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Jinshi's day had been uneventful until Maamei personally dropped a letter on his desk. Years had expanded the number of subordinates under his direct command and he could read through his paperwork with the knowledge that any letter, treaty or draft forwarded to him had been carefully analyzed and deemed a priority by Baryou and his team. So, for Maamei to spend her time directly delivering a letter instead of sending a civil officer was a novelty.
As Jinshi picked up the letter, he frowned.
"Why did you bring this to me?" He asked, eyes sweeping over the envelope for anything out of ordinary.
"You said to bring any emergency directly to you, Moon Prince." Maamei said, face and voice completely neutral. Absolutely unreadable, a countenance she trained since birth.
"You know I don't consider any of these important enough to be brought to me." Jinshi waved the envelope lightly.
It was a deceivingly simple envelope: dark burgundy color and neat letters spelling out his title. Still, the material was of enough quality that few people could afford it and the color betrayed its purpose. A marriage proposal, likely from a very noble family. Still, Maamei's face didn't budge and Jinshi's shoulders tensed.
"I think you really should read this one personally." She said firmly, nodding at the envelope.
When his most brilliant advisor of the Ma clan insisted on something, Jinshi wasn't in the habit of disagreeing. Opening the envelope, he hastily skimmed through the contents, absent-mindlessly noting the familiar handwriting. Then, he blinked twice and read the letter again, slower. Still, not a single word changed. However, it only encouraged him to reread the words once again.
After his fifth reading, he looked up to Maamei's placid face.
"Is this a joke?" Jinshi asked, taking turns between looking at Maamei and staring at the letter.
"The sender delivered it directly to me and asked for you to be the first to read it, Moon Prince."
"And why did you accept it?" He asked in a voice that was definitely not a whine.
Maamei's neutral mask broke so she could glare at him. It resembled an improved version of the scolding stare Taomei would aim at him when he threw a tantrum as a child and it never failed to make him feel ten years old again.
"I can't refuse a request from someone of that rank and you know that, your highness."
Jinshi felt the urge to argue that she surely had denied requests from someone of even his own rank but had much bigger problems than losing arguments to Maamei at the moment. Slumping against his chair, he threw the letter on his desk and dropped his face on his hands.
"Maamei, what do I do?" He asked, voice muffled. Still, her ears seemed as sharp as ever.
"Would you like my opinion as your unofficial advisor or as your milk sibling?"
"Advisor."
"You should definitely say no, but be very careful or you will earn a powerful enemy."
"And as my milk sibling?"
"You should definitely say no, but be very careful or you will earn a powerful enemy."
Jinshi raised his head to glare at her. "Is that all you can say?"
"It's the only viable solution." She said, shrugging. Privately, Jinshi always counted it as a small victory to see the ever professional Maamei act unprofessionally during work hours. "You would be the only one to have trouble with it, if I may be honest."
"If it's so easy, can't you write the refusal and send it?"
Maamei chuckled. "You know that won't work, it has to be you."
Jinshi felt a cold chill run down his spine.
"What if we pretend the letter was lost and never speak of it again?"
"Do you truly believe that will be enough?" She asked, crossing her arms.
"Of course not." He groaned.
Maamei sighed. "Maybe I should have waited until you were done with the rest of the paperwork before delivering this."
"No, I needed the information as soon as possible." Jinshi shook his head. "It would be worse if she caught me unprepared."
"Would you say you are prepared now, Moon Prince?" Maamei asked, raising an eyebrow.
Jinshi drummed his fingers against the table, eyes once again pulled to the letter on his table for a moment. Then, he turned to Maamei.
"We need to call reinforcements."
She stared at him for a second, trying to make sense of his unspoken request. As Maamei was always the sharpest of her siblings, it didn't take long for her to understand and send him a flat look.
"Lady Maomao won't be happy to be called away from work for this."
"She'll understand." But even as he said it, Jinshi wasn't sure if he believed it himself.
Even so, it was the only way to solve the problem. As Maamei left to call for a messenger, her frown suggested she very much disagreed.
"You called for me, Moon Prince?" Maomao asked, bowing appropriately.
