His Highness Wants to Become a Widower Every Day - Chapter 5

A black eagle swooped through the wind and landed on the iron perch in front of the window. It was Zhu Hexing’s eagle, sharing its master’s surname, with the formal name “Jiaojiao.”

Its sharp, bead-like eyes swept around like cold arrows. The cold, white moonlight blanketed the courtyard, illuminating a ground littered with corpses lying in all directions. Jiaojiao retracted its supercilious gaze and poked its head into the room. Seeing that the person inside ignored it, it threw a tantrum, stamping noisily on the iron perch.

Tingyuan was crouching under the eaves, wiping a blood-stained soft sword. Hearing the noise, he immediately stood up, quickly stepped forward to remove the letter tube, and whispered, “Quiet down. Be careful, or you’ll get punished in a moment.”

Adhering to the principle of collective punishment where “the master makes a mistake, but the subordinate pays the bill,” Jiaojiao spread its wings and shoved his shoulder away.

Tingyuan let it vent its temper. He opened the mechanism lock and read the letter. The smile faded from his face as he turned and pushed open the door to the room.

Zhu Hexing sat leaning against the daybed with a chessboard set up before him. Yet, looking at his expression, he seemed to be in a daze. Tingyuan walked over and reported the contents of the letter, saying, “Yesterday evening, the Empress Dowager and His Majesty spoke of Master’s marriage. They wish to select a princess consort for you.”

Zhu Hexing had bathed three times in a row beforehand, to the point that his skin was wrinkled, yet he could still smell a foul odor—a mix of mud and fishiness. Shen Quebai’s kick still felt as though it was stamped on his chest.

Jiaojiao let out a screech outside the window, seemingly mocking him for suffering a setback tonight.

Zhu Hexing picked out a black agate chess piece. It had a lustrous, translucent, and beautiful color. As the lamplight flickered, he once again saw those striking eyes—their slightly rounded arc, their upturned corners, a rich red mole, and a pair of eyes like flowing jade and starlight, forging a silent, red-sheathed blade.

A venomous snake disguised as a rabbit. Beautiful, cunning, dangerous.

Clack! Zhu Hexing placed the piece, his fingertip covering the surface of the chess piece as he murmured, “Zuiyun Pavilion…”

Hearing this, Tingyuan looked up. Zhu Hexing’s profile was shrouded in the lamplight, making his expression even more indiscernible. He spoke carefully, “Master, your intuition that there was something wrong with the wine suggests there are still accomplices of the assassin inside Zuiyun Pavilion. Should we arrest Yurui?”

“Whether the accomplice is someone from Zuiyun Pavilion is still uncertain. Even if they are, what if the assassin doesn’t care about Yurui’s life, or has abandoned her after weighing the pros and cons?”

Living up to this day, assassination attempts were a common occurrence for Zhu Hexing. He never cared who directed the assassins; there were plenty of people who wanted him dead. If he had to trace every lead back to its root every single time, it would be far too troublesome. In any case, those whose assassinations failed all ended up dead, without exception… Oh, he had forgotten about that incredibly fierce little white sparrow.

Tingyuan said, “Whether she is or isn’t, we can find out just by prying open Yurui’s mouth. Even if she isn’t, Master was assassinated at Zuiyun Pavilion; they must give us an explanation.”

Zhu Hexing didn’t speak, looking quite disinterested.

Tingyuan caught his drift. “You don’t want to make a move on Zuiyun Pavilion?”

“In the fourteenth year of Jing’an, when Zuiyun Pavilion was newly established, His Majesty was conducting an inspection of the waterways in Chaotian City incognito and encountered an assassination attempt on a boat. The assassins possessed exceptionally high martial arts skills; the Tianwu Guards accompanying him in secret all had their corpses sunk to the bottom of the river. His Majesty’s left arm was slashed, and the assassins pressed in closely. At the critical moment, an iron arrow sliced through the air, forcing the assassins back.”

Zhu Hexing picked up the porcelain jug beside him and took a sip of cherry brew, which was bought from that shop in Yongle Lane; it was indeed delicious.

After a moment, he continued, “A bamboo skiff sped over. Standing atop it was a tall, lean person in black robes, wearing a blue-and-red ghost mask.”

Few people knew of this incident. Tingyuan guessed, “Could this person be the owner of Zuiyun Pavilion—that mysterious Ninth Master whose gender, age, beauty, or ugliness is completely unknown?”

“Indeed. His Majesty said that Ninth Master was clearly a young boy who hadn’t fully grown yet. When asked why he saved him, the youth was very frank—’Because you are the Emperor.'” Zhu Hexing smiled. “He did it solely to hold the favor over him for future repayment.”

Tingyuan scratched his head. “But would Ninth Master really be willing to use up a favor from the Emperor just like this? Yurui is, after all, only someone working and earning money under him.”

