If these were ordinary petty thieves, the village head would wait until daylight before sending them to the authorities to avoid disturbing the county magistrate’s rest. But tonight’s canal-breaching villains had some ruthless person from who knows which village behind them. The village head feared complications from delay and immediately selected several strong young men to escort the two criminals with him to the county seat over forty li away.
The village head’s family provided a mule cart, and several slightly wealthier households provided mules, facilitating the village head’s party’s round trip.
It was truly too far; otherwise the other villagers would rather forgo sleep to walk there and watch Magistrate Di try the case.
This journey took a full hour. Upon reaching the tightly closed county seat gates, the young men shouted that they had caught canal saboteurs and wanted Magistrate Di to deliver justice for them!
The night city guards could not open the gates without authorization and immediately sent someone to request instructions from Magistrate Di.
In the rear residence of the county yamen, Di Xian, awakened by a servant, heard the reason and had the servant take his waist token to accompany the city guards to the gates to bring the people to the yamen.
By the time the village head’s party arrived at the yamen, Di Xian had already donned his official robes and sat in the great hall. The county deputy, registrar, jail warden, and other officials had also been summoned in the middle of the night.
The Fengyan Canal, just completed at a cost of hundreds of thousands of taels, related to this county’s people’s harvests and provisions for decades or even centuries to come. At this moment it more directly related to the lives and fortunes of these canal builders. So even though it was the chou hour when most people slept soundest, Di Xian and the several officials led by him all maintained solemn expressions and clear gazes.
“Your Honor, these are the two criminals!”
The young men pressed Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng to kneel on the ground, simultaneously throwing down the iron spades and pickaxes they used to breach the canal as well as the knockout drug cloth used to render the canal patroller unconscious.
Di Xian struck the gavel, silencing the villagers’ indignation and clamor, and asked the village head, “How badly is the canal damaged?”
The village head, his face showing lingering fear, gestured with his hands: “Fortunately we discovered them in time. They only dug this shallow a pit.”
Di Xian asked again, “How severe are the canal patroller’s injuries?”
Village head: “He’s already awake, only suffered some superficial wounds.”
Having clarified these two matters, Di Xian could finally concentrate on interrogating the criminals. Seeing the two men covered in mud from the fields, their faces even more mixed with blood and mud, he had the constable first fetch water to at least wash their faces clean.
Soon, everyone finally saw Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng’s true faces.
A young man beside the village head said, “I’ve seen them! They’re traveling merchants who came to our village to sell goods!”
The county deputy thought for a moment and frowned. “On the first day of the third month when we opened the gates, I also seem to have noticed these two selling snacks.”
There had been many vendors doing business in the crowd that day, but the other vendors all had local accents. Only these two carried Jinzhou accents, which caught his extra attention. However, since last year when the county began building the canal, merchants large and small from various places had come seeking business opportunities, so two more Jinzhou traveling merchants were not particularly surprising.
Di Xian looked at Jiang Sheng and Jiang Qiang, who had maintained silence from beginning to end, and suddenly realized this matter might not be so simple.
For three consecutive days, Jiang Sheng and Jiang Qiang refused to speak. Meanwhile, through the identification testimony of village heads from various villages and clues the constables investigated in Ning County, Di Xian finally confirmed that the two men’s act of destroying the canal had no connection to grievances between local villages.
Since questioning with reason and emotion yielded nothing, Di Xian had the constables torture the two men.
On the night of the torture, when Di Xian again conducted a night interrogation of the two, Jiang Qiang spoke up, requesting that Di Xian dismiss the county deputy and others.
Both wore shackles and fetters. Di Xian wasn’t afraid they harbored other intentions and waved his hand.
When only three people remained in the great hall, Jiang Qiang looked at Jiang Sheng, equally wretched beside him, and said with a bitter smile, “Your Honor, Princess Imperial Fucheng sent us.”
Men die for wealth, so even knowing this mission carried mortal danger, they had still come, seeking nothing but that slim chance of luck to bless them in smoothly completing their assignment. To guard against the silencing plot Princess Imperial Fucheng might employ, they had discussed in advance splitting into two routes on the return journey—one openly going to collect the remaining reward silver, one hidden to compel Princess Imperial Fucheng not to break her promise.
But they also knew the plan might not go smoothly. If luck didn’t favor them, they still faced the danger of being caught by villagers or officials.
The backup plan Princess Imperial Fucheng arranged for them was to have them frame the Du family. If successful, although they would still face certain death, Princess Imperial Fucheng would treat their families well.
