Chapter 65 Letter “…”

Chapter 65: Letters “......”

Although she’d fiercely badmouthed herself, successfully shutting Old Madam Xie up, Zhong Yao felt pretty satisfied.

Yet alongside her satisfaction, she also had a nagging worry.

After all, that was Xie Chi’s grandmother...

Zhong Yao had some teenage girl thoughts she wanted to share with someone, but her parents were a no-go. Her eldest brother couldn’t even sort out his own thing with Chen Luoling, so he was even less of an option. Her little bro and third brother—those two would just drag her to check out other guys.

What was so great about those guys?

Some looked frail and weak right off the bat—if she married one, would she end up having to take care of him?

There were also strong ones, but they seemed kinda rough, and Zhong Yao didn’t like that.

The ones with good builds, she didn’t like their faces.

If she didn’t even like the look of them, how could she share a bed or kiss them?

These embarrassing private thoughts had nowhere to go, and Zhong Yao started missing her good friend Song Xi.

When she left the capital, Song Xi was still at her grandparents’ place and hadn’t returned.

After coming back, she’d been resting at the manor, and this was her first time out of the house. She didn’t know if Song Xi was back in the capital, or if she’d still want to be friends.

Now that the family’s disaster had been resolved, she wasn’t afraid of dragging anyone else into it. Whether Song Xi wanted to or not, Zhong Yao decided she’d go find her, explain everything and ask for her forgiveness.

As Zhong Yao was thinking this, the palace banquet was already half over.

Whether it was from being worn out the past few months, or from being too pampered while recovering, after half a day in the palace without doing much walking, Zhong Yao still felt wiped out.

Empress Xu, watching closely from her seat up top, sent a palace maid to pass along a message, saying that since Zhong Yao had just gotten over a bad illness, if she was tired, she could head home early.

This worked perfectly for the Zhong couple.

Thanks to Xie Chi’s memorial, a lot of families got praised.

For instance, General Zhao.

Xie Chi wrote that the reason the bandit crackdown went so smoothly was that General Li had once led men deep into Wuyin Mountain himself and noted down all the poisonous bugs and beasts there.

Another example was General Qin and Wang Linyue.

One got screwed over unfairly because of Xu Su, and the other got sent to that kind of place because he had no pull. Xie Chi wanted to give them a hand, so he played up their contributions in the memorial.

But these people either weren’t directly involved or weren’t in the capital city, so none of them stood out like Zhong Yao, Zhong Shu, and Xu Su did.

Plus, after the Crown Prince took care of the Fourth Prince, Zhong Lan had become the Crown Prince’s right-hand man...

The Zhong family’s standing in the capital had suddenly shot way up, which really rattled the Zhong couple, who’d kept their heads down for years. So the family thanked everyone and got ready to head home.

But just as they were leaving the banquet hall, they ran right into the Fourth Prince.

“Zhong Yao?” The Fourth Prince was delighted.

Zhong Lan immediately stepped up front, gave a quick bow and said, “My sister isn’t feeling well and has the Empress’s permission to go home and rest. If Your Highness has something to say, you can talk to me.”

“Are you Zhong Yao?” The Fourth Prince said with disgust. “Just looking at you ticks me off. Scram!”

Zhong Lan humbly replied, “It’s my fault for offending Your Highness’s eyes. If you find it annoying, you can close your eyes.”

The Fourth Prince: “Are you gonna scram or not?”

Zhong Lan frowned and said, “How can a court official suddenly start rolling around in the palace for no reason?”

The Fourth Prince, angered by his words, glared at Zhong Lan and said, “Don’t think you’re safe just because the Crown Prince backs you. Zhong Lan, just wait. If you ever fall into my hands, I’ll make you wish you were dead, but you won’t be able to...”

Before he could finish, with a “crack,” an inconspicuous guard behind the Fourth Prince drew his waist knife and struck the Fourth Prince hard across the back.

The Fourth Prince stumbled, nearly falling, and Zhong Lan quickly stepped forward to support him, saying, “The guard assigned by the Crown Prince to discipline the Fourth Prince is impartial. If Your Highness doesn’t want to be hit, you should be more careful with your words in the future.”

The Fourth Prince, both in pain and fury, had flames in his eyes, looking as if he wanted to tear Zhong Lan apart on the spot.

