Chapter 5 – Frank and Open

“He Zhiyu, how are you still so easy to fool…”

He Zhiyu’s movement came so suddenly that everyone in the flower hall couldn’t help but look over.

Li Wu stared for a moment at He Zhiyu’s retreating figure. After thinking for a bit, the corners of her lips curved slightly, but she did not chase after him to explain. Withdrawing her gaze, she turned toward the young man holding Wanwan and smiled as she asked, “Why did you suddenly return?”

“His Majesty summoned me urgently.”

The young man sat down with Wanwan in his arms, glanced once at Li Wu, then very seriously said to Wanwan, “Wanwan, I am not your father. You mustn’t call me that.”

Wanwan puffed up her cheeks, her small brows furrowing tightly, lips pouting.

Li Wu restrained her smile and ordered Qingzhi to take Wanwan away to play, then dismissed the other attendants from the flower hall.

This suddenly appearing young man was Xi Mingzhong.

She and Xi Mingzhong had known each other since childhood.

Xi Mingzhong had long been stationed at the frontier.

Now, summoned back urgently by her imperial brother… it must have to do with the Tatars.

Knowing that Xi Mingzhong must have already entered the palace to see His Majesty before coming to her residence, Li Wu calculated inwardly and calmly confirmed, “What is the matter?”

Xi Mingzhong replied simply and directly: “The Tatars.”

Li Wu nodded in understanding.

Xi Mingzhong glanced at her. “Not the least bit anxious—that is just like you.”

“What is there to be anxious about?”

She picked up a nearby teacup, lips curved in a faint smile. “If soldiers come, we block them; if floods come, we dam them. Besides, I want to know what exactly these people are trying to do.”

Xi Mingzhong gave a small tug at his lips.

Only then, belatedly, did he ask, “That man just now—who was he?”

Li Wu took her time sipping the hot tea. “He Zhiyu.”

“The Number One Scholar?”

Although Xi Mingzhong had long been at the frontier, this was not the first time he had heard the name “He Zhiyu.”

Li Wu neither confirmed nor denied.

But Xi Mingzhong already had his answer. He chuckled lightly. “It would be bad to let Lord He misunderstand.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Li Wu raised her lashes lightly, her eyes curving, her smile alluring. “I’m not afraid of him misunderstanding—what I fear is that he won’t.”

Xi Mingzhong was very familiar with this expression on her face.

Curious, he asked, “Are you planning to rekindle things with Lord He? To make him Wanwan’s father?”

“No.” Li Wu calmly set the teacup down.

After a pause, she continued slowly, “This time, it was He Zhiyu who strongly advocated for the marriage alliance. It was not at my brother’s command.”

It wasn’t His Majesty’s order, but He Zhiyu’s own idea.

Xi Mingzhong frowned. “What does he intend?”

Li Wu smiled, recalling the sight of He Zhiyu’s angry departure just moments ago. The smile on her lips deepened. “I also want to know what He Zhiyu intends.”

“I’ll be in the capital for some days.”

After a moment’s thought, Xi Mingzhong said to her, “If anything happens, you may send someone to the Xi residence to find me.”

“Mm.”

Li Wu smiled faintly and nodded, not bothering with courtesy.

---

He Zhiyu returned to the Court of Judicial Review with a cold expression.

Unhappy, he buried himself in the case files he had previously dug up, forcing all his thoughts onto the cases.

But anyone could plainly see his foul mood.

His colleagues wisely avoided provoking him. Still, they all knew he had gone out with the Princess and returned like this—it was not hard to guess.

The Princess was notoriously difficult to deal with.

Lord He had strongly advocated the marriage alliance with the Tatars, clearly out of personal resentment. Could the Princess not hold it against him?

Surely he had suffered a setback at her hands today.

And today’s matter was likely just the beginning. Lord He would face much more trouble in the days to come.

At this thought, many could not help but sigh for He Zhiyu—
After all these years, why cling to it? Had he let go sooner, parted peacefully, would things not be better than now?

He Zhiyu ignored the probing looks and cared not what others thought.

As he read through the files, his mood gradually calmed.

The next day, He Zhiyu went to the Court of Judicial Review as usual.

Early in the morning, he saw three colleagues huddled together under the corridor, speaking animatedly about “General Xi.”

“General Xi has returned—the matter grows more interesting.”

“I heard the Princess left the capital back then to go to the frontier to find General Xi.”

“Yesterday, General Xi also went to the Princess’s residence.”

“So, did General Xi return to the capital because of the marriage alliance? If that’s the case…”

Lord He had sought revenge by advocating the marriage alliance.

If General Xi had rushed back from the frontier because of it, then Lord He’s actions would surely offend him as well.

The three all thought of this, exchanged glances, and sighed in pity.

Just then, one of them caught sight of He Zhiyu in his peripheral vision. Startled, he hurriedly said, “Good morning, Lord He.”

The other two turned at once.

Seeing that it was indeed He Zhiyu, they quickly greeted him as well.

But having just spoken of him, and now facing him, they were uneasy, their eyes shifting guiltily.

He Zhiyu saw it all but acted as though he hadn’t. He nodded briefly and walked past them.

Once he was gone, the three let out breaths of relief, dropped the subject, and dispersed quickly.

But they did not know—those words had fallen into He Zhiyu’s ears, reminding him of what had happened the day before in the Princess’s Moon Ripple Pavilion.

So, the man he had seen was none other than “General Xi,” Xi Mingzhong.

All these years that Li Wu had been away from the capital… she had been at the frontier.

He Zhiyu lowered his gaze to the case files on the desk.

After a moment, he opened them again and continued reading the unfinished ones from yesterday.

