Indeed, at the mention of the deceased princess, the gossipy gleam in Mu Xin’s eyes disappeared and his gaze dimmed. “Everything has been prepared long ago.”
Facing his imagined rival, Zhu Zhanji became a stubborn, hard-hearted, honey-tongued but vicious pseudo-gentleman—a sugar-coated cannonball, an emotionless killer, continuing to wield his forty-meter broadsword to stab at his uncle-in-law’s heart.
Stabbing wherever it hurt most.
Zhu Zhanji also put on a sorrowful expression. “I remember Aunt Changning loved eating osmanthus cakes from the street, complaining that the palace used too much sugar and oil, making them cloying and not as refreshing as those outside.”
Mu Xin smiled bitterly. “Lard and sugar are expensive ingredients. The palace adds them freely without counting cost, while street shops need to make profits, so they use less—which happened to suit the princess’s taste.”
This wolf cub Zhu Zhanji savagely tore at his own uncle-in-law. “Aunt also loved reading ‘Journey to the West,’ requesting it at every family feast…”
Every other sentence from Zhu Zhanji involved Princess Changning, specifically targeting uncle-in-law’s pain points. This wasn’t conversation—it was practically holding a memorial service for Princess Changning, nearly driving Mu Xin to depression.
Until A’Lei, who had remained silent beside them, finally said, “I’ve arrived home. Thank you, Prince Consort and… Crown Prince’s Grandson, for escorting me. Farewell.”
A’Lei’s figure disappeared into the Hu residence. Mu Xin suddenly realized his mission to probe A’Lei remained incomplete—was she really elder brother and Palace Supervisor Hu’s daughter? Was she my niece?
The Crown Prince’s Grandson had appeared midway, and A’Lei had unknowingly escaped Mu Xin’s trap.
Truly the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Mu Xin failed to squeeze his soft persimmon and was instead riddled with holes by Zhu Zhanji’s attacks, feeling quite melancholy.
Zhu Zhanji secretly rejoiced: Don’t think your good looks give you carte blanche. If you won’t let go of A’Lei, I have other ways to deal with you.
Zhu Zhanji went to Prince Han’s residence to see his younger cousins, speaking with them as an elder brother about past and present. Halfway through conversation, looking toward the Hu residence, Zhu Zhanji suddenly realized four very serious problems:
Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
What was my purpose in leaving the palace today?
To apologize to A’Lei, compensate her with glasses, and get her forgiveness so she wouldn’t ignore me.
Had I accomplished these three things?
No. Not a single one.
What did you do today?
I held a memorial service for my aunt in front of my uncle-in-law…
So why did you abandon the essential for the trivial, kill a thousand enemies while losing ten thousand of your own, and accomplish nothing?
I…
Zhu Zhanji tragically discovered that his IQ and EQ automatically dropped to negative numbers whenever he encountered A’Lei, with hindsight so delayed it was infuriating—simply terrifyingly stupid.
At the Hu residence, A’Lei sat on the swing in her courtyard, swaying back and forth. This swing was built by her brother-in-law and herself together. Sigh, when would brother-in-law return home?
A’Lei looked toward Prince Han’s residence, thinking of how Little Rooster Brother had ruthlessly attacked the poor widower Mu Xin on the road. Knowing Mu Xin was deeply saddened by the princess’s death, instead of offering comfort, he’d brought up exactly what shouldn’t be mentioned, single-handedly sustaining an entire memorial service—how utterly conscienceless.
When had he become so bitter and harsh, losing all compassion?
Right after becoming Crown Prince’s Grandson. Once he became heir apparent, he started getting carried away. Sigh.
Zhu Zhanji and A’Lei faced each other across two high walls and one street—one in Prince Han’s residence filled with regret, the other sighing deeply on the swing in the Hu residence.
Mu Xin returned to the princess residence, his mind repeatedly flashing between his remembered image of Mu Chun, the Mu Chun in the ancestral hall portrait, the paunchy, greasy middle-aged Mu Chun on the gun carriage, and A’Lei’s face.
A’Lei’s age perfectly matched the time of Mu Chun’s death.
Palace Supervisor Hu had once resigned from the palace for three years between the Hongwu and Jianwen reigns—the dates of her departure matched A’Lei’s birth year perfectly.
But all along, the person linked romantically with Palace Supervisor Hu was the current Jinyiwei Commander Ji Gang. These two had often cooperated before, and now both in their forties remained unmarried. Whenever Palace Supervisor Hu had trouble, Commander Ji would certainly help—this inevitably led to wild speculation, so rumors about these two had persisted for over a decade without cease…
Wait, the rumors about Palace Supervisor Hu and Ji Gang might just be misdirection! To cover up another shocking truth!
