Madame Lu knitted her brows and gave him a stern glare. A touch of displeasure rose on her alluring face, and she lifted a slender hand and pulled his upper garment open by force.
There was nothing Xu Buling could do about it, so he spread his hands and submitted honestly.
His chest was firm, the lines of muscle clean and clear, and over his ribs sat an ugly dark bruise—the work of one solid punch from Zhu Manlong. No bones or tendons were hurt, but the poison had left him weak, and there was no chance of him recovering quickly.
That palm-sized bruise looked like a blot of ink spilled across a sheet of clean white paper.
Madame Lu's fierce expression melted at once into distress, her eyes both angry and frantic: "Why won't you ever listen?" She raised a hand as if to smack him a few times, could not bear to bring it down, and instead turned to call for the imperial physician.
Xu Buling hurriedly raised a hand to stop her: "It's a small injury, it'll be fine in a few days. There's no need to make such a fuss."
Madame Lu had been born into a great noble house and had never so much as watched a chicken killed. To see the darling she would gladly have cradled in her mouth hurt this badly—she simply could not bear it:
"Your whole chest is black and blue and you call it a small injury? You're already poisoned and you're not to stir your qi, and I'd already agreed to take you fishing at Qujiang Pool, and still you can't sit still—off you go to White Horse Manor to leave a river of blood. Do you think you're some jianghu rogue?"
Harsh as her words were, her face was all anxiety. Carefully she eased Xu Buling down onto his back, took the medicated wine they always kept from the cabinet, and dabbed it gently over the bruise on his chest.
Xu Buling lay there obediently, looking up at the mature face bent over him—smooth and glowing as warm jade, red lips like vermilion lacquer, her light breath brushing the skin of his chest, tingling with a faint itch. He cleared his throat and said with a smile:
"I've been good, haven't I? Last night went off rather well. Xiao Ting takes the credit, and I merely rid the people of a scourge without leaving my name..."
Madame Lu pinched him angrily on the arm: "Even if the Li family deserves no mercy, all you had to do was say a word to the yamen—or tell me, and I'd have said the word. Was it worth going yourself and taking the risk? And taking on a tiger with a single blade, on top of it! If you force your qi and damage your lungs, do you not know what that would mean for you?"
Faced with her scolding, Xu Buling only smiled and nodded:
"I know, I know. I know my limits."
Madame Lu gave a soft huff: "You say that every single time, and afterward you never take it seriously. One of these days you'll vex me to death—and then I'll stand by your bed every night staring at you, and we'll see whether you're scared or not..."
Xu Buling's brows drew slightly together: "What kind of talk is that? Aunt Lu is young, beautiful, and virtuous, gentle and considerate..."
A whole string of sweet talk, delivered with a perfectly straight face.
Madame Lu shot him a chiding look, but could not bring herself to lecture him further. She picked up the food box beside her and opened it; inside was a dish of longans.
Madame Lu peeled one with her slender fingers, revealing flesh white and smooth as jade: "I've just come from the Empress Dowager's—we scolded Xiao Ting together... Hmph. The Empress Dowager looks so stern, but I'm sure she's crowing inside, thinking Xiao Ting has finally started doing real work..." As she spoke she pinched the fruit between two fingers and held it to Xu Buling's lips.
Xu Buling's eyes were full of resignation. He sat up and took the longan into his mouth.
"I knew all along it was you pulling strings behind the scenes. With Xiao Ting's character, give him a hundred guts and he still couldn't have pulled off White Horse Manor. I just couldn't bring myself to call you out..."
On and on she went, prattling about this household matter and that.
Madame Lu lived at home as a widow, with no children; her rank was high, but she had no part in politics. The only person she had to talk to was Xu Buling, so she could not help clinging to him a little.
Xu Buling might hide from her often, but once cornered he never showed a trace of impatience, and he discussed these trifles with her quite earnestly: "Xiao Ting's just a brick or two short of a load, that's all. He's not a bad sort. He's the Empress Dowager's own nephew, so naturally she favors him a little..."
As they talked, Xu Buling sat up and laid a hand on Madame Lu's shoulder, kneading it slowly and gently.
Madame Lu's back straightened; the longan in her hand nearly fell to the floor. She recovered herself in an instant, though, and tilted her head for a glance. Only after she had made sure there was nothing improper in Xu Buling's eyes did she accept this bit of attentiveness with some satisfaction:
"Oh, that's right—on the first of the twelfth month, the palace consorts are going to Qujiang Pool to admire the snow, and the titled ladies of Kuishou Street will be trailing along, naturally. I have to go too. I can't get a word out of those women, so come along with me..."
"A pack of womenfolk—what would I be doing tagging along? Those official's daughters are all lovesick fools..."
"You don't want to?"
Madame Lu turned her head, face to face with him, a little too close; then she drew back slightly, showing some displeasure.
What could Xu Buling say? He nodded: "I'll always do as Aunt Lu says..."
"Hmph."
Only then did Madame Lu put away her displeased expression.
On she chattered, until the box of longans was finished between the two of them; only then, still reluctant to stop, did Madame Lu break off and rise to give him a word of warning:
"Rest up properly, and don't you dare go out and run wild again. If I hear another word about your fine reputation..."
"If I earn another fine reputation, I'll stew myself in an iron pot!"
Xu Buling nodded gravely.
Madame Lu pressed her red lips together and packed up the food box: "You're not allowed to lie to me again." She walked slowly out.
Xu Buling let out a breath, clasped his hands behind his head, and lay back down, though he was not the least bit sleepy.
His thoughts wandered for a moment, and then something struck him as off. He lifted his hand and brought it to his nose for a sniff; his eyebrows rose:
"Xianzhi Studio's 'Moon Palace Cassia'... How come this is the same face powder that Song woman uses? Don't tell me it's in fashion lately...?"
