Out with the Old, In with the New

That blatant display of might-like action made Lu Lingxi sour. Regardless of who had come first or after, he believed himself to be a bold person, yet he couldn’t have done something like Sui Zhou had.

Just like how Sui Zhou had asked him whether he could give everything up for Tang Fan.

At the end of it all, this stemmed from his family restraining him.

Previously, he had believed to have Sui Zhou outranked in terms of background. He had been born into a big, influential family similar to Tang Fan. The Ming Dynasty’s consort-kin were basically commoners, so whether in came to self-disciple or knowledge, he was more about to find commonality with Tang Fan than Sui Zhou was.

What was called a linking of minds — at the bare minimum, wouldn’t they have to first think alike before they could link?

But that background had now become a shortcoming of his. He always held some vague apprehensions at heart and couldn’t let loose, making him less fearless than Sui Zhou.

Recalling that scene from just now, despite Sui Zhou having been so bold, Tang Fan hadn’t shown any revulsion, a faint trace of red suffusing the back of his neck… could his feelings be any more obvious?

That was what really made Lu Lingxi feel sour.

After the Cabinet discussion was over, everyone returned to their respective workrooms. Lu Lingxi’s eyes were fixed onto the files in front of him, yet his heart had gone into tumult.

Tang Fan had a lot to do and not spare time to worry about him, so he didn’t notice his strangeness.

Work did not end until a long time afterwards. The files on the table had been reduced by over half. Only when Tang Fan felt his stomach grumbling did he straighten out his back, look up, and discover that Lu Lingxi was sitting there. “Why haven’t you left yet?”

The other looked up blankly. “Huh?”

He had managed to calm down enough to start reading through the documents Tang Fan had trained him in, not expecting that it would get dark in the blink of an eye.

Tang Fan laughed. “Ah, whatever. Work is all done, so let’s go on home!”

He stood up to stretch, then said to him, “You live by yourself in the capital, yes? It would be a hassle to go back and have your maids rekindle the cooking fire at this time of day, so why not go out to eat with me?”

Lu Lingxi had no objections, of course.

The other brought him to that wonton stall he most frequented. Over the many years since he had entered the capital, the stall had remained the same as it always was, as did the taste, and portion sizes had not ever gone down. Tang Fan was a sentimental man in his bones, so he was fond of coming here not only because of the delicious wontons, but because of the nostalgia factor.

In these few years, the couple that owned the stall had long become familiar with him. Seeing him bring a young man with him, the stall owner joked, “Sir Tang, why did you switch beaus today?”

“What are you talking about? All I’ve ever brought with me are coworkers and friends!” Tang Fan scolded with a laugh.

Right now, he was just like any average person on the street, not putting on his airs of a Court official. The proprietor wasn’t scared of him, teasing back, “Okay, okay, this lowly one was wrong. It’s a friend this time, not a beau!”

Having no way to handle him, Tang Fan waved him off. “Hurry up with your wontons, eh? I’ll have the usual, two bowls with a lot of diced scallions… wait, what do you want, Yiqing?”

“I don’t like cilantro. Anything else is fine.”

“Don’t put cilantro in that one bowl, and the other is the usual,” Tang Fan said to the owner.

“Got it!” the other replied, smoothly flipping his cleaning rag onto his shoulder and striding over to the stall to get the food.

“Brother Tang, do you and Envoy Sui often come here to eat wontons?” Lu Lingxi wondered.

Tang Fan shook his head. “Not him alone. I’ve also brought Wang Zhi, Mr. Hui’an, and others here.”

Whenever Tang Fan wanted them to be, his answers would always be flawless.

Lu Lingxi was a bit disappointed. He held it back for a long time, then finally couldn’t hold back anymore. “Brother Tang, I want to ask you something…”

Tang Fan showed no ripples of surprise. “Go ahead.”

“Do you know that Envoy Sui treats you like…?”

