Chapter 58
Cui Lanyin did her best to look as natural as possible. "Youxian is someone with spare time, who is not a core member of his family. When I need someone to show up and represent me to keep up appearances for my businesses, he can step out for me, and his family won't raise objections because we are busy running the trade."
Prince Wei took out two black and white chess pieces, toying with them over and over, as if he had done and asked nothing at all just now.
Just when Cui Lanyin thought this conversation had been safely gotten through for the day, he asked in a casual, idle tone, "When Fortune is grand enough to overawe all, is a Youxian still a suitable candidate?"
Cui Lanyin's breath tightened again. Prince Wei's expression looked no different from usual, and his tone was light as ever, yet she could feel the distinct difference. This was not the kind of question he had asked in the past to help her find a suitable marriage match.
For several days now, he had kept asking these ambiguous, half-meaningful questions, or making those subtle gestures. Even with her usual steady grasp of her own mind, it was making her too shy to face him.
Even when she was with Lady Jiang and Cui Lanzhi, if a crumb of snack stuck to her lips, the two of them would never reach out a finger to wipe it off for her. The normal thing would be to hand her a handkerchief so she could clean it herself.
Cui Lanyin did not want to misread his intentions, but after repeated instances like this, she could no longer convince herself that this was nothing more than the care of an elder.
But how could that be? He had sent all those accomplished young ladies of distinguished family back home from Funing Palace, and at the age of twenty-six had never shown the slightest interest in taking a wife. What could he possibly want from her?
What was more, she was of the younger generation. If Prince Wei truly aimed for that highest position, he should never have any improper thoughts about her.
Where had things gone wrong?
Yet now, with Prince Wei asking this question, who could possibly have Fortune grand enough to overawe all? Even after repeatedly telling herself not to let her imagination run wild, Cui Lanyin's heart was still fluttering like a startled little deer against her will.
She lowered her eyes and said, "Uncle Biao, didn't we make a pact that you would not take a wife, and I would not marry? There is no point bringing this up now."
"Having tasted the simple joys of the mortal world, there are things one cannot bear to let go of, and so..." Prince Wei suddenly leaned back against the carriage seat. "Forget it. I should not have overstepped."
His gaze turned quiet and distant as he looked out the carriage window. The sight reminded Cui Lanyin of a line from an ancient travelogue in Cui Sheng's collection, describing a lone traveler wandering across the vast ancient plains, arriving alone, departing alone, until he finally turned into a handful of dust. The world was wide, yet no one would ever remember where he had come from or where he had gone.
Having lived in Prince Wei's Mansion for quite a long time, Cui Lanyin knew that for all the people who gathered around Prince Wei, no one had ever truly been able to get close to him.
Even the four former Bailin guards who used to wait in his study, and now the attendant Buyu, were all only there standing by, waiting for his orders.
From the fact that he would lock himself away, neither eating nor drinking, sleeping nonstop for several days every month, she could tell what kind of life he had led in the past. Before she came along, there had not even been a single person who could draw him into a conversation.
He was such a proud, decisive man. When had he ever been so hesitant, too afraid to move forward?
With his intelligence and resourcefulness, if he truly wanted to achieve something, he could come up with hundreds of ways to make no one dare refuse him. But he had never used any of those methods on her, and that could only be because his feelings for her were genuine.
That was why he was acting so contradictory. One moment he would say things that made her heart flutter with unspoken implications, and the next he would dismiss it all with a single "forget it". Through all his twists and turns, Cui Lanyin could taste the conflict tangled in Prince Wei's heart.
He seemed to want so badly for her to stay by his side, yet he was not sure if he could adapt to such a companionship, wavering back and forth between seeing his own desire clearly and deciding to turn away before it was too late.
Cui Lanyin's ached in sharp, throbbing pangs, and the firm resolve she had held before was beginning to crumble little by little.
"Uncle Biao, I... you..."
Prince Wei pulled his gaze back from the window and pulled on a faint smile. "Are you worried I'll end up a lonely old man?"
Cui Lanyin slowly shook her head. "No, that's not it."
