Because of his poor hearing, his world had always been very quiet. He couldn’t hear music, couldn’t hear flowing water or falling leaves, or the sound of wind or rain. Missing one of the six sensory perceptions, the sky seemed vast and his heart was like a tranquil sea. Though born into an imperial family, he possessed more serenity than others, which made him appear more solid and reliable.
To speak with him, one must first get his attention. The Emperor reached out and touched his elbow, and he immediately put down his teacup and turned around, his clear jade eyes able to penetrate one’s heart.
“An Ling Ba Wu was executed at noon…” The Emperor slowly rotated his thumb ring. Though it was a day of celebration and discussing such matters spoiled the mood, as the ruler of a nation, he had many concerns weighing on his mind, and even in moments of leisure, he couldn’t truly relax. Fearing to disturb the Emperor Emeritus’s refined mood, he inquired in a low voice, “Did any complications arise?”
Hong Ce said, “Your Majesty need not worry. Even if there were complications, they wouldn’t emerge today. This case ends here. Previous matters can be concealed if possible. If the mud at the bottom of the old lotus pond is stirred up, what Your Majesty would see is just a bowl of ink.”
The Emperor nodded and sighed, “The ‘Remonstrance Records of Wei Zheng’ states, ‘Being a ruler is extremely difficult. If laws are strict, they might wrongly implicate good people; if laws are lenient, they won’t deter villains.’ I’m now in this very situation. The Emperor Father is aging, and since I’ve taken charge, there are many matters I can no longer trouble him with. The world seems peaceful, yet it harbors enormous rats. On the surface, it appears splendid, but underneath lies a bundle of rotten straw.”
Hong Ce replied, “It has always been this way. State affairs are thorny, not just in our time. The country is prosperous, and though many seek to profit, with law and discipline, they dare not act excessively. An Ling Ba Wu’s execution is a warning to all officials. Your Majesty need only observe for now. When the source is clear, the stream will be clear. With determination to govern, while it may not be completely eradicated, restraining seven or eight parts out of ten is still possible.”
The Emperor turned his head slightly. Under the candlelight, his thick eyebrows gradually furrowed. “Addressing corruption is a familiar topic. Many imperial relatives have been singled out as examples, but what difference has it made? When the flag-bearers themselves rebel, if I don’t execute them, how can I answer to the people of the realm?”
Hong Ce still maintained his gentle demeanor. After a slight pause, he moistened his lips and said, “This can be handled gradually. Pulling everything out at once might affect innocent parties. With the left-hand reforming and the right-hand promoting, the gap won’t be too large. Heavy responsibility shouldn’t rest on one person alone; thus, it should be shared with others. Your Majesty’s wisdom shines brightly, and you surely have your plans. Your subject brother’s presumptuous words, if inappropriate, may be dismissed with a smile.”
This brother had always been extraordinary. Among the lords raised in the capital, who were experts at cockfighting, dog racing, playing the fool, and womanizing, when it came to discussing affairs, only two or three were capable. Now that he had returned from Khalkha, even with his hearing impairment, he was still a pillar to rely on. The Emperor pondered for a moment and then said, “The Chahar garrison needs expansion, and military supplies must keep up. This time, send someone over with a firearms regiment, with several dozen guns, large and small. It’s not for anything else but to keep an eye on the Chahar Prince. Since the Khalkha incident, I’ve been calculating. Like those freely grazing livestock, if you don’t fence them in, they’ll trample the crops. In your opinion, who would be suitable to send?”
Originally, everyone was discussing who should coordinate Ningguta, but now they needed to select someone for Chahar as well. To Hong Ce, there wasn’t much difference; going anywhere was the same. The court had raised a group of imperial clansmen who were good at bungling affairs. They could eat and drink with peace of mind, but he couldn’t. He had never understood why the Emperor Father had sent him to govern Khalkha; it seemed many inside details were concealed from him. Even when his hearing was sharp, he couldn’t uncover the reasons. Now that he had contracted an illness and tried every method to cure it without success, he simply resigned himself to being deaf and no longer sought to inquire.
He shifted his position slightly and said, “I spent over ten years in Mongolia and could quickly take charge there. Your Majesty need not ask others. I can pack up and depart tomorrow.”
The Emperor pressed his hand down, “Don’t rush. There are so many people in the court; it doesn’t have to be you. The other day, Hong Xun was causing trouble, wanting to go to Ningguta. As soon as the news reached Changchun Garden, the Empress Dowager was extremely distressed. I’m thinking of sending him to Chahar, with Infantry Commander Geng Li accompanying him. What do you think?”