He didn’t finish, but Tang Fan appeared to know what he was asking, humming. “I do.”

Lu Lingxi was startled, as if not having expected that he would admit to it so breezily. “Then, you also…?!”

“Yes. My heart goes with his.”

The other was completely without words.

Turning to look at him, Tang Fan started laughing. “What’s with that face?”

Lu Lingxi was tongue-tied. “But… but that’s…”

He wanted to say something, and also felt that saying anything at all would be inappropriate. In the end, he asked what he had always wanted to ask. “What if he were me? If I could give everything up for you, would you be willing for it?”

Tang Fan shook his head. “I only see you as a little brother and a friend.”

“I’m not any worse than him!” Lu Lingxi said, suddenly refusing to accept this.

Tang Fan smiled lightly. “Who’s worse and who’s not is irrelevant. If it’s not him, then it’s not right.”

Lu Lingxi had nothing to say. He had finally drummed up the courage to clarify things, only for Tang Fan to hold him back with a single sentence. His faint hope was put out at last, dismay and disappointment all over his face.

Right then, the proprietor came over with the two bowls of piping-hot wontons in chicken broth. “The usual, Sir Tang! Your bowl here is full of scallions. Our scallion youbing are not yet sold out, and I set aside a portion for you. Do you want some?” he asked.

“Of course I do! You didn’t put it on the tab when you saw me coming over here — what were you thinking?!” Tang Fan answered cheerfully.

The wontons were indeed delicious, having thin skins stuffed full with fresh and tender meat. When biting into them, juices would flow out that had a mild chicken-stock flavor, with some moderate saltiness.

However, Lu Lingxi tasted nothing, merely scooping up spoonfuls, then dumping them out.

He looked at Tang Fan again. The other was not affected in the least, most of his wontons quickly vanishing.

Lu Lingxi felt even worse at that.

After he was done eating, Tang Fan took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth off, fully content. Upon turning his head, he noticed that Lu Lingxi hadn’t touched most of his food, and sighed inwardly. “Yiqing.”

The other raised his head, giving a confused expression.

“Your performance in the Cabinet these days has been mediocre. You can’t even compare to Liu Meng and the rest of them.”

Lu Lingxi thought to defend himself. “I…”

After thinking about it, he couldn’t say anything in self-defense. He had known as well that he had been distracted these past few days, and really hadn’t gotten much proper business done. Even if had done things, his mind hadn’t been on it, in a muddle that could not be described. He hadn’t even read the book of revised laws that Tang Fan had asked him to.

That in mind, he said dejectedly, “I really did fail in my duties. Brother Tang, I have a request.”

Tang Fan motioned for him to continue.

Lu Lingxi hesitated for a bit, then said, “These past two days were not only because of this. I was thinking about it, and I feel that I’m really not suitable to be in the Cabinet at all… do you think that I don’t know what’s good for me, Brother?”

“Why do you say that?” Tang Fan asked back, not expressing an opinion.

The Cabinet was a place that many dreamed of, unable to get in even if they wanted to. Now that Lu Lingxi had the chance to work in it and had gotten in after a lot of hark work, he was starting to think of leaving after only a few days. Were anyone else to hear of this, they would gnash their teeth in anger.

Lu Lingxi smiled painfully. “I’m not sure. If I say it, don’t scold me too much.”

“Go on.”

Lu Lingxi sighed. “When I wasn’t yet an official, I always felt that being one was restrictive, and I only wanted to be happy, avenge and be indebted, and wanter the world. Then, when I followed by your side, I realized that my ideas were way too naive, which is why I tested into being a Palace Honorate. Now that I’m in the Cabinet, though, for some reason, I’m a little perplexed. I thought and thought about it, and maybe it’s me that’s too lacking, or maybe I’m not capable enough to do the job. Hence why I boldly want to request one thing from you.”

“Hm?”

“I want to transfer out of here. Even if I’m a seventh-rank County Magistrate, that’ll be fine.”

