Talented Man, the Woman Without Beauty, A Flower Stuck in Cow Dung
The eve of their departure from the capital.
All the luggage had already been packed, filling eight horse-drawn carriages. Afraid that Chu Yuan would not be accustomed to life in Xiang Cheng, Le Shu wished he could bring along every single item Chu Yuan used regularly.
When he even tried to bring away the beddings and sheets, Chu Yuan hurriedly stopped him. The things were pared down again and again, and in the end, one whole carriage was still filled.
That evening at supper, the whole family gathered in the dining hall.
“Father, you have too many books. Leave half of them here for the time being. Once we have settled in Xiang Cheng, have the steward send them over.”
Nie Chouwen said, “Mm. Have all of you packed everything?”
“Everything is packed. We leave first thing tomorrow morning, so everyone should rest early tonight.” Jiang Ni picked up a piece of stewed chicken, tender and soft from long cooking, and placed it into Chu Yuan’s bowl.
Chu Yuan smiled gently. “Ah-Die should eat as well.”
“You should eat more. You will have to suffer a little tomorrow morning.” Jiang Ni’s smile was full of affection as he reached out and touched his head.
Chu Yuan knew what he meant. His ears reddened, and with his lips pressed together, he gave a small nod.
Nie Siran handed his bowl over. “Ah-Die, give me some as well. I am the one sacrificing my reputation tomorrow.”
Jiang Ni slapped his hand aside. “These days you run about outside all day and never come home. I fear that one day you will come back with a child in your arms and have it call me Grandfather.”
“...” Nie Siran touched his nose, looking somewhat abashed. “Nothing of the sort. Ah-Die worries too much.”
Jiang Ni said, “Then tell me plainly, what exactly have you been doing out there all these days?”
“Nothing in particular.”
Jiang Ni said, “If you will not say it, so be it. You have always been someone with your own mind. So long as you are not doing evil, I will not interfere in what you wish to do.”
After speaking in the tone of a stern father, he immediately turned and looked at Chu Yuan with smiling eyes.
“Yuanyuan must not learn from your elder brother. He is not learning well. Even now he cannot marry himself a wife. Had it not been for you, your father and I would not have cared to remain in Ye Jing.”
Nie Xuxing said, “This brat has always had too many thoughts since childhood. Fortunately, Father taught him personally. Otherwise, who knows into what sort of bad seed he might have grown.”
Nie Chouwen glanced at his grandson and calmly continued eating.
After being attacked by both of his fathers, Nie Siran spoke in his own defense. “How can two fathers speak thus of their own son? At least preserve some face for your son.”
“Then tell me honestly,” Jiang Ni said, his gaze sharp, “for this return to Xiang Cheng, you have brought only one bundle and packed nothing else. Was it not because you never intended to leave at all?”
Everyone at the table turned to look at him.
Nie Siran curved his eyes, the narrow corners of them lifting. “No. I do not intend to remain in Ye Jing.”
“Once we leave the capital, I intend to go east, so I will not be returning to Xiang Cheng with you.”
Nie Xuxing said, “It is as well for you to go traveling. Better not to see you.”
Nie Siran: “...”
Xiang Cheng lay to the west, yet Nie Siran said he intended to go east, the opposite direction entirely.
East...
After thinking in silence for a while, Chu Yuan seemed to realize something, and a teasing smile flashed across his eyes as he looked toward Nie Siran.
“Eldest Brother, may the journey be smooth. We shall keep in touch by letter.”
Warmth instantly returned to Nie Siran’s expression. “Ah-Yuan is still the best. I will make it back before New Year’s Eve.”
In the past, if he traveled outside and could not return, he could still spend the New Year alone. This year was different. Chu Yuan’s expected delivery would be shortly after the New Year, and at such an important moment, he had to return.
The family finished supper in harmony and then accompanied Chu Yuan on a walk.
Now that he had entered the later stage of pregnancy, the Nie family accompanied him walking every day. Jiang Ni said it would be beneficial for childbirth. Chu Yuan kept it in mind, walking for half a shichen every morning and evening.
Just as they finished the second circuit around the walls of the Nie residence, Xian Feng arrived.
Chu Yuan’s eyes lit up at the sight of him.
“Xian Feng, are Eighth Brother and the others well?”
Xian Feng smiled. “Prince Consort may rest assured. There is no war at present in the Western Frontier, and Prince Jing and the others are all well.”
After Lu Rongshen had gone with Bai Qingyu and the others to the Western Frontier, Chu Yuan had not been able to feel at ease and had sent Xian Feng all the way there to protect him. Xian Feng had only recently returned to Ye Jing.
