CH 1

[The 17th day of the 8th month in the tenth year of the Chunde Emperor’s reign]

It was late autumn, but the days were still hot and muggy.

Granny Zhang sat on a rattan chair in the hallway. Her coarse, fat fingers picked up a watermelon seed and brought it to her mouth. She opened her mouth, revealing two rows of uneven teeth, put the seed between them, and released the nut from its shell with a loud crack. She spat out the shell with force, then glanced at Xunxia, who was standing two steps away.

“Miss, you’ve come at the wrong time. Furen* is not feeling well today, and Guogong Ye* has instructed the servants to boil ginseng soup. We don’t even have a thirty-year old ginseng right now, let alone a fifty-year old ginseng,” Granny Zhang said.

*T/N: A Gong is a high ranking position in the aristocracy, loosely akin to a Duke. Ye means Lord. Furen refers to the Gong’s wife. A Guogong is one of the types of Gong.

Xunxia’s almond eyes widened into round saucers as she glared at the fat old granny. If looks could kill, she’d have bored a hole through the granny’s body. “Zhang Mama,* please don’t joke around. The Guogong’s residence has tons of ginseng; even if we ate them as if they were carrots, there’s no way to finish all the ginseng here in a single morning.”

*T/N: Mama is a polite form of address for a much older woman.

“Young miss, you’ve never run a household before, so naturally you don’t have a good handle on these things. May I remind you that we’re about to prepare the wedding dowry for Shizi Ye*, and at that point, we probably won’t even have carrots to eat,” Granny Zhang said, a beatific smile on her face as she emphasized the words “wedding dowry”. That smile revealed those uneven yellow teeth again.

*T/N: A Shizi is the heir apparent of a Duke, usually the eldest son. The Shizi in this case is the Guogong Ye’s heir apparent.

“Then, Mama should boil a few more carrots; if times become that hard, you should go to Zhuque Hall and kowtow to Shizi. He might spare you a mouthful of food if you do,” Xunxia said in an acidic tone. She knew that she wasn’t going to get any ginseng from Granny Zhang today, so there was no point in being polite. She took out an ice silk handkerchief and dabbed elegantly at the sweat on her jaw, then turned to leave. “People say that wicked women have awful teeth, and today I’ve seen for myself that it’s true,” she said as she walked away, addressing the servant girl next to her.

“Bitch, who are you talking about?” Granny Zhang heard what Xunxia said, and she immediately jumped up from her chair.

Xunxia maintained her leisurely pace. Her shoes were the colour of soft yellow gosling down, and they glistened in the afternoon sun. “I’m talking about whoever Mama thinks I’m talking about,” she said, with an insincere laugh.

Granny Zhang was furious, but she did not dare to chase after Xunxia. A few wives of the estate’s stewards were present and saw this scene clearly, but they opted to turn a blind eye, and just collected the things they were sent to collect before leaving.

The Anguo Gong* residence had a flower garden, and this flower garden was separated from the main residence by a meandering corridor. The Shizi’s residence, called Zhuque Hall, was located at the other side of the flower garden.

*T/N: Guo Gong is a title, and “An” is the name of the title. Kind of like the Duke of Winchester – “An” is “Winchester”, just that it’s not geographical descriptor, it’s a name. An means peace,so Anguo Gong basically means the Duke who Maintains Peace in the Country. Something like that. I’m not 100% on these ancient Chinese peerages, so please correct me if I’m wrong!

When Xunxia returned to Zhuque Hall, the maids had already boiled ginseng soup, and Yingqiu was holding a tureen of it in her hands. When Yingqiu saw that Xunxia had returned empty handed, she couldn’t help but sigh. “It’s not like Zhuque Hall doesn’t have ginseng. Why bother fighting with those people?” she asked.

Xunxia took the tureen of ginseng soup and entered the house. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the person lying unconscious on the bed. “This mansion is full of people who are all too ready to kick us when we’re down, and if I didn’t go to make life a little difficult for them, we would be even worse off whilst Shizi is still recovering,” she said grimly.

The unconscious person on the bed was Lou Jing, the Shizi of Anguo Gong. His slender body lay motionless on the bed in a face-down position, and his snowsilk underclothes had been carefully cut open at the back, revealing a back that had been beaten black and blue. Cruel wounds criss-crossed all over his pale skin. The injuries at his lower back and buttocks were even worse, and the bedsheets he lay on had small bloodstains. It was a terrible sight.