"Thank you for coming so promptly." Jinshi said, gesturing for her and the eunuch who accompanied her to rise. "I need to speak to my wife in private."
The eunuch bowed once again and left. He was followed by Maamei, who dragged a confused Basen after her. Maomao could hear her bombard him with questions regarding Lishu and their children outside, Basen quickly turning happily distracted.
"Maomao." Jinshi said fondly, formality melting away into the foolish look he wore whenever they were alone.
"Jinshi." Maomao said, posture relaxing as soon as he others left the room. "Why did you call for me in the middle of the day? Is there an emergency?"
Solemnly, Jinshi nodded and handed a letter to Maomao. A burgundy envelope was on the table, close to where he picked up the letter. She knew Maamei kept a meticulous system of color coding envelopes, but Maomao never bothered to memorize it. Not pausing to wonder it's meaning, she quickly read the letter. After finishing, she frowned.
Whenever I think that girl can't surprise me anymore, she manages to do something new. If Maomao was to be honest, it was a little humbling.
She folded the letter and dropped it on her husband's desk.
"So? What do we do?" Jinshi asked, twirling a dry brush around his fingers.
The enamored look he had on his face before had been replaced by a falsely nonchalant mask Maomao wouldn't have recognized if she wasn't legally obligated to stare at his face for longer than it would be safe for a normal woman.
"We? I fear this is something only you can fix, Jinshi." Maomao said, meeting her husband's anxious stare. "If you're asking for my advice: you should definitely say no, but be very careful or you will earn a powerful enemy."
Jinshi groaned and dropped his head against his desk. "Maamei said the same thing."
"It's a relief to know my husband is surrounded by capable advisors." Maomao said blandly.
"Can't you refuse in my place? Say I sent you as my representative?" Her husband pleaded, shooting her a big, shiny stare that vaguely reminded her of a puppy.
Unluckily for him, Maomao had more than enough experience dealing with many variants of this.
"No, this will be good for you, Jinshi." Maomao said, arms crossed. "I've been telling you for a long time that you'll have to learn to deal with situations like this."
Jinshi's watery gaze melted off and he huffed, slumping against his chair.
"Maybe if I leave my office late in the night and leave home before dawn we won't meet?"
"I don't think this plan will work for longer than a few days, she'll notice." Maomao casually leaned against Jinshi's desk, taking the letter in her hand once again.
The characters are really neat, she improved her writing. Maomao thought, a familiar feeling building on her chest.
Jinshi opened his mouth, probably to blab about another half-baked plan, but snapped his mouth shut as they heard a small commotion outside. Maomao could hear Basen and Maamei halt their conversation to respectfully greet the newcomer. In front of her, her husband had turned white.
"Seems like she's here." Maomao said, straightening up from where she was leaning on the table and walking around it to stand closer to Jinshi.
As soon as she settled, the door opened.
Walking inside the room was a girl with pale skin, hair so dark it looked like ink and delicate features. Her small features were offset by large, round eyes that made her look cute rather than pretty. Still, there was no denying she was already a beauty despite her young age. She was wearing robes of outstanding quality, obvious even to an amateur eye, and the fabric was a combination of different shades of purple. The Moon Prince's colors.
She was also, notably, seven-years-old.
"Papa, did you get my letter?" Yilian beamed, bouncing on her feet.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, didn't you forget something?" Chue said cheerily, always a step behind her charge.
Stopping her fidgeting, Yilian quickly bowed appropriately to her parents along with Chue, royal poise impeccable. Maomao bit back a smile.
Seems like someone is finally paying attention to her etiquette class.
Jinshi, forgetting his dilemma, smiled proudly at their daughter's display.
As she rose from her bow, Yilian turned to Chue.
"Miss Chue, could I speak to my parents alone?" She asked sweetly.
Chue discreetly glanced at them for her orders. While Maomao would usually stand in high alert whenever Yilian used that tone, she nodded her agreement and Chue skipped out of the room, joining Maamei in teasing Basen. After all, Maomao had a good idea of what her daughter was up to this time.