"Come here." He beckoned to her.
Cui Lanyin moved over to sit by his side. Prince Wei stretched out a finger and traced the outline of her face slowly. "How could I bear to let you wither away wasting your youth? One more year from now, no matter whether my undertaking succeeds or fails, you will marry. There is no need to take that old pact between us seriously anymore."
His fingers against her skin felt as if they were steeped in sweet wine. Everywhere they brushed, a tingle of warmth spread through her. Cui Lanyin's mind went completely blank. She could not think of a single thing, and could only sit there motionless, staring at him with her wide, watery apricot eyes, letting him speak and touch her.
It was not until his words "there is no need to take it seriously" reached her ears that Cui Lanyin regained a little of her senses. "Uncle Biao, I... can you give me some time to think about this?"
Prince Wei's fingertips landed gently on her eyelids. "I am already getting old. I should never have had such delusional thoughts. Just forget all this."
Cui Lanyin's long, fan-like eyelashes trembled under the light touch of his fingertips. She could not bear the desolate, lonely note in his voice. All the sour, pent-up sorrow and unwillingness she had held back came surging over her all at once, and her voice cracked with the threat of tears. "Uncle Biao is not old. You are never allowed to say that about yourself ever again." The last part of the sentence she practically shouted out.
Buyu, who was sitting on the driver's seat outside the carriage, immediately called out, "My Lord, Second Miss, do you have any orders for me?"
Cui Lanyin wiped her face roughly with her sleeve, and mumbled in a thick, muffled voice, "Nothing at all!"
After that shout, her courage swelled. She brusquely pulled Prince Wei's hand away from her face. "I need time to think. Uncle Biao has to give me that time." Then she added firmly, "Even if things do not turn out that way, I will never leave you alone."
Seeing her look as if there was no room for negotiation, as if she would turn into the fierce, unyielding "Second Miss Cui the Valiant" if he pushed her any further, Prince Wei relented. "Very well. You can take as long as you need."
Prince Wei seemed to deeply regret his impulsive actions that day. After they returned to Prince Wei's Mansion, he acted as if the whole incident had never happened. In all his interactions with Cui Lanyin, he never made a single ambiguous move again.
Cui Lanyin, however, could not be as composed and able to put everything aside as he was. Day after day, whenever she had no work to occupy her, or in the quiet of the night, she could not help but let her thoughts drift back to that conversation.
But even if she wanted to accept his feelings, what about the great undertaking Prince Wei was still fighting for? How would she ever face Empress Dowager Chen in the palace, or her own parents at home?
In this entire dynasty, from the imperial family down to the common folk, there was no precedent for a marriage between people of different generations in the same extended family. If they went through with it, it would surely spark a tremendous uproar no one could ignore.
What was more, she had always truly regarded Prince Wei as an elder. Looking back on everything that had happened in the carriage that day, her heart still trembled. She simply could not shift her feelings to a different state of mind all at once.
Prince Wei never brought the matter up again, thinking that since she would never leave him anyway, they could just let things drift on like this for now.
The senior Bailin guards of the uncle generation were truly as capable as expected. The audits of all the branch businesses began to yield results one after another.
Out of the thirteen total businesses, only two had clean, untainted accounts. The remaining eleven had all siphoned off large portions of the profits for themselves.
Just as Cui Lanyin had predicted, the accounts for the first few years had been completely correct. Later, with the backing of the Qilin Hall, their business had smooth access everywhere, and small ventures grew into large, lucrative trades. When the profits grew so much, and they saw that the Qilin Hall paid almost no attention to checking their accounts, accepting whatever numbers they reported, their greed got the better of them. They stole little by little at first, then more and more, until the sum they had embezzled over the years added up to a staggering amount of silver.
This was completely unacceptable. The senior Bailin guards flew into a rage immediately. No matter what sect or gang the culprits belonged to, no matter how deep their influence ran in the martial arts world, they did not care. They went door to door, seized the heads of each of those organizations, threw the carefully cross-checked accounts in front of their faces, and ordered them to pay back the embezzled silver. Those who paid back the money could keep running their businesses as before. Those who could not pay would have their entire gang or sect erased without a trace from the martial arts world forever.
