The holiday arrived. After returning from Jin Liang’s home, Zhù Ying slept in for a rare treat. The bell tower’s morning bells failed to drag her out of bed — she rolled over and dozed a while longer before finally wrapping herself in a robe and shuffling out of bed, feet stuffed into slippers, hair still loose and disheveled, not bothering to tidy herself up. She yawned and sat at the dining table waiting for the meal. The water used to wash her face had dampened a few wisps of hair at her temples — those damp strands were the most spirited things on her person.
This rare and unusual sight amused the whole household. Su Zhe and Lin Feng exchanged glances and snickered in secret.
Breakfast was served — the Zhù household’s morning fare was somewhat more generous than before, though it still couldn’t escape the basics of rice, noodles, meat, and vegetables. Everyone in the household except Qi Tai was young people who couldn’t sit still — each one could out-eat the next — and Nanny Li had been forced to strip away the complexity of her repertoire, gradually reverting to plain and simple cooking.
Zhù Ying swept her hair back behind her shoulders, pulled over a large bowl of noodle soup, and settled in with some smoked fish and braised meat on the side. Halfway through the meal, Zhao Su arrived with his wife.
“A’Yi?” Zhao Su was visibly surprised as he looked at Zhù Ying.
He had timed his visit carefully. At this hour, the household should have long since finished eating, and Zhù Ying should have been handling some documents or reading and practicing her forms.
She was still eating?
Su Zhe saw her chance and called out, “Uncle — Auntie!”
Zhù Ying said, “You’re here? Come sit down and eat a little more.”
Qi Tai was also telling his daughter, “Today’s meat porridge is delicious! So rich!”
The two didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down for another bowl each. As she ate, Zhù Ying asked, “Is the Court of Reception on holiday too? Are you on duty for New Year’s Eve?”
Zhù Ying herself no longer needed to keep watch at the Court of Judicial Review for the new year. Zhao Su had just started at the Court of Reception and was accumulating seniority, which meant he had to take on the thankless jobs.
Zhao Su said, “I’ve been assigned New Year’s Eve. I’ll send her back home before going to the palace so we can all celebrate together — is that all right?”
Zhù Ying said, “As long as things are arranged at your end and no colleague sends a visiting card with no one to receive it.”
Qi Xiao Niang said, “Everything is arranged. His visiting cards for the new year are all written too — someone just needs to send them out on the first day of the new year. I also need to consult with Father about the new year gifts.”
“Very well,” Zhù Ying said.
“What new year gifts?” Qi Tai asked.
Qi Xiao Niang said, “Our family still has relatives! Don’t you need to exchange visits with your colleagues, Father?”
“Oh, right.”
After breakfast, the father and daughter went to Qi Tai’s room to discuss things. Zhù Ying asked Zhao Su and Su Zhe, “Have you both finished your congratulatory memorials for the New Year Ceremony?”
Su Zhe said, “Mine is already done. I estimate the one from home should also arrive in a day or two.”
Zhao Su said, “Mine is done as well.”
The new year was nearly upon them. This year was particularly significant — it was the new Emperor’s first new year after ascending the throne, and the new reign period would formally begin on the first day of this new year.
It was all the more important for that reason. The Prince of Lu’s treason case had also been concluded before the new year. The late emperor’s most beloved youngest son had been driven out of the capital — as if a rest mark had been placed at the end of an old era.
There was still a small loose end, but that was Zhù Ying’s concern. Fully locating all the victims and honestly returning the farmland would take considerable effort — some families had scattered to who knew where, begging for their meals.
In any case, a new year with a new spirit had arrived.
For court officials, one particularly important task at the new year was writing the congratulatory memorial. The Emperor might not bother reading them, but a subject dared not fail to write one. This was also an arena where each person showed their skills. The talented ones, like Liu Songnian, could write anything and the Emperor would love to read it. Those with literary retainers in their household, like Luo Sheng, had someone to ghostwrite for them. Zhù Ying could only write her own — and she did so quite deftly. Not brilliant, but unlikely to grate on the Emperor.
The circumstances of the new Emperor differed from the late emperor’s — one could not simply transplant the same praises used for the late emperor. Zhù Ying adjusted the key passages. To praise the new Emperor, she used “cultured and refined in manner”; for the flattery, she wrote “destined by Heaven’s command.” The new Emperor’s fortune, it had to be said, was genuinely quite good.
