Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Imperial Capital

After several days traveling by water from Yangzhou, the children had been delighted when they first boarded. They had only just turned two, and were impossibly lively, racing all over the boat. The wet nurses and maids behind them called after them in a constant stream of “little masters,” only making the two even more delighted. Their tiny legs flew, and their laughter rang bright and clear.

At last, Xianxia found a moment to lift her head from the endless account books. She caught one child in each hand and circled them around the table, telling the little monkeys to sit down and eat some pastries.

The two kept right on eating, feeding each other absentmindedly while covering their faces with crumbs. For all that, they seemed quite pleased with themselves. Their pastries were wet with saliva, yet they still tried to hand them to Xianxia. She took a reluctant bite, then pushed them back.

“Mother, feed the fish! Feed the fish!”

Last night, when the boat had stopped, Gansui had hooked a fish from the river. It was the first time the children had ever seen one, and they had been overjoyed. Youhuai had even wanted to sleep holding the fish, but Xianxia had countered that a fish could not leave the water. That foolish child had then thought he would go into the water himself to keep the fish company. He touched the water, found it far too cold, and immediately changed his mind.

“I want to go too.”

Xianxia had the wet nurse clean the pastry crumbs from both children, then took them by the hand to feed the fish.

But when they went to the kitchen, the fish was nowhere to be seen. Xianxia’s heart sank. Youhuai searched all around, and when he still could not find it, he asked, “Mother, where’s my fish?” Then he poked at the wooden bucket from yesterday. “Gone.”

Xianxia looked around. On the stove, a pot of thick white fish soup was bubbling merrily.

As a proper mother, she knew she must not wound the tender little hearts of her children. She crouched down and said, “The fish has gone home.”

“Home?” Then he pointed at the bucket, as if to say that this bucket was the fish’s home.

“The fish’s home is out in the water. Didn’t you say goodbye to it yesterday?”

“I…” But I had also asked it to come play again today! Youhuai was almost in tears, yet still did not know how to argue with his mother.

“Brother is crying crying,” said Liuguang, mocking him.

Youhuai wiped his face. “Hmph! I’m not.” He only pouted.

“The fish is gone, but shall we go outside and look at the fish’s home instead?” Xianxia led them onto the deck and showed them the water below. As the boat moved forward, white waves surged up. Youhuai stretched out his hands to catch them, but they were too short and he could not reach. Turning to Xianxia, he asked, “Fish?” He could not see it.

“The fish is sleeping.”

“The fish is a lazy bug.”

Yes, yes. Compared with you, who could sit still?

At midday, Gansui came out of the study. Youhuai seized his hand at once. “Father, the fish went home. Go look.”

What did that mean? Gansui raised an eyebrow at his wife. Xianxia pointed toward the fish soup on the table and said softly, “It was stewed.”

Gansui lifted his younger son. “But we’ve already gone very, very far, so we can’t find the fish anymore.”

Youhuai stared at him blankly, not understanding a word. “The boat is moving. Yesterday we left the fish’s home, so today we can’t see the fish anymore.”

“The fish.” But he still wanted it.

“Then when we get to our new home, Father will buy you a prettier fish, one with patterns too, all golden and bright. All right?”

“Father will buy?”

“He will.”

The fish affair finally passed. After the initial excitement, the children grew tired of being on the boat after only two days. Xianxia was tormented by them until her head ached, and at last they disembarked to continue by land.

The journey of more than ten days left both people and horses exhausted. The carriage jolted terribly, and Gansui could not bear to let his precious little daughter suffer that, so he no longer rode a horse either. He stayed in the carriage every day, holding the little girl in his arms. In the end, Youhuai’s backside ached from the jolting, while Liuguang was perfectly fine. At his young age, he had begun to understand that his younger sister seemed to be more precious than he was.

The climate in the capital was not like the south. Liuguang was already frail by nature and especially prone to illness. By the time they reached the outskirts of the capital, she had caught a chill. Though two doses of medicine brought the sickness under control, she remained listless.

Youhuai was truly a brother in every sense, teasing his sister every day to cheer her up. “Look, little sister, flowers.”

There were many gardens in the suburbs, and it was now the season when peach blossoms and pear blossoms were in full bloom. Xianxia lifted the curtain so the children could see. Liuguang loved flowers, and that lifted her spirits a little.

Their residence in the capital had long since been prepared. It stood beside the old master’s courtyard, where they had stayed when they first came to the capital years ago. They had bought it two years earlier, once they had started making money, and the steward over at the old master’s place had arranged for people to keep it in order. The old master and Master Chuan intended to spend their retirement at the academy, and when they would meet again was uncertain.

In Gansui’s heart, the old master was much like his own father, and he often wrote to inquire after him. Xianxia sent many things along as well. The convenience of expanding their business network had become clear enough; with their own people handling things, sending gifts was extremely easy. Since affairs on the frontier had ended, Duan Chensha had withdrawn from court politics. Wang Xiaoshan ran back and forth between Yun Prefecture and Qiongyun Prefecture, cheerful as ever. The two of them took care of the old master and Master Chuan, and Gansui could rest easy.

Only once they entered the city did the noise begin to feel oppressive, and it was a very different kind of clamor from Yangzhou. Yangzhou was a land of rivers and rice, where speech was soft and warm, with a gentle lilt. Here, everything sounded rougher and more abrupt. The children had come to a new place, and their eyes could scarcely take it all in.

“Mother, cakes!”

