The room fell completely silent. Even the sudden hitch in their breathing could be heard with perfect clarity.
Gu Yun was struck dumb. His hand felt as though it had been wrapped in red-hot iron, burning against his skin. He tried several times to shake the other man off, but failed each time. Fixing him with a fierce glare, he snapped, “Let go.”
Chao Yan lowered his gaze to him.
Gu Yun turned his head away.
The air seemed strangely heavy. Chao Yan said, “I never intended to take a concubine. The portraits have already been returned.”
Gu Yun already knew that. But what did it have to do with him? His emotions felt twisted into a knot. His lips moved slightly. They were still damp and faintly sore.
“Your Highness,” he said, “have you forgotten our agreement?”
Chao Yan looked at him intently.
“I haven’t.”
Gu Yun felt his hand being squeezed. The grip was not strong, yet it somehow made his hand feel even hotter. He wanted all the more to wrench it free.
“But I can’t control my feelings,” Chao Yan continued.
Gu Yun: “…”
Gu Yun: “Then love a few more people.”
A subtle change crossed Chao Yan’s face.
Gu Yun could tell he was hurt. In truth, he regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. They had been too cruel.
Chao Yan released him.
The warmth immediately left Gu Yun’s hand, and a gust of cold air from the window seemed to rush straight into his palm.
Chao Yan pulled him down from the desk, straightened his rumpled clothes, and smiled.
“Sorry. You were standing too close just now. I couldn’t help myself. Let’s talk about business. What did you come to see me for?”
Gu Yun clasped his now-cool hand and glanced at Chao Yan’s left cheek.
He had been too angry earlier and had not held back. As a result, the man’s left cheek was slightly swollen. The handprint stood out vividly, flushed a rouge-like red.
His gaze lingered there for several moments before he looked away and turned to leave.
Chao Yan quietly watched his departing figure. Only after Gu Yun had disappeared did the ease leave his expression.
He sat back down at the desk and lifted a finger to his left cheek. A dense, stinging ache spread across it like rippling water.
Lowering his eyes, he let his fingertips brush his lips. The soft sensation still lingered.
Not a loss.
Time passed slowly.
When Gu Yun still failed to return, Chao Yan sighed and rose to leave. Just as he reached the doorway, he nearly collided with Gu Yun, who had come back after all.
Gu Yun was carrying a bamboo basket. Looking inside, Chao Yan saw ice, rhubarb, and several other items. Understanding dawned.
He started to smile, but the pull on his injured cheek made the attempt fail. Instead, he sat back down.
Gu Yun placed the basket on the table, took out a piece of ice, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and gently pressed it against Chao Yan’s cheek.
He should have struck him elsewhere. Not the face.
A slap across the face was too humiliating. If anyone saw it, it would cause trouble. And really, it had only been a kiss. He should not have lashed out. A sharp rebuke would have sufficed.
Besides, he himself was partly to blame.
Gu Yun, Gu Yun. Your self-cultivation still has a long way to go.
From a rational perspective, he had risked both his own future and Xu Jingzhou’s.
What if Chao Yan held a grudge? Even if he had people to rely on, if Chao Yan truly wanted him dead, he would still die. His thoughts were a mess.
After icing the injury, he took out the rhubarb, crushed it into a paste, mixed it with vinegar, and carefully applied it to Chao Yan’s cheek. After all that effort, the handprint faded considerably.
Pursing his lips, Gu Yun reached out and lightly touched the treated skin. Chao Yan turned his head. Instead of avoiding the touch, he rested his cheek directly in Gu Yun’s palm.
Gu Yun: “…”
Instantly, his mind cleared.
What grudge? The man was simply addicted to taking advantage whenever he could.
Back then he should have slapped the other cheek as well. As for now, he immediately withdrew his hand.
“Your Highness, regarding the freezing of the canal, I have another idea.”
Chao Yan remained in the same position, looking up at him. Unexpectedly, Gu Yun found himself thinking that perhaps he should have let him rest there a little longer.
The thought appeared only for an instant. Yet in that instant, the answer he had long refused to examine surfaced from the depths of his mind like the tip of an iceberg breaking through the sea.
The moment he saw that icy point, he went cold from head to toe. It felt as though some malevolent spirit had seized his bones, making his entire body heavy. His nails dug sharply into his palms.
Horrified, he retreated several steps. Only after putting some distance between them did the feeling finally loosen its grip, allowing him to steady himself.
When he looked at Chao Yan again, the man was sitting upright against the back of his chair, watching him with a pair of pitch-black eyes.
Perhaps it was simply guilt. Yet Gu Yun had the unsettling feeling that he had been seen through completely.
Frowning, he put on a show of annoyance. “If Your Highness isn’t going to listen, then I’ll go. I won’t disturb Your Highness’s work.”
“Go on,” Chao Yan said. He poured a cup of tea.
