The Chief Eunuch, receiving “dismissed” like a pardon from execution, retreated from the imperial study with all haste to go and summon Xiao Jin.
Serving the Son of Heaven had a grand sound to it, but not everyone could do it well.
The Emperor had demoted Xiao Jin to the post of gate-guarding eunuch in a fit of anger — he had not truly resented Xiao Jin. Now that his anger had passed, it was only natural to call him back.
Before long, Xiao Jin entered wearing an ordinary plain-colored eunuch’s robe. Seeing the shards of porcelain scattered across the floor, he dared not step on them, and carefully skirted around them before kneeling down. “Your Majesty, this old servant has returned.”
The Emperor made a sound of acknowledgment through his nose and leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.
Xiao Jin set about his work. He first found a clean white cloth and gathered the porcelain fragments from the floor one piece at a time, wrapping them carefully before carrying them to the side hall, where he set them down with great care, not daring to discard them.
He then lit incense in the imperial study, retrieved the Emperor’s usual set of blue-and-white tea bowls painted with flowers and birds, and poured tea for the Emperor. On the imperial desk, hot water was poured into the cup, and the tea leaves rolled and tumbled, gradually unfurling and settling to the bottom, releasing with them a rising fragrance of tea. The Emperor’s troubled expression at last eased a little.
“Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Zhang is advanced in years — he has been kneeling for more than half a day and must be tired. Might Your Majesty send someone to escort him back to his residence?”
Xiao Jin could see that the Emperor was furious with Zhang Lingyi for chanting “when the clever rabbit dies,” yet did not wish to punish him.
The Emperor finally opened his eyes and inclined his head. “Have him return to his residence and rest his health. He is not to enter the palace for one month.”
Xiao Jin waited and listened.
After a long silence, the Emperor continued: “If the others still will not disperse, have Hu Qi go and deal with it.”
“This old servant obeys.”
Once everything had been attended to, Xiao Jin returned to the imperial study. Outside, all had grown quiet, but within the hall it was darker than ever. Xiao Jin had no choice but to light several lamps.
After much hesitation, Xiao Jin opened his mouth to speak. He had barely uttered the two words “Your Majesty” before the Emperor cut him off: “Have you forgotten why you were punished?”
“This old servant acknowledges his transgression.”
“You may intercede for Zhang Lingyi because I have no intention of killing him.” The Emperor spoke. “There are some matters you must not involve yourself in… I have fewer and fewer people left to speak with.” His tone carried only a faint note of regret — not the slightest hint of hesitation.
“This old servant speaks out of turn.”
……
A case personally decreed by the Emperor was known as an “imperial prison case.” Those so confined were held in the imperial prison of the Southern Office of Imperial Security.
A deep, mournful groan rang out as a pair of wooden doors, each a full foot in thickness and carved with the bulging eyes and lolling tongues of demon guardians, swung open. Those condemned to the imperial prison were often left with legs giving way even before they crossed the threshold — terrified by those very doors.
No fire, no water could penetrate it; no light, no sound escaped from within. Looking inward from outside, it seemed like a gaping black cave, with only scattered torches flickering here and there, with no way to tell how deep or how vast it ran.
Pei Shaohuai was taken into the imperial prison bearing no chains, no shackles. For one to enter the Southern Office’s imperial prison in such a manner — this was the first time it had ever happened.
The Vice Minister of Justice had actually intended to follow and watch as Pei Shaohuai was shut into a cell as dark and damp as a rat hole, but the Deputy Commissioner of the Southern Office blocked his way with the handle of a saber and said: “This is as far as you go, Vice Minister.”
“I am here on imperial orders to escort a condemned man.”
“Does the Vice Minister not trust the Southern Office of Imperial Security?”
The Vice Minister shook his head. “That is not what I mean.”
“Then does the Vice Minister also wish to sit for a while in this imperial prison?”
The Southern Office’s imperial prison was a place one entered upright and left lying flat.
“No… that won’t be necessary.” The Vice Minister broke out in a cold sweat and retreated in a dispirited shuffle.
……
Elsewhere, within the grounds of the Jingchuan Earl’s estate, all was quiet, the household staff carrying on as if it were any ordinary day.
All grief was gathered within a single room, daring not to disturb those outside.
Pei Shaojin felt he had failed his father, his mother, and his elder sister-in-law; he kept his head bowed low.
Lin Shi had already wept through one great spell of tears, nearly fainting in the process. She now leaned against Pei Bingyuan’s shoulder, dabbing at her eyes without ceasing, her emotions still unable to settle. She pressed a hand to her heart and cried out, again and again, “Huai’er, Huai’er.”
No matter how adept Lin Shi was at managing affairs in everyday life, handling everything with grace and looking to all matters — the moment it came to her son, none of that could hold.
The one shut in the imperial prison was the child she had carried and raised with her own hands.
Yang Shiyue was no better. Tear stains covered her face. The only comfort she could offer herself was the words her husband had said to her in his unusual manner the night before. He had left instructions in advance — perhaps this was all a scheme he had arranged? Yang Shiyue turned this thought over in her mind.
