At dusk, Xu Buling drove the carriage up to White Horse Manor, out on the snowy plain. From far off the sprawl of buildings was already visible: four lanterns swung under the great archway in the cold wind, lights burned bright as day among the flying eaves and dark tiles, and every so often richly dressed people came in by carriage or on horseback.
Zhu Manzhi sat beside him and lifted her eyes to the distance. "Young Master Xu, there are Imperial Guards all around. Do you think White Horse Manor is already on its guard?"
Xu Buling tugged down his bamboo hat, his voice flat: "Doesn't change anything."
Zhu Manzhi nodded slightly, not quite following but willing to take his word, then turned her eyes to the curtain and rapped on the carriage wall:
"Young Master Xiao, we've arrived."
"...Mm... That so... Ow~"
A groggy voice came from inside, then a thump — it sounded as though he had rolled off the soft couch.
Zhu Manzhi snickered, then clapped a hand over her mouth.
A moment later Xiao Ting's head poked out of the carriage, eyes still bleary. He looked up at the manor in the distance and his whole face lit up:
"Well now~ this place is done up rather nicely. No wonder those idle rich boys are always going on about it. Buling, how did you find this place? If it's fun, tonight this young master's treat..."
Xu Buling tilted his head and shot him a glance. "I've got private business today. Once we're inside, you do your thing. Whatever happens, don't give away who I am."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just don't go stirring up trouble and drag me into it."
Xiao Ting sat back, sulking, and launched into a painstaking lecture:
"Buling, you shouldn't always put on that pious act like some hypocrite. I know your head's been slow since you were a boy, and you feel inferior around all those talented scholars and pretty ladies. You should loosen up. You're the Heir of Prince Su, that title's sitting right there on you — walk over there and eat, drink and make merry like you own the place, and they'll call even your farts fragrant. You think anyone would dare say a word against you...?"
Zhu Manzhi's face went through several awkward contortions at this. She wanted to laugh and didn't dare.
Xu Buling's brows knitted. Left to his own temper, he would have beaten Xiao Ting half to death, but he needed Xiao Ting today, so all he could do was pretend he hadn't heard this "counsel."
The carriage reached the manor gate. The steward waiting beneath the archway came up, glanced at the wooden plaque with the character "Xiao" hung on the carriage, and his expression changed at once. He stood below the carriage, respectfully, and waited in silence.
Xu Buling jumped down, his hat pulled so low it hid his whole face, and lifted the curtain.
Inside, Xiao Ting had changed completely in manner; folding fan in hand, he ducked out of the carriage with leisurely poise.
Born into one of the great clan houses, Xiao Ting was naturally not bad to look at. Bearing and manners had been drilled into him since childhood, and when he turned serious he cut a rather distinguished figure.
The steward took one look and went instantly deferential. "Oh my~ so it's Young Master Xiao! This humble one failed to come out and welcome you..." He turned and waved. "Quick, fetch the young cousin out to receive our guest — Chancellor Xiao's son is here."
Xiao Ting took this as no more than his due. He stood on the carriage a moment gathering himself; by the look of it he meant to compose a poem and strike a pose, but after straining a good while he produced not a single word. He coughed lightly and climbed down.
Within moments a young man emerged from the manor, fine-robed and warm of smile: Li Tianyu, Li Tianlu's cousin, who ordinarily managed the White Horse Manor's holdings.
As the legitimate son of the Xiao clan of Huainan, Xiao Ting was a man even Li Tianlu would have bowed to welcome, to say nothing of a branch-line son like Li Tianyu. Li Tianyu came up beaming and greeted him with a raised-hand salute:
"Tianyu pays his respects to Young Master Xiao. My elder brother has invited you any number of times; that you would condescend to come today truly brings light to this humble house..."
Xiao Ting clasped his hands behind his back with the fan tucked behind him, every inch the great official on inspection, and took the lead without being asked:
"My father has always taken the people's hardships to heart. Since I happened to have nothing on today, I thought I'd come by and look at the harvest..."
Zhu Manzhi, walking beside Xu Buling as they followed them in, goggled at this and glanced up at the goose-feather snowflakes drifting down from the sky.
Coming to look at the harvest in the dead of winter?
