Young Master Is So Eager.
Early the next morning, Lu Ronghuai and Nie Siran left the residence. The two of them made a full round through Wubo, and only when dusk had gathered on all sides did they finally step into the mouth of the alley.
“You are back. Did you find out anything?” Jiang Ni came over to open the door for them. Even as he shut the door, he did not forget to glance outside twice.
Hearing the movement, Nie Xuxing and Su Ruhe also came out from the side room.
Le Shu had already prepared cool tea. The two men strode into the room and lifted their teacups, drinking them down in great gulps. Only after two cups of tea were in their stomachs did they feel much better.
“Xian Yu, go notify Clan Leader Jiang and invite him to come over.” Lu Ronghuai set down his teacup and lifted his eyes toward Xian Yu, who stood at the doorway.
Xian Yu paused slightly. He cupped his fists and accepted the order, then hurried off. In his heart, he felt something was faintly strange. At that moment, His Highness seemed to be suppressing some kind of emotion, dark and oppressive enough to make one afraid.
Very soon, Clan Leader Jiang arrived together with him.
Lu Ronghuai cast one glance outside, then turned his gaze back to Xian Yu. “What is Ah-Yuan doing?”
Xian Yu replied, “Master is keeping the little heir company while he paints.”
Nie Siran nodded. “That is just as well. There is no need for Ah-Yuan to know of today’s matter.”
Lu Ronghuai said nothing more. He only instructed, “Stand guard outside.”
Xian Yu answered and withdrew together with Le Shu.
Jiang Ni sensed that something was amiss. The moment the door shut, he asked, “Has something happened? His Highness does not seem to be in a very good mood.”
Nie Xuxing looked from side to side. His Highness, he could still understand. After all, he had never much liked to smile. Yet to make even his son, who was fox-like by nature, lose that smile as well, that truly was unusual.
He gave Nie Siran’s arm a slap. “What is all this? You specially invited the Clan Leader over, yet none of you speak, and just leave the rest of us sitting here?”
He had not held back any strength in that slap, and the blow landed with real pain upon the arm. Nie Siran’s temple jumped, and he turned to look at Lu Ronghuai.
“This matter should still be spoken by His Highness.”
“The ruler of Chu Kingdom has caught wind of our presence.”
“What?!” Jiang Ni cried out in shock. They had disguised themselves all the way, yet Chu Kingdom had still managed to detect them. His eyes widened. “That ruler of Chu Kingdom is so muddle-headed. How could he know our whereabouts?”
Lu Ronghuai’s voice was cold. “Because among us, a spy has appeared.”
Looking at that cold face of his, the people present all drew in a breath in their hearts.
Back in Ye Jing, the overwhelming curses and denunciations had not changed his expression in the slightest. Empress Dowager Xu’s repeated attempts to force his hand had not stirred even half a trace of anger in him.
Yet today, those deep, icy eyes were like a winter pool after the ice had cracked, cold to the point of holding not the slightest warmth.
There was actually a spy from Chu Kingdom by their side.
Clan Leader Jiang steadily asked, “What exactly has happened?”
When Nie Siran recalled what they had seen today, his head also ached. “This morning, His Highness and I went out. While resting in a teahouse, we overheard several idle remarks. Last night, the ruler of Chu Kingdom suddenly issued an order to seal off Wubo Cheng. Now the city only allows people in, not out. Search squads have also appeared in the streets and are already investigating the roadside shops one by one.”
“Once the shops have been searched, the next step will be to search the residences. As for our place here...” Nie Xuxing spoke halfway, then suddenly drew his brows together tightly. “His Highness just mentioned a spy. Could it be that His Highness already knows who it is?”
Lu Ronghuai pressed his thin lips into a straight line. “Exactly who it is remains unknown for now. Yet it is right eight or nine times out of ten.”
Seeing the others’ confusion, Nie Siran explained, “Father and Ah-Die, do you still remember that when Ah-Yuan was staying at our residence in Ye Jing, the ruler of Chu Kingdom once wrote Ah-Yuan a letter?”
The two of them exchanged a glance and quickly remembered that part of the past.
Jiang Ni said, “I remember. Why bring up that letter again?”
Nie Siran gave a tactful reminder. “In that letter, the ruler of Chu Kingdom once used the Jiang clansmen to threaten Ah-Yuan.”
Nie Xuxing understood at once. “You mean that the spy is one of the Jiang clansmen?”