After Chue left the room, Yilian quickly walked across the room, tripping over her skirts during her stride. Before Maomao or Jinshi could try to steady her, she regained her balance and made her way to the front of her father's desk. Seeing her letter on the table, she started bouncing on her feet again.
"Papa, did you like it? Mom, did you read it too? What did you think? I wrote it myself!" She said, a familiar smug look settling on her face.
"You've gotten better at writing, Yilian." Maomao said and her daughter's chest puffed up like a peacock's.
Jinshi nodded along with her words. "I was really impressed, but I shouldn't have been. A-Lian has always been good at whatever she puts her mind into."
Maomao would say Yilian's classical painter phase disagreed, but decided to set it aside for now.
"Thank you for your praise, but it was just simple work." She said humbly, as if Maomao couldn't practically see her head getting bigger. "So, what did you think of it?"
Jinshi's smile froze on his face. Maomao bit back a smirk.
"It was well worded and clear." It lacked the elaborate flourish of an usual marriage offer and that in itself made it better than all of them in Maomao's opinion. "Where did you get the idea to write it?"
"Last time we were studying with Lady Lihua, she explained to us what marriage means." Yilian said. "She told us it's when a man and woman stay together forever, and I want to be with papa forever!"
Maomao winced. She was sure Lady Lihua's explanation was a little more complex than that, but Yilian had a persistent habit of latching on whatever information interests her the most and tuning out everything else the person is saying. She had no idea where her daughter got it from and the attempts to coax her out of it hadn't been successful.
Predictably, Jinshi melts at Yilian's words. His frozen smile is replaced by a soft smile only their children can draw from him.
If he was going to be useless before, it's over now.
"I want to be with my little lotus flower forever too." Jinshi said earnestly, holding out a hand to their daughter, who grasped it eagerly.
The two stood still for a moment, just smiling at each other. Maomao would begrudgingly find it adorable, if she wasn't aware of the incoming headache she would soon have to settle.
"When can we get married, papa?" Yilian asked.
The question seemed to break through Jinshi's happy haze.
"Get married?" He asked, voice weak.
Yilian's smile twitched and Maomao could see the beginning of an annoyed frown form on her forehead.
"Yes, married." She repeated, a little slower, like her father was a child who couldn't understand full sentences yet. "We were just talking about it."
"Yes, of course, married." Jinshi cleared his throat, eyes wandering around the room until they settled on Maomao. "You see, A-Lian, we can't get married because I'm already married to your mother."
Yilian giggled. "Yes, papa, of course I know that. Lady Lihua said men from the royal family can have more than one wife, like His Majesty, so it's fine."
Maomao nodded at her words, impressed at her thoroughness. Jinshi, however, looked like a cornered animal. She could see his mind working as he stared at their daughter's face before his posture slowly relaxed.
"Yes, a man in the royal family can get married more than once. But, since your mother is my first and only wife, it's only fair to listen to her opinion on a second marriage. Right, Maomao?"
Looking between her husband's self-satisfied smile and her daughter's expectant eyes, Maomao sighed. As soon as she read the letter, she figured she would be pushed in this position.
Jinshi was a wonderful father, he settled much easier than Maomao into parenting since Yilian, their firstborn, was handed to him. He could be firm when their children did something dangerous or irresponsible, he could be comforting when they were anxious or scared and he never avoided any displays of affection.
When it came to silly or innocuous requests by their kids, however, he folded like wet paper. Maomao had to reason with him that Yilian didn't need an imported western book in a language she couldn't read yet and their sons didn't need smaller, blunt replicas of his ceremonial words, no matter how much they begged. She was proven right as soon as the children moved into another interest of theirs, but Jinshi suffered over not giving them something he saw no reason not to.
With Yilian, their only daughter, it was much worse. Maomao knew he had a hard time saying no to anything that she asked and she suspected Yilian knew it too. Once, he told Maomao that seeing her huge, disappointed eyes broke his heart. So, whenever Jinshi could, he pushed the responsibility of refusing her harmless or silly requests on Maomao. This time, however, she wouldn't indulge him.
Time to face your fears, Jinshi.
"Marrying the Moon Prince is an honor, Yilian. I had to go to great lengths to be allowed this." Maomao said seriously. Jinshi was nodding along, as if he hadn't been the one chasing her for years until she accepted. "Tell me, what would you offer me to also be married to him?"
