CH 54

As a vassal king who was preparing to leave for his fief, Xiao Chengjun did not need to attend the morning Court sessions after he received the Emperor’s approval of his departure.

Lou Jing kissed the soundly sleeping fellow next to him and covered him properly with the blankets before getting up and leaving on light feet. 

“Shizi, have some breakfast before you go to the Barracks,” Chang En said quietly outside the door.

“I’ll pass. There’re a lot of things to do at the Barracks today, and I’ll be late if I do,” Lou Jing said. Le Xian was assisting him with his morning ablutions, and he intended to leave the moment he was fully dressed.

He’d been a little too indulgent last night – it was already his reporting time for work right now. The Imperial examinations began early in the third lunar month, and Lou Jing had been assigned to guard the examination hall. As the Left Commander-General, he had to start making preparations and assigning people, and he couldn’t be late.

“Then bring some dianxin with you to eat along the way,” Chang En said, putting two steaming meat pastries into a white cotton bag. “Wang ye has instructed us not to let Shizi leave for work on an empty stomach.” 

Lou Jing smiled as he accepted the bag and stuffed it into the front of his clothes. He told Chang En not to let anyone disturb Xiao Chengjun’s rest, then flipped over the wall and disappeared.

When Xiao Chengjun awoke, the first thing he felt was that his back was aching, and a certain place felt rather sore. Not using any balm in the bathtub last night had caused some abrasion there, but it appeared that Lou Jing had put ointment on it after washing him clean last night, so it wasn’t all that bad. He closed his eyes and stroked the spot next to him on the bed. It was empty, but it still held some leftover warmth from that person’s body. Lou Jing must have just left.

He opened his eyes and looked outside. Xiao Chengjun frowned slightly, then flipped over and lay prone for a while to allow the ache in his back to subside before calling An Shun in.

Xiao Chengjun had his breakfast, then picked up that roughly hewn box that Lou Jing had given him the day before. He took out the three hundred thousand taels of silver notes, then tossed the box into the brass stove to burn. Lou Jing had gone drinking with Shen Lian to ask for this first round of returns, and the box was from Shen Lian. He couldn’t let anyone see it.

He got everything in his mansion in order, then headed to the Jing Wang mansion, bringing only An Shun with him.

It was early spring, and the weather had suddenly turned cold again after getting a little warmer. The dilong in the Jing Wang mansion had never stopped burning, though they didn’t burn as much charcoal now as they did in winter.

Xiao Chengjin’s condition had really taken a turn for the better. He was reading a book by the window in his study when Xiao Chengjun saw him. A peach blossom branch with unopened flower buds sat in a vase on the windowsill in front of Xiao Chengjin, full of the promise of spring and new life. The flower buds contrasted prettily with Xiao Chengjin’s pale skin.

“What are you reading?” Xiao Chengjun asked quietly. He habitually made his voice softer whenever he spoke to this frail-looking brother of his. 

“When the world is principled, the sages flourish; when the world is unprincipled, the sages merely live,” Xiao Chengjun said, handing the book in his hands to his gege. He leaned back on the big cushion behind him in a relaxed manner.

This quote came from Zhuangzi’s “The Human World”. Its meaning was that, when the people of the world were moral and just, good people could easily achieve great things, but when the world was corrupt and evil, good people had to focus all their energies on simply living on.

Xiao Chengjun took the book but didn’t open it. He put it on the table instead. “Why are you reading Zhuangzi?” he asked.

“I saw the peach blossom tree blooming when I woke up this morning, and suddenly felt that a great change is about to happen in the world. Thankfully, I’m still alive this year to see this change,” Xiao Chengjin said, smiling faintly as he gripped a corner of Xiao Chengjun’s sleeve. 

When the word is unprincipled, the sages merely live. Xiao Chengjin had been outstandingly intelligent since he was a little boy, and he’d said to his older brother before that if he were to study philosophy, he would probably be a sage whose words resonated through the ages. In saying that he was happy just to be alive to observe the change in the world, wasn’t he actually saying that the world was corrupt and evil?

Xiao Chengjun was silent for a moment as he looked into his younger brother’s clear eyes. “One day, I will fulfil your wish,” he said.