But glancing at the cold guard beside him and the palace maids and eunuchs escorting the Zhong family out, who acted as if they saw nothing, he grudgingly swallowed his anger.

“Zhong Yao,” the Fourth Prince called out from behind Zhong Lan, the Zhong couple, and the restless Zhong Shu, “That trick you taught me last time really worked. It worked on my father and even on the Crown Prince. When I used it on him, he was so disgusted that now he only has his guards beat me instead of doing it himself.”

Zhong Yao: “...”

What trick had she taught the Fourth Prince?

It seemed to be... playing pitiful?

The matter was too far in the past, and Zhong Yao’s mind was a bit foggy; she wasn’t sure anymore.

She had heard from her eldest brother recently that the Fourth Prince had been completely defeated by the Crown Prince, with all his power under the Crown Prince’s control. That was why her brother had been promoted and had been so busy that he didn’t return home for days.

Now, the Fourth Prince had no one left under his command. Even the stewards and servants in his manor were all sent by the Crown Prince.

It could be said that every word and action of his was under the Crown Prince’s surveillance. If he stepped out of line even slightly, the Crown Prince could have him killed without a sound, even without personally dealing with him.

The Crown Prince had grown ruthless, and the Emperor didn’t want the brothers to turn against each other, but he wanted even less to see the court in turmoil, so he had to let the Crown Prince keep the Fourth Prince on a tight leash.

Yet he was still this unhinged.

Zhong Yao felt that Xie Chi’s unwillingness to confront the Fourth Prince might not be because he found it troublesome, but because he was afraid.

—This Fourth Prince didn’t seem normal at all.

The Fourth Prince didn’t think so. He said earnestly, “I was serious when I said I wanted you as my advisor. Zhong Yao, when you have time, can you teach me a few more tricks?”

Zhong Yao found the Fourth Prince bizarre and abnormal, but she wasn’t as afraid of him now.

After a moment’s thought, she pressed her mother’s hand, which was tightly gripping hers, and said to the Fourth Prince, “I’m in poor health and don’t have the energy to teach you. Find someone else, Fourth Prince.”

The Fourth Prince frowned in displeasure, then looked puzzled and asked, “Are you saying I should pretend to be in poor health?”

At this, even Zhong Shu couldn’t hold back. He opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by a slap on the back of his head from Zhong Huaizhi.

The Fourth Prince might not care about the guards and maids around him, but the Zhong family couldn’t afford to ignore them.

Seeing that they couldn’t shake this man off for the time being, Zhong Yao thought for a moment, tugged at Madam Zhong’s arm, and when she looked at her, let out an “ah” before collapsing into her mother’s arms.

Madam Zhong was stunned for a moment, then quickly cried out in alarm.

With Zhong Yao “fainting,” no one paid attention to the Fourth Prince anymore, and the family smoothly left the palace.

As for whether the act was convincing or not, it didn’t matter—as long as they could get away from the Fourth Prince.

Meanwhile, at the emperor's end... The fact that the eldest brother dared to openly provoke the Fourth Prince proved that the emperor couldn't show his face to pursue the matter.

Sure enough, the next day, Zhong Yao had just woken up and was planning to seek reconciliation with Song Xi when she heard news about the Fourth Prince: at the Mid-Autumn banquet the night before, he had fainted publicly and fallen ill.

Half a day later, two groups of people arrived at the mansion.

One group was sent by the empress, bringing a bunch of tonics, saying Zhong Yao was frail and easily spooked, and telling her to rest up.

The other group was sent by the crown prince, bringing jewelry as the Fourth Prince's apology to Zhong Yao.

Zhong Yao was thrilled and wanted to write Xie Chi, to tell him she'd made a killing and her little stash was even fatter.

But Xie Chi was busy out in the Wuyin Mountain area, which was way too dangerous, and Zhong Yao couldn't find anyone to deliver it.

Her letter was just a pipe dream, but Grandmother Xie's letter went out that same night.

When the letter reached the government office, Xie Chi was not there.

With Jiang Xia leading the way, the soldiers found and destroyed the bandits' hideouts one by one. Now, only a few straggling bandits were still on the run.

But to fully turn this bandit-ridden place back into a normal town, wiping out their hideout was far from enough.

