Chapter 26: What Is Happiness

Li Jinglong took the cup of tea offered by Nanny Wu, took a sip, and after surveying the surroundings, remarked with disdain, "Uncle, this dilapidated shack you live in isn't even as good as the quarters for my servants back home. There isn't even a vase to be seen. By the way, where is that barbarian woman..."

Zhu Shuang clamped a hand over his mouth, shot a nervous glance at Nanny Wu who was standing behind the door, and whispered, "If you don't want to die, stop provoking that matriarch. Just look."

With that, he pulled down his collar to reveal a long, thin scar.

Li Jinglong was horrified, covering his mouth as he whispered, "Uncle, is that aunt of mine really so ferocious?"

Zhu Shuang gritted his teeth and whispered, "She's pregnant, isn't she? I once just caught the eye of a girl in a brothel, and I nearly had my throat slit by an arrow right then and there. That woman’s archery skills are enough to make your uncle tremble with fear."

Li Jinglong looked sympathetic. "Then how have you managed to survive these past few months?"

Zhu Shuang made a suggestive gesture with his hand, and Li Jinglong gave a look that only men would understand.

"Uncle, you have suffered."

Zhu Shuang originally wanted to say that it wasn't his own hand he was using, but seeing the other man produce two gold ingots from his robe, he reluctantly accepted them in misery.

"Why didn't anyone inform me, the lady of the house, that guests from back home had arrived? It would be my fault if our visitors were neglected."

Minmin, supported by Nanny Wu, arrived in the main hall and casually snatched the gold ingots from Zhu Shuang's hand.

"Husband, won't you introduce me? Why are you just standing there?"

Zhu Shuang, suppressing the pain in his heart, was about to make the introduction when Li Jinglong flopped to his knees, kowtowed, and said respectfully, "Your nephew, Li Jinglong, son of the Duke of Cao, pays his respects to my aunt and the Princess."

Minmin covered her mouth with a silk handkerchief and chuckled, "What a sweet tongue. Look at him, husband—no wonder he is a young talent and a duke's son at such a tender age, unlike our husband, who has no rank or title and is just a commoner."

Zhu Shuang really wanted to curse. *I am a prince of the blood; do I have to brag about it every time I’m young?*

Instead, he said, "My lady is right."

Minmin smiled. "Then I won't disturb your reminiscing. By the way, nephew, make yourself at home. I will tell the kitchen to prepare a few extra dishes. Oh, and later, the Nanny and I are going into town to purchase some household supplies."

Zhu Shuang’s forehead darkened as he muttered, "Minmin, can we buy a few fewer dresses and pieces of jewelry?"

Minmin shook her head and said sternly, "I am not dressing up just for myself; it is more important for the dignity of a man in your position as a commander."

Zhu Shuang cursed inwardly at the spendthrift woman. *Isn't the financial crisis in this house caused by you?* Minmin used to be a little fairy who would sleep after a full meal. Manage money? Wasn't all the money issued by the Imperial Court? As for Zhu Shuang, he was a hands-off manager—how could this household be anything but poor?

Li Jinglong obsequiously saw Minmin to the carriage. Upon returning to the room, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with lingering fear, "The aunt you've found is truly formidable; her presence is no less imposing than that of the Empress."

Zhu Shuang let out a long sigh. "Isn't it all because I’ve spoiled her?"

Who told him that he owed her in a past life? Even if the historical burden wasn't his own, who told him to fall in love? They say wise men shouldn't fall in love, just like an iron pot shouldn't stew itself—damn it, Minmin, you’ve made me lose so completely.

"Uncle, you aren't afraid of your wife; you love her." Li Jinglong gave a look of profound, albeit dim-witted, wisdom.

Zhu Shuang had the illusion that he would be pointed at in the next second. "You really are a little clever ghost. You couldn't have come all this way just to have a meal, could you? Tell me, what do you want from your uncle?"

Li Jinglong pulled a letter from his robe, and Zhu Shuang took it, breaking the wax seal on the envelope.

It was from Empress Ma. The gist was asking how he was faring, and at the end, as if mentioning a trivial matter, she instructed him to bring Minmin back soon—not just to give his wife a proper status, but most importantly, because the child about to be born needed a legitimate standing.

Seeing the mention of the Imperial Grandson, Zhu Shuang frowned. "Is my brother's child not born yet?"

Li Jinglong replied, "The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess were married last winter. This child of yours is destined to be the eldest grandson of the Great Ming."