Beyond writing her own, she also paid attention to whether the memorials from Su Mingluan and the others in Wuzhou were in order — she had briefed them in advance on the key points. Then there was Su Zhe, who also needed to write one. Lin Feng was not his father’s heir, so he was exempt. Zhao Su and the others had also written theirs — Zhù Ying saw they were already quite polished and gave a nod of approval. Zhao Su submitted the memorials together with the people from the Court of Reception.
Once all of these were reviewed and submitted together, the greatest official duty of the new year was complete!
Zhù Ying said, “Good — this will do.”
Zhao Su said, “A’Yi, the Court of Reception…”
“Yes?”
Zhù Ying had left the Court of Reception for the Court of Judicial Review hastily, and afterward the “father and son” had each been so busy — one spinning like a top at the Court of Judicial Review, the other run ragged at the Court of Reception — that there had been no chance to speak at length. Now that they both had time, he had to come and have a proper talk. “Is Director Luo always like this?”
“Isn’t it fine that he lets things be?”
Zhao Su said, “Letting things be is fine if his mind is actually on things, if he sees everything but knows that staying still is wiser than moving. That’s real restraint. But when his thoughts are wandering to who knows where, and he doesn’t know a thing when asked — that’s just being a fool.”
“He’s not bad.”
Zhao Su, in front of Zhù Ying, no longer needed to put on airs — he had been bottling things up fiercely these past months. “That Shen Ying — what kind of person is he, exactly? He wants to poke his hands into everything! Half a jug of sour vinegar!”
“The other two — Zhang and Fan — aren’t bad.”
Zhao Su said, “The two most useless ones happen to be the biggest superiors.”
“What did they do again?”
“That Director Luo — if he doesn’t know how to do the job, he’d do better to go home and focus on being a prince consort. And Shen Ying — whatever I do, he picks at it from start to finish. That day we ranked the protocol seating for the Hall of Foreign Guests, I gave it to him first. He revised it eight times, and then said, let’s use the first version after all! I…” Zhao Su’s expression contorted.
Zhù Ying listened with amusement and patiently let Zhao Su vent his frustrations. After pouring it all out, Zhao Su’s anger had subsided, and he felt a little embarrassed. “Actually, I can manage them all. When A’Yi was at the Court of Reception, was it this much trouble?”
“What I handed you had already been smoothed over once.”
Zhao Su said quietly, “The court has many capable people. The court also has many mediocre ones.”
Zhù Ying said, “Build a tall platform and put all kinds of people on it. The good ones become all the more visible; the bad ones make their shortcomings all the more obvious.”
Zhao Su couldn’t help laughing, then said, “A’Yi, Director Luo is both the prince consort and the Crown Prince’s father-in-law. Yet I always feel he’s not the kind of person who can get things done.”
“He’s never actually accomplished anything. His saving grace is that he doesn’t make trouble.”
“But he has no decisiveness. I’ve been watching him, and I finally figured out what he’s always looking toward — he keeps his eye on the East Palace. If I were twenty years younger, I’d truly dare to throw myself into that. But now I see it more clearly — that’s not a place to meddle in lightly. He treats me well enough, but in truth — his household, his person — nothing can be moved.”
Zhù Ying said, “Then don’t try to move it. Do your own job well. Polish your skills — things are somewhat different here in the palace than out in the prefectures. You’ve only just been transferred to the Court of Reception — if you want to advance further, the only way is to be patient, wait for the opportunity, and make steady progress. As for Luo Sheng, maintain a presentable surface.”
“Yes. If he doesn’t scheme to climb onto a taller platform and embarrass himself, his current position is still sustainable. If he goes higher — then I won’t be able to accompany him. He can’t inspire trust, which means his talent falls short of his position, and his virtue falls short of his rank. But if it were A’Yi — embarrassing or not, I’d follow.”
Zhù Ying pulled out a strip of black silk and tied up her hair. “I haven’t forgotten you. You need to keep up — endure through it.”
Zhao Su smiled with relief. “Yes.”
This had also been the main point of Zhao Su’s visit today. Having seen a standard of leadership like Zhù Ying’s, encountering a superior like Luo Sheng felt exhausting. Too draining! Not worth it!
One still had to show outward deference to one’s superior, still had to go along when the superior made demands, and Luo Sheng was Zhù Ying’s former superior. Even if Zhao Su wanted to quietly sideline him, he had to check in with his adoptive father first, and only then could he settle his mind.
