CH 3

Seeing that she suddenly became serious, Yuan Yu was baffled, so he replied: “That’s right.”

His Majesty should have more than one favorite minister, and there was nothing to make a fuss about, but Yuan Ci Xian couldn’t help but feel serious in her heart, and when she heard this, she thought of the situation in her dream.

This time went to the capital, besides the Sixth prince, the Thirteenth prince and Emperor Huining, those three key figures, she also had to find out the details of the so-called favored minister.

She let out a long “oh”, and tentatively said: “What kind of character can sit in a high position at such a young age, and still be so favored?”

“What are you curious about?”

Earlier Yuan Yu received the news to go out of the city to welcome her, and in a hurry, he did not have lunch, and when he arrived at Lu Bridge, he saw the Lu family blocking her for some reason, so he came to vent for her. At this moment he was really hungry, and without waiting for her to answer, he said, “Let’s go, let’s talk when we go back to the house, today your sister-in-law is cooking and made delicious food for you.”

The siblings left Lu Pavilion and went to the city, and the whole journey Yuan Ci Xian still asked many questions.

Yuan Yu was so entangled that he had no choice but to answer: “This person’s name is ‘Shi Qing’, and his courtesy name  is ‘Zishu’. At fifteen he won the title Tanhua, highly valued by His Majesty, since become an official seven years ago he has meteoric career all the way, nowadays serve as Assistant Minister of Chancellery , very capable.”

Yuan Ci Xian nodded thoughtfully.

Earlier when she heard her elder brother call him Assistant Minister, she thought he might be the second in command somewhere in the Sixth Department, but now she heard that he was a figure in the Chancellery, so she knew the weight of the phrase “Assistant Minister Lu”. In the Great Zhou, this was a very important official.

She continued to probe: “Before I left the capital back then, I had some impressions of official families in Chang’an. I don’t remember any Lu family with a scholarly reputation.”

“Lu Zishu is not from Chang’an, and his background is not high. Even though this Lu family is a prominent family in the eastern capital, and although it’s also ranked high enough in the local area, they’re not comparable to the powerful people in the capital.”

“The prominent family in Luoyang, the eastern capital?” Yuan Ci Xian repeated, “In this way, when the ancestor of Lu family entered the capital as officials, what kind of merits they had accumulated?”

They were just nodding acquaintance, only exchanged a few words, how could still talk about their family’s ancestors.

Yuan Yu looked at her suspiciously: “Yuan Ci Xian, tell me the truth, why are you asking about this? Could it be after meeting just now, you develop some puppy love for this surnamed Lu?”

She was stunned for a moment, then sneered: “Not to mention that this person has a weird temperament, just your black dog, I dare to put my finger in his mouth, but this big guy is so scared like that, how can I have a good impression? Besides,” She calculated, “he is twenty-two now, he should have a wife long ago.”

“Don’t mention it, he hasn’t.” Yuan Yu snorted coldly, “I forgive you for not looking at such frail scholar. You better not set your heart on him, don’t follow those scheming young ladies in the capital, one by one, try to calculate this surnamed Lu. Your brother has a deep hatred with him, you better remember it!”

Yuan Ci Xian saw that his misunderstanding had gone too far, so she had to postpone the matter, pouted and said “petty” and stopped asking.

…

Yuan Mansion in Chang’an was located in Shengye Lane in the northeast of the city. This area was close to the imperial city, surrounded by many mansions of high officials and nobleman, all of which were rich families with carved beams and painted buildings.

When the Yuan family built their mansion in Shengye Lane, Yuan Ci Xian’s father had not yet made meritorious deeds and conferred as Prince. After he was conferred as Prince, he moved away to Yaozhou to guard the southwest, leaving only his son in the capital. And Yuan Yu only got a third-rank military official because of the ancestor’s grace, so he had no real job, and naturally had no achievements. Therefore, Yuan Mansion had never been expanded, and the house was about 21 mu (equal to one fifteenth of a hectare), which was not too big in this area where the powerful gathered.

After entering the gate of the mansion, Yuan Yu instructed the servants behind him: “Take in Xiao Hei through the side door.”

Yuan Ci Xian stopped when she heard the words, guessed what he meant, and asked, “Sister-in-law’s body is still not good?”

Yuan Ci Xian’s sister-in-law fell ill due to a snow disaster when she was a child. She suffered from cough and asthma, which had not recovered for many years, so she could not be stimulated by animal hair such as dogs.

