Someone he fancied

"My son, is there a young lady you fancy?"

The emperor watched a hint of surprise appear on Xie Huizhou's otherwise unruffled face. Only when he saw his discomfort did he feel satisfied.

Xie Huizhou thought it over. He had little interest in women at present, but Zhang Lanhe's eerily handsome face kept appearing in his mind.

Xie Huizhou answered honestly, "I have no one I fancy, Father. Perhaps I will in the future."

Xie Huizhou reflected that no matter which world he went to, he could never escape his parents pressuring him to marry. It really was a headache.

Strange. Why did the Imperial Preceptor's face come to mind at the mention of someone I fancy?

Had I painted so many erotic pictures of him that I'd fallen for the man in the paintings?

At the thought that he might be gay, Xie Huizhou fell silent and began questioning his life.

"It doesn't matter if you don't. I'll find you a good match."

Many candidates flashed through the emperor's mind. They were all excellent prospects for a prince's consort, all daughters of loyal officials. Placing one beside Xie Huizhou would also let him keep an eye on Xie Huizhou and the Imperial Preceptor.

"I happen to have their portraits here. There's no time like the present. Since everyone is here today, let's settle this now. Take a good look and see which girl you like, my son. I'll grant you a marriage."

The emperor had come prepared. At a glance from him, his personal eunuch presented the portraits prepared in advance.

The eunuch's eyes narrowed to slits with his smile. He tottered over and pushed a thick stack of portraits into Xie Huizhou's arms. "Your Highness, these are the marriageable daughters of the court officials. They're all lovely girls. Please take a good look and see whether any suit you."

The moment the eunuch handed over the paintings, he felt a surge of killing intent directed at him.

He looked up in alarm and saw the Imperial Preceptor's serpentine eyes fixed coldly on him. His scalp prickled as though a venomous snake truly had him in its sights.

The eunuch almost saw his great-grandmother beckoning to him from across the river.

All he had done was bring the Ninth Prince some portraits. How had he offended the Imperial Preceptor?

He grew uneasy too. Could the Imperial Preceptor really be a snake demon in human form, as the rumors said, sowing chaos at court and intending to leave the Great Xia Dynasty without descendants? Was that why he was so angry?

Understanding dawned on the eunuch's face, and he began worrying that he knew too much to live.

It seemed he would have to retire early and return home to live out his remaining years. Perhaps he could escape disaster that way.

Without betraying anything, Zhang Lanhe watched Xie Huizhou out of the corner of his eye, anxious about what he would decide.

The old emperor isn't wrong. Huizhou really is old enough to marry and establish himself. Why are humans so insistent on the union of male and female, yin and yang? Huizhou and I are clearly a better match.

The mark of one's destined mate could not be wrong.

That was what their inherited memories said.

Zhang Lanhe thought that if Xie Huizhou really found his true love here, he would go snatch him away at the wedding and hide him.

He was also curious about what type Xie Huizhou liked.

Xie Huizhou did not unroll the portraits. He refused without hesitation. "Father, I'm still young. I'm not considering this for now."

Xie Huizhou felt he might not be entirely straight. After all, he had always been quite capable of appreciating handsome men. There was no need to hurt an innocent girl.

And this was an arranged marriage to someone he had never even met. What if she already loved someone else? This damned old society.

The tragedy of the Butterfly Lovers could not be allowed to play out here.

The emperor's expression darkened at once, and his tone turned hostile. "When your eldest brother was alive, he was about your age and already married with a consort. If she hadn't been implicated when that incident happened, the child in her womb would already be old enough to call me Grandfather. How are you still young at your age?"

Xie Huizhou had grown wild living outside the palace. He even defied his own father's decisions!

Just like the unruly Consort Yu!

It displeased him.

The oppressive air around the emperor grew heavier. Xie Huizhou sensed his killing intent and realized with a start that an emperor was an emperor, after all. He did not like being opposed.

Especially by a prince who had been hated since birth.

For a moment, Xie Huizhou was caught in a dilemma.