After all, they had shared the same bed and been of one heart through all these years of marriage.
Though she suspected it, she did not dare say it aloud.
Yang Shiyue comforted Lin Shi: “Husband has always conducted himself with absolute integrity. I believe the court will investigate and uncover the truth, and restore his good name… Mother must take care of her health, lest Shaohuai worry about home.”
Pei Shaojin felt as though a fishbone were lodged in his throat. The household being in such a state, he needed to hold things together. He spoke in an organized tone: “Father, I am afraid we must find some pretext to first send Grandfather and Grandmother to the estate outside the capital to rest for a while, and have Xiao Niang and Yi Yao accompany them and attend to their needs. We cannot let them learn of Elder Brother’s situation.”
He then turned to Yang Shiyue: “I would also ask Elder Sister-in-law to take Zhengguan and Yunci and return to the Yang household to wait things out for a time.”
Finally, he dropped to his knees before Lin Shi and could not find words for a long while.
“This is not your doing…” Lin Shi choked out. In her grief, it was the only sentence she could manage.
The main gate was shut tight. Though the beams of the hall rose nine feet high, the room felt unbearably stifling. In the center hung a placard with the words “Vast and Upright Spirit” painted in black lacquer — now appearing dim and without luster.
……
With no time even to eat the midday meal, Yang Shiyue gathered a few sets of clothing for Xiao Nan and Xiao Feng, then took her children and hurried to the Yang household.
“Mother, why are your eyes so red? Who has upset you?” Along the way, Xiao Nan and Xiao Feng kept asking. “Where are we going?”
Yang Shiyue wiped her eyes and forced herself to appear calm. “Your Father has been very busy with official duties lately. Mother is taking you both to stay at Grandfather’s house for a few days — you must behave, all right?”
“All right.”
Xiao Feng suddenly asked: “How long will Father be busy? Once he’s done, will he come home?”
That question was enough to loosen the tears Yang Shiyue could no longer hold back; they fell silently down her face. She could only turn away and answer, “Very soon, very soon…”
Upon arriving at the Yang household, Yang Shiyue pushed the pair of children toward her mother’s arms, steeled her heart, turned, and walked away.
Xiao Nan and Xiao Feng sensed something was wrong. They struggled and cried, scrambling to run after her, calling out “Mother, Mother” again and again. Yang Furen and Nanny Chen had to hold them firmly in place to keep them from following.
Yang Shiyue could hear the calls of Xiao Nan and Xiao Feng behind her; it was as though a knife were carving through her heart. But her mind was made up — she would follow her husband’s arrangement and send the children back to the Yang household to wait in safety, but she herself could not stay there.
The road from the Yang household back to the Pei estate — she had never imagined it could feel so far, or so long. When Yang Shiyue arrived back at the Pei estate, she happened to encounter Pei Shaojin in full official’s dress standing in the entranceway, holding a sword before him, preparing to leave.
It was the imperially-bestowed Shang Fang Sword that the Emperor had gifted Pei Shaohuai before his southern journey — a blade with the power to punish the powerful above and strike down the treacherous below. Yang Shiyue called out to Pei Shaojin. She understood that Shaojin was preparing to enter the palace and plead on his elder brother’s behalf.
“Sister-in-law, is there something you need?”
“Shaohuai said a few things to me last night, and knowing how close you two brothers are, I expect he must have said something to you as well.”
“That is indeed so.”
“Then let this task of entering the palace to plead for him fall to me.” Yang Shiyue took the Shang Fang Sword and said, “Brother-in-law, go do what you are supposed to do. Father-in-law is advanced in years and still has to look after Mother-in-law — his strength is limited. The whole of the Pei household still depends on you to hold it up.”
And then: “The court has only detained Shaohuai. It has not said anything about holding the entire Pei household to account.”
The words Elder Brother had spoken, now spoken again from Elder Sister-in-law’s mouth — Shaojin felt his heart gnawed at by something sharp and relentless. He said: “But…”
“Husband and wife share both fortune and hardship. Shaohuai suffers the hardship of imprisonment; I enter the palace to suffer a bit of hardship in the flesh — that is nothing.” Yang Shiyue said. “Official wives may enter the palace to plead for mercy. But to reach out to Shaohuai’s tutors and colleagues, to complete the work he left unfinished, and to see his matters through to their proper end — only you can do that, Brother-in-law.”
This had been what Yang Shiyue had resolved on her way back.
In truth, Shaojin understood all of this perfectly well. But to set aside the fact of his elder brother’s imprisonment, to busy himself with official affairs, to serve the court, to think of the northern frontier and coastal defense while his heart could not be still — how could he possibly manage it? He would rather suffer his elder brother’s punishment in his place.
“Otherwise, everything Shaohuai has endured, every hardship the Pei family has suffered — it will all have been for nothing…” Yang Shiyue was not entirely certain, but she let a little of her own suspicion show to Shaojin before leaving with the Shang Fang Sword.
