If moving into the Eastern Palace was the Crown Prince’s first major happy occasion of the second half of the year, then the weapons workshop finally testing out a heavy gunpowder formula with enough power to demolish an entire building before the Mid-Autumn Festival was the second major happy occasion for him, Emperor Yongchang, and the court.
The capital’s weapons workshops were originally divided into East and West workshops, both located outside the city. Because they manufactured large quantities of weapons and imperial implements, keeping them far from the common people avoided disturbing the populace. After Zhao Sui received the imperial decree to research and test heavy gunpowder formulas, he specifically built a separate gunpowder workshop in the northeast of the capital, then recruited over a hundred craftsmen specialized in making fireworks and alchemists familiar with mineral substances from various prefectures and provinces to serve the gunpowder workshop in the capital.
Above, Emperor Yongchang provided silver to the gunpowder workshop and sent minerals like saltpeter and sulfur. In the middle, the Crown Prince supervised the workshop’s operations and safety measures. Below, about a hundred craftsmen and alchemists pooled their efforts. Busy from the third month to the eighth month, after expending nearly half a year’s worth of manpower and resources, the gunpowder workshop finally made major progress.
Emperor Yongchang was so delighted he held a grand banquet for his officials. He even sent a reward of silver to the family of Taoist Yu from Jinzhou, who had blown himself up but given the court the opportunity to research and test heavy gunpowder. Of course, the greatest credit still belonged to the Crown Prince. Everyone in the civil and military court knew about that bizarre case, but only the Crown Prince had discovered the tremendous potential hidden in Taoist Yu’s deadly formula.
Gold, silver, pearls, jade, silks and satins—these were ordinary rewards the Crown Prince wouldn’t particularly treasure. The Crown Prince’s birth mother, Lady Wen, had already been posthumously granted the title of Consort Shu when the Crown Prince was invested. Lady Wen had been a pitiful orphan who couldn’t even remember who her parents were. Because she was a budding beauty at a young age, she had been sent into the palace to learn the arts. This meant that now, when Emperor Yongchang wanted to reward the Crown Prince’s maternal relatives, he didn’t know whom to reward.
The Crown Prince had no maternal relatives, so he could only reward his wife’s family, the Yao family.
Thus, Emperor Yongchang bestowed upon Yao Zhenhu the title of Earl Chengfu.
Emperor Yongchang considered himself fair. His second son could accomplish meritorious deeds all because he married a good wife who could restore his fighting spirit. This good wife was raised by the Yao family. Therefore, the couple Yao Zhenhu and Luo Jinhua truly had merit toward the imperial family and the court, and deserved this title of Earl Chengfu!
The decree was directly announced by Emperor Yongchang at morning court. He first praised the Crown Prince Consort’s merit as the Crown Prince’s worthy helpmate, then praised the couple Yao Zhenhu and Luo Jinhua for their merit in raising an excellent daughter. The conferral of the earl title became a matter of course.
Zhao Sui deliberately didn’t send anyone to relay the news to the Crown Prince Consort.
The couple Yao Zhenhu and Luo Jinhua, upon whom a noble title had descended from heaven, hurried into the palace to express their gratitude. Emperor Yongchang gave them some simple words of encouragement, then let them withdraw. The couple then went to thank Empress Zhou. Finally, Empress Zhou smiled and arranged for palace servants to take them to the Eastern Palace to thank the Crown Prince Consort.
Yao Huang was practicing swordplay at the Deer Garden, having the wet nurse, A’Ji, and others keep Jun’er at a distance to watch.
Her brothers and cousins at home could take the military examination because their father had started teaching them martial arts early. Yao Huang planned to similarly cultivate Jun’er’s yearning for martial arts from an early age. Since the Crown Prince had mobility difficulties, she, a mother consort who also knew spear and sword techniques, would first open Jun’er’s eyes. When he grew up, famous teachers selected by the imperial family would teach him hands-on.
Jun’er, who couldn’t even crawl yet, blinked his bright black and white phoenix eyes, following his mother consort’s sword-wielding figure.
“Your Highness, the Earl and the Earl’s Lady have come to express their gratitude!” Qiu Chan ran over from the main hall, happily announcing: “This morning His Majesty just conferred noble titles upon Master Yao and his wife!”
