Chapter 160: Having the Three Young Ladies Explicate the Poem

With the three newly appointed senior officials of Zhejiang entering Hangzhou City, surrounded and escorted by the local officials of various ranks like stars around the moon, the Zhejiang officials hosted a welcome banquet for them at the Chunjiang Pavilion once again. After the banquet, the three officials went together to have an audience with Zhu Hao. First, they paid their respects to Zhu Hao and submitted their official appointment documents. Following some conventional pleasantries, Zhu Hao had people assist them with the handover of duties, officially transferring the powers of the Provincial Administration Commissioner and the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner into their hands. Meanwhile, Zhu Hao himself returned to the Imperial Envoy's Residence, where he had not set foot for half a month in order to avoid the three young women.

Zhu Hao's return to the Imperial Envoy's Residence was a matter of necessity. With the three new senior officials entering the city and completing the handover, he had to prepare to return to the capital to report on his mission. Realizing that the end of the year was approaching and that he had not seen his mother and eldest brother for over three months, Zhu Hao was seized by an eager longing to return home, to the extent that this feeling overpowered his fear of being relentlessly entangled by the three women.

However, the moment Zhu Hao stepped into the residence, his joyful mood of impending return vanished instantly. As soon as he walked into the main hall of the residence, he ran right into Liu Rushi.

Ever since Zhu Hao went into hiding, Liu Rushi would come to the courtyard every day to admire the flowers. Not expecting to bump into Zhu Hao, whom she had not seen for half a month, she immediately ran forward in excitement and cried out happily, "Brother Youjian, I haven't seen you for so long! You must compose poetry with me today!" As she spoke, Liu Rushi stepped forward to grab Zhu Hao's arm, pressing her entire body against him as she began to act coquettishly.

Listening to Liu Rushi's words, Zhu Hao found himself in a dilemma: agreeing would not do, and refusing would not do either. Putting aside the fact that Zhu Hao was currently in no mood to compose poetry and prose, just the uncanny sensitivity of these three women—who seemed to have had wiretaps secretly installed on his body—was enough to deter Zhu Hao from accepting Liu Rushi's request.

This was because as long as Zhu Hao spent more than a quarter of an hour with any one of the three women, the other two would invariably arrive together. It was a foolproof occurrence, and one of the main reasons Zhu Hao had been forced to hide away in the first place. Because of this, fearing that he would fall back into the rivalry among the three women, Zhu Hao truly did not dare to agree to Liu Rushi. Yet if he refused, with Liu Rushi practically hanging onto his arm right now, he simply could not leave.

Just as Zhu Hao was caught in this difficult predicament, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. He took out the two poems written by Li Shoujun before his death, handed them to Liu Rushi, and said, "Miss Liu, this prince knows that you are well-versed in poetry. Take a look at these two poems and see if you can understand their underlying meaning. If you can understand them and tell this prince what they mean, how about I accompany you in composing poetry then?"

Looking puzzled, Liu Rushi took the two poems in her hands. Instead of reading them immediately, she spoke up, "Brother Youjian, you must keep your word!"

Zhu Hao nodded with a smile and reaffirmed, "Miss Liu, rest assured, a gentleman's word is as good as a team of four horses!" Although he said this outwardly, inwardly Zhu Hao sneered to himself, "Let's see if this little girl can't stump you this time! I refuse to believe that you are more brilliant than Qin Hui, the top scholar of the previous dynasty, that you can make sense of these nonsensical poems!"

Liu Rushi had no idea what was going on in Zhu Hao's mind. Upon receiving his definite promise, she released her grip on his arm, held the two poems in both hands, and began to read them carefully. However, the longer she looked, the more her brow furrowed; clearly, she failed to comprehend the hidden meaning within the two poems either.

Seeing this, Zhu Hao rejoiced inwardly and prepared to slip away quietly while Liu Rushi was lost in thought. Unfortunately, just as he had taken two steps, he was blocked squarely by Ziyan and Chen Yuanyuan, who had hurried over. Glancing at Zhu Hao and Liu Rushi together, Chen Yuanyuan pouted her little lips and let out a light huff, "Brother Youjian, you only know how to keep Sister Rushi company composing poetry and prose! You haven't come to listen to me play music for ages!"

Compared to Chen Yuanyuan's petulant reproach, Ziyan was much more direct. First, Ziyan gave Zhu Hao a sideways glance, then lifted her chin slightly and said, "Husband, didn't you say you like composing poetry and prose? Well then, Ziyan asks you, how should these two lines of poetry be interpreted: 'Only see the new ones smile, who hears the old ones cry'?"

Ziyan's words sounded like a rhetorical question, but in reality, they were a statement of fact. These lines, "Only see the new ones smile, who hears the old ones cry," were not difficult to explain at all. The reason Ziyan asked Zhu Hao to explain them was actually to taunt him for laughing and chatting exclusively with the newcomer Liu Rushi while forgetting about her, the old love, weeping in sorrow.

Naturally, Zhu Hao understood the implication behind Ziyan's words. A severe headache instantly washed over him, leaving him at a loss for how to respond. He could only stand in place with an awkward smile, thinking to himself, "Damn it! If I had known it would be like this, this old man wouldn't have come back! I should have just let Wei Xiaobao prepare for the return trip to the capital!"

