Chapter 18: Wedding Date

Chapter 18: The Wedding Date

"Who is it?"

The shadow, who rarely showed any emotion, hesitated for a split second.

Just as Cheng Yi was puzzling over it, he heard him say:

"Steward Wu."

Cheng Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he almost blurted out "That's impossible."

But the shadow was a deathsworn trained by his grandfather, who had been at his side since childhood.

Even if he stood against the entire world, the shadow would never betray him.

In his previous life, when Cheng Yi was surrounded by Xie Yulin's shadow guards, it was the shadow who had stormed into the Golden Palace, taking dozens of blades for him, using his own body as a shield, before dying a bloody mess at his feet.

The shadow was rock solid.

But Steward Wu was also on Cheng Yi's trust list.

Yet if forced to pick one, he'd bet on the shadow.

Wu An was a longtime servant of the Duke's estate, already running the household before Cheng Pohu was made Duke Zhenguo.

So it was no stretch to say he'd watched the Marquis grow up.

Cheng Jimo, who'd saved the emperor's life, was given the rare title of Marquis Zhongyong, then moved out of the Duke's mansion into his own Marquis Zhongyong estate.

Wu An had come along and was immediately promoted to steward of the Marquis's household.

Because he'd taken several poisoned arrows for the emperor, Cheng Jimo's martial arts were completely ruined, and both his legs were shattered.

Once a brilliant, promising young man, he'd plummeted from the heights to the gutter, now a cripple. Cheng Jimo had nearly fallen apart.

Back then, even Wen Wanning couldn't get near him, and the Old Duke was turned away at the door too. Only Wu An cared for him with endless patience.

So no one questioned Steward Wu's loyalty.

Steward Wu also meant something special to Cheng Jimo.

But every clue the shadow dug up pointed straight at Wu An.

At the spot where Nanny Hu had been killed, the shadow found a footprint behind a rock formation nearby, which, on checking, matched Steward Wu's shoe size.

Not only that, the faint trace of incense left at the rockery was a dead match for the scent of the sachet Steward Wu always used.

The shadow later found a chance to test Steward Wu's fighting skills. When a murderous aura suddenly closed in, Steward Wu instinctively whipped out a hidden weapon—pear-blossom needles.

Exactly like the one stuck in Nanny Hu's head.

Cheng Yi's expression turned icy.

It was totally normal for someone from the Duke's mansion to know some martial arts, but he'd never known Steward Wu could use hidden weapons, let alone that he was a hidden master.

Nanny Hu had joined the household before the Marquis's accident, just an ordinary maid at the time.

And it was Steward Wu who'd brought her in.

By all logic, an ordinary maid and a Marquis's steward shouldn't have crossed paths, but the shadow had dug up old rumors of an affair between them in the Marquis's estate.

Though Steward Wu had quickly squashed the rumors, the matter still seemed fishy.

Plus, Nanny Hu had a son with a gambling problem. A few years back, he'd racked up a gambling debt of over a thousand taels from one huge bet, and even got one hand broken.

The gambling den had threatened to break his other hand if he didn't pay up.

Nanny Hu was frantic about it but didn't dare let her masters find out, so she could only go around begging others for help.

Oddly, Nanny Hu paid off her son's debt within three days.

But how could a head maid suddenly come up with that kind of cash?

The shadow had checked with everyone she knew—Nanny Hu hadn't borrowed a cent from anyone. And in the years after, there was no sign of her tightening her belt to pay anything back.

So where'd the money come from?

Following the trail, the shadow once again landed on Steward Wu.

It turned out there was definitely something going on between them.

But on the day she died, Nanny Hu had clearly tried to save her own skin by spilling a secret, and that's exactly why she'd been silenced.

So this was way more than just a steamy affair.

There had to be something deeper Cheng Yi couldn't even guess at.

For now, since he hadn't figured out Steward Wu's game or the truth behind it all, Cheng Yi could only have the shadow keep tabs on him.

"Tell me the second anything happens."

"Yes."

That day, Wen Wanning rushed over to find Cheng Yi, because she'd gotten word from the Old Duke that the emperor had ordered them to marry ASAP.

Wen Wanning had already had someone pick an auspicious date two months out, but before the wedding invites could even go out to the Minister's house, this curveball came.

Sure, there was a proper order of seniority, but the emperor's word was law—the Son of Heaven trumped everything.

So she had to have someone recalculate for a sooner date, and this time it landed on a date half a month away.

She was already swamped planning weddings for her two sons, and now with Cheng Yi's date suddenly moved up so much, with the clock ticking, Wen Wanning immediately started to stress.

Luckily, Nanny Zhang, whom Cheng Yi had brought from the Duke's mansion, was competent and steady, which put Wen Wanning's mind at ease quite a bit.

When Cheng Yi heard the wedding was half a month out, he was caught off guard for a second.

Thinking back to when Shen Yichen had misunderstood him, he couldn't help but sigh that life happens while you're making plans.

At least it meant he'd get out of that snake pit of the Minister's residence sooner, so it wasn't all bad.

But...

"What did the Zhous say?"

The Zhous were his brother's future in-laws.

His brother had been engaged to Zhou Wenjin, the Zhous' eldest son, for ages. The two had hit it off instantly, and the more time they spent together, the more smitten they became.

A year ago, the two families had already set the wedding date, but no one expected that Cheng Yi, the younger brother, would beat him to it.

Although there was no delay, Cheng Yi's interference meant that Zhou Wenjin, the heir's consort, would enter the household later, which might make the Zhou family overthink things or even harbor some resentment.

Cheng Yi's worries weren't baseless.

