Chapter 50: To Go, or Not to Go, That Is the Question

As Zhu Hao’s voice trailed off, even the previously stern and unsmiling Zhu Youyuan could not help but be moved.

If it were anyone else claiming they would risk their life to save their master, he would at most offer a few words of praise for their admirable loyalty. But Zhu Hao had backed his words with actual deeds: in the life-or-death crisis of the roaring fire, he had thrown the only wet blanket over the prince rather than himself.

Yuan Zonggao smiled and said, "Prince Xing, true heroes often emerge from a young age. Zhu Hao is truly the offspring of a loyal and righteous man, carrying on his father’s noble legacy. He richly deserves a reward."

Zhu Youyuan nodded, yet remained silent, evidently leaving the final decision entirely to Yuan Zonggao.

"Well then, Zhu Hao, His Highness deeply appreciates your act of saving a life today. I award you twenty taels of silver as a token of commendation," Yuan Zonggao said.

"Thank you."

Zhu Hao bowed once more, his expression entirely calm and unperturbed, looking completely unmoved as if twenty taels of silver meant nothing to him.

That was the persona he needed to maintain.

An orphan and a widow oppressed by their own clan—if you hand me twenty taels of silver, won't it eventually end up in the hands of the Zhu family anyway? Did I risk my life simply to win twenty taels of silver for that clan?

Whose intelligence are you insulting?

Yuan Zonggao had already anticipated that Zhu Hao would be indifferent to this, and continued to ask, "Zhu Hao, what are your plans for the future?"

Zhu Hao blurted out, "I want to leave the estate. I... I want to go home."

"Oh? You do not wish to stay and study in the prince's estate?" Yuan Zonggao asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

Zhu Hao stared at Yuan Zonggao as if looking at some strange monster, and said with lingering fear, "I originally wanted to enter the estate to study diligently, but the people here do not seem to welcome me... I was lucky to make it out of the fire this time, but if it happens again... I beg His Highness and Master Yuan to show mercy and let me leave the estate. As for the reward, I don't want it."

Advancing by retreating!

Master Yuan, stop putting on an act in front of me. You ask me about my future plans, why don't you just ask me outright if I still want to stay here and gather intelligence?

You think a minor reward settles the debt of saving the young prince? Do you really take me for a seven-year-old child?

Yuan Zonggao sighed, "You possess great talent for scholarship, though it is a pity your motives for entering the estate were impure. Today's fire may have been caused by the rotating lantern in your room falling over; do not assume someone was plotting against you. However, since you have decided to leave, the estate will not detain you. Go back and pack your things; twenty taels of silver will be prepared for you to take upon your departure."

"Understood."

Zhu Hao gave a heavy nod, showing not a shred of reluctance.

Yet immediately afterward, a look of distress appeared on Zhu Hao's face. Seeing this, Yuan Zonggao sighed, "The belongings you brought seem to have been consumed by the fire. Very well, the estate will grant you an additional five taels of silver to procure new garments. That will be all, you may withdraw."

"This student takes his leave!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhu Hao cupped his hands in a salute and departed.

***

Watching Zhu Hao's figure vanish at the doorway of the study, Yuan Zonggao turned his head, smiled at Zhu Youyuan, and asked, "Prince Xing, what is your impression of him?"

Zhu Youyuan furrowed his brows slightly, shook his head, and gave no answer.

"Prince Xing, I have a proposal. Why not keep this little fellow in the estate and have him study alongside the heir apparent?" Yuan Zonggao's words took Zhu Youyuan completely by surprise.

Zhu Youyuan stared in astonishment, "Head Steward Yuan, he hails from the Zhu family of the Embroidered Uniform Guard! Previously, you were the one who suggested guarding against him. Now, simply because he rescued someone from a fire, you want to keep him? That is not what you said earlier."

Yuan Zonggao lightly stroked his long beard, "Earlier, I was merely probing him to see if he intended to stay and whether he harbored any malicious intent. But since he proactively asked to leave, I presume he is genuinely frightened of further peril."

"I see."

