Chapter 116: Disturbed and Bewildered

Chapter 116: Driven to Distraction

"What is this?"

Jiang Qingrong threw down his hoe and shot forward like an arrow. Before him stood two osmanthus trees with lush foliage, fresh soil still clinging to their roots—clearly just dug up.

"These are the two evergreen osmanthus trees from the front of the Qin residence?" Jiang Qingrong put two and two together and looked at Qin Jiao in surprise. "Did the Prince of Lingnan have them dug up and brought over?"

Qin Jiao was taken aback for a moment. "I suppose so."

As his words fell, Luo Bei and Luo Yue popped out of nowhere, hoes and shovels in hand.

Behind them stood Xie Nai, looking totally unruffled.

Luo Bei and Luo Yue greeted Qin Jiao before heading straight off to direct the digging of holes and planting of trees. Jiang Qingrong, taking the hint, reminded Qin Jiao once more not to forget the invitation, then made himself scarce.

In the center of Qin Jiao's small courtyard stood a century-old apricot tree. Maybe the tree had gotten lazy in its old age, or perhaps because the residence sat by the river with a damp, cold climate, the apricot tree only just barely managed to put out new shoots and bloom clusters of small pink flowers by mid-May.

The enormous pink flowering tree spread its branches like an umbrella, covering nearly the entire northwest corner of the courtyard. When a gentle breeze passed, beautiful petals drifted softly in all directions, and one or two happened to land playfully on Qin Jiao and Xie Nai.

Late spring at its finest. Qin Jiao gazed at Xie Nai before him, his eyes brimming with radiant affection, his smile impossible to hide.

"Your Highness, why are you back? Didn't you say you'd be swamped at the military camp these days?"

Xie Nai had gone to the military camp outside the capital half a month ago. Luo Bei had come early that morning to deliver word that Xie Nai was busy with army affairs, and if Qin Jiao wished to see him, he could go to the camp.

But Xie Nai was busy, and Qin Jiao wasn't exactly free either. After untangling a whole mess of affairs at the Qin estate and the new house, and meeting with Li Xiaohu and Zuo Mengmeng, who were about to return to Nanzhou, Ning Zhong had been coming by every day to fuss over him.

Though Qin Jiao had said many times that he was fine and needed no comfort or company, Ning Zhong still showed up every single day, regular as clockwork. Since his cousin was genuinely trying to cheer him up and talk things through, Qin Jiao couldn't exactly turn down his kindness and just duck out, so all sorts of delays had piled up until now.

"If the young master's too busy, then I'll just have to be the proactive one." Xie Nai stepped up beside Qin Jiao, reaching out to pluck a pink petal that had fallen on him.

"Just a tiny bit busy." Qin Jiao smiled faintly and stood on his tiptoes, trying to remove a petal from Xie Nai's hair. But the young man was too tall, so he could only pat Xie Nai's shoulder. "Bend down a little—you're way too tall, you know."

Xie Nai dutifully ducked his head, and only then did the young master successfully pluck the petal from his hair.

Qin Jiao looked on, curious, as Luo Bei and Luo Yue directed the planting of the trees. "Your Highness, why did you have these two evergreen osmanthus trees dug up?"

The original Qin residence had been granted by the emperor when Qin Jiao's ancestor served as Junior Preceptor. Now that the Qin family had fallen, the residence was to be reclaimed by the court. Imperial gifts must not be harmed—the Qin estate had to be returned intact to the officials of the Residence Supervisory Bureau. So when Qin Jiao saw those two osmanthus trees, he was genuinely startled.

"These are the osmanthus trees your mother planted with her own hands. Now that you've opened a new residence, it's only fitting that these trees be planted here at your home." Xie Nai said in a low voice.

"Ah, you remembered." Qin Jiao was caught off guard, and a little pleased too.

He had only mentioned the origin of those two osmanthus trees to Xie Nai once during casual conversation. He never expected him to remember, let alone come back from the military camp specially to help dig them up.

"Matters concerning the young master—this king naturally remembers." Xie Nai gazed at Qin Jiao, his gaze blazing with fierce warmth.

Qin Jiao sheepishly looked away from Xie Nai, pretending to be totally absorbed in the osmanthus trees. But as he watched, he noticed that a gilded, exquisite lantern had been brought over from not far away.

"This lantern is...?"

Qin Jiao could tell at a glance this lantern was worth a fortune. Its body was crafted from precious colored glaze, with openwork feather patterns carved into it, and at its center sat a large, brilliant pearl from the Eastern Sea, complementing the gemstone flower branches that adorned the lantern's sides.

"A housewarming gift from this king."

After Xie Nai finished speaking, Qin Jiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "First off, thanks for the housewarming gift, Your Highness. Second, this lantern's gotta be super pricey, right? And besides, aren't lanterns always hung in pairs? You only sent one—how am I supposed to hang that?"

