Chapter Fifty-Six
The flower-viewing invitation from the Phoenix Splendor Palace was first delivered to Baili Ren's hands.
After reading the invitation, Baili Ren said without hesitation, "Send word back and thank Her Majesty the Empress for her kindness, but Roujia is about to have her betrothal ceremony soon, so it's really not appropriate for her to go out. Kangtai is also indisposed recently..."
"Brother, Kangtai has nothing else going on." When Wen Yu heard that someone from the Empress's palace had arrived, he rushed over, and seeing that Baili Ren was about to refuse, he quickly interjected, "Her Majesty the Empress specifically invited the young ladies of our mansion. If not a single one goes... that wouldn't look right, would it?"
Baili Ren turned to look at Wen Yu, then said to the old housekeeper, "You may withdraw."
The two young masters of the mansion had had such small disputes more than once or twice. The old housekeeper dared not say more, signaled with his eyes, and led everyone away.
Baili Ren casually set the invitation on his desk and sat down himself, saying calmly, "When I first arrived in the capital, I had a conflict with the Second Prince. You should know about that."
"Yes, I know." Wen Yu smiled, and there was an undertone to his words. "Father was absolutely furious when he received the news. Fortunately, my mother kept persuading him. Sigh, I have to say, you had just entered the imperial city for the first time. How could you possibly have handled everything perfectly? Some mistakes were excusable. It wasn't necessary to implicate our entire princely estate..."
Baili Ren gave a self-deprecating smile. "So I should thank you for that, Second Brother... Since you know, I won't elaborate further. The Second Prince is the son of Empress Feng. Kangtai is about to be married. I have no desire to cause trouble, and keeping them home is for their own good. Have Kangtai feign illness. If the Empress holds it against us, I'll handle it myself. You don't need to worry."
Wen Yu quickly smiled. "Brother is truly overthinking this. Though I've only met the Empress twice, I can tell she is a kind and generous person. Would she really hold grudges like that? Besides, it's just going to look at flowers in Her Majesty's palace. Nothing can go wrong."
Baili Ren stared fixedly at Wen Yu. "Are you determined to let Kangtai go?"
Wen Yu felt somewhat unnerved under Baili Ren's gaze, but he still couldn't help saying, "I'm not trying to contradict you, Brother, it's just that... you are being overly cautious. I dare say something that might displease you, Brother, but Kangtai came all this way, and since arriving in the capital, she hasn't had any contact with anyone from the imperial city. Brother has been entirely focused on planning for our sister, and couldn't be bothered to care about his illegitimate younger sister. Now that noble people are inviting her, you still want to block it at every turn. This... is truly going too far, isn't it? What's wrong with letting Kangtai meet some nobles and gain some experience?"
"I know Brother has always looked down on us, despised us for being born of concubines, but we are still brothers after all. Why must you be so heartless? If Brother humiliates my sister and me like this, I wouldn't dare say anything, but what if..." Wen Yu paused and lowered his voice. "What if Father catches wind of this and questions Brother? That would make me feel terribly guilty, Brother."
Baili Ren listened quietly until Wen Yu finished, then said with a faint smile, "Brothers... At seven years old, you deliberately pushed me off a high platform, nearly killing me... At nine, when I first started learning archery and riding, you tampered with my saddle, causing the horse to gallop wildly... At twelve, you came up with an ingenious idea and put an aphrodisiac in my tea. Ha... And Kangtai was even more capable. At eight, she knew how to mix lime into Roujia's face powder. If Roujia hadn't been averse to applying powder since childhood... I would have fought with my life to ruin Kangtai's face. Wen Yu, is this the brotherly affection you're talking about?"
Wen Yu's face alternated between red and white. He forced a laugh. "Brother, what are you saying..."
Having experienced so many such things since childhood, Baili Ren felt no ripple in his heart as he spoke of them now. He took a sip of tea and said slowly, "No need to play dumb. You brought up brotherly affection first. I'd rather not mention all this dirty business. Setting that aside, Wen Yu... not to mention whether we, as children of a vassal prince, should be freely associating with capital aristocrats—let's just talk about you coming to the capital. It's been less than half a month. You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Baili Ren set down his teacup, stood up, and looked at Wen Yu, saying word by word, "Don't bring up how hard the journey was. Remember clearly—I didn't invite you here!"
"You came uninvited, and now you blame me for not working tirelessly to introduce you around everywhere?" Baili Ren laughed coldly. "Wen Yu... your mother's abilities, I see you've learned them well. But let me make this clear to you. Whose territory is this?"
These past days, Baili Ren had been either busy with Roujia's wedding preparations or occupied by Qi Xiao, and hadn't had time to deal with affairs in the mansion. Today, this opportunity happened to arise, so he might as well stop hiding anything. He glanced at the invitation on the desk and said, "If you want to go, then go. But if you suffer for it later, don't blame me for not warning you. Remember clearly what was said here today."
