His Highness Wants to Become a Widower Every Day - Chapter 2.1

Three days later, Xuandu, the Imperial Palace of the Great Liang Dynasty.

Li Shou kowtowed in front of the Hongyuan Hall. Led through the hall doors by an internal attendant wearing a round-collared white robe embroidered with golden butterflies, he was directed instead toward the side hall. He kept his head lowered the entire way, listening to the attendant speak in a tightly restricted volume: “Master Li has arrived at an inopportune time. His Majesty rested shortly after having his evening meal earlier, and is not seeing anyone at this hour.”

The attendant was named Xiangman. Though only fifteen or sixteen years old, he already walked before the imperial presence and was highly favored by Emperor Jing’an. Sweat gathered beneath Li Shou’s robes. Hearing these words, he did not dare to be negligent, hurriedly saying, “Yongzhou is the territory under this official’s jurisdiction. Now that this matter has occurred in Chaotian City, it is due to this official’s improper governance, failing the sacred grace. This official is filled with extreme alarm, anxiety, and shame. Entering the capital overnight was solely to report the matter of the treasonous rumors to the throne, and to respectfully beg His Majesty to drop down charges and severe punishment.”

“This servant will clearly report Master Li’s thoughts to His Majesty.” Xiangman lifted his hand to raise the curtain. “As for the matter of the treasonous rumors, please explain it in detail to His Highness, Master Li.”

Beneath the vast heavens, the only “Highness” who could reside in the side hall of Hongyuan Hall and substitute for His Majesty to hear the reports of court officials was that single individual.

Li Shou secretly exhaled a breath, bypassed the peony-patterned screen, and walked inward. A painted scroll spread across the floor entered his field of vision; someone was currently seated upon a gold-embroidered soft cushion executing a painting. He halted his steps to salute, stating respectfully, “This subordinate official, Prefectural Governor of Yongzhou Li Shou, respectfully wishes Your Highness golden peace.”

“No need for excessive ceremony. Sit.”

This voice was young and magnificent, yet it resembled the clinking ling-ling sound at the exact moment jade fell into a freezing pool—ghostly cold and striking. Li Shou pressed his lips together, gave a word of compliance, and walked with light steps to the vacant gold-embroidered soft cushion opposite to take his seat. As he lowered his head to report the matter of the treasonous rumors, what appeared before his eyes was a hand holding a brush, working on the painting.

By the time he finished speaking, the small courtyard beneath that brush had also reached completion.

Zhu Hexing gathered his sleeve to change his brush, dipping it into dense ink, and said, “What Master Li spoke of just now is no different from the rumors circulating in the outside world. Did you rush to Xuandu overnight merely to speak nonsense?”

His tone was gentle and slow, yet it was something that forced one to listen closely and breed dread. Li Shou braced his heartstrings, speaking dryly, “It is this subordinate official who is foolish and useless. Once this matter broke out, I completely lost my bearings. As the matter concerns His Majesty, this subordinate official did not dare to act unauthorized, only wishing to enter the palace quickly to listen to the sacred instructions and act in compliance with orders.”

“Chaotian City is the blessed birthplace where the founding ancestral emperor was born. One can say it symbolizes the ‘orthodox line.’ For a merchant to declare there that His Majesty obtained the throne through illegitimate means—this is an attempt to execute the heart,” Zhu Hexing said. “That merchant wasn’t a real merchant, was he?”

Li Shou said, “Your Highness is brilliant! That person was originally a criminal slave who escaped from the east, used by someone as a primer. As for the treasonous rumors that have spread, they are truly absurd!”

“‘The Emperor of Heaven shines brightly; the Purple Micro Star falls into the dust.’ This sentence is easy to comprehend; it simply means that Heaven has opened its eyes, and the dog emperor is bound to die.” Zhu Hexing’s tone was entirely ordinary, utterly disregarding Li Shou, who let out a shiver, terrified by his shocking choice of words. His wrist remained steady, and green mountains stretched out continuously behind the small courtyard as he spoke again, “As for the latter half of the sentence, what was it again?”

Li Shou immediately replied, “‘The Southern Beach is fully exposed; four suns stand in the sky.’”

