Chapter 11: “My name is Qin Min.”

The journey continued the next day.

Feeling stifled inside the carriage, Lin Xiaoque lifted the curtain and looked outside.

Leaves had begun to fall. The green mountains were gradually turning yellow and brown. By winter, he imagined the entire range would stand bare beneath the snow, the distant world covered in endless white.

Silver mountains like dragons.

Plum blossoms blooming through snowy earth.

When winter came, he would bring a small brazier, admire the plum blossoms while drinking tea, and invite the Crown Prince along for an elegant winter outing.

The Crown Prince was extraordinarily talented.

Perhaps he would compose a poem that would be passed down through the generations.

Maybe one day, centuries later, some scholar would read that poem, become curious about the person mentioned within it, and search for him…

The endless river of history flowed through his imagination.

The thought made Lin Xiaoque smile.

It felt both romantic and strangely embarrassing.

At that moment, a rider passed beside the carriage.

Lin Xiaoque glanced over and immediately recognized him.

The imposing stranger who had lent him an umbrella that rainy day.

“Wait—”

The words slipped out before he could stop himself.

The rider slowed his horse and looked back.

Only then did Lin Xiaoque realize he had no idea what he wanted to say.

After a pause, he muttered,

“Your umbrella…”

The man suddenly smiled.

Like war drums falling silent.

Like frost and snow covering a battlefield.

Like spring winds arriving the following year.

“My name is Qin Min.”

He introduced himself simply.

Then he turned away and rode off.

“Consider the umbrella a gift for Your Highness.”

Only after his figure disappeared into the distance did Lin Xiaoque finally recover himself.

The autumn wind sighed through the trees.

Fallen leaves drifted gently.

One floated through the carriage window.

Picking it up, Lin Xiaoque examined the yellowed leaf.

Dry and curling.

Its delicate veins spread across its surface like the withered wings of a butterfly.

Shanxiu noticed his thoughtful expression and explained:

“The gentleman just now is Marquis Qin Min.”

“His military achievements are unparalleled. His Majesty personally granted him the title of Mighty Marquis and a fief of over a thousand households.”

“He is the foremost military general in the empire.”

After speaking, Shanxiu noticed Lin Xiaoque seemed unusually interested.

A trace of jealousy appeared in his heart.

So he quickly added:

“Even so, no minister today can compare with your father.”

“His reputation shook a thousand li.”

“He could reform agriculture through civil governance and suppress rebellious princes through military force.”

“He was even granted the title of King despite not belonging to the imperial family.”

The late Emperor had gone many years without producing an heir.

Yet he refused to select a successor from among the imperial clan.

Over time, his brothers and nephews all began eyeing the throne.

Eventually several princes joined forces and rebelled.

It was Lin Xiaoque’s father, Lin Congji, who led troops and crushed the uprising.

Five years after the rebellion ended, the Emperor finally fathered a son in his fifties.

His Empress had died years earlier, leaving the position vacant.

The concubine who gave birth to the child was elevated to become the new Empress.

At the child’s hundred-day celebration, Xiao Juan was formally named Crown Prince.

Previously, there had been a scandal involving a false imperial heir.

The Emperor had briefly celebrated before discovering the deception.

Entire clans connected to the matter were implicated.

The child was thrown to his death.

Afterward, the Emperor became obsessively strict regarding his harem.

The women and ge’er of the palace possessed almost no privacy whatsoever.

Secret affairs became virtually impossible.

The Emperor had tried every imaginable method to obtain an heir.

Now that he finally had a son in old age, he treasured Xiao Juan like the apple of his eye.

He wished he could carry him into court every day.

He was terrified someone might harm him.

Even wet nurses underwent terrifyingly thorough examinations.

Appearance.

Family background.

Character.

Health.

Dozens upon dozens of requirements.

The selection process was more demanding than choosing imperial consorts.

Normally, men married after reaching adulthood, while women and ge’er married after coming of age.

However, the Emperor feared that Xiao Juan might inherit the family’s difficulty in producing heirs.

So when Xiao Juan was only twelve, beautiful women and ge’er were already being placed around him.

Xiao Juan showed no interest.

He rejected everyone his father sent.

Until he was fifteen.

At a palace banquet, Minister Chu attended with both his daughter and his ge’er child, Chu Cizhao.

Amid golden lantern light and crimson decorations, Xiao Juan’s gaze happened to fall upon Chu Cizhao.

He casually remarked:

“A beauty worthy of the nation.”

The Emperor nearly exploded with joy.

On the spot, he ordered Chu Cizhao sent into the Eastern Palace.

Within a few months, Chu Cizhao became pregnant.

