Tigers Sniff the Rose - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

In early November, Princess Danyang arrived in Nanhai.

As she stepped off the carriage, the people of Nanhai jostled to catch a glimpse. They had never seen a Princess come to a place like theirs; her brocades and embroidery, her dazzling pearls and jade, made them look upon her with awe and reverence.

After the brief welcoming ceremonies, Mu Wanyao went to the study of the Nanhai County Magistrate, Li Zhi, to pay her respects to her uncle.

Li Zhi would never let a Princess truly bow to him. Mu Wanyao had barely bent her knees before Li Zhi, filled with trepidation, hurried to lift her up.

Uncle and niece looked at each other, both feeling how fleeting time was. Since they had parted in Chang'an three years ago, both had changed a great deal.

Mu Wanyao was no longer the delicate, cute, and naive little Princess of fourteen or fifteen; Li Zhi now had grandchildren and was enjoying the company of three generations under one roof.

Li Zhi was a scholar with a lean, cultured appearance. He invited his niece to sit and signaled for a maid to serve tea and water: "Your Highness arrived in Lingnan in October. I have been looking forward to your arrival with bated breath every day, but it took over a month before I could finally see you. It has certainly not been easy."

Mu Wanyao smiled faintly and said, "We are family, Uncle; you need not stand on such ceremony with me. I fell ill in October and had to recuperate in Shashui Town, causing you worry."

Li Zhi asked with concern, "I heard about that, but the details were unclear. Could Your Highness explain in more detail?"

Mu Wanyao gave him a rough outline of her attempt to find the White Ox tea tree to bring back to Chang'an.

She had asked around as soon as she arrived; the people in Nanhai did not know much about the White Ox tea tree either, which showed that she had indeed obtained something rare and valuable.

Li Zhi stroked his beard, looking thoughtful: "What a brilliant 'open scheme.' I have vaguely heard that this Yan Erlang is only seventeen. He certainly has impressive methods."

Mu Wanyao was stunned.

She thought over the details of her search for the tea tree and laughed helplessly: "Uncle, what are you talking about? What 'open scheme'? And what does this have to do with Yan Erlang?"

Li Zhi looked at Princess Danyang with deep, searching eyes. Not to mention this niece of his who understood nothing of politics, even he could only sigh the word "open scheme" upon first hearing of it. An open scheme is the most helpless kind—it is a plan where everything is out in the open, and yet, one cannot find fault with it.

Li Zhi pointed out to her: "That Yan Erlang personally pointed out the interesting qualities of the White Ox tea to you. If I am not mistaken, before your servants revealed your identity, he had already deduced who you were through roundabout ways. Since he demonstrated the tea to you, why not be thorough and simply give the tree to you? Why insist on letting you find it yourself?

"As a local, could he not have known there were snake pits and hallucinogenic herbs there? You could say he rarely went there and thus was unaware, but it is also possible he was very aware. I suspect that even if Nanhai had not sent men to find you, Yan Erlang would have surely found an excuse to go into the wild to save you. But no one can hold him accountable, for you controlled whether you went into the wild or not; and he certainly didn't raise the snakes that bit you.

"He intended to become your savior—he wanted to attach himself to Your Highness."

Mu Wanyao was dazed: "Attach himself to me for what purpose... I see."

She understood in an instant. By becoming her savior, after she left, the officials in the Lingnan Circuit would surely pay attention to the Yan family. Yan Shisheng was devoted to the imperial exams and wanted to succeed through this method.

Ridiculous!

Li Zhi observed Mu Wanyao’s expression, and seeing her face turn cold, he asked curiously: "I assumed that by attaching himself to Your Highness, he wanted to marry a Princess? But does Yan Erlang really think a rustic scholar like him can marry a Princess? That doesn't seem to match the intelligence required to conceive of such an 'open scheme'."

Mu Wanyao sneered: "He doesn't want to marry a Princess; he wants to receive recommendations from officials during next year's provincial examinations so he can go to Chang'an!"

Li Zhi was speechless, then burst into laughter.