Mu Xin recalled when he served as study companion to princes and grandsons in the palace, he’d heard legends about Palace Supervisor Hu.
The princess residence had retired palace maids living in honored retirement. Mu Xin invited one elderly palace servant over and asked, “I encountered Palace Supervisor Hu’s sister on the street today. This sister shares a father but different mother with Palace Supervisor Hu—she’s the daughter Employee Hu had in his old age. Her birth mother died in childbirth, and Employee Hu, being elderly and unable to raise a young daughter, gave her to Palace Supervisor Hu to raise.”
“However, I recall hearing rumors about Palace Supervisor Hu before—that when she first entered the palace, having suffered mistreatment from her stepmother, her hands were covered in chilblains and she was rather shabbily dressed, not even having shoes, entering the palace wearing only socks. Is this true?”
“Yes.” The white-haired palace maid nodded. “As the saying goes, with a stepmother comes a stepfather—better to beg with one’s birth mother than live with an official father. Children living under stepmothers’ hands are truly pitiful. Palace Supervisor Hu had a fierce temperament and wouldn’t endure torment, so she applied for the female official examination and entered the palace.”
Mu Xin continued, “I also heard Palace Supervisor Hu entered the palace barefoot, and my elder brother Mu Chun requested a pair of boots from Empress Xiaoci to give to Palace Supervisor Hu.”
The palace maid smiled. “Everything belonging to the empress must be recorded coming and going—this isn’t rumor but fact. Who would dare make up stories about the empress’s belongings? Duke Qianguo was innocent and kind-hearted, the empress benevolent—just a pair of boots, given when granted.”
Speaking without intention, but the listener was interested. From this, Mu Xin glimpsed the truth, increasingly convinced that feelings between elder brother and Palace Supervisor Hu had probably sprouted long ago!
Mu Xin’s gossipy soul ignited. He sat restlessly, unable to sleep through the night.
Now the middle-aged greasy man resembling Mu Chun had departed with the southern expedition army—difficult to verify. Palace Supervisor Hu’s current status made Mu Xin afraid to offend her. The suspected illegitimate daughter A’Lei lived in the inner quarters—as a widower, it was improper for him to actively approach a young girl, damaging both his and A’Lei’s reputations.
This gossip was like a hedgehog covered in spines—Mu Xin had nowhere to bite.
Mu Xin tossed and turned in bed all night like a pancake, finally thinking of a method that could protect himself while verifying his guess: directly ask second brother Mu Sheng in Yunnan. From that “Don’t investigate!” reply and traces of Palace Supervisor Hu’s life in Yunnan, second brother probably knew the truth.
Moreover, they were all family—this earth-shattering secret was controllable.
Mu Xin wrote a secret letter and sent a trusted aide to deliver it urgently to Kunming.
Having sent the family letter, Mu Xin felt completely relaxed and continued secretly observing A’Lei.
Five days later.
Zhu Zhanji stationed himself early outside the foreign goods shop where A’Lei had ordered glasses. He knew A’Lei was eager to collect them and wouldn’t delay, just uncertain when she’d come.
For concealment, Zhu Zhanji sat in a private room on the second floor of a wine house across from the foreign goods shop, waiting for A’Lei to appear.
Zhu Zhanji had just eaten a crab roe bun when he heard chaotic footsteps in the corridor outside.
“This room has the best view—I’ll take this one.” A familiar voice sounded—it was Prince Consort Mu Xin.
Zhu Zhanji: Impossible to be such a coincidence—he must also be lying in wait for A’Lei! Bah, shameless!
The server apologetically said, “Unfortunately, this private room already has a guest.”
Mu Xin said, “Have him switch. I’ll pay ten times the price and compensate the difference to this guest. This is your tip.”
“This…” The server secretly weighed the tip’s heft, then went in to coordinate with Zhu Zhanji, explaining Mu Xin’s generous compensation terms.
The room’s soundproofing was poor. Not wanting to expose himself, Zhu Zhanji dipped his finger in tea and wrote the character “scram” on the table.
The server looked left and right, up and down. “This… I can’t read. Please speak directly, sir.”
Zhu Zhanji was speechless for a moment, then said quietly, “No switching, no matter how much money—tell him to scram.”
The server had to go out and relay the message, reluctantly returning the tip to Mu Xin. “The guest refuses to switch.”
Mu Xin had to settle for second best and took the adjacent room.
When the server came in earlier to relay the message, Zhu Zhanji was briefly distracted and didn’t watch the foreign goods shop across the street. A’Lei, eager for her glasses, entered as soon as the shop opened. At that time, Zhu Zhanji was writing “scram,” so the two perfectly missed each other.