“I am busy, but not so busy that I can’t spare this moment. Sit down and tell me.”
Maintaining a calm exterior, Gu Yun sat beside him.
“Outside Wenhua Hall, I overheard the discussion between Your Highness and the other officials. It seemed you weren’t particularly satisfied with their proposals.”
“That’s right,” Chao Yan replied. “I’m not satisfied at all.
“In the depths of winter, the ice on the canal becomes extremely thick. In some places it reaches nearly three feet. I’ve spoken with the officials responsible for the canal, and they’ve seen it happen before.
“If we ignore it now and wait until later to break through such thick ice by manpower alone, the task will be extraordinarily difficult. Moreover, if we employ refugees to break the ice, food alone won’t be enough. We’ll also need to provide clothing, cold-weather supplies, and medicine. Otherwise, more than half of them may die or be injured, provoking public outrage.
That is neither the outcome I want nor the outcome His Majesty wants. Yet as far as funding is concerned, unless the Eastern Palace subsidises part of the expense, we may not be able to afford it. The old cases involve too many people. His Majesty says he intends to investigate thoroughly and spare no one, but in truth he doesn’t really want that. He merely wants to make an example of a few. Otherwise, the court would cease functioning and the realm would descend into chaos.
After court that day, His Majesty spoke with me. I understood what he meant. So I can only confiscate the assets of those officials who have gone too far. Although that will yield a considerable sum, the money must replenish the national treasury, replenish His Majesty’s private treasury, reward the soldiers carrying out the confiscations, compensate the Ministry of Justice officials and Eastern Palace officials investigating the cases, and provide benefits to the officials from the other six ministries who assist in the process.
Even if I take my own share, there won’t be much left. When everyone else is taking a cut, I have to take one too. Even so, I still want to bring the canal ice under control as early as possible and minimise losses.
This year the Eastern Palace has subsidised the anti-freezing measures. Next year, when another official is placed in charge of monitoring the canal ice, are they expected to subsidise it as well? And if that official shirks responsibility, disrupting canal transport, His Majesty will inevitably hand the matter back to me.
Is the Eastern Palace supposed to keep subsidising this year after year? We may be relatively well off, but if we continue like that, we’ll eventually empty the coffers. We won’t even be able to pay officials and palace staff their monthly stipends, let alone handle anything else.”
Gu Yun nodded.
He looked around the room until he found a brush. Standing up, he spread out a sheet of xuan paper, dipped the brush into ink, and began to write.
“Your Highness, like you, I want to bring the canal ice under control early and minimise losses. You mentioned earlier that if the weather remains cold for a few more days, a thin layer of ice will begin to form. In other words, the canal is currently still in the pre-freezing stage. As far as I know, rivers freeze gradually in winter according to water velocity, depth, and temperature.”
Whenever Gu Yun spoke of serious matters, he naturally became composed. He himself had no idea how attractive he appeared in such moments. Those around him, however, were keenly aware of it.
Chao Yan rose and moved closer.
His gaze lingered on Gu Yun for a moment before finally settling on the paper. By now, Gu Yun’s handwriting had become quite accomplished.
“With limited funds,” Gu Yun continued, “we should implement preventive measures in stages. During the pre-freezing stage, we can use flow-control methods and turbid-water insulation techniques.
Both approaches cost virtually nothing and can be carried out by the personnel already responsible for operating the canal. For the flow-control method, we first divide the river according to water depth, separating shallows from deeper sections. Once divided, anti-freezing measures can be tailored accordingly.
In shallow areas, stones can be gathered from the riverbanks and used to construct channelled barriers that concentrate the flow, increasing speed and reducing freezing.
As for the deeper sections…”
“…During the thin-ice stage, we can utilise natural forces to break the ice. In addition, we can employ the cow-urine thaw-line method.”
“…During the thick-ice stage, we break the ice directly. Your Highness has avoided mentioning gunpowder throughout, so I assume you don’t wish for it to become known publicly at this stage. In that case, we can instead use…”
“If this entire system is implemented, the canal ice problem can be solved without affecting canal operations or inflicting serious damage upon Great Xuan’s finances.”
By midday, the high winter sun had driven away much of the cold.
Gu Yun finally set down his brush.
His hand ached from writing. Standing beside the table, he rubbed his wrist.
Chao Yan spread several sheets of xuan paper across the desk to dry. Out of the corner of his eye, Gu Yun saw him approaching with both hands outstretched.
Gu Yun froze briefly before stepping back. “No need. I can rub it myself.”
Chao Yan said, “I’m not going to eat you. Just pretend I’m a physician giving you a massage. Hmm?”
Gu Yun immediately turned and fled, half-running and half-hopping away.
…
After the ink had dried, Chao Yan collected the sheets and left the study. Zhao He and Li Lan were waiting outside.