With Zhù Ying on his side, Zhao Su had nothing to worry about.
——
In the period before and after the new year, Zhù Ying’s social engagements multiplied. The day Zhao Su came to the house, Zhù Ying could still be casual. Afterward, her regular routine resumed, and she circulated among people of all sorts.
A visit to the Zheng Marquis household was obligatory. Zheng Xi had not received any notable promotion in this round. By normal logic, he should have been counted among those who had smoothed the path for the Emperor’s accession — first among those who benefited. Yet he was still a Metropolitan Magistrate, his position unchanged. Those who knew him fairly well, like Zhù Ying, were also aware that his second daughter’s intended position as Crown Princess had evaporated as well.
Against these two losses, what the Zheng family had gained seemed disproportionate.
Zheng Yi had been placed in the Imperial Guards — he was among the beneficiaries, but his post still seemed insufficient to settle accounts on Zheng Xi’s behalf. Zhù Ying’s case was separate — she had her own “great merits” and stood on different ledgers from Zheng Xi. Whenever she saw Zheng Xi, she couldn’t help feeling some indignation on his behalf.
Zhù Ying said, “It’s the new year — could you ease up a little.”
Zheng Yi said, “Am I wrong?”
Zhù Ying just smiled without answering. Zheng Yi was a loyal person, and good at sticking up for his own people. But Zheng Xi’s account was one he had to settle with the Emperor himself — Zheng Yi’s frustration was useless.
Zheng Xi said, “What’s the point of bringing this up?” He then pointed at Bai Zhiqing and Liu Chang and said, “Both of you should go out to the regions and see the world.”
Now that Shao Shuxin and the others had returned, Zheng Xi had neatly dispatched these two to the provinces — the specific locations weren’t yet decided. Bai Zhiqing was from the Ministry of Rites, and after going through the late emperor’s funeral, the new Emperor’s accession, and all the events of recent years, combined with his accumulated experience, he was due for a one-grade promotion and a stint in local administration to build up practical credentials.
Shu Yan was the Wanfu County Magistrate — there wasn’t a suitable position for him yet, so he wouldn’t be moved for now.
Zhù Ying quietly observed Zheng Xi’s arrangements, thinking that she too needed to start making her own moves.
Leaving the Zheng Marquis household, she had a small gathering with Shao Shuxin and the others. During the state mourning period, there could be no song or dance. They prevailed upon Zhù Ying to play host, and Shao Shuxin said, “You struck it rich this time — already wearing purple — you ought to be the one paying!”
Zhù Ying said, “Very well.”
Shao Shuxin named a famous private garden in the capital. Zhù Ying booked it out and invited them over for “tea and garden viewing.” Neither she nor Shao Shuxin had any talent for writing poetry, so they sat back and watched the others compose. Zheng Yi also had no such gift, and sat with them drinking tea. He said quietly, “Yesterday, the Emperor sent a party out of the capital. With white silk.”
Zhù Ying and Shao Shuxin exchanged a glance. In their minds, one name surfaced: the Prince of Lu.
The Prince of Lu was done for. The Emperor was truly ruthless.
Zheng Yi said, “The one who went was the former Chief of Staff of the Prince of Zhao’s household — the Emperor’s own man.”
Zhù Ying said, “Let’s not concern ourselves with them for now — Old Shao, how old is your son this year?”
Shao Shuxin laughed and asked, “He’s right over there — call him over and let the uncles take a look, see if he’s worth putting to use.”
Zhù Ying said, “Don’t put it that way — he’s the right age. The Prince of Lu treason case — besides those sentenced to death, it has implicated a number of people not named on the covenant. Many are local officials, and vacancies will appear one after another. I’m thinking that there are several positions that might be available. Surely not every single one of those people will have backers?”
Since the Emperor hadn’t even kept the Prince of Lu alive to see the new year, those local officials would soon be dealt with one by one in quiet — quietly transferred down, quietly dismissed. The list was one she had compiled and reported herself, so once someone on the list was moved, she would know immediately that this person was never coming back. Then arrangements could begin to fill the vacancy before the outcome was formally announced, rather than waiting until after.
Wen Yue said, “Is it because he saw this too that Qi-lang arranged to dispatch Bai and Liu?”
Zhù Ying nodded. She said to Zheng Yi, “He still has the Metropolitan Magistracy in hand — don’t be angry.”
