Prince Huan

"Madam, do you know Lady Guo's honored guest?"

As soon as Ping Ye climbed into the carriage, she asked the question in curiosity.

Lin Yunwan shook her head. "I've never met him."

Tao Ye was puzzled too. "I don't believe I've ever heard that Lady Guo had any nephews or other young male relatives."

Ping Ye said earnestly, "That man looked like a young master from a duke's household or the family of an important official of the Imperial Court."

Even Lin Yunwan did not dispute that.

As they were leaving her teacher's residence, the man had happened to be walking out through the passage hall. She had caught a faint glimpse of him through a lattice window: he wore a black, belted robe, with fine, elegant patterns embroidered in gold thread along the collar. Though young, he stood tall and graceful, his steps calm and unhurried, nobility in every inch of him.

In her previous life, she had managed the Wuding Marquis Residence for twenty years and had met a few men of high standing. Not one of them could match that man's bearing and manners.

Lin Yunwan racked her brains, but still could not recall him at all.

That was right! Lady Guo had once been the empress's teacher too!

Lin Yunwan suddenly gave a soft laugh. "It was Prince Huan."

The two maids drew sharp breaths. They had known the man was of high standing, but had not imagined he was quite so exalted.

They had never even seen a member of the imperial family.

"H-how did Lady Guo come to know Prince Huan?" Ping Ye stammered.

That, Lin Yunwan truly did not know.

Could the accident that had befallen her teacher in her previous life have had something to do with Prince Huan?

No.

Her instincts told her it had not.

Prince Huan had once been her father's student. Though her father had later fallen gravely ill, resigned his post, and stopped teaching him, she still remembered him lamenting to her, "Ah, the seventh prince truly is... truly is the most troublesome student I've ever taught!"

Her father had not meant that Prince Huan was a bad person, however.

Just after her father resigned, Prince Huan, who was still a prince of the blood at the time, had made a special visit to see him. She had also happened to have an encounter with the little prince, who had been only a few years old. He had indeed been a troublesome young master.

The carriage gradually made its way to the gates of the Wuding Marquis Residence.

Lin Yunwan put the matter of Lady Guo out of her mind.

Qi Lingheng had been troublesome not only as a child. Now, just past the age of twenty, he still gave the emperor and empress quite a headache.

"Teacher, my imperial mother asked me to come and fetch some of the incense you blend yourself."

Lady Guo enjoyed working with incense ingredients, making stick incense, coil incense, and incense powder. After her parents passed away, she was left alone and supported herself and her servants by running an incense shop.

When Empress Zhao had been her student, she had known of her love for blending incense and had been very fond of it herself.

After entering the palace, Empress Zhao had found the incense there not to her liking, so she occasionally sent someone to Lady Guo for more.

Lady Guo had always kept a low profile and had never publicized the matter.

For the first few years, the empress had sent female officials. But when Prince Huan passed fifteen and still refused to marry, he became the one sent to fetch the incense.

After he had come often enough, Lady Guo could guess why Prince Huan was sent out of the palace for it.

Most likely, the emperor had pressed him to marry, Prince Huan had still refused, and father and son had quarreled again. The empress had hurriedly found the excuse of "fetching incense" to send her son out of the palace.

Lady Guo instructed a maid, "Go and fetch two taels of aloeswood, two taels of aged Mysore sandalwood, and five taels of Xunji Incense powder." She then said to Prince Huan, "Recently, I also followed ancient recipes to blend two incenses for scenting clothes and accessories: Juehan Incense and Shenglan Clothing Incense. There isn't much, but please take a tael of each back for Her Majesty to try."

Qi Lingheng smiled and nodded. Though his manners were impeccable, his dark eyes held an innate air of aloof nobility and indifference.

The maid wrapped the incense powder and presented it with both hands. She kept her head lowered nervously the whole time, not daring to steal so much as a glance at him.

His personal eunuch, A Fu, took the incense and offered his thanks.

"Teacher, I'll take my leave now," Qi Lingheng said.

Lady Guo rose to see him off, accompanying him as far as the inner gate of her residence, beyond which it was inconvenient for her to go.

Only then did Qi Lingheng give a faint smile. Turning slightly, he asked, "When I first saw you, Teacher, you seemed troubled. Did it have anything to do with the lady who came to visit you today?"

He explained, "I've been taking your incense for my imperial mother without paying for it, and I've never repaid your kindness. If you have a request, please don't hesitate to make it."

"The Prince saw Lin..."

