Chu Zhao sat in his own room, fingers pressed to the letter tube, his expression somber as if pondering something important.
Hei Ying entered, and seeing his expression, felt a chill: “Is there trouble at the border?”
Are those neighboring brats acting up again?
Chu Zhao shook his head: “No.”
Thank goodness. Hei Ying relaxed a bit and asked, “Then why is Your Highness troubled?”
The room was dimly lit, shadows flickering, making it hard to see clearly.
A few years ago, the prince had invented an adjustable lampshade, which became popular everywhere, from the palace to the common folk. No one knew it was his invention. Now, the lamp was turned to its dimmest setting, casting sharp shadows over Chu Zhao’s face.
In the darkness, Chu Zhao slowly spoke: “I have a friend…”
He got halfway through, locking eyes with Hei Ying.
A strange silence fell.
After a moment, the shadow on Chu Zhao’s face seemed to waver, as if he’d made up his mind: “Alright, the friend is me.”
Hei Ying: I haven’t even said anything yet.
He kept his eyes down, saying nothing, waiting for Chu Zhao to continue.
Chu Zhao squeezed the letter tube: “You know, I’ve never been interested in romance.”
Hei Ying: “Huh?”
True, but why bring this up…?
Chu Zhao’s brows furrowed, looking troubled. His throat bobbed as he forced out the words: “…If you find out someone likes you, what should you do?”
Hei Ying was baffled. “Reject them. Make it clear.”
Chu Zhao disagreed: “But I only found out, and they haven’t confessed while sober.”
Oh, a secret crush. Hei Ying understood: “Then keep your distance and pretend nothing happened. Unless you like him too.”
Chu Zhao ignored the last part, focusing on the first, still troubled: “Distance is hard to manage. I should care for him, but if I’m too nice, what if he falls even deeper?”
Hei Ying was surprised. If it was someone familiar, who could it be? After all, Chu Zhao had just read a letter from the northwest-was it a love letter, not a military report? But all the border commanders were either older or brothers-in-arms, none fit the bill.
Hei Ying hesitated: “If he hasn’t confessed, could there be a misunderstanding?”
Chu Zhao immediately denied it: “No misunderstanding. You didn’t listen carefully-I said he didn’t confess while sober, but when drunk, he confessed everything.”
Drunk, familiar… there was only one person in Prince Qin’s residence who fit that description.
Hei Ying was stunned: “You mean Shizi-”
Chu Zhao nodded gravely.
Really? Hei Ying was quite surprised. From his perspective, after the horseback riding at Dongzhuang, it seemed the prince’s wooden heart might be blooming, developing a little sprout of feeling for Shizi. But looking at Shen Ziqin from all angles, he’d never shown any special interest in the prince.
Had he misjudged?
Hei Ying was lost in thought, not daring to speak carelessly. After a moment, Chu Zhao sighed: “Forget it, I’ll just try to be more careful in the future. He is my strategist, after all. I can’t hurt his feelings, but I also can’t let him have unrealistic fantasies.”
After all, I have no interest in romance-how could I possibly be in a relationship with anyone?
Hei Ying came back to himself: “Is Your Highness planning to reduce some of Shizi’s privileges?”
These days, anything valuable or rare-precious medicines, treasures-all went to Mingyue Pavilion first. It had become the most lavishly funded place in the Prince Qin’s residence.
Chu Zhao was shocked: “How could I?”
“Then do you plan to see Shizi less often, avoiding him except for official business?”
Chu Zhao: “That won’t work either. If I avoid him too obviously, being inexplicably cold would definitely hurt him.”
Not this, not that-Hei Ying daringly suspected his master had no intention of creating distance at all: “…Then how does Your Highness plan to be more careful?”
To be honest, Chu Zhao hadn’t figured it out yet.
But he couldn’t admit that, so he sat perfectly still, looking very composed: “In any case, I have it all under control.”
Hei Ying: …I hope you really do.
