Chapter 10 Eight Characters

Chapter 10: The Eight Characters

After the poetry gathering, the afternoon classes at the Eastern Palace were suspended for several days due to the preparations required for the Crown Prince's bride selection. Lu Jiming was happy to enjoy the leisure at home, watching Ning Jia practice martial arts for a few days.

When he went out to enter the palace again, Lu Jiming noticed that the streets he frequented seemed different—there were many young men and women hurrying along, all heading toward the same destination.

A question arose in Lu Jiming's mind. He stopped the carriage and sent Lu Guanguan down to inquire. At this time, Lu Guanguan had not yet grown into the burly figure of his previous life; he was still short, well-behaved and polite, easily finding someone willing to stop and explain.

"Young Master, they say it's for the Crown Prince's consort selection. The court has issued an order that all unmarried men and women aged sixteen and above must report their eight characters to the yamen."

In the past, the rules had been strict; once children entered the palace, they were virtually severed all ties from their families. Even with the prospect of imperial riches blinding them, many commoners were unwilling to send their children into the palace.

However, in recent years, the rules have relaxed considerably. Imperial consorts are sometimes allowed to leave the palace, so commoners are no longer as resistant as before.

Moreover, this selection is for the Crown Prince's principal consort. Once the Crown Prince ascends the throne, the Crown Princess will almost certainly become the Empress. Such a golden opportunity is not something anyone is willing to miss. Therefore, starting a few days ago, people have been going to the yamen early in the morning to register their eight characters.

Sixteen and above... Ning Jia hasn't reached that age yet, so she doesn't need to get involved in this mess. Lu Jiming said nothing more.

As soon as he arrived at the Eastern Palace, Lu Jiming overheard Yan Huai saying to Yin Yuxie, "Why don't I speak to the Crown Prince for you?"

"No!" Yin Yuxie refused decisively.

Lu Jiming happened to enter the study and casually asked, "What do you want to tell His Highness?"

Wei Yi replied, "Someone is afraid his wife will be snatched away by Brother Yan."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Yin Yuxie frowned, looking angry. "It's not like that between Zi Xiao and me!"

Afraid that Lu Jiming would misunderstand, Yin Yuxie hurriedly explained, "It's not that. It's just that the younger generation of the Huan family has already sent their eight characters into the palace, including Zi Xiao's. I'm just worried that if Zi Xiao is selected to enter the palace, I'll have no one to play with anymore."

Lu Jiming smiled and comforted Yin Yuxie, saying, "There's nothing to worry about. With so many people in the capital, it might not be him."

"But what if it is?" Yin Yuxie hung his head again. "There's only one Huan Zixiao in the entire capital." Moreover, he had vaguely heard that the Emperor valued the Huan family and had considered forming a marriage alliance with them.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade him, Lu Jiming said nothing more.

Just then, Wei Yan arrived. When Wei Yi saw him, he started shouting, teasing Yin Yuxie along the way: "Brother Yan, Yin San just said he's afraid you'll steal his wife!"

Yin Yuxie immediately became anxious and ran over to hit Wei Yi. "Try saying that again!"

Yan Huai gave a look to Ning Guo, who was quietly grinding ink beside him. Ning Guo immediately put down the ink stick and stepped between the two. "Young Master Yin, the Young Marquis is still young and speaks without thinking. Please don't take it to heart."

Yin Yuxie wasn't familiar with Ning Guo and had to give face to Yan Huai, so he let Wei Yi go. He turned to Wei Yan and said, "Your Highness, don't listen to his nonsense." Then, just as he had explained to Lu Jiming earlier, he repeated his foolish worries to Wei Yan.

Wei Yan laughed and casually said, "You're worried about Huan Zixiao entering the palace, but what if the person who enters the palace is you?"

"Me?" Yin Yuxie hadn't thought of that, but he found Wei Yan's words reasonable. "Then you definitely shouldn't choose me either."

"I have a win-win solution, but I'm not sure if I should say it," Lu Jiming joked, interjecting.

Wei Yan said, "Whenever Xuping's eyes are almost gone from smiling, he's definitely up to no good, full of wicked ideas."