Lady Guo stopped herself in time. Rather than reveal Lin Yunwan's identity, she said, "Sorry to trouble the Prince with concern. It's nothing important."

She did not yet know whether Lin Yunwan was the one seeking a divorce by mutual agreement. Besides, this was a family matter for the Wuding Marquis Residence. How would it be proper for Prince Huan to interfere?

Qi Lingheng was perceptive. Lady Guo had uttered only the single word "Lin," but his mild voice slowly deepened, and he asked with great seriousness, "That lady... is she the daughter of the late Grand Tutor Lin?"

He had been taught by many teachers, but few had left a deep impression on him.

As a result, he also had some recollection of Grand Tutor Lin's daughter.

Seeing that she could no longer conceal it, Lady Guo remembered the bond between Lin Yunwan's father and Prince Huan as teacher and student. She nodded and admitted, "She is Grand Tutor Lin's daughter. She is now the Heir of the Marquis of Wuding's Wife."

Qi Lingheng stood beneath the courtyard wall with his hands behind his back. He fell silent for a moment as old, indistinct images flashed through his mind.

He said little more. After bidding Lady Guo farewell, he left.

The eunuch A Fu struggled to keep up with him.

"Prince, are you returning to the palace to deliver the incense to Her Majesty, or going back to your residence?"

Qi Lingheng did not answer. Only after a long while did he instruct his attendants, "Back to the residence."

Lin Yunwan was not the only one who had seen him; he had seen her too.

In that fleeting glimpse through the lattice window, he had not immediately recognized her, but she had strongly reminded him of someone he had known. Sure enough... she was Grand Tutor Lin's daughter.

She was a natural beauty, but her hair was dressed in a married woman's bun.

She had already married.

A Fu asked again, "Prince, should the incense be sent into the palace today?"

"Send it," Qi Lingheng said.

A Fu then ordered someone to deliver all the incense powder to the empress's Kunning Palace.

The empress, Zhao Susu, was nursing a headache and complaining to a palace maid beside her. "Tell me, just tell me! What prince remains unmarried after turning twenty?"

There had indeed been none since the founding of the dynasty.

But wasn't Prince Huan so willful because the emperor and empress had indulged him?

The palace maid smiled and soothed her. "Didn't the old immortal say His Highness's fated match had yet to arrive? Once it does, he'll have a princess consort, and not only that, Your Majesty will have an imperial grandchild too."

The empress's expression eased somewhat, and she said with a soft huff, "If he truly gives me an imperial grandchild to hold, I'll indulge him in everything!"

But on second thought, an imperial grandchild seemed a distant prospect.

Criticism from within and outside the court was growing louder, and she feared the emperor would lose his temper more and more often in the future.

She truly did not know how she would persuade that father and son from now on!

The excuse of fetching incense would not work forever.

"Your Majesty, someone from Prince Huan's residence has delivered the incense."

The empress was nearly out of incense herself. When she heard that Lady Guo had also sent a newly developed blend this time, she had it lit at once so she could smell it.

The scent of orchids filled the air, calming her heart as she breathed it in.

Only then did she instruct the palace maid in an even tone, "Go to Prince Huan's residence and ask him what sort of woman he likes! As long as he is willing to marry her, whatever her status, so long as she is a girl of unblemished reputation, the emperor and I will agree."

After hearing what the palace maid had to say, Qi Lingheng gave no answer and coldly sent her away.

The maid glanced at A Fu and asked him to help.

A Fu nodded. Only after the empress's maid had left did he ask with a flattering smile, "Prince, you've looked over all the young ladies in the capital and haven't taken a liking to a single one. If I may be so bold, what sort of girl do you favor?"

How could Qi Lingheng not know the little calculations going on in A Fu's head?

He had not deliberately made things difficult for his imperial mother's maid; he truly had no interest in any of those noble young ladies.

Ever since his imperial father had taken his imperial mother, he had favored her alone. Qi Lingheng was his imperial father's youngest son. His six elder imperial brothers had all been born before him, but none was as gifted as he was.

From childhood to adulthood, there had been nothing he could not obtain.

Nor had he ever been defeated.

His wife—the woman who would one day be the most honored in the dynasty, the mother of the realm—could not be just any woman.

"A woman who can tame a man is the interesting kind."

Having said this, Qi Lingheng's jade-like face broke into a profound smile.

A Fu stared, dazed, at Prince Huan's handsome face. Good heavens, even the emperor and empress can't persuade you. Who in this world could possibly tame you?