This was no small sum of a few hundred or thousand taels. The smallest amount owed by any one establishment was ten thousand taels, and the largest was thirty thousand taels. Most people in the martial arts world never kept much cash on hand. Even if they had not spent all the stolen silver, they had invested it all into buying properties and estates. There was no way they could come up with such a huge amount of ready cash in such a short time.
This incident sent a huge shockwave through the martial arts world. Everyone learned that the Qilin Hall had a group of elite fighters far beyond their original ranks, making the Hall's strength far more unfathomable than anyone had imagined. All those who had previously planned to ally with other factions to stand against the Qilin Hall immediately abandoned the idea.
Before this, the reputation of the Qilin Hall had only been well-known in the northern regions, but after this incident, countless sects and gangs in the south also began to treat it with great caution.
In the end, the eleven offending factions returned a total of seventy thousand taels of silver. For the remaining sum they could not cover, they made up the difference with their properties, manors, and shops scattered across various locations.
Liu Heipi had already sold some of the shops and residences assigned to his care, and the remaining properties in prime locations had been gradually leased out. Over the past two months, the income from these amounted to twenty thousand taels of silver.
With a total sum of ninety thousand taels of silver in hand, Cui Lanyin presented it to Prince Wei, but he told her to keep the funds for the time being. He then called Bailin over to explain all the various expenditures of the Lin Guard to her in detail, before formally handing over all the financial accounts of the Lin Guard to her management.
At times, Cui Lanyin would find herself thinking that she was now effectively in charge of the household finances of Prince Wei's Manor, the Qilin Hall, and the Lin Guard all at once. She controlled every single flow of money that belonged to Prince Wei. With a position like this, could she ever really walk out of Prince Wei's Manor freely? Even if a suitable marriage proposal were to be arranged for her now, how could she possibly have the heart to marry someone else?
During this period, Emperor Xuanning's condition kept fluctuating. In June, he was even able to attend court and handle political affairs for more than twenty days. Everyone had thought that with such gradual care, he could hold on for several more years. But no one expected that on the first day of the seventh lunar month, he would suddenly faint right in the middle of a court assembly. Though the imperial physicians managed to revive him with their medication, after that incident he could no longer even get out of bed on his own.
The court officials knew that the situation could not be delayed any longer. Taking advantage of the fact that Emperor Xuanning was still fully conscious, they submitted one memorial after another, requesting that he name the crown prince. But Emperor Xuanning simply set all these memorials aside without issuing any ruling.
Even Grand Secretary Shen, who had always stood in opposition to Chief Minister Li in the Cabinet, aligned himself with Chief Minister Li at this critical moment. The two of them gathered all the cabinet officials to request an audience with Emperor Xuanning, begging him to select and appoint a crown prince from among the imperial princes as soon as possible. But Emperor Xuanning only said that he would make his own decision, and after that, there was still no further update on the matter.
Fortunately, Prince Wei, Prince An, and Prince Ping had all become fully proficient in overseeing and managing the daily affairs of the court, so the government's operations were not significantly disrupted.
Prince Kang had also been released from his house arrest, but Emperor Xuanning never issued any further edict allowing him or Prince Duan to attend court meetings, leaving the two of them in a state of complete inactivity.
By the end of the seventh lunar month, the Ministry of War suddenly issued an order transferring Meng Huaizong to the capital to take up the post of Commander of the Right Imperial Guard. Since Chief Minister Li concurrently held the position of Minister of War, and both Meng Huaizong and his father had been promoted to their current positions entirely through his patronage, this move carried extremely profound implications.
Back in the reign of Emperor Gaozong, the appointments and transfers of all the commanders of the Twelve Capital Guards in the capital were decided personally by the emperor, and the Ministry of War only provided candidate recommendations when the emperor asked for them.