"Then it seems I shouldn't say it."

"No, Lord Lu, please speak," Yin Yuxie urged, thinking he had a good idea.

Lu Jiming covered his mouth with his sleeve and chuckled. "Why don't we ask His Highness to do a good deed and select both of you into the palace? Then you can keep each other company."

Yin Yuxie pouted. "See? No good intentions. Your Highness really understands Lord Lu."

Jokes aside, seeing that it was almost time, Lu Jiming put on a stern face and began checking their assignments with a serious expression.

Over the years, the Crown Prince and his study companions had grown up and were no longer as mischievous as when Lu Jiming first arrived. Lu Jiming rarely had to assume a serious expression with them. But since he couldn't resist making an improper joke earlier, he had to be even stricter to keep these youngsters in line.

After the assignments were finished, Wei Yan called Lu Jiming to stay behind again. Lu Jiming was almost used to being left behind whenever Wei Yan was present. He asked helplessly, "Your Highness, was there something you didn't understand earlier?"

Wei Yan nodded. "There is indeed something I don't understand." As he spoke, he pushed a blank sheet of paper toward Lu Jiming.

"There's nothing written on this," Lu Jiming said, unable to guess what Wei Yan was up to. Not wanting to play mind games with Wei Yan again in this lifetime, he asked directly, "What does Your Highness mean by this?"

"What is Xuping's eight characters?" Wei Yan rested his chin on his hand, again adopting a casually teasing tone.

Tired of Wei Yan's hot-and-cold behavior these past few days, Lu Jiming didn't take the bait and responded with his usual composure: "Your Highness, I am already betrothed. My eight characters are not important."

"Of course I know that, but Father said that all unmarried people must write it down," Wei Yan said. "Since you're in the palace today, write down your eight characters. I'll take it to the State Preceptor for you, so you don't have to make a trip to the yamen."

With the matter framed like this, Lu Jiming couldn't defy the imperial order. He picked up the brush. The more he wrote, the faster his heart beat, and he even felt a faint glimmer of anticipation.

What if it were me... He recalled the thought that had crossed his mind during the poetry gathering. He couldn't bear the thought of Wei Yan being all alone; he wanted to walk to his side and stay with him forever.

So he wrote carefully.

Seeing him put pen to paper, Wei Yan immediately turned his back to Lu Jiming. "After you finish writing, fold it and seal it in an envelope. I won't look at your eight characters."

"What does it matter whether Your Highness looks or not?" Lu Jiming said. "If Your Highness wants to know, you can avoid looking in front of me but open it later. Besides, the eight characters will be with the State Preceptor. Your Highness can simply ask him after he sees it."

Wei Yan thought this made sense but still insisted, "No need. I'm not that interested anyway." After all the entanglements in their previous life, how could he not know Lu Jiming's eight characters?

He couldn't show too much interest in Lu Jiming now; otherwise, how would Lu Jiming obediently fall into his trap later?

After writing his own eight characters, Lu Jiming also wrote down Lu Guanguan's to save him the trouble of queuing at the yamen.

As he wrote, Lu Jiming tried not to let his expectations grow too much, thinking about all sorts of random things. What if Lu Guanguan accidentally got selected as the Crown Princess? What a scene that would be!

A delicate and pretty young boy marrying into the Eastern Palace, only to suddenly shoot up into a giant after a year or two—how many jaws would drop in shock?

"What are you laughing at?" Wei Yan asked.

Lu Jiming shook his head in denial. "I'm not laughing."

Wei Yan mischievously poked the corner of Lu Jiming's eye again. Lu Jiming took half a step back to avoid it. "What sudden whim is this, Your Highness?"

Wei Yan traced the curve of Lu Jiming's eyes on his own face. "I find it fun. Among all the people I know, only your eyes are like this."

"I inherited them from my mother," Lu Jiming said. "All the relatives on my late mother's side have eyes like this. If Your Highness wants to see them, I can introduce you if any of my cousins pass the imperial examinations in the future."

Wei Yan shook his head, wanting to say that those people weren't him. What was so special about just a pair of eyes?

