Chapter 045
Chapter 45: You’ve Truly Disappointed Your Mother
[Huh. What happened to Eldest Brother.]
[Why do I feel sadness on him.]
[Is it my imagination.]
Outside the main court, a young man in indigo leaned on a red pillar with arms crossed and chin raised, lazy and at ease. Wooden wheels hummed, and at the corridor’s turn a black-clad youth pushed a chair forward.
“Ming Yue,” Gu Heng’s eyes lit and he stepped ahead, greeting warmly: “It has been long. How have you been.”
“The same as ever. And you, Jin An,” Yun Wan Chen said with a mild smile. Starlight returned to his eyes and the gloom vanished.
Jin An was Gu Heng’s courtesy name.
“I just came back from Nanzhou,” Gu Heng said with a hand at his brow. “I am tired but well. Forgive me, Ming Yue. I returned too late to welcome you.”
Imperial merchants held only middling rank in Great Wu. There were twelve, each overseeing salt, silk, tea, iron, land transport, and such. Wealthy and busy, but with little voice in court. Gu Heng’s family controlled land transport and tea. He had no idle day.
“It is nothing,” Yun Wan Chen said.
Gu Heng’s gaze flicked to Yun Wan Chen’s legs. He asked with care: “How was the trip to Jingzhou with Seventh Lord. Did you find what you sought.”
“It was worth the journey,” Yun Wan Chen said with a light curve of his lips. He would walk soon. It could not be hidden long. Blame the change on the trip and protect Little Sister’s secret.
“Truly. That is wonderful,” Gu Heng said with open joy.
People change. The world turns.
Yun Wan Chen lowered his eyes and hid the shadow that passed.
In the reception hall, tea was served and the servants withdrew. Only the two friends and quiet Cang Yan remained.
After a short talk, Gu Heng grew fidgety. Yun Wan Chen breathed on his tea and watched him, then said: “Jin An, you have something to say.”
Gu Heng flushed: “To be honest, Ming Yue, besides seeing you I have a favor to ask.”
“Oh,” Yun Wan Chen lifted a brow. “Speak. There is no need to hesitate between us.”
“Then I will be frank,” Gu Heng said, his voice growing thin with shame. “My aunt’s son passed the exams last year, but only as a third-tier scholar. He has no post.”
In Great Wu, scholars split in three tiers. First tier were the top three. Second tier were fifty. Third tier were the rest. First tier gained sixth-rank offices at least. Third tier might train in the study hall, then earn minor work if fortune smiled. Or they languished and tested again and again.
“My aunt tried many doors and met refusal. My grandmother knows how close we are and begged me with my aunt. I did not want to agree, but they were ready to kneel. They are elders. I cannot accept their kneeling,” Gu Heng said, his face redder by the word. “So I came shamelessly to ask if Ming Yue could help a little. Then I can answer my family.”
Exactly as Little Sister had warned.
Yun Wan Chen’s fingers tightened on the cup. The last spark of hope went out. He gave a cold laugh without warmth.
“Your cousin is young. Why not sit the exam again. Why the rush,” he said. The cool tone held a quiet rebuke that made Gu Heng shrink deeper.
“Truthfully, Ming Yue, his talent is mediocre. Passing at all was luck. Even if he tests a hundred times, he may never do better. That is why my aunt is anxious,” Gu Heng said.
“So that is it,” Yun Wan Chen said as his brows moved. “Even if I intervene, a third-tier scholar will not get a good office.”
“As long as it is within the capital, that is enough. We do not dare ask for honor,” Gu Heng said quickly.
A third tier dreaming of glory was foolish. Even top ranks rarely saw grand posts.
“Very well. I will try,” Yun Wan Chen said with a slight nod.
“Thank you. When it is done, my aunt and cousin will come to thank you,” Gu Heng said with relief.
After half an hour of talk he left in haste, leaving several costly gifts.
Madam Yun slipped in from the rear door. She said in a calm voice: “Cang Yan, withdraw. I will speak with the heir.”
After Cang Yan left, her eyes were faintly red as she looked at her son, gentle and bright as moonlight. She said softly: “Chen’er, you knew, yet you still agreed.”
She had wanted to trust him and let him handle matters alone. Yet worry pushed her to leave Little Fourth with the nurse and follow quietly. And she had watched him nod.
“You have truly disappointed your mother,” she said.
“Mother,” Yun Wan Chen rubbed his brow and sighed. “If you knew I understood, why could you not trust me a bit more.”
“So long as you agree, how can I trust. At best, this invites needless trouble. At worst, it is corruption. It harms you and stains your father and our whole house,” she said, voice trembling.
“Mother, it is not so serious,” he said gently. “Using connections for a small post is common and within the law.”
“You still argue. That is not the heart of it,” she said as tears fell. “The heart is Gu Heng himself. You know his nature, and you still helped him.”
