’an’s emptied teacup:
“What my son did was rather improper. Nephew, please don’t be angry with him.”
“How could I?” Chu Yue’an waved the fan. “Elder Brother doesn’t bother with small matters, and I, as his younger brother, feel ashamed by comparison.”
These words, said by anyone else, would probably sound like irony, but Chu Yue’an said them as if they were natural, without any awkwardness, so that Bai’s father found them very pleasant to hear. But on second thought, with Bai Zimu’s status he was probably unlikely to be much help, and for a moment he became troubled again and sighed:
“Nephew, it is not that I force you against your will, but our Bai family now truly has no one to use!”
“Since you have laid your cards so, I will not beat around the bush with you. I know you entered the court last year and serve as a minor clerk in the Secretariat. At that time I worried you were someone the Chu family had arranged, and so did not disturb you. I just don’t know what you think now, nephew?”
Chu Yue’an smiled with lips curved, his expression unreadable, but did not talk about himself:
“Master, there is no need to hurry… Please let this nephew tell it slowly. Now the Crown Prince is unwilling to help his mother’s family and the Chu clan has nothing to rely on. These are all irrelevant.”
“Who has the final say in the court now, does Master not understand?”
Bai’s father’s expression froze, as if he suddenly saw the light: “You mean…”
Chu Yue’an waved the fan and smiled calmly:
“As long as you hook up with Prime Minister Gu, does the Bai family still need to worry?”
“Bai Zimu” was finally picked up by people from the General’s Residence.
Bai’s father saw him off right to the front of the residence gate, and upon seeing Lin Che, nearly knelt down to beg him not to leave. Chu Yue’an bid him farewell with a smile, and as he turned, he came face to face with Lin Che’s icy cold face.
Lin Che was almost gnashing his teeth. Normally he would never get into the carriage, but this time he pushed and pulled Chu Yue’an up into it, and the first thing out of his mouth was:
“Miss! This is far too dangerous!”
Chu Yue’an knew he would be angry and hurriedly raised a finger before his lips:
“Shh! We haven’t gone far yet! Do you want all your Miss’s painstaking efforts to be wasted?”
Lin Che’s anger had nowhere to go. He wanted to say more, but Chu Yue’an hurriedly patted his shoulder and pressed him down into the seat. Seeing Lin Che’s sword brows knit, deliberately not looking at him, Chu Yue’an sighed with a laugh and comforted him:
“Such a temper? I haven’t even held you accountable for what happened this morning. All right, all right. Didn’t I leave you a note in the study, and you found your way here? Anyway, I never meant to have you follow on this trip, mm? Be good, when has your Miss ever miscalculated?”
Lin Che clearly did not agree, folded his arms, and said coldly:
“If that is so, at least you should have notified this subordinate beforehand. This time it was fortunate it was found out early. If it hadn’t been, how would Miss have gotten away?”
Chu Yue’an rubbed his face, not caring at all:
“At worst I’d have stayed a night at the Bai residence. Besides, didn’t I have Chunque go call for lunch? The timing was calculated exactly right, wasn’t it? If you ask me, I originally planned to bring it up with you when the three of us ate. Who knew that since coming to Yongdu, one after another you’ve all changed your tune, unwilling this, unwilling that, not even listening to your Miss’s words. How can we accomplish anything from now on?”
Seeing Lin Che’s expression ease somewhat, Chu Yue’an struck while the iron was hot and said as if casually:
“Since you want to help so much, that’s good. Tomorrow I’ll trouble you to go back to Wuzhou and bring Ji Yuxin here. No need to hide from the eyes and ears of others. Tell the outside that the Chu residence’s young lady is keen on opera and has specially invited a master of the arts.”
Lin Che was stunned and blurted out:
“Miss, you can’t!”
Chu Yue’an, however, changed his attitude at once, his brow set, quite imposing:
“What did I just say? Have you forgotten already?”
Lin Che dropped on one knee with a “thump.”
“This subordinate would not dare!”
Chu Yue’an gave a soft laugh: “I think you’re very bold.”
Lin Che pressed his lips together and said nothing.
Chu Yue’an had a bit of a headache. He drew the fan from his sleeve and fanned himself. The carriage was running steadily. He estimated they would soon reach the residence and could not delay, so he suddenly closed the fan and slapped it on Lin Che’s left shoulder with a “pa”:
“Things have come to this. An arrow on the string must be shot. If you’re unwilling to call her, that’s fine too. Anyway, Sister Chunque’s disguise skills are extremely high. Since you’re so bold, it wouldn’t hurt for you to play me, would it?”
Lin Che understood the meaning of his words, and a flush rose on his face. He even followed Chu Yue’an’s inference and thought about what it would look like for himself in Miss’s clothes, every movement, and shuddered. He hurriedly shook his head, his voice trembling a bit:
“This…how could this work? I’m a man, how could I play a woman well?”
Lin Che was also muddled, and only after the words fell remembered that Chu Yue’an in front of him was no less a man. He paused, immediately realized he had committed a taboo, hurriedly wanted to kneel again to ask forgiveness, but was yanked up by Chu Yue’an, his face calm:
“What are you kneeling for? Get up. You know how hard it has been for me all these years. Why are you unwilling to share Miss’s burden?”
As he spoke, he pulled out a light woman’s outfit from under the seat, one hand pressing Lin Che’s upper arm, the other making as if to put it over his head.
Lin Che thought Chu Yue’an really intended to have him play Miss, his face went a few shades paler, and not daring to resist, he could only say weakly:
“This subordinate…this subordinate truly cannot do it.”
“…So you’re still unwilling to go back to Wuzhou and call Ji Yuxin over?” Chu Yue’an held back a laugh and coaxed him step by step.
Just then the carriage reached the back gate of the Chu residence, and the driver called out outside.
Hearing it, Lin Che felt as if pardoned by amnesty. He hurriedly yanked off the soft cloth already over his head and answered urgently: “Willing! This subordinate is willing! Whatever Miss orders, this subordinate will follow to the death! Lin Che will set off right now!”
Having said this, he scrambled out of the carriage, rolling and crawling, as if afraid Chu Yue’an would catch him and make him change into women’s clothes.
Chu Yue’an finally couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing, collapsed backward on the seat, holding his stomach, laughing until he couldn’t catch his breath. In his heart he thought, no, sooner or later he would drug Lin Che and make him try wearing women’s clothes once.