Chapter 435: Will This Bad Year Ever End…

Zhu Tu left Zhang Yue to keep him company while drinking. Although the servants were kept outside, there were still those who brought hot wine in continuously, pouring it in buckets. While Zhang Yue had to keep up with Zhu Tu’s high spirits, Hu Qi, Zhao Hu, and the other attendants suffered—treated to fine food and tea in the banquet hall, they grew anxious as dusk fell and their master still didn’t appear. Finally, when someone from inside rushed to the gate to greet them, they found Zhang Yue completely drunk.

The steward who helped carry Zhang Yue out saw the astonished expressions on everyone’s faces and quickly apologized, saying, “Since King Zhou arrived in the capital, he has never been this happy. That’s why he had to persuade Lord Zhang to drink a few more cups today. I’ve already sent someone to prepare the carriage. The princess is currently helping King Zhou sober up, so she asked me to greet you all on her behalf and apologize in person tomorrow.”

Though upset, Hu Qi didn’t really expect a prince or princess to apologize. After exchanging polite words, he and Zhao Hu stepped forward to help carry Zhang Yue. After finally getting him into the carriage, they decided to accompany him by riding their own horses. Throughout the journey, Zhang Yue remained dazed and never woke up. When they finally arrived home, faced with thebutler Gao Quan’s questions, he knew he couldn’t hide it and simply told the truth.

Learning that it was King Zhou Zhu Tu who had forced Zhang Yue to drink so much, Gao Quan was puzzled. In the past, during festivals, he had often delivered gifts to the King Zhou’s mansion, either on his own or with Gu or Dongfang families. Even during birthdays, he rarely saw the prince talk much with guests. He guessed it was probably because the third concubine was on good terms with Princess Chenliu. Shaking his head, he followed Hu Qi to the second gate, watching two strong women take over before feeling relieved.

By then, Gu and the others had already gone to bed. Although Du Wan had heard that Zhang Yue had been left behind by King Zhou Zhu Tu, she hadn’t expected it to be so late, nor had she expected him to return as a drunkard. Since Zhang Yue had always been moderate in drinking, neither she nor Humo Qiuhen had experience dealing with such situations. Fortunately, Lingxi was quick-witted—she went to the kitchen in the courtyard to prepare a sobering soup and gave it to Zhang Yue to drink, followed by a basin for rinsing his mouth. Sure enough, after drinking the hot soup, Zhang Yue started vomiting. Once he calmed down, he fell into a drowsy sleep.

Faced with such a strange situation, Qiu Hen couldn’t help but mutter, “It’s really odd. Whether it was for official duties or social gatherings, the young master has never drunk this much before.”
“Perhaps the King of Zhou insisted too much for him to refuse?” Ling Xi interjected. As she helped Du Wan take off her clothes, she said softly with a smile, “Even on their wedding night, the young master had someone secretly replace the wine with water. If not pressured hard, he probably wouldn’t have drunk so much.”
Du Wan had already finished washing up. Now, after taking off her embroidered satin jacket, she glared at Ling Xi. Once she got into bed, Ling Xi blew out the candle, leaving only the lamp on the shelf in the corner lit. Amber and Qiu Hen quietly left. Although the silver-red curtain was drawn and her husband was lying beside her, Du Wan tossed and turned, unable to sleep. It wasn’t until the sound of the night drums outside finally brought her some drowsiness that she suddenly felt the person beside her shudder violently before sitting up abruptly.
It was already the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, yet Zhang Yue, who sat up suddenly, was drenched in sweat. Realizing he was sitting on the bed, he was momentarily stunned. When he turned his head and saw Du Wan also sitting up, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Wiping his wet forehead with his hand, he said with a bitter smile, “I must have made a fool of myself today. I don’t even remember how I got back. I thought I’d wake up to find the King of Zhou drunk and talking nonsense.”
“Was it because of the princess’s matter?”
Seeing Zhang Yue nod with a gloomy expression, Du Wan frowned immediately. Zhu Ning often visited after her childbirth and would be very happy every time she saw the baby. In her free time, she would also help select candidates from the list, but Zhu Ning would always shake her head smilingly. After all, although those scholars were rated as having good character and academic performance, something seemed off about them. Having heard earlier that the emperor was also at the King of Zhou’s residence, she quickly asked, “Has a decision been made this time?”
“The emperor proposed three good candidates this time. But the King of Zhou disdained one, and as for the other two… one is Shen Shilong, the grandson of Mr. Minze, and the other is Lao Wan. In terms of character and talent, both of them are top-notch. Logically, any of them would be a better choice than those before, but the princess has only met Lao Wan once, and she’s never even met Shen Shilong. Besides, even if the King of Zhou agrees, others may not be willing.”
“In this world, how many marriages aren’t arranged blindly?”