The moment they saw him emerge with a faint but unmistakable handprint still lingering on his face, and smiling no less, both men stopped dead.
“Your Highness…?” Zhao He ventured. “You…”
Chao Yan turned his head. “Does it look good?”
Zhao He immediately dragged Li Lan aside and whispered, “Has His Highness… gone mad?”
Li Lan regarded him silently.
Rubbing his hands together, Zhao He muttered, “It’s just that His Highness is acting far too strangely.”
Li Lan considered this.
“That’s true. It is rather strange. Her Highness ran out of the study just now. They were probably playing some sort of game.”
“That’s called flirting, not a game!”
Chao Yan said calmly, “Come here. I heard every word.”
Zhao He promptly returned, dragging Li Lan along, both wearing ingratiating smiles.
Chao Yan instructed Li Lan to fetch a veiled hat.
He then ordered Zhao He to gather the Eastern Palace officials, explaining that he had obtained a new strategy for breaking canal ice and wanted everyone to evaluate its feasibility.
The officials were eating when the summons arrived.
Upon hearing that the Crown Prince had called for them, they hurriedly abandoned their meals and rushed to the main hall of Wenhua Hall. Some had run so quickly they had not even wiped their mouths. Only after entering the hall and being discreetly reminded did they lower their heads and hastily clean themselves with their sleeves.
The Crown Prince arrived shortly afterwards carrying a rolled bundle of xuan paper. Everyone glanced at it before looking back at him. He was wearing a veiled hat.
“What happened to Your Highness?” one official asked.
“I knocked my face. Nothing serious.”
As he spoke, Chao Yan unrolled the papers. “Take a look.”
The leading official accepted them and read through each page. By the end, his eyes had widened considerably.
“Can these methods really work?” he murmured. He immediately passed the papers to the next person.
After everyone had finished reading, they were astonished. Not a single person voiced opposition. The proposal was simply too logical. Moreover, some had already heard of one of the thin-ice breaking methods mentioned within it.
Chao Yan handed the papers to a literary clerk from the Right Spring Workshop and instructed him to make several copies for the Eastern Palace officials responsible for canal management.
“Let’s proceed with this plan for now. There is still some time before deep winter arrives. If it proves ineffective, we’ll revert to the manual ice-breaking strategy we discussed earlier.”
The assembled officials all voiced their agreement.
It had already been several months since Superintendent Liu of the Eastern Palace eunuchs had caused trouble at the Meng residence and been punished by His Majesty.
He had heard that Chao Yan and the Eastern Palace officials had held a second meeting in Wenhua Hall. After finishing his meal, he made his way over at a leisurely pace.
He was not one of the Eastern Palace officials. Ordinarily, he attended meetings because he feared missing something important that he would later be unable to report to the Emperor. Since a related meeting had already been held that morning, however, he had not paid much attention to this second session and arrived late. To his surprise, it was already over.
How did it finish so quickly?
Perplexed, Superintendent Liu seized a minor official and questioned him.
The official did not dare offend him, and since the Crown Prince had placed no restrictions on discussing the matter, he answered honestly.
Superintendent Liu thought: Who proposed this plan? It never came up during the morning meeting.
As he pondered the question, he instructed his subordinates to investigate whom the Crown Prince had met after the first meeting concluded.
At that moment, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Annoyed, he turned around.
It was the Crown Prince.
Immediately, Superintendent Liu’s face broke into a smile. “Your Highness.”
He had already heard that the Crown Prince had injured his face and was wearing a veiled hat.
Chao Yan inclined his head. “If you want to know who proposed the plan, you need only ask me. Why go to such lengths investigating it?”
The moment he heard those words, cold sweat broke out across Superintendent Liu’s back. Yet he quickly regained his composure.
He worked for the Emperor. What was there to fear?
Cupping his hands respectfully, he said, “This humble official thanks Your Highness.”
“The plan was proposed by A-Yun.”
Superintendent Liu stared in disbelief. “Consort Gu?”
Even if he were beaten to death, he never would have guessed it was Gu Yun.
Women were supposed to be lacking in worldly knowledge. How could one produce such an elegant solution? Was it because his hair was short? People always said women had long hair and short vision. Perhaps women with short hair had long vision instead.
I must report this to His Majesty, he thought. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him. His Majesty mustn’t forget me.
Behind the thin white veil, Chao Yan’s eyes darkened as he regarded him coolly.
…
The first snowfall of Great Xuan arrived.
Standing in the doorway, Gu Yun stretched out a hand to catch the drifting flakes. The snow melted almost instantly against his skin. Drawing a thick cloak around himself, he prepared to leave the palace.
Xu Jingzhou had already departed Cining Temple and would leave for the northern frontier the day after tomorrow to serve as an ordinary soldier.
Both his immediate superior and his superior’s superior were Chao Yan’s men.
Gu Yun went to see him off.
After this farewell, they would not meet again until at least the following year.