Chu Zhao remembered something and tossed the letter tube to Hei Ying, warning him: “Don’t tell Bai Xiao.”
That line from Shen Ziqin’s drunken rambling-“Chu Zhao likes men”-Chu Zhao could easily guess what had happened. Hei Ying must have told Bai Xiao, who then told Shen Ziqin.
He, a prince, had been completely sold out by two gossips in the blink of an eye.
Hei Ying held the letter tube awkwardly and coughed: “Yes, sir.”
“Burn the letter.”
Hei Ying bowed and withdrew.
The next morning at court, people noticed Shen Ziqin’s absence. Though many weren’t close to Chu Zhao and were curious, they didn’t dare gossip until Bai Junxing asked about Shen Ziqin during his greeting, and everyone immediately perked up their ears.
Chu Zhao lied with a straight face: “Upon hearing of the Marquis of Yin Nan’s deeds yesterday, Shizi was heartbroken. He felt unwell after returning home and cannot attend court today.”
Commander Yin Lie’s mouth twitched.
When he’d visited yesterday, Shen Ziqin hadn’t shown the slightest sign of distress-in fact, he’d asked Yin Lie to help the Court of Judicial Review, clearly wanting the Marquis to face consequences. How could he possibly be upset and ill because of him?
But the others assumed Shen Ziqin was truly sick, thinking the rumors were true-he really was frail and needed careful attention.
Back at Prince Qin’s residence, Shen Ziqin woke up almost from hunger.
Last night, he’d gotten drunk after just one cup, and Chu Zhao had only fed him half a bowl of porridge. Now his stomach was completely empty, growling loudly.
Shen Ziqin pinched the bridge of his nose as he got up. Thanks to the hangover soup, his head wasn’t pounding.
His memory stopped at the moment the medicinal wine went down. He’d felt a ball of fire drop from his throat into his stomach, instantly burning up. Just as he’d realized something was wrong, his mind had become foggy, his vision blurred, and sounds seemed distant.
Then everything went black, and he lost consciousness.
Shen Ziqin sat dazed on the bed, unable to believe that his current body was a one-cup lightweight!
In the past, he’d drink cup after cup, habitually downing them in one go. He never expected to capsize like this-he’d been too careless.
He hadn’t made a scene while drunk, had he? Shen Ziqin wondered anxiously, deciding to observe the reactions of those around him.
But there were no unusual reactions.
Xiao Zhen only cautioned him never to drink like that again, and the other guards, including Bai Xiao, behaved normally, talking as usual.
Shen Ziqin secretly sighed in relief. Good, it seemed he behaved well when drunk and didn’t make a fool of himself.
Shen Ziqin had no idea what he’d said while drunk, and even less idea of the misunderstanding. Chu Zhao’s thought process had already sped ahead of his by several versions.
Way ahead.
Outside, it was already bright daylight, and the morning court session was long over. Shen Ziqin wasn’t in a hurry anymore. The main drama was over-he’d go to court again when needed.
After all, it was usually just like a marketplace argument-not worth listening to.
The three-court trial had been too well-prepared by the princes’ faction. Even though Grand Secretary Wei Changhai wanted to intervene, he still lost this round.
Five days later, the verdict was announced: death for the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, while the rest were demoted, exiled, or fined as appropriate.
Except for the Left Vice Minister, who would be beheaded in a few days, the other punishments were quickly carried out.
The Marquis of Yin Nan was investigated, and Shen Minghong couldn’t escape either. Father and son were punished together-Shen Minghong was dismissed from office, and the Marquis was demoted and sent to a harsh place, stripped of his title, which would now be inherited by Shen Ziqin.
Most of the Marquis’s property was confiscated, with very little left. See? Shen Ziqin’s decision not to bring gifts for the homecoming visit had been the right choice.
When the Marquis of Yin Nan’s household was desperate, they had come to Prince Qin’s residence to see Shen Ziqin. They had no other options and would grasp at even a spider’s thread.
