Chapter 17: The Duke Prefecture

Xu Zaijing, nearly five years old, was already sweating on his forehead; seeing this, the Hou Fu’s stable hand did not continue.

He then made Xu Zaijing shoot fifty arrows with each hand, counting only those that hit the red center of a straw target ten paces away.

After training, Xu Zaijing practiced a breathing technique, then was dumped into a tub filled with medicinal herbs.

At his age, such repeated bow-drawing would damage his body without herbal soaking to nurture it.

The young servant Qingyun, whom the stable hand had brought along, was also training his strength nearby, but his herbal bath was significantly reduced in quantity compared to Xu Zaijing’s.

This servant was the stable hand’s nephew from his former family; after the stable hand’s misfortune, their family’s businesses were seized, and relatives lost their livelihoods, scattering from the capital.

With Xu Minghua’s help searching everywhere, they found only this orphaned nephew.

The reason he had tested his skill at the polo field recently was because that major deal had originally been sought by Prince Jing, whom he had refused.

At the time, he had been too fortunate—his string of successes made him underestimate the world; one moment of misplaced trust led him into a beauty trap, causing him a devastating fall, one so severe it nearly ruined him beyond recovery.

Not long ago, the second branch of the Duke Prefecture’s Pingning Princess gave birth to a son.

The Yongyi Marquis House, which had little connection to the Duke Prefecture, received a congratulatory gift and was invited to attend the full-moon celebration at the Duke Prefecture.

Pingning Princess was the only daughter of Xiangyang Marquis; like the Ningyuan Marquis House, she too bore the surname Gu, sharing the same ancestral lineage, so when she bore a child, the Ningyuan Marquis House naturally received the good news.

On this day, Sun Shi arrived at the Duke Prefecture with Xu Zaijing and four other children; though Sun Shi came early, the roadside of Xingguo Fang was already lined with carriages and sedan chairs of noble families.

The old Duke was a top-tier noble who had served in court for many years and enjoyed a clean reputation, so when the Duke family welcomed a grandson, both noble military officers and civil officials from court came to celebrate.

In the capital, bringing children to banquets was one way to assess potential spouses; arranging a marriage during such a joyous occasion was considered double fortune.

Yet there was no shortage of snobbery, mockery, and sharp-tongued barbs.

Bai Shi also brought Gu Tingye; her daughter was too young and remained at home under the nurse’s care.

But as a merchant’s daughter, few noble ladies of noble households wished to speak with her.

The ladies of the fourth and fifth branches of the Gu family, upon entering the Duke Prefecture, went straight to seek out their close female friends and ignored Bai Shi.

Chang Mama’s expression was also grim; Bai Shi gave a bitter smile, and beside her, Gu Tingye’s eyes flickered, glancing at his mother, then at those around him, a flash of anger passing through his gaze.

As she brooded, Chang Mama spotted Sun Shi’s group and quickly alerted Bai Shi.

“Sister.”

Sun Shi called out.

The five children beside Sun Shi bowed.

“Greetings, Lady.”

Bai Shi smiled warmly, her sudden radiance drawing glances from many court ladies.

She affectionately embraced Xu Zaijing.

“Jing Ge!”

“Auntie, may you be well.”

Meanwhile, Sun Shi held Gu Tingye’s hand and asked him ordinary questions.

Though Gu Tingye was nearly a year older than Xu Zaijing, his speech and manners still carried the innocence of a child.

After all, Gu Tingye was truly a child; Xu Zaijing’s soul was that of a modern adult.

Bai Shi’s gaze toward Xu Zaijing was filled with affection, as if they were bound by fate.

Wu Da Niangzi had also given birth to a son, the sixth in the Marquis House, so they called him Liang Liu Lang; he did not come this time, claiming he had fallen ill from anger during his confinement.

Just before the banquet began, the main guest of honor—the second branch’s legitimate son of the Duke Prefecture—was carried out.

The guests naturally offered lavish compliments.

Though Pingning Princess belonged to the second branch,

she had brought the wealth of the Xiangyang Marquis House into the Duke family, and since the Gu family itself was top-tier nobility, this boy was born into golden luxury.

Among the crowd, Pingning Princess wore a gold-threaded green-pine red-jade forehead band, while her nurse held the young Gu Er Young Master for relatives to admire.

The princess conversed with her kin, and as she did, precious gifts were placed into the infant’s swaddling.

After circling the room, Pingning Princess whispered a few words to her personal nurse, who then took the boy back to the side chamber.

Pingning Princess glanced around the spacious room and immediately spotted Xu Zaijing, standing quietly beside his mother.

Over the past year, Xu Zaijing had grown considerably taller; his hair, now longer, was tied into several topknots,

making him appear even more adorable and well-behaved.

While speaking with court ladies and noblewomen, Pingning Princess walked over to Sun Shi.

After some polite exchanges, Pingning Princess sincerely told Xu Zaijing: “Good child.”

This remark carried a tone unmistakable to the noble court ladies nearby.

Xu Zaijing, of course, knew nothing of the events at the polo field or the Duke Prefecture months ago; he could only blink and grin foolishly.

“Thank you, Princess, for your praise.”

A lady-in-waiting stepped beside the princess and whispered something; Pingning Princess nodded.

Then the lady-in-waiting announced loudly: “Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.”

After the banquet began, guests ate, but the children grew restless; those who did not wish to eat or had already eaten wandered into the courtyard to play games.

Xu Zaijing had been well-fed by his mother at the table; after eating, he went to the courtyard under the escort of a maid.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the state flourished; from the imperial family and nobility down to commoners, all loved games of chance, and children inevitably picked up this habit.

“Wow, Ye Ge, amazing!”

“How did he hit it?!”

In the center of the courtyard, Gu Tingye was playing the dart-pot game with a group of noble youths, already amassing a pile of winnings.

Many of the trinkets in the hands of these noble children were worth half a year’s food for a commoner in Bianjing.

Yet here in the Duke Prefecture, they were merely trivial prizes for children’s dart-pot games.

In the pavilion nearby, several sons of high-ranking court officials had already begun their studies; some had even tried their hand at the game—not for winning, but to earn a reputation for learning.

They were drawn by the commotion in the courtyard and began whispering among themselves.

“Gu Tingye of the Ningyuan Marquis House is astonishingly good at dart-pot.”

“His family has always mingled with crude soldiers; it would be strange if he weren’t good.”

Upon hearing this, several sons of civil officials in the pavilion exchanged knowing smirks.

Along the perimeter of the courtyard, behind curtains and screens, stretched a long corridor where noble daughters of various households played games, and close sisters exchanged tips on needlework.

Occasionally, stubborn children would sneak into the corridor to beg or trick their sisters for trinkets, hoping to challenge Gu Tingye again.

But they always lost everything.

At that moment, a cry suddenly echoed from the corridor—a girl of seven or eight ran crying back toward the banquet hall, followed by a boy looking panicked.

Xu Zaijing did not join the games; he stood beside the maid Xiao Dan, watching the courtyard’s bustle.

Seeing this, he glanced curiously at Xiao Dan beside him.

(End of Chapter)