Chapter 17: The Princess Follows the Prince Consort into a Brothel
Not long after Mo Shuihan returned from the Hanlin Academy, he received a note from Jin Zeshan, asking to meet at their usual spot. Mo Shuihan changed his clothes and prepared to leave. The maid Princess Jiu had assigned to watch him immediately ran to report. The moment she heard, the princess abandoned her meal, threw down her chopsticks, and ordered a carriage.
Nanny Shen tried to reason with her, murmuring something about unseemly conduct, but Princess Jiu impatiently waved her off, urging the servants to hurry.
Chunlan offered a suggestion. “Princess, the two guards who follow the Prince Consort are highly skilled. It would be difficult for ordinary people to tail them without being noticed. I’m afraid we won’t be able to keep up.”
The princess, in the middle of changing, turned in surprise. “Even you can’t keep up?”
Chunlan looked ashamed. “My rudimentary skills are nothing compared to theirs. I doubt I could last three moves against them. Tailing them is simply impossible.”
Princess Jiu stomped her foot in a huff. “That wretched consort! Hiring two guards like that, he’s clearly doing it to keep me away. Well, I’m going to follow him anyway. I want to see just which vixen has him so captivated!”
After a moment’s thought, a cunning smile spread across her face. “Didn’t the Prince Consort mention he was going to the Spring River Pavilion before? We’ll just go there and find him directly. I refuse to believe we won’t catch him.”
“But your attire…” Chunlan gestured at the princess’s delicate, pink dress, her words trailing off.
Princess Jiu looked down. “Oh, right. A different plan requires a different disguise. Someone, fetch me one of the Prince Consort’s outfits!”
Mo Shuihan was completely unaware of his wife’s scheme. He was sitting in a private room at the Spring River Pavilion, discussing the matter of the Minister of Personnel with Jin Zeshan. Only Mo Kui was present, attending to them.
Jin Zeshan’s brow was furrowed in frustration. “The evidence of the Minister of Personnel accepting bribes and selling official posts is conclusive. But His Majesty is reluctant to execute him, and with Consort Chen and the Left Chancellor’s faction protecting him, it will be very difficult to bring him to justice.”
“Is there nothing the Right Chancellor’s faction can do?” Mo Shuihan asked.
Jin Zeshan shook his head with a wry smile. “The Right Chancellor, though a loyal official, is an old fox who knows how to read the political winds. He knows His Majesty doesn’t want to punish the minister. Besides, all the officials currently capable of taking over the position are allied with the Left Chancellor. To put it bluntly, it’s a thankless task. If the Right Chancellor pushed hard enough, he could probably see the minister’s head roll, but what then? First, he would anger His Majesty. Second, he would gain nothing from it. Why would he go all out?”
Mo Shuihan rubbed his cup, murmuring, “This is indeed a difficult problem.”
Dressed as a man, Princess Jiu arrived at the brothel. It was her first time, and she was a little nervous, especially when the women, reeking of heavy rouge, kept trying to throw themselves at her. Flustered and a little scared, she had her maids, also disguised as men, fend them off.
The madam of the house looked Princess Jiu up and down and sashayed over, flicking her handkerchief. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before, young sir. Is this your first time?”
Chunlan, ever perceptive, handed over a silver ingot. “We’re just here to have a look around. You needn’t trouble yourself.”
The madam accepted the silver with a knowing smile. She was about to speak when she glanced down at the ingot, and her expression changed instantly. She quickly composed herself and looked up, beaming. “As you wish, young sirs, as you wish!”
Princess Jiu pushed past the women blocking her way and strode inside with her chin held high. The madam raised a hand to stop a few of her thugs from following. One of them asked, confused, “Boss, that’s clearly a woman. She must be here to cause trouble. Why are you stopping us?”