Mu Wanyao said: "Because his poetry and essays are a complete mess, not worth mentioning! If he could obtain a quota for the provincial exams based on his talent, I would practically take his surname! He played me like a puppet..."

Mu Wanyao gritted her teeth, her anger growing as she spoke, and she slammed her teacup heavily onto the table.

She had been a fool to think Yan Shisheng had feelings for her... She was a fool to have felt guilty for him upon their parting...

Mu Wanyao raised her voice in anger: "Someone, go to Shashui Town and find Yan Erlang, and take him..."

However, halfway through the order, Mu Wanyao suddenly stopped.

She remembered him pressed against the carriage wall when they parted, his eyes reddened, his breath shallow. He had been moved by passion after being forced for so long, but the moment he reached to embrace her shoulders, she had pushed him away without mercy...

Mu Wanyao’s cheeks burned hot. She took a sip of tea to cover her embarrassment, but the tea was so hot that her face flushed even redder, as if stained with rouge.

Li Zhi observed the Princess’s attitude the entire time, wearing a smile that was not quite a smile—

Because she discovered she had been used by Yan Shisheng, Mu Wanyao was in a foul mood. She endured it for a long time but could no longer hold back; by dinnertime, the Princess, who had been stifling her rage all day, finally sent Guard Fang on an errand.

She sent Fang Tong to Shashui Town to give Yan Shisheng a thorough scolding for two full hours!

Mu Wanyao said with a grin: "It would be best if you knock on his door in the dead of night, drag him out of his bed, and berate him for two hours. Only then will I be satisfied."

At noon the next day, Fang Tong returned. After riding at a gallop, Fang Tong wearily described to Mu Wanyao just how helpless and bewildered Yan Erlang had been when he was woken up in the middle of the night to be scolded.

Upon hearing that Yan Shisheng was bewildered and helpless, Mu Wanyao burst into a chuckle.

Only after she had forgiven him did she remember the memorial Yan Erlang had written for her upon their parting. Mu Wanyao went to find Li Zhi again to present the memorial Yan Shisheng had written on how to deal with the Wu Barbarian forces.

Mu Wanyao had rushed to Nanhai to resolve the matter of Meng Zaishi, so naturally, she needed to ask Li Zhi for a strategy.

Her uncle had once commanded a hundred thousand frontier troops and was a master of political maneuvering in Chang'an. Mu Wanyao could only rest easy once Li Zhi had verified whether Yan Shisheng’s strategy was useful.

It was not that this uncle loved his late sister's only surviving young daughter so much.

Rather, it was politics: Mu Wanyao needed the Jinling Li family to return to Chang'an, and the Jinling Li family needed Mu Wanyao's maneuvering in Chang'an to make a comeback. Their interests were aligned, and they had formed a united front.

Li Zhi read the memorial, his eyes gradually brightening: "What a pity."

Mu Wanyao asked nervously: "Why?"

Li Zhi said: "If you hadn't said that this Yan Erlang was determined to go to Chang'an, I would have liked to have him by my side as a strategist. You said you never told him about the situation with the Wu Barbarians, yet he guessed it with startling accuracy. A person like this has a limitless future."

Mu Wanyao’s lips curled up slightly.

It felt almost as if her uncle were praising her.

Yet she disparaged him again: "What is so rare about that? Making him write poetry and essays would be the death of him. I see he has used so much craftiness to try to get to Chang'an, but once he gets there, he still has to pass the exams on poetry and essays. It's questionable if he can even pass the imperial exams; I don't see that he has any other skills."

Li Zhi shook his head and smiled, ignoring the Princess’s stubbornness.

Li Zhi kept the memorial and said: "One of Yan Erlang’s strategies is quite good; I intend to use it. Although I no longer command the frontier troops, there are still some in the army who listen to me. With this plan, I will help Your Highness deal with this Wu King. For at least a year, the Wu King will have no time to harass Your Highness."

Mu Wanyao’s eyes were clear and bright, swirling like mist.

Even Li Zhi, her elder, felt she was charming and alluring, and his tone softened by three degrees: "Your Highness has suffered. Rest assured; since you have already returned from the Wu lands, I will never let you return to that desolate, savage place again."

Mu Wanyao offered a perfunctory thanks.

