Chapter 12

"Ji Yang, aren't there a few Snow Spots being kept in Magnolia Lake?"

"Yes. You were very fond of them at the time, my lord, and praised them as having the grace of winter plum blossoms floating on water. You ordered us to take good care of them for viewing." Magnolia Lake was a lotus pond in Prince Huai's estate. Only its running water could sustain the delicate Snow Spots. His lord had happened to acquire a few before going to war, and even now they had only bred to fifty or sixty. They grew extremely slowly and usually drifted lazily beneath the lotus leaves, like reclusive masters.

"I remember the Daoist who gave them to me saying their flesh was exquisite, virtually unrivaled in the world, and that eating them was highly beneficial."

"Yes." Ji Yang silently recited the rest: the man had also said Snow Spots were extremely precious and primarily meant for viewing. But if the future Princess Consort Huai became pregnant, they could be used to nourish her, which would not count as a waste.

"Have Chef Lin catch one every two days and send it to Meng Zhou once it's cooked." Chef Lin was a renowned chef Chu Huaiyin had sought out, particularly skilled at cooking freshwater fish and shellfish.

"Well..." A whole lotus pond's worth would not even last six months. They were supposed to nourish the princess consort. Wasn't this snatching food from the mouth of a little imperial grandson?

"Is there a problem?"

"I'll see to it." Ji Yang's gaze toward Meng Zhou instantly grew complicated, his peripheral vision continually slipping downward to linger on his flat lower abdomen.

Could there... already be one in there?

In this world, a tiny minority of men could bear children. Within an hour of their birth, a red mole would appear on the sole of their foot, then vanish without a trace once that time passed. For the decades that followed, they were no different from ordinary people, with no way to identify them.

It was said that children born to such men were more intelligent, so powerful officials and nobles would take them into their rear courtyards, yet deny them a legitimate status.

This was to prevent fathers from rising in status through their children and standing above ordinary people; it was practically an unspoken rule. Ordinary people coveted this trait while suppressing the status of those who possessed it. They wanted everything without paying any price.

Thus, among ordinary families, aside from parents blinded by money, anyone who loved their children hoped not to have a child like this. Even if they did, they concealed it from others.

But there was one hurdle that could never be avoided.

The midwife.

No one could predict which kind of child they would have, and refusing to hire a midwife over a one-in-ten-thousand chance was absurd.

The midwives held accurate lists. They had their own ways of contacting one another and sold the information to those who needed it.

In short, crushed beneath the interests of the overwhelming majority, these people became members of rear courtyards and lived unhappy lives. Fortunately, their fertility was limited, both in the likelihood of conception and the number of pregnancies.

Ji Yang thought it over carefully. He knew of a few in the capital, but Meng Zhou was not among them. Otherwise, given Lady Zhou's ruthlessness, she would long since have offered him to a superior official to curry favor.

He watched Meng Zhou eat without a care in the world, his eyes seeing nothing but that plate of fish, his fair cheeks bulging with each mouthful. When he finished, he wiped his greasy mouth and patted his stomach.

Few of the other dishes on the table had been touched, but that plate of fish had been picked clean.

Chu Huaiyin watched Meng Zhou fill his belly with a smile. Several times, he wanted to pick up his chopsticks and remove the fish bones for him, but forcibly restrained himself.

Seeing how his lord looked ready to feed Meng Zhou himself, Ji Yang finally understood. There was no pregnancy at all. It was simply because Meng Zhou liked eating fish.

Ji Yang had sensed something ever since that stack of papers in the study.

In Ji Yang's mind, the image of the ever-victorious, wise and mighty Prince Huai cracked a little at a time.

"What are you talking about?" Meng Zhou wiped his mouth, finally finding the energy to pay attention to the looks passing between Chu Huaiyin and Ji Yang.

"There's a chef at my estate who is exceptionally skilled at preparing fresh fish. Compared with his cooking, this fish from the Gathered Fragrance Restaurant only ranks as middling."

Meng Zhou discreetly swallowed.

"A few years ago, I happened to acquire some fish with exquisite flesh. I dislike fish bones. If you like, I could have the chef prepare one every other day and send it to your estate. What do you think?"

Ji Yang looked at Chu Huaiyin with utter disdain. A few days ago, when the second prince asked to have one caught for him to try, my lord gave him an earful about burning zithers and boiling cranes. How come, when it comes to Meng Zhou, all that's left is their delicious flesh?

