No matter how slow-witted Mo Xi was, this time he should have understood what Duke Li’s gaze meant. He could not help becoming irritated and turned around to look for him, only to find that the old fox had already slipped away. Mo Xi was speechless for a moment, then sighed and walked into the hall. When he reached Princess Mengze’s desk, he asked, “…Why are you here?”
The evening was cold, and Mengze’s health was frail. Draped in a light green outer robe, she coughed softly several times before saying gently, “Royal Brother is unwell, and these past few days he has been too occupied to review the memorials, so I came to help him.”
Although Murong Mengze was a woman, there was nothing unreasonable about her being ranked among the Three Gentlemen of Chonghua.
She treated her people with benevolence and wisdom, understood current affairs as well as military and political matters, and her views on governing the kingdom were no less insightful than those of men. Do not be fooled by how delicate and frail she appeared now. That was all because she had been left with a chronic illness after healing Mo Xi’s injuries several years ago. Before that, whether in spellcraft or spiritual power, she could be called extraordinarily gifted, leaving others unable to catch up to her.
Now, although she could no longer go to the front lines, she could still take charge from within the command tent. If the Jiuzhou Continent had no precedent for a woman ruling a state, perhaps the sovereign would even have granted her some official title, allowing her to carry out real affairs openly and legitimately. Unfortunately, in the eyes of most people, a woman was still a woman. She ought to sit by the window arranging her hair and adorn herself before a mirror; whatever learning or strategic insight she possessed should simply be devoted to her husband, father, or brother who held office. What need was there for a young lady to show her face in public?
Thus, although Murong Mengze was a royal princess of the highest birth, whenever people mentioned her, what they said most often was, “Oh, that’s Lord Xihe’s future wife. They’ve only yet to be formally betrothed, and she hasn’t married into his family yet.”
Such were the times, and there was nothing the sovereign could do. Even though Mengze possessed both virtue and talent, he could not make full use of her. However, there were some memorials concerning the core affairs of royal authority that he was unwilling to hand over to ordinary nobles to decide. Yet he himself had more duties than he had the strength to handle. Looking around, among his close relatives, aside from Mengze and Yanping, there was only Murong Lian left.
There was no need to mention Yanping. She was all breasts and no brains. Nine out of ten young noblemen had already slept with her. Letting her draw erotic pictures would be fine, but asking her to read military reports would be a joke.
As for Murong Lian… putting aside the fact that his grandfather had once intended to usurp the throne, simply because the previous sovereign had seriously considered adopting Murong Lian as his son and making him crown prince before his death, the current sovereign could never have no reservations about him.
That left only Mengze.
Murong Mengze was intelligent, wise, clear-minded, and capable. The only regret was that she had been born a woman. But who could say that this regret was not the greatest reassurance to the sovereign?
In this mortal world, a woman could not stir up much of a storm. She could obtain neither power, influence, nor supporters. As long as this woman remained unmarried, the man closest to her in this world would only be her elder brother—that is, the sovereign himself.
He was most at ease with her.
After brightening the candlelight in the study, Mengze turned her face and said gently to her maid, “Yue Niang, go brew a pot of spring tea for Lord Xihe.”
“Yes.”
Yue Niang withdrew. Before long, she returned carrying a tea tray with tea and pastries on it. She arranged everything one by one and smiled. “Lord Xihe, please enjoy. This servant will stand guard outside.”
The maid’s red skirt swayed lightly as she left. With a creak, the sandalwood door of the study thoughtfully closed behind her.
Mo Xi sat down on the mat and asked, “How is His Majesty? How did he suddenly fall ill?”
Mengze sighed. “He refuses to say, and he also forbade the people at Shennong Terrace from saying anything about it. All I know is that he has been bedridden these past few days… But there is no serious danger. This morning, I received permission to visit him. The most dangerous period has already passed; he is merely still weak and will probably need another three or four days to recuperate.”
She paused, then looked at Mo Xi with an inquiring expression. “Brother Mo came to report the results of the assignments to Royal Brother?”
“Yes.”
Mengze asked with concern, “Did everything go smoothly?”
Mo Xi deliberately glossed over the important parts. “Chen Qing and the others suffered some injuries. They’ve already gone to Physician Jiang for treatment. Other than that, nothing happened.”