Xie Nai: "Just hang it like you would any other."

Qin Jiao: "Huh?"

Just as Qin Jiao was utterly confused, Luo Yue had already briskly hung the precious glaze lantern under the eaves to the right of the door plaque. Meanwhile, Luo Yue also fetched an ordinary red lantern and hung it under the eaves on the left side.

From a distance, the right side of the Qin residence sparkled and gleamed while the left side looked bleak and drab—jarringly mismatched.

But even so, Xie Nai nodded with great satisfaction. "Perfect. From now on, hang every lantern that comes this way."

Qin Jiao looked totally lost. "Huh? More are coming?"

"Yes, replaced with new ones every half month."

"No need for that, really—such precious lanterns..."

Xie Nai cut off Qin Jiao's refusal. "These are just run-of-the-mill lanterns from the Tongjia workshop, hardly precious. Just hang 'em for fun."

Xie Nai's tone, at once unyielding and casual, made Qin Jiao sigh inwardly—man, it must be nice to be loaded—you can talk all tough like that.

This lantern was worth at least three hundred taels of gold, yet Xie Nai told him to hang it for fun. Qin Jiao was half-tempted to drag a bed out to the corridor and camp there day and night to guard it.

And Xie Nai truly did as he said. For a long, long, long time after that, Luo Bei and Luo Yue would arrive punctually with all manner of precious, exquisite, or rare lanterns—and always just one at a time.

Qin Jiao never could figure out Xie Nai's weirdly stubborn habit, though as time passed, he gradually forgot about it.

"Your Highness, young master, I see the front of this place is still missing a pair of guardian beasts to ward off evil. Why don't I head to the Tongjia workshop and pick out a pair?" Luo Yue had finished planting the trees and was now admiring his handiwork while holding his hoe.

Xie Nai glanced at the small empty patch in front of the osmanthus trees, then after a moment said, "Bring over the pair of qilin from the front of my residence."

"You got it!"

The moment Xie Nai spoke, Luo Yue bolted off like the wind. Qin Jiao couldn't even get a word in to stop him.

"Luo Yue, wait..."

Qin Jiao's words of protest were carried off by the wind, and he could only withdraw his hand in resignation. He was about to invite Xie Nai inside when Ning Zhong happened to appear around the corner, carrying a bundle of things.

"Cousin, who were you talking to?"

The newly planted osmanthus trees were tall and lush, and Xie Nai was dressed today in a dark green brocade robe, so Ning Zhong hadn't noticed him at first. Only when he drew closer did he see the stern and imposing Prince of Lingnan standing beside Qin Jiao.

"The prince is here as well?"

Ning Zhong was startled for a moment before offering his respects to Xie Nai. Raising a hand to gesture for him to rise, Xie Nai said nothing more, though his expression was somewhat inscrutable.

"Cousin, you're here."

After Qin Jiao greeted him, Ning Zhong held out what he was carrying for him to see. "These are spring bamboo shoots I dug up this morning. They're good for pickling in salt or stir-frying with smoked meat. You loved these most as a child, so I brought some over for you to try."

"Cousin, you make me sound like such a glutton." Qin Jiao laughed. "Thanks for the kindness, but in the future, just come yourself—no need to bring things."

Ning Zhong had come for over a dozen days straight, bringing all sorts of things each time. Qin Jiao's place was nearly overflowing.

"As long as you like it."

After Ning Zhong spoke with such sincerity, the atmosphere suddenly grew somewhat delicate—especially with Xie Nai casually curling his lips at Qin Jiao.

For no particular reason, Qin Jiao suddenly recalled the time the man had pressed him down to "untie the jade pendant." Ning Zhong, the unwitting instigator, had no idea, but Qin Jiao had ended up driven to distraction by Xie Nai—a complete mess.

"Cousin, please come inside and sit."

Qin Jiao guiltily rubbed his nose, took the bamboo shoots, and led Ning Zhong toward the courtyard. Just then, Steward Wen happened to come out as well. "Young Master Ning is here." Steward Wen's voice was somewhat urgent, and Ning Zhong quickly asked what was wrong—had he encountered some trouble?

Ning Zhong's question struck a chord with Steward Wen.

Steward Wen: "There is indeed a problem! That string of fresh crabs you sent yesterday, Young Master Ning—Cong Shuang didn't notice the rope tying the crabs had come loose, and now the crabs are crawling all over the courtyard. We're trying to catch them!"

As he spoke, Steward Wen pulled out from behind his back a blue-brown crab, claws flailing and frothing at the mouth.

Qin Jiao: "..."

Steward Wen continued: "And the pheasants and geese you sent the day before and the day before that weren't penned up properly—they've gotten out too. One even flew up to a treetop. These old bones of mine just can't catch it!"

Xie Nai: "..."

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