The precondition for the world to be moral and just was to have an Emperor that was moral and just. Xiao Chengjin nodded slightly. “Gege has always achieved what he sets out to do,” he said.

“I’m leaving the Capital on the first day of the third lunar month, and there are some things I need to discuss with you,” Xiao Chengjun said, laying a piece of paper flat on the table. He picked up a brush and wrote a few words on it. 

For most scholars, they persevered through many years of hardship because they wanted to prove themselves at the Imperial Examination and have their names appear on the list of successful candidates. This examination was held only once every three years, and they could not squander this opportunity. The Yulin Troops assigned two hundred people to guard the examination grounds, and these people were carefully selected; if one had any kinship whatsoever to a candidate, one was automatically excluded from this duty. The Yulin Troops were mainly staffed by men from military peerages, and their families usually weren’t the least bit scholarly, so it wasn’t that difficult for Lou Jing to pick the people for the assignment.

The Qingyang Bo had always intended to give Lou Jing opportunities to show his talents, and as such, he wanted to give Lou Jing the job of arranging the security for the Imperial Examinations.

Ktf Eluta Jbwwjcvfg-Xfcfgji uijcmfv rlvfkjsr ja Obe Alcu, ktb kjr sbecufg atjc tlw ys j ktbif vfmjvf, atfc rlutfv lckjgvis. Snfg rlcmf Obe Alcu tjv yffc jqqblcafv jr atf Ofoa Jbwwjcvfg-Xfcfgji, jii atf tlut qgbolif jrrlucwfcar tjv yffc ulnfc ab tlw. Lf ijwfcafv atja tf tlwrfio kjrc’a ybgc lcab jr ubbv j ojwlis jr Obe Alcu jcv vlvc’a gfmflnf atf rjwf ojnbeg ogbw tlr reqfglbg.

It wasn’t just the Right Commander-General who felt this way. A few of the Deputy Commanders also looked enviously at Lou Jing. 

“I thank the General for his consideration,” Lou Jing said, bowing. He completely ignored all the envious and jealous stares behind him. “However, I am unable to take on this heavy responsibility.”

“Oh? Why not?” the Qingyang Bo asked, his brows creasing. Lou Jing didn’t have anyone in his family who might be of age to take the Imperial Examinations, and he didn’t have any conflicting assignments within the next three months, either.

“This subordinate’s good friend, Zhao Xi, also known as Zhao Jiming, is taking the Imperial Examinations this year,” Lou Jing explained respectfully. “Everyone in the Capital knows about our close relationship, and this subordinate thinks it may be best to sit out entirely in order to avoid suspicion.”

The Qingyang Bo nodded. He’d forgotten about that. Lou Jing and Zhao Xi had been playmates since they were little children, and all the noble families in the Capital knew about this. If he put Lou Jing in charge of this task, many tongues would wag. Moreover, Zhao Xi was the Minister of the Left’s nephew, and it wouldn’t do for his career to be stalled due to something like this. “This task will be done by the Right Commander-General then,” he said. 

“This subordinate will not disappoint you,” the Right Commander-General said, clasping his hands together respectfully. He was pleasantly surprised by this turn of events. He turned to look at Lou Jing and found that the fellow was winking mischievously at him. The corners of his mouth lifted in a faint smile. This Anguo Gong Shizi  was young, but he conducted himself impeccably and had very good people management skills. The Right Commander-General began to think that perhaps, he should get to know Lou Jing a little better.

Lou Jing observed the reactions of the people around him with a watchful eye, but didn’t say anything else. Regardless of whether Zhao Xi was participating in this round of the examinations or not, this was a job that he could not accept if he wished to continue maintaining a good relationship with the people in the Yulin Troops. Since he was going to do that, he might as well do it gracefully and reap the greatest benefit from it.

After leaving the Barracks, Lou Jing got on a horse and rode west to the Youyun Estate.

The Youyun Sixteen were all present other than Yun Ba, who was out on a mission to obtain information. Gao Yun called the remaining fifteen guards over and asked Lou Jing if he had any orders for them. 

“Min Wang will be leaving for his fief on the first day of the third lunar month. I want all of you to escort him there,” Lou Jing said, sitting in the water pavilion and looking at his fifteen black-clad guards.

“Yes, sir,” the fifteen of them answered in unison. The Youyun Sixteen listened to their master’s orders without fail, and never raised any questions or objections.