No sooner had he spoken than Clan Leader Jiang rose to his feet.
“Impossible. The sons and daughters of the Jiang clan would never betray the family.” Clan Leader Jiang looked toward Jiang Ni. “At that time, when you wrote back and asked whether anyone in the clan had been captured, I investigated carefully. No one had gone missing.”
Lu Ronghuai lifted his eyes faintly. Everything was already written in his gaze.
Seeing this, anger surfaced on Clan Leader Jiang’s face. Jiang Ni quickly rose to smooth things over. “This matter is still open to discussion. The spy may not necessarily be one of the Jiang clan. Clan Leader, please sit. Do not be angered.”
Lu Ronghuai said, “Whether it is so or not, one need only investigate to know.”
Clan Leader Jiang did not believe that the spy was within the Jiang clan. Yet he knew that this matter was no small one, and that the truth absolutely had to be found as early as possible.
“Very well. Your Highness may investigate.”
Lu Ronghuai called in a shadow guard and gave several instructions. The shadow guard swiftly departed.
Nie Siran said, “Aside from the sealing of the city gates, there is one more matter we especially need to be wary of right now.”
Nie Xuxing asked, “What matter?”
Nie Siran’s brows knit tightly. “At present, the people in Wubo Chrng are all saying that Ah-Yuan is a descendant of the Jiang clan, and that his flesh and blood can bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to bone. They are also saying... that drinking his blood can prolong life, preserve youth, and prevent death.”
“Absurd!” Jiang Ni slapped the table. He was furious beyond endurance. “The ruler of Chu Kingdom must see that the fall of his kingdom is near, and so he wants to drag Ah-Yuan and the Jiang clan down into the water with him. That vile and filthy petty man deserves ten thousand deaths and still could not atone for his crime!”
Nie Xuxing raised a hand and soothed his breathing. Suppressing the anger in his own heart, he gently comforted him. “Do not be angry. It is not worth growing angry over such a person. With His Highness and the rest of us here, no one will be allowed to harm Ah-Yuan.”
Jiang Ni seized Nie Xuxing’s hand. “If everyone wants to harm Ah-Yuan, then they will have hundreds and thousands of methods. How can we guard against them all? This move of Chu Kingdom’s ruler is truly vicious. Xuxing, I truly fear Ah-Yuan will be hurt.”
“Ah-Die may set his mind at ease. I will handle everything.” Lu Ronghuai parted his lips. The lowered timbre of his voice was calm and steady.
Nie Siran filled tea for everyone and also said, “At present, we are in the dark and he is in the light. The one who truly ought to be afraid is him.”
Nie Xuxing said, “Exactly. If the ruler of Chu Kingdom truly knows our whereabouts, then he is likely so uneasy now that he cannot even sleep in peace.”
For a time, no one spoke.
Clan Leader Jiang raised his hand and tapped the tabletop twice. Slowly, he said, “The rumor of long life has existed for a long time. Those two candles are the source from which trouble arose.”
Jiang Ni looked startled. “Clan Leader, could it be that the matter of the candles was not merely rumor, but true?”
Clan Leader Jiang sighed and shook his head. He seemed unwilling to recall the matter, and cast a distant look toward the roof beam. “The ancestors of the Jiang clan originally belonged to a prominent family of the southern lands. Within the clan there was once a youth of astonishing brilliance. In the year when he had just reached his capping age, he followed a merchant ship out to sea to travel. From that day onward, he vanished without a trace and did not return for twenty years.”
Jiang Ni asked, “What happened after that?”
“The clan sent people to search for him for a very long time. Later, everyone believed he was dead and gave up the search. Yet he came back after all.”
“When he returned, the entire land was shocked. This youth had vanished for twenty years, yet his appearance was still astonishingly young, no different from how it had been twenty years earlier.”
“Could it be... that he truly obtained the art of immortality?” Jiang Ni had never before heard this part of the past from anyone in the clan.
Clan Leader Jiang said, “There is no immortality in this world. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the proper order. It is only that the greed of men is too heavy, and they vainly wish to share Heaven’s span.”
Nie Xuxing asked, “If there was no immortality, then why did this youth’s appearance not change?”
Clan Leader Jiang said, “His appearance did not change because he remained in a state of deep sleep throughout those twenty years, and so his face still appeared young.”
“Ah?” Jiang Ni was stunned.
