The ink on the xuan paper dried and grew wet, then dried again.
Gu Moran sat at his desk all night.
Crumpled balls of paper lay at his feet, while the system panel hovered to his right. Portraits of the six beauties stood in a row, each face accompanied by favorability and fortune ratings.
He stared at Su Yao at the top and raised a hand to rub the aching spot between his brows.
"Winning them over one by one sounds safe."
"But Su Yao is the legitimate daughter of the chancellor, proud and bound by rules, with the chancellor's camp of civil officials behind her."
"In the original story, it took Ye Qingyun eighty chapters to win her heart."
"How am I supposed to match him in a drawn-out contest?"
The system panel hung silently in the air.
Gu Moran wrote down Shen Ling'er's name.
"Shen Ling'er has medical skills, connections throughout the medical community, and plenty of little schemes."
"As soon as Chu Tianxing comes down the mountain, he builds his reputation by treating illnesses and saving lives. She's the key to it."
His brush paused over Murong Xue's name.
"Murong Xue, princess of the Northern Territory, a pawn in a marriage alliance."
"If she falls into someone else's hands, the Northern Territory's blade will be at my throat."
He wrote down Lin Qingdai, Liu Ruyan, and Xie Wanqing in one go.
"Lin Qingdai, legitimate daughter of the grand commandant."
"The military officers under Lin Zhenshan could raise enough of a ruckus to tear the beams off the imperial study."
"Liu Ruyan, the Flower-Between Pavilion's top courtesan."
"Low status?"
Gu Moran chuckled and pointed his brush beside her name.
"She knows better than the Ministry of Punishments who met whom at night in the capital, and who took whose silver."
"Xie Wanqing, daughter of the Imperial Academy's chancellor, a leading name in literary circles with an unblemished reputation among scholars."
"If she's willing to step forward and say a word, it'll do more good than my spending a chest of gold."
He put down his brush and looked at the six names on the paper.
"How are these six wives?"
"They're six knives."
A notification appeared on the system panel.
[Change detected in host's strategic inclination.] [Shifting from romantic conquest to cutting off power bases.]
Gu Moran leaned back in his chair, weariness showing through his bloodshot eyes.
"That's right!"
He crumpled up his original plan and threw it on the floor.
"For every one I pursue, a son of destiny shows up."
"I apologize to Su Yao, and Ye Qingyun stands tall at the banquet where the engagement is broken off."
"I coax Shen Ling'er while she brews medicine, and Chu Tianxing becomes a god at the empress dowager's bedside."
"I go to Murong Xue to talk peace, and someone else has already secured her troops from the Northern Territory."
He raised a hand and tapped the tabletop.
"Am I supposed to court women while I wait for someone to chop me down?"
"I'm afraid of dying."
"But I'm not stupid."
The system gave no response.
Gu Moran rose and walked to the window.
"I can't fight the sons of destiny by following the plot."
"They have the Heavenly Dao, protagonist halos, fortuitous encounters, and powerful benefactors."
"What do I have?"
"I have my status as an imperial prince, my mother Noble Consort Chen, Imperial Father's favoritism, and the money in Prince Yi's Residence."
At that, he lowered his head and smiled.
"And one more thing."
"I have no shame."
Gu Moran returned to his desk and spread out a fresh sheet of xuan paper.
He set brush to paper and wrote four characters.
Six marriage decrees.
"When an imperial prince takes consorts, he can have only one principal wife, but there's room for secondary consorts and lesser consorts."
"Once the imperial marriage decrees are issued, their formal status is secured first."
"With their status secured, their fortune bindings can't activate as they did in the original plot."
Red text appeared on the system panel.
[This course involves the coercive use of imperial power. Probability of increased hostility from the beauties is high.]
Gu Moran looked at the line of text.
"I know they'll hate me."
"Su Yao will think I've ruined her good name."
"Lin Qingdai will want to break my legs."
"Murong Xue will take it as an insult from the Central Plains."
"Xie Wanqing will think she's been dragged into the imperial family's mess."
"Shen Ling'er will put three extra bitter herbs in my medicine."
"Liu Ruyan will probably ask, 'Your Highness, are you buying the queen of courtesans, or the information behind the Flower-Between Pavilion?'"
He circled the six names in turn.
"But having them hate me is better than letting the sons of destiny use them as stepping stones."
"Secure them first, then talk about feelings."
"Stay alive first, then make it up to them."