Du Wan thought both of these candidates were far better than the previous ones. She wasn’t expecting Zhang Yue to bring this up; she was stunned for a moment before sighing helplessly. Soon after, she felt Zhang Yue gently place his arm around her shoulders, and she heard him whisper in her ear, “I just think it’s necessary to understand each other’s temperaments before marriage, so that we can get along well in the future, just like us. Having only a future but no past might not be good for the princess…”
Despite having a hangover, Zhang Yue got up on time early the next morning. After putting on his official robes, and still feeling a slight headache, he ordered Hu Bo to bring in well water, which he used to wash his face and head. Refreshed, he finished his breakfast quickly, then went to the main hall in the northern courtyard to pay his respects to Du Wan before hurrying out.
As expected, because of Zhang Yue’s words the previous day, at the court meeting, Zhu Di set aside Fang Bin’s report and decided to make a northern inspection next February. He also ordered that military preparations and city defenses be strengthened without delay, and tasked trusted eunuchs along with censors to inspect grain stores and other treasuries across the country. Faced with this stance, the nobles who had been disheartened after receiving news the previous day were immediately filled with joy, while Fang Bin, who thought everything was settled and there was no need to worry, was greatly disappointed. After leaving the court through the Left Gate after the Jinshui Bridge, he even gave Zhang Yue a cold look.
After leaving the office the previous day, he had heard that the emperor had ordered the commander of the Jinyiwei to summon Zhang Yue to the Prince of Zhou’s residence—surely this kid had come up with some nonsense again! The emperor was too gullible; for such an important matter, he would trust such a young inexperienced person. Were they, the ministers, just for show?
Filled with displeasure, anger, and even indignation, Fang Bin wore a face as if everyone owed him a thousand strings of coins throughout the day at the Ministry of War. He criticized every official matter, especially being picky and nitpicky with the Military Armory Department. Even Wan Shijie, who thought he was the most resilient, returned from the main hall looking helpless and dejected, almost as if he had “I’m very sad” carved on his forehead.

“A total of four matters were reported, and all of them were rejected by Minister Fang,” Wan Shijie said, raising four fingers at Zhang Yue before lowering them one by one. “First, the Armory Bureau has produced another 10,000 new firearms. According to protocol, they should be distributed to garrisons like Xuanfu, Datong, and Wanquan first. But Minister Fang scolded us harshly, saying our Armory Bureau didn’t need to worry about such matters. Second, our semi-annual accounts are supposed to be reviewed by the court officials as per procedure. He said if everything had to be handled by him, then what was the need for court officials at all… The other two matters were also rejected. In short, if anything happens today, just endure it and don’t annoy Minister Fang.”

Zhang Yue looked at Wan Shijie, who had reverted to his indifferent smile after speaking. After some thought, he found an excuse to pull him aside and relay the intentions of Zhu Di and Zhu Zhuo from the previous day. To his surprise, he expected Wan Shijie to react violently, but instead, the latter just rolled his eyes.

“Is this all you have to tell me? Yuanjie, even jokes need to have limits. I was rejected in the first round already.”

Wan Shijie glared at Zhang Yue irritably, clapped his hands, and was about to leave. But after taking a few steps, he suddenly turned around. Seeing Zhang Yue still standing there as before, he gradually realized this wasn’t a joke and froze in place.

He first met Zhu Ning at Qixia Temple. He remembered her quickly driving away Zhang Yue’s two reckless cousins and recalling her heroic appearance. The second time he saw her was at the restaurant near the execution ground at Xisi Pailou. Although she was dressed in men’s clothes, he could still tell she was a woman. She was indeed a talented and beautiful noblewoman, but he never thought he would be able to marry her. It wasn’t about prospects, family background, or personality…

Since he had no parents, he always hoped to marry a woman he truly loved. Although Zhu Ning was nice, he had only met her twice and barely spoken to her. Surely the third meeting wouldn’t be their wedding night!

After standing there in daze for a while, he regained his casual smile. “If what you say is true, the Prince of Zhou might come to take a look at me, this candidate for a wedding attendant. But he might not even regard me as a poor official with nothing but himself. Nothing has been decided yet, so there’s no need for you to worry unnecessarily. But if things really work out and I stay in the Ministry of War, my colleagues and superiors there will surely be troubled. Having another oddity like you in the ministry is already enough of a hassle for them.”

Watching Wan Shijie wave his hands helplessly before turning away as if nothing had happened, Zhang Yue was stunned for a moment before recalling the emperor’s words from that day. It was the first time he had learned that Wan Shijie was orphaned with no parents, which explained why, beneath his carefree appearance, there seemed to be a sense of loneliness and pride. After all, since Wan Shijie was a few years older than him, how could he still be single?

This conversation did not stir the slightest ripple in the Ministry of War, and even in the court, the brothers Zhu Di and Zhu Zhu seemed to have forgotten their previous talk, with no further action for several days. It was only when news of the death of the crown prince’s fourth son, Zhu Zhan Yin, arrived that the otherwise calm court was once again agitated.

Even though this was not the crown prince’s legitimate son, it was already the third imperial grandson to die within a year! Unluckily, it happened on the very day the Imperial Observatory reported a solar eclipse, a day when officials were busy performing rituals to ward off its effects. Thus, many people wondered: With troubles piling up since the beginning of the year, would this unlucky year ever end?