“This is the intelligence report that Xian Yue asked this subordinate to bring you.” Xian Feng took a letter from his robes.
After reading the letter, Chu Yuan let out a breath.
“Just as expected.” He handed the letter to Nie Chouwen and the others.
Nie Chouwen’s flower-white brows stirred slightly, yet his eyes remained as calm and seasoned as ever. “This old man had only known that his mind was steadfast. I had not discovered that he also possessed such ambition.”
Chu Yuan said, “Zhu Fang was originally the palace maid Fangzhu in Noble Consort Xu’s palace. She once broke a jade bracelet that Noble Consort Xu was fond of and was ordered to be beaten to death. It was Prince Rui who saved her and transferred her elsewhere...”
“Not long after leaving the palace, she met Zhang Ze. The two were married, and soon after that, Zhang Ze was transferred to Ping Cheng, with Fangzhu accompanying him out of Ye Jing.”
“It was also Prince Rui who secretly ordered her past in the palace to be erased.”
Jiang Ni was nearly confused by what he heard. “Why would Prince Rui help her do all this?”
“For the moment, we do not know.” Looking at the details laid out in the intelligence, Chu Yuan’s lips curled in a trace of cold mockery. “If we had not investigated Zhu Fang, it would have been very difficult to suspect him. He truly is... deeply hidden.”
Jiang Ni guessed, “So Zhang Ze was repaying a debt to his wife?”
“Only they themselves know the answer to that.” Chu Yuan pressed his lips together slightly. “Grandfather, the letter His Highness and I intercepted in Ping Cheng may very well have been written by Prince Rui.”
“That is possible. In my years as an official, I also helped His Majesty review the writings of the various princes. Only Prince Rui, due to his health, was absent from lessons year-round, so likely very few people would be familiar with his handwriting.”
Nie Xuxing said, “If Zhang Ze was originally Prince Rui’s man, then when Zhang Ze previously accused the former Crown Prince, the former Crown Prince was wronged.”
“Not exactly wronged. Zhang Ze truly was doing things for the former Crown Prince. That in the end he implicated only the former Crown Prince shows that, in his heart, Prince Rui mattered more.”
The sky grew steadily darker, and their faces gradually sank into the dark. The evening wind stirred their hair, and in the soundless stillness, Nie Siran slowly raised a hand.
“I have a question.”
Jiang Ni said, “If you have something to say, then say it quickly.”
Nie Siran rested his chin on his hand and smiled as he looked at Chu Yuan.
“How is it that His Highness draws so much hatred? One after another, they all want his life.”
First it was Prince Qi and the former Crown Prince, and afterward Prince Rui, to say nothing of however many others lay hidden in the shadows waiting to claim Lu Ronghuai’s life.
Chu Yuan: “...”
Nie Xuxing looked at his son with fondness. “A fine question. Ask another one next time, and the family discipline will attend you.”
“Ahem...” Xian Feng’s lips twitched. With a cough, he drew Chu Yuan’s attention back. “Prince Consort, there is one more matter. The ruler of the Kingdom of Yu has passed away.”
“What?” Jiang Ni said in surprise. “The ruler of Yu... did he not only marry Third Princess at the beginning of the month? How has he now passed away?”
Within Xian Feng’s respectful and modest expression was mixed a trace of pride. “It was done by our people.”
Jiang Ni: “...”
Xian Feng said, “On the day of Third Princess and the ruler of Yu’s wedding, Miss Fuqing mixed into the palace and intended to assassinate him, but that day the guards had increased, so she could not succeed. She had no choice but to risk poisoning him instead...”
“At dawn the next day, palace maids entered the bedchamber where the ruler of Yu and Third Princess had rested and discovered that the ruler of Yu had collapsed from poison.”
Nie Xuxing asked, “Did he die at once?”
“No. He was still hanging onto a single breath and only died three days ago.”
“Then the Kingdom of Yu must be in chaos now?” A gleam of watching the spectacle appeared on Jiang Ni’s face.
Xian Feng smiled. “Yes. The Crown Prince of Yu and Prince Xuan are fighting over the throne and making such a smoky, foul mess of things.”
“At most in another two days, His Majesty will receive the news,” Nie Chouwen said, rubbing his fingertips together. Even in the night, his gaze remained sharp as a blade. “Prince Rui or the Kingdom of Yu, we shall act as though we know nothing. At mao hour tomorrow, when the city gates open, we leave early and get away from here first.”
“Very well,” everyone answered in unison.
“It grows late. Return, wash, and rest.” Once Nie Chouwen spoke, everyone rose and returned to their own courtyards.
