“I have long heard of Marquis Xing’s extraordinary martial skill, but never imagined you possessed such an art—truly admirable, admirable!” Crown Prince Wu Hong, holding a hand warmer, approached with Yongjing Marquis and two beautiful maidservants following behind, speaking warmly with Xing Muzheng.
Xing Muzheng cupped his hands and said lightly, “It is but a small trick—unworthy of Your Highness’s notice. I did not know the Crown Prince was here and so failed to pay my respects; I beg Your Highness’s pardon.”
Wu Hong laughed. “No fault in what you did not know. I was merely seized by a whim to come out in plain clothes for a stroll, never expecting to meet Marquis Xing here, let alone witness such a marvelous display. My trip has been well worth it.”
Yongjing Marquis said excitedly, “Marquis Xing’s skill is unmatched—surely not only in Yongan, but in the entire Great Xie, there is none to equal it!”
“Yongjing Marquis flatters me.”
“No, no—only the truth, only the truth.”
“Hahaha, I too think it’s no exaggeration,” Wu Hong said, handing his hand warmer to one maid, while the other stepped forward with a string of golden nanmu prayer beads. Wu Hong rolled them between his fingers, then looked toward Qian Jiaoniang with feigned puzzlement. “Oh? And this is…?” Well now—didn’t expect her to be such a beauty.
Xing Muzheng stepped aside to let Qian Jiaoniang come forward. “This is my wife, Madam Qian. Wife, come…”
“Oh heavens, you’re the Crown Prince, milord!” Qian Jiaoniang gasped, crying out in surprise so loudly that everyone flinched. She seemed not to notice the strange looks around her, her eyes shining as she stared straight at the Crown Prince, shaking Xing Muzheng’s arm excitedly. “Marquis, Marquis—it’s true, the Crown Prince is a person! This is really something extraordinary!”
If the Crown Prince isn’t a person, is he a ghost? Yongjing Marquis secretly wiped a cold sweat. He’d already thought it odd when this marchioness had been shouting in the pavilion earlier, but now it was obvious—this was no refined noble lady at all, but a coarse, unmannered commoner woman!
Xing Muzheng’s mouth twitched; Wu Hong, deafened for a moment, stood frozen, speechless. It was Xing Pingchun who reacted quickly—he stepped forward and whispered in Qian Jiaoniang’s ear, “Mother, you should say, ‘Long live the Crown Prince, ten thousand years!’”
“Oh—right!” Qian Jiaoniang slapped her forehead, then dropped to her knees with a thump. “Long live the Crown Prince, ten thousand times ten thousand years!”
Her voice was so loud that Wu Hong snapped out of his daze. “Please, please rise, Madam Xing.”
Xing Muzheng and Xing Pingchun helped her up from either side. Xing Muzheng said, “My humble wife has never met Your Highness before and is overly nervous. If she has been discourteous, I beg Your Highness’s forgiveness.”
Wu Hong fingered the beads with a smile. “No matter—Madam Xing is genuine and true. For me to be so loved and respected is cause for happiness.” His voice trembled—not from anger, but excitement. He had never encountered such a rough, unrefined woman before, let alone one who was the wife of Xing Muzheng. If he could taste this one, it would be a glorious addition to his book of conquests.
Just at that moment, the woman lifted her gaze and looked at Wu Hong. That glance was full of meaning, and Wu Hong’s chest suddenly burned hot. He thought to himself: This woman surely has feelings for me as well. At that thought, Wu Hong wished he could, right then and there, entangle himself with Xing Muzheng’s wife behind his back.
“Just now, I saw Madam Xing practicing polo. I wonder—has Madam ever heard of donkey polo?”
“Donkey polo?”
“Yes. It’s similar to polo, except one rides a donkey to hit the ball. These days, the palace ladies are all fond of it. Polo, after all, is still too dangerous for women. For a lady as beautiful and precious as Madam Xing, it would be quite unfortunate if you were to get hurt.” Wu Hong spoke softly.
Yongjing Marquis broke into a cold sweat at these words. As one of the Crown Prince’s companions in study, how could he not know about those sordid little things the Crown Prince did? Why, that pavilion today had been arranged by him. But was the Crown Prince growing bolder and bolder—first stealing other men’s concubines, then dallying with married women, and now setting his sights on the wife of Dingxi Marquis? Surely he wasn’t that foolish? Though the Marquis no longer held office, who didn’t know of his importance to the Great Xie court? Whoever gained his support would have the throne in their grasp. The third prince, Wu Song, son of Noble Consort Liang, had long reached the age for an enfeoffment and a fief, yet was still kept in Yongan City—wasn’t that precisely because the Emperor’s will was unclear? Instead of taking the chance to win over the Marquis, the Crown Prince was lusting after his wife? Was he tired of being Crown Prince?
Qin Wenzhi stole a glance at Xing Muzheng. His face showed no change—apparently he hadn’t noticed. Only then did Qin Wenzhi let out a small sigh of relief.
Just then, a palace eunuch arrived with an oral decree, summoning Xing Muzheng into the palace at once.
Xing Muzheng accepted the order and immediately bid farewell to Wu Hong. Wu Hong said, “If the Marquis is in a hurry, I and Yongjing Marquis can see Madam back to the residence on your behalf.”
No, no, no—he wanted no part in this! Why drag him into the water? He couldn’t afford to offend either side. He was just a useless hereditary Marquis—spare him, let him keep his dog’s life! Qin Wenzhi’s back was already soaked in cold sweat.
Xing Muzheng replied, “No need to trouble Your Highness. I’ll see my family home myself—it’s on my way.”
Wu Hong said regretfully, “I chanced upon the Marquis today and had hoped to chat longer. But since Royal Father summons urgently, we’ll have to meet another time.”
