She tugged at the corners of her mouth and said softly, "Zhuzhao Country treasures its silk. Among the many nations, it is renowned for its silk brocades, so Jinxiu City must be a remarkable place."
"Indeed, a remarkable place!" Jin Zijin exclaimed.
In the first month of the year, the northern sky was bitterly cold. For the Princely Heir who came from Lingnan, the emperor was truly troubled, his heart a jumble of thoughts.
He didn’t want to see them, the Yue Family didn’t want to see them either, but since Yue Rujing had already arrived, he still summoned him to the palace. Yue Rujing knelt down properly below the dragon desk.
The emperor, although seated, sat at ease, his eyes half-closed like vast stars, his fingers tapping on the edge of the table in an intermittent rhythm. Seeing Yue Rujing’s stunning visage, he was reminded of Yue Tingfang’s appearance in his youth.
He must have beguiled all the young ladies in Beijing with this similar face, he thought, and his expression darkened unconsciously.
But then he considered that those old events had passed many years ago, they were all no longer young. The girls of those days were either married or had turned to dust; Yue Tingfang himself had kept his promise, swearing he would never return to Beijing unless personally summoned by the emperor, so there really wasn’t much to fuss about those bygone matters.
They were all grown-up now, weren’t they?
With this thought, he chuckled softly and said, "I hear that right after the New Year, you rushed to Beijing on horseback. Was it to open a medical clinic?"
Yue Rujing had been kneeling so long his knees ached, but when he finally heard the emperor speak, he cracked a lopsided grin and laughed, saying, "Not entirely, Your Majesty. I had urgent matters to attend to."
"Oh? Urgent matters?" The emperor looked at him dubiously, raising an eyebrow, then asked, "What urgent matters could you possibly have that you didn’t stay home to celebrate the New Year?"
"Oh, I came to Beijing to expand my business and earn some personal savings," said Yue Rujing with righteous vigor, much to the emperor’s bemusement.
"Earn some personal savings? So the Marquis Residence back in Lingnan is so poor that you need to come to Beijing to earn silver?"
Blinking innocently, Yue Rujing said with a face full of naivety, "How would I know that? It’s my old man who calls the shots at home. If he doesn’t give me silver to spend, I have to find ways to earn it myself. As for not staying in Lingnan and instead running off to Beijing, I actually had my compelling difficulties. Alas! I spent many years studying in Qi Mountain, my knowledge of Daoist arts is mediocre, but I have a pretty good grasp of the Qihuang Technique, so I opened a medical clinic back in Lingnan. It didn’t earn much to begin with, and my father forcefully requisitioned my medicines. He took large quantities of them without paying a single copper coin, so I really had no choice but to open up shop here in Beijing. I figured with Your Majesty here, if he wanted to rob me, he would have to think twice about the fact that this is right under the Son of Heaven’s nose."
Portraying his own father as some sort of bandit, the emperor couldn’t help but be amused throughout the conversation.
They look so much alike; how can their personalities be so different? Why wasn’t Yue Tingfang a prodigal son like him back then?
"So you’ve opened a medical clinic in Beijing seeking my protection?" the emperor asked.
Yue Rujing’s eyes sparkled, and he declared loudly, "Exactly! In this world, what place could be safer than under Your Majesty’s roof?" He said somewhat sheepishly, "It’s not easy for someone my size to earn a bit of pocket money, is it? But my old man is practically abusing me..."
"Nonsense!" As Yue Rujing grew more preposterous, the emperor’s retort was stern, "I’ve heard you’re ignorant and always stirring up trouble, and I think your father’s methods are quite excellent. By controlling your allowances, you’re less likely to cause trouble."