Zhu Shuang scratched his hair in frustration. He had always wanted to avoid being drawn into the struggle for the succession, but because of his presence as a butterfly, the unification of the Great Ming had been delayed by four years, and the Crown Prince's wedding had been delayed by seven months.

This was no small matter; it involved the succession of the third generation of the Great Ming. In history, Zhu Biao died before he could ascend the throne. At that time, he had died even earlier, and his child was naturally younger than Zhu Yunwen, having no claim to the succession.

But now, as long as Zhu Biao had not ascended the throne, his son would naturally be the legitimate eldest grandson. Never underestimate this "eldest" status; how many princes in the history of the Great Ming had fallen because of this single word?

For example, Prince Han Zhu Gaoxu, Emperor Daizong Zhu Qiyu, and Prince Fu Zhu Changxun—they all fell because of this.

Zhu Shuang thought for a moment and suddenly felt he was worrying needlessly. The ministers would never tolerate an Imperial Grandson with barbarian blood, not to mention that it might be a daughter. Heaven bless, let me develop for a few more years.

"Uncle, what are you thinking about?" Seeing Zhu Shuang holding a teacup to his lips for a long time, Li Jinglong was displeased. *I am a handsome, dashing young man in front of you, and you are actually thinking about another woman.*

"Oh, your uncle's life is truly bitter."

"Uh, by the way, I received this before I left. It was entrusted to me by the young lady of the Xu family."

As he spoke, he pulled a silk handkerchief wrapped around a sachet from his pocket. On the white silk was embroidered a line of small characters: "May I have one heart, and grow old together, never to part"—the poem by the talented woman Zhuo Wenjun of the Han Dynasty.

The sachet was embroidered with the elegant characters "Miaoyun," and inside was a lily and a strand of dark hair.

Zhu Shuang was puzzled. "Who is Miaoyun? I’ve only visited the Qinhuai River once; how could I have this token of love?"

Li Jinglong’s eyes widened, pointing at him indignantly. "Uncle, I never realized you were such a fickle master of romance! This eldest daughter of the Xu family is the one you were betrothed to... uh, no, the one you had a childhood marriage arrangement with."

Zhu Shuang suddenly realized. He had long since cast that matter to the back of his mind, thinking that with his reputation as a dissolute prince, a talented woman like Xu Miaoyun would never look at him once she grew up. He had long stopped taking the childhood betrothal seriously.

The eldest daughter of the Xu family was about fifteen, but aside from the engagement in childhood, they had never met. Why would she take a fancy to him? As a man from a later age, Zhu Shuang was completely baffled.

"Uncle, what are you thinking about again?" Li Jinglong was very angry. In this world, no one could ignore his beauty—no one!

"Second boy, help your uncle ponder this: why would the eldest daughter of the Xu family take a fancy to us? Our engagement can only be considered a political marriage. With her writing poetry and sending sachets, it’s making me a bit scared."

Zhu Shuang wondered if the eldest daughter of the Xu family was obsessed with romance, or perhaps a yandere.

Li Jinglong said angrily, "Since ancient times, marriage between men and women has been decided by the words of matchmakers and the commands of parents. The eldest daughter of the Xu family has been well-read in the classics since childhood and is a famous female scholar in Nanjing. She has studied the *Admonitions for Women*, the *Classic of Filial Piety for Women*, and the *Rules for Women*; naturally, she understands the principle that a loyal minister does not serve two masters, and a virtuous woman does not marry two husbands."

Zhu Shuang nodded. "So it's because of feudal dross."

Li Jinglong retorted, "Since ancient times, the command of parents has been as great as the heavens; how could it be dross?"

Zhu Shuang chuckled. "The essence of marriage is two people building a home. But if, for the sake of family reputation, power, and wealth, one has to find a stranger—or even someone one dislikes—to face and live with every day, do you think such a marriage is happy?"

Such an avant-garde idea was something Li Jinglong could not accept. "But Uncle, you are currently in a marriage you entered into on your own, living in poverty and suffering under her tyranny—can you say you are living happily?"

"Minmin may have kidnapped me to Northern Yuan, but she couldn't bear for others to hurt me and even helped me escape. She didn't even hesitate to break with her family to stay with me in a tent less than two yards wide for nearly a year. A Mongolian princess lived on rough grains and wild vegetables with a title-less prince like me for nearly a year, and even used her dowry to help me build an army, accompanying me to seek survival in the cracks of these chaotic times. With such a wife, can you say your uncle isn't happy? Is her slight willfulness and tyranny not worth more than a beautiful woman willing to bear your children and wither into a weary, plain-faced wife?"