“That’s good.” Mengze sighed. “But I’m afraid Royal Brother won’t be able to see you these next few days. Brother Mo, write a memorial when you return, and I’ll deliver it to him for you.”
Mo Xi thanked her. Seeing that she was surrounded by documents and looked tired, he had originally intended to help her deal with the paperwork. But then he realized that since the sovereign had not handed these memorials over to the chief ministers and had instead entrusted all of them to Mengze, they were probably matters in which he did not want outside officials interfering. Thus, he said, “It’s getting late. I’ll return first. Once you’ve finished these, get some rest early as well.”
Mengze’s beautiful eyes rippled with laughter. She smiled and said, “Hmm? Leaving so soon? Won’t you stay and keep me company a little longer?”
Mo Xi: “…”
“All right, I was only teasing Brother Mo. Look at how you’ve been traveling all day. How could I bear to make you sit around idly with me?” After saying this, Mengze lightly coughed several times, covering her mouth, and said gently, “Go on back.”
Mo Xi rose and lowered his eyes toward her. “The night is deep and the dew is heavy. Remember to have Yue Niang bring you another layer of clothing.”
Mengze smiled brightly. “All right.”
Mo Xi then left. The moment he stepped out of the study, Yue Niang entered. She had served Mengze for many years. In front of others, she still acted like a proper servant, but whenever she was in front of Mengze, she tended to become overly talkative and could never keep things to herself.
Sure enough, she stared toward the place where Mo Xi had disappeared, stamped her foot, and said to Mengze rather indignantly, “My lady—”
“What is it?”
“How could you just let Lord Xihe leave like that? You’ve been back in the capital for so long, and today was such a rare chance for him to be alone with you. You didn’t even keep him a little longer.” Yue Niang pouted and muttered softly, “At least you could have eaten a meal together or something.”
Mengze dipped the ink brush into the inkstone to moisten it, raised her wrist, and continued writing as she said, “Why should I keep him? He doesn’t want to stay.”
“But Lord Xihe’s spiritual core was obtained at the cost of your health, my lady. If you told Lord Xihe to go west, he certainly wouldn’t go east. He owes you such a tremendous debt of gratitude!”
Mengze smiled. “It’s merely a debt of gratitude. I never intended for him to repay it.”
“My lady, how can you say that? Of course he should repay it!” Seeing how indifferent Murong Mengze was, Yue Niang grew anxious. “Lord Xihe is handsome and powerful, and his reputation is excellent. I heard that during the three years he was stationed outside, he didn’t even have contact with a single woman. Unlike the young masters of other families, who have concubines lined up in rows. A husband like that is worth marrying! If you leave him alone, a whole crowd of demons and monsters will fight to become his wife or concubine… How could that be allowed?”
The more she spoke, the more anxious she became. In the end, she threw up her hands petulantly. “I don’t care, I don’t care! Anyway, aside from our princess, he isn’t allowed to marry anyone. No other young lady is allowed to approach him!”
Mengze listened to the girl shouting without restraint and said nothing. She merely continued writing. After quite some time, she asked as if casually, “Yue’er, do you also think Lord Xihe is very handsome?”
“Of course! He’s—” Halfway through, she suddenly realized she had gone too far and hurriedly said, “No, no. Lord Xihe is a figure like a heavenly god. How could a servant like me presume to chatter about him?”
Mengze laughed. She stamped her elder brother’s imperial seal onto a memorial written on fine silk, blew lightly on the still-wet vermilion ink, and said, “It’s nothing. Even if you don’t say it, I know all you young girls like men like him. Tall, upright, reliable. They’re all good qualities.”
Yue Niang grew even more anxious. “My lady, even if you gave this servant a thousand or ten thousand times the courage, I wouldn’t dare… I wouldn’t dare…”
“What are you afraid of?” Mengze said gently. “I’m only chatting with you. I’m merely listing all the good things about him. But Yue’er, have you ever wondered why someone as outstanding as him has reached this age without marrying?”
Yue Niang muttered, “Isn’t it because your health… your health isn’t well, my lady?”
“How could that be my fault?” Mengze smiled. “If he truly wanted to marry, he would have gone to Royal Brother to ask for my hand long ago.” Her smile gradually faded. “It’s because he himself is unwilling, so he’s continued putting it off.”