The Emperor was so excited he nearly fainted.

The Chu family received enormous rewards and rapidly rose in influence.

Their threshold was nearly worn away by visitors.

Even the family’s other sons and daughters became famous for their supposed good fortune and married exceptionally well.

After Chu Cizhao gave birth, the old Emperor spent his days holding his grandson and refusing to let go.

At the same time, he continued searching the empire for suitable consorts for Xiao Juan.

Eventually he selected over a dozen exceptionally beautiful ge’er to enter the Crown Prince’s harem.

During this period, another ridiculous incident occurred.

One day, the Emperor noticed Xiao Juan glance twice at one of his own consorts.

Thinking his son liked the person, he immediately sent the consort to Xiao Juan’s bed that very night.

The unfortunate consort was executed on the spot.

Only afterward did everyone learn that Xiao Juan hadn’t been interested in the consort at all.

The jeweled hairpin on the person’s head had merely been irritating his eyes.

He had been considering ordering someone to drag the consort away.

Because killing one’s father’s consort would sound terrible, the old Emperor hastily fabricated charges and exiled the consort’s entire family from the capital.

Around that same time, Lin Xiaoque’s father died of illness.

His mother followed him in death out of devotion.

They left behind only a helpless infant.

To demonstrate favor toward Lin Congji’s family, Xiao Juan ordered the child brought into the palace.

He even held baby Lin Xiaoque once.

Unfortunately, the infant immediately urinated all over him.

Startled, Xiao Juan nearly dropped him to the ground.

Fortunately, Chu Cizhao caught him in time.

Afterward, Chu Cizhao had to repeatedly plead on Lin Xiaoque’s behalf and personally attend Xiao Juan several times before the matter was finally dropped.

Still, Xiao Juan disliked the child.

As a result, Chu Cizhao could only entrust Lin Xiaoque to wet nurses.

Once Xiao Futu grew older, he often sought Lin Xiaoque out to play.

The two essentially grew up together.

Childhood companions.

When Xiao Futu was three years old, the old Emperor died.

Xiao Juan ascended the throne.

Besides Xiao Futu, he had eight princes and four princesses.

The Second Prince was only one year younger than Xiao Futu.

The Ninth Prince was merely two years old.

Since Xiao Juan’s harem consisted entirely of ge’er, who could only give birth to boys and other ge’er, the four “princesses” were not girls at all—they were all ge’er.

Xiao Juan showed little affection toward any of his children.

Only Xiao Futu occasionally received attention when his studies were examined.

The Emperor had never personally held any of his other children.

Perhaps baby Lin Xiaoque’s accident had traumatized him.

Strangely enough, Xiao Juan deeply loved his own father.

After the old Emperor’s death, he ignored all objections from the court.

He wore mourning clothes for an entire year.

For that same year, he refused to enter the harem.

As the ruler did, so did the nation.

Marriage celebrations across the empire were suspended.

One official couldn’t endure the restriction and secretly slept with a concubine.

When she became pregnant, he poisoned her to conceal the evidence.

The crime was eventually exposed.

The official was executed.

His entire family was exiled.

Because Xiao Futu had been personally cherished by the late Emperor, Xiao Juan treated him somewhat differently from his siblings.

At the height of his power, Xiao Juan controlled both military and political authority.

Aside from occasionally assigning tasks to train Xiao Futu, he allowed none of the other princes to participate in government affairs.

The Second Prince once held a private drinking gathering with several officials.

When Xiao Juan discovered it, he immediately exiled him from the capital.

The prince’s mother effectively ended up under house arrest.

The Eldest Princess, who shared the same mother as the Second Prince, pleaded for mercy.

Xiao Juan rewarded her with territory—

and then sent her away from the capital as well.

From then onward, all the other imperial children understood their father’s intentions.

No matter what ambitions they harbored, none dared involve themselves in politics.

Outwardly, they behaved as obedient and filial children.

Today, Xiao Juan held absolute authority over the empire.

Even the Grand Chancellor, second only to the Emperor himself, felt uneasy.

He often considered retiring.

Yet the political factions attached to him were too extensive.

Countless officials depended on his support.

Retirement was easier imagined than accomplished.

And power itself was intoxicating.

The Chancellor could never quite bring himself to let go.

The Crown Prince Xiao Futu was approaching adulthood.

The position of Crown Princess had become the most coveted marriage opportunity in Yejing.

Many families watched closely.

The Chancellor had considered it as well.

Yet marrying his child to the Crown Prince would only deepen the Emperor’s suspicions.

The risks outweighed the benefits.

Xiao Juan remained in the prime of life.

The late Emperor had lived into his seventies.