It was only because these eyes were on Lu Jiming's face that Wei Yan liked them especially.

In the past, Wei Yan always claimed it was love at first sight with Lu Jiming. But during their first meeting, he was only twelve or thirteen and knew nothing about such matters. "Love at first sight" was just something he said casually to tease Lu Jiming.

If he had to pinpoint it, Wei Yan couldn't remember exactly when he fell for Lu Jiming.

At first, he just found him pleasant to look at and felt particularly comfortable when he smiled at him. Over time, he found himself unable to look away even when Lu Jiming was angry. So he started stealing glances at him more often.

When Wei Yan first found himself staring at Lu Jiming in a daze, he knew he was done for.

In their previous life, Wei Yan never regretted forcing Lu Jiming into the palace. If he hadn't pushed Lu Jiming to the brink regardless of the consequences, the two of them would have remained nothing more than ordinary monarch and ministers for the rest of their lives.

Wei Yan never wanted to have a purely formal ruler-subject relationship with Lu Jiming. It was only after being hurt time and again in his previous life, his heart grown cold, that he buried that obsession, thinking that at least they could still be monarch and minister.

In the many years after Lu Jiming's death, Wei Yan's lingering resentment toward him faded with time, leaving only the love that had inexplicably sprouted in their youth and eventually swelled into a raging flood.

By the time Lu Jiming returned home, it was already evening. Wei Yan had originally wanted to invite him to dine, but Lu Jiming politely declined.

Once in the carriage, Lu Jiming said to Lu Guanguan, "Early tomorrow morning, go to the Eastern Palace and request a few days' leave for me. Say I caught a chill on the way back, fell ill with a cold, and developed a fever." These days were crucial for selecting the Crown Princess, so it was better not to linger around Wei Yan—too glaring, too painful to watch.

Lu Guanguan nodded.

"You always have the most questions. Why aren't you asking why?" Lu Jiming inquired.

Lu Guanguan grinned mischievously. "If the young master takes leave, I won't have to wait at the palace gates either. I'll be glad for the freedom—why bother with the reason?"

Lu Jiming was momentarily speechless. He patted Lu Guanguan's shoulder. "I gave your birth information to the Crown Prince. If you get chosen as the Crown Princess..."

Lu Guanguan narrowed his eyes, deliberately mimicking Lu Jiming's smile. "Then I'll flee the wedding overnight, and the young master can take my place in the bridal sedan himself." His imitation was far from accurate—his squinting eyes looked as if he hadn't woken up, somewhat comical.

Lu Jiming laughed. Well, whoever ends up as the final Crown Princess, so be it. Leave it to fate. He never really hoped for anything with Wei Yan in this life anyway. Letting a few days of interaction give rise to foolish hopes only made him seem ridiculous.

Yet, his heart wasn't as at ease as he imagined. After all, the more you know something is untouchable, the more it lingers in your thoughts... especially when Wei Yan was a living, breathing person who was around him every day.

When the carriage arrived outside the Lu residence, Lu Jiming stepped down and saw Ning Jia waiting for him at the entrance.

"It's almost dark. What are you doing standing here in the wind, Jia'er?" Lu Jiming asked.

Ning Jia shot a meaningful glance at Lu Guanguan, who understood immediately and found an excuse to send the coachman away.

"No one else is around now. What's so mysterious?"

Ning Jia frowned. "After foster father entered the palace today, a woman came looking for him. She claimed to be the daughter of the former Marquis of Yu'an and insisted on seeing him."

The daughter of the Zhao family, the Marquis of Yu'an... the fiancée his father had arranged for him back then?

In his previous life, after the Zhao family was purged and exiled, Lu Jiming never saw her again. However, to make A-Luan's origins appear more respectable, the Lu family had deliberately spread rumors that A-Luan was the child of Lu Jiming and the Zhao family's daughter.

Lu Jiming wasn't even sure whether the Zhao family's daughter had survived the purge and exile, nor had he ever imagined he might see her again one day.

*Don't worry, everything is under someone's control.

Author's Note:

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