Those who could become assassins were no fools. Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng understood very clearly that if they really did this, once the emperor convicted the Du family, Princess Imperial Fucheng’s next step would be to kill their families, thoroughly eliminating the hidden danger of this matter leaking from their families’ mouths.
Therefore, now that their deaths were already certain, the only way they could protect their families was to expose Princess Imperial Fucheng. Once Princess Imperial Fucheng herself became a prisoner, the guards around her would not risk acting without their master’s orders, and those assassins she had cultivated who couldn’t see the light of day would use this opportunity to flee far away, breaking free from the shackles imposed on them since childhood.
When the venomous snake entered the cage, when the wolves scattered in all directions—only then would their families continue living ordinary, peaceful lives in ignorance, at most grieving for some time over their “long absence due to business travel.”
Di Xian was stunned, but soon he guessed that if it really was Princess Imperial Fucheng who acted, the true purpose behind her canal destruction.
But these were all speculations. Involving imperial clan members, having investigated this far Di Xian should withdraw and wait until he submitted his memorial to the capital. The emperor would naturally have the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs take over.
Under current dynasty law, regardless of the severity of clan members’ crimes, all were tried by the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs before being submitted to the emperor for judgment. External officials only had the authority to impeach, expose, and prevent clan members from continuing their misdeeds. Of course, if the emperor believed the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs’ judgment was mistaken or incompetent, the emperor could also transfer the case to the Court of Judicial Review or the Ministry of Justice.
The twentieth of the fourth month, an officials’ rest day, was also a day Emperor Yongchang could steal some leisure amid his busy schedule.
Emperor Yongchang decided to take Empress Zhou out of the palace incognito. First they would visit their two daughters’ princess manors, then go to Prince Qing’s Manor to see the third imperial grandson, and finally go to Prince Hui’s Manor to see the fourth imperial grandson, conveniently taking the noon meal at Prince Hui’s Manor before returning to the palace.
When leaving the palace, Emperor Yongchang first sent people to deliver word to Second Son and his wife as well as Third Son’s wife who was home alone caring for the child.
Prince Hui’s Manor.
Prince Hui, who came alone to receive Father Emperor’s verbal decree, maintained a respectful expression, but his palms secretly produced a trace of fine sweat.
Fortunately Father Emperor still had to tour the two princess manors. If Father Emperor came directly here after leaving the palace, the princess…
After the message-bearing eunuch left, Zhao Sui calculated the time and let the princess continue sleeping for another half hour before personally going to wake her.
Inside the canopy bed, Yao Huang slept soundly. Prince Hui sat at the bedside and extended his hand twice, only to have the princess evade him while wrapped in the quilt. With no alternative, Zhao Sui could only say, “Father Emperor is coming.”
Yao Huang, already awakened but drowsy and wanting to stay in bed, suddenly opened her eyes and turned around. “Really?”
Zhao Sui: “Right now Father Emperor should be at the Second Princess’s manor. He’ll make another trip to Prince Qing’s Manor, then come here.”
The weather was good. Earlier this month Yao Huang had taken a carriage to separately visit the two princess manors and the Yao family’s imperially-bestowed new residence. Calculating the imperial procession’s route in her head, she glared faintly at Prince Hui. “Both the prince and Father Emperor are quite good at picking days.”
When Jun’er reached his full month, her body had completely recovered and felt refreshed. But Prince Hui, who claimed to understand medical principles somewhat, believed she still needed to recuperate for a while longer. This was for Yao Huang’s benefit—he was willing to endure, and Yao Huang naturally was happy to cooperate. Unexpectedly, this recuperation lasted over twenty days. Only last night had Prince Hui finally set aside his concerns and carefully, cautiously held her for one encounter.
Like gentle spring wind and fine rain, it still allowed Yao Huang to sleep an extremely comfortable good sleep.
Prince Hui’s gaze had long since fallen on the bedside. He only said, “Get up. Go walk around the courtyard a bit so Father Emperor and Mother Empress won’t see you’ve just finished dressing.”
Just awakened versus awake for an hour still showed a difference.
Having spoken, Prince Hui pushed the wheelchair to turn around, preparing to return to the front courtyard to wait for the princess.
Having just turned the wheelchair around, when Zhao Sui pushed the small wheels he felt resistance. Looking back, he saw the princess had somehow quietly extended a leg. Her right toe, dyed with pomegranate red nail polish, nearly touched his turned face, while her heel pressed firmly against the wheelchair back.
Zhao Sui: “…”
He looked forward and asked, “Why are you blocking me?”
