Chapter 2

By throwing himself in the path of the carriage, Gu Xiaodeng managed to stop it. Though he took a kick to the stomach, it wasn’t in vain. Gu Jinyu disembarked, helped him up, and inquired about their situation with gentle concern. As Zhang Dengqing stood nearby, sternly explaining they were distant relatives of the Gu family, Gu Jinyu, with his refined and cultured manner, asked a few brief questions before readily leading them into the Gu Residence.

Gu Xiaodeng exhaled inwardly. The pain in his stomach was forgotten. Happily, he grabbed the hand of the curse-faced Zhang Dengqing, shaking it soothingly as he whispered, “Brother, my stomach is fine. I was faking it.”

Only then did Zhang Dengqing’s furrowed brow relax slightly.

Once they were actually inside, Gu Xiaodeng discovered that Zhenbei Prince Mansion was unbelievably vast. Servants drifted about in orderly fashion, like chess pieces on a board. Everywhere Gu Jinyu went, the respectful title “Fourth Young Master” was offered in unison. It wasn’t until they bypassed the front courtyard and took the smaller paths, where fewer people passed, that the air felt less stifling.

Getting in had been easy, which set Zhang Dengqing’s heart pounding with anxiety, but Gu Xiaodeng remained perfectly composed.

He studied Gu Jinyu’s back as they walked. They were the same age, yet Gu Jinyu was already as tall as Zhang Dengqing. Judging by his physique and bearing, he likely practiced martial arts year-round. But his temperament was as warm as a young scholar’s. His voice and manner of speaking were pleasant to the ear, and his appearance matched his name—exceedingly handsome.

Heaven truly favored him.

Gu Xiaodeng thought, a touch sourly.

Perhaps sensing the gaze on his back, Gu Jinyu glanced over his shoulder and asked softly, “Are you still in pain?”

“I’m not.” Gu Xiaodeng looked at Zhang Dengqing, whose brow was knotted with worry. “But my brother is. He was kicked and fell, hurt his left leg. He can’t walk straight…”

Zhang Dengqing put his arm around Gu Xiaodeng’s shoulder, cutting him off. He looked at Gu Jinyu with a slight frown. “May I ask, Your Excellency, are you taking us to see the Prince Zhenbei and his wife?”

“I’ll settle you in first. My Royal Father is occupied with social engagements today and won’t be free until tomorrow at the earliest.” Gu Jinyu smiled. “This distant cousin, how should I address you?”

Gu Xiaodeng also put his arm around Zhang Dengqing and butted in with a chuckle, “My brother’s name is wonderfully nice. It’s Zhang Dengqing!”

“It is indeed a fine name.” Gu Jinyu smiled faintly. “Then you must be Zhang Xiaodeng?”

Gu Xiaodeng grinned and touched his earlobe. “Yep.”

Zhang Dengqing was suddenly at a loss for words. He could only pretend to pinch Gu Xiaodeng’s ear. Gu Xiaodeng, thinking he was being warned to stop babbling, made a zipping motion over his lips with a grin, nodding his head from side to side.

They stood there, arms slung over each other’s shoulders, exchanging meaningful glances, completely unaware that in this noble household, siblings observed strict decorum and respectful formality. Under the Gu family’s rules, their brotherly intimacy was seen as vulgar, undignified behavior unfit for public display.

They walked for quite a while. As Gu Jinyu led them around a corner, he suddenly stopped.

Gu Xiaodeng saw a procession approaching. At the front were three richly dressed figures. The one in the middle was sixteen or seventeen years old, holding the hand of a boy of seven or eight with his right hand. Walking alongside his left was a refined youth of twelve or thirteen. This youth’s complexion was paler than most, immediately recognizable as a delicate, sickly beauty with a congenital deficiency.

Gu Xiaodeng’s eyes involuntarily glued themselves to him.

“Third Brother.”

“Fourth Brother!”

Gu Jinyu and the young boy spoke and saluted almost simultaneously. Gu Xiaodeng immediately understood that ahead stood the Heir of Zhenbei Prince Mansion, Gu Pinghan, and the youngest son, Gu Shouyi.

Zhang Dengqing’s heart clenched. He stole a glance at Gu Pinghan, who stood as elegantly as a crane, only to be met with an indifferent sweep of the eyes that made his spine crawl for no apparent reason.

“Jinyu, you’re back late.” Gu Pinghan also wore a gentle smile, but his voice was flat and emotionless, carrying a cool, distant aloofness. “The residence is busy today. Once you’ve handled your trivial matters, come over promptly.”

“Yes.”

