Chapter Fifty-Six
“That’s a fact.” Prince Wei kicked off his shoes and settled cross-legged farther inside.
“Uncle had been planning to send them away all along, but now you’re trying to pin the blame on me?” Cui Lanyin refused to accept the charge.
“If you hadn’t brought it up, I might have forgotten.”
“You would have done it sooner or later.”
“Not necessarily.”
“So I have to wear this hat, then?”
“Mm.”
Guessing that Prince Wei had some other consideration in mind and needed her to step forward and take the blame, Cui Lanyin could only accept it.
“Ah!” Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed with exaggerated weariness. “Uncle, do you know what people in Yingcheng are calling me now? ‘Cui the Second Fierce.’ Do you know that? And if word gets out that I can influence your decisions, won’t people start calling me ‘Cui the Great Powerful’? Wherever I go, everyone will have to bow their heads and shout, ‘Mighty and majestic!’”
“Cui the Second Fierce?” The corners of Prince Wei’s lips lifted. “Quite fitting.”
“Uncle!” Cui Lanyin shot him a glare, then tugged at his arm to pull him up. “You haven’t even taken off your crown or changed out of your outer robe. How can you just sit down like that?”
Prince Wei remained where he was. “Tired!”
Just one word was enough to make Cui Lanyin give in. She kicked off her own shoes and climbed onto the couch as well. She removed his crown and outer robe, then took the plain home clothes Buyan brought over and helped him change.
This time, Prince Wei cooperated. He lowered his head, lifted his arms, and turned from side to side. Whenever Cui Lanyin gave him an instruction, he followed it.
Cui Lanyin could not help nagging him. “It’s no less trouble doing it this way. It would be much easier if you stood up to change.” She looked at the layers of his robes bunched together because he refused to get up. Unable to stand the sight of it, she could only use her hands to tuck the fabric beneath his legs bit by bit.
Prince Wei knew about this particular habit of hers. Without saying a word, he let her fuss over him. Only after she was satisfied did he lean back lazily.
Buyan brought over hot tea. Cui Lanyin accepted it and handed it to Prince Wei, then took another cup for herself. After the two of them had drunk half a cup, Cui Lanyin told Buyu to have the kitchen prepare the meal.
While they waited, Cui Lanyin told Prince Wei what the chief secretary had said. “Uncle has found a good chief secretary. You ought to listen to his proposal.”
Prince Wei flicked a finger in the air, and Cui Lanyin knew that he had agreed.
“I promised the chief secretary that I would attend the Grand Dowager Consort of Prince Jing’s birthday banquet on the twenty-first of the fifth month.” She had only just thought of something. “Prince Duan and Li Yijin are getting married on the eighteenth. By the twenty-first, they’ll already have completed the third-day ceremony. Won’t they be going as well?”
Cui Lanyin could not help frowning. Even if the men and women were separated and she would not see Prince Duan, now that she knew he harbored such feelings for her, the thought of being in the same residence with him already made her uncomfortable.
“We’ll go together.”
“Uncle is going too?” Cui Lanyin looked at Prince Wei in pleasant surprise. Then she thought of all the people who would be milling around before him, and how annoyed he would be for several days afterward. “Forget it. Going by what the chief secretary said, every household in Yingcheng wants to invite me as a guest right now. Prince Jing’s residence will probably show me some consideration. I can manage on my own. You should stay home and rest, Uncle.”
“The Grand Dowager Consort of Prince Jing and the empress dowager have an old friendship,” Prince Wei said slowly.
“So I was only flattering myself.” Cui Lanyin pulled a comical face, grinning. “Then we’ll go together.”
With Prince Wei accompanying her, it would not matter whether Prince Duan was there or not.
The next day, Empress Dowager Chen issued an edict. Emperor Xuanning was ill, she said, and she was worried sick, day and night. She had no heart to keep those noble young ladies in the palace to amuse her any longer, so they might all return home.
Not only the daughters of Grand Secretary Shen and Minister Gu, but Meng Ru and the daughters of the other three households were also sent home.
Even Emperor Xuanning, ill as he was, was moved by this. He bowed deeply in the direction of Fu’an Palace, repeatedly saying that his illness had disturbed the empress dowager’s peace of mind and left him deeply troubled.
After hearing about Prince Wei’s past, Cui Lanyin did not dare show her true feelings on the surface, but in her heart she no longer held Emperor Xuanning in any esteem. Now, she felt even more certain that he had ulterior motives.
Emperor Xuanning was cold-hearted and narrow-minded. One could say that he was constantly letting down the people around him. Empress Dowager Chen had raised him, yet the moment he ascended the throne, he turned toward Empress Dowager Li and the Li family.
Empress Xu and the Xu family had helped him suppress the Chen family. Once the Chen family had fallen, he began to fear that the Xu family would grow too powerful, so he found an excuse and exiled them.