Zhang Lanhe did not want this conversation to continue either, so he casually took the matter upon himself. "Your Majesty, why not let me vet the candidates for the Ninth Prince?"

Good thing he had come along. Otherwise, by the time he turned around, the emperor would have arranged a marriage for Xie Huizhou, and he would have nowhere even to cry.

He certainly would not make a cuckold of himself.

Rejected! Every last one of them!

For once, the emperor found the Imperial Preceptor pleasing to the eye. "You understand me best, Imperial Preceptor. This brat will be the death of me one day."

The Imperial Preceptor had finally decided to act like a decent person.

The emperor had not felt reassured for even two seconds before he heard all manner of scathing, cutting remarks from Zhang Lanhe. He all but declared that as long as he was here, Xie Huizhou could forget about getting married.

"She isn't as beautiful as the Ninth Prince. I fear she would feel inferior."

"I've made a divination. Their birth charts clash. Marriage could easily turn them into enemies."

"Her family's status is a little low. A match for the Ninth Prince should at least come from a first-rank official's family. I don't think she's suitable."

"No, no. His Highness certainly wouldn't like her."

"I hear this girl already has a childhood sweetheart. Your Majesty, better to tear down ten temples than break up one marriage."

"Nothing special."

This was the most the Imperial Preceptor had ever said to others.

As the atmosphere in the Hall of Mental Cultivation grew increasingly strained, none of the palace maids or eunuchs dared make a sound, afraid of being caught in the fallout.

The Imperial Preceptor, Zhang Lanhe, thought the court painters' skills were nothing special. Their paintings were not even as spirited as Xie Huizhou's. The more he looked, the more critical he became.

Zhang Lanhe found fault with everything and approved of no one, describing every candidate as utterly worthless.

After everything he had said, it would be rude to make Xie Huizhou marry one of them.

With him around, there was no chance of Xie Huizhou marrying someone else.

Having escaped this deadly pressure to marry, Xie Huizhou looked at Zhang Lanhe as though he were a lifeline.

"The Imperial Preceptor makes excellent points!"

The Imperial Preceptor's interference had thwarted the emperor's plans, and his face visibly darkened.

What was the Imperial Preceptor playing at?

Had he seen through my intentions already and devised ways to pull out the spies I meant to plant?

If he had not known the Imperial Preceptor was entirely alone, he would have thought he, too, had a marriage candidate prepared for Xie Huizhou.

Zhang Lanhe went even further. "When the imperial physician took His Highness's pulse earlier, he found that further indulgence in lust could shorten his life. Your Majesty is a loving father. Surely the Ninth Prince's health must come first."

Xie Huizhou said, "The Imperial Preceptor is wise."

Watching the two echo each other, the emperor knew nothing could be settled today.

"Let us put this matter aside for now."

With the Imperial Preceptor here, the emperor could accomplish nothing. He could only look for another opportunity.

Having finally escaped the pressure to marry, Xie Huizhou turned the conversation to the Imperial Examination.

Since the emperor had dumped this wretched mess on him, he had to get some authority out of it.

After considering the coming cheating scandal, Xie Huizhou decided to start with the emperor. "Father, will I have full responsibility for this Imperial Examination? May I make a few small changes, to the questions, for instance?"

Cheating scandals generally involved leaked questions and crib sheets, with officials involved in serious cases.

If he changed the questions and laid traps in advance, things would get interesting.

Then he could catch those who tried to frame him along with the rest and exile them all!

Xie Huizhou had extensive experience taking civil service exams in his previous life, so he knew very well how to make candidates lose the will to live.

The emperor suspected nothing. The Imperial Examination had been the same for centuries. However the questions changed, the fundamentals remained the same, so he let him do as he pleased.

"My son, go ahead and do as you see fit."

Then he issued a verbal decree, granting Xie Huizhou that authority.

With the emperor's approval, all sorts of ideas for stirring things up instantly filled Xie Huizhou's mind. He looked at the emperor in great excitement.

"With your assurance, Father, I can rest easy."