Zheng Yi laughed. “I know — better than a nominal promotion that’s actually a demotion.”
Everyone laughed.
Shao Shuxin’s son had also just arrived in front of them. The young man was not yet twenty, with regular features — not strikingly handsome, but agreeable to look at. Zhù Ying and the others each gave him a gift to mark the meeting.
Shao Shuxin laughed. “Now that you’ve given gifts today, the new year money can’t be less.”
Zhù Ying said, “You’ve always been sharper at accounting than everyone else.”
Everyone laughed again. Even with a cousin, there was inevitably some theatrical exaggeration of expression.
Wen Yue said, “You two are the same — both took a gamble to get here. You from outside the palace, he from within.”
Zheng Yi said, “Both of you aside, that Bian Xing — he’s sitting pretty as ever. Aren’t we being far too unprincipled about this? That account still needs settling. Shouldn’t we clear it up?”
Zhù Ying said, “The petitions against him should already be on their way.”
Zheng Yi smiled. “Just afraid the road is rough going.”
“Filed with the censorate. Filed by local gentry. The ones from Hedong County.”
Hedong County and Jiyuan Prefecture had originally both belonged to the Southern Prefecture, and people from Hedong had some marital ties to the inner three counties. Finding someone to file a petition was fairly simple.
Everyone laughed again — unmistakably a group of antagonists scheming behind someone’s back.
……
Apart from going out themselves, the Zhù household’s doorstep began to see a steady flow of visitors. First came the Deputy Director and others from the Court of Judicial Review.
The Deputy Director wanted to advance to the rank of Senior Fifth Grade, and Zhù Ying had recommended him. The Deputy Director had always been a perceptive person, and came bearing a generous gift: “My lord, your household lacks nothing of this sort — but this is at least a token of my humble regard.”
Then came Xiao Tao and the others; Ding Gui came along with Old Wu and his son; Old Wu’s son had followed Young Wu out to his post, and the family had sent gifts back to the capital for the new year. This family of in-laws were all sharp people. Old Huang and Young Huang also came to pay their respects.
Then there was Ke the Head of Protocol from the Court of Reception. He had also pinned his hopes for promotion on Zhù Ying. Shen Ying was useless, and Luo Sheng was distracted. Zhao Su was capable — but that being the case, better to go straight to Zhù Ying.
There were also some scholars from Jiyuan Prefecture — including this year’s tribute scholars, some of whom were from Jiyuan Prefecture, people Zhù Ying knew personally, selected into the official school during her time as Wuzhou Prefect.
Those selected by examination were not necessarily the most outstanding, but the top forty were certainly among the upper-middle tier of the whole group.
Zhù Ying also showed concern for their daily lives and asked where they were staying, to which they replied the guild hall. Zhù Ying gave each of them ten strings of cash for expenses.
When the New Year Ceremony arrived, she joined the assembled officials for the congratulatory audience.
Seated upon the imperial throne, the refined Prince of Zhao was transformed into an emperor of presentable appearance. The assembled ministers performed the prostrations and bows. The edicts announcing the new reign title, the general amnesty, and the rest were read aloud — this also meant that a new era had officially begun.
The Emperor looked down from on high, and an indescribable sensation rose within him. He raised his hand, and Lan Xing called out, “Rise—”
The Emperor’s hand was somehow reluctant to lower. He reached forward into the empty air and closed his fist — as though gathering everything in sight, all heaven and earth, into his palm.
Everything was fresh and new. The vast empire was now his.
The late emperor had certainly been wise, yet even in his old age he had not been without lapses in governance. The Emperor himself was still in his prime years — as long as the officials all devoted themselves to their duties, a prosperous age could surely be achieved!
The Emperor’s hand returned reluctantly into his sleeve.
Then came the bestowing of rewards!
For the first time spending the new year as Emperor, he both winced at the cost and opened his hands generously to reward everyone. Zhù Ying received colored silk, a belt, gold coins, and other items — excepting the imperial kin and the chancellors, the second tier of recipients included those of her rank.
Not a bad return for braving the cold so early in the morning.
After paying respects to the Emperor, they proceeded to the Crown Prince. By the time they emerged from the palace, it was already afternoon.
Zhù Ying returned home to change clothes and began sorting through the visiting cards. She looked through them to see who had sent greetings — previously they had all been acquaintances; now the majority were strangers. Some were claiming the connection of fellow countrymen; some were calling themselves “junior students”; others were merchants who had dealings with the Court of Judicial Review.