Emperor Gaozong had clearly selected Consort Yao for him in hopes that the Yao family would counterbalance the Li family. Yet he chose to trust the Li family instead, exiling the Yao family and leaving Consort Yao to fade into loneliness. He coldly watched Prince Wei depart for the imperial residence with Empress Dowager Chen, then turned around and welcomed Concubine Li Shu, who gave birth to Prince Duan. Afterward, Prince Duan replaced Prince Wei as the son he favored most.
Now that he saw the Li family’s power becoming impossible to control, he had begun suppressing and dividing them. He cast Prince Duan aside as though he were worthless, without the slightest regard for all the years of father-and-son affection between them.
Empress Dowager Chen’s action had effectively placed Empress Dowager Li on the spot. She had released six young ladies from the palace. If Empress Dowager Li did not release the six in her own palace, she would appear to care only about enjoying herself while her son was ill. But if she released them, she would probably be reminded once more of those days when she had bowed and scraped before Empress Dowager Chen.
That afternoon, Grand Madam Li entered the palace. Before long, Empress Dowager Li also announced that the six young ladies in her palace could return home.
Cui Lanyin had thought that once the people who had come to lend their support dispersed, business at the pastry shop and restaurant would no longer be so overwhelmingly crowded.
She had been wrong.
After people tasted the food, word spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Business at the pastry shop and restaurant continued to soar. Though the opening-day spectacle never returned, there were always people outside the restaurant sitting on low stools and waiting for a table. It had become one of Yingcheng’s sights.
In only a few days, Yunwai House had become known for its distinctive and delicious food, showing signs of rivaling the Delicacies Pavilion.
The Yidian Su pastry shop was the same. Anyone who had bought its pastries once could not help coming back again and again.
Even the households across the Wu-Yang River sent people to place pastry orders. Zhang Gui refused them all. Those people knew whose business it was and did not dare pester him too much.
As a result, the rumor that Second Miss Cui wanted to snatch the Wu-Yang River business from Xiangshun Study fell apart on its own.
Another day, after the meal, Cui Lanyin said to Prince Wei, “Uncle, when the pastry shop and restaurant first opened, I said that it would take three years to earn back the money used to buy the shops. Judging by how things are now, we’ll earn it back in half a year. The shops belong to Qilin Hall. What do you think of Qilin Hall taking half the profits from the two shops?”
Prince Wei raised a hand and beckoned her over. Cui Lanyin went to sit beside him without suspicion, only to receive two flicks on the forehead.
“Do you want to separate the family accounts, or do you want to save money for your dowry?”
Cui Lanyin covered her forehead and shot him an annoyed look. “Even real brothers have to keep clear accounts…” Under his stare, she swallowed the rest of her words.
“Half for your family, half for us.” Prince Wei brushed his fingers lightly. “Our half is yours to spend as you please.”
Cui Lanyin was at a loss.
In her mind, Prince Wei belonged among her closest relations, but he was still different from the Cui family’s eldest branch. At least when it came to dividing the shop profits, she had grouped herself together with the eldest branch of the Cui family. Prince Wei, on the other hand, was to be counted separately.
Yet now Prince Wei was treating the two of them as one, separating her from the Cui family’s eldest branch.
Although she had agreed to remain by Prince Wei’s side until he married her and she married someone else, there was no need to tie themselves together so thoroughly, was there?
She could not quite put the strange feeling into words. It truly felt as though she had already married out of the family and was merely taking the opportunity to make money for her natal family.
“Uncle, half of what the household earns belongs to me…” Seeing Prince Wei’s finger about to flick back toward her again, Cui Lanyin hurriedly changed her words. “I know, I know. You and I will take one share, and the other will go to my family. From now on, I’ll count as one of your household.”
“Wasn’t it supposed to be for your dowry?”
“You’ve already sent your people away, and who knows when you’ll marry me. What am I saving a dowry for?”
“Do you think I’m delaying your marriage?”
“How could I? I’m more worried that if I enjoy this carefree life for too long, I won’t want to marry even after you take me as your wife.”
Only then did Prince Wei flick his fingers twice, as though granting her permission, and let her leave.
On the tenth day of the fifth month, Lady Jiang sent her word that Lady Dong had left the Dong family after ending her marriage.
Cui Lanyin sent Aiye to the Dong residence with two boxes of pastries. Lady Dong returned two exquisite silk flowers of her own handiwork. From then on, the two women could continue exchanging gifts and visiting each other at a leisurely pace.
After Chilin gave her the mask, he came to Yian Hall to sit for a while every day whenever he was in the residence, telling Cui Lanyin all sorts of fresh news that outsiders would have found very difficult to learn.
Once she became familiar with him, Cui Lanyin felt that Prince Wei’s previous decision to punish Chilin by having him keep watch over the Li family’s rear courtyard had been entirely justified. Chilin was far too fond of prying into people’s private affairs. Xuanlin was in charge of all the intelligence channels, and whenever the men under Xuanlin were not busy, Chilin would corner them and pester them with questions. As a result, there was hardly any major or minor matter among the gentry of Yingcheng that Chilin did not know.
