The First Jasmine - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Visiting the Prince Ding Manor

The Prince Ding Manor

"Your Highness, the Third Young Master of the Feng family has arrived."

Hearing the guard's report, Mo Xiuyao set down the brush he was using to paint, knitted his brows slightly, and said, "Let him in."

Before long, Feng Zhiyao appeared at the study door, sporting his typical playboy appearance. He said with a beaming smile, "With the grand wedding fast approaching, you can actually still sit perfectly still?"

Mo Xiuyao didn't even look at him, merely replying flatly, "What did you come here for? There are absolutely no benefits to be gained from letting people know you associate with me."

Feng Zhiyao shrugged with helpless resignation. "It's not that I wanted to come, but someone wishes to see you. The threshold of your Prince Ding Manor is simply too high, so they sought me out instead."

Mo Xiuyao halted his brush. After a brief moment of contemplation, he raised his head and said, "Xu Qingchen."

"The Prince of Ding is indeed exceptionally well-informed; your reputation is well-deserved." A voice laced with laughter drifted in from outside the door as Xu Qingchen, dressed entirely in white and bearing an otherworldly grace, stepped inside.

With the sudden accommodation of three outstanding men—each possessing his own distinct charm—the study instantly felt somewhat crowded. Mo Xiuyao looked at Xu Qingchen and remained silent for a moment, before finally letting out a soft sigh. "I have troubled Elder Master Xu to exhaust himself over this."

Xu Qingchen nodded in satisfaction, replying, "There is no need for that. Even if it weren't you, my father would still have to make a personal trip to the capital if it were anyone else. One must know that Li'er... is the only daughter of our Xu family."

Feng Zhiyao raised an eyebrow, finding a seat for himself and casting a teasing look at Mo Xiuyao. He had said it before: the future Princess Consort of Prince Ding possessed an incredibly powerful backing.

Xu Qingchen clearly harbored no intention of standing on ceremony either. Walking to an empty chair on one side, he sat down, measuring Mo Xiuyao as he spoke. "I truly never expected that the remarkably brilliant number one youthful general of the capital from back then would actually become so... elegant and refined today."

Back when Xu Qingchen first gained fame, it also happened to be the height of Mo Xiuyao's renown. The two had shared a slight acquaintance back then. However, with one championing military martial arts and the other exalting literary scholarship, their personalities were worlds apart, and thus they had never formed a deep friendship.

Mo Xiuyao lowered his eyes, offering a flat, bitter smile. "A mere cripple. By bringing up the past, is Brother Xu intentionally tearing open someone's old wounds?"

Xu Qingchen raised an eyebrow and smiled. "If Your Highness cannot even accept your current reality, on what grounds should the Xu family hand Li'er over to you? Furthermore, this junior can't quite tell that Your Highness feels wounded at all."

Mo Xiuyao lifted his gaze, his eyes bearing a faint layer of detachment. "If I were to feel wounded, would Brother Xu refrain from mentioning it?"

Feng Zhiyao rolled his eyes as he looked at the two men before him. "I say, do you two intend to keep spouting this utterly meaningless nonsense?"

Xu Qingchen offered an apologetic smile, saying, "Very well, I have been discourteous. However, I believe Your Highness will forgive the state of mind of an elder brother who is about to see his younger sister off to marriage, correct?"

Mo Xiuyao could only respond with a bitter smile. "Actually, Xiuyao finds it rather strange... how could the Xu family agree to marry Miss Ye into the Prince Ding Manor?"

Xu Qingchen cast a brief glance at Feng Zhiyao. Feng Zhiyao merely offered a lazy smile in return. Xu Qingchen understood in his heart that Feng Zhiyao was someone Mo Xiuyao trusted. Although he didn't quite know why Mo Xiuyao would place his trust in a son of the Feng family—who clearly leaned toward the Emperor's faction—Xu Qingchen had no intention of prying into the matter. He replied, "Because the Emperor would never grant us the opportunity to make a free choice. Prince Li was never a good choice to begin with, and it just so happens that Li'er found him unpleasant to the eye. Even more coincidentally, the Emperor actually agreed to dissolve the engagement. So, why should we disagree? Although the Emperor meddled further by bestowing a marriage decree upon Li'er, both this junior and my father still place a bit more trust in Prince Ding compared to Prince Li."

Feng Zhiyao’s eyebrows twitched. Prince Li was, after all, the number one choice for a husband in the hearts of the capital's young noble ladies.

Xu Qingchen was utterly indifferent. "That cannot alter the factual reality that he is a fool."

Was Prince Li a fool? Of course not. But the Eldest Young Master of the Xu family clearly did not think so. Consequently, Feng Zhiyao could only toss him a look that said, You are ruthless.

"Does the Emperor still find it impossible to tolerate the Xu family? Tying the Xu family and the Prince Ding Manor together, and then swallowing them up in one bite... isn't his appetite a bit too grand?" After quite a long silence, Mo Xiuyao finally asked flatly.

Inside the study, the temperature seemed to turn icy cold in an instant. Feng Zhiyao could not help but restrain his wild, unbridled smile, knitting his brows as he looked at Mo Xiuyao.

