“But he’s part of the Crown Prince’s faction! He may not openly support the Crown Prince, but he commands a huge army. He appears neutral, yet he never leans toward Eldest Brother. If he earns even more military merit this time, won’t the Crown Prince’s side become even stronger?”
One sentence was enough to make Eighth Brother anxious, which was strange enough. Stranger still was his conclusion. Marquis Dingbei, Nalan Jian, belonged to the Crown Prince’s faction? Where had he heard that, and who had decided it? To me, no one was more calculating than Marquis Dingbei. He helped neither side and did not even need to sit around waiting to profit from their conflict, because he was already powerful enough. To say that his influence overshadowed the entire court would hardly be an exaggeration. The strange part was that he held enormous military power at a time when Father Emperor was gravely ill. If he wished, turning his army around and declaring himself king could happen in an instant. So why did he continue fighting and bleeding for Hua? Loyalty? Heh. Even if he possessed such a thing, I did not believe in it. Loyal or treacherous was ultimately only a matter of perception. If you wished to call someone loyal, then loyal he was. If you declared him otherwise, then otherwise he became.
“That is not something you need to concern yourself with. Your task is to stay alive, make certain you secure your share of the military merit, and learn genuine warfare from this founding general. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to establish achievements in the future.”
“But…”
“No buts. A subject must know the proper duties of a subject. Above all, never let your accomplishments become so great that they threaten the sovereign. Even from where we stand, it is enough to sound a warning for Father Emperor. Or perhaps Father Emperor has already noticed it, and that is why he is so eager to send you out for experience. Military power resting in the hands of someone outside the imperial clan is never ideal, is it?”
As long as Eighth Brother returned safely from his first campaign, there was a chance some military authority might fall into his hands. Even a single unit would be better than nothing. No one could accurately read Marquis Dingbei’s temperament. Even Father Emperor probably had to show him a measure of respect, much less a young man like me. If both men ultimately had to be balanced and controlled, Feng Xuanmo was far easier to manipulate than Marquis Dingbei and therefore far less dangerous.
“Fifth Brother, stop saying only half of what you mean! You’re making me miserable trying to guess the rest! Brother! I said don’t walk away!”
It was not that I was unwilling to say the other half. It was simply that if I did, you might not want to hear it.
Honeyed words hiding blades, deception layered upon deception. After an entire day of it, I truly was exhausted, even though I had prepared for everything and done all my homework beforehand. I relaxed into a rocking chair and stretched out, eyes half closed as I watched the horizon burn red and the servants bustle through the courtyard. Then a blurred double image flashed before my eyes, indistinct and hazy, yet inexplicably tugging at my heart.
I raised one hand. Yi Guang, who served close beside me, immediately hurried over and bent at the waist to await my instructions.
“How did the matter I asked you to investigate turn out?” Since I had nothing better to do, I might as well go play with that little tabby for a while.
“Replying to Master, this servant has already investigated. He is a page who entered the residence a little over a month ago. His name is Ning Xuan. He is under Xiao Tang and was assigned to the library. Two others work with him: Mo Qi, who entered the residence at the same time, and Qing Zhu, who has been here somewhat longer and was transferred out of the main courtyard not long ago.”
“The main courtyard?” I raised a brow, unexpectedly intrigued. Someone had actually been transferred out of the main courtyard and quietly accepted it without making trouble. That was rare.
“Yes. That page is terribly careless. He never behaves properly, always bumping into one thing or breaking another. Yi Quan was afraid he might offend Master, so he sent him away.”
Never behaving properly. That certainly matched my first impression of the little tabby. Anyone who dared bare his claws at me was either tired of living or gambling everything on drawing my attention so he could climb upward. But after only one glance, I truly could not yet tell which game he was playing.
“I understand.” I waved Yi Guang away.
The thought of the evening’s entertainment made my whole body feel lighter. I ate dinner in unusually good spirits and waited leisurely for the sun to sink and night to fall.
The summer night breeze carried a faint coolness that dispersed the oppressive heat of the day. I dismissed everyone around me and wandered alone through the courtyard under the excuse of enjoying the evening air, eventually arriving as planned at the obscure library. Though it formed part of my own residence and therefore belonged entirely to me, I rarely came to this area. Outsiders believed me an ignorant wastrel who chased flowers, pursued pleasure, and drowned himself in music and beauty. In truth, I had read through the residence’s collection so long ago that I could no longer remember how young I had been. The library remained here mostly as decoration, another screen of smoke to dull the vigilance of my enemies, especially those powerful enough to erase me before my wings had fully grown.
At this hour, everyone should already have returned to their rooms to rest. I had only come to test my luck, yet unexpectedly, the library was still lit this late at night.
I approached without making a sound and leaned closer to listen, then nearly laughed at myself. This was my own princely residence, yet here I was creeping around in my own home, cautious and furtive enough to resemble a thief.
“My bed, even though you’re a little hard… my blanket, even though you smell a little strange… right now, how desperately I miss your hardness and your softness…”
A soft, low sigh drifted through the door, languid and lazy enough to make the heart itch. Instinct told me at once that it belonged to the little tabby who had spent the day with his fur standing on end.
Knock, knock, knock. My index finger tapped lightly against the sandalwood door. In the silence of deep night, the sound was unusually clear, almost eerie. Anyone timid enough might have screamed on the spot.
Instead, the room instantly went silent. Pressing my ear closer, I could barely even hear breathing. If I had not heard a voice only moments ago and seen the candlelight that had not yet had time to be extinguished, I might almost have believed I had imagined everything.
“Someone’s in there, right?” My smile deepened. Let’s see how long you can keep pretending.
There was still no answer, but the breathing inside suddenly became uneven. That only confirmed my guess. The lawless little fellow from earlier was definitely inside.
“I know you’re in there. Open the door. It won’t be good if someone sees me standing out here.” I was telling the truth. Of course, the truth carried rather different consequences for me. If someone else were caught skulking outside a door in the middle of the night, it might cause all kinds of trouble. If it were me, however, the unlucky person would be whoever happened to see it.
After a long while, faint rustling finally came from inside. Someone shuffled toward the door at a painfully slow pace before opening it only a crack and revealing the narrowest sliver of his face. He studied me for a long time, then looked left and right just as carefully, making me feel more and more like an actual thief. Still, considering how beautiful those eyes truly were, I decided not to hold it against him.
“Relax. There’s no one nearby. I checked before coming over. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared knock so openly, would I?”
Only now did I realize that Mo Yan managed the princely residence rather well. Look at how thoroughly he had frightened everyone into caution. I ought to reward him when I had the chance. Then again, since he had frightened my “sweetheart” this badly and left me cooling my heels outside the door for half the night, perhaps I should make him suffer a little too.
My mind continued calculating, but my legs had not been idle. In a few quick strides, I reached the table and sat down in a chair, amused as I watched the little tabby approach while still looking thoroughly shaken.