“That is his business. Besides, I had no intention of pursuing this further in the first place. As for that assassin, I will wait for him to deliver himself to my door.” Zhu Hexing set down the porcelain jug and asked, “What of the marriage?”

Tingyuan said, “His Majesty said you have no desire to start a family, and with your temperament, how could any young lady from a noble house handle you? He suggested waiting another year. But the Empress Dowager smiled and said she was getting old and wished to hold a great-grandchild, so His Majesty could say no more. As for which family’s daughter, it has not been decided yet.”

“If she wants to hold a great-grandchild, why come to me? Are those imperial grandsons of hers all eunuchs?” Zhu Hexing played with a chess piece, then said, “Shen Quebai of the Marquis of Yongding’s estate is in Chaotian City.”

This topic shifted too quickly. Tingyuan took a beat to catch on and reply, “Yes, but he died twelve years ago. Didn’t you already know that?”

Shen Quebai was born to Lady Qiu and was the fifth son of the Marquis of Yongding. Lady Qiu was a woman the Marquis of Yongding had rescued on a hunting trip. It was said she was as beautiful as a begonia basking in the sun. She was brought into the estate to be his concubine, but she lost his favor after a single night of passion.

The following year, Lady Qiu died of postpartum hemorrhaging while giving birth. Not long after, the Marquis of Yongding, using the excuse that “the heat and cold of Xuandu are unsuitable for a sickly body to reside long-term,” sent Shen Quebai to Chaotian City, dispatching only Nanny Gui, who was over fifty years old, to accompany and care for him.

The practice of sending a concubine-born son to be raised elsewhere was not unusual, and no one cared at the time. But in the winter of the seventh year of Jing’an, which was the seventh year after Shen Quebai had been sent away, Zhu Hexing, for some unknown reason, suddenly sent people to Chaotian City to keep an eye on Jing Garden.

Unexpectedly, when the scouts arrived, they found Nanny Gui’s waist token floating in the courtyard’s cesspool. The frozen lake behind the yard was shattered, the bloody water on the surface not yet cleared, and a protective amulet floated on the water, embroidered with Shen Quebai’s childhood name, Ah Jiu.

They had arrived one step too late.

During that period, the Marquis of Yongding had been ordered to go to Qinzhou to suppress a rebellion. Shen Quebai met with disaster almost immediately after his departure—it was far too coincidental. However, soon after, the late Prince Jin passed away suddenly. Zhu Hexing suffered the agonizing grief of losing his father and fell into a deep coma from which he was hard to wake, so this matter was delayed.

It was not until the winter of the eighth year of Jing’an that the Marquis’s estate received a letter of reassurance sent by the Fifth Young Master from Chaotian City.

At that time, Uncle Cao, the steward of the Prince’s estate, became suspicious upon hearing the news. He sent people to investigate again, only to discover that no one lived in Jing Garden at all. Yet, every year thereafter during the Spring Festival, the Marquis’s estate would receive a letter of reassurance from “Shen Quebai,” and they would customarily send people to visit him, only for those people to turn back immediately upon arriving in Chaotian City.

Obviously, all of this was a play staged to cover up Shen Quebai’s death. The people who had killed him and Nanny Gui back then were undeniably connected to the Marquis’s estate.

But how could a concubine-born son, exiled by his biological father from the very start, deserve such “treatment”? Unless the Marquis of Yongding sending Shen Quebai away back then was not an exile, and the person behind the scenes felt they had to eliminate him to find peace of mind. But if that were the case, how could the Marquis of Yongding have paid no heed to Shen Quebai all these years? Even if he had been far away in Qinzhou before, he should not have been kept in the dark for so long.

Tingyuan said, “There is something fishy about this, but since Shen Quebai is already dead…”

Having played chess for a long while, Zhu Hexing found himself unable to calm his mind instead. He tossed down the piece, stood up, and said softly, “Once, I also thought he was dead.”

Hearing the implication of these words, Tingyuan gasped in shock, “Did his corpse spring back to life again today?!”

Zhu Hexing walked to the window. Jiaojiao immediately spun around, facing him with its backside. Tingyuan took the outer robe from the rack and stepped forward to drape it over him.

Splattered in blood all over the ground, as Zhu Hexing inhaled this nauseating, metallic stench, he unexpectedly felt at ease. A strong scent of blood could mask all other repulsive odors. He reached out to shake the iron perch, annoying Jiaojiao so much that it let out a sharp screech and took flight. Thoughtfully, he said, “The seventh year of Jing’an was not a good year, but this year should be very lively.”

Tingyuan did not quite understand, but the experience gained from accompanying Zhu Hexing for many years gave him a vague, ominous premonition.

Sure enough. “Doesn’t the Empress Dowager want me to get married?” Zhu Hexing said. “Shen Quebai is quite a good choice.”

Yu y Yan u shu*