Chapter 12
Another three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Qin Yanwei, Cui Shiyu, and I maintained our peculiar balance.
It wasn’t as though no one had tried sending women to the crown prince.
But if Qin Yanwei touched an unfamiliar woman, even with the tip of one finger, he would vomit uncontrollably.
After a few attempts, the officials no longer dared to bother him with them.
They could only let him keep “carrying on” with me.
My restaurant business grew and grew. With such a wide variety of recipes, I opened branches all across the realm.
The money poured in.
A large share of the credit, of course, belonged to Cui Shiyu.
Once I agreed to accept his recipes, he seemed to find something to live for.
He frequently requested provincial postings.
Over those three years, he traveled to the south of the Yangtze and the lands north of the desert.
As the imperial physician had said, the Cui men were all exceptionally gifted.
Cui Shiyu’s achievements in his five years of office were remarkable.
He rose higher and higher.
The recipes never stopped coming.
When spring arrived, the emperor passed away.
Qin Yanwei ascended the throne.
Cui Shiyu returned to the capital and was promoted to chief minister.
That year, many ministers remonstrated at the risk of their lives, demanding that Qin Yanwei make me empress so I could soon bear an heir and continue the imperial line.
Cui Shiyu turned them all back without shedding a drop of blood.
At last, I understood why Qin Yanwei had swallowed his disgust and made Cui Shiyu chief minister.
After all, no one in the world wanted me to marry him less than Cui Shiyu did.
The End
Extra
Since he was little, Qin Ce had heard a rumor—
The current crown prince had two fathers.
One was His Majesty.
The other was his tutor, Chief Minister Cui Shiyu.
Qin Ce had asked his imperial father about it.
His father flew into a rage.
“What a load of bloody nonsense! Look at that beautiful face of yours. Obviously you take after me!”
Qin Ce had also asked Tutor Cui in secret.
Tutor Cui smiled. “It is whatever Your Highness thinks it is.”
Qin Ce thought his temperament was rather more like his tutor’s.
Nothing like his father, who went off like a firecracker at the slightest spark.
Troubled, he asked a palace attendant to make discreet inquiries into the past of his father, his mother, and Tutor Cui.
All that came back were disreputable unofficial histories circulating among the common people.
Full of filthy language unfit for his ears.
Qin Ce decided to ask his mother when she returned from trading in the northern borderlands.
But that day, his father and tutor began arguing over an old dog.
“I delivered him when he was born and gave him to Zhaozhao with my own hands. Aren’t you ashamed to seize another man’s son, Your Majesty?”
His father planted his hands on his hips and swore.
“Then impeach me if you dare! My father’s long dead. Which minister at court would dare confine me now?”
“I’ll write to Zhaozhao.”
“Cui Shiyu, aren’t you ashamed to use the same tired old tricks at your age?”
“Your Majesty is hardly better. Zhaozhao returns to the capital tonight. I’ll go and welcome her. Your Majesty still has memorials to review, so I won’t disturb you.”
Qin Ce held his head and didn’t dare make a sound.
His father and tutor had disliked each other for as long as he could remember.
Calling them mortal enemies would have been no exaggeration.
Only when his mother came home did they get along.
The next morning, Qin Ce found a clear, glittering glass cup from the Western Regions on his table.
Delighted, he dressed and ran outside.
Just as he’d expected, he found his mother in the main hall, with his father and tutor gathered around her.
“Mother!” Qin Ce cried.
She turned toward his voice and smiled.
Drawing him close, she asked him all sorts of questions.
What had he learned that year? What had made him happy or sad? Had his father bullied him? Had his tutor been teaching him properly?
She also told him about the customs of many different places.
Where natural disasters struck often, and where the land was beautiful and rich.
Where the people were honest and kind, and where they were more likely to be sly and treacherous.
His mother had traveled the length and breadth of the realm as a merchant. Qin Ce admired her more than anyone.
He kept her telling stories all day.
He even fell asleep without asking the question he’d most wanted answered.
Through his drowsiness, he seemed to hear people talking outside the window.
“Zhaozhao, will you leave again after this visit?”
“Not for a while. I’ll rest for three to five years and spend more time with the child.”
“Cui Shiyu, move aside. Don’t stand so close to Zhaozhao.”
“Your Majesty should observe the proper distance too.”
“Don’t push me, Cui Shiyu. You know what Qin Ce has been asking about lately. Whatever lies between us, if you dare shake his faith in his position as crown prince, you’re shaking the foundation of the state.”
“I see nothing wrong with his learning where he came from. Does Your Majesty lack the confidence to raise him into a wise ruler?”
“Enough. Stop arguing. When we found him, you both swore to treat him as your own. What’s the point of all this bickering now?”
Tutor Cui fell silent.
His father, however, went on and on.
“Zhaozhao, I’ve spent these past few years improving my health. Why don’t we try again?”
“Oh, even the master said those who return through rebirth cannot interfere with causality. No matter how hard we try, we can’t have children. Why keep dwelling on it…”
“I’ve heard there’s a secret medicine in the southern borderlands that lets men become pregnant. I’m comfortably settled in the palace. I’d be perfectly placed to carry a child.”
Tutor Cui lost his temper. “Your Majesty!”
His mother gave an awkward laugh.
“I’m exhausted from the journey. I’m going to bed.”
Light footsteps vanished from beneath the window.
Qin Ce rolled over and smacked his lips.
Two figures remained outside, glaring at one another.
His father swept back his sleeve. “Hmph. Bastard.”
“You’re the bastard.”
“Cui Shiyu, how dare you insult me?”
“…Bastard.”