4. Chapter 4

Gu She knew he had made a mistake after the first few clashes. Jingyan looked slight of build but he had always been strong, and years as an active military leader had only layered vicious instincts over solid muscle. Gu She, who had retired to the scholar’s life after the death of his brother so many years ago, was barely keeping up.

Still, it was fun to engage with someone he knew so well and their impromptu sparring session was more about nostalgia than any serious practice. There were people missing, and it was clear in Jingyan’s expression that he thought so to. Lin Shu and Gu She’s twin brother, Lian Jian, were the ghosts that dogged their steps, along with the rest of the Chiyan army.

But here and now, Gu She and Jingyan could recall the better times of their youths.

The result, however, was that Gu She got trounced and would be wearing several bruises along his back and legs for the rest of the week. He laughed about it and they relaxed afterward with hot tea and warm lap blankets as they watched the early morning routines of the palace gear up for a busy day.

He was participating in court later that morning, more as Jingyan’s advisor than in any official capacity, and he heard a few murmurs by ministers and attendants as he limped through the hall to his station. He gave it no mind, as gossip was as certain as the change of seasons and there was no telling which direction the winds would blow.

Mu Chun gave him a speculative look from across the way and leaned over to whisper to his manservant with a characteristically evil grin, but then the emperor entered the room and everything else was put aside.

Upon reflection, Gu She realized that marrying gossip-monger and shit-stirrer Mu Chun into the royal family — even if it was over Mu Chun’s protests — was a bad idea.

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It was ostensibly a garden party but one could never let their guard down when a family as illustrious and ruthless as the Wangs invited people into their manor. All the upper level ministers were present as well as a few of the lower-ranking princes, although Jingyan was conspicuously absent. Gu She wondered if that was the result of the influence of his cousin’s mysterious strategist, Mei Changsu, someone he himself had yet to score a meeting with despite several efforts.

“Dear boy, are you limping?” Marquis Wang said as Gu She entered the garden with Tao Mo on his arm.

“Oh goodness!” Lady Wang went inexplicably wide-eyed and glanced over at her daughters who giggled behind their fans. Gu She was viscerally thrown back to his meeting with the consorts of the inner palace and all that implied. He cringed.

“It is nothing, I—”

“Don't worry, it wasn't a big deal! I fall off my horse a lot more than that!” Tao Mo said loudly, patting Gu She’s hand sympathetically. Gu She let it slide because what did that even mean? His husband’s mind was as pure as a stream but also sometimes its path just as capricious.

He should have known better.

The court was in a veritable whirlwind for the next two weeks trying to discern the source and precise meaning of the clever euphemism, “ there is no season of worry; I fall often from my horse; my lover is not distressed. ” There were three public debates and Gu She refused to attend any of them. Mu Chun never stopped laughing, the jackass.