Yao Huang: “Since the prince has come this far, why not attend me for my morning bath?”
Zhao Sui: “…”
He lowered his eyes and looked back, raised his hand to tickle the princess’s sole, then took advantage of the princess withdrawing her foot to push the wheelchair out of the canopy bed.
The princess’s light laughter came from behind: “I’ll count to three. If the prince hasn’t left the room when I finish counting, I’ll grab you back and make you help me wash my hair.”
Prince Hui was very willing to help the princess wash her hair, but the princess’s hair washing and bathing went together. In broad daylight with the maids all waiting outside, he couldn’t do such things. Previously during afternoon naps there was at least the cover of “napping.”
Although he didn’t believe the princess would really come “grab” him, Prince Hui still slightly quickened his pace.
Prince Qing’s Manor was east of the Imperial City. The emperor and empress spent only two quarters of an hour accompanying Zheng Yuanzhen and her son before emerging, but it was still nearly noon when they reached Prince Hui’s Manor.
Yao Huang was already waiting with Prince Hui in the first courtyard.
Emperor Yongchang came this time specifically to see his imperial grandson, so the couple brought along the little one who had eaten his fill and slept enough. They didn’t have the wet nurse follow, just had Prince Hui hold the little fellow. After all, Prince Hui sitting in his wheelchair had accumulated a body full of strength—holding a little baby weighing nearly ten jin certainly wouldn’t tire him.
On either side of Prince Hui Manor’s main gate crouched a majestic stone lion. Yao Huang pushed Prince Hui to this side, then supported herself with one hand on her knee while pointing with the other hand at the stone lion’s eyebrows, eyes, and large mouth for Jun’er to see.
Whether the little fellow could understand was uncertain, but his pair of bright black eyes indeed looked wherever Mother pointed.
At this moment, the imperial procession arrived. The family of three was perfectly positioned to welcome them respectfully.
Emperor Yongchang descended from the carriage first. As soon as he appeared, he saw his daughter-in-law holding the child with one hand while pointing at him with the other, smiling broadly: “This is your Imperial Grandfather, the most formidable Imperial Grandfather under heaven!”
Emperor Yongchang, who had only been called Imperial Grandfather by Prince Kang’s three children: “…”
However, Imperial Grandfather did indeed sound more affectionate than Imperial Grandfather!
“Come, let me hold my little imperial grandson.”
Having stood properly, Emperor Yongchang came to receive Jun’er.
Yao Huang handed over the child, then went to help Empress Zhou descend from the carriage.
By the time three generations entered the hall, Yao Huang saw Jun’er’s chubby little hand held an additional lustrous, translucent mutton-fat jade pendant. Imperial Grandfather was scattering wealth again!
After using the noon meal, when leaving Prince Hui’s Manor, Emperor Yongchang’s mood was still very good.
However, upon returning to the palace, Eunuch Wang presented a memorial sent by four-hundred-li express.
All express memorials from local officials must be presented to the Secretariat at the first opportunity. If it fell on a rest day, they were sent directly to Emperor Yongchang.
Emperor Yongchang received it. His gaze swept over characters like “Liangzhou Qingxia County Magistrate Di Xian” and he opened it.
Eunuch Wang stood to one side with bowed waist. Because he didn’t know whether the memorial brought good or bad news, he held his breath in concentration. Then he noticed the emperor’s fingers gripping the memorial suddenly clenched tight. In that instant, Eunuch Wang’s heart felt as if the emperor had also gripped it—he dared not breathe heavily.
Not knowing how much time passed, he heard the emperor say, “Summon Ye Shanglin.”
Ye Shanglin—Commander of the Imperial Guards defending the Imperial City under the Emperor’s Guard, holding the official rank of second grade, was one of Emperor Yongchang’s trusted external officials.
Soon, the Imperial Guard Commander Ye Shanglin, nearing forty years of age, stood before Emperor Yongchang.
Emperor Yongchang glanced at the memorial laid face-down on the desk and said slowly, “Arrange two teams of Imperial Guards. Change into regular clothes and secretly enter Princess Imperial Manor and Marquis Jining’s Manor. All meals for both manors shall be purchased by the Imperial Guards. Without my decree, no one from either manor may step outside. Externally, temporarily claim the princess imperial and the marquis have contracted illness and are declining visitors.”
Ye Shanglin: “This subject receives the decree!”
After Ye Shanglin withdrew, Emperor Yongchang handed the memorial with his written response to Eunuch Wang—also to be sent back to Liangzhou by four-hundred-li express.