Pei Yuan wore a pale purple brocade robe embroidered with cloud patterns, his hair bound with a jade crown, striding toward them against the light.
Behind him followed a young woman of marriageable age, graceful and slender, her figure exquisite.
Truly a philanderer—out and about, he still made sure to bring a confidante along.
“Paying respects to Your Highness, the Sixth Prince.” Changning Hou hastily bowed. “Did Your Highness find the scriptures you wanted in the Cangshulou?”
“Mm.”
Pei Yuan walked to the doorway and cast a sidelong glance at Shen Chu. “Did Little Top Scholar Shen anger the Marquis?”
Changning Hou was hesitating over whether to let Shen Chu rise when he heard Pei Yuan give a low chuckle:
“Little Top Scholar Shen will soon enter officialdom. Changning Hou, you must instruct him well. If he stirs up any trouble, people will inevitably say that it is the father’s fault when the son is not properly taught.”
“Your Highness speaks wisely.” Changning Hou smiled and glared at Shen Chu. “Go kneel over to the side.”
Shen Chu lifted her eyes and gazed at Pei Yuan resentfully.
She was kneeling for Concubine Qiao’s benefit. Now that this fellow had arrived, Concubine Qiao certainly couldn’t show up at the study anymore.
She had just been plotting to take the opportunity to rise, but one word from this fellow and she had to keep kneeling.
Pei Yuan really was her bane!
Changning Hou invited Pei Yuan inside to talk.
Shen Chu secretly sighed at her ill fortune.
If she’d known Pei Yuan was coming today, she wouldn’t have chosen today to stage her act of self-suffering.
Just as she was heaving long sighs, the light before her suddenly dimmed.
She looked up and met a pair of haughty eyes.
It was Shen Qingshuang, the daughter of the principal wife, two years younger than her, having just turned fifteen this year.
Every time Shen Qingshuang saw her, she would glare fiercely at her twice, lift her chin proudly, and walk away, never once putting her in her sights.
This time, however, Shen Qingshuang didn’t bother glaring at her. Instead, she reached up to touch the hairpins on her head, patted her chest with a face full of girlish shyness, and spoke in a voice so deliberately soft it was almost unbearable:
“Father, I’ve brought you some pastries…”
“Oh, His Highness the Sixth Prince is here too. Qingshuang pays her respects to Your Highness.”
Listening to Shen Qingshuang’s affected voice from inside the room, Shen Chu’s lips curled slightly.
No wonder she hadn’t bothered to glare—she was lovesick.
She quietly rose, rubbing her aching knees, while openly eavesdropping on the conversation inside.
“Was there some purpose behind Your Highness seeking scriptures?”
Pei Yuan’s voice sounded languid. “In a few days is the death anniversary of my mother, Consort Yu. I wish to find someone to transcribe a few volumes of scripture to be enshrined before the Buddha. Thinking that the Marquis has refined tastes, I wondered if you might recommend someone?”
Transcribing scriptures?
An ominous premonition suddenly rose in Shen Chu’s heart.
The next second, she heard Changning Hou call her. “Chu, come in.”
She frowned and limped into the room.
“Chu’s handwriting is passable. Chu, write a few characters for His Highness to see whether they will serve.”
Shen Chu glanced at Pei Yuan, seeing him seated grandly in the armchair, one hand propping up his head, his peach-blossom eyes drifting over to her indifferently.
She quickly withdrew her gaze, took up the paper, and dawdled over grinding the ink.
Shen Qingshuang said shyly, “Qingshuang also wishes to show devotion to Consort Yu. Why doesn’t Your Highness look at my Zanhua Xiaokai?”
Changning Hou glanced at his daughter and stroked his beard with a smile. “My daughter’s Zanhua Xiaokai is quite fine. Qingshuang, you write a few characters as well.”
Shen Qingshuang’s eyes lit up. She immediately shoved Shen Chu aside, dipped into the ink Shen Chu had just ground, and in one fluid stroke wrote several characters.
“See if they please Your Highness’s eye.”
Pei Yuan glanced over, the corner of his mouth curling slightly. “This prince naturally doesn’t mind Miss Shen’s handwriting. I’m only worried my mother might not approve—what if she comes looking for you at night?”
Shen Qingshuang’s pretty face went pale.
“My mother loved flowing, graceful calligraphy while she was alive—especially bold, forceful strokes.”
Hearing this, Changning Hou hurriedly said, “Chu’s handwriting is the most forceful—it will surely do.”
“Chu, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up and write a few characters.”
Shen Chu secretly curled her lip, feeling that this fellow Pei Yuan was doing it on purpose.
He must have seen the sutra she copied two days ago.
Flowing and graceful, bold and forceful?
Hah. Who said she could only write in one style?
Shen Chu made up her mind and was about to switch to a different script and just muddle through, when she heard Pei Yuan give a faint laugh.
“Since the Hou says Little Shen Zhuangyuan writes so well, then let Little Shen Zhuangyuan copy the sutras for this prince.”
Shen Chu’s hand jerked, and a blot of thick ink fell onto the paper.
This guy was clearly targeting her—he must be getting revenge for her waking him up two days ago.
Hmph. Petty to the bone.
“Qingqiu, give the sutra to Little Shen Zhuangyuan.”