The mountains were packed with herbs, essential for both the army and regular folks. So Xie Chi started there, put together an official merchant team to trade with neighboring prefectures under Wang Linyue's name, and had medical clinics and private schools built, among other things.

Beyond that, the clueless locals and the feral kids from the bandit dens were also a headache.

Xie Chi was swamped, but Xue Fang was a different story.

Ever since the bandit dens were wiped out and the kids all gave in, he'd been useless, so Xie Chi left him at the office to study and write.

So when the letter came, it was handed to Xue Fang.

Xue Fang was wrestling with the homework Xie Chi had left him, tearing his hair out. He grabbed the letter and wanted to open it, but seeing it was for Xie Chi, he didn't dare. Instead, he held it up to the candle flame, trying to read the contents through the light.

But his hand slipped, the letter hit the flame, and it caught fire.

By the time Xie Chi got back, only half the letter was left, reminding him that his buff body and handsome face were the pride of the Hou Mansion, and he'd better not lose them.

Xie Chi: "..."

Since when was this a thing? And when had he ever?

Xue Fang, clueless, squeezed in and asked, "What'd Grandma say?"

Xie Chi folded the letter so Xue Fang couldn't see it, and said, "She said you're too short, a scrawny little runt who'd embarrass the Hou Mansion, so you need to eat more and grow up faster."

Xue Fang wasn't buying it, pinched his scrawny arm—still growing—and grabbed a pastry, shoving it into his mouth while asking, "Anything else?"

"The rest you burned."

Burned it was, but since the first half was such garbage, the second half couldn't be anything serious.

Besides, if it were something serious, a guard would've told him in person.

Still, Xie Chi wrote back, telling his grandmother about the letter getting burned.

As he wrote, Xue Fang watched over his shoulder. When Xie Chi stopped, Xue Fang asked, "Brother, aren't you gonna ask how the little lady's doing in the capital?"

"The Fourth Prince can't stir up any trouble anymore. She has her parents, two elder brothers, and Xu Su to protect her, plus my memorial... What could happen to her?" Xie Chi paused slightly, then added, "If something does happen to her, it would be..."

"What?" Xue Fang asked.

It would be that her theft of her brother's silver had been exposed, her little treasury emptied, and she'd be crying pitifully.

—She was the one doing wrong, yet she could still act so aggrieved?

How infuriating!

He wanted to pinch her plump, goose-egg cheeks.

But this wasn't something he could tell Xue Fang.

Xie Chi said, "If something happens to her, it would only be a minor illness like a cold or cough."

Xue Fang said, "Oh," then asked, "Brother, aren't you worried?"

"Worried about what?"

Compared to the months she spent by his side, this was much better—at least now she could eat and sleep well, with people to care for her, and no need to live in fear.

"Then don't you miss her?" Xue Fang pressed on. "Poems say a day apart feels like three autumns."

Xie Chi wanted to brush it off, but seeing Xue Fang's curiosity, he patiently taught him, "A person must learn to prioritize. When doing important work, one can't always dwell on romantic feelings."

Xue Fang said, "Oh," again, took a couple of bites of his pastry, then turned back and said, "Brother, you really put on a good act. If I hadn't seen you up late several nights ago, drinking under the moonlight in the pavilion and constantly touching that red bead, I might have believed you."

Xie Chi: "..."

Xie Chi's face darkened, and he said, "Have you finished your homework? Bring it here for me to check!"

Xue Fang: "Hmph!"

Wuyin Mountain was too far from the capital; a round trip took at least half a month.

Unfortunately, it rained intermittently for a whole month afterward, making the roads muddy, and a section of the riverbank burst, forcing a detour around another prefecture.

By the time Grandmother Xie's letter reached the government office again, it was already winter.

This time, Xue Fang received the letter. Having learned his lesson, he carefully stored it and handed it to Xie Chi as soon as he returned.

Xie Chi opened it and found only a few lines:

"Don't hit Xue Fang."

"Grandmother did her best; you must not resent her in the future."

"Marriage is fated. Since you and the little lady are destined to have no bond, don't force it."

Thinking that was all, he turned it over and saw a small line on the back.

This line finally got to the point: The little lady is getting married.

"..."

Xie Chi's face changed, and he abruptly stood up.