But unfortunately, Shen Ziqin wasn’t their spider’s thread and wouldn’t see them.
On the day the former Marquis of Yin Nan left the capital with his family, Chu Zhao instructed his guards to deliver a little “gift.”
“Don’t use deadly poison-just something to make them ill, something they can’t easily recover from. Ruin their foundation so they’ll get sick easily in the future.”
Chu Zhao was polishing his sword, its edge reflecting his sharp features: “Shizi’s health was ruined by their drugs back at the Marquis’s residence. They should taste the same medicine-live to atone for their sins.”
The guard fully understood his master’s intention and left to carry out the order.
But halfway through the mission, he ran into the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Of course, at this moment, neither the prince’s guard nor the Embroidered Uniform Guard knew each other’s identity.
The two stared at each other in surprise.
The guard said, “Brother, you’re here on a job too?”
The Jinyiwei replied, “Yeah. Tsk tsk, that former Marquis of Yin Nan really made a lot of enemies.”
Guard: “May I ask what kind of medicine is in your bottle? Here’s the thing-my master ordered that they should live to suffer. If you poison them to death, I’ll have a hard time explaining myself.”
Jinyiwei: “Ha, what a coincidence! My master also said just make them sick.”
So the two of them compared their medicines, complimented each other’s handiwork, and since their goals were the same, everything was easily settled.
Guard: “There are three people-let’s split them up.”
Jinyiwei: “Rock-paper-scissors: two winners, one loser.”
Guard: “Deal!”
Once the job was done, both went home to report. On Shen Ziqin’s side, when he saw the letter delivered by the Jinyiwei, he was first surprised, then realized something.
Who else could be this in sync with him-could it be Chu Zhao?
Sure enough, when Chu Zhao got the news, he guessed the same, and before Shen Ziqin could look for him, he arrived at Mingyue Pavilion.
They dismissed everyone else.
Shen Ziqin got straight to the point: “Your Highness, did you send your guards to trouble the Marquis of Yin Nan’s household?”
“The former Marquis,” Chu Zhao corrected him with a smile. “So it was your people, the Jinyiwei?”
Shen Ziqin: “Mm.”
The Ministry of Works case was settled, Yin Lie had delivered his token of loyalty, and was now officially working with Shen Ziqin.
As Chu Zhao’s strategist, Shen Ziqin figured if he did things privately and wasn’t found out, it was fine, but since he’d been discovered, he ought to explain.
“I didn’t consult Your Highness in advance because… I was afraid you’d think my methods were too ruthless and vindictive.”
That kind of impression wouldn’t help him in his work. Shen Ziqin added, “I’m not like this with everyone.”
Chu Zhao hadn’t come to question him at all. Hearing Shen Ziqin’s explanation, he laughed: “They deserved it. Why would I think badly of you? And if we’re talking about ruthlessness, I did the same thing, didn’t I? Do you think badly of me?”
Shen Ziqin shook his head at once: “Of course not!”
Chu Zhao: “There you have it.”
Shen Ziqin visibly relaxed, a gentle smile blooming on his face, like a spring breeze rippling across a lake in March.
Chu Zhao glanced at him, then lowered his gaze to hide his emotions.
He didn’t tell me in advance because he was afraid I’d misunderstand; he rushed to explain because he didn’t want me to think poorly of him… Chu Zhao tried to keep his expression steady, but his heart was stirred: all this only confirmed that what Shen Ziqin said while drunk last night was the truth.
Shen Ziqin really does care about him!
For some reason, his heart felt light, as if he were floating on clouds, and an uncontrollable smile crept onto Chu Zhao’s lips.
Sigh, I’ll have to be the one to keep my distance and maintain a good, healthy relationship, Chu Zhao thought.
As for how exactly to do that… he’d figure it out later. No rush.
—
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(advanced chapters available on kofi)
Obrigada pela tradução !☺️❣️