Jinshi frowned, clearly not expecting her words. Yilian, on the other hand, matched Maomao's serious expression and stroked her chin thoughtfully.
"I will stop running away from my classes." She offered, finally.
"You were doing what?" Jinshi gasped, looking from Maomao to Yilian and back.
Maomao waved her hand at him. She never saw a reason to tell him, Chue always caught their daughter in record time and dragged her back to the Crystal Pavilion.
"That's not enough." Maomao said, crossing her arms.
Yilian's eyes hardened with determination. "I won't go into your lab anymore when you aren't there."
"Yilian, you already know you're not supposed to do that, it's dangerous." Jinshi said firmly and their daughter winced.
Now he knows how to scold her. Maomao refrained from rolling her eyes.
"I know, I'm sorry." Yilian mumbled, looking at her feet.
"Like your father said, we already talked about it, so it's not in negotiation." Maomao said.
Yilian nodded slowly, and then rose her head again, looking directly at Maomao.
"I'll call the guards when I see Grandpa Lakan and Uncle Lahan show up at home."
"That's a good start, but I'll need more than that." Maomao said, refusing to let her face show how good of a deal that was.
Yilian narrowed her eyes, seemingly deep in thought. Then, she smiled.
"I'll stop calling Grandpa Luomen by his nickname, since you don't like it."
Maomao glared at her. "You think calling your grandfather an old goat is an acceptable nickname?"
Jinshi paled. "You call Dr. Kan what?"
Both girls ignored him.
"You will also get your brothers to stop calling him that, too, since you convinced them to do that."
Yilian huffed, but nodded. "Deal. Anything else?"
"You'll stop eating your brothers' portions of dessert." Maomao said, before side-eyeing her husband as well. "And your father's."
Jinshi avoided her gaze.
"But they give me those because they love me." Yilian batted her eyelashes sweetly at her mother. When Maomao remained unmoved, she sighed. "Fine, it's a deal."
Maomao nodded, a small smile tugging on the corner of her mouth. "It's a deal. He's all yours."
Jinshi let out an strangled "What?!" as Yilian grinned and circled the desk and jumped on her father's lap. He sent Maomao a truly wet gaze that might have moved another woman, but she just shook her head at him. This time, he would have to resolve it by himself. Seemingly accepting his fate, Jinshi squared his shoulders and carefully touched the top of their daughter's head.
"A-Lian?" He said, interrupting her list of pros and cons of a summer wedding. "We can't get married."
As soon as Yilian heard those words, her bright smile slipped off her face and a frown took over her features. Her wide eyes turned moist and her bottom lip wobbled.
"Why not?" She asked, voice finally slipping into a whine.
Jinshi visibly faltered at the look on her face, pained expression matching hers as if he was feeling her pain himself. Knowing him, he probably was. Even so, he stood firm.
You can do it, Jinshi. Maomao encourages him, internally, already anticipating the glorious moments in which she could have him deal with Yilian's more outrageous requests in the future without their daughter playing her father like a guqin.
"Yilian, a woman marries a man when she wants to be with him forever, yes, but they also have to love each other—"
"But you always say you love me, papa!" Yilian interrupted, confused.
"Don't interrupt people, A-Lian. When someone is talking to you, listen to everything they have to say." Jinshi said, gaining an embarrassed nod from Yilian. "It's a different kind of love, not the kind between you and your brothers and I, but the kind your mother and I have for each other."
Yilian listed quietly as he spoke, taking in his words. Her hands, which were holding onto Jinshi robes, tightened on the fabric.
"But Lady Lihua said all princesses get married. If I get married, won't I have to leave? I want to stay with papa forever." She said softly, hiding her face on her father's chest.
Maomao felt a pang on her chest. Maybe all the stress from working and child-rearing was finally giving her heartburn.
Jinshi started to stroke Yilian hair. "You don't have to get married if you don't want to, alright? I promise."