The madam shot them a sideways glance, her eyes following the princess’s party. “You think I can’t tell that’s a woman? But open your dog eyes and look at this silver. It’s from the palace! In this capital city, nobles are everywhere. One wrong move and you could lose your head. That one just now is definitely a royal relative. Are you tired of living, that you dare to touch her?”
The thug gasped. “So… so we just let her be?”
The madam sighed. “Let’s just watch and see.”
Unaware of the brothel’s etiquette, Princess Jiu began searching room by room, startling numerous patrons until she finally spotted the room guarded by Wang Zhao and Ling Shi. Fearing they would see her, she quickly ducked out of sight.
Chunlan whispered, “Princess, what do we do now?”
The princess thought for a moment. “Go find that madam.”
Not daring to offend her, the madam arrived swiftly. The princess didn’t bother with pretenses and showed her the golden medallion of her rank. The madam’s eyes widened in disbelief, and her knees went weak as she sank to the floor. “I did not know of Your Highness’s arrival. This commoner has sinned.”
Princess Jiu had two maids help her up. “There is no crime in ignorance. But now, you must do something for me.”
The madam nodded profusely. The princess pulled her aside and pointed towards Mo Shuihan’s room. “See that? That room there. How can I listen to their conversation without being noticed?”
The madam’s eyes darted about. She figured the princess was here to catch an adulterer. While she was secretly proud of her girls’ charms, she was terrified of truly offending the formidable figure before her. She quickly replied, “All our rooms have a back entrance. You can enter the adjacent room from behind, and then we can remove the partition between the two rooms. With only a screen separating them, you’ll be able to hear everything.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up!” the princess urged.
The madam inwardly cursed her luck for running into such a troublemaker, praying that nothing would go wrong.
She led the princess and her maids through the back door into the adjoining room. After fumbling along the wall for a moment, she found and pressed a hidden mechanism. The wall silently slid apart. The madam forced a smile and whispered, “It’s done.”
Princess Jiu nodded. As soon as the madam left, she pressed her ear to the screen, listening intently. All she could hear was the pleasant, flowing sound of a zither; the conversation was muffled. Annoyed, she turned to Chunlan and ordered, “Drill a hole in this for me.”
Mo Shuihan, completely oblivious to the princess in the next room, was still pondering how to deal with the Minister of Personnel. “So, His Majesty’s attitude is the crucial factor.”
Jin Zeshan nodded. “Exactly. As long as His Majesty wants to act, the Right Chancellor and the other factions will be willing to step forward.”
“Let me think some more…”
Seeing Mo Shuihan frowning in thought, Mo Kui stopped playing the zither and stepped forward with a smile to refill his tea. “Young Master, take your time. You’ve only just arrived at court, and there are many things you don’t yet understand. It’s natural not to have an immediate solution. Have some tea first.”
Mo Shuihan responded distractedly. A flicker of disappointment crossed Mo Kui’s eyes. “Young Master, I prepared this tea for a long time. It used to be your favorite. Won’t you try it?”
Mo Shuihan snapped back to the present and gave her an apologetic smile. As he reached for the cup, his hand accidentally brushed against hers, which she hadn’t yet withdrawn. Mo Kui’s face instantly flushed red, but Mo Shuihan didn’t notice. He casually moved his hand away. Jin Zeshan, watching from the side, looked on with an expression of understanding. “Miss Mo Kui is truly devoted to you, Young Master.”
Mo Kui’s eyes were fixed on Mo Shuihan. “In my heart, nothing and no one is more important than the Young Master.”
Jin Zeshan looked envious, but Mo Shuihan remained oblivious, assuming she was merely expressing her loyalty. He even advised her, “You don’t have to be this way. In truth, I am the one indebted to you. My offer still stands: if you ever change your mind, let me know, and I will buy your freedom.”
Mo Kui’s head drooped in disappointment, but she quickly looked up and grasped his hand. “Young Master, I will prove to you that I am useful here.”