Tang Fan creased his brow. “Is that because of me?”

Lu Lingxi laughed. “It was because you were around, actually, that I kept hesitating up until this point.”

Tang Fan looked at him for a moment. “If you’ve really made up your mind, that’s fine. Many people think transferring abroad to be a dangerous road, and believe that in all of their lives, there is nothing better for rising to the top than staying in the capital, calling it a smooth ride. I don’t agree at all, though. If you can experience the hard toil of being a guardian official, it can be of great benefit to the scope of your future career path.”

“Since you’re saying that, you agree?”

“I do, but will you regret it? I hope you aren’t saying this out of momentary anger.”

“I won’t regret it, and I’m not having a fit of anger.”

Tang Fan smiled, patting his shoulder. “Since you won’t have regrets, I’ll help you.”

Feeling the warmth on his shoulder, Lu Lingxi’s heart first jumped, then felt slightly bitter.

He wasn’t his. He was destined to not be his, in the end.

Rather than bitterly beg to stay, it would be better to simply give up.

The disappearance of one minor Hanlin did not stir up any waves. Aside from those who knew Lu Lingxi, no one even asked. Even the other Cabinet members had not become familiar with him due to him only having been posted for a few days; at most, they had seen an unfamiliar face at Tang Fan’s side. It would have been weird for them to ask.

With Tang Fan’s workings, Lu Lingxi left the capital and headed for a post in a small county on the border. Stemming from its poverty and lag in progress, the area had always been viewed as a perilous path by many. Someone like Lu Lingxi, who originally had a brilliant path forward yet had asked to go here of his own volition, was a definite oddity.

It soon came close to the seventh month.

At a time when no one could say so clearly, yet had long known it was going to happen, the Emperor finally passed on.

Many knew well that to do so was disrespectful, yet they couldn’t help but silently let out sighs of relief.

One era finished, and a new one begun.

From the next year onwards, the land’s era name would no longer be Chenghua.

It would be Hongzhi.

Ah-Dong’s Betrothal

In the blink of an eye, Ah-Dong had gone through a multitude of changes, going from a chubby little girl to a graceful young lady.

Calculating things meticulously, starting from the time she had been in the Tang home and acknowledged as a little sister by Tang Fan, it had only been about eight years,* but way too many things had happened in those years. Tang Fan felt that before he had the time to process it fully, his little sister had already reached marriageable age.

That’s right. Marriage.

She had hit hairpin age last year, and sixteen this year. She didn’t have Xiao Wu’s nation-toppling charms, but she was still a fine-featured lady.

Although this young lady’s strength level was a bit too high (she could take dozens of Sui Zhou’s moves, break someone’s main gate open with one kick, hoist Tang Cheng into the air, and so on), in Tang Fan’s mind, no one surpassed his little sis.

She had also been influenced by being in the Tang household, having developed a candid, open-minded, and easygoing personality, which made others think highly of her as soon as they met her.

In light of both the Tang family and her reputations, ever since she had been a year shy of hairpin age, there had been an endless stream of people coming to the door to propose marriage. However, the majority of them were military officials or from military households, which Tang Fan was not too satisfied with — in the eyes of all big brothers of the world, their little sisters always deserved the best. It was to the point where he felt that even if she married off to the Emperor, she would still be done an injustice. (Of course, the Emperor himself was already married, and he had no intention of that at all.)

Some might have a decent character, but a rotten family, and some would have even-tempered potential mothers-in-law, but they themselves would be unambitious. In short, Tang Fan and Tang Yu were being picky, and never could find the perfect suitor.

As Tang Fan saw it, the most ideal one did not need to have an affluent family or enjoy the pinnacle of splendor, and even less needed to have a high familial ranking, else here would inevitably be a lot of fighting in the inner residence. As long as he had a fine personality and character, and had been brought up well, then even if he was presently poor, it would not be an issue. No matter what, the dividends she had earned these years from helping out in the shop were enough for her to live a good life after she married, to say nothing of her having a wealthy proprietor for a sister and a Vizier for a big brother. Given that the groom’s side had working eyes, they wouldn’t dare to bully her.