“Oh. Water receding to reveal land is a ‘beach.’ Chaotian City possesses broad waterways and holds the title of the ‘Southern Realm.’ In matters concerning the Son of Heaven, if His Majesty is the ‘Sky,’ then the imperial princes are the ‘Suns.’ Currently, only three imperial princes remain in the human world, so this ‘four suns’…” Zhu Hexing’s brow arched slightly as he drew back his brush.

——His Majesty had a love child in Chaotian City!

Li Shou inhaled a sharp breath.

“If these people want to slander the imperial family, they ought to speak their words a bit more straightforwardly.” Zhu Hexing changed his brush once more. “Being so secretive, aren’t they afraid that people won’t guess precisely or understand clearly?”

Li Shou gathered his sleeves, his hands clasped over his knees, and said, “Perhaps… this is the ‘ritual’ itself? Moreover, the mastermind of the treasonous rumors has been constantly inciting floating rumors. Even if someone does not comprehend the meaning of the blood characters at this moment, they will understand very soon.”

“If that is the case, why did the murderer choose Lingfu Temple?” The cassia tree beneath Zhu Hexing’s brush took shape. He said, “The primer spontaneously combusted at Zuiyun Pavilion because Zuiyun Pavilion dabbles in both the black and white worlds yet belongs to no faction; it is a massive, powerful cattail fan used to fan the flames. Subsequently, the murderer abducted the primer and slaughtered Zuiyun Pavilion’s guards, drawing the gaze of everyone, especially the state prefecture.”

Li Shou listened silently, noting that Zhu Hexing had painted a small vegetable garden beside the cassia tree. He began to feel that this painting looked a bit familiar.

“Yet I have heard that Lingfu Temple is a place where even birds don’t drop their droppings. For the murderer to kill people and write characters there contradicts their arrogant and bold style of conduct, nor does it facilitate their objective of wanting to cause Great Liang’s storm to billow, unless…” Zhu Hexing lifted his brush, “…they had alternative designs.”

Li Shou’s hand gathered inside his sleeve tightened. For some unknown reason, he did not reply at the very first instance, only stating his surprise a moment later, “Ah?”

Zhu Hexing wrote the two characters for “Pure Garden” (Jing Yuan) upon the courtyard’s door plaque, saying, “I hear there is a small courtyard in the northern suburbs whose master is the fifth son of the Yongding Marquis Manor, named Quebai.”

Li Shou abruptly gripped the fabric over his knees, seeing Zhu Hexing paint a young, cute little white magpie among the cassia trees. The sound of his own accelerated heartbeat echoed in his ears as he strove to steady his voice, stating, “There is indeed such a matter.”

“Is the Pure Garden as its name suggests—completely clean?” Zhu Hexing set down his brush, finally lifting his eyes to look at Li Shou, and then let out a chuckle. “Look at how hot it has made Master Li. Wipe away your sweat.”

“This subordinate official arrived far too quickly, far too quickly… ruining my decorum. May Your Highness forgive me!” Li Shou immediately fished out a brocade handkerchief from his sleeve. Perhaps because he feared Zhu Hexing would take offense, his hand shook with nervousness, and the handkerchief dropped. He let out a placating smile, hurriedly picking it up to wipe away the sweat between his face and neck, momentarily unable to distinguish whether it was cold sweat or hot sweat.

Zhu Hexing stared at his own artwork, entirely indifferent to Li Shou’s movements.

After a short while, Li Shou put away his handkerchief and said, “Reporting to Your Highness, this matter indeed has nothing to do with the Pure Garden.”

Zhu Hexing let out an “oh,” his tone casual. “That is well. The matter concerns the Son of Heaven; if the Shen clan becomes involved, it would become exceedingly lively.”

“…Yes, yes.” Li Shou felt his mouth grow very dry, unable to keep from pondering exactly how many parts of truth lay within the “casualness” of Zhu Hexing’s tone. Only before he could deduce a result, Zhu Hexing had already stood up. He had no choice but to stand up along with him, following Zhu Hexing outward.

Zhu Hexing wore only a snow-white inner garment. Upon exiting the inner hall, Xiangman immediately fetched a light snow-purple wide-sleeved long robe to drape over him, asking, “Is Your Highness hungry? Shall this servant order the imperial kitchen to bring you a cup of Sweet Snow to eat?”