Youhuai spotted the steaming pastries at a glance and pointed wildly while tugging at Xianxia.

“Buy, buy, buy.” Xianxia had Hanshui go down to purchase some. Before long they saw other things too; by the time they reached home, they had acquired a great deal of luggage.

At last they arrived before the gate, which seemed guarded with unusual strictness. Just as they stepped inside—

“Sister…”

Anzi came charging over like a little calf, stopping only at the very last moment in front of Xianxia.

The moment Xianxia saw him, her eyes welled with tears. She touched his face. “Good. You’ve grown taller! And sturdier too.”

Anzi felt her soft hand brush his cheek, carrying a warmth unlike any other. It had truly been too long, far too long since he had felt such warmth; it made everything seem almost unreal.

His leg was suddenly hurt. “Move aside!”

Anzi looked down and saw a chubby little child glaring at him fiercely. Good heavens, what a round little face.

“No mischief. This is your uncle.” Xianxia hurriedly picked him up.

“Mother, don’t cry. Be good!” Youhuai saw that his mother was crying and hurried to comfort her. He extended his little chubby hand to wipe away her tears.

“Good, Mother won’t cry.”

“What are you all doing standing at the gate? Go inside.”

Gansui had just come back from buying some roasted chestnuts from a shop at the gate while carrying Liuguang. Seeing his wife standing there, he said, “Anzi is back.” He said it so matter-of-factly, as though they had never been apart for so long. Anzi wanted to cry again, but did not want to upset his sister. Then he turned and saw the little girl in Gansui’s arms, clutching a chestnut in her tiny hand and studying him curiously.

“This is… Jiao Jiao?”

“She’s called Liuguang now.”

“May I hold her?” Anzi looked at Gansui. “Liuguang, this is your uncle. Would you like your uncle to hold you?”

Liuguang looked at her father, then at Anzi, and held out her arms. Anzi quickly and carefully took her. So soft, so small, and so wonderfully warm.

“All right, hurry inside. The wind is strong at the gate, and Liuguang has only just recovered.”

Anzi promptly carried Liuguang inside. “What happened to Liuguang? Why was she ill? Is she better now?”

“It was probably the climate. She has always been a little frail, and when she came into the capital she caught a chill. She’s much better now.”

The moment they entered the house, it was wonderfully warm.

“Did you burn the floor-heating? It’s so warm.”

“I thought you’d be back soon, so I had them prepare things. It’s colder here than in Yangzhou, and I was afraid you might not be used to it…” Anzi was still speaking when a little child came running over from inside. Seeing Anzi holding a baby, he stared at them curiously.

“Brother…”

Anzi hurried to introduce him. “This is my younger brother.”

Xianxia and Gansui exchanged a glance. The Second Prince?

Earlier, Anzi had told Xianxia that he got along quite well with the son of Noble Consort Wen, and Xianxia had not paid much attention. She had not expected him to bring the child out of the palace with him.

“They do look somewhat alike. Their eyes are quite similar,” Xianxia said after a look.

The child seemed shy and instantly hid behind Anzi, staring at Liuguang with wide eyes.

Xianxia had never expected Noble Consort Wen’s son to be such a harmless little bun. Truly, a good bamboo shoot had grown from a thorny stalk.

“I didn’t originally mean to bring him out. He just happened to see me leaving and insisted on following, so I brought him along.” Since that time when Chi Ziruan had stayed for a while in Anzi’s quarters, the child had become especially attached to this elder brother. Later, when he was sent back to the consort’s residence, he even slipped past the attendants and ran out secretly. Once he almost drowned after falling into the water. In the end, Chi Nansong let him choose where he wanted to live. He truly liked his elder brother and willingly moved into the Catalpa Pavilion.

Noble Consort Wen had been furious, yet helpless. She suspected that Anzi had used some kind of drug to make the child obey him so completely. Sometimes people were like that: their own hearts were dark, and they imagined there was no light anywhere in the world.

“It wasn’t easy coming out, was it?”

“So long as Father Emperor is here, things are all right. Brother-in-law, when will you enter the palace?”

“Tomorrow morning, I have to report for duty.”

“That’s wonderful. Then we’ll be able to see each other often.”

“Just right, too. I brought back many pastries and snacks from Yangzhou, and I was even thinking of sending them in with your brother-in-law when he went to the palace. Now that you’re here, come and see what you like. Try some first.” Xianxia took out the pastries from the luggage.

“These lotus-seed pastries are very good. Try one.”

Anzi obediently ate the sweets and even shared them with the little ones. The children all ate happily.

“Liuguang, sit by yourself. Uncle is holding you, and it’s hard for me to eat.”

“No need. I like holding her.” Anzi still held her just as he had when they were children, refusing to let go.

After tasting a few more pastries, Anzi seemed to have something he wanted to say to Gansui. The two of them went into the study, while the three children played outside.

Chi Ziruan had never seen such tiny children before. Feeling that he had finally acquired the dignity of an older brother, he led the two children out into the courtyard to play. Xianxia had to unpack and instructed the wet nurses to keep an eye on them. This one’s identity was extraordinary, and nothing must happen to him.

Receiving the order, the wet nurse dared not be careless in the least, watching the children without taking her eyes off them.

Anzi did not speak with Gansui for long; he came back out after the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and then had to return to the palace. Xianxia knew that the palace was strict with its rules and did not dare keep him. She packed a few of his favorite pastries and saw him off to the carriage.