Many of the cards came with accompanying gifts. Xiang An and Qi Tai were kept busy at home without pause. Qi Tai said, “I always thought moving from green to red robes was already ascending to the heavens. Moving from red to purple — now I’ve truly seen something.”
After her promotion, the places where Zhù Ying needed to send gifts hadn’t really multiplied — but the sources of incoming gifts had increased considerably. Xiang An said, “The storeroom is nearly full.”
When her brother had prepared this residence, it had seemed quite spacious at the time. Somehow it hadn’t kept pace with her lord’s rate of promotion. A mistake!
Zhù Ying said, “We’ll see about that later — there are still things to send out too. Hosting guests costs money as well.”
In previous years, her household had just spent the new year quietly among themselves. Now she had to begin hosting banquets. Her subordinates at the Court of Judicial Review would come to pay their respects — she needed to entertain them. At the Court of Reception, she also needed to host a meal one day. Then at home she would host Chen Meng and other fellow-countrymen and close friends — another day. Then Shao Shuxin and his group had agreed to come, along with Bai Zhiqing and the other two, all gathering at Zhù Ying’s house for the new year feast.
The household had no female relatives to receive the lady guests, so Zhù Ying had Su Zhe and Zhù Qingjun take the lead, with Xiang An, Su Jia Ming, and others assisting. Su Zhe went by the name of “granddaughter,” and Zhù Qingjun also carried the Zhù surname — so appearances were maintained. Some guests speculated quietly that Zhù Qingjun must be Zhù Ying’s niece or similar.
Zhù Ying also had to pay a new year call on the Zheng Marquis household, and couldn’t forget the Wang, Liu, and Shi chancellor households either. Then there were various acquaintances, such as the Prince Guangning’s household. For all of these visits, Zhù Ying didn’t wear her purple robes — instead she wore a freshly made coat of green silk with fur lining throughout, presenting herself as quite youthfully fresh.
At the Zheng Marquis household she joined Jin Liang and the others for drinking games and archery contests. At Prince Guangning’s household, Zheng Lin was waiting for her with a smile. Zheng Lin’s eldest son was already toddling about on his own. The child ran over and threw his arms around her legs, mouth opening to call out one word — “Uncle.”
Zhù Ying reached into the pouch at her waist and placed the whole thing into his chubby little hands.
The guests at Prince Guangning’s household all witnessed this, and privately thought: this child has a good mother — she saves everyone else so much trouble.
Leaving those households, Zhù Ying took a longer route and went to have a look at Old Ma’s teahouse — but found the teahouse shuttered. A note was pasted on the front: “Returned home for the new year — reopening on the fifteenth of the first month.”
Before the fifteenth, the court had already unsealed its documents and resumed official business.
Zhù Ying’s main task was to continue returning farmland to the rightful owners. Aside from that, she said not a single word in court.
Shi Kun was still overseeing construction of the imperial mausoleum, so he rarely spoke. Wang Yunhe, mindful that it was still the first month, also said little. Liu Songnian was preparing to submit his request for retirement — his memorial was already written, and he was only waiting for the first month to be over before submitting it.
With these three staying quiet, hardly anyone else spoke either — they all waited for the Emperor to give direction. The Emperor was left to stare into a cold silence.
The Emperor had no idea what to do at this point. This time last year, he had just become Crown Prince, and everything had felt like a fog — he couldn’t recall what the late emperor had done either.
The Emperor said, “Let each ministry and court submit a written account of their responsibilities.”
In the middle of the first month of the new year, he had handed the Six Ministries and Nine Courts the task of writing reports. All the ministers responded with their assent. Zhù Ying passed the task to Shi Jixing — his father was a chancellor, so if he got anything wrong, someone would cover for him. Besides, writing something like this was perfectly within Shi Jixing’s abilities.
Shi Jixing humbly demurred. Zhù Ying said, “You’re new to the Court of Judicial Review as well — think of it as familiarizing yourself with things.”
Shi Jixing accepted willingly. The task wasn’t difficult — he could copy from the compendiums of precedents and then patch together a summary of the year’s work on the Prince of Lu case. As for the specific inner workings of the court, Shi Jixing didn’t know that much, and even if he did, he wouldn’t tell the Emperor.
After all, who would confess all their working methods to their superior?