At dawn the next morning, the first day of the tenth month.
Dew clung to the blades and leaves of the wild grass by the roadside. Then, with the gradual approach of the rumbling wheels of carriages, the ground trembled. The grass leaves quivered, and the dew could cling to the tips no longer. It slipped free, rolled down, and disappeared into the dust.
At the city gate, the officer commanding the guards, a blade hanging at his waist, walked step by step to the front of the carriages.
“Who goes out of the city?” the officer shouted with a stern face.
Nie Chouwen lifted the carriage curtain, his gaze falling calmly upon the officer’s face. “This old man is returning to his ancestral home in Xiang Cheng. I ask General to grant us passage.”
“Ah, so it is Minister Nie... ah no, Lord Nie.” The officer’s expression immediately changed from coldness. Rubbing his hands, he smiled. “You are leaving Ye Jing?”
“Mm. The end of the year is drawing near. If we leave now, we can still arrive before New Year.” Nie Chouwen handed over the exit pass.
The officer hastily waved his hands. “There is no need, no need. For someone like you to leave the city, who would still need to inspect such papers? Only, because this official has his duties, the carriages must still be inspected.”
“This old man understands.” Nie Chouwen drew the curtain farther open. “The people in this carriage are all this old man’s family. The vehicles behind carry luggage. If you are still uneasy, I shall step down so that you may inspect them.”
“No, no. This will suffice. There is no need for you to dismount.” The officer smiled obsequiously, then instructed his subordinates to inspect the other carriages. As he turned back, his eyes casually swept into the carriage.
“And this is...?” the officer asked hesitantly, looking at the unfamiliar woman within.
Nie Siran sat beside the woman, his left arm around her shoulders. The woman leaned delicately against him, revealing half of a pretty profile.
Nie Xuxing laughed heartily. “That is my daughter-in-law, a native of Xiang Cheng. She followed us back to the capital earlier this year.”
“D-d-d-daughter-in-law?” The officer stammered in shock.
He looked left at Nie Siran and right at the woman, his mouth so wide that an egg could have been stuffed into it.
The eldest young master of the Nie family was already married?
How was it that there had not been the slightest whisper of it?
And from the looks of this woman, her beauty was merely ordinary. Young Master Nie was graceful and elegant, handsome and refined. Sitting together, the two truly were a talented man paired with a woman without beauty, a fresh flower stuck in cow dung.
“Mm. My worthless son defied his parents’ wishes and made her his wife, then left her behind and returned to the capital by himself. Had Xiao Ni and I not happened to pass through Xiang Cheng, we would never have known that this rascal had left such a romantic debt behind.” Nie Xuxing spoke in a tone full of indignation.
Jiang Ni also looked full of righteous anger. “Poor my daughter-in-law, carrying a child and waiting in Xiang Cheng for this scoundrel, only to have all her affection cast away in vain.”
The officer looked at Nie Siran with an empty expression.
The corner of Nie Siran’s eye twitched. Forcing a smile, he said, “Yes. The fault is entirely mine.”
Then he lowered his head and gazed at the woman with deep feeling. “Fortunately, Chuchu is willing to forgive me and give me one more chance.”
The young woman lifted her handkerchief to her face with an expression of bashful sweetness.
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the officer stood staring blankly at the carriages that had already gone into the distance.
“Chief, what are you staring at?” One of his men came over and waved a hand before his eyes.
“Did you see the Nie family’s carriages just now?” the officer asked in a floating voice.
“I did. The carriages have already gone far away.”
“Oh. So it was not my imagination after all,” the officer muttered.
“Ah?”
“It turns out Young Master Nie is that sort of man. We have all been deceived by him.” The officer spat upon the ground and walked away looking weathered by life.
The subordinate: “?”
Once the carriages had gone somewhat farther, Jiang Ni let down the curtain and held out a hand toward the woman. “All right, all right. Yuanyuan, come over to my side quickly. I shall help you remove the false face.”
Chu Yuan lowered the handkerchief that had hidden his face. The moment he exchanged a glance with Jiang Ni, both of them bent over laughing.
“Hahahaha...”
Then, as if the laughter were contagious, even Nie Xuxing and Nie Chouwen joined in.
“That is enough. You were already secretly laughing while leaning against my shoulder just now. At least leave me some face. I shall have no face left to return to Ye Jing.” Nie Siran looked utterly helpless.
“Hahahahaha...”
What answered him was a whole carriage full of unrestrained laughter.
On this day, the eldest young master Nie’s reputation was thoroughly ruined.
