Chapter 1444: Would Rather Die Than Marry a Good-for-Nothing Prince?

The moment Li Yuan, Zhu Ci'en, and their party passed through Guihua Pass between Jinping Fort and Songpan Guard, the previously clear weather changed color. A spring drizzle pattered down without cease, and the already badly dilapidated road turned into a quagmire. The temperature also plummeted. The Songpan Plateau was high in elevation, situated far to the north, and caught in the Little Ice Age climate, so even in late spring, once rain began to fall, it was still somewhat cold.

Because of the rain-slicked road, Li Yuan wanted Zhu Ci'en to return to Guihua Pass to rest for a few days and wait out the rain, but this good-for-nothing prince unexpectedly feared neither hardship nor fatigue, and on his own initiative demanded they press on through the rain. The truth was he wanted to see Li Dingguo as soon as possible, deliver Zhu Cilang's edict, and then return to Nanjing to pay filial respect to the Retired Emperor Chongzhen. Ever since learning that the Western Garden estate was not his own property, this Commandery Prince of Luoshan had grown increasingly deferential in his attitude toward the Retired Emperor Chongzhen.

The Western Garden house was his very lifeblood! That location, that size — conservatively speaking, it was worth at least several hundred thousand taels of silver. And the Western Garden had long since had its walls broken open to set up shops; there were over a hundred storefronts collecting rent. Just lying around, he could net tens of thousands of taels a year.

With that income, this good-for-nothing prince could live his little life in comfort!

Although in his childhood he had once made an effort — forced by his mother, Consort Hu, who hoped her son would become a dragon, to study both letters and martial arts — and had once fantasized that he would one day become, like his third brother (Zhu Cijiong) and fourth brother (Zhu Cizhao), a heroic prince sweeping across the battlefield.

But after entering middle school, because of his mother Consort Hu's negligence (Consort Hu had borne Chongzhen several more children and could no longer keep up with him), he became extremely fond of play, and his academic performance plummeted. He failed to gain admission to the Imperial Academy, the Capital Academy, the Military Academy, or the Naval Academy — not one of them. He could not even get into a "private university" like Donglin University, and in the end became a middle-school-graduate academic failure and good-for-nothing. He no longer dared dream of sweeping across battlefields or officialdom; he just wanted to be a small-time rent-collecting prince.

But the Retired Emperor Chongzhen was a "poor father." His finances had grown worse and worse over the past two years, and all the money in his hands had been poured into the bottomless pit that was the Kingdom of Luzon. Zhu Ci'en was anxious! He feared his "poor father" would be so hard up that he would take back the Western Garden, and then he would be ruined!

Without the Western Garden, all that would remain was a remote, shabby, run-down princely mansion and three thousand mu of poor farmland. There would be no way to live after that!

So now he wanted to coax the Retired Emperor Chongzhen into transferring the Western Garden property as soon as possible. Before leaving Yingtian this time, he had quietly gone to consult Ji Tiechi's litigation office. The result was exactly what Old Six the Rent-Collecting Prince had said! An edict written in black and white by the Retired Emperor could be changed. As long as the property had not been transferred, the old man could change it whenever he wished! Then he would be left with nothing at all!

Therefore Zhu Ci'en now thought of nothing but finishing the task quickly and returning to please his father. Never mind a little drizzle — he would not fear even a hailstorm!

Do not think he was a thorough good-for-nothing. The current fashion among the powerful of Yingtian was martial, and "military-quality education" was all the rage. As a handsome good-for-nothing, a playboy who knew how to have fun, he had to be proficient in polo, archery, fencing, and firearms — otherwise people would look down on him. If he could not even play, he would not even qualify to be a good-for-nothing or a playboy; he would just be trash!

And to play polo, archery, fencing, and firearms well, could one fear hardship and fatigue? No! Without diligent practice, how could one become a qualified good-for-nothing?

Stop playing just because of wind and rain? Collapse from exhaustion after playing two or three hours a day? Unacceptable! If one did not play until the sky went dark, how could one be worthy of the title of playboy?

So Zhu Ci'en now put on a bamboo hat, draped a straw rain cape over himself, and rode nearly shoulder to shoulder with Li Yuan. The cold wind mixed with rain blew straight into his face, and he paid it no mind at all.