Though Zhu Hao deeply regretted his erroneous decision to return to the residence, it solved nothing. Facing the two women—one pouty, one reproachful—he wanted to offer an explanation, yet had no idea how to phrase it.

Just as Zhu Hao was wondering how to resolve the awkward situation at hand, he happened to catch a glance at Liu Rushi, who still had her brows furrowed in deep concentration over the two poems. A sudden idea came to Zhu Hao, and he quickly spoke up, "My two ladies, this prince is not here composing poetry and prose, but rather asking Miss Liu to help me solve a puzzle!"

As soon as Zhu Hao finished speaking, Chen Yuanyuan still pouted her little lips and scoffed lightly, "Brother Youjian, you're lying! You were clearly laughing and talking merrily with Sister Rushi, and you won't even admit it! Humph!"

Before Zhu Hao could open his mouth to explain after Chen Yuanyuan finished, Ziyan cut in and snatched the words away, "Hiding in the granary while crossing Chencang! Husband, such petty tricks won't work on Ziyan. You are underestimating me too much, husband! Humph!"

Subjected to this joint barrage from the two women, Zhu Hao felt rather awkward and unable to hold his ground, his face shifting between shades of green and red. Finally, he drew a deep breath and rebuked angrily, "You... both of you, insolent!"

At Zhu Hao's reprimand, both women stepped back, lowering their heads with aggrieved expressions and reddened eye rims, threatening to unleash a flood of tears. Seeing this—since he could bear the sight of women crying least of all—Zhu Hao inwardly cursed, "Oh no! Truly, whatever you fear most comes to pass! It seems they've grown addicted to using this tearful assault!"

Not particularly skilled at coaxing women, Zhu Hao hastily altered his tone and said, "Alright, my tone was a bit harsh just now, but this prince truly has a matter to consult Miss Liu about. Miss Liu holds two poems in her hands; the two of you can go take a look together as well. Whoever manages to figure them out will be heavily rewarded by this prince!"

Hearing this, Chen Yuanyuan cast a skeptical glance at Liu Rushi. Seeing that Liu Rushi remained entirely undisturbed by their earlier exchange and was engrossed in studying the text on the two sheets of paper—as if those words possessed some kind of magic—she chose to believe Zhu Hao. With a slightly troubled expression, she said, "I'm not very skilled at poetry, but I'm willing to do my part for Brother Youjian as well," and walked over to Liu Rushi, also peering closely at the words on the paper.

Ziyan, however, was not as easily fooled as Chen Yuanyuan. Instead of rushing to Liu Rushi's side to study the verses, she questioned Zhu Hao directly, "Husband, you said whoever can understand the verses will receive a heavy reward from you. I wonder what reward you plan to give Ziyan if she manages to figure it out?"

Zhu Hao had merely intended to use these incomprehensible poems to stall the three women so he could slip away. His mention of a heavy reward was just a casual remark, because he simply did not believe the three women could understand those disjointed poems. Now, caught off guard by Ziyan's inquiry, he genuinely did not know how to reply for a moment.

However, Zhu Hao was none other than Zhu Hao, and his reaction time was undoubtedly superior to ordinary people. After a brief pause right after Ziyan finished speaking, he quickly devised a countermeasure and recovered, saying, "Miss Ziyan, what kind of reward would you like from this prince? Tell me what you want, and as long as you can decipher these two poems, this prince will grant it!"

Zhu Hao's words essentially bounced Ziyan's question right back to her like a kicked ball. The reason he dared to promise anything was precisely because he believed Ziyan could never decipher those poems. However, Zhu Hao never anticipated that Ziyan would put forward a request that left him utterly astonished and embarrassed.

After Zhu Hao finished speaking, Ziyan smiled faintly with the smug expression of someone whose scheme had succeeded. Seeing this look on Ziyan gave Zhu Hao a faint sense of foreboding, but since the words were already out of his mouth, it was too late to take them back.

Moreover, Ziyan gave Zhu Hao no opportunity to retract his words. Just as that slight premonition crossed his mind, Ziyan spoke up, "Husband, Ziyan doesn't want anything else. Ziyan knows that husband will be returning to the capital shortly. If Ziyan can crack these two poems, Ziyan wants to share the same sedan chair with husband and return to the capital together!"

Upon hearing Ziyan's request, Zhu Hao's instinctive reaction was to refuse. What he wanted to refuse was not returning to the capital together—he had never intended to leave the three women behind in Hangzhou to the benefit of others—rather, he wanted to refuse sharing the same sedan chair, an arrangement that violated traditional propriety. Aside from the breach of decorum, Zhu Hao himself had no desire to have this increasingly alluring Ziyan seated right beside him for the entire journey.

The reason was that although this sedan chair of an imperial prince was reasonably spacious, accommodating two people inside would inevitably make it somewhat cramped. With the swaying of the sedan along the road, close physical contact between the two was certain to be unavoidable. Zhu Hao feared that he would lose self-control when the time came, expose his masculine instincts, and commit something scandalous and deeply regrettable.