"Hehe... Your Highness possesses excellent insight," Xu Qingchen laughed. His slender fingers gently tapped against the armrest of his chair, his movements still retaining a boundless elegance. "The current Emperor likely believes that the strength of both the Xu family and the Prince Ding Manor is far inferior to what it once was. If he were to strike at each individually, it would inevitably startle the quarry. It would be better to... round them up all at once. The Xu family, after all, controls the Lishan Academy—the number one academy in Great Chu. At least half of the officials within the imperial court emerged from the Lishan Academy. How could a monarch with grand strategies and lofty ambitions like the current Emperor truly feel at ease?"

For some unknown reason, Feng Zhiyao felt that the four words "grand strategies and lofty ambitions" issuing from Xu Qingchen's mouth sounded more like pure irony.

Mo Xiuyao nodded and said, "The Prince Ding Manor has indeed suffered a severe blow to its vital energy. It is no wonder the Emperor possesses such confidence."

Xu Qingchen smiled. "This junior does not believe the Emperor ought to harbor such immense confidence. Otherwise, over these past years... how could the Prince Ding Manor still exist?"

The Prince Ding Manor was absolutely considered a thorn in the current Emperor's eye and flesh. When the Prince Ding Manor encountered that cataclysmic upheaval in the past, if the man before him hadn't endured a body racked with illness and pain to turn the raging tide, he feared that the Prince Ding Manor would today only exist within the memories of the common people.

Looking at the two equally elegant and refined men before his eyes, Feng Zhiyao could not help but feel an involuntary shiver strike the depths of his heart. Turning the two families you dread the most into in-laws... Your Majesty, do you truly harbor such an intense hatred for your own vast empire?

"I say... can you two discuss something that a normal person can handle?" He was merely a playboy, a pure playboy. Why did they have to discuss matters sufficient to warrant the execution of an entire clan right in front of him?

Xu Qingchen nodded in agreement, altering his topic with great understanding. "Very well, I always feel that there might still be some changes regarding the marriage between Your Highness and Li'er. Of course, the Xu family—having already distanced themselves from the capital—is entirely powerless regarding these matters. Therefore, I must trouble Your Highness. Consider it as... Your Highness's sincerity."

Mo Xiuyao inclined his head. "Many thanks to Brother Xu for the reminder. This Prince knows what must be done."

Highly satisfied, Xu Qingchen rose to his feet. "Since it is so, this junior shall take his leave. We shall converse again when we have leisure."

Mo Xiuyao nodded. His fingers lightly tapped a few times against the armrest of his wheelchair, and a youth dressed in brown appeared at the doorway. "Your Highness."

"Escort Young Master Xu out."

Xu Qingchen raised his handsome eyebrows slightly. Without uttering any superfluous words, he followed the youth out.

Only the two of them remained inside the study. Feng Zhiyao looked at his close friend with a face full of bewilderment. "A-Yao, why do I feel that this Xu Qingchen is somewhat different from the rumors outside?"

"Are you, the Third Young Master of the Feng family, the same on the inside as you are on the outside?"

Feng Zhiyao fell silent. Who among the people of this world did not live their lives wearing a few masks?

"What exactly does Xu Qingchen mean? Does the one in the palace truly wish to wipe out both the Xu family and the Prince Ding Manor in one fell swoop?" Feng Zhiyao inquired.

"The Xu family stands at the head of Great Chu's literati, while the Prince Ding Manor has held massive military power for generations. It is natural that we are an eyesore to him."

"Even so, there's no need to drag the two families together, right? Isn't he afraid that if you truly unite, you will pull him down from that high seat? Is he too confident, or is the Emperor himself hiding some ultimate trump card?"

Mo Xiuyao offered a shallow smile. "The Xu family will never commit treason. He merely needs to involve the Xu family by association when the Prince Ding Manor meets with misfortune. He actually knows very well in his heart that as long as Master Qingyun lives, the Xu family will absolutely never betray Great Chu. Even if we become in-laws, the Xu family will not provide much assistance to the Prince Ding Manor."

Feng Zhiyao shrugged, thinking to himself that he certainly couldn't tell that Xu Qingchen resembled a subject who would pledge his absolute, undying loyalty.

"Have men keep a close eye on Mo Jingli." Mo Xiuyao picked up his brush once more to finish the painting he had left incomplete just moments ago.

Feng Zhiyao lazily fanned his folding fan. "Mo Jingli is incredibly busy right now. Who do you think spread those pieces of news?" When he had first heard those marketplace rumors, Feng Zhiyao felt that Mo Jingli must have completely failed to burn proper incense this year to encounter such terrible luck.

Without even lifting his head, Mo Xiuyao replied, "The Xu family, the Murong Manor, the Manor of the Duke of Hua, the Liu Manor, the Censorate, the Chu Fragrance Pavilion, and... this Prince."

Feng Zhiyao was instantly left entirely speechless. Very well, he shouldn't have asked. Having offended so many people, Mo Jingli, if you aren't the one down on your luck, who else would be?