His words were firm and confident. If any other member of the court heard them, Maomao was sure they would privately scoff. Princesses' main value relied on the marriage alliances they could bring to the empire. Jinshi knew that as well, but he never makes empty promises: his his final move before marrying Maomao was getting a guarantee from the Emperor that he would get his name as soon as the Crown Prince was of age.
At that time, Maomao had been surprised the Emperor made such a promise to his real firstborn so easily. Maybe he had hoped Jinshi would let go of the idea of receiving a name after forming a family and having children himself. If he did, it was a complete miscalculation. Maomao was sure he would rather die than marry Yilian off for the sake of Li or have their sons used by the Empress Dowager's faction to dethrone Empress Gyokuyou's son.
Maomao couldn't say she would be happy to let either of those come to pass, either.
Against Jinshi's chest, Yilian nodded slowly. Then, she separated herself from her father, climbing off his lap as she dabbed the corner of her eyes with her sleeves. Neither Jinshi nor Maomao commented on it.
"Fine, so I can't marry papa." Yilian said, posture straightening up as she pulled a folded piece of paper from her sleeve. "Can I marry one of my brothers?"
"What? No! A-Lian, I already said you don't need to get married." Jinshi said.
"And my cousins?" She said, as if her father hadn't spoken at all.
"No blood relatives." Maomao said.
Technically, she could marry one of her cousins and Maomao could think of a few factions that would throw a nation-wide party if that happened. Still, she'd rather not deal with the political fallout of the Moon Prince's daughter sending a marriage proposal to the Crown Prince.
Yilian unfolded the paper in her hand, unceremoniously taking her father's brush and wetting it with ink before violently crossing out some words Maomao couldn't make out from what looked like a list. By the time she was done, her sleeves were stained with ink and Maomao almost felt bad for the scolding she would get from Suiren for that.
"This sucks." Yilian said, looking at her scribbled piece of paper. "It's time for Plan F. Miss Chue!"
Even though she was supposedly distracted, Chue popped into the room as soon as her little mistress called.
"Yes, your highness?" Chue asked, grinning.
"We'll have to execute Plan F." She said solemnly, making her way towards the door.
"Wait, Plan F? I wasn't your only pick?" Jinshi said, sounding hurt.
This time, Maomao didn't resist the urge to roll her eyes. Meanwhile, Yilian looked at her father like he was crazy.
"Grandpa Lakan says a man who only has one plan deserves to lose." Yilian says seriously and Maomao wondered when she was spending so much time with the old fart for him to try to teach her something. "So, I'm following mom's advice now! Bye!"
With a quick, graceful bow, Yilian left with Chue, looking like a soldier matching towards battle.
Jinshi turned to Maomao. "What advice did you give her?"
She shrugged. "I have no idea what she's talking about."
Yoh, the Emperor of Li, eagerly interrupted his meal time as his secretary announced his niece (and secret granddaughter) requested an audience with him. There was a hardly any time for him to indulge himself and spend time with little Yilian, as either he was busy with work or Zuigetsu was greedily hoarding his children's time. His granddaughter coming to an unscheduled visit during meal time was exactly what he needed to brighten up his day.
By his side, Gaoshun was smiling. If Yoh ever thought his milk sibling was soft for Zuigetsu, it was because he hadn't yet seen him melt upon holding Zuigetsu's firstborn for the first time.
Yilian walked into the room, bowing formally to Yoh as all imperial princess. He couldn't hold back a smile.
She is growing up so fast.
"Greetings to your majesty." Yilian said, carefully sounding out the words.
"Rise, A-Lian." Yoh said, getting up from his seat himself to approach his granddaughter for a proper hug. "It's only the three of us here, you don't need to be so formal."
Yilian rose from her bow. "Really? Thank you, uncle!"
While Yoh's heart battled between warming at her cuteness and lamenting that he would never hear her call him "grandfather", he barely noticed the glint in her eyes. Suddenly, Yilian ran in his direction. Grinning, Yoh readied himself to catch her in a hug. At the last moment, however, she maneuvered to his right and jumped on Gaoshun, who quickly caught her.
"Gaoshun!" His precious granddaughter said, clinging to his attendant's neck. "Let's have a spring wedding!"
Yoh silently gave up on his peaceful break.