The other ministries were thinking along the same lines. The Emperor only needed to know the general outline — if he knew everything, how would the people below get anything done? The main point was that this Emperor was of average ability. Among Confucius’s three thousand disciples, only seventy-two were truly worthy — the Emperor was one of the remaining two thousand nine hundred. It was very difficult to turn him into an enlightened ruler. The ministers hoped he would simply reign without meddling.
Minister Dou in the Ministry of Finance needed to write about the reduction in population and farmland across the realm, about the disasters that had struck, but also about his own diligent efforts to still collect the full quota of taxes. Minister Dou was actually fairly capable — he had gone the extra mile and had officials copy out brief summaries of the situation in all prefectures. Things like: Prefecture so-and-so has such-and-such amount of farmland, such-and-such population… All dry, substantive information with not a single line engaging enough to make one want to keep reading.
Minister Yao needed to write about the standards for evaluating officials — nothing but empty words.
And each person wrote at enormous length. You write eight thousand characters, I write ten thousand.
Zhao Su in his heart had cursed Luo Sheng eight hundred times — once again, this task had fallen to him. Shen Ying had been inclined to write it himself, but unfortunately someone died in the first month, and Shen Ying had no choice but to attend the mourning — deeply feeling that this position of his was truly an inauspicious one.
If everything they wrote were collected together, it could form a volume combining the Collected Administrative Precedents with the Compendium of Institutional History — enough to put the Emperor to sleep eight hundred times over. In fact, much of the content had indeed been extracted from exactly those books. With all submissions compiled, the first month had passed, and Zhù Ying finished distributing the farmland. The Court of Judicial Review formally settled into quiet.
Zhù Ying spent each day in court going through the motions, watching the Emperor’s face grow increasingly numb by the day.
The Li Attendant of the Secretariat — the Emperor’s tutor from his days as Prince — was summoned to help explain the contents of these documents. The Li Attendant told the Emperor, “This… is all written right here.” He also advised the Emperor that learning required patience, that scholarship admitted no shortcuts.
When the Emperor had finished reading all of these materials, he still had little sense of how to govern from them. But he was, after all, the Emperor, and he decided to try his hand. He first moved to assign an official from his former princely household to be Vice Minister of Personnel — an attempt to begin by reforming the official corps. But the man was promptly censured — with ironclad evidence.
The censorate brought all the proof before the throne. And so that plan was abandoned.
The Emperor wanted to renovate the palace. In the late emperor’s final years, weakened by blindness and illness, he had been almost entirely absent from the inner court — many parts of the palace had fallen into disrepair. Now that the late emperor’s consorts had moved out and the new Emperor’s consorts had moved in, some areas needed repair.
The Ministry of Works submitted a memorial: “It is spring plowing season — it is improper to commandeer the people’s labor excessively.”
The Ministry of Finance reported: “Last year’s tax revenues were difficult to collect — repairs should come from the Inner Treasury.” And refused to contribute a single coin.
The Emperor wished to bestow several farmland estates upon the Empress’s brothers. This brother had gotten the worse end of a previous clash with the Prince of Lu’s brother-in-law and deserved compensation. A chancellor stepped forward. Wang Yunhe said, “Those are farmland belonging to the people. Your Majesty is the lord of all under heaven — how can you diminish the people out of personal affection?”
Not a single thing went smoothly! Everything he looked at was unsatisfactory!
For every word the Emperor spoke, the ministers had a hundred ready in reply — the Emperor could not win a single argument with them. There was one person who could certainly defeat all of them, but unfortunately, as soon as the second month arrived, Liu Songnian submitted a memorial requesting retirement!
The Crown Prince stood in court, looking first up at his father, then back down at the ministers, thinking to himself: Sticky enough to be impossible to pull away from?
No! This was a massive silk cocoon — wrapped so tightly that nothing could move!
The Crown Prince felt a measure of sympathy for his father.
Until the Emperor said, “My second son is already fourteen years old. It is time to grant him a title and establish his own household. Chancellors, spare me some worry and select a tutor and household officials for him.”
What?! The Crown Prince went rigid. His second younger brother was a concubine’s son who had not yet been enfeoffed, so he was not present in court. But once enfeoffed, he would be able to attend court. That wasn’t even the main point. The main point was: the Crown Prince didn’t even have his own Chamberlain’s Office yet! On what basis should his younger brother establish a household and have his own staff first?!?!