Chapter 94 Cloud Nine: The Villa of Mount Baicha
“Young miss! Young miss! I bring good news!” Jet burst into Feng Luodi"s room one morning, her voice laced with joy.
Feng Luodi jumped at her loud voice and she dropped the zither string that she was trying to restring in her hand. Birds fluttered away from their perch on the windowsill, startled by the loud noise. Feng Luodi looked at Jet helplessly and sighed. Scarlet"s getting more feminine as the days go by, but Jet"s behaviour is becoming increasingly raucous.
“Now, now. No need to rush.” Feng Luodi poured a cup of tea for her.
Jet downed the cup of tea in three gulps and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Miss Qi has caused quite the commotion in the city! Both the Heir and the son of the Minister of the Left have publicly announced that they intend to win her hand for marriage!”
“Public announcements?” Feng Luodi was perplexed. “Didn"t Jianqiu make it known that she already had someone in mind during the Chrysanthemum Appraisal Gathering that time? Why is the Heir still making such an announcement?”
Jet struggled. “She did, but the person did not show his face at all. That led to speculations that Miss Qi is currently having emotional issues because of his disappearance, and sparked the public"s interest in seeing her wedded to the Heir.”
“Where did you hear all of these from?” Feng Luodi frowned.
“Everywhere! The inns, the teahouses, the restaurants – you can hear talk about it wherever you go, young miss!” Jet tousled her hair. “If I hadn"t known better, I would"ve believed that the two of them are already engaged, just from hearing the discussions on the street!”
Feng Luodi rubbed her chin. “I wouldn"t be surprised at all if this was the Heir"s plan from the start. He"s trying to force Minister Qi"s hand by public opinion. Perhaps that was why Jianqiu is grounded: she"ll definitely start a public commotion if she learns of this.”
“Then why did Gan Qingjia make the same announcement as well? ” Before Feng Luodi had left for the North, the two of them were at each other"s throats every time they"d met. Did I miss anything while I was gone?
“Oh, you must not have heard the news yet, then!” Jet recalled the events that had happened while Feng Luodi was gone. “Everyone knew about it when it happened.”
“Quickly, tell me!” Feng Luodi handed her a cup of tea. Jet sipped the tea and slowly recounted the events that had transpired over the winter that Feng Luodi was gone.
Although Qi Jianqiu was born a woman, and a beautiful one at that, she was generous and pa.s.sionate about life. She has three pa.s.sions in her life: cooking, making friends, and of the arts. Naturally, the restaurants, the zither parlours and the teahouses were her favourite hangouts. Intending to win her hand, the Heir naturally frequented these places in hopes of catching Qi Jianqiu and leaving a good impression. Meanwhile, Gan Qingjia, the third son of the Minister of the Left, was one who frequented such places as well. His love for music and beautiful women always led him to zither parlours, while he frequented restaurants such as Manchun Tang for their culinary delights.
And that was why Qi Jianqiu and Gan Qingjia kept b.u.mping into one another at the zither parlours and restaurants.
Naturally, the Heir"s advances were spurned by Qi Jianqiu, but his relentless efforts were noticed by Gan Qingjia. One day, while the Heir was expressing his love for Qi Jianqiu again, Gan Qingjia publicly announced his intentions of courting Qi Jianqiu. Linking his actions to the events that had transpired during the Chrysanthemum Appraisal Gathering in autumn, the gossip quickly caught fire. Word spread through Chang"an like wildfire, the citizens involved in personal bets on the results of the courts.h.i.+ps.
“Cough! Cough!” Feng Luodi choked on her tea. “Is everyone that bored? I"m sure Jianqiu was grounded for talking back to the Minister because she was annoyed by the entire affair! Unfortunately, the Minister does not intend to give her hand to either of her suitors. Poor Jianqiu.”
“But, young miss,” Jet continued, “something puzzles me.”
“What"s wrong?”
Jet tousled her hair again. “Although Master Gan had made known his intention to court Miss Qi, he"s still been spending time with Linglong from Moonglade and Crystal from Flowers of Fog. It does seem that he"s only declared his courts.h.i.+p in jest; many are starting to mock Miss Qi for that.”