Therefore, when Zhu Zhanji looked across again, planning to change surveillance positions, A’Lei had already paid the balance, taken her glasses, and left.
Zhu Zhanji hurriedly ran out, grabbing the sesame oil bottle from the table with various seasonings as he rose. Opening the door and hearing chair-pushing sounds from the adjacent room, he knew Mu Xin had also seen A’Lei from the window and would chase after her.
Little Rooster Brother was indeed petty-minded, living up to his name.
Little Rooster Brother coldly smiled, poured sesame oil in front of the adjacent room’s door, then quickly went downstairs.
Just reaching the staircase on the ground floor, he heard uncle-in-law’s “Ahhh… Crash!” falling sound from upstairs.
Serves you right—who told you, old bull, to want tender grass? A’Lei is your own niece, my dear uncle-in-law.
With oil underfoot and having taken a hard fall, Mu Xin shouldn’t be able to walk quickly.
Zhu Zhanji solved his uncle-in-law problem with one bottle of sesame oil and unhurriedly went to chase A’Lei.
A’Lei hadn’t gone far. Now unemployed with nothing to do, she wandered aimlessly. Unconsciously, like an old horse knowing the way, she again walked toward the road leading to the Treasure Ship Shipyard.
Sigh. A’Lei sighed inwardly, stopped, and just as she turned around, came face to face with Zhu Zhanji.
“Sister A’Lei, I came today to apologize. I spoke too harshly that day—I was wrong. I also shouldn’t have chased you on horseback, causing you to lose your glasses.”
Zhu Zhanji learned from his previous two bloody lessons—apologize first, then talk. Don’t let other people or things interfere, disrupting his formation and making him forget his objective.
This direct approach indeed worked. With Zhu Zhanji’s sincere apology, A’Lei wasn’t as petty-minded as Little Rooster Brother. Today’s reunion was definitely not coincidental—Little Rooster Brother must have waited for her outside the foreign goods shop.
Given his sincerity, A’Lei’s expression softened slightly. She took out her newly bought glasses and waved them. “It’s fine. I already got new ones, quite similar to what sister gave me.”
Zhu Zhanji said, “When I met you at the foreign goods shop that day, I originally intended to find similar ones to compensate you. Unexpectedly uncle-in-law was present, you ordered a pair yourself, so I lied.”
Little Rooster Brother had always been contrary since childhood, saying one thing while meaning another. His heart really was like a chicken’s—countless twists and turns. Talking with him was exhausting.
Today he spoke directly from the heart in just two sentences—truly rare. A’Lei looked up at the sky in surprise.
Zhu Zhanji followed her gaze. “What’s wrong? Is it going to rain?”
A’Lei smiled. “I’m checking if the sun rose from the west today. You rarely say what you think—you’re like Zhu Zhanhe now.”
How is it my cousin again? Why compare me with my cousin? I’m not the same as him… I—
Zhu Zhanji suddenly remembered the root of his conflict with A’Lei: it was water-pit younger brother. That day he became angry because A’Lei said water-pit younger brother “always seems so relaxed, laughing and joking all day,” feeling A’Lei liked his cousin but not him.
Stop, stop, stop! Zhu Zhanji secretly warned himself—learn from mistakes, don’t wait until stung all over to regret it. Stabilize Sister A’Lei first.
Zhu Zhanji forcibly suppressed his urge to argue “I’m different from younger brother,” awkwardly smiling. “Have you forgiven me?”
Objective, remember the objective—don’t nitpick. This wasn’t a court debate over policy differences. What use was winning?
None whatsoever. Only led to unpleasant partings.
A’Lei waved her hand generously. “It wasn’t that serious to begin with—don’t think too much about it. I’m not that petty.”
A’Lei thought: However, if you hadn’t come to apologize, I wouldn’t have forgiven you so quickly.
Zhu Zhanji quickly said, “Sister A’Lei is truly magnanimous. But your glasses were ruined because of me—damaged property should be compensated. What would you like?”
A’Lei thought for a moment. “Could you get me a few Western grandfather clocks from the palace? I’d just borrow them to look at, then return them to you.”
The thing was, A’Lei was unemployed at home. Brother-in-law had gone south on campaign, sister left early and returned late, leaving A’Lei bored at home. She had little interest in socializing with her handkerchief friends, and a Western grandfather clock at home had suddenly stopped working.
With nothing else to do, A’Lei had taken the grandfather clock completely apart, with components covering several desks. She’d replaced a broken bearing but could never reassemble it.
A’Lei needed several samples—removing the decorative wooden panels to see how the inside was assembled.