She remembered Little Fourth saying Yao’er would stand against the heroine and suffer under her admirers. Gu Heng was one of them. That meant he might torment Yao’er one day. Yun Wan Chen had been betrayed by him, and he had also harmed Yao’er. Such a heartless fellow. How could her wise son still choose to help.
“Mother, please do not cry,” he said with pain in his eyes. If Father saw Mother weep because of him, he would surely get a couple of firm slaps. “I have my own plan. Trust me. If you cannot, then step forward and I will lay it out.”
“Do you truly have a plan,” Madam Yun asked as she dabbed her eyes.
He nodded with care.
“Very well, I will trust you. Tell me quickly,” she said.
After soothing his mother, Yun Wan Chen had Cang Yan take him to Qing Garden.
A faint scent of herbs hung there. He frowned lightly. Under the magnolia, Seventh Uncle taught Yin Shuang to guide inner power. Their posture was close. It seemed Seventh Uncle truly sped things up after hearing Little Fourth.
A soft smile rose on Yun Wan Chen’s lips.
Seventh Uncle was not young. If his heart had settled on Yin Shuang, it was a happy thing.
“Heir Apparent is coming, Seventh Lord,” Yin Shuang said softly as she noticed the white-robed young master at the moon gate. She rose at once.
Yun Zhan turned and waved with a warm smile: “Come.”
Yun Wan Chen signaled Cang Yan forward.
Yun Zhan leaned and patted his legs gently: “How have you been.”
“I am well, Seventh Uncle. Did I disturb you,” Yun Wan Chen said with teasing eyes and a small smile.
Yun Zhan stiffened and glanced at Yin Shuang. Her face did not change. He sighed in relief and said: “If I said yes, would you leave.”
Yun Wan Chen: “…”
His smile faded. He said plainly: “Seventh Uncle, I came to ask your help.”
“Speak. What do you need,” Yun Zhan said.
…
Not long after Yun Wan Chen left, a man arrived from Yun Zheng.
“Seventh Lord, His Grace asks you to come.”
“Understood,” Yun Zhan said. He turned to Yin Shuang: “Elder Brother needs me. I will go.”
“All right,” she said softly.
In the study, Yun Zhan closed the door and walked to the desk.
“Big Brother, any news on what I asked,” he said.
“Yes,” Yun Zheng said as he lifted his head and handed over a portrait. “Shadow Hall gathered some time ago. After your order, they rushed everything on the Crown Princess. Look.”
Shadow Hall was the secret web Yun Zheng had built to watch the borders and neighbors. It kept him from ever fighting blind. It now served this matter well.
Yun Zhan unfolded the portrait. A cold, peerless face met his gaze. The features were fine as a painting. The air was proud and aloof. The more he looked, the more the bearing echoed Yin Shuang’s.
He lowered the portrait, opened the letter, and read with care.
Feng Xi, Crown Princess of Great Yu, seventeen.
“The reports say Great Yu has had only one crown princess. There is no succession struggle. Her seat is firm. She is now safe in the palace. At times she appears in Fengtian to welcome returning troops,” Yun Zheng said as his eyes narrowed.
Great Yu’s emperor, hurt in old war, had only one heir. He never adopted sons to guard the throne from outsiders. So he raised Feng Xi like a crown prince. If so, how to explain the woman living in their house now.
Little Fourth’s voice would not err. That meant the one in Great Yu’s palace was false. Someone stole the true crown princess’s face and name and deceived a kingdom.
To fool common folk was one thing. But even the emperor who raised her did not see the truth. How. And how did the true princess fall into such a pitiful state without a trace.
“With Little Fourth’s word, the palace one is fake,” Yun Zhan said with gravity. “Big Brother, please pursue this further.”
He folded the portrait and hid it inside his robe.
“So you truly fell for this girl,” Yun Zheng said with a raised brow.
“A gentleman desires a fair lady. Besides Yao’er and Sister-in-law, only Yin Shuang ever entered my heart. It seems I do like her,” Yun Zhan said. A faint blush touched his handsome face, but his tone was open. To like a woman was not a shame. He had learned this from his brother, or perhaps it ran in the Yun blood.
He had often heard Zhong Li speak. When Sister-in-law’s family was exiled and the engagement was cut, Big Brother chased after them without pause, cutting down villains on the road and guarding them in secret. After sending them to the border in safety, he joined the army nearby and fought without rest. Others fought for fame, he fought to bring his wife home. In the end he gained a title and the former emperor’s favor. It was indeed a matter hard to explain. Plans fail, chance succeeds.
“I am glad you know your heart. No matter whom you like, I will back you. Leave this to me,” Yun Zheng said as he patted his shoulder with a satisfied smile.
At last, after years, his younger brother opened his heart. Relief filled him. Arranging a match for Yun Zhan had pained his head for two or three years. Now he could rest easy and answer the ancestors.