Xing Muzheng bowed and left with Qian Jiaoniang and the others. Wu Hong’s gaze lingered on Qian Jiaoniang’s departing figure, a smile playing on his lips for a long while. When he turned his head, however, it was to meet Qin Wenzhi’s long, bitter face. His daydreams instantly scattered.
“Why are you standing so close to me?” Wu Hong snapped.
With a mournful look, Qin Wenzhi said, “Your Highness, what you were thinking just now—surely it wasn’t the same thing I was thinking?”
Wu Hong toyed with his prayer beads and cleared his throat.
“I’m not the worms in your belly—how would I know what you’re thinking?”
With that, he gathered his cloak around him and walked out.
Qin Wenzhi hurried after him.
“Your Highness may not be the worms in my belly, but I am the worms in yours. I may be unworthy, but today you must heed me—absolutely do not do this!”
The Qin family relied on the Crown Prince; if the Crown Prince fell, they would be finished.
Wu Hong smiled and waved it off.
“Rest easy, rest easy—I’ve heard your loyal advice. I’m going back to the palace now—go and call my carriage.”
This world is mine—I’m the future Son of Heaven of Great Xie. What could there possibly be that’s forbidden to me? ‘Absolutely not’? Is Qin Wenzhi underestimating me, or overestimating Dingxi Marquis? No matter how great his military merit, he’s still the Wu family’s subject. If the sovereign commands a subject to die, the subject must die. Let alone just a woman—if it came to light, would Royal Father truly depose me over her? Would Xing Muzheng dare set himself against the future Son of Heaven? If he truly had treason in his bones, I’d just take the chance to kill him. His towering merit is already a threat; keeping him would be a future trouble.
This wasn’t “hearing” the advice—it was not hearing it at all! Qin Wenzhi knew it spelled trouble. He sighed heavily, stomped his foot, and chased after Wu Hong again.
Meanwhile, as Qian Jiaoniang was about to step into the carriage, she saw Xing Muzheng’s dark expression and thought her little display earlier had worked. She frowned slightly.
“My lord, did I behave rudely before His Highness the Crown Prince just now? I’m sorry—having grown up as I have, how could I have imagined meeting the Crown Prince? I got nervous… I didn’t embarrass you, did I?”
Xing Muzheng studied her intently for a moment, making her uneasy, before he smiled.
“It’s nothing. Anyone would be nervous before the Crown Prince. It’s just… I shouldn’t have brought you here in the first place.”
Qian Jiaoniang blinked, feigning confusion.
“Coming to Yongan, being made to kneel here and there—it’s not as free as Yuzhou.”
Qian Jiaoniang froze slightly, and then Xing Muzheng scooped her up into the carriage.
She was still dazed as she sat inside. What did he mean just now? That he regretted bringing me here… because Yongan wasn’t as free as Yuzhou?
Xing Muzheng mounted his horse, looked at the carriage canopy, then at the polo field.
“Trouble,” he murmured, eyes turning cold.
“Lord, what did you say?” Ah Da asked.
Xing Muzheng withdrew his gaze.
“Nothing. Let’s go.”
***
This time, Xing Muzheng saw the Taikang Emperor in the alchemy chamber. The Emperor was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion with a wiry old Daoist, the two of them holding a compass and talking about something.
Mao Qi led Xing Muzheng in. The Emperor’s face stiffened, but he still gave him face in front of outsiders.
“Daoist Niu, this is My most valiant general, Xing Muzheng, Dingxi Marquis of the Great Xie court. Marquis, this is Daoist Niu, a lofty adept of the Taixu Monastery.”
Daoist Niu quickly stepped down from the dais to greet Xing Muzheng, who returned the salute. As Daoist Niu lifted his head, his eyes caught on the ornament hanging at Xing Muzheng’s chest, a gleam flickering in them. He glanced at the Emperor. The Emperor did not understand his meaning, but Daoist Niu stepped forward and whispered a few words in his ear. The Emperor’s eyes lit up as well, his gaze falling on the tooth hanging from Xing Muzheng’s neck.
Daoist Niu took his compass and left. The Emperor stepped down from the dais himself to tend the fire in the alchemy furnace. Xing Muzheng stood silently to the side. When the Emperor had added charcoal, he went to the medicine cabinet, took out a piece of bone about the length of a little finger, and began grinding it slowly in a mortar.
“Marquis Xing, are you deliberately setting yourself against Zhen?” the Emperor said slowly as he ground the bone.
Xing Muzheng replied,“This humble servant is afraid and does not know to what Your Majesty refers.”
“You don’t know? You’re doing this on purpose—on purpose to anger Zhen!”
The Taikang Emperor, determined to live as long as Heaven itself, no longer spoke the word death at all.
Xing Muzheng dropped to one knee. “This minister is guilty.”
“What guilt do you have?”
“This minister does not know.”
Emperor Taikang was so angry he wanted to smash him with the pestle in his hand. “You… oh, you, Minister Xing! Still playing dumb with me? Speak! Did you take your original wife to watch polo today or not?”
Xing Muzheng answered honestly, “I did.”
“Then you still don’t know why I’m angry? I clearly told you to divorce your wife, yet you parade her around in public. What, are you deliberately challenging me?”
“This minister would not dare. It’s only that I pitied my wife, who has toiled for me for many years without ever enjoying herself, so I took her to watch polo for her pleasure.”
“You made her happy, but never thought about whether I am happy?” the Emperor said, his voice sinking. “Or is it that in your eyes, I am not even the Emperor?”
“This minister would not dare.”
“Then tell me—why do such a thing?”
Xing Muzheng raised his head to look at the Emperor, then lowered it again, hesitating. “This minister…”