“I can"t make heads of the situation either.” Feng Luodi rubbed her chin. “Gan Qingjia is indeed a flirtatious man, but he knows his boundaries and limits. I don"t think that he"s one to treat marriage lightly – I"m sure his brothers would"ve stopped him if that was the case.”
Shaking her head, she set her thoughts about Gan Qingjia aside. “I wonder how elder brother is doing.” Feng Luodi propped her head up with an elbow. “I just wish I could see Jianqiu soon.”
Speaking of which, elder brother must be in a tough spot as well. The Minister of the Left is one of the Heir"s followers, and now that his son has declared his courts.h.i.+p of Jianqiu, things will surely get awkward between them
The Royal Palace, the Imperial Study.
“My Heir, have you ever heard of the Villa of Mount Baicha?” The Emperor skimmed through the report in his hand, his tone casual.
The Heir replied respectfully. “You had instructed me to learn about the trades and economy of our kingdom, and the Villa of Mount Baicha is amongst the richest traders of our kingdom.”
He continued. “It was formed three years ago, and it has risen to be the richest trader in the Jiangnan province. They deal in everything from silk, to jade, to food and wine. Of their businesses, their banks generate the most income for them, having a branch set up in most cities in the kingdom. It is said by the people of Jiangnan that the Villa of Mount Baicha has the wealth of the province in their pockets, and soon they"ll add the wealth of the world to that if they continue to expand as they have been doing.”
“Hmph, to rival the kingdom in riches, huh?” The Emperor sneered, tossing the report onto his desk. An attendant quickly handed a cup of tea to him. “Do you know who is the Master of the Villa?”
“I was surprised by the wealth of the Villa, and had conducted some investigations into it. The Master of the Villa was from the Jianghu, but is mysterious to a point where not even the attendants in the Villa had seen his face before.”
“Now that"s suspicious, for a man of the Jianghu to be in possession of such wealth. Hiding his ident.i.ty, huh?” The Emperor sipped his tea. “I wonder if he has any ulterior motives.”
The Heir bowed. “If you"re worried about him, I will investigate the matter further and return with a conclusive result.”
“Why thank you, my Heir.” The Emperor waved his hand in the air. “Be careful when you get to it.”
“Yes, Father. I know what to do.” The Heir bowed again.
The Emperor sat down his cup and stood up from his chair, the attendant hurrying to support him. “I hear that you have your eyes set on someone to be your wife?”
“I do have someone in mind, but whether she can be my wife is up to you, Father.” The Heir stepped forward and took the position of the attendant.
“I"ve met the sister of Concubine Yao before.” The Emperor slowly walked forward. “She is indeed beautiful, but her personality…is a factor that you should reconsider. You can marry whoever you want, but for the position of your First Lady, you know well how important it is.”
“I understand.” The Heir smiled gently. “I"ll only decide after the woman has been approved by you and mother.”
The Emperor sighed. “You"ve always been filial and kind. If only Du"er could"ve learned some of that from you…he wouldn"t have had to end up like that.”
“Seventh Brother was just confused, Father.” The Heir continued smiling. “I know how kind you are, Father. If you miss him, you can invite him back to celebrate with us on festive occasions.”
The Emperor shook his hand. “Let"s not talk about him. You may leave; I want to check on Concubine Yao. She hasn"t been feeling well lately, or so I"ve heard.”
“I will not disturb you any further then, Father. I shall take my leave.” The Heir bowed and turned to leave the Imperial Study.
An attendant quickly walked up to him as he left the study. “You"ve been inside for a long while, your Highness. Has his Majesty entrusted something important to you again?”
“You"re pretty smart, aren"t you?” The Heir laughed lightly, but a puzzled look came on his face. “Yu Ming, what do you think of Father"s words? Is he supportive of my courts.h.i.+p for the daughter of the Minister of the Right? He sounded…weird.”
“You have nothing to worry about, your Highness. His Majesty has already made it known that you can marry anyone that the Empress deems worthy. Doesn"t that show his support of your courts.h.i.+p?”
“You"re right, I guess.” The Heir looked up at the sky. “I"ve been the Heir Apparent for many years, but my brothers too grow in power with every pa.s.sing year. Father"s affection seems to be rather equal, huh?”
Yu Ming stood beside him, quiet and una.s.suming.