An attendant to the side presented a purple sandalwood flower-and-butterfly square box. Zhu Hexing took out the Jiuyu hand-strand from within, slung it over his right wrist, and said, “I won’t be eating.”

“Then in a short while, this servant will order someone to send the painting back to the Prince’s Manor.” Xiangman helped him fasten his waist sash, and asked again, “At what hour will Your Highness enter the palace tomorrow? His Majesty is waiting to play chess with you.”

“Playing chess is boring.” Zhu Hexing let out a yawn. “I want to go out to play.”

Xiangman let out an “ah,” saying, “The weather is growing hot. Where does Your Highness wish to go?”

Zhu Hexing replied, “Chaotian City.”

The moment these words came out, both Xiangman and Li Shou were stunned.

“This…” Xiangman hesitated, “Leaving the capital at this time, I fear there may be danger.”

Zhu Hexing looked at the half-segment of the moon in the distance and said, “Only then does it become interesting.”

Xiangman cast a glance toward the direction of the main hall. “His Majesty will likely not agree.”

“As long as no one speaks up, by the time His Majesty wakes from his sleep, I will have already gone far away. Therefore,” Zhu Hexing raised his hand to flick Xiangman’s hat, “if anyone blocks me, I will settle the account with you.”

Xiangman raised his hands to shield his rocking round hat, his small face wrinkling with worry. “Your Highness, please spare this servant! If any mishap should occur to you along this road—”

Zhu Hexing was disinclined to listen to his nagging, lifting his steps to bypass him. “Master Li, accompany me out of the palace.”

“Oh… Yes.” Li Shou hurriedly knelt down to kowtow toward the main hall, stood up, and quickly kept pace with Zhu Hexing.

Xiangman pursued them out of Hongyuan Hall, yet dared only to watch from beneath the eaves. The jade steps towered high, spanning ten miles of palace streets. Zhu Hexing’s silhouette was slender and long, the white-silk Wei-purple embroidered onto the hem of his robe swaying, creating flowers with every step. Li Shou followed behind him, resembling a moving, massive snowball.

Two days later, the Lesser Fullness (Xiao Man) solar term.

The bones woke to coolness, and summer fragrance slightly overflowed.

Zhu Hexing boarded a vessel bound for Chaotian City at the Qingtan Port of Tanzhou.

Chaotian City was situated in the southeast, accessible by both water and land. Traveling merchants flowed in an uninterrupted caravan, and the ships from Qingtan Port toward Chaotian City lined up like fish scales. In past days, one could observe thousands of miles of vessels upon the water surface, dense with clouds, smoke, and human presence. However, due to the recent matter of the treasonous rumors, Chaotian City had closed its gates and terminated its markets, causing the coming and going ships to mostly halt.

The single remaining seedling before Zhu Hexing’s eyes spanned roughly twenty zhang in length. Its prow and stern resembled a Kunpeng bird, carved with dark gold, its hull gleaming with bright lacquer. The ship’s prow flew a black flag bearing the character “Fang,” indicating the vessel’s owner belonged to the Fang clan of Tanzhou.

The passenger cabins occupied two levels, totaling twelve rooms. The reception youth led Zhu Hexing to a passenger cabin in the middle section of the second level, before whose door hung a dark gold square plaque carved with the words “Great Snow” (Da Xue).

Zhu Hexing happened to be born on the day of Great Snow, and he detested these two characters. “Change to another room.”

The youth spoke with difficulty, “The remaining passenger cabins are already fully occupied—”

The click-clack sound of objects hitting the ground interrupted the youth. He looked over to see a youth carrying a satchel standing before the stairwell entrance, a three-finger-wide dark-patterned black band covering the area before his eyebrows and eyes. The youth bent down to retrieve a fallen painted scroll, his first attempt merely touching empty ground.

Just as the youth intended to step forward to help, the guest beside him had already passed by as softly as a summer breeze.

Zhu Hexing crouched down, preventing the painted scroll from continuing to unfurl. He looked at the scroll, which clearly depicted dark mountains looking down with disdain and colorful magpies spinning their wings. His eyes flashed with amazement, especially upon seeing the inscription beside it—”Startled Magpie” (Jing Que).

It was a beautiful set of characters, practically swirling with celestial air.

The youth’s right hand was still searching across the ground. His hand was very white, with a small black mole located at the tiger’s mouth.