"Yi'er, rest assured," his mother assured him. "I personally visited them today to apologize and explain everything."

"The Zhou family is easygoing, and Wenjin is especially reasonable. They don't mind."

Cheng Yi felt relieved.

But then he remembered his past life.

His elder brother had been brutally murdered before the wedding, so the two families never got to become one.

Cheng Yi later learned that after his brother's death, Zhou Wenjin had wanted to defy custom and marry into the marquis's household while still in mourning, but his mother had refused.

She felt that since his brother was gone, there was no reason to ruin someone else's life.

But Zhou Wenjin had always considered himself his brother's widow and never remarried.

A year after his brother's death, the Zhou family also met with disaster.

Zhou Wenjin's father, Zhou Boqian, was sentenced to death for bribery and corruption. The Zhou family's property was confiscated, and the entire household fell from grace.

By the time Cheng Yi learned of this, two years had already passed, and he'd found it highly suspicious from the very beginning.

Zhou Boqian was a Vice Minister of Works, a man devoted to getting things done, straightforward in speech, and completely clueless about the scheming and backstabbing in court.

Cheng Yi had once heard his brother mention amusing anecdotes about his future father-in-law. Once, Zhou Boqian had been so engrossed in studying agricultural machinery that he dozed off during court assembly. In a moment of carelessness, he tumbled to the floor, making the whole court burst out laughing.

Another time, he'd bunked with a bunch of carpenters for over a month to study water wheels. When he finally returned home, his wife mistook him for a thief and had the servants beat him black and blue.

The funniest part? He hadn't come home because he missed his family, but to sneak out his private stash to pay the carpenters' wages.

Cheng Yi couldn't believe a man like that would take bribes, let alone to such an unforgivable extent.

Cheng Yi ran into Zhou Wenjin once and learned he'd not only never remarried, he'd become a monk.

When he saw Cheng Yi, the first thing he asked was whether his brother's death had been avenged.

At the time, Cheng Yi hadn't yet connected it to the Third Prince. It was Zhou Wenjin who mentioned that the case his brother had been investigating before his death seemed to involve big shots in the capital, which pointed Cheng Yi in the right direction.

And his father's death was tied to it too.

That was when Cheng Yi finally learned the full story, and by following Vice Minister Zhou's trail, he finally got to the Third Prince.

Thinking about all this, Cheng Yi's face darkened. Luckily, Wen Wanning was so wrapped up in wedding plans she didn't notice his mood shift.

As for the betrothal gifts, Cheng Yi told his mother to spare no expense on them, but only the bare minimum would be carried into the Minister of Rites' residence.

The rest, he wanted to give directly to Shen Yichen.

He figured his stingy stepfather wouldn't bother with a decent dowry for him.

Wen Wanning caught his meaning right away.

She thought, her son had really fallen in love—now he actually knew how to care for someone.

The next day, the marquis's wedding invitation arrived at the Minister of Rites' residence.

Though he'd known the wedding would be moved up, Wang Shuci hadn't expected it to be so soon. And to top it off, that bastard had made a big show of handing out grain to the poor right outside the wall today.

Wang Shuci's face burned with humiliation, like he'd been slapped over and over by invisible hands.

Now that the Minister of Rites' household was stuck between a rock and a hard place because of him, even Shen Yunhe was at his wit's end.

To save what was left of their reputation, they had no choice but to swallow their anger and let that bastard do whatever he wanted.

So Wang Shuci ground his teeth at the racket outside, but he could only take it.

Shen Qinglan still didn't dare set foot outside the courtyard, hiding in his room, throwing things, throwing tantrums, refusing to eat or drink, and just cursing Shen Yichen over and over, wishing he'd die a horrible death.

Meanwhile, the man who made them gnash their teeth was out there smiling, handing out grain to the people outside the city wall.

Although each person only received half a dou (about 5 liters) of rice, for regular folks, a family could stretch it out over several days if they rationed carefully, let alone for beggars who never knew where their next meal was coming from.

Those who received grain were beaming with joy, offering sincere thanks and praising Shen Yichen endlessly.

Shen Yichen didn't mind the hassle, and he didn't look down on their shabby clothes or lowly status. Instead, he smiled and shot the breeze with them like they were old pals.

Cheng Yi stood on a tall building in the distance, quietly taking in the heartwarming scene until Shen Yichen had handed out every last bit of grain he'd brought.

Shen Yichen grinned and hollered at the last few beggars shuffling off: "Come again in three days!"

The hunched old beggars hollered back:

"Rest assured, Young Master. If we don't see you in three days, or if you're hurt or sick, I'll march to the Court of Judicial Review and bang the drum for justice."

"I'll go to Marquis Zhongyong's place to find your husband. If he won't come, I'll hang myself on their doorstep."

"I'll go to Duke Zhenguo's residence..."

Shen Yichen shouted his thanks, then traded a wink with Chuliu, and shot smug looks at the guards nearby, whose faces were black as pots.

Just as he was feeling full of himself, he caught sight of a tall figure and froze like he'd been hit by lightning.

Shen Yichen thought, oh crap. He'd dragged that man into his schemes too—was he here to settle the score?

No, more likely he was here to punish him for that shameless stunt of climbing the wall and dumping crap in public.

Shen Yichen's guilt hit him like a wave, and he didn't dare meet Cheng Yi's eyes.

Could he still make a run for it?

But what were the odds of escaping right under the nose of a guy who could take on a hundred men alone and kick enemy generals' heads around like soccer balls?

Shen Yichen's mind raced, but before he could come up with a plan, he felt his wrist grabbed—Cheng Yi had him.

Shen Yichen's heart nearly stopped.

"Wh-what are you doing?!"