And yet, plans forever failed to account for incidents. Before Tang Fan could pick out a brother-in-law to his liking, Ah-Dong herself took a fancy to someone.

He was a worker in a sweets shop. By coincidence, it was the same sweets shop of old repute that Tang Fan frequently visited.

The worker was named Yang Rui. He had worked there for three years, and Tang Fan had met him before; he was honest, never telling any lies.

Once before, Tang Fan had gone to buy some cakes, and his eyes had caught a mung bean cake. Yang Rui, the generous sort, had straight-up informed him that those cakes had been reused from last night, and if he wanted one freshly-made, he would have to wait until the next batch was baked. He didn’t say that to only Tang Fan, either — he had said the same thing to every customer that wanted to buy the mung bean cakes. If the customer didn’t mind, there was no issue, but if they were like Tang Fan, they would prefer to choose some other cake.

Afterwards, the shopkeeper had found out about this, and nearly fired Yang Rui out of anger. It was only with Tang Fan’s beseeching that he had been allowed to stay.

Someone like that was good as a friend. As a brother-in-law, Tang Fan would definitely not be happy.

With a too-honest husband, what if Ah-Dong was bullied, and he was too afraid to help her?

With a too-honest husband, what if he was harassed outside? Was Ah-Dong, as the wife, supposed to go stick her neck out for him?

With a too-honest husband, if he later could no longer support the family, would he use Ah-Dong’s dowry to supplement his livelihood?

In brief, Tang Fan could think up about ten reasons why marrying Yang Rui was unsuitable for Ah-Dong.

All his thinking was useless, though. A grown woman stopped listening to her older brother, and in her eyes, those negatives all thoroughly transformed into positives.

Faced with her obstinance, Tang Fan’s head hurt. “How did you two even meet? Why did you promise each other for life so soon? What’s so good about that little punk? I promise that I can find you an even better one!”

Ah-Dong looked guileless. “If it weren’t for you always making me go buy pastries for you, I would never have gotten to know him, Brother Tang.”

He shut up for a long time with that.

She grabbed his arm, softening her voice to say sweetly, “Are you looking down on his origins?”

“I’m not,” he readily denied. “I’m just worried that you’ll face hardship after you get married.”

She beamed at him. “But I was born a toiling maid to begin with!”

He bopped her on the head. “Don’t say that! You’re my little sister!”

They were walking arm-in-arm through the read courtyard of Tang Yu’s home. On account of her business growing bigger and bigger, Tang Yu was no longer the same as she had been before, no longer the meek daughter-in-law that had suffered cold treatment in her husband’s home but was too afraid to speak out. Her cosmetics business had even spread to Jiangnan, which had been handed over to Qian San’r to run while she concentrated on doing business in the North. And, it was ridiculous to say, but the capable Xue Ling, a subordinate of Sui Zhou’s, had somehow caught sight of Tang Yu, and the two had unknowingly paired up, then married at the end of last year.

This current residence had been bought by Tang Yu; the previous resident had been an Assistant Minister who had sold the home when he retired and left the capital. It was located not too far from Tang Fan’s place, too, letting them catch up with each other. To the outside world, Xue Ling was an iron-blooded, merciless man, but at home, what his wife said was what he did, and he didn’t feel at all like her competences were magnifying his own shortcoming. If he was like that, Tang Yu would have never been whittled down by him, nor promise to marry him.

Tang Cheng had improved, as well. He tested into being a County Honorate at a very young age, but wanted to imitate his uncle in leaving home to travel far away. At the age of fifteen, he had already traveled to all of the areas outside of the capital, and now he was still abroad, preparing to participate in the second year of Hongzhi’s autumnal exams.