“Father, if you marry off your only legitimate son* to the Crown Prince, who are you intending to have inherit the Anguo Gong position?”

*T/N: Only the sons born of the legitimate wife, called the furen, were considered legitimate sons. In ancient China, someone like Anguo Gong would usually have a few wives, but only one was the furen, the rest were concubines, and children from these concubines were not eligible to inherit the Gong peerage.

… …

“You bastard, is this how your grandfather taught you to speak to your own father?”

… …

“Beat him! Beat him hard. Spare the rod and spoil the child! I will show you that I am not derelict in my parental duty.”

… …

Lou Jing opened his eyes, his head drenched in sweat. There wasn’t a single inch of his body that wasn’t screaming in pain.

“Shizi, you’re awake!” A bright and lively voice called out. This was probably his personal attendant*, Xunxia.

*T/N: The Chinese for this is 大丫环, which means that Xunxia is the most senior and highest-ranked maid in the Shizi’s household. She will also function as his personal attendant. The equivalent in Western culture would probably be the head butler?

Sweat saturated Lou Jing’s long eyelashes, blurring his vision. Xunxia quickly took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat away.

Lou Jing blinked, and the scene before his eyes slowly came into focus. “How long was I out for?” he asked, his voice hoarse. He tried to move his body. It hurt like hell, but he could do it, so it meant that he hadn’t broken any bones.

“Only about six hours,” Xunxia replied. She looked at Lou Jing’s handsome face, which was presently as white as sheet. Her eyes couldn’t help but redden at the sight, and she turned away to wipe the tears that welled up. She took the warm tea that Yingqiu handed to her, and fed this to him carefully.

Lou Jing felt a bit better after drinking the tea. “What happened while I was unconscious?” he asked.

“I’m not sure what happened at the main residence. When I saw you, you were being carried back by servants from the main residence on An Guogong’s order. They just left after depositing you here, and no one sent for the Imperial physician. Guard Gao applied some ointment on your wounds, and I fed you some ginseng soup,” Xunxia said, replying comprehensively. Her eyes flashed with resentment.

The Anguo Gong was part of the high nobility, and because of this, he and his family could only be treated by Imperial physicians. They were not allowed to be treated by ordinary doctors. If Guogong Ye refused to send for the Imperial physician, then lowly guards and maids were in no position to do so. But Shizi’s injuries were very severe – shouldn’t the Guogong Ye worried that Shizi wouldn’t be able to survive them?

Lou Jing pressed his lips together into a thin line, and was silent for a long while.

“Send for Gao Yi,” he finally said.

Lou Jing’s father returned from the palace the day before in high spirits, and announced that the Emperor had arranged a good marriage for their family. It was only this morning when he went to greet his father that he found out this “good marriage” was his – he was to marry the Crown Prince and become the Crown Prince’s Consort!

The Crown Prince and Lou Jing were both men. There wasn’t really anything to celebrate about a marriage between two men. Even if one put this fact aside, he was the only legitimate son of the Anguo Gong, and the official heir to the peerage; if he married into the Imperial family, that meant that he could no longer succeed his father. There were strict rules on succession, and only sons born to the legitimate wife of the Anguo Gong could inherit the position. If there was no one to inherit, the peerage would simply disappear. Surely, surely his father was not foolish enough to let that happen? It was an entirely illogical move, and he had only asked two perfectly logical questions. These perfectly logical questions had, however, caused his father to punish him harshly according to their family’s rules…

Before long, a solidly built man dressed in a brown shirt and pants entered. He knelt on one knee before Lou Jing’s bed. “Shizi, Guogong Ye has changed all of Zhuque Hall’s guards. All the entrances are strictly guarded by new people,” he said in a low voice.

On hearing this, Lou Jing could not stop his lips from curling into a cold smile. Was his father afraid that he’d run off, or that he’d tell people about what happened? He couldn’t even get off the bed! It was nigh impossible for him to pass information or try to wreck the wedding. His father was really thorough – he had to give it to him.