The carriages proceeded westward along the broad official road. The entire convoy did not travel quickly. Whenever they passed some amusing place, they would even linger for a few days. Only by the beginning of the eleventh month did they finally reach Xiang Cheng.
Xian Yue remained in Ye Jing, continuing to impersonate Chu Yuan, while Xian Yu, because of his identity as the steward of Prince Li’s residence and the suspicion that would arise if he left, also stayed in the capital.
The ones accompanying Chu Yuan to Xiang Cheng this time were Xian Shuang and Xian Feng.
The Nie family had a large residence in Xiang Cheng. The gate servants and steward had remained here year-round, so the estate was kept very clean and orderly.
Chu Yuan chose a courtyard planted with a parasol tree, called Qingwu Courtyard. There were also camellias and hibiscus within it. When he pushed open the courtyard gate, parasol leaves were falling, and the camellias throughout the courtyard burned red like fire, clustered thickly and abundantly, even fairer than the rosy clouds at the horizon.
At once, he fell in love with the place.
Life for the Nie family in Xiang Cheng was simple and unhurried. Their neighbors were all well-known local scholars and elegant men of letters, all old friends of Nie Chouwen. They often visited one another and arranged outings to fish ponds.
During this time, Chu Yuan received four letters from home from Lu Ronghuai.
At the end of the eleventh month, the weather had grown bitterly cold. Winter’s frost and snow came early.
Now Chu Yuan’s belly was like a round great watermelon. Each time Xian Shuang and Xian Feng watched him walking in the courtyard with that great belly before him, they wished they could grow three more eyes to keep him under watch, afraid he might stumble or knock against something.
Chu Yuan himself felt it was still all right. The child never troubled him, and he had even discovered something rather interesting.
Whenever Chu Yuan read aloud softly, the little one would kick and stretch inside his belly, as though delighted.
There was only one drawback.
In the nights now, he would regularly wake in the middle of his sleep from the searing cramp of muscle spasms in his legs.
“Mn...”
Chu Yuan bit his lower lip in pain. His swollen belly prevented him from bending down. Cold sweat dampened his black hair, and all he could do was clutch the bedding beneath him and try to endure the wave of pain.
Hurried footsteps came from the outer room.
“Yuanyuan, is it cramping again?” Jiang Ni, with his outer robe hastily draped around him, came in quickly. He lifted the curtain and took one look before immediately turning to order Le Shu to bring in a basin of hot water.
Chu Yuan buried his face in the blanket and could not speak.
Jiang Ni took out a handkerchief and wiped away his sweat, soothing him tenderly. “Do not be afraid. Ah-Die is here with you.”
Le Shu ran in carrying the copper basin.
Jiang Ni rolled up his sleeves, took the cloth from the hot water and wrung it dry, then went to the other side of the bed, lifted a small corner of the covers, and laid the hot cloth over Chu Yuan’s tensed calf.
He washed the cloth again and again and applied it with heat, changing the water in the basin two or three times before Chu Yuan’s ragged breathing gradually steadied.
“Ah-Die...” He showed a pale little face and forced himself to smile at him. His voice was hoarse. “Thank you, Ah-Die. It no longer hurts.”
Jiang Ni lowered his trouser leg back into place, then tucked a tangpozi at his feet, pressed the covers around it tightly, and only then rose and returned to sit at the bedside.
“Foolish child. Pregnancy is hard enough as it is. Leg cramps in the later months are very common. Had Le Shu not let it slip, were you planning to keep hiding it from us?”
After learning that Chu Yuan was cramping at night, Jiang Ni had directly carried in his own bedding and slept upon the daybed not far from the bed.
At the slightest movement from Chu Yuan in the night, he would at once rise to look after him, bustling about to care for him.
Chu Yuan lay on his back upon the bed, unable to gather the least strength in his body, and spoke softly. “It was not that I meant to hide it. I only did not want all of you to worry.”
As he looked at Jiang Ni, whose eyes had begun to show bluish shadows from these last days of tending him, warmth and bitterness rose together in his heart.
“Carrying everything on yourself and refusing to speak is what truly causes us worry.” Jiang Ni reached out and flicked the tip of his nose. “Do you want to change your clothes?”
Each time the cramping came, the pain made him break out in cold sweat from head to toe, soaking his sleeping clothes every single time.
“All right.”
Le Shu helped Chu Yuan into the bathing room to wash himself, while Jiang Ni stepped outside.
“How is the Prince Consort, Madam?” Xian Feng stood below the steps, with Xian Shuang close behind him.
Just now Le Shu had run in and out several times, and they had also waited outside in growing anxiety.