It was Li Jinxue, the Deputy Registrar of the Western Sichuan Military Governor who had accompanied Zhu Ci'en, who was nearly dead from exhaustion, already slumped over his horse's back as they traveled. This truly could not be blamed on uselessness — riding and archery, done well, were "childhood skills." On the steppe, the cost of practice was not an issue, but for people in farming regions, training in these things was enormously expensive! Not to mention that Li Jinxue's family had long since fallen into ruin under the Shun regime; even before their ruin, they could not have afforded such expenses.

Having rushed all the way from Chengdu, Li Jinxue was long since exhausted, his legs numb, and his buttocks in unbearable pain — his legs had no strength and could not grip the horse, so his rear end suffered for it, bouncing the whole way, being "spanked" by the saddle, and by now it was swollen. He could only disregard appearances and lie slumped over the horse's back as they went. Zhu Ci'en, fearing he might fall off and hurt himself, assigned two guards to flank him left and right, as if he were a prince.

The party pressed on, now hurrying, now slowing, and within a single day passed Xintang Pass and arrived at Honghua Tun Fortress, which faced Songpan Guard City across the Min River.

When they reached Honghua Tun, it was just dusk, the rain had stopped, and the setting sun spilled down upon the newly expanded Honghua Tun Fortress, giving one the feeling of a mighty pass and a strong city.

Because Li Yuan had earlier sent mounted riders ahead to announce their arrival, by the time the Commandery Prince of Luoshan's party reached Honghua Tun, people were already waiting for them outside the city. A large group of horsemen surrounded two figures, a man and a woman. The man was a tall, thin fellow in his fifties — none other than Li Dingguo. He was not wearing Ming official robes, only a plain blue cloth garment, draped with a red cape, and on his head a white felt hat.

The woman was wrapped in a cape trimmed with white fox fur, beneath which she wore a half-length coat of chainmail that gleamed with a golden light in the setting sun. Her glossy black hair was bound up under a leather cap, and at the nape of her neck and at her temples a few strands of hair floated in the wind. From a distance, Zhu Ci'en could not make out her features, only that the long legs straddling the horse were somewhat thick and sturdy, and her build somewhat imposing.

Zhu Ci'en paid little attention to this armored horsewoman — in Yingtian Prefecture, such tomboys were nothing unusual. There were far too many women like this in imperial and noble circles! Among his more than one hundred sisters, quite a few were of the same ilk as the one before him. He did not fancy this type of woman at all. The Prince of Luoshan liked slender, delicate beauties, preferably with half-barbarian blood, like the Hani girl he had seen at the Third Crown Prince's place — that was what he called a beauty!

But no matter how beautiful Hani was, she could not stop Zhu Ci'en from going to pay filial respect to Chongzhen. If the Western Garden house were lost, no "ni" would have any flavor at all.

While Zhu Ci'en was looking down on the young woman, she was likewise inwardly despising the Ming's good-for-nothing Commandery Prince!

This girl was none other than Li Dingguo's third daughter, Li Yue'e. Li Puxing had planned for Zhu Ci'en to share the bridal chamber with her.

But what sort of person was the third Miss Li? Could she let her elder brother push her around as he pleased? If she did not fancy a man, never mind a broken-down Commandery Prince — she would not marry even the Ming Emperor himself.

So when Li Dingguo learned that Zhu Ci'en was coming, he had no choice but to bring his daughter along for a "matchmaking meeting." Li Puxing, however, was quite confident. How could his sister possibly fail to fancy Zhu Ci'en? That boy was absolutely an "eight-faced vajra" of a handsome man — no matter which direction you looked at him from, there was not a single angle that was not beautiful! Of course, this beauty was by the standards of the Shun dynasty — a stalwart husband, a dignified man, a generous and heroic fellow!

Therefore Li Puxing had not come with his father and sister, and was instead in Songpan Guard City preparing the wedding banquet.

Because he had not come along, Li Yue'e naturally assumed that the man slumped over the horse's back, Li Jinxue, was the good-for-nothing prince.

A good-for-nothing, of course, ought to be slumped over. How could he be like that white-robed stalwart riding abreast with Li Yuan? Such a big man, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, sitting on horseback like an iron tower — was there such a big good-for-nothing in the world?

Watching the good-for-nothing slumped on horseback draw near, Li Yue'e's somewhat androgynous rectangular face had already fallen, and her two long, dark eyebrows were drawn together. Before the "big good-for-nothing" Zhu Ci'en could announce himself from horseback, she suddenly snorted, turned her head, and said to Li Dingguo, "Ama, that Ninth Prince of the Zhu family is a good-for-nothing. I would rather die than marry him!"

(End of Chapter)