Zhu Hexing withdrew his gaze, rolling the painted scroll back up, noting it lacked a binding ribbon. He stood up and said, “Your painting is right here.”

Hearing the voice, the youth stood up, his hand coming into contact with Zhu Hexing’s robe hem before sliding upward to touch the scroll axis. As he accepted the painting, he let out a sigh of relief, subsequently saying without interruption, “Thank you!”

Zhu Hexing remarked, “It ought to be tied with a binding ribbon.”

Hearing this, the youth tilted his head slightly. His hair was half-bound with a fine, gold-embroidered ribbon. He said, “I was bumped into when boarding the ship, and my hairpins fell into the water, so I had no choice but to untie the binding ribbon to bind my hair.”

Zhu Hexing said, “So that is how it is.”

At this time, the youth stepped forward to ask, “Why did no one accompany you up?” He saluted, stating apologetically, “It is our negligence. We hope you will forgive us!”

The youth shook his head repeatedly, the stray hairs at his forehead trembling along with the motion. “No matter, no matter. It was my own request. I have ridden this ship before and recognize the way.” He skewed his body slightly, using his chin to indicate a direction. “The ‘Severe Cold’ (Da Han) room where I reside is at the very end.”

“I wonder if the young master could give me a lift? The ship only has one ‘Great Snow’ room remaining, and I absolutely detest that day.” Zhu Hexing softened his tone, making himself sound more gentle, approachable, and even a bit pitiful. “I promise not to speak, not to move randomly, and not to disturb you.”

The youth said, “It doesn’t matter. Speaking and moving randomly are also fine.”

He wrinkled the tip of his nose, using a tone that said “I understand you very well.” “I also detest snowy days! By the time I arrived, the entire first level was fully occupied, leaving me no choice. However, there are places where it does not snow on the day of Severe Cold.”

Zhu Hexing merely detested the day of “Great Snow,” yet he did not transfer that anger onto snow itself. Snow was very beautiful, especially when its white was touched with red. He took a step back and said, “I must trouble the young master to lead the way.”

Hearing these words, the youth could not help but chest up. The whole person resembled a resilient, dependable vermilion bamboo, brimming with the excitement that followed being entrusted with a heavy responsibility. “Follow me!”

Zhu Hexing followed behind the youth, observing that the length of each step he took was virtually identical, his mouth murmuring as though he were counting. Sure enough, upon walking to the front of the “Severe Cold” door, the youth’s footsteps halted. “The thirty-eighth step; it is right here.”

Enclosing the painting with his arm, he spoke toward Zhu Hexing, “Please enter.”

Directly facing the door, a low table sat against the window, with two gold-threaded square cushions placed on either side. Zhu Hexing took a seat opposite the youth. As he lowered his hand, the Jiuyu hand-strand on his wrist slid down, the tassel revealing a speck of bright crimson at his cuff.

By the window on the low table stood a white-glazed flower-mouthed vase, containing two stalks of Crane-White flowers. Beside it sat tea utensils. The youth spoke kindly, “If you wish to drink tea, it can be brewed. The tea boxes are placed on the wooden rack behind, or you can have the youth bring a pot. The ship also sells other food and drink—a great many items, in fact!”

Zhu Hexing said, “What about you?”

“Cherry paste! I bought it in Tanzhou, but it isn’t as good as the one in Chaotian City.” The youth fished out a white porcelain bottle from his small satchel, asking somewhat bashfully, “Do you want to taste some?”

Zhu Hexing favored sweet foods. Hearing this, he nodded, and subsequently remembered that the other party could not see, so he added, “Yes, many thanks.”

“No thanks needed, no thanks needed! Pour it yourself; you can drink as much as you like.” The youth generously pushed the white porcelain bottle over, his tone cheerful. “Speaking of cherry paste, the shop at Yong’an Lane in Chaotian City has the finest flavor.”

Zhu Hexing stroked the bottle body; the glaze surface was smooth and even, the touch delicate. He looked at the youth again. The other party was currently extending his hand to touch those two stalks of Crane-White flowers. His fingertips looked as though they were crafted from Crane-White flowers themselves, a smile floating at the corners of his lips. Lower down was a half-high black inner collar, concealing a small segment of his neck, his rose-colored outer robe brilliantly complementing his appearance. The fabric was exceptionally fine.