The young woman standing behind Pei Yuan placed a thick hand-copied volume of the Shurangama Sutra on the desk.
It was the very one taken from Cangshulou.
“Five days—can Little Shen Zhuangyuan finish copying it?”
No, she couldn’t.
Copying such a thick volume would ruin her hand.
Over there, Changning Hou eagerly agreed on her behalf, “Of course she can. Once Chu finishes copying it, I’ll have him deliver it to Your Highness personally.”
Shen Chu…
“Then many thanks to the Hou and… Little Shen Zhuangyuan.”
Pei Yuan shot her a sidelong glance, curled his lips, and left.
Shen Chu asked Changning Hou, “Father, why did you agree on my behalf to copy sutras for the Sixth Prince?”
Changning Hou was displeased. “The Sixth Prince has enjoyed great favor these past two years—His Majesty’s affection for him nearly surpasses that for the Crown Prince and Prince Heng. But that man is notoriously capricious and very difficult to deal with. You’ve only been in the capital a short time, so you don’t know—the Sixth Prince doesn’t just command the Wucheng Bingmasi. He also heads a secret department called the Feiyingwei. The Feiyingwei answers directly to His Majesty and surveils all the officials. If they discover anything unusual, they can arrest people at their doors directly. Their power is immense. Copy the sutras diligently. If you can satisfy the Sixth Prince, you might use the opportunity to build a connection with him. That would only benefit your future career as an official in court—no harm at all.”
With that, he waved his hand. “Fine. Since you’re copying sutras for the Sixth Prince, I’ll waive your punishment of kneeling in your grandmother’s courtyard. Go back and copy the sutras properly. Once you’re done, it will be time for you to report to the Hanlinyuan.”
Clutching the sutra, Shen Chu tossed out one line: “I’m not going to the Hanlinyuan.”
Changning Hou was so furious he smashed a teacup.
Not far after leaving the study, Shen Chu was stopped by Shen Qingshuang.
“What is it?”
Shen Qingshuang glared at her, jealousy impossible to hide in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you refuse the Sixth Prince just now?”
Shen Chu found it amusing. “Does little sister think that if I refused, the Sixth Prince would have you copy the sutras instead?”
“There were only the two of us in the room. If you had refused, His Highness would naturally have asked me to copy them.”
Shen Chu was speechless.
She simply shoved the sutra into Shen Qingshuang’s arms.
“Since little sister loves copying so much, take it and copy it yourself.”
Shen Qingshuang stepped back, refusing the sutra, and shrieked, “You know perfectly well His Highness rejected me, yet you deliberately flaunt it in front of me. So you can write a few lousy characters—what’s so impressive about that?”
“You’ve misunderstood, sister. I sincerely want you to copy them—copy as many as you like.”
Shen Qingshuang’s face was full of contempt. “Don’t call me sister. Concubine Qiao is nothing but a lowborn merchant’s daughter—calling her half a mistress is already flattering her. You, a concubine-born son, what right do you have to be my brother?”
Slap.
With one hand holding the sutras, Shen Chu used the other to deliver a slap straight across Shen Qingshuang’s face.
The blow was rather hard; five finger marks instantly rose on Shen Qingshuang’s face.
Staggering from the hit, she reached up to touch her cheek and found blood on her hand. Her face twisted with rage.
“You lowborn bastard, how dare you hit me!”
Slap.
Another slap, even louder than the first.
Shen Chu sneered. “Half the blood in both our bodies comes from Father. If you call me a lowborn bastard, what does that make you? Whether you acknowledge it or not, I am Father’s eldest son. An elder brother stands in place of a father—when you speak out of turn, I naturally have the right to discipline you. If you’re not convinced, go argue your case before Father. Ask him how the blood he passed to me somehow became that of a lowborn bastard.”
Shen Qingshuang’s expression shifted slightly. She naturally dared not go argue before the Changning Hou.
She shot Shen Chu a vicious glare, covered her face, and ran off crying.
Shen Chu shook out his hand and carried the sutras back to Xizhao Hall, where he lived.
Hong Xiu came to greet him, took the sutras, and pulled a sheet of paper from her sleeve.
“Young Master, I’ve found everything out. All the businesses on this list are ones Concubine Qiao handed over to the family’s communal accounts.”
Shen Chu took the paper and glanced over it. “Caicai Workshop, Diange Pavilion, Tonghe Restaurant, a grain and oil shop…”
Hah. They were all either clothing and jewelry shops, restaurants and teahouses, or grain and oil stores—every one a business with small costs and huge returns.
All told, there were a full eight shops, with monthly profits totaling nearly ten thousand taels.
She put the paper away, and just then a guard’s voice came from outside.
“By order of the Marquis, the Eldest Young Master is to reflect behind closed doors and devote himself to copying the sutras.”
Hong Xiu started in alarm and moved to open the door and question the guard.
Shen Chu stopped her, shaking his head. “No need. These few days will be a fine chance to quiet my mind. I’ll see no one.”
“Not even Concubine Qiao?”
“Mm.”
Especially not Concubine Qiao. She had so thoughtfully set the stage today—now it remained to be seen how this Houfu crowd would perform on it.
She would let Concubine Qiao see exactly what sort of creatures the Qiao family’s money had raised.