Princess Jiu was about to explode. The moment Chunlan finished drilling the hole, she peered through and saw Mo Shuihan holding a woman’s hand. Then, the two of them were gazing into each other’s eyes, and now the woman was holding his hand back. This was outrageous!
She slammed her fist against the screen. “That wretched scholar! At home, he won’t even touch me, but here he is holding hands with another woman. How dare he!”
Peering through again, she saw that Mo Shuihan still hadn’t let go of the woman’s hand and was speaking to her with a gentle expression. The more she watched, the angrier she became. Her hands pushed against the screen with unconscious force. Suddenly, the screen gave way and crashed to the floor with a loud bang.
Mo Shuihan was in the middle of talking to Mo Kui when the sudden noise made him look up in alarm. He was stunned to see Princess Jiu sprawled on the floor. “Jiu… Xiangxue?”
The fall had been rough, and the dust from the screen made her cough. Hearing Mo Shuihan’s voice, she looked up guiltily, only to see him rushing towards her.
Wang Zhao and Ling Shi heard the commotion from outside and burst in. Mo Shuihan quickly helped the princess to her feet, shielding her behind him as he barked at his guards, “Close the door! Don’t let anyone in.”
The two men glanced at Chunlan and the other maids, nodded in understanding, and stepped back outside. Only then did Mo Shuihan turn back to the princess. “What are you doing here?”
Princess Jiu glared at him, her initial guilt replaced by a surge of grievance. She bit her lip and said nothing, tears streaming down her face.
Mo Shuihan was startled. Seeing her disheveled hair and clothes, and looking at the large, toppled screen, he thought she had been injured. He quickly pulled her towards him, looking her over. “Tell me, where are you hurt?”
She tearfully shook his hand off. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
He grabbed her again. “Stop fooling around. Let me see where you’re hurt.”
She wiped her tears with her sleeve and stubbornly turned her head away, refusing to speak. Worried, Mo Shuihan simply swept her up into his arms and turned to Mo Kui. “Mo Kui, where is your room? Take me there, quickly.”
Mo Kui’s face paled as she looked at the princess in his arms. She had always known Mo Shuihan was married, but she also knew it was due to an imperial decree he couldn’t refuse. He had never spoken of his marriage, and the last time she saw Yu Guan, he had been complaining about how difficult and unreasonable the princess was. So, Mo Kui had naturally assumed that Mo Shuihan despised his wife. But just now, she had clearly seen the unconcealable worry and urgency in his eyes. From the moment the princess appeared, his entire attention had been on her. That protective and caring demeanor made Mo Kui deeply uneasy. She could no longer deceive herself: Mo Shuihan did not dislike the Ninth Princess at all.
Seeing her standing frozen, Mo Shuihan urged, “Hurry up!”
The princess in his arms suddenly began to struggle. “I don’t want to go to her room!”
He looked down at her. “Be good. I need to check if you’re injured.”
“I just don’t want to go!” she cried, thrashing about. “I’d rather die than go to her room!”
Defeated, Mo Shuihan had to relent. “Alright, alright, we’ll go home now. Just stop moving, or I won’t be able to carry you.”
Only then did she quiet down. As Mo Shuihan, after wrapping her up securely, turned to leave without a single glance back, Mo Kui couldn’t help but call out, “Young Master…”
He glanced back at her, then gestured to Jin Zeshan. “Lord Jin, if you would be so kind as to cover the damages my wife has caused, I will repay you later.”
Jin Zeshan smiled. “You are too kind, Prince Consort. A little silver is nothing.”
“Young Master…” Mo Kui called out again.
Mo Shuihan didn’t look back this time. From within his arms, Princess Jiu peeked out and shot Mo Kui a triumphant, provocative look. Mo Kui’s expression turned cold. She’s faking it!
Only Jin Zeshan, observing everything, fanned himself and sighed inwardly. Neither of these two women is a pushover. There will be quite a battle ahead.
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