If he can make anything out of it, he must be seeing ghosts.
Xu Buling was unsurprised. Given Xiao Ting's standing in society, as a man who "never lifts a finger and can't tell the five grains apart," he would have been just as blind to it in autumn.
Li Tianyu and the steward showed not the slightest embarrassment; they simply picked up the thread:
"Young Master Xiao is truly thoughtful. To love the people as his own at such a young age! When you enter court and take the chancellor's seat, the people of our Great Yue will be blessed..."
"You flatter me... Mm, this manor is well built. They say General Li is a scholar-general, and now I see it's no empty saying..."
"Not at all, not at all..."
A painted sedan chair is carried by other men, and flattery is the same — amid all this mutual praise, Li Tianyu led Xiao Ting deeper into the manor.
Xu Buling leading the carriage and Zhu Manzhi dressed like a country girl were naturally taken for driver and maid. Halfway along, the steward behind them politely pointed out where the manor kept its carriages and gestured for the servants to wait over there.
Xu Buling naturally seized the chance to take Zhu Manzhi and slip out of the party.
Following him toward the stables, Zhu Manzhi turned her head to watch Xiao Ting recede into the distance. "Young Master Xu, a moment ago I saw that Li fellow give the steward a look. Something felt off about it. Could Young Master Xiao be in danger?"
Xu Buling tied the horse to the post and shook his head with a smile. "If the Li family dared kill the legitimate son of the Xiao clan of Huainan, the whole family would be buried with him. He's perfectly safe."
Zhu Manzhi nodded. Born in the marketplace, she naturally knew nothing of the great clan houses, so she asked, curious:
"People are always saying 'Xiao, Lu, Cui, Wang, Li.' Just how powerful is the Xiao family?"
Xu Buling thought it over. "Great Qi held the Central Plains for three hundred years. Of its two hundred-some chancellors, more than thirty were surnamed Xiao, and the other half were split among the other four houses. It's much the same in our dynasty. How powerful do you think?"
"If the Xiao family is that powerful, how did it turn out such a foolish son?"
"...Mm... Fools have fool's luck..."
Xu Buling didn't waste more breath on his tool man. With the long saber on his back he glanced about — a good many fine horses and carriages stood near the stables, drivers and guards sitting around the braziers chatting, and by the look of it they ran into one another often enough to be old acquaintances. Li family guards paced the grounds with hands on their sword hilts, throwing the occasional glance this way.
Xu Buling had no intention of actually playing driver. After a moment's thought he took Zhu Manzhi by the wrist and walked toward the corner behind the stables.
Zhu Manzhi had been looking this way and that for anything out of place when her wrist was suddenly seized. Her face went bright red and she turned a little bashful:
"Young... Young Master Xu... What are you doing?"
"Don't talk."
Xu Buling answered with a smile and drew her into the narrow passage between the wall and the stables. Once he was sure no one outside could see in, he lifted his chin:
"Turn around. Hands on the wall."
Zhu Manzhi blinked, turned around thoroughly baffled, and obediently leaned forward against the wall.
Then she heard a rustling of cloth. She turned her head, puzzled — and saw that the great Heir Xu was actually untying his belt.
"Ah—!"
Zhu Manzhi finally understood. Angry and mortified all at once, she was just about to speak when she was pressed against the courtyard wall.
Just then a blade-carrying guard walked up to the mouth of the passage and peered in, frowning.
Xu Buling had Zhu Manzhi pinned to the wall with one hand busy at his trouser sash. Seeing someone come up, he stopped and snarled, "What are you looking at?"
It was a perfect picture of a wicked guard and a good little maid trysting in secret.
Zhu Manzhi caught on too, and hurriedly hid her face, putting on a shy, flustered air.
The guard looked rather embarrassed, rubbed his nose, and went off as though he had seen nothing at all.
Only then did Xu Buling let go, take off his hat, and cover his face with a black cloth:
"Come on. Let's go have a look inside."
Her face still red, Zhu Manzhi followed Xu Buling toward the manor's interior and muttered under her breath:
"Young Master Xu, you... you really have a head full of wicked ideas. Even a trick like that..."
"Sorry for the offense."
"No offense taken... Heir Xu is quite practiced at grabbing girls..."