Gu Shouyi, whose hand Gu Pinghan held, had an eager look in his eyes. He was focused entirely on Gu Jinyu and paid no attention to the two strangers. But even in his excitement, he stood properly. “Fourth Brother, Third Sister Su and Fourth Brother Su have come to our residence. Royal Father wants to take us to the Su family for a return visit at the eighth quarter of the Wei hour. If you’re not tired, won’t you come with us?”

“Alright.” Gu Jinyu smiled and looked toward the sickly youth. “Mingya, it’s been a while. I trust your health has improved?”

“It has improved a great deal. Thank you for your concern, Jinyu.”

Gu Xiaodeng quietly observed the sickly young master, turning the name over in his mind. Su, Ming, Ya.

He mouthed the three gentle, tender syllables.

Su Mingya’s voice was exceedingly pleasant to hear, yet weak. The fatigue and frailty had erased the vitality a youth his age should possess. Hearing it made Gu Xiaodeng’s heartstrings tremble.

The four young masters exchanged a few polite words before the two groups passed each other by. Gu Xiaodeng’s sparkling eyes couldn’t help but linger on Su Mingya, but the procession walked straight on without a sideways glance.

Not only did Gu Pinghan and the other young masters ignore the conspicuous pair of him and Zhang Dengqing, but the long tail of servants trailing behind them was also utterly refined and solemn the entire way. Not one of them spared them a glance. In fact, from the moment they set foot in the Gu Residence, aside from Gu Jinyu, everyone else seemed to treat them as air.

Gu Xiaodeng felt that even if he screamed at the top of his lungs right now, he wouldn’t get a single look of attention.

Gu Jinyu also said nothing more. He silently led them through a dizzying maze of paths until they reached a courtyard. There, he handed them over to a Steward Zhu, who looked to be in his twenties, gave a concise explanation, ending with a smiling “Wait for me a moment,” said four sentences in total, and then turned and left.

After nodding, Steward Zhu asked them nothing. He directly brought them to a guest room and wrapped everything up in two sentences:

“Please rest, both of you. Ring the table bell if you need anything.”

“Zhu Mi takes his leave.”

The door slammed shut, leaving Zhang Dengqing and Gu Xiaodeng staring blankly at each other.

Zhang Dengqing frowned. “He just dismissed us like that?”

Gu Xiaodeng looked around curiously. “Brother, this place is really strict and solemn. You don’t like being restricted. Are you feeling alright?”

Zhang Dengqing’s urge to curse rose and fell. He sighed. “Let’s not talk about that for now. How’s your stomach? Let me see.”

Gu Xiaodeng took off his shirt, revealing the red imprint of a foot on his abdomen, boding ill and likely to develop into a bruise. Zhang Dengqing scowled and cursed the gatekeeper. Gu Xiaodeng nodded along with feigned seriousness, little fists clenched. “Brother, an eye for an eye, right? Let me see your leg, too.”

They sat casually on the unpretentious but sturdy table. Zhang Dengqing rolled his pant leg up high, while Gu Xiaodeng sat shirtless. Both carefully examined the other’s injuries.

Zhang Dengqing opened the small bundle he carried on his back and retrieved excellent wound medicine from inside. Their five years peddling the Three Treasures wares had allowed them to save a decent sum. Compared to ordinary people, they had money aplenty, but they were young and powerless.

Being powerless while carrying valuables only invited more unseen dangers.

Zhang Dengqing applied medicine to Gu Xiaodeng first, sighing with an old man’s world-weariness. “The Gu household is strict and solemn, but the malice here is visible. It’s a bit better than being a headless fly in the jianghu. At least I know no one here will suddenly rush out and snatch you away to use as a medicinal ingredient.”

“Brother, you can relax and sigh in relief. That puts my heart at ease too.” Gu Xiaodeng scratched his nose, chatting about other things to distract him from his worries. “Brother, didn’t we run into those three young masters on our way here? That Su Mingya, he’s so delicately pretty.”

“I know of him. His father is the current Grand Chancellor of the court.” Zhang Dengqing rubbed the footprint-shaped bruise. “The Su and Gu families are related by marriage. Chancellor Su has three daughters and one son. The eldest daughter is an Imperial Consort. The second daughter is married to An Zhenwen—your birth mother’s younger brother. That makes An Zhenwen your maternal uncle by blood. He’s also a formidable person; he placed as Tanhua in last year’s imperial examinations.”

Gu Xiaodeng’s stomach began to ache, but he grinned and pretended nothing was wrong. “That is impressive!”