It was Gao Yi who felt that this wasn’t appropriate. “Shizi, if the Sixteen are all sent to be Min Wang’s escorts, then what about yourself?” he asked. In recent times, Lou Jing had made regular use of the Sixteen, particularly Yun Ba. If they all went to the Southeast with Xiao Chengjun, many things would become very inconvenient for Lou Jing.

“There are more than three hundred li between the Capital and Minzhou. I don’t trust those ordinary guards to do this,” Lou Jing said, waving a hand dismissively. This was a matter of life and death; he could get other people to assist him with his tasks, but he would not compromise an inch on Xiao Chengjun’s safety. 

Given the Chunde Emperor’s character, he was very unlikely to send many people to guard Xiao Chengjun on the journey there. The situation in the Capital had all the signs of becoming more and more unstable, and he was worried that things would turn really chaotic. If and when that happened, he wouldn’t be able to set his heart at ease unless his Sixteen were the ones escorting Xiao Chengjun.

“If you don’t have the Sixteen, it will be difficult for Shizi to obtain news about Dianxia,” Gao Yun said. He was usually a careful man of few words, but even he couldn’t help speaking up to try and persuade Lou Jing to keep some of the Sixteen with him. “To begin with, the Sixteen are made up of two sets of eight, and it makes sense for you to give Dianxia eight and keep eight for yourself. That way, the needs of both sides will be met.”

Lou Jing thought about this for a moment. If he had his way, he would certainly thrust all the good things he had into Xiao Chengjun’s hands. However, suddenly making a gift of all Sixteen guards to Xiao Chengjun was a stretch; the latter was extremely likely to refuse. It was actually a good idea to split the Sixteen into half. “Alright. I’ll discuss this with Min Wang first. Yun Yi, Yun Jiu, you’ll come with me to the Capital.”

“Yes, sir,” Yun Yi and Yun Jiu said, stepping forward. They were the leaders of each set of eight guards, with Yun Yi leading the first set of eight, and Yun Jiu leading the second set. Having the two of them around would make his discussions with Xiao Chengjun proceed more quickly. 

Meanwhile, in the Jing Wang residence, Xiao Chengjin tapped a finger on the paper set out in front of him on the desk, a slight frown on his face. “Is this worth it?” he asked after a moment.

“Naturally,” Xiao Chengjun said, his voice serious and his face solemn. “He’s done a lot for me, and I will not disappoint him.”

Xiao Chengjin sighed, then nodded slightly. He folded the paper up into a thin strip, then tossed it into the fire burning in the brazier. The flames licked slowly at the white paper, and the heat caused it to open up slightly. Half of the word “Rui” could be seen briefly before the whole thing burned to ashes.

“Don’t exhaust yourself by working too hard on this. I’ve made my own arrangements in the Imperial Court as well,” he said, patting his younger brother’s gaunt hand. 

“I’ll be fine,” Xiao Chengjin said, looking up at his brother. He held his gaze quietly for a few moments, then smiled slightly. “Since gege trusts me, I will not disappoint gege either.”

Xiao Chengjin was teasing him, using the same words he had used earlier. Xiao Chengjun couldn’t help reaching out and flicking his brother’s forehead, then started laughing out loud. He hadn’t dared to flick his brother’s forehead for many years now, and it felt like he had returned to the time when they were both children. He felt a great gladness in his heart.

“Hehe!” Xiao Chengjin rubbed the redness caused by Xiao Chengjun’s flick, looking in amusement at the flush of red on his older brother’s neck.

That night, Lou Jing brought Yun Yi and Yun Jiu with him to the Min Wang residence. As expected, Xiao Chengjun refused to take the Sixteen with him. 

“How many men did the Emperor give you?” Lou Jing asked, tugging on Xiao Chengjun’s hand.

Ordinarily, when a vassal king entered his fief, he was supposed to be escorted by at least a hundred guards. However, Xiao Chengjun was the one who requested to leave for his fief, and he was also a deposed Crown Prince, so he couldn’t make a request that was too ostentatious. If he asked for too many people, the Emperor would be very displeased.

Xiao Chengjun sighed. “Twenty personal guards,” he said.

