Jiang Suizhou returned to Anyin Hall, but he didn’t head to his bedroom. Instead, he went to the study, taking advantage of the early hour.
The original owner had amassed a substantial amount of information in the study. However, it was well concealed, and the sheer quantity meant that Jiang Suizhou had yet to sift through everything.
At the moment, though, he was on the hunt for something in particular. He had a hunch and suspected the information needed to verify it was hidden somewhere in the study. Though the search lasted four hours, it eventually paid off.
Around midnight, he found a seemingly unremarkable account book hidden deep inside the desk.
Inside that book, Jiang Suizhou found records of a very substantial recurring transaction. On the fifteenth of each month, the original prince would personally entrust a large amount of money to Xu Du.
Additionally, the book recorded another set of expenses that also recurred on the fifteenth. It varied slightly each month, but the amounts themselves were very small.
Normally, such expenses weren’t significant enough to warrant being recorded. But since they had been, the money must have served a very important purpose.
Jiang Suizhou began swiftly forming a plan.
He pondered in his study for a long time, until finally Meng Qianshan came to remind him that he had to attend the Grand Assembly the next day. Only then did he carefully put away the account book and return to his bedroom.
At this point, it was late at night. Most of the servants had already gone to bed, except for a handful on night watch.
Meng Qianshan pushed open the door for him. When Jiang Suizhou stepped in, he saw Huo Wujiu sitting under the lamp, reading a book.
He had his head propped on one hand, a frown on his face as he nodded off from time to time. It seemed he was struggling to understand the book’s contents, for he looked a little annoyed.
Hearing the noise at the door, Huo Wujiu looked up and saw Jiang Suizhou taking off his cloak as he walked into the room.
His gaze paused almost imperceptibly on Jiang Suizhou.
…Why had he returned?
Jiang Suizhou handed his cloak to Meng Qianshan and turned to find Huo Wujiu sitting there, book in one hand and behaving as if he hadn’t seen him at all.
The sight inexplicably put Jiang Suizhou at ease.
Even though he’d been slacking off at the Ministry of Rites, he still had to remain vigilant around his colleagues and rigorously maintain the persona of the Prince of Jing. Then when he returned to his residence, those two quick-witted advisors decided they’d keep him on his toes as well.
In contrast, Huo Wujiu would barely look at him, let alone speak to him. His complete indifference to Jiang Suizhou’s presence made him feel like he actually had room to breathe.
Amid this atmosphere, Jiang Suizhou even felt the faint echo of the sort of joy one feels upon returning home.
Jiang Suizhou sighed at that thought. Just how bleak had his life become for him to find anything about Huo Wujiu endearing?
Meng Qianshan heard his sigh and, assuming it must have been due to exhaustion, quickly came to support him.
As Meng Qianshan led Jiang Suizhou to the back to wash up, Huo Wujiu slowly looked up from his book to watch them disappear behind the folding screen.
…Now this was a pain.
When Meng Qianshan told him this morning that the prince was spending the night with Madam Gu for his sake, he’d dismissed the eunuch as being out of his mind. But now, watching the Prince of Jing rush home in the middle of the night, Huo Wujiu too couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss.
The man’s unrequited affection for him was one matter, but now he was even going so far as to neglect his first and favored concubine just to sleep on the daybed.
Huo Wujiu frowned, his fingers tapping slowly against the wheelchair.
Was it really because of him?
He’d always disliked being indebted to others, whether materially or emotionally. It irritated him to no end when others imposed unwanted and unappreciated gifts or feelings upon him.
Like, for example, what the Prince of Jing was doing now.
Huo Wujiu dropped his gaze back down to the book in his hands.
The book, penned by a great scholar of the Jing dynasty, was full of moral lessons and lengthy exposition. Huo Wujiu had already found it annoying, and the Prince of Jing’s sudden return should have irked him even further.
But as he read the book again, Huo Wujiu found that, for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to frown as much.
It seemed that even this pedantic scholar had become less detestable.