She knew full well that when she married into the Wu lands, it was the result of discussions between this very uncle and her mother.

At that time, the Li family needed to sacrifice her to gain a voice in Chang'an; now that the Li family was helping her, it was also so the Li family could make a comeback in the future.

It was merely driven by interests.

She would be too foolish if she thought her uncle was helping her out of pity.

Sure enough, once this matter was settled, Li Zhi casually brought up her marriage.

Li Zhi asked with a smile: "Now that the old business is over, and Your Highness is in such a prime, do you have any young men you like in Chang'an? In our Great Wei, there is no logic stating that one cannot remarry after being married once. Ordinary commoners can remarry, and of course, a Princess who has been married can too."

Mu Wanyao said slowly: "I do not. The Crown Prince has recommended quite a few to me, though."

Because the Crown Prince also wanted to pull her into his faction and wanted the influence of the Li family behind her.

Li Zhi’s eyes flashed, noncommittal.

Clearly, while the Li family tacitly allowed Mu Wanyao to align herself with the Crown Prince in Chang'an, they were unwilling for her relationship with him to become too close.

Li Zhi said: "Before I came to Lingnan last year, I passed through Luoyang. Your Highness should know of the great Wei clan of Luoyang. Your Highness should not marry a direct descendant of the Wei family, as His Majesty would be on guard. But if it were merely an illegitimate son, His Majesty would not question it too much.

"When I was in Luoyang, I met a genius youth who is an illegitimate son of the Wei family. His mother was a mistress, and he was not well-regarded after returning to the Wei estate. I took him as a student and taught him for a few days. Upon parting, I told him he could go to Chang'an to take the imperial exams and present himself to Princess Danyang.

"When the time comes, meet him. If you find him acceptable, there would be no harm in letting him become your husband."

Mu Wanyao remained silent for a moment, then nodded lightly.

Seeing her cold attitude, Li Zhi added a few more words: "Your Highness may rest assured; the student I have selected is certainly no nobody. He has an excellent demeanor and overflowing talent; were he not suppressed by the Wei family for years, it would not have been my turn to cultivate him. Ahem, but there is no need for Your Highness to rush into marriage. You can get to know each other first. Dragging it out for a year or two, or even three, is perfectly fine."

Dragging it out for a year or two or three is fine?

Li Zhi’s words were very strange.

Mu Wanyao looked at her uncle in surprise: "What is his name?"

Li Zhi was concise: "Wei Shu. I gave him a courtesy name, Juyuan. Perhaps it doesn't matter to you now, but once you see Wei Juyuan, you will know I am not forcing you to marry. Compared to the unions the Crown Prince finds for you, Wei Juyuan is more suitable to be your worthy match."

Mu Wanyao nodded again.

Li Zhi stared at her for a moment.

He asked: "What is it? Are you unwilling? Could it be you have someone you already like? Which great clan does he belong to? Your uncle can help you weigh the pros and cons."

A descendant of a great clan.

Mu Wanyao’s eyes curved.

After talking with Li Zhi for the whole evening, the moon climbed above the treetops.

In the refined room, clear light brushed her face. She rested her chin on her hand, her eyelashes covering her eyes, her allure shifting and turning: "Uncle has misunderstood. It makes no difference to me whom I marry."

Li Zhi looked at her for a long time, pity rising in his eyes.

He whispered: "If, after many years... you find someone you love, you can also divorce and marry the one you truly cherish. Just not now. Do you understand, Yaoyao?"

Seeing her uncle so serious, Mu Wanyao couldn't help but chuckle: "Uncle truly has misunderstood; I do not like anyone. I did not like anyone before, and I will not like anyone in the future. Since returning from the Wu lands, I have sworn to be an unrestrained, capricious, and bad-tempered Princess. Marriage, to me, is of no consequence."

She turned her face away, her gaze resting proudly and quietly on the moonlight outside the window—

It was not easy for a Princess who had been sent away for a marriage alliance to return to Chang'an.

She could not marry whomever she pleased.

Therefore, she did not like anyone.

She would never again let herself be wronged, nor would she let those around her be wronged.