Hong Ce was a perceptive person. Since Hong Xun was being sent to Chahar, they would need to consider someone else for Ningguta. He acknowledged with a “Yes,” adding, “The north is also urgent. With tens of thousands of armored men and banner troops, an uprising would not be a small matter. Your subject brother awaits your instructions. If dispatched, I can depart immediately.”
The Emperor nodded with a smile, “There’s no rush for this either. First, I’ll order Lu Yuan to go and handle the aftermath. He’ll review each census register from previous years to stabilize the military’s morale. The rest can be dealt with later.”
As the adults were discussing, the child in Emperor Emeritus’s lap began to squirm. The old master asked what was wrong. The little prince was wearing open-crotch pants, and with his legs spread, he cheerfully released a stream of urine toward the ground. That stream was well-aimed, not getting any on the Emperor Emeritus. Children, whenever they do something clever, are praised to the skies. The Emperor Emeritus laughed and rewarded the prince with a small Japanese knife. Without waiting any longer, he instructed his chief steward, “Hong Yang isn’t even as good as a child! When he arrives, don’t let him enter the garden. Have him wait at the Nine Classics Three Affairs Palace. Among all these people, who else is like him? Later, he’ll probably say his carriage wheel broke down—a useless excuse. The whole family waiting for him alone, how presumptuous!” As he spoke, he rose and led everyone out. After walking a few steps, he turned back and added, “Send someone to severely reprimand him. Showing him leniency only makes him more indulgent. His consort is also ineffective. Both of them are muddle-headed; together, they make quite a pair!”
He didn’t seem greatly angered, yet no one interceded on Hong Yang’s behalf. The banquet was set in the Western Garden. Everyone surrounded the Emperor Emeritus as they went there. Just as they entered the Hanging Flower Gate, the fragrance of flowers mingled with the scent of powder wafted towards them. The imperial consorts and noble ladies had already arrived, each dressed in splendid brocade garments with jewels and kingfisher feathers adorning their heads. Upon seeing the Emperor Emeritus, they noisily paid their respects and offered blessings, creating a truly dazzling atmosphere.
The elder consorts didn’t enter the garden because the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Dowager couldn’t tolerate anyone between them. It wasn’t that the Empress Dowager minded, but that the Emperor Emeritus had decreed it. For an emperor to be devoted to one person, many others had to be slighted. It was so in the Emperor Emeritus’s generation and the same in the current Emperor’s. The men of the Yu Wen family possessed enough talent and strategy to shoulder the responsibility of the state, but they were unyielding in matters of the heart. Over time, disturbances in the inner chambers were inevitable.
As a younger generation, one couldn’t speak of liking or disliking the Empress Dowager. With one’s mother being neglected elsewhere, some resistance was natural. However, all maintained appearances in public. Smiles were like handkerchiefs or prayer beads carried with oneself—necessary but not significant.
Drinking wine, listening to music, laughing, and relaxing—such wonderful familial joy, but for Hong Ce, it was all behind a veil. With so many people, he couldn’t see their lips to know what they were discussing. He remained inconspicuous in the crowd, unwilling to participate, always quiet. This wasn’t so bad. Not hearing anything, good or bad, his six senses were purified, allowing him to see the broader world.
However, he had drunk a bit too much, and the room felt stuffy, so he went out alone for some fresh air.
Today was the sixteenth, and the moon was so large it seemed within reach. He leaned against a dragon-carved pillar in the corridor, raised his hand to loosen a button at his collar, and his internal organs breathed freely again, suddenly feeling full. Squinting into the distance, he saw a person walking along the path, bending at the knees. Looking closer, it was Guan Zhao Jing, the steward of his princely mansion. Reaching the bottom of the steps, he tilted his head back and smiled, saying, “The banquet hasn’t ended yet; why has my lord come out? I’ve had the sedan chair replaced with a more spacious one. There’s a pillow inside for you to rest on—you’ll be home after a short nap.” After a pause, he continued, “Speaking of spaciousness… This evening, a message came from Langrun Garden. I was busy attending to your visit to the garden and forgot about it. The Noble Dowager Consort has instructed us to prepare a coffin, saying it should be spacious too. You should dissuade her. Even when people in their seventies or eighties make such requests, their descendants shouldn’t comply. Preparing it too early isn’t good—it’s inauspicious.”
