CH 59

Zhao Su’s so-called younger brother had on several occasions in the past tried to push him and his mother to their deaths. In the end, he had not succeeded, but Zhao Su had also not seen him to express an ounce of regret, and instead, had been disdained by the fact that Zhao Su had been receiving some respect and admiration from the other clansmen. It was a shame that there was no evidence regarding the incident with the fire2, so there was no way to resolve the matter.

Even if this kind of person became an imperial official, he’d still be destined to be stuck as a low-ranking official, but if he was fortunate enough to encounter a great backer, he could probably continue to stir up some trouble. Looking at the benefits, since Zhao Jin had gone elsewhere to take up post as an official, he would probably not have the time to think about taking revenge, so Zhao Su decided to put the situation with his younger brother to the back of his mind and concentrate on the matter at hand.

He folded up the letter and sighed deeply, he swept a glance over to Chen Zhu, who looked like he wanted to say something but was holding back. He thought that perhaps he was also upset that his cousin had passed away and said a few words to comfort him: “A dead person cannot be resurrected, Bo Xun, you should restrain your grief and accept fate3.”

Chen Zhu continued to ruminate in his mind for a while, but decided in the end to say it anyway: “Shaoyong, we are not strangers, I don’t want to conceal it from you. In fact, in my letter, aside from the news of the death of my cousin, there is something else….. Although, I don’t believe that the timing is right, but since the elders of my family had suggested it, I will first give you a heads up, so that you won’t feel shocked when you receive the news later.”

Zhao Su saw how serious he looked and was curious: “What is it?”

Chen Zhu scratched his head: “You know that my clan is the largest in Changle. When there are a lot of people, sometimes, I even have trouble remembering everyone’s names.”

Zhao Su nodded.

“Your fiancée, my cousin who has just passed away, was the legitimate-born daughter of the second branch of my family. My er-shu4 has a lot of children, but those who are legitimate-born, there was only this one. To have matched her with you, meant that he saw you in high regard.”

Zhao Su nodded.

“Er-shu has four concubine-born daughters, there is one of them that is four years younger than you. She has just reached marriageable age5, she is beautiful, even more beautiful than my legitimate-born cousin. It’s just that she is from a lowly background, her mother is a maid…..”

Zhao Su, seeing that he was beating around the bush, couldn’t resist cutting in: “Bo Xun, what exactly are you trying to tell me?”

Chen Zhu’s heart skipped a beat and decided to just come out with it: “In my letter, it was written that the elders mean to match make you with my concubine-born cousin, given that my legitimate-born cousin did not have the fortune to become your wife.”

Zhao Su stared blankly for a long while and then finally said: “Taking a concubine before even getting married, it seems unfair to the legitimate wife. I am unwilling to do something which will incite castigation, I can only be grateful to your family’s elders for the thought.”

Chen Zhu smiled bitterly: “They had already anticipated your apprehensions. My er-shu has expressed that he can wait for you to marry a wife and then you can take my cousin as your concubine. She has only turned fifteen this year, she can wait another year.”

Zhao Su muttered quietly: “There’s no hurry, Maiden Chen has just passed before we even got married and then I go ahead and discuss another marriage with someone else, I think that seems very inappropriate. Let’s just discuss it a bit later. Since they have already discussed it with you first, Bo Xun, could you tell them that I am still upset about my fiancee who has just passed and I don’t feel like discussing marrying a concubine for the moment.

Chen Zhu nodded, the way Zhao Su was treating the matter seemed appropriate, and would not create any gossip. He was curious and asked: “My concubine-born cousin is truly a beauty, are you really not interested?”

Zhao Su mocked him: “I heard that you’re going home at the end of the year to get married. Are you already thinking about your new wife?”

Chen Zhu immediately shut up, in terms of wit and mockery, he was definitely nothing compared to Zhao Su.

After a long while in silence, he couldn’t resist asking: “Shaoyong, when I get married, will you attend the wedding?”

Zhao Su laughed and said: “Naturally, you and I are friends, how could I not come to participate in the festivities, even if you don’t invite me, I’ll still gatecrash.”

Chen Zhu looked at his elegant and playful smile, and couldn’t help but feel a warm joy in his heart, which was immediately followed with the feeling of immense disappointment. He had a lot of things he wanted to say but didn’t know whether to say them or not.

“Shaoyong?”

“Huh?”

“Let’s be good friends for life.”

“You’re spouting off nonsense again, aren’t we already?”

Zhao Su and Chen Zhu looked at each other.

Sometimes when the Grand Secretariat was very busy, it was quite normal for them to burn the midnight oil. Since the Prince of Yu was so nervous, there must be another matter plaguing him.

Chen Zhu quickly said: “Shaoyong, you should make haste!”

Zhao Su nodded, Zhao Ji had already gone and came back with a cloak that he draped over Zhao Su’s shoulders.

“Let’s go!”

“After you, Tutor Zhao!”

When Zhao Su arrived at the prince’s manor, the glow of the sunset had already spread across the sky.

Zhao Ji looked around: “Shaoye, it looks like it’s going to snow soon, we should get inside quickly!”

“Since we can’t see Teacher Gao anymore, we have been cut off from all news of the palace. We are in the midst of discussing how to deal with the situation, you should also help think of a solution. Let’s put our heads together.” The Prince of Yu sighed after speaking and poured himself a cup of tea.

After hearing what Chen Yiqin had said, Zhao Su had already understood their worry.

There was no contact between the outside world and the Grand Secretariat, the Grand Secretaries had seemingly disappeared. To look at it in a positive light, one could say that there was a lot to do at the Grand Secretariat and the Emperor had not allowed them to leave the palace. To look at it in a negative light, someone was exercising control over the gates to the palace and cutting off all contact from the palace to the outside.

In other words, it was a rebellion.

Although the Prince of Yu was not particularly assertive at handling matters, and was not favoured by his father, he was still a prince. If he was to say that he did not covet the throne, this would be a lie, but in reality, he was more worried that his younger brother, the Prince of Jing would inherit the throne. If the latter were to happen, as the eldest prince, his only way out would be to get as far away from the Capital as possible. Knowing that his ancestor, Yongle Emperor had snatched away the throne from his nephew and got rid of his brothers, as well as knowing full well that the Prince of Jing was not only small minded but vindictive, it was not totally unfounded that the Prince of Yu was worried.

“I heard that ten days ago, the Grand Secretariat went to request that the Emperor announce his heir and the Emperor had agreed. But the imperial edict has not even been drafted, even if the Prince of Jing is reckless, he wouldn’t be reduced to doing something like this right!” Chen Yiqin’s face revealed suspicion.