After Emperor Xuanning ascended the throne, in order to suppress the powerful Chen family, he kept transferring the powers that originally belonged to the Five Military Commissions to the Ministry of War. After he exiled the Xu family, Emperor Xuanning appointed Chief Minister Li as the concurrent Minister of War, and granted the Ministry of War full authority over the appointments and transfers of all military officers of the fourth rank.
At such a sensitive juncture, even Cui Lanyin could tell from this unusual move by Chief Minister Li that Emperor Xuanning's condition was likely far more grave than people had been led to believe.
Beneath the seemingly peaceful surface of Ying capital, all sorts of factions and forces were secretly maneuvering in every possible way, each waiting for the perfect moment to make their move.
Cui Lanyin had been feeling a little uneasy at first, but seeing how Prince Wei remained as calm and unflustered as ever, she also steadied her mind and went on with her usual work of managing all the affairs under her charge.
Having realized that no matter what she did, she could never win the favor of Empress Dowager Li, Concubine Li Shu went back to her old routine of only going to pay respects to the Empress Dowager on the first and fifteenth day of each lunar month. Since she was no longer required to attend to Emperor Xuanning, Concubine Li Shu would most often summon Li Yijin and Prince Duan to the palace. The three of them would shut themselves in a private chamber, and no one outside knew exactly what matters they were discussing.
Meanwhile, Prince Kang started to pay visits to Empress Dowager Li's palace far more frequently. Everyone in the capital knew exactly what he was up to: he was there for Li Yixin, who was staying at the Fu'an Palace to keep Empress Dowager Li company.
Li Yixin was never the kind of woman who could be won over so easily. She had once been ready to call off her engagement to Prince Duan just because he had developed feelings for another woman, so there was no way she would ever take a fancy to a widowed older man like Prince Kang.
No matter how carefully Prince Kang timed his visits, Li Yixin always managed to avoid meeting him.
As for the Li family, whether it was out of a desire to avoid arousing Emperor Xuanning's suspicion, or for some other hidden plan, they kept a deliberate distance from every single imperial prince. If Cui Lanyin had not known the secret past events that no one else in the world was aware of, she would almost have believed that the Li family were the most loyal, selfless subjects Emperor Xuanning could ever have.
It was right in the middle of this period of widespread anxiety and uncertainty that the provincial imperial examination for the selection of township scholars proceeded as scheduled.
Cui Lanzhi accompanied Hong Ji to the Temple of Confucius to pay their respects. The family had prepared his examination basket full of supplies, and Cui Lanyin went to Tianfu Temple to get a lucky charm engraved with the motif of "immediate promotion to nobility" to give to him. Cui Su also took leave from his duties, and the young male members from the two branches of the Cui family's younger generation all escorted Hong Ji to the Gongyuan, the imperial examination hall. They did not turn back until they had watched him enter the venue.
After nine days of three grueling examination sessions, when they went to pick Hong Ji up, he was haggard and exhausted beyond recognition. He could barely even walk, so Cui Su carried him on his back to the carriage, and then all the way back to his room.
Fortunately, Hong Ji had a strong physical constitution, so he did not fall ill like some other examination candidates did. After sleeping for two full days, and with Cui Sheng personally preparing nourishing delicacies to nurse him back to health, he had fully recovered by the third day.
Later, Hong Ji held Cui Lanzhi's hand, his eyes slightly red as he said, "My own parents and brothers could never have treated me as well as all of you have. If I pass this examination, let's not go back to Wuxi. I don't even need to ask to know that my family will be overjoyed to see us decide to stay here. How lucky I am to have married you, and to have such a wonderful family as my in-laws."
Hearing him refer to the Cui family so naturally as "my family," Cui Lanzhi was so overcome with joy that tears streamed down her face.
By the eighteenth day of the month, Emperor Xuanning's condition took another sharp turn for the worse, and Prince Wei began to go to the palace every day to attend to the emperor during his illness.
One day when he returned home, he took the cup of tea Cui Lanyin handed him, but did not drink it. Instead, he gazed at her in silence for a long while, then pulled her gently in front of him and asked in a hoarse, strained voice, "Will you allow me to go back on my word?"
Here we go.