Only those who have grown weary of life, who are waiting for the King of Hell to beckon, would prepare their coffins. The Noble Dowager Consort in Langrun Garden, the Twelfth Prince’s mother, wasn’t yet fifty. Preparing so early was indeed too hasty.
This was the first time Hong Ce had heard about this, and he couldn’t immediately process it. “She wants a coffin?”
“That’s right,” Zhao Jing replied. “The Consort is thinking ahead. She merely said to prepare it, to bring it out each year to air, and to add a coat of lacquer. By the time she is buried, it will have at least twenty or thirty layers of lacquer. That’s the idea.”
Adding so many layers of lacquer seemed a bit excessive. But the Dowager Consort was stubborn; once she decided on something, she had to see it through, and no one could dissuade her. He was her only son, and she was probably unhappy. If not with him, with whom could she vent?
He pondered for a moment, “Tell her that the coffin shop doesn’t have good wood. I’ll send someone to the south to buy some. Finding good wood depends on luck; it might take a year or two. By then, her enthusiasm will have passed, and she’ll forget about it.”
Zhao Jing acknowledged with a “Yes,” and was about to speak further when Princess Gurun came out from inside, calling, “Father is looking for someone. Why is Twelfth Brother here?” She came up and took his arm, saying, “Father just asked about the selection of consorts—it seems he wants to arrange a marriage. Your elder brothers are all competing to produce sons, but the line has been broken since the Seventh Brother. He even asked, ‘That one, that one, does the Twelfth Prince have a secondary consort?’ I think that come spring next year, they’ll inevitably find someone for you.”
A man should marry when grown—this was proper. He had gone to Khalkha early on and had not been in the capital. He also didn’t have the habit of finding concubines at thirteen as the Qi people did, so there were no outsiders in his princely mansion; those who moved about were all household-born servants.
At family banquets, this topic inevitably arose. He followed her back into the hall but didn’t see the Emperor Emeritus directly questioning him—the old master had gone off to play with his grandchildren. However, the Empress Dowager and the Empress waved to him. After he took his seat, the Empress Dowager said, “The Twelfth Prince is twenty-three this year, always busy with state affairs, delaying his great life event. Empress, see if you know of any good families, find a respectable young lady for our Twelfth Prince, and your Emperor Father will have one less worry.”
The Empress said she did. With nothing else to do, she enjoyed matchmaking. Counting on her fingers, she listed, “The second lady of Lord Chai’s family, the sister of Grand Minister Ji Qing, and the eldest lady of Auxiliary General E’er De Mu Tu—she’s from the legitimate line of the old Saihan Prince, with noble blood! When she came to the palace recently, she had double eyelids and was tall—a complete young lady.”
The Empress Dowager nodded, “Why not set a date to meet? We Qi people don’t have so many formalities. First, see the person; if we like her, then make the betrothal.” She asked Hong Ce, “What does the Twelfth Prince think?”
Wasn’t it said that the men of the Yu Wen family were fated in matters of love? If one didn’t meet the right person, so be it, but if one did, it was a lifelong affair. Marrying casually now, what if he were to fall in love later? Then he would have to follow his father’s example—elevating one and making a nest of others cry, which truly wasn’t worth it.
He shook his head, his eyes still smiling, “Someone like me would only burden others. There’s no rush for marriage. Currently, the court is addressing corruption; let’s wait until this period passes.”
The Empress consoled him, “The two don’t interfere with each other, what are you afraid of? Does the Twelfth Prince know about raising pigeons? When a flock of pigeons goes up and returns to the nest with an extra one, what do you do? First, don’t let it fly; let it walk around for a couple of days to get familiar with the home. If it’s male, find a female pigeon; if female, match it with a male pigeon. Once it has a family, it won’t leave and can live a settled life. Look, even birds arrange for families, let alone us, right? Don’t talk about burdening others anymore. With your character and talents, you would stand out even in the imperial hall. Who would dare to find fault with a dragon’s descendant? The Emperor wouldn’t spare them either.”
It seemed unavoidable, but what could he do if it was unavoidable? Just pretend not to understand. After all, he was deaf; as long as he didn’t look up, no one could do anything to him.
The Empress had been speaking for a while, waiting for a response, but his mind had wandered. After a long delay, he uttered, “What did the Empress say? I didn’t catch it.”
Well, this person! The Empress was at a loss and blinked at the Empress Dowager, saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink—it’s not good to force.”
Indeed, one might force someone to pay money, but one can’t force someone into the bridal chamber. The Qi people tasted the pleasures of life early, but not everyone got engaged early. If he wasn’t interested, then they would discuss it again later.