Looking at those two loyal subordinates, Jiang Ni planted his hands on his hips and said crossly, “Not well. His wife is nearly at term and most needs someone to care for him, yet as for that man, he is off living merrily in the Northern Frontier!”
Xian Feng and Xian Shuang silently lowered their heads.
They did not dare speak.
There was no way to refute it.
Their prince had fought himself nearly mad in the Northern Frontier, chasing the northern barbarians in relentless pursuit. If the northern barbarians seized one small border town of Lu, Lu Ronghuai would seize three towns from them in return. If they killed one man of Lu, he would swing his blade and wipe out an entire battalion in response.
By now even the common people of Ye Jing knew that this campaign of Prince Li’s was fighting with extraordinary ferocity on this campaign, like bandits sweeping through a village, battering the northern barbarians into a state of utter defeat.
One victory report after another kept returning from the Northern Frontier, and Emperor Hongjia was overjoyed. His health even showed signs of improvement.
Jiang Ni cared nothing for any of that. He knew only that his Ah-Yuan had an urgent need for Lu Ronghuai now.
Even if Chu Yuan had never said it and had behaved quite normally before them these past months, Jiang Ni, having gone through it himself, could very well see the yearning in those bright eyes growing deeper with every day.
Chu Yuan had pressed all that longing deep inside himself, and the longer the time stretched, the more the longing grew, until it was gradually nearing the point where it could no longer be contained.
Jiang Ni sighed with exasperated worry. “Write to His Highness at once. Tell him these are my words: if he does not return soon, then from now on his wife and child will both bear the surname Nie, and he can forget about ever entering the Nie family gates again!”
Xian Feng straightened his back. “Yes. Madam, calm your anger. This subordinate will go at once.”
Xian Shuang remained where he stood, not moving.
Jiang Ni raised his head to look at the deep night sky. A layer of snow had settled on the distant courtyard wall. Drawing his robe more closely about himself, he said faintly, “There are still twelve days until New Year’s Eve...”
Xian Shuang listened quietly.
“Which is also when your prince will meet his end.”
Xian Shuang: “...”
Behind them, Le Shu opened the door. Chu Yuan had already changed his clothes and was softly calling Jiang Ni to come back in and rest.
Jiang Ni covered his mouth and yawned, then gracefully turned and went inside.
Xian Shuang stared at the tightly closed door for several moments, then turned and strode away, returning to his own room.
Xian Feng was seated beneath the lamp writing a letter. Seeing him enter, he was about to ask what he wanted, only to see Xian Shuang also pick up paper and brush and begin writing with his head lowered.
“What are you writing?” Xian Feng asked with a smile.
Xian Shuang’s expression did not change. “A letter to His Highness.”
“?”
Xian Feng said, “I am already writing to His Highness. There is no need for you to write another.”
Xian Shuang shook his head gravely. “No. It is not enough.”
One letter was not enough to make His Highness understand how precarious his standing had become.
The Nie family was fierce beyond reason. Prince Consort was in their hands, and His Highness stood alone, without allies on that front, did not stand a chance.
He had to write another one.
If His Highness did not come back soon, then setting the Nie family aside, even he himself was going to grow angry.
Xian Shuang’s face was solemn as he moved his brush with swift strokes.
Xian Feng rarely saw Xian Shuang looking so earnest. Curious, he set aside the half-finished letter in his own hand, stepped over, and lowered his head to look, whereupon darkness fell before his eyes.
Xian Shuang had written only two lines on the paper.
“[Your Highness, return at once.]”
“[The Nie family is looking for a stepfather for your child.]”
He recognized every single character.
Yet placed together, he suddenly could not understand them at all.
“Have you lost your mind?” Xian Feng said, his back teeth turning cold. “How can you deceive even His Highness?”
Xian Shuang answered calmly, “His Highness will understand this subordinate’s good intentions.”
“His Highness may go completely mad and come hurtling from the Northern Frontier to Xiang Cheng without caring if he lives or dies and then cut you down with one stroke.” Xian Feng was so angry he wanted to laugh and tried frightening him with that prediction.
“Oh...” Xian Shuang slid the letter into an envelope, unmoved. “My qinggong is good. I run quickly.”
Xian Feng: “...”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Lu dog: I asked you to summon me, not to cuckold me.
Xian Shuang: Do not fuss over such details.
IsitRo: Ugh, I know Jiang Ni is threatening Lu Ronghuai in a “clearly” affectionate intent, but the man literally is fighting war out there, not like he was building ice milkshake business lol. Merrily living in the north. Yeah sure. Again, this kind of soft “threatened/bully in-law trope” is not in my book but Im pushing through for Lu dog :').
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