Of course, he did not dare say this aloud.

Meng Zhou pressed his lips together, striving to maintain a composed appearance. Yet his round eyes shone as they fixed on Chu Huaiyin, thoroughly betraying his thoughts.

If even Prince Huai said they were good, they had to be among the finest things in the world.

He reservedly licked away the sauce on his lips, the corners of his mouth curving ever so slightly. "All right."

Chu Huaiyin's eyes curved too, and the two reached a harmonious agreement.

Only Ji Yang watched Meng Zhou with a numb expression, anguish showing through his numbness. What a waste! A criminal waste of a precious treasure!

Meng Zhou headed back in quite a good mood. After their interactions over the past few days, Prince Huai really had treated him very well. This golden thigh was worth clinging to, and he had never once asked Meng Zhou to repay the money.

Rich and powerful.

Even so, I still have to work hard to pay him back.

The question that had been circling in his mind also had an answer.

Meng Zhou was certain that the man in black who had followed and saved him had either already left or belonged to Chu Huaiyin.

With all the hidden guards secretly protecting Chu Huaiyin, not to mention Chu Huaiyin's own formidable martial arts, anyone lurking around Meng Zhou would certainly have been discovered.

If Chu Huaiyin had discovered someone, he should have told him.

Yet so far, Chu Huaiyin had given no indication of anything.

And so Meng Zhou reached his conclusion.

Another question followed: Chu Huaiyin had not even known him when they first met, so what had prompted him to send someone to protect him?

He vaguely felt that it was connected to the Jiang Clan, but could not work out how.

Meng Zhou always used the side gate when returning to the Meng estate. It was not that he belittled himself, but that using the main entrance would inevitably mean seeing that family and ruining his good mood for the day.

Today, the side gate was actually locked from the inside. Meng Zhou had no choice but to go around to the main entrance. As he passed the main hall, he heard Lady Zhou talking to Meng Fushan.

"My father will arrive in the capital the day after tomorrow. I'd like to clear out a courtyard for them to stay in, so I can fulfill my filial duties."

"Arrange it as you see fit, my lady."

Lady Zhou named a place a thousand times better than where Meng Zhou lived.

Meng Zhou pursed his lips. He had only taken two steps when it suddenly struck him: wasn't Lady Zhou's father named Zhou Hancai? That matched the seal exactly.

Meng Zhou took out the scrap of paper and carefully examined the charred portion: half of the character "cai."

In the capital, the Liu Family and the Jiang Clan both held military office and were not on good terms. Because of Jiang Yao, the Meng Clan had no private ties with the Liu Family. Who could have imagined that Lady Zhou's birth family was so close to Liu De? They truly were birds of a feather, wallowing in filth together.

The Zhou Family had gone from ordinary local merchants to a rapidly expanding business of its present scale. The turning point had been... Meng Zhou closed his eyes, sorting through the information he had gathered.

Exactly five years ago!

Five years ago, Prince Huai had gone to war, and military funds had been diverted, their whereabouts unknown. At the same time, Liu De had returned to the capital and regained power, the Zhou Family had prospered, and illicit weapons had proliferated... Could there be a connection?

His instincts told him: yes.

Those letters had to be crucial evidence.

Liu De had died at the wrong time. If he did not think of something soon, Liu Hongbao would burn them all after the seventh day following his death.

The Liu Family's main courtyard was so tightly guarded that not even a fly could get in. With Meng Zhou's paltry martial arts, unless he actually turned into a cat, he had no way of breaking in.

He irritably scratched his hair. Am I going to end up having made an empty boast to Chu Huaiyin?

I'm going to worry myself bald.

Bald... hmm?

Meng Zhou's eyes lit up. The Liu Family would certainly invite eminent monks to perform funeral rites. He could blend into the group of young monks chanting sutras to avoid notice, then look for a chance to slip into the study and bedroom.

Plan complete.

Even with my head shaved, I'll still be a handsome little monk.

He had tried every hairstyle while acting in his previous life. Meng Zhou had no hang-ups about his appearance.

Author's note: A few months later.

"I'll give you one more chance to rephrase that."

Ji Yang: "What? What did I say? My lord is wise."

Next chapter: Little Cat Meng gets caught becoming a monk, and Prince Huai questions his life.

So no one really remembers this version of the blurb.