Buyan also loved collecting gossip. Whenever Chilin arrived, he would often listen so intently that he could not bring himself to leave.
With Chilin leading the way, Qinglin and Bailin followed. Even Xuanlin, who usually kept such a low profile that he was practically invisible, began stopping by the western side hall of Yian Hall to sit for a while. Every day, they came as regularly as officials reporting for duty.
Perhaps Chilin had told them about her, because Qinglin was the first to send Cui Lanyin a bracelet-like hidden weapon fitted with a mechanism that could fire silver needles in succession. Xuanlin then gave her two messenger pigeons. Not to be outdone, Bailin brought her a flexible whip made of black-gold wire that could be wrapped around her wrist or waist.
Cui Lanyin felt as though she were the chieftain of some mountain stronghold, with the four Lin brothers coming to pay their respects and acknowledge her authority.
She took everything to show Prince Wei. In front of him, she put on the mask, fastened the hidden-weapon bracelet around her wrist, wrapped the flexible whip around her waist, and held the two pigeons in her hands.
“Uncle, do Bailin and the others think I have the makings of a wandering heroine?”
Prince Wei glanced at her. “They’re making you live up to your reputation.”
What reputation? It took Cui Lanyin a moment to realize that he meant she now truly looked like Second Miss Cui, Cui the Fierce.
She raised her hand and let the messenger pigeons fly out through the window, then nudged Prince Wei to stop him from meditating. “I’m Cui the Fierce from your household. If you laugh at me, you’re laughing at yourself.”
Prince Wei caught the hand that had landed on his shoulder. In a voice so soft it was nearly inaudible, he said, “As long as you don’t regret it.”
His fingers were long and distinct, resting on her hand without exerting much pressure at all, yet an inexplicable warmth spread to Cui Lanyin’s ears.
Hearing him say that, she suddenly sensed another meaning behind his words, and her heart skipped a beat.
On the eighteenth day of the fifth month, Prince Duan and Li Yijin were married. The Ministry of Rites had done everything it could to make the arrangements complete, but there had simply not been enough time. Though the wedding looked lavish and splendid on the surface, everyone remembered what the weddings of Prince Kang and Prince An had been like. By comparison, this one was far inferior.
When Emperor Xuanning had granted Prince Duan and Li Yixin’s betrothal, he had said that since Prince Duan had always lived in the palace, he would hold the wedding there. After the third day, Prince Duan and Li Yixin would move into Prince Duan’s residence.
Yet now Emperor Xuanning seemed to have forgotten all about that arrangement, allowing the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the wedding at Prince Duan’s residence instead.
Even more suspiciously, whenever a marquis, duke, or other high-ranking noble family held a wedding, celebrated a birthday, or conducted a funeral, the emperor would announce a day off for the court. But this time, he said nothing. The seventeenth was a regular day of leave, while on the eighteenth—the day of Prince Duan’s wedding—the officials still had to attend court and report to their offices as usual.
By then, even ordinary people in Yingcheng could see that something was wrong. Everyone was speculating that Prince Duan had fallen out of favor and was no longer in the running for the throne.
Prince Duan and Concubine Li Shu had realized it as well. Chilin came over and told Cui Lanyin that after Concubine Li Shu had visited Prince Duan’s palace several times, she had begun making the rounds at Empress Dowager Li’s palace every morning and evening.
One had to understand that ever since Prince Duan had come of age, she had never served Empress Dowager Li so attentively.
Unfortunately, even the deep affection Emperor Gaozong and Empress Dowager Chen had shared could be undermined by Empress Dowager Li. Concubine Li Shu, even if two of her were tied together, would never be enough to sway her. Empress Dowager Li remained completely unmoved.
As though everyone wanted to share in Prince Duan’s excitement, the prefectural examination results were posted early on the morning of the eighteenth. People swarmed through the streets, rushing to see the list, and the crowd nearly swept away Prince Duan’s wedding procession as it passed.
This time, Cui Fu and Cui Ran had both passed, making them licentiates-in-training. Once they passed the provincial academy examination, they would officially qualify as scholars.
Yet many people continued taking the examinations until they were old and gray, remaining mere licentiates-in-training all their lives. Crossing the threshold to become a scholar was by no means easy.
Tan Shao and Hong Ji were both known for their talent. Tan Shao had become a licentiate at eighteen, while Hong Ji had done so at twenty. Cui Fu and Cui Ran were nowhere near as outstanding as the two of them.
Cui Jian had already explained the situation to Cui Lanyin, so she knew that neither of them was likely to stand out among all the other examinees. She found it perfectly normal that both had placed near the bottom of the list.
Cui Fang understood his eldest son very well. He only asked Cui Ran to proceed one step at a time and see how far he could go. His state of mind was remarkably calm. To him, the fact that Cui Ran had passed both the county and prefectural examinations within a year was already an unexpected delight.
Cui Mian and Lady Chang, however, had held very high hopes for Cui Fu. In private, they had even imagined that he might come first this time and qualify as a scholar outright. Naturally, they were deeply disappointed.
The important part is coming!