Who knew whether Xiao Juan might do the same?

Moreover, the Chancellor’s ge’er child, Xun Sui, had already damaged his reputation through his public obsession with Top Scholar Xie Zhichi.

Marrying such a person into the Crown Prince’s household might create enemies rather than allies.

Grand Chancellor Xun Youzhang adored Xun Sui.

Xun Sui was the only child born to his lawful wife.

Since childhood he had been spoiled beyond measure.

Whatever he wanted, his father provided.

Only once had Xun Youzhang failed.

That failure was named Xie Zhichi.

To help Xun Sui move on, the Chancellor had brought him along on the autumn hunt.

Perhaps meeting other outstanding young men would distract him.

“Xie Zhichi is now a palace s*ave,” the Chancellor sighed.

“No matter how much you miss him, I can’t simply pull him out and hand him to you.”

“It’s only a handsome face.”

“If you like that sort of thing, I’ll have people search the country for a few beautiful ones.”

“As long as no children are involved, do whatever you like.”

“As for marriage, we’ll simply find a low-ranking husband willing to marry into our family.”

Xun Sui immediately objected.

“What do you mean, only a handsome face?”

“Even if Xie Zhichi has fallen, he was still personally chosen by His Majesty as Top Scholar.”

“How can those pretty faces compare to him?”

Then he added proudly:

“If I only cared about beauty, I’d just look in a mirror.”

And indeed, Xun Sui was exceptionally beautiful.

Bright.

Arrogant.

Radiantly attractive.

“I just like him, Father.”

“Even if he’s become a palace s*ave.”

“Even if he’s become a eunuch.”

“I’ll still like him.”

“It’s not as though only men have those parts.”

“If he loses his, I still have mine.”

“Enough!” the Chancellor roared.

“You’re an unmarried ge’er! Have you no shame?”

Xun Sui merely acted spoiled.

“Father, I only want him.”

“I’ve heard the rumors.”

“So what if His Majesty has favored him?”

“I don’t care.”

“Even if Xie Zhichi has been ruined, I still want him.”

“If he’s shattered into pieces, I won’t mind being cut while putting him back together.”

“Once he’s mine, even if he’s nothing more than broken scrap metal, I’ll treasure him like priceless jade.”

“I like him so much I can’t see anyone else.”

“Please think of something, Father.”

The relentless pleading left Xun Youzhang helpless.

“Get out.”

“Stop asking your father for men all day.”

“No shame at all.”

Seeing the helpless look on his father’s face, Xun Sui knew the matter had already been planted in his mind.

After sweetly coaxing him a few more times, he returned to his carriage.

Inside sat a servant nearly thirty years old.

Xun Sui ordered him to pour tea.

The servant obeyed.

Xun Sui accepted the cup.

Then, without drinking, slowly poured it over the servant’s head.

Tea drenched his hair and face.

“What a pity.”

“Such fine Biluochun tea.”

“Wasted after being licked by a dog.”

After Xie Zhichi became a palace s*ave, Xun Sui had captured Xie Zhichi’s childhood bride to vent his anger.

That servant was Yun Muhe.

Yun Muhe calmly prepared another cup and offered it.

This time Xun Sui drank.

After two sips, he suddenly remembered his own insult.

His face darkened.

A slap landed across Yun Muhe’s face.

“You filthy servant.”

“Daring to play tricks on me.”

Still unsatisfied, he kicked Yun Muhe to the ground, poured an entire teapot over him, and struck him several more times.

“You old bastard.”

“Old and ugly, yet still clinging to Xie Zhichi.”

“Shameless dog.”

Xun Sui had only recently come of age.

He was fifteen.

Yun Muhe was nearly thirty.

Old enough to have fathered him.

In Xun Sui’s eyes, Yun Muhe was despicable.

He believed Yun Muhe relied on old favors to monopolize Xie Zhichi’s affection.

That was why Xie Zhichi had rejected him.

That was why Xie Zhichi eventually became a palace s*ave.

If not for Yun Muhe, Xie Zhichi wouldn’t have suffered.

Therefore, it was all Yun Muhe’s fault.

What Xun Sui never considered was that without Yun Muhe, Xie Zhichi would likely have died long ago.

He never would have grown up.

Never become Top Scholar.

As Xun Sui vented his anger, Yun Muhe silently endured every blow.

His face remained calm.

He didn’t know what condition Zhichi was in now.

No matter what, he had to find him.

The child he had raised with his own hands.

His husband.

He had once sworn before his benefactor that Xie Zhichi would survive.

No matter the cost.

No matter the method.

He would make sure Xie Zhichi lived.

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