"Get the knives in my hands first, then make them willing to leave their sheaths for me."
More text appeared on the system panel.
[Host, please confirm: this strategy will cause a substantial drop in the initial favorability of all six beauties.]
Gu Moran held his brush tip beside Su Yao's name.
"Let it drop."
"Favorability can rise again."
"Once my head's off, it won't go back on."
The system panel glowed a little brighter.
[Evaluating strategy.] [Too many variables.] [Recalculating.] [Calculating again.]
Gu Moran waited ten breaths.
A full page of red text appeared on the system panel.
[Strategy assessment: no matching cases in database.] [Risk level: high.] [Detail one: imperial credibility will be overstretched. Issuing six marriage decrees at once will stir controversy at court.] [Detail two: hostility from the six beauties will increase. Estimated average favorability decrease: thirty.] [Detail three: the sons of destiny may enter the capital ahead of time, advancing plot events.] [Detail four: if the host cannot deliver the subsequent benefits, the six families may be forced into cooperation and counterattack in secret.] [Benefit assessment: if successful, the fortune foundations of the capital's six sons of destiny can be weakened within thirty days, establishing an initial advantage over them.] [Overall conclusion: probability of success cannot be calculated.] [The system advises the host to think it over carefully.]
Gu Moran raised a hand and closed the panel.
"Fuck thinking it over."
He folded the xuan paper and tucked it into his sleeve.
"I only want to know one thing."
"How do I get my father to nod?"
A rooster crowed outside the door.
Dawn was approaching.
Gu Moran felt more clearheaded than ever.
"Imperial Father dotes on me, but that's one thing."
"Six marriage decrees aren't the same as asking for a horse or a house."
"If I bring this before the throne, Imperial Father will think I drank too much last night."
He wrote down "Imperial Father" on the paper and circled the words.
"But what does Imperial Father want?"
"Balance at court."
"The chancellor's residence is too stable, the grand commandant's residence too unyielding, the Northern Frontier Envoy Delegation too slippery, the Imperial Academy too pure, the Flower-Between Pavilion too dirty, and the medical community too scattered."
"The six families each have their own temperaments, and none of them usually defers to the others."
He raised his hand and drew lines from the six circles to his own name.
"But if they're all tied to an idle prince with no interest in seizing power, they'll keep one another in check."
"Imperial Father loves balance above all."
"Then I'll make myself the counterweight."
He wrote down Noble Consort Chen's name.
"Mother is the first hurdle."
"Imperial Father listens to her more than anyone."
"She's also the cleverest."
Gu Moran looked at the system interface and narrowed his eyes.
Su Yao, the civil officials' knife.
Lin Qingdai, the military officers' knife.
Murong Xue, the frontier's knife.
Shen Ling'er, the medical community's knife.
Liu Ruyan, the knife in the shadows.
Xie Wanqing, the scholars' knife.
He set the brush back on its rest.
"Six knives back in their sheaths, and the sheaths are in Prince Yi's Residence. Mother will understand."
The sky outside the window was already paling, and a rooster crowed in the distance.
Gu Moran had spent the entire night sitting in his study. His neck ached too much to turn, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Yet he was more clearheaded than ever.
He stood and walked to the bronze mirror, splashed his face with cool water, and tied up his loose hair again.
Once his clothes and hair were in order, he burned all the papers and pushed open the study door.
The morning light was dazzling.
The servant at the entrance to the little courtyard had been dozing. Startled awake by the sound of the door, he hurried over and stood at attention.
"Your Highness, you're up?"
"Breakfast is ready. Will you eat in the front hall, or shall I bring it to the study?"
Gu Moran stepped over the threshold.
"I won't eat. Saddle a horse."
The servant froze.
"This early?"
"Where are you going, Your Highness?"
Gu Moran descended the steps without looking back.
"To pay my respects to Mother."
The servant opened his mouth.
Prince Yi, the third imperial prince, usually paid his respects to Noble Consort Chen in the afternoon.
Even then, the palace had to send for him three times before he would drag himself over.
He was paying his respects of his own accord.
And so early in the morning, too.
The servant looked at the horizon.
The sun hadn't risen in the west, had it?
Gu Moran had already swung into the saddle.
The sound of hoofbeats shattered the morning quiet as the rider made for the imperial palace.
He had the list tucked inside his sleeve.
Six names.
Six knives.
To ask Imperial Father to grant the marriage, he first had to get past his mother.