Lou Jing’s brows knitted tightly together. He had originally assumed that Xiao Chengjun would have at least fifty people escorting him. Twenty was far too little; it was downright dangerous. “The Qingzhou refugee situation has yet to stabilise, and mountain bandits are running rampant in Jiangzhou. How can I possibly feel at ease?” he asked. 

“The Emperor gave me sixty people, actually, but I told forty of them to accompany the butler. They’ve already left to get the place ready for my arrival. Anyway, I’ll get to Minzhou faster if I travel light and have fewer guards,” Xiao Chengjun explained.

“That won’t do. Take all sixteen with you,” Lou Jing insisted. He would have many worries even if Xiao Chengjun were escorted by twenty highly skilled martial artists, let alone twenty ordinary guards from the Eastern Palace!

The two started arguing about this. Yun Yi and Yun Jiu sensed that it was no longer appropriate for them to remain, so they took their leave and left the room.

“I’ve already made the arrangements. Stop making things more difficult for me,” Xiao Chengjun said, turning away. He didn’t want to continue talking about this. He, of all people, knew what the Youyun Sixteen meant to Lou Jing, and he already owed Lou Jing too much. He couldn’t accept this. 

The person behind him didn’t speak even after a long time. Xiao Chengjun frowned, then couldn’t resist looking back at him. He found that Lou Jing was still standing exactly where he had been earlier, a forlorn expression on his face. Xiao Chengjun wasn’t ordinarily a talkative person, but more than that, he didn’t want Lou Jing to have any misunderstandings with him. Xiao Chengjun sighed. “I have many people by my side, but you – you only have these few that you can use. If you give them to me, what will you do?” he asked.

Lou Jing walked to Xiao Chengjun’s side with his head lowered, then pushed himself into Xiao Chengjun’s arms. “I’m not trying to make things difficult…” he mumbled.

“I know,” Xiao Chengjun said, feeling his heart ache. He reached out to wrap his arms around Lou Jing. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Bring eight of them with you, at least. The Sixteen are made up of two sets of eight anyway, and if you take eight of them with you, I won’t be inconvenienced at all,” Lou Jing said plaintively, nuzzling gently at Xiao Chengjun’s pale blue robes. 

Xiao Chengjun’s heart completely melted as Lou Jing continued to nuzzle him. His defences were down, and he was willing to agree to anything now. If he had to owe Lou Jing, then so be it! They’d probably be together this whole lifetime anyway, and he could slowly repay Lou Jing whatever he owed.

Lou Jing buried his face in those soft clothes, a small, triumphant smile spreading across his face.

Time waited for no man. Before long, it was the first day of the third lunar month. Xiao Chengjun set off for Minzhou, accompanied by the twenty personal guards and the second set of Lou Jing’s Youyun Sixteen.

Lou Jing stood in a pavilion ten li from the Capital, watching the cloud of dust kicked up by Xiao Chengjun’s entourage become smaller and smaller in the distance. His heart felt like it was following that little dust cloud, shrinking into nothingness along with it. He continued to gaze into the horizon for a full hour even though they couldn’t be seen any more, then slowly clenched his fists and got on his horse. He looked once more toward the Southern horizons, then turned his horse decisively and headed back to the Capital. 

He headed to the Zhao family mansion to collect his last set of returns from the salt trade, and since he was there, dropped in to visit his friend, the Young Master Zhao, who would be sitting for the Imperial Examinations very soon.

“The Ninth Young Master is in the study,” the butler said, leading Lou Jing to Zhao Xi’s residence within the mansion.

He heard that Zhao Xi had locked himself in the study and buried himself in his books after the first lunar month ended. It had been about a month since he had set foot outside.

Lou Jing pushed open the study door and saw the Zhao family’s Ninth Young Master sitting in front of a desk, applying himself assiduously to… a roast chicken leg. 

“This is what you call studying hard?!” Lou Jing asked, rapping the table smartly. He waited for Zhao Xi to look up, then his hands flashed out fast as lightning, snatching the chicken leg out of Zhao Xi’s hand.

“Hey!” Zhao Xi exclaimed. He quickly wrapped his arms protectively around the rest of the plate of roast chicken. “Just because you’re busy sharpening your weapons doesn’t mean that you neglect to chop firewood. Besides, I’ve already studied hard for a full month. It’s enough.”