“I know that you cherish me, and that big sis does, too!” Ah-Dong smiled happily, her arm in the crook of Tang Fan’s. “I’m not putting myself down. Truthfully, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to have my current life. How could I ever wreck my own future? That would only make all of you more distressed!

“The reason I took a liking to Yang Rui is because of his generosity. Whether a man is rich or has honors is irrelevant. What matters most is that he has an open heart.

“The husband of my dreams would be like you, big brother; soft and pliable on the outside, but strong and disciplined on the inside. Yang Rui is less than ten percent of you, but his only good point is that he has a generous, tolerant heart similar to yours. That’s what I value the most about him.”

Was there any brother in the world that disliked getting praised by his sister?

In spite of the former multitudes of discontent Tang Fan had for Yang Rui, he couldn’t help but feel that those words were a little sweet to hear. “I thought that because you had a beloved, you would forget about your brother.”

Ah-Dong happily stuck out her tongue. “How could I? If you really don’t like him, I won’t insist. The most important one in my heart is you!”

Even though he knew that this damned girl was only taking a step back for the sake of advancement, Tang Fan still felt a lot more relieved. He pet Ah-Dong’s head; the tendrils were thick and glossy, no longer as thin and brittle as they had been when she had first come to the Tang home.

“I remember back when you first came here, you were but yea high,” he lamented, measuring at his waist. “You became a grown woman in the blink of an eye. Why did time pass by so quickly?”

“Right!” she answered with a grin. “Ever since that one Lantern Festival where I was abducted, then went through danger with you, I really started to want to learn martial arts, so that even if I do come into peril again, I won’t be dragging you down. I never expected that I would have more of a natural talent for learning martial arts than studying literature!”

Tang Fan feigned anger. “You have to cheek to say that? If it hadn’t been for you rashly agreeing to be Wang Zhi’s decoy, how could you have ever been abducted?”

In Tang Fan’s eyes, Ah-Dong had always been a very sensible girl, with a tender heart concealed beneath her carefree outer appearance. She had always hoped to be able to help him, first voluntarily going to play bait, then learning martial arts for the part.

Still, since they were both family, there was no need to bother and bicker so much. Just like how Ah-Dong silently invested in Tang Fan, he and Tang Yu also silently looked after their little sister.

Ah-Dong put her smile away, and said seriously, “Big brother, I’ve really been grateful to you this entire time. If it weren’t for you, I have no idea what kind of life I’d be living right now. Maybe I would be another Sister Ah-Qiu.”

“Don’t be silly. There are no ‘ifs’ in this world. What’s done is done — you are a Tang, and my little sister. There is no need to doubt that.”

She smiled warmly. “Mn! That’s why I’ve always envied you and Brother Sui!”

“…And what does he have to do with this? Don’t you mind him, I’m talking about Yang Rui!”

She blinked. “It’s because I envy you two being a pair for life that I want to have someone like that, too. Do you not think that Yang Rui can do that?”

Tang Fan coldly huffed. “If he has the guts not to, I’ll castrate him!”

Ah-Dong grew happy. “So you’re saying that you approve?”

“I still want to meet and test him myself,” he answered, sullen.

In order to verify whether his future brother-in-law met his standards, Tang Fan sent someone to tell Yang Rui that he wanted to see him, and also told Sui Zhou to stand to a side while he met with him.

“Bring our your valor as Commanding Envoy of the Brocade Guard to intimate him hard! It you can scare him so his knees go weak, that’d be best!”

“…”

Sui Zhou thought to himself, Do you think I’m those guardian lions at the main gate?

Since the Great Lord himself had given an order, Envoy Sui would never disobey. While Yang Rui was stopping by, he remained there. Acting in line with Tang Fan’s instructions, he kept on a cold face from beginning to end, giving off an ice-cold aura of ‘strangers may not come near’.