Yuan Yu patted her head across her futou: “That’s right, you don’t have to worry about the past.”

She nodded, and soon didn’t think about it: “I want to eat gourd chicken, Yaozhou’s cooks cannot make it authentic.”

“Then eat as much as you want.”

…

Yuan Ci Xian had a big appetite, and while she was eating with his brother and sister-in-law, the situation in the Lu Mansion in Yongxing Lane was not very joyful.

After Lu Shuang Yu returned to her room, she couldn’t hold back anymore, fell into the quilt and cried loudly.

In fact, originally she still had some hopes, but when Yuan Yu came, she saw those peach blossom eyes were almost exactly the same as Yuan Ci Xian, and then remembered that Diannan Prince had a son and a daughter under his knees, only then she really give up. Just now in Lu Pavilion, she held back because she cared about her brother’s face, but now she was very sad and refused to eat.

Lu Shi Qing was not much better. Before he went to the court, he heard people report that his younger sister had gone to Lu Bridge again to “guard a tree-stump and wait for rabbit“. Even when their mother flied into rages, she still wouldn’t go home, so he went to catch her with his own hands. When Lu Shuang Yu sent someone to invite him to see his so-called brother-in-law, he had almost arrived at Lu Bridge.

After tossing back and forth all morning, and being provoked by Yuan Yu, how could he have time to care about his headstrong sister, so when he entered the door, he ordered the servant to report the whole things to his mother, and then went back to his room with a cold face.

Lu Shi Qing didn’t care about eating, took a hot shower, gritted his teeth and washed for almost an hour, only then did he feel the smell of the animal disappeared from his body, then he dealt with the official documents all afternoon, and didn’t rest until dusk.

He rubbed his eyebrows and waved away the serving attendants. When the door was about to be close, he suddenly said, “Call Zhao Shu.”

Zhao Shu was the son of Uncle Zhao, the housekeeper of the Lu Mansion, and usually took care of the chores for Lu Shi Qing.

Soon a young man not yet reach twenty came and stood respectfully in front of the table: “What is Master’s order?”

Lu Shi Qing held a book in his hand, without raising his head, he said casually: “Go and check that Yuan girl.”

Zhao Shu nodded, took out a booklet with a blue cover from his wide sleeves, and offered it with both hands: “Master.”

He looked up and said, “What is this?

“This booklet records the life’s experience of Lancang County Princess so far.”

He choked, and reprimanded first: “Who told you to take the initiative to investigate?”

“Master has been paying close attention to the Yuan family recently, and this morning, the young lady was involved with Lancang County Princess. This servant knew that you will want this, so this servant spent a few hours to compile it into a book. Although it’s not perfect, you can take a look first.”

Lu Shi Qing didn’t answer, frowned and looked at the booklet that was not thin: “Not perfect? ​​You think there is too much ink in the house, so you want to use it all, right? The daughter of Second Rank Prince with different surname, at this age, what kind of colorful experience should require you to write this booklet?”

Afraid he even wrote everything from small to big things. Then just write other people’s biography!

Zhao Shu was a little innocent: “This Lancang County Princess is really worth writing about…” Seeing that his master was displeased, he quickly changed his words, “Of course, frankly, it’s not unnecessary. Master is busy with official business, so this servant will pick some key points and simply tell you that.”

Lu Shi Qing said “um” with a cold face, motioning him to speak, and his well-defined hand slowly turned over a page and continued to look down reading.

Zhao Shu perked up the spine of the book, cleared his throat and said: “If want to know where the name of Lancang County Princess came from, we have to start with a scandal that shocked the world two years ago. It’s said that in that year, Young Lady Yuan, who has no title yet, stepped into the wilderness in the spring, and accidently encountered a group of foreign guests, and the head was the crown prince of Nanzhao Kingdom who was traveling incognito.

“After this meeting, Nanzhao Crown Prince fell in love with Young lady Yuan, and later sent secret letter to Diannan Prince, expressing his desire to marry her. Diannan Prince refused strictly on the ground of Zhou’s law that prohibit the intermarriage, but Nanzhao Crown Prince was unwilling. After a few months, he led the troops into the southwest!”

Lu Shi Qing’s eyes were always on his book, and it’s unknown whether he was listening, and soon turned another page.