Lou Jing cocked his eyebrows, then polished off the chicken leg he’d snatched earlier in a few bites. It was pretty tasty. Clearly, the Zhao family had spared no effort in making sure that their Ninth Young Master focused all his energies on studying.

“You only remembered to visit me when your Crown Prince Dianxia left the Capital. Your lack of sincerity stinks,” Zhao Xi said, a chicken wing hanging from the corner of his mouth. 

“It’s not like I’m good at the things you’re studying. I’d have been of no help anyway,” Lou Jing said, planting his bum on the desk. He didn’t deny what Zhao Xi had said, however. “When you fail the Imperial Examinations, I can still take you in as an accountant, on account of our friendship.”

“Oh, get lost,” Zhao Xi said, grabbing a chicken wing and hurling it at Lou Jing. “You dare to look down on me? This young master will get one of the top three positions and scare you to death!”

Lou Jing caught the chicken wing in one smooth motion and took a bite. “I’ll be waiting,” he smirked.

Lou Jing still had many things to deal with in the Capital. Even though his heart had left with Xiao Chengjun, he couldn’t just throw everything to the winds and follow him to Minzhou. He first had to get that barefoot doctor back to the Capital to continue treating Xiao Chengjin. The doctor had returned to Jinzhou to spend the New Year with his family. 

Xiao Chengjin’s body had been weak to begin with, and he had been severely poisoned on top of that, which was why his health was so frail now. The Imperial Physicians had spent many years trying to treat him but had not managed to return him to full health; a barefoot doctor who only knew how to use traditional remedies certainly also would not be able to get rid of his ailments completely, and so had to be around to treat Xiao Chengjin on a regular basis. Lou Jing decided to simply make the fellow an offer he couldn’t refuse – he moved the doctor’s entire family to the Capital, bought them a house to live in, and sent that barefoot doctor’s grandchildren to study with the Zhao family.

The Zhao family had produced many great scholars and held important civil official positions within the Imperial Court for generations. It was a real honour to be able to study with the Zhao family, and the barefoot doctor’s grandchildren’s future would be very bright if they were able to succeed in their studies under their tutelage. It was really this part of the offer that finally made the reluctant barefoot doctor agree to move to the Capital.

It was already the middle of the third lunar month by the time these issues were settled. Lou Jing nodded slightly as he perused the account books Cheng Xiuru had submitted. “Don’t get involved after the doctor sets up his clinic. His traditional remedies are the kind that were passed down from his ancestors, and he wouldn’t want outsiders to get wind of them,” he said.

“Understood,” Cheng Xiuru said, bowing in acknowledgment as he took back the account books. 

Lou Jing waved a hand to indicate that he could leave, then exhaled quietly. Now that everything had been more or less settled, it was time to think of a way to be with his husband.

“Reporting to the Shizi, the Guogong ye requests to see you in the main residence,” the young servant who usually waited on Lou Jianyu said.

Now that the first lunar month was over, the men of Lou Jianyu’s generation were all able to shed their mourning clothes. However, because Madam Wei had not recovered from her “temporary ailment”, Lou Jing’s Second Aunt was still the one managing their household matters, and the brothers had yet to move out or split the family assets as such.

Lou Jing cocked an eyebrow and asked the servant to leave first. His father barely said a word to him these days, and they were basically strangers to each other now. Why had Lou Jianyu suddenly thought of him again? 

Lou Jing got up, put on proper robes languidly, then took his time making his way to the main residence.

Lou Jianyu’s mood darkened the moment he saw his son, but he was actually in pretty high spirits today, so it didn’t show on his face. “I asked you to come here because I had something to tell you. I’m preparing to take in a Side Consort at the end of this month.”

Lou Jing was stunned. A Side Consort?!

Now that Lou Jianyu was out of his mourning period, he could take in wives and concubines. Even though a Side Consort was technically a concubine, she was not an ordinary sort of concubine. A concubine would never be able to rise to become the principal wife, but a Side Consort could become the principal wife if the position ever became empty. Also, when the principal wife was ill or otherwise unable to deal with household matters, the Side Consort had the ability to take over this responsibility. A Side Consort was a master of the residence of sorts, and even though her status was lower than the principal wife’s, she was not a servant or a slave like an ordinary concubine was.