With that, Baili Ren walked toward the door, then paused and turned his head back. "Why you came to the capital, we both know. Now that you've seen the situation here, go discuss it properly with your mother. Think clearly about whether you can still afford to make moves against me. I have everything under control in Lingnan. Everyone values face, so let's leave it at that. If I hear even a whisper of any mistreatment of my mother by you..."
Baili Ren's voice turned ice-cold. "Roujia's wedding is settled. I have no more concerns. If you provoke me, then we'll all go down together. Don't blame me for being ruthless."
Baili Ren pushed open the door and left. Inside the room, Wen Yu's face had gone pale, and cold sweat broke out over his entire body. Only after a long while did he come to his senses...
Outside, the old housekeeper had been listening the whole time. When he saw Baili Ren emerge, he quickly stepped forward and asked quietly, "Young Master, if the Second Young Master still insists on letting the Second Young Miss go, should we prepare the carriage?"
Baili Ren laughed coldly. "Prepare it. If he insists on courting death, no one can stop him." As he spoke, Baili Ren walked toward the study. The old housekeeper followed along. He had heard everything said in the main hall just now and felt greatly satisfied. He couldn't help but smile and say, "Young Master has become more commanding than ever. This old servant observes... the expression and words Young Master just displayed, quite reminiscent of His Highness the Crown Prince."
Baili Ren's footsteps faltered. He paused and asked, "You... you say the Crown Prince?"
"Indeed." The old housekeeper smiled warmly. "This old servant remembers clearly the scene from when His Highness the Crown Prince came to teach those restless elements in our mansion a lesson last time. They say one learns from the company one keeps. Young Master was previously too restrained, never willing to show anger easily. Maintaining one's own dignity is good, of course, but it also makes it easy to fail to command others. Now... you possess the prestige befitting a princely heir."
Having unleashed that bout of anger, Baili Ren's heart had been cold. But the old housekeeper's sudden mention of Qi Xiao softened his heart considerably. He couldn't help but glance at the sun, vaguely hoping that Qi Xiao would come to fetch him again today...
Baili Ren's wish was not in vain. When the sky was about to darken, Shunzi arrived, saying the date for the wedding had been selected and asking Baili Ren to come look it over and see if it was suitable. Smoothly and naturally, he escorted Baili Ren away.
By the time they reached the Crown Prince's residence, it was completely dark. Jiang Deqing came out in person to greet them. As he led Baili Ren to the main quarters, he whispered, "His Highness is not in a good mood today. If his words are harsh, Young Master, please show some leniency in consideration of how much His Highness usually dotes on you."
Before Baili Ren could ask why Qi Xiao was upset, Jiang Deqing had already retreated. Baili Ren entered the main quarters on his own, familiar with every corner, and naturally made his way to the inner warm pavilion. Inside, Qi Xiao sat with a cold expression. Baili Ren bit his lip slightly, slowly walked over and sat down, then said softly, "What's wrong? Is something the matter with court?"
The Feng family had been in decline since the new year. The Emperor had been troubled by rumors and had no time to cause Qi Xiao grief. Recently, Qi Xiao had even taken advantage of the great families to use his own people to fill the vacancy at the Feng residence. Everything was going smoothly. Logically speaking... there shouldn't be anything to be angry about.
Baili Ren watched Qi Xiao's expression carefully, then moved closer despite his embarrassment, placing his hand on Qi Xiao's. He said softly, "If it's not confidential, could you tell me? Though my mind isn't as sharp as yours, I can still help you think of solutions."
Qi Xiao turned to look at Baili Ren and laughed coldly. "That's exactly what I want to ask you. When you were seven years old, being pushed off that high platform—what exactly happened?"
Baili Ren understood everything in an instant. He smiled bitterly. "So you've placed spies in my mansion. But saying it so openly like this... aren't you afraid I'll investigate your people?"
"Don't change the subject. I told you long ago that there are my people in your residence." Qi Xiao's phoenix eyes blazed with anger as he said coldly, "First, tell me clearly... what was all that nonsense that beast Wen Yu was spouting today?"
Baili Ren had no choice but to confess everything, one detail at a time. "It was something from childhood... If I remember correctly, that day we all went to play at our little aunt's house. For some reason, everyone climbed up onto a newly built pavilion in our aunt's garden. Since we were visiting someone else's home, we hadn't brought many servants, so there was a lapse in supervision, and... I was also not sufficiently on guard. I was being playful and wasn't paying attention."
Qi Xiao's teeth ached from clenching. He wished he could tie Wen Yu to a cliff and push him off to let him experience it too. Baili Ren knew Qi Xiao was feeling protective of him, and his heart felt warm. He said, "Actually, nothing much happened... Children are resilient. I just scraped my skin a bit. It was nothing."
