Xie Yanlai stood before the palace hall in the inner court, about to request the imperial guards to announce him, when several eunuchs saw him and happily came forward to greet him.
“Ninth Young Master has arrived,” they said. “Please come in, please come in.”
Xie Yanlai was ushered inside. The hall was brightly lit, and he immediately saw Chu Zhao sitting at a desk having a late-night meal with Xiao Yu.
Seeing Xie Yanlai, Chu Zhao said with a smile, “A’Jiu has come.”
Xiao Yu also looked over and called out, “Uncle.”
Xie Yanlai bowed respectfully: “Your Highness.”
“Have you eaten?” Chu Zhao asked, gesturing to the side. “Sit down and eat with us.”
Xiao Yu also nodded along: “Uncle, please eat with us.”
Xie Yanlai looked at Chu Zhao and said, “This officer has been ensuring the capital’s stability outside, and my three meals have all been timely. The Young Highness need not worry.”
Xiao Yu was still a child. He could understand that Xie Yanlai had refused, but didn’t quite understand why he refused, so he also looked at Chu Zhao.
Chu Zhao understood—Xie Yanlai was scolding her. Was she calling him in just for the trivial matter of eating and drinking?
“Master Xie,” she said, “I called you here because A’Yu and I have something to tell you.”
Xie Yanlai made a sound of acknowledgment: “Young Highness, please instruct.”
Chu Zhao glanced around: “All of you may leave.”
The eunuchs and palace maids responded affirmatively and withdrew like flowing water, leaving only the three of them in the hall.
Chu Zhao said, “This matter is temporarily secret; not many people know about it.”
After finishing this sentence, she saw the young man’s phoenix eyes lift as he took a step back, looking as if this was definitely not good news—
She couldn’t help but laugh.
Xie Yanlai looked at her without speaking. Since entering, he had called her “Young Highness” with each breath, sounding respectful, but his expression and manner were just as they had been before her earlier, without half a bit of respect.
Chu Zhao suppressed her laughter, glanced at Xiao Yu, then looked back at Xie Yanlai, and said solemnly, “His Majesty will bestow a marriage between me and the Young Highness—”
Xie Yanlai had thought that encountering Chu Zhao at the city gate was already the greatest surprise of his life, but he hadn’t expected that only one night and one day later, he would hear something even more unbelievable.
“Chu Zhao, you!” he couldn’t help but blurt out.
What nonsense was she talking!
He looked at Xiao Yu—this child was only six years old!
Xiao Yu stood up with a serious expression: “Uncle, it’s true. Imperial Grandfather is having Sister Chu marry me.”
“What does a child like you understand?” Xie Yanlai said irritably, pointing at Chu Zhao. “You, come here.”
He turned and walked a few steps to the side.
Chu Zhao quietly reassured Xiao Yu: “Your uncle is startled. I’ll go talk to him slowly.” She then placed a bowl of rice in front of Xiao Yu. “You eat first.”
Xiao Yu nodded. Although he still didn’t quite understand marriage and imperial betrothals, he knew that this way Sister Chu would stay with him forever, so he had nothing to fear anymore.
Xiao Yu lowered his head and ate in large mouthfuls.
……
……
Xie Yanlai stopped behind a pillar, looking at the girl who had followed him over.
“Chu Zhao,” he said through gritted teeth. “Do you know how absurd this is? He’s only six years old!”
Chu Zhao even extended her hand, calculated, and said, “I’m seven years older than the Young Highness.” She touched her own face. “In another ten years, when A’Yu grows up and is in the bloom of youth, I’ll be past my prime with faded looks—”
She looked at Xie Yanlai, her eyes sparkling.
“So, A’Jiu, are you worried about me?”
Xie Yanlai somewhat regretted not sitting down for tea earlier; otherwise, he could spray this wretched girl in the face right now.
Now he could only point at Chu Zhao.
“Don’t be glib with me,” he said through gritted teeth in a low voice. Taking a deep breath, he refused to engage in her nonsense. “Is it because of those troops? So His Majesty wants to bestow this marriage?”
The young man’s eyes were penetrating.
Having spent the night leading these troops to guard the palace city gates, clearing out rebels within the city, and finally garrisoning the four gates of the capital, he knew very clearly that these troops belonged neither to the imperial guards nor to the capital garrison.
Who could have imagined that such a force was hidden in the capital, taking orders from Chu Ling, who was far away in the border commandery and had disappeared from view in the capital.
If they had known earlier, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince would never have dared to act rashly—or rather, the two would have fought to seize control of this force first.
Then now, the Emperor’s sudden bestowal of marriage between the Young Highness and Chu Zhao was also for these troops, wasn’t it?
A’Jiu was just such a perceptive person. Chu Zhao looked at him and said with a smile, “Those are His Majesty’s troops.”
Xie Yanlai scoffed, raising an eyebrow: “These troops are controlled by your father.”
Chu Zhao nodded: “That’s true. Actually, I didn’t even know about this.” At this point, her eyes danced with excitement as she moved another step closer to Xie Yanlai. “Last night when Eunuch Qi and Uncle Zhong met and discussed it, I learned that my father controls a force that only His Majesty and he command. These troops are in the border commanderies, in the capital, hidden in various places, following my father’s deployment.”
Though they had met last night, from last night until now, this was their first opportunity to speak carefully. Chu Zhao told everything to Xie Yanlai in one breath.
“Because of my father’s identity, Eunuch Qi brought the Young Highness running to our home. Though Prince Zhongshan’s heir didn’t know my father controlled troops, he guessed that my father’s identity was unusual and was also watching our house. After discovering the Young Highness’s whereabouts, he even wanted to convince my uncle to kill the Young Highness.”