It was unclear if Yang Rui’s heart was too open or what, but he wasn’t scared by Sui Zhou at all. Just like how he was whenever Tang Fan graced the sweets shop with his presence, he smiled bashfully and honestly at the two of the, then cupped his hands in courtesy as per usual, if slightly more solemn than those times.

In the course of their conversation, Tang Fan learned that Yang Rui’s hometown was in the capital’s outskirts. His parents had passed early ob, leaving his family as his older brother and sister-in-law. Because that sister-in-law didn’t tolerate him, he had left home alone to find his way in life. After three years of working in the sweets shop, he had saved up a sun of money; not much, around a hundred taels.

Those funds weren’t enough if he wanted to buy a home in the capital, but Yang Rui said, “Please give me some time, Sir Tang. Last time, I cooked a new pasty for the owner, and a lot of people bought it. He promised to give me an extra dividend. If I can get that money, I can buy a smaller home for Ah-Dong to live in.”

“What are your plans for the future? Don’t tell me that you plan to be a worker in a sweets shop all your life?”

The other scratched his head. “I used to, but now that I want to marry Ah-Dong, I definitely can’t do that. That’s why I want to go and open my own shop.”

“With what money?”

Yang Rui smiled honestly. “The dividend I was promised is ample enough for me to rent one, first.”

“Are you intending to have Ah-Dong share that hardship with you?” Tang Fan asked, cold-faced.

The other was confused for a minute. “Um? No, the shop wouldn’t need her help. I could do it alone.”

Tang Fan was purely using his future brother-in-law status to make things difficult for him. “What about washing clothes and cooking? My Ah-Dong doesn’t do any of that rough work!”

Yang Rui gave this a real hard and long thought. “After renting the shop with that bonus, I wouldn’t be able to hire a maid, so won’t I just do it when I get home?”

Tang Fan put his hand on his forehead. Someone honest to this extent was really hard to come by!

If he were a bit more suave of a person, he would have long made up some honey-coated words to answer him and get him out of here. However, it was probably because of this that Ah-Dong took a liking to him, right?

Ah-Dong looked like she couldn’t bear to watch, scolding him in a quiet voice, “Idiot!”

Hearing that, Yang Rui turned his head to smile at her.

Tang Fan and Sui Zhou, witnessing this scene, were somewhat speechless.

One was willing to fight, one was willing to endure. A bickering, but loving couple. What could they possible say?

Like so, the betrothal was settled.

However, there was a tiny interlude during this period.

After hearing that Yang Rui was going to strike it out alone, the shopkeeper recanted on the dividend. Ah-Dong then informed Tang Fan, who had Sui Zhou go help resolve the matter.

Later on, Tang Fan asked Yang Rui why he hadn’t told them, or gone to the shopkeeper to settle the debt. The other just said that when he had just arrived in the capital, he had no one by his side, while the shop owner had taken him in. Even though he treated him only okay, that had still been a favor to him. As the other had done such a thing, he had planned to keep the peace in order to repay that favor.

Due to that statement, Tang Fan’s opinion of him changed a bit, and he no longer scrutinized every detail of him.

Reality would prove that Ah-Dong had good eyesight. After they married, Yang Rui would rent a shop, many customers would remember him due to his previous generosity and run off to support his business, and his shop would get increasingly popular due to the unique and delicious sweets he made. In less that a year’s time, he would make enough money to buy the shop, then open up branch locations in quick successions, until he became a rich merchant — and, on account his behavior, he would receive a fine reputation as a benevolent merchant. Ah-Dong would go from the wife of a sweets shop worker to the mistress of a very wealthy family.

Above all, his attitude towards her would remain the same as before, not ever changing in the slightest due to either wealth or poverty.

However, that was all a story for later.

Ah-Dong’s betrothal was done, and the new year came in the blink of an eye.

Sui Zhou rarely interacted with his family, but for New Year holidays, he would always have to go pay respects to his parents and gift them presents.

In this gifting, he would inevitably have to deal with his older brother and sister-in-law.