At the end of Kuishou Street, outside the great mansion of the Li family, Marquis of Loyalty and Valor, a large detachment of Imperial Guard shoved two retainers who had "acted on their own initiative" into prison carts. Li Tianlu, in plain cloth and black of face, climbed into a prison cart himself, bound for the quarry outside the city to serve his term of corvée labor.
The great houses along the street did not kick them while they were down. Anyone who could live on Kuishou Street—even a family as far down the list as the Li—would not topple at a single push, and who knew when they might soar again. Offending people for the pleasure of a few sharp words was a cardinal taboo.
Gongsun Lu and Gongsun Ming, father and son, had failed to help the Li family last night, so today they naturally had to come in person to escort the prisoners, and to offer the Li family an apology along the way, lest the grudge land on their own heads.
Gongsun Lu had gone off on his own last night to serve as Li Tianlu's vanguard, and it had earned him nothing but a stink of trouble. Gongsun Ming was in a fine fury over it, and was still muttering a stream of scolding under his breath:
"You thick-headed good-for-nothing. You'd heard long ago that White Horse Manor was off, and you still went fawning up to it. Haven't you been burned enough already? All those men under your command, are they there just to eat? You had to show your own face..."
There was anger in Gongsun Lu's eyes, but he had no way out. He bowed and said, "This child was wrong... The Li family has always made friends on every side and kept a low profile. I thought it would be an easy errand, so I went myself. Who'd have guessed the Li family would run their heads straight into Chancellor Xiao's knee—and that they'd be so utterly without a shred of conscience..."
Gongsun Ming stroked his beard and turned it over: "Last night didn't look like Chancellor Xiao's style. The Xiao family doesn't think the Li family worth a glance. If word of White Horse Manor had stirred his anger, he could simply have sent young Master Xiao over with troops to search the place—no need to go poking into a tiger's den..."
Gongsun Lu found Xiao Ting's appearance last night odd as well: "In the capital, Young Master Xiao does every kind of thing except the thing he's meant to do. Last night he was far too brisk and decisive. If Chancellor Xiao wasn't coaching him from behind... then who was it?"
Gongsun Ming paced back and forth with his hands behind his back: "You said that last night there was a retainer of the Xiao household, and a female Wolf Guard constable?"
"That's right. That female constable ran into Heir Xu by chance in Daye Ward last time and cracked a salt-smuggling case... Tss—"
Gongsun Lu thought of something, and his eyes went wide with astonishment: "Yesterday's bladesman—could it have been Heir Xu? No, that's far too much of a stretch. Heir Xu is even less inclined to do anything useful than Young Master Xiao; the last time the people were rid of a scourge, it was you, Father, who pushed the credit onto him. Besides, Heir Xu is poisoned and can't exert his qi. There'd be no need to pay such a price just to tidy up the Li family..."
Gongsun Ming shook his head. "Idiot. To hold office in the capital, you have to use your head."
Gongsun Lu looked a little lost and leaned in closer.
Gongsun Ming thought it over for a moment, then began seriously to reason it out: "Let's suppose for now that it was Heir Xu last night. The Xu family and the Xiao family don't care a fig for the Li family. So Xiao Ting and Xu Buling conspired last night, and without leaning on their families they went and wiped out White Horse Manor. What was the purpose?"
"What was it?"
"Reputation."
Gongsun Ming shook his head. "Nothing matters more to the sons of great houses than reputation. Xu Buling and Xiao Ting are both wastrels of the capital. That's all very well while they're young, but now they're close to the age of the capping ceremony—if they keep carrying the name of idle young rakes, how will they ever govern or take office? The Chancellor must be looking for a chance to whitewash them.
Gongsun Lu rubbed his chin, as if catching on: "There's something in that... But if so, why didn't Heir Xu show himself last night?"
"Ugh!"
Gongsun Ming's face was that of a smith whose iron will never become steel: "Everything to its best use. Today the whole court is praising Young Master Xiao for his uprightness—that is Young Master Xiao's reputation.
In a few days, we find another chance to bring Heir Xu forward, and besides the credit for ridding the people of a scourge, he gains a greater name still—'deep-minded and unbothered by empty fame.' Two birds with one stone. If Heir Xu had jumped out last night, there'd have been no part left for Young Master Xiao."
Gongsun Lu had a flash of understanding and nodded: "...And if last night's bladesman wasn't Heir Xu?"
"Child, you're still too young."
Gongsun Ming stroked his beard and chuckled: "If he really was just a retainer of the Xiao household and didn't show his face yesterday, then he'll never show it, and he certainly won't go competing with Heir Xu over that bit of reputation.
Once the rumor gets out, then whether Heir Xu did it or not, it will have to have been Heir Xu who did it."
"And if Heir Xu denies it?"
"With a fine deed like this, Heir Xu will certainly deny it. And the more he denies it, the more he proves he's 'unbothered by empty fame.' The Xiao family has some ties with Prince Su; glad enough to reap the benefit, they'll go along quietly.
Gongsun Lu mulled it over carefully, and was struck with admiration: "Father's thinking is truly meticulous... So what are we to do?"
"Let the news fly for a while first."
Gongsun Ming clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky, heaving a long sigh: "When the time is about right, we'll be the first to put this news out! When Heir Xu and Chancellor Xiao see how well your father handles matters, even if they say nothing, they'll remember his kindness in their hearts. That is what they call the way of officialdom."
"Oh... I understand now..."
Many thanks to the two great seniors "Meat Really Is Delicious" and "Love Stored Deep in the Belly" for their ten-thousand-coin rewards—and everyone else, do me a favor and toss a recommendation vote my way!