From the afternoon of the day before when he left the Princess’s flower hall, through the night, and the following day, Li Wu never came, nor sent any message.

She had not sought him out.

As though she had no intention of explaining anything.

Thus, He Zhiyu’s expression remained dark the entire day.

When work was done and he stepped out to return home, seeing the Princess’s carriage waiting, his face grew even darker.

“Lord He.”

From inside the carriage, Li Wu’s slender fingers lifted the curtain slightly, revealing her beautiful face.

He Zhiyu kept his gaze straight ahead, ignoring her.

He went to his own carriage, got in, and ordered the driver to take him home.

His servant Dangui glanced uneasily at the Princess’s carriage.

“My lord…”

Before he could advise, He Zhiyu’s cold voice cut him off: “Home.”

The tone was low, laced with anger.

Dangui shrank back and lowered the curtain.

He Zhiyu glared coldly at the carriage wall, casually pulling a book from the hidden compartment.

But the carriage did not move.

This time, it was a pair of slender white fingers that lifted the curtain of his own carriage.

The light inside brightened.

He Zhiyu turned his head slightly and saw Li Wu standing outside with a bright smile, her enchanting eyes fixed on him.

The moment their gazes met, her eyes danced with mirth, a faint careless smile in her brows.

“He Zhiyu, three years have passed, and you’re still so easy to trick.”

The teasing words struck his ears. He Zhiyu froze for an instant, then his features hardened, his expression like frost.

Li Wu seemed oblivious, climbing casually into the carriage to sit across from him.

He Zhiyu frowned, gave her a cold glance, and remained silent.

He was about to get out.

But Li Wu quickly reached out and tugged at his sleeve. When he turned back, she lifted her eyes to meet his icy gaze and said seriously: “Wanwan is not Xi Mingzhong’s child. There is nothing between me and him.”

Her words were plain, frank, without the slightest ambiguity.

But He Zhiyu answered coldly, “Your Highness, that has nothing to do with me.”

“How could it not?”

“I said—that is our child. You don’t believe me?”

“Count the days—they match.”

He Zhiyu remained unmoved.

He would not let himself fall for his foolish thought of the previous day again. He would not believe her.

Seeing his coldness, Li Wu added, “The reason Wanwan called Xi Mingzhong ‘father’ yesterday is only because, while at the frontier, she longed so deeply for her father that she imagined it so. Lord He, do you not understand?”

So she had been with Xi Mingzhong all these years.

He Zhiyu’s eyes dropped to where her fingers clutched his sleeve. Suddenly, he gave a small laugh.

“I understand.”

How could he not?

When he was a boy, he too had harbored countless yearnings and curiosities about the father he had never met—never seen, never known.

Li Wu kept hold of his sleeve, her gaze fixed only on him. She tugged lightly again.

“Wanwan needs you.”

He Zhiyu freed his sleeve from her grasp.

His voice was faint. “What is it that Your Highness really wants?”

“Strongly pressing for the Jin-Tatar marriage alliance—what is it that you really want, Lord He?”

Li Wu countered smoothly with his own words.

What did he want?

He Zhiyu’s gaze flickered. He looked deeply at Li Wu, then gave a smile.

“Does Your Highness really not know what I want?”

Li Wu met his gaze.

On his face was a smile—mocking, bitter.

“I don’t know.”

Li Wu gave a soft hum. “What I do know is this—if I must go to the Tatars in marriage alliance, then I must part from Wanwan.”

“I thought Lord He would be willing to help me care for Wanwan.”

“But since you will not, so be it. I will find another father for her.”

She spoke such words while sitting steadily in the carriage, her face carrying that same careless smile.

Words that sounded like jest, half true, half false.

He Zhiyu sat as calm as still water, ignoring her.

Li Wu tilted her head, looked at him for a while, then smiled faintly. Her red lips parted: “I know I was in the wrong back then. Lord He, today I have prepared wine and dishes at my residence, just a modest banquet. I wish to apologize to you for the past. Would Lord He be willing to honor me with his presence?”

He Zhiyu gazed quietly at her.

After a while, the corners of his lips pressed down as he replied, “If Your Highness invites, how could I not go?”

---

The Marquis of Xuanping’s carriage changed direction toward the Princess’s residence.

The two sat facing each other again.

He Zhiyu kept his eyes fixed on the book in his hands.

Li Wu, without the slightest restraint, stared at him openly.

The air in the carriage felt a little strange.

But both of them seemed utterly unconcerned, their faces betraying not the least awkwardness.

After watching him for a long while, Li Wu, bored, lazily spoke.

“Lord He, do you have a marriage engagement?”

He Zhiyu turned a page, ignoring her.

She went on: “I suppose not. If you had one, the young lady would hardly be pleased.”

He Zhiyu did not even lift his eyes.
“Your Highness would do better to mind her own affairs.”

Li Wu laughed. “Am I not doing so now?”

“The marriage alliance, Wanwan—Lord He, which of these has nothing to do with you?”

He Zhiyu’s eyes narrowed slightly, and at last he looked up.

Before he could speak, the carriage suddenly jolted a few times, then stopped at the roadside.

He Zhiyu frowned and turned his head. “What is it?” he asked the servant outside.

Dangui lowered his voice. “My lord, it is Princess Yun’an.”

Just as he finished speaking, the curtain was lifted.

Princess Yun’an, Li Yingxi, appeared in He Zhiyu’s view, smiling brightly. “Lord He, I have something to discuss with you. I wish to speak with you alone.”

Li Wu arched a brow, casting He Zhiyu a meaningful glance. As he stiffened uncomfortably, she laughed and retreated into the corner of the carriage—

Making sure Li Yingxi would not see her.

And then…

She leisurely prepared to watch the show.