Zhu Youyuan cast a bewildered glance at Yuan Zonggao, his expression peculiar, as if to say, *Head Steward Yuan, you actually went to probe a child? Was that really necessary?*

"Perhaps Your Highness finds it baffling that I wish to keep him. In truth, sending him away from the estate would be simple enough, but would the Embroidered Uniform Guard let the matter rest? Of course not! By sending away a child stationed in the open who leans toward the prince, how shall we cope when they infiltrate more sinister and malicious secret agents in the future?" Yuan Zonggao stated his reasoning.

***

Zhu Youyuan stood up and paced back and forth, finally nodding after a long silence.

Yuan Zonggao continued, "Our initial acceptance of the two young princes' proposal to select study companions was meant to give the Embroidered Uniform Guard an opportunity to send people in, allowing us to maintain targeted defenses. At present, if we treat Zhu Hao like a plague and the Guard fails to obtain the intelligence they desire, sooner or later they will resort to other methods..."

"Given Zhu Hao's strained relationship with the Zhu family, coupled with his loyal and righteous nature, even if he interacts with the princes, he poses no threat. On the contrary, we can use him to transmit the intelligence we *want* to send out..."

Zhu Youyuan interjected, "Do you mean... to have him leak false news from time to time?"

"Not necessarily false."

Yuan Zonggao smiled, "Actually, what the Embroidered Uniform Guard desires most is to know the condition of the heir apparent. As long as they perceive the heir as mediocre and devoid of ambition to contend for power, and discover that the estate holds few secrets, they will be able to report back to their superiors, and the Prince's Estate will not become a target of public scrutiny."

Admiring Yuan Zonggao's resourcefulness, Zhu Youyuan nodded in agreement.

"Furthermore, I appreciate the boy Zhu Hao. He is immensely talented and treats his friends with absolute devotion. If he remains in the estate to study with the prince, it might well benefit the prince's education."

Yuan Zonggao's point was that if Zhu Zhucong was to achieve greatness, he needed to grow alongside peers of fine character and scholarship—one grows like those one associates with. If he constantly played chess with a poor player, even a gifted child would eventually become a poor player.

Zhu Youyuan remained concerned, "If he stays constantly by the heir's side and commits some nefarious act, what then? Many things are beyond his control; what if someone compels him to harm the prince?"

Yuan Zonggao's eyes narrowed into slits, "We can have him spend more time interacting with the third prince; presumably, for a time, he won't even be able to distinguish which is the true heir. Beyond that, we must maintain strict vigilance... If he truly intended to harm the heir, he would not have saved him today. Besides, if someone is truly bent on harming the heir, even if it weren't Zhu Hao, it would be difficult to guard against, wouldn't it?"

A look of profound sorrow crossed Zhu Youyuan's face.

His eldest son had fallen ill and died shortly after birth, and to this day the cause of death remained unknown. There was certainly more than one spy within the estate. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard truly wished to do harm, the Prince's Estate simply could not keep them out. The primary strategy now remained to continuously cast smoke screens so that outsiders could not discern the true identities of Zhu San and Zhu Si.

"Between two evils, choose the lesser. Prince Xing, later I shall meet with Zhu Hao, instill some concepts of loyalty and righteousness into him, and have him work for our estate. In return, we can track the movements of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which is far better than being perpetually at their mercy... What are your thoughts?"

Yuan Zonggao laid out his ultimate plan.

The primary objective in keeping Zhu Hao was to turn him into a double agent.

The estate would exploit his youth and lack of worldly experience to uncover all the Guard's schemes against them, turning passivity into initiative.

Zhu Youyuan nodded, offering no further objection, which meant the matter was entrusted entirely to Yuan Zonggao's discretion.

***

Zhu Hao stepped out of the doorway.

Lu Song was waiting anxiously outside, terrified that Zhu Hao, under repeated questioning by Zhu Youyuan and Yuan Zonggao, might crack and reveal his identity.

"Young Master Zhu, how did it go?"

Noticing no one followed him out, Lu Song hurried over and asked in a low voice.

Zhu Hao spread his hands, "His Highness rewarded me with twenty taels of silver... I proposed leaving the estate to go home, and Master Yuan agreed."