Zhao Shu became more and more energetic, and said in a high-pitched voice: “Nanzhao raised troops to invade, and the border war was at a stalemate, the defense of our Great Zhou was not prepared, and repeatedly had to retreat. At this time, Nanzhao Crown Prince spoke up, saying that if Great Zhou emperor ordered the only daughter of Diannan Prince to marry him, he would retreat the army, give up the easily obtained city, and form a Qin and Jin good relationship with our Great Zhou!”

“The enemy is strong and we are weak. If we don’t do it, we may endanger Jiannan. Although Young Lady Yuan doesn’t have the imperial surname Zheng, her grandmother was a princess of the same generation as the previous emperor, so it’s a good idea for her to use the name of the imperial clan’s daughter and marry Nanzhao. Just right when the court officials were asking His Majesty to bear the humiliation and asked for peace, Diannan Prince urgently returned to the capital, and begged His Majesty to allow him a period of 14 days, saying that he would defeat the enemy’s army, and if he could not, he would die as an apology.”

When he said this, his emotion was high, his face flushed, and when he was agitated, he grabbed the ruler on the table and said, “Guess what happened next?” After speaking, he slapped the ruler on the table, and there was a crisp and loud “snap”.

Lu Shi Qing was so shocked that he raised his head, his eyes were narrowed into slits, and almost burst into flames.

Zhao Shu’s heart skipped a beat, and hurriedly returned King of Hell’s ruler to its original place with trembling hands.

Lu Shi Qing stared at him and said, “As a result, Diannan Prince defeated Nanzhao, and in the spring of the following year, he was ordered to go to the capital to receive a reward. His Majesty was overjoyed when he saw the daughter of the Yuan family, and lowered the title of the State Princess which was intended to be given to her because of the marriage, and conferred her as ‘Lancang County Princess’…”

He slowed down a bit when he said this, and asked word by word: “Zhao Shu, you have nothing better to do so you tell me this well-known story in the whole court?”

As soon as he heard the beginning, he knew that it was nonsense, but because he was concentrating on the book in his hand, he didn’t bother to interrupt. He just thought he would finish soon, but this kid kept chattering like a storyteller for a long time.

Zhao Shu said calmly: “Master is right. But on the day the County Princess entered the capital, you went south for official business and only returned after several months. You may not be clear about the following part.”

Lu Shi Qing glanced at him: “Three sentences without saying the main point, you out.”

Zhao Shuyi was trembling, said, “It is said that on the day of the ceremony, the Ninth Prince also fell in love with County Princess at first sight, and after that he begged His Majesty several times to grant marriage, but His Majesty not only not agree, but also quietly suppressed the matter.”

Lu Shi Qing curled his thin lips and sneered, it’s unknown what he thought.

Zhao Shu said strangely: “Master, this servant is curious, is Lancang County Princess really as beautiful as the rumors says? It’s said outside that this young lady is the source of calamity for the country…”

After he asked, he felt that the atmosphere was not right, thinking that he was talking too much again, and he swallowed his saliva nervously.

Lu Shi Qing gave him a warning look: “The Ninth Prince is still young and his temperament is uncertain, looking at this one today, looking at that one tomorrow, it’s not unusual for seeking freshness. As for Nanzhao Crown Prince… you think he is mentally retarded, or never seen a beauty? Or do you think that the king of Nanzhao is good-for-nothing and lets his son messing around? Besides, you go out and try it, can you really meet the crown prince of other countries by chance?”

Zhao Shu said in his heart, with his plain appearance it doesn’t matter if he goes out, who will try scheme him. His face darkened, and then flattered: “Master has a sharp eye, this servant must learn from you.”

Lu Shi Qing put down the book, took a sip of tea, and said, “En”, his face became better.

“Then again, what Master is most concerned about is County Princess’s sudden entry into the capital. This servant just now found out that in Yaozhou, Diannan Prince originally sent a team of confidants to escort County Princess on her journey, but for some reason, these people were all sent back by County Princess halfway through.”

Lu Shi Qing narrowed his eyes slightly, put his index finger joint under his lips, not knowing what he was thinking.

“As for whether County Princess entered the capital by chance, or for another reason, this servant is still investigating…”

“No need.” Lu Shi Qing interrupted him, “Don’t beat the grass and scare the snake, I will handle this matter myself.”

Translator’s Notes:

I used the English translation for the titles so it may sound weird

Gongzhu (公主) = State Princess

Junzhu (郡主) = Commandery Princess (not mention)

Xianzhu (县主) = County Princess

Qinwang (亲王) = First Rank Prince (not mention)

Junwang (郡王) = Second Rank Prince