Pei Shaojin stood at the gate, lifted his gaze, and looked squarely at the two pillars before him, then turned his eyes toward the high building at the center of the courtyard.
On a night of wind and heavy snow, the two brothers had once climbed up to that high building together and looked out at the ten thousand lights of the city glowing in the snowy night. His elder brother had said: “What a person fears is not a night of wind and heavy snow. What a person fears is a home with no lights burning within.”
Wind and snow were on their way. He must light the lamps of his elder brother’s household — and he must let the lights of ten thousand other homes, lit with such great effort, continue to burn on.
……
Official wives of noble rank held their imperially-bestowed titles, and to enter the palace and be received by the Empress required ceremonial dress and the phoenix crown — formal, immaculate attire.
Yang Shiyue had indeed dressed in her titled lady’s ceremonial robes and wore her golden hairpin crown, yet they had been thrown on hastily and haphazardly, without any of their usual precision and elegance.
She could not afford to care about any of that now.
Official wives entering the palace were forbidden from entering the front court without an imperial summons. So Yang Shiyue made her way through the Inner Court to the rear of the Hall of Great Virtue, where she knelt at the back door, cupping the imperially-bestowed Shang Fang Sword in both hands before her, and kowtowed over and over again, calling out with each bow: “The official wife of the Yang Clan, bearing her husband’s imperially-bestowed Shang Fang Sword, requests an audience with the Son of Heaven.”
Each bow was followed by the same declaration.
Eunuchs and female officials from the Hall of Great Virtue and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility passed by, casting glances to the side. Not one dared step forward to acknowledge her.
From mid-afternoon she knelt until nightfall. Then someone came hurrying from behind, knelt beside her, took hold of Yang Shiyue — already faint and hoarse — and received the Shang Fang Sword, saying: “Let me take over.”
It was Pei Ruozhu. As the wife of an Earl, she too had the right to enter the palace.
In a brief exchange, Pei Ruozhu said: “Elder Sister was afraid Tutor Duan might notice something amiss and has remained at the Xu household. First Sister and Fourth Sister have already returned to the Earl’s estate to look after Mother.”
By the time night had grown fully dark, Xiao Jin, the inner eunuch, came out of the Hall of Great Virtue carrying a lantern. He came to stand before the two of them and sighed, saying: “The two Madams must think of their health. Please rise and return home — His Majesty will not see you… It is already fully dark.”
Pei Ruozhu and Yang Shiyue paid no heed and continued to cry out in their hoarse voices.
“His Majesty is benevolent and has not charged the Pei household with any crime. If the two Madams continue pressing like this and happen to anger the imperial countenance… Ah, I hope the two Madams will think of those at home.” Xiao Jin tried once more to persuade them, then added: “Should your strength give out and you are unable to support yourselves, this old servant will still have to arrange to have you escorted out of the palace — the two Madams had better preserve a measure of dignity.”
Yang Shiyue stopped. She placed the Shang Fang Sword upon the ground and looked up at the bowing Xiao Jin. The lantern light fell upon her face — her complexion was deathly pale, yet her eyes were clear and bright. She said: “Please convey this official wife’s words to His Majesty.”
She pointed to the Shang Fang Sword and said: “His Majesty bestowed upon my husband the Shang Fang Sword to punish the treacherous and the wicked. Now my husband languishes in prison. What is to be done with this sword in punishing the treacherous and the wicked? If His Majesty no longer trusts his ministers, he may take back the Shang Fang Sword.”
Xiao Jin said nothing. He only let out a sigh, picked up his lantern, and walked away once more.
Another two shichen passed. It was now deep into the night. Yang Shiyue and Pei Ruozhu had both been felled by hunger and cold, collapsed upon the ground. The Empress, in her benevolence, granted permission for Yang Furen and another Madam, who had been waiting outside the palace gates, to enter and escort the two women — by now thoroughly exhausted — away.
Inside the carriage, Yang Furen wrapped her daughter in thick layers of blankets, tending to her as she had when she was a small child. She let Yang Shiyue rest her head upon her own knees and held her daughter close, tears streaming silently without end.
“Mother need not worry on my account.” Yang Shiyue said weakly. “Mother did not misjudge him, and I did not marry the wrong man.”
Yang Shiyue held her husband’s Shang Fang Sword tightly in her hands. The Emperor had ultimately not sent anyone out to take back the sword. She watched the scattered patches of lantern light that flickered past the carriage curtains and murmured softly: “I am grateful to have married Shaohuai — not for his learning and scholarship, not for his prospects, not because he has always known my warmth and cold in our everyday life together, but because Shaohuai takes me with him to see the bustling world beyond the reach of my own eyes, and lets me know the fullness and beauty of all four seasons, as he has come to know them.”
“And is that why you dared to act so rashly today?”
Yang Shiyue did not answer aloud. But in her heart, she gave a quiet nod.
It was indeed because of Shaohuai that she had dared to hold up the Shang Fang Sword and put that question to the Emperor.