“Bring me a brush and ink.” He was not going to wait like a sitting duck. Lou Jing struggled to get up, and sweat fell like rain from his forehead. He felt for the secret compartment in his bed with trembling fingers, opened it, and pulled out a white jade bottle. He shook out a pill of medicine, swallowed it, and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Some colour returned to his face.

This medicine was developed for use on the battlefield. It allowed the gravely injured to continue to fight, and also had pain-killing effects. However, this medicine had harmful side effects, and had to be eaten sparingly.

Lou Jing quickly wrote a few letters, taking the opportunity to do so whilst the drug’s effects were in full force. He gave the letters to Gao Yi. “Find a way to get these out. They absolutely have to reach the recipients,” he instructed.

“Yes, sir,” Gao Yi said, sliding the letters into the folds of his clothes. He bowed his head respectfully, and then left, swift as the wind.

It was hot and stuffy inside the house, and Lou Jing got a servant to open the windows. A breeze blew in, dispersing the cool fragrance emanating from the three-legged jade incense pot all over the room.

Xunxia was afraid that her Shizi Ye would be bored just lying on the bed, so she amused him by telling him what happened with Granny Zhang earlier that day.

“Is that so…” Lou Jing narrowed his eyes, his voice calculative.

Granny Zhang would only dare to act this way if she had been instructed to do so, and the person instructing her was likely to be the Anguo Gong Furen. The current Furen became his stepmother three years ago, and whilst she was overbearing in her management of the household, she had never dared to touch him in the past. She must have had some backing to now act against him – did this backing have anything to do with his upcoming marriage to the Crown Prince?

Sunset. Gao Yi still had not returned. What came instead was an Imperial decree.

“Eunuch Huai is here to personally proclaim the Imperial decree, and Anguo Gong requests  Shizi’s presence in the main courtyard,” Xunxia informed Lou Jing. Yingqiu had blocked the main residence’s steward from entering Lou Jing’s bedroom, and Xunxia had quickly come in to get Lou Jing’s instructions.

The servants of Zhuque hall were all indignant on Lou Jing’s behalf. It was obvious that their Shizi couldn’t even stand up properly, and it was completely ridiculous for the main residence to expect him to kneel and receive the Imperial decree was if he were hale and whole. This Guogong Ye was just too cruel.

Lou Jing raised his eyebrows, and adjusted himself into a more comfortable position, still lying chest-down on the bed. “Tell them this: I fainted because my injuries were too severe, and when my attendant asked for ginseng aid my recovery, this was refused. If my father wants me to receive the Imperial decree, he’ll have to get his servants to carry me over,” he said.

Xunxia laughed with amusement on hearing this. She had originally been red-faced with anger, and this ribald reply lifted her spirits immensely. “Yes, sir,” she said, her voice lively. As she turned, she arranged her face into a suitably despondent look, and went to speak to the steward.

“This bastard!” Anguo Gong nearly had apoplexy after the steward conveyed Lou Jing’s words. Lou Jing was a strong, healthy young man, and those injuries should not have been anything of note; also, surely Zhuque Hall had at least one ginseng? However, in Eunuch Huai’s presence, he didn’t dare to kick up a fuss; Eunuch Huai was the Chief of Staff at the palace, after all. He glowered at his Furen. “Why did you go and mess with him?” he hissed.

Furen felt that Anguo Gong was being extremely unfair to her, but didn’t dare to say too much whilst they still had guests in their home. She clenched the handkerchief in her hand, willing herself to keep calm.

Anguo Gong turned to face Eunuch Huai, a pleasant expression plastered on his face. “Please excuse my son, he’s gone out gallivanting again and we’re not sure where he is now. He’s a very stubborn and disobedient fellow, as you can see…”

Eunuch Huai’s name was Huai Zhong. He had climbed his way to the top of the palace hierarchy, and was an intelligent, crafty fellow. He was well aware of the discord between father and son. However, the right thing to do was smile and pretend to know nothing, and that’s exactly what Eunuch Huai did. “The proclamation of the Imperial decree cannot be delayed. Since it’s a decree meant for the Anguo Gong household, Guogong Ye and Furen can receive it,” he said.

Beansprout: Augh so many T/Ns for this chapter! And so much old Chinese that doesn’t translate very well. I took some liberties with the translation so it’s not very literal, but I promise the meaning is there!