“The youth encountered a violent storm at sea. When he was cast into the waters, he struck against a ship plank. Afterward, he drifted in the seawater for several days, and thus remained unconscious for a very long time. He was later rescued by island dwellers. Like a living corpse, he slept on for twenty years. Only after he awoke and recalled his past did he finally return home.”
“As for those two candles, they were merely things that the islanders had produced from special plants. The island was barren and lacking in goods. The candles they devised could be preserved for longer and burned more slowly. They were tools the islanders relied upon for life...”
“When the youth left, the islanders knew he had a long journey ahead and specially gave him two. The youth was grateful to the islanders and also did not wish anyone to disturb the life they lived, and thus he muddled the matter over and kept this portion of his past veiled in great secrecy.”
“Yet the people of the world knew nothing of the reasons within, and they were ever suspicious. They saw only the youth’s unaged face, and happened to learn that the candles had a strange fragrance and burned for a long time. Passed from mouth to mouth, it somehow became a tale of immortality and ageless life.”
After Clan Leader Jiang’s words fell, everyone present wore expressions difficult to read. For a long while, no one spoke.
Who could have imagined that the secret tale of the Jiang clan, which had been spread in a fluttering storm of rumor outside, would prove so absurd and laughable once the truth was heard?
Jiang Ni’s lips trembled slightly. “Then was it also because of this that the ruler of the southern lands harmed the Jiang clan back then?”
Clan Leader Jiang nodded heavily. “That is right. The Jiang clan voyaged far out across the sea, thinking the rumors would eventually die away. Who could have expected... that matters would instead descend into ever deeper madness.”
Nie Xuxing asked with concern, “Do the descendants of those who gifted the candles still remain now?”
Clan Leader Jiang’s expression turned sorrowful. “None of them remain. They were long ago swallowed by the sea. The entire island sank into the depths.”
Nie Xuxing had once traveled beyond the seas and knew how dangerous life upon the sea could be. Sorrow also rose in his heart.
Lu Ronghuai listened to them speak the entire time. The sharp coldness in his face from earlier was no longer there. With a quiet expression, he said, “Since the island has already vanished, then those two candles should be the only ones left in the world, correct?”
Clan Leader Jiang replied, “Mm. Why does Your Highness ask this?”
“Those red and white candles are now both in the imperial palace at Ye Jing.”
Clan Leader Jiang frowned in puzzlement. “The white candle, after the Jiang clan set sail overseas, was placed by our ancestor within a stone cave on the deserted island and has never since been retrieved. As for the red candle, that is even more unfounded. It is presently enshrined within our ancestral hall and watched over day and night.”
Clan Leader Jiang’s tone was certain. “Your Highness says there are red and white candles in Ye Jing. Perhaps, after hearing the rumors, people merely imitated them.”
“Not so.” Lu Ronghuai lifted his eyes with a half-smile. “The white candle was found overseas. The red candle, meanwhile, was personally presented by the ruler of Chu Kingdom to Father Emperor. The scent and features after both candles are burned are exactly the same as what Clan Leader described.”
Clan Leader Jiang’s expression grew increasingly grave. “Does Your Highness speak the truth?”
“Naturally.”
Clan Leader Jiang said, “This truly is a strange matter. Before I set out this time, I still visited the ancestral hall. The red candle was indeed still within the clan. On this point, this old man can swear with his life that there is not the slightest falsehood.”
Lu Ronghuai tapped the table with his forefinger. “This matter is suspicious. It seems that only by capturing that old man of Chu Kingdom can we learn the answer.”
At dinner that evening, Chu Yuan noticed that everyone seemed to be heavy with thoughts. He had wanted to ask about it, yet Lu Ronghuai watched over his meal the entire time. By the time he had finally finished eating, everyone had already dispersed.
When they returned to their room, Chu Yuan handed Lu Duoyu over to Le Shu and had him taken to bathe. Afterward, he took the initiative to catch hold of Lu Ronghuai and led him into the inner chamber.
Lu Ronghuai let him hold his hand. Only after he was pressed down to sit on the bed did he finally laugh aloud. Reaching out, he wrapped an arm around Chu Yuan’s waist, pulled him into his arms, and toppled with him onto the bed.
He lightly bit Chu Yuan’s earlobe and murmured with a smile in his voice.
“Young master is so eager, you suit my heart exceedingly well.”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Lu Dog: He is so eager, and I love it.
Yuanyuan: ...
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