Chapter 6
Ruan Jiqing’s worry was written all over his face. Qi Junmu saw it clearly but didn’t take it to heart.
It was only human for Ruan Jiqing not to dare disobey his orders while also fearing the Empress Dowager’s wrath. The reason Qi Junmu still tolerated him was that aside from his love of food, Ruan Jiqing was fairly loyal.
In his previous life, on the second day after Qi Junmu’s stroke, the eunuchs and palace attendants had shamelessly chattered loudly right next to him, saying that Ruan Jiqing had been forced to put his fingerprint on a confession of plotting to murder the emperor, and then had been held down and drowned in a lake.
Thinking of Ruan Jiqing’s fate, Qi Junmu felt a pang of empathy. Both master and servant had died rather ugly deaths.
Qi Junmu now had a temperament that allowed no contradiction – whatever he said, went. So when he said he was leaving the palace, he simply took his token and slipped out. Most people in the palace recognized Ruan Jiqing, but not many had actually seen the emperor.
At the Meridian Gate, the guards on duty saw Ruan Jiqing on the carriage and Qi Junmu dressed in a guard’s uniform. Finding them unfamiliar, they asked a few questions. When Ruan Jiqing said they were outside the palace on the emperor’s orders, the guards thought it was a bit strange, but after checking the token, they still let them go.
Since Qi Junmu had said he wanted to see the Shen family’s spectacle, he made no pretense and headed straight to the Marquis Zhenbei’s residence.
Just then, a guard who had let Qi Junmu out of the palace at Meridian Gate had a flash of insight. He grabbed a colleague’s arm urgently and asked, "Tell me, which of the emperor’s attendants is more favored than Eunuch Ruan?"
This guard was named Hu Ze. After Emperor Jing died, he had gotten his position through the Old Prince Ying’s connections.
His colleague, Wang Jun, looked confused. "Isn’t Eunuch Ruan the highest-ranked attendant before the emperor? Even the empress gives him face. Who else could there be?"
Hu Ze’s face turned pale. "This is bad," he said. He had been wondering earlier – what palace guard could be so important that Ruan Jiqing would guard him so respectfully?
Wang Jun looked annoyed. Hu Ze was about to tell him that the person leaving with Ruan Jiqing might be the emperor. But then he thought better of it – if word got out and something happened to the emperor outside the palace, it would mean the execution of his entire family – all nine generations of relatives.
So he suppressed his panic and forced a smile. "I was just thinking, I interrogated Eunuch Ruan. I hope he doesn’t hold a grudge."
Wang Jun thought for a moment. "We’ll probably never meet Eunuch Ruan anyway. I hear he’s easy-going. Don’t overthink it."
Hu Ze smiled. A moment later, he clutched his stomach with a pained expression. "My stomach feels terrible. I need to step out, Brother. Hold the post for me."
Wang Jun waved his hand helplessly. "Go, go."
Hu Ze noted the reason in the duty log, found a replacement, and slipped away to see their commander.
Wang Jun watched his retreating figure, his eyes shifting slightly. He also found an excuse to get a replacement and headed to the Empress Dowager’s Renshou Palace instead.
Meanwhile, Qi Junmu arrived at the Marquis Zhenbei’s residence and immediately spotted Shen Nian kneeling at the front gate.
Shen Nian knelt there expressionlessly, letting passersby point and whisper.
Qi Junmu stepped down from the carriage with a cold laugh. "What crime has the heir of Marquis Zhenbei committed, that he has to kneel in front of the gate like this?"
Before returning to the capital, Shen Nian had still harbored some illusions about his mother, Madam Wen. Now, this kneeling had extinguished every last one. He had grown up at the frontier and didn’t care much about reputation. In his heart, he knew that after this episode, there would be no mother-son affection left between him and Madam Wen.
Shen Nian was entertaining all sorts of unfilial thoughts when he suddenly heard Qi Junmu’s voice. For a moment, he thought he was imagining it.
Turning his head, he saw that it was indeed Qi Junmu, who had left the palace in plain clothes.
Seeing that the emperor had brought nothing but a frail eunuch, Shen Nian quickly stood up and walked over to Qi Junmu. He started to bow, then stopped himself, mindful of all the onlookers. Looking at Qi Junmu, he pressed his lips together and said, "Your… Third Master, how could you leave the residence alone without anyone to guard you?"
Ruan Jiqing: "……"
He felt thoroughly discriminated against. In Shen Nian’s eyes, a whole grown man like him might as well have been invisible.
But since Young Marquis Shen cared about the emperor just as much as he did, Ruan Jiqing decided to let it slide. Right now, all he wanted was for Shen Nian to persuade the emperor to return to the palace. In this world, one must always guard against the one-in-ten-thousand chance.
If anything happened to the emperor, he wouldn’t have nine heads—he didn't even have one to spare.
Unfortunately, Shen Nian didn’t look at him and wasn’t a mind reader. The gatekeeper of the Marquis Zhenbei’s residence, seeing that Shen Nian had stood up without the madam’s permission, hurried off to tattle.
Qi Junmu watched this scene, his eyes full of mockery. "Young Marquis Shen hasn’t inherited the title yet, but the position of heir was personally granted by the Emperor. When I heard this amusing story at the residence… ahem, I found it terribly interesting and naturally wanted to come see the excitement for myself. So what exactly is going on?"
Shen Nian could see that Qi Junmu had come specifically to back him up. He couldn’t figure out why the emperor was showing him favor, but that didn’t stop him from seizing the opportunity.
With a face full of misery and a desolate voice, Shen Nian said, "Third Master, you may not know this, but it’s all my fault. Mother is angry that I failed to protect Father on the battlefield, and that I delayed my return by keeping vigil at his grave for seven days at the frontier. In her distress, she punished me by making me kneel here to reflect. That’s only right."
Qi Junmu was very satisfied with Shen Nian’s attitude. He felt that their future cooperation would be most harmonious.
So he sneered, "Your mother is quite strange. You’ve lost your father at such a young age, suffered hardships at the northern frontier, and instead of pitying you, she blames you like this. On the battlefield, swords have no eyes. Marquis Shen died for his country and its people at the northern frontier. Yet in your mother’s mouth, it’s somehow your fault. What, would she only be happy if you had died in Marquis Shen’s place? By your mother’s logic, every son in the world must die for his father. Does that mean the reigning emperor should die for the late emperor as well?"
Shen Nian: "……" We’ve been talking about my family, so how did it become about the imperial family? And more to the point, what’s wrong with this emperor that he would curse himself so viciously?
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