“The Su family is a prestigious and well-established clan, with more deep-rooted heritage than the Gu family. The Gu family has only produced two generations of generals to prop up their current status. The Su family has been a scholarly clan for a hundred years, producing high officials and capable people in every generation. Su Mingya is the Chancellor’s child from his later years and his only son—a sure winner in the lottery of reincarnation. But he was born with a congenital deficiency, an innate Asthma Affliction. He’s frail to an extreme degree. Every year, the Su family performs grand charitable acts, saying they are to accumulate merit for this youngest son, begging Heaven to spare him a few more years.”

Zhang Dengqing freed a hand to flick Gu Xiaodeng on the forehead. “What, you see a sickly, delicate person and you’re interested?”

Gu Xiaodeng had yet to realize his own unique aesthetic tastes. Perhaps it was innate, perhaps it was nurtured, perhaps it was even a projection of self-pity—he had absolutely no resistance to delicate, sickly beauties.

He rubbed his forehead, recalling that frail silhouette, a fledgling protectiveness stirring in his heart. “I just thought he was good-looking.”

“Kids these days, only caring about faces. Did you even notice those two blood brothers, or the one impersonating you?”

“Them?” Gu Xiaodeng stared blankly for a moment, then scratched his nose and smiled, busying himself with checking Zhang Dengqing’s leg. “They’re all very good-looking. Good-looking people living good-looking lives. I think they’re wonderful, and also very unfamiliar.”

Zhang Dengqing’s throat suddenly tightened. They were just a few simple sentences, but they struck right at his heart, filling him with both heartache and sorrow.

Just then, Gu Xiaodeng suddenly pressed a pressure point on his leg, tickling him so much he nearly leaped up. “!!”

“Oops, I pressed your funny bone!”

Both burst into loud laughter—Gu Xiaodeng from amusement, Zhang Dengqing from exasperation.

That night, the two brothers slept well in their small corner of the Gu household. Since Zhang Kangye had passed away from illness, tonight was the first full night’s rest they had slept without troubled dreams.

Gu Xiaodeng slept especially soundly, curled up obediently with his blanket, snuggling warmly and softly as if he could sleep until the end of the world… Then he was jolted awake by a loud cry.

Bleary-eyed and clutching his blanket, he scrambled up, stammering, “Wh-wh-what’s the matter? Brother, why are you screaming like that?”

He and Zhang Dengqing slept head-to-toe. As he straightened up, he came face-to-face with a messy-haired Zhang Dengqing, and his first reaction was amusement. “Cheep cheep cheep, who’s got a bird’s nest on their head? Oh, it’s you?”

He squinted his smiling eyes and flopped backward. The sunlight outside the window wasn’t glaring yet. Still hugging his blanket, he craved a little more sleep.

“Xiaodeng!” Zhang Dengqing grabbed him, bundled up like a rice dumpling, and shook him anxiously. “Stop sleeping. Open your eyes wide and look—your parents are here!”

Gu Xiaodeng’s crescent-moon, smiling eyes instantly snapped into wide, round saucers. Bewildered and nervous, he craned his neck to look out.

There, sitting at the table in the guest room, were a tall, imposing, and handsome man, and an elegant, coolly detached, regal woman. Their combined bearing and presence made the simple guest room feel like a palace hall.

Zhang Dengqing’s small bundle, tied with a slipknot, lay open on the table. The possessions Zhang Kangye had left behind were fully exposed. Letters were unfolded in the man’s hands as he read them. A token—a jade ring—was held in the woman’s fingertips for her scrutiny.

Both were noble, coldly arrogant, and exuded an air of cool detachment. Their demeanors complemented each other perfectly. It was no wonder Zhang Dengqing had instinctively assumed they were the Prince and Princess Consort of Zhenbei.

And they were, indeed.

Gu Yan, the Prince Zhenbei, held the letter and swept his gaze over them. “Distant relatives of the Gu family?”

The two youths on the bed, still half-asleep, huddled closer together, their bodies practically trembling. They didn’t dare speak.

Beside him, Princess Consort An Ruoyi put down the jade ring and gently beckoned. “Child, come here.”

The words were meant for Gu Xiaodeng. An inexplicable wave of fear and joy washed over him. His mind was a muddled mess. Wrapped in his blanket, he slid off the bed and rushed toward them like a roly-poly rice dumpling.

He was only twelve this year, with just five years of memory spanning from seven to twelve. He was still young and starved for affection. His longing for family outweighed his fear.

He hurried to the table, his round, bright eyes looking at the Princess Consort, then at the Prince. Tears welled up as his eyes crinkled.

He just stood there in his blanket, grinning foolishly, unable to utter a single word—

To lose his voice was to become his permanent state upon entering the Gu household.