“…That’s exactly why I wanted you to spend more time with Lord Xihe! Look, the two of you hardly spend any time alone together throughout the entire year. Men have to see the person in front of them. If they don’t see each other for a month, then another month, even the deepest feelings will eventually fade.” Yue Niang paused and bit her lip, seemingly throwing caution to the wind. “And besides, my lady, you don’t know this, but I’ve heard people say that while you were away, those noble young ladies nearly broke down the doors trying to flatter Lord Xihe. Even Princess Yanping, your own younger sister, wanted to tempt, tempt—”
Yanping was a princess after all. Even though Yue Niang was very familiar with Mengze, she still did not dare say the words “seduce him” aloud. In the end, she mumbled vaguely, “She wanted that sort of thing with Lord Xihe. Look, she’s already being so forward. How can you still keep pushing Lord Xihe away? You should think about it—everything he has today is because of you. I really feel it’s unfair to you!”
Mengze shook her head. “A forcibly twisted melon isn’t sweet. I won’t force him.”
“My lady!” Yue Niang said aggrievedly. “Sigh, but you… you are already… like this now. If Lord Xihe still doesn’t propose, how long does he intend to make you wait for him?”
“Yue’er, you mustn’t speak nonsense.” Mengze set down her brush and said seriously, “Lord Xihe and I have never made a marriage pact. So what do you mean by saying he is burdening or delaying me?”
“But—”
“Enough. Don’t say such things again in the future.”
Yue Niang bit her soft lip. In the end, she could only lower her head dejectedly and say, “…Yes.”
Mengze picked up the ink brush she had set aside and began reviewing another memorial. The study fell completely silent. Suddenly, Yue Niang muttered in a low voice, extremely unwilling to let the matter go, “But what if… what if Lord Xihe has already been unfaithful and secretly has another young lady? Would you truly be able to let it go, my lady?”
The tip of Mengze’s brush paused slightly.
She raised her head. “What do you mean by that?”
Yue Niang seemed reluctant, yet also unable to bring herself to say it. Under Mengze’s clear, gentle gaze, she held it in for a long while before finally blurting out, “…Did you notice his hair ribbon tonight?”
“Hmm?”
Yue Niang took a deep breath. “It wouldn’t be strange if you didn’t notice, my lady, but I’ve been accustomed to serving people since I was little, so I always pay attention to my masters’ clothing and accessories. The ribbon Lord Xihe wore today was plain white silk with a blue base, without any decoration.”
Seeing that Mengze still hadn’t understood, Yue Niang finally ruthlessly pierced through that last layer of paper between them.
“That’s something only commoners use!”
“……”
Now that the words had been spoken, Yue Niang could no longer stop herself. Her eyes were red, and she puffed out her cheeks in distress. “That was obviously some shabby little tramp’s! Princess, you don’t know how scheming the women out there are. They’ll do anything to climb upward. There must be some shameless woman who flaunted her charms and went after Lord Xihe. You’re just too open-hearted! She even put her hair ribbon on Lord Xihe’s hair. How intimate must they be for that to happen? And you didn’t even notice! I-I-I am so angry I could die! Back when he was in danger, it was you who saved him! How could he betray you like this?”
Yue Niang poured out her grievances and complaints in one breath. Mengze remained silent the entire time. But the brush tip had absorbed too much ink, and suddenly a drop of black ink fell onto the fine silk, spreading into a large blot.
After a while, she lowered her beautiful face, moistened the brush again, and said quietly, “…It’s only a silk ribbon. Perhaps he simply wanted a change. There’s no need to think too much about it.”
Yue Niang hurriedly said, “Please don’t deceive yourself anymore, all right? You know how strict he is about propriety. He isn’t that kind of person!”
Mengze abruptly interrupted her. “Enough.”
“……”
“Don’t say anything more about this. I don’t want to hear it.”
Seeing how firm her attitude was, Yue Niang truly could not argue with her. In the end, she could only stand there silently, her eyes reddened. Mengze never spoke again. Nor did she continue reading the documents. She turned her head and looked out the window at the swaying pine and bamboo.
Amid the hazy candlelight, the light in her eyes gradually dimmed…