Qi Xiao closed his eyes. "And what about the saddle being tampered with?" Baili Ren forced a laugh. Being questioned so sternly by Qi Xiao, he almost felt as if he were the one at fault. But Qi Xiao was already furious, and Baili Ren didn't dare provoke him further. He老老实实地道："那时我们初学骑射，文钰趁人不注意的时候在我马鞍底下放了两颗蒺藜……幸得我那匹马耐得住疼，只是一路跑，不曾将我甩下去，武师父们来的也及时，虚惊一场，并没有如何。
Qi Xiao was so angry he nearly exploded. "What else do you consider 'nothing'?"
Baili Ren quickly shook his head. "Nothing, nothing. I wasn't thinking anything..."
Qi Xiao suppressed his fury. "And then he put an aphrodisiac in your tea..." Baili Ren inwardly groaned. When he had settled old scores with Wen Yu earlier, he had been so痛快, but he hadn't expected that Qi Xiao finding out would lead to another round of thorough interrogation. Fortunately, that time Wen Yu hadn't succeeded. Baili Ren quickly explained, "That day was Father's birthday, and many people came to the mansion. I had been on guard early on, so I never drank that tea... It was good fortune that Wen Yu's cousin ended up drinking it instead. After that... let's not mention it. Later, when they investigated thoroughly, they found the drug in Wen Yu's room. Father punished him severely. I didn't suffer any loss."
Baili Ren tried to make it sound light, but Qi Xiao still nearly flew into a rage. He was naturally suspicious, and now he interrogated endlessly. "If he wanted to harm you, why not use poison directly? If he could obtain that kind of drug, couldn't he have found poison? You were both twelve then. Wen Yu was old enough to understand such things. How do we know that beast didn't lack all morality and was trying to—"
"Your Highness..." Baili Ren's head throbbed. He kept begging for mercy. "You're really overthinking this... Besides, I did get my revenge later. Let's not talk about it, okay?"
Qi Xiao knew he shouldn't keep bringing up Baili Ren's childhood nightmares, but he simply couldn't let it go. Countless wicked ideas flashed through his mind, all of which could make Wen Yu wish he were dead. If it weren't for the fact that Roujia's wedding was imminent, Qi Xiao would have liked to deal with Wen Yu directly. Whose son was he anyway? What did he care if they went to war with Lingnan?!
Baili Ren could more or less guess what was on Qi Xiao's mind. He kept pleading, "Please, just think of how my sister's good fortune is coming soon. Please calm your anger... Otherwise, shall I tell you about all the ways I've harmed him over the years?"
Qi Xiao had always applied lenient standards to himself and strict ones to others. He didn't understand. "Isn't harming him the right thing to do?! Don't tell me that because you've retaliated against him a few times, all those past deeds can just be erased?"
This was the first time Baili Ren had ever heard such logic. He was stunned for a moment, but he was sensible enough to shake his head. "No... no, they can't."
Only then did Qi Xiao feel somewhat appeased. Baili Ren was afraid Qi Xiao would do something rash in his anger, so he quickly changed the subject and said softly, "Have you had dinner?"
Qi Xiao snorted coldly. "After hearing the informant's report, I was so angry I barely ate a few bites..." Baili Ren smiled. "How convenient. I also didn't eat much tonight. After being interrogated by His Highness for half the day, my stomach is empty. Could we have them bring some pastries? Just eat a little more, okay?"
Qi Xiao frowned. "What good are pastries? Jiang Deqing..."
Jiang Deqing responded from outside. Qi Xiao said, "Have the kitchen prepare some porridge, and some plain meat and vegetable dishes. Nothing too rich." Jiang Deqing acknowledged and left.
Baili Ren looked at the gloominess between Qi Xiao's brows and felt warmth in his heart. He edged forward endearingly, pressing himself into Qi Xiao's arms, and whispered, "Don't be angry. Seeing you upset because of me makes me feel terrible."
Qi Xiao looked down at Baili Ren with an expressionless gaze. "You feel sorry for me?"
Baili Ren's face flushed. He nodded. Qi Xiao pointed to his own lips and said in a low voice, "Kiss here." Baili Ren had no choice but to lean in shyly and kiss him. Then Qi Xiao took the initiative, and they shared an intimate moment before separating. Qi Xiao lingered, repeatedly kissing Baili Ren's reddened lips. Still worried, Baili Ren said softly, "You're not angry anymore, right?"
Qi Xiao neither confirmed nor denied. He curved his lips into a smile. "You know how I like to calm my anger. If you don't want me to be angry, you'll need to show some sincerity."
Baili Ren had no recourse. He buried his flushed face in Qi Xiao's chest. Qi Xiao lovingly held Baili Ren, and a cold smile formed in his heart. Since he had agreed to let bygones be bygones, what if he changed his mind later? He wanted Baili Ren's affection, but Wen Yu... still needed to be taught a lesson.