"Huh?"

Lu Song was somewhat dumbfounded.

You proactively asked to leave?

Zhu Hao said, "The estate is too dangerous. I managed to escape disaster once today, but next time I might not be so lucky. I am merely a child; I entered the estate to study... My life is far more important than studying."

It sounded entirely reasonable.

Lu Song nodded.

There was no fault to be found in those words.

Yet, if Zhu Hao had truly taken the initiative to leave and depart of his own accord, could the fire still have anything to do with him?

Did this kid set the fire merely to show others that he was in mortal danger within the estate, forcing him to leave early?

Lu Song's greatest fear was that Zhu Hao had engineered the entire affair with the sole purpose of remaining in the estate and eventually infiltrating the young prince's inner circle.

That didn't make sense, though.

Yet he involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief. If Zhu Hao truly left, no one else in the estate would know his identity, and he wouldn't have to worry about being discovered during clandestine meetings in the future.

"Commander Lu, why are you standing there in a daze? Aren't you going to escort me out of the estate? I was terrified out of my wits today; I'm afraid I'll have nightmares for the rest of my life," Zhu Hao said, looking eager to depart.

"Right."

Lu Song was more than happy to ship this little plague god out of the Prince's Estate.

Unexpectedly, just as the two of them stepped out through the rear courtyard gate, a maid approached with a message: "Commander Lu, His Highness is summoning you."

Lu Song glanced at Zhu Hao. Seeing estate guards stationed just outside the door, he immediately motioned for his subordinates to take Zhu Hao to the quarters where the craftsmen gathered, while he followed the maid to see Zhu Youyuan.

***

The study of the Prince's Estate.

"Prince Xing, Commander Lu has arrived."

Yuan Zonggao smiled and said, "Commander Lu rendered great service in fighting the fire today... Thanks to him, the heir apparent came to no harm."

"Indeed."

Zhu Youyuan nodded, his eyes filled with appreciation.

Lu Song knelt on one knee in a reverent posture, pondering inwardly: *Wasn't I already praised earlier? They even promised a three-month salary bonus, which compared to Zhu Hao's single twenty-tael reward is completely disproportionate. They clearly consider that kid's contribution to be the primary one...*

*No, wait. I wasn't the primary contributor to begin with; why am I harboring a desire to claim credit?*

Yuan Zonggao's expression suddenly darkened, "Though you performed meritoriously in fighting the fire, I hear you were also in the eastern courtyard and failed to detect the arson beforehand. You cannot shirk the blame for dereliction of duty."

Only then did Lu Song realize that the praise was a pretext; the reprimand was real.

"This subordinate is incompetent."

Lu Song dropped from one knee to both knees, kowtowing in apology.

After all, Maomao Jiao was someone he had invited to drink wine, and the man had stepped out right under his nose to relieve himself only to start a fire. To claim he had nothing to do with it would be sophistry.

Lu Song's character was such that he owned up to his mistakes.

Seeing Lu Song's reaction, Yuan Zonggao was quite satisfied, nodding in approval, "However, this cannot entirely be blamed on you, for no one could have anticipated such an event... Let the matter rest there. Afterward, help Zhu Hao make arrangements; since his quarters were burned down, assign him a lodging near the estate guard barracks for now, and we will resettle him properly later."

"Ah?"

Lu Song froze in place.

Didn't Zhu Hao say he wanted to leave the estate?

Why did Master Yuan say the boy wasn't leaving after all, and even wanted quarters arranged for him?

"Commander Lu, do you have any misgivings?"

Yuan Zonggao had not expected Lu Song to react so strongly to Zhu Hao remaining in the estate.

Realizing he had lost his composure, Lu Song hurriedly explained, "This subordinate believes that although Zhu Hao aided in the rescue, the fire originated entirely because of him. If he remains in the estate... it may breed further trouble in the future."

Yuan Zonggao replied, "What you say makes sense, but he performed a meritorious service by saving the heir. To send him away would violate our principle of strict rewards and punishments within the Prince's Estate... You need harbor no doubts, simply obey orders and carry them out!"