Yao Huang, still wondering where this earl and earl’s lady came from: “…”
She returned to the main hall in a daze with Jun’er.
The palace servant arranged by Empress Zhou still accompanied them. Yao Huang Zhenhu and Luo Jinhua performed a full kneeling prostration to their daughter.
Yao Huang personally helped her parents up. Eunuch Cao smiled and slipped a reward sum to the eunuch from the Central Palace, conveniently escorting him out of the Eastern Palace.
Luo Jinhua, still dizzy, had the equally dizzy Yao Zhenhu take out the imperial decree to show their daughter.
Yao Huang could now understand those flowery words of reward, and subsequently guessed that the family’s noble title came from basking in the glory of the Crown Prince’s great achievement with the heavy gunpowder.
Since Emperor Yongchang was willing to bestow rewards, Yao Huang let her parents accept them with peace of mind. In the future, they should continue living as before, just not doing things that bullied others by relying on their power.
When the Crown Prince returned at dusk, Yao Huang happily calculated an account for His Highness the Crown Prince: “For my brother’s marriage, my mother emptied the family’s savings. Now we’re entirely relying on my father’s and brother’s combined monthly salary of fifteen taels to support household expenses. But my sister-in-law is a noble daughter from the Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion. Although my sister-in-law isn’t picky about clothing, jewelry, and daily meals, my mother always feels embarrassed. Now it’s good—Father Emperor has bestowed a noble title, and my father immediately gains an annual stipend of eight hundred taels. My mother finally doesn’t need to worry about money anymore.”
Chengfu, Chengfu—Emperor Yongchang meant to praise her as a lucky star. So Yao Huang felt that Emperor Yongchang was the god of wealth descending upon her family. But why would Emperor Yongchang act as the god of wealth specifically for the Yao family? Because she had first pleased the god of wealth’s son!
Zhao Sui, treated as the god of wealth’s son, looked at the Crown Prince Consort’s smiling, crescent-moon eyes and mentioned something that might dampen her spirits: “Heavy gunpowder of different amounts corresponding to different levels of power still needs to be tested at several mountain peaks. Father Emperor and I have finally decided on the Eagle Feather Mountain area.”
It happened to be clear autumn weather. The various large and small mountain peaks near the capital all had common people enjoying outings, making them unsuitable for testing heavy gunpowder’s power. The mountain peaks within several dozen miles around the traveling palace had long prohibited common people and hunters from entering. Testing there would definitely not result in accidental casualties.
Yao Huang knew Eagle Feather Mountain: “Isn’t it to the east of the Northern Park?”
Zhao Sui: “Yes, separated by about twenty miles. Father Emperor wants me to depart the day after tomorrow, stay at the traveling palace until the testing is complete. Including the round trip, I should be able to return by the end of the month.”
Yao Huang examined the Crown Prince’s expression and said unhappily: “Your Highness wasn’t planning to take me along?”
Zhao Sui lowered his eyes: “I thought you’d prefer to stay in the palace to keep Jun’er company.”
Yao Huang poked his leg, head lowered: “Jun’er is only a few months old. His eating, drinking, and everything else are all taken care of by the wet nurse and palace maids. The wet nurse can keep him happy for ages with a rattle drum. When she pushes him to the Deer Garden or flower gardens, he happily kicks his legs. He doesn’t need me to specially keep him company at all. I want to keep Jun’er’s father company more.”
Zhao Sui raised his eyes to see the Crown Prince Consort’s face was red.
He explained: “Even if I stay at the traveling palace, I’ll be leaving early and returning late, unable to accompany you in leisure activities.”
Yao Huang: “Then I’ll accompany Your Highness to test the gunpowder. I also want to see whether heavy gunpowder has the power to split mountains.”
Since the couple normally didn’t have opportunities to be separated, only today did Zhao Sui discover that the Crown Prince Consort loved clinging to him this much.
He grasped the Crown Prince Consort’s randomly poking hand: “Alright, you’ll come with me.”
Yao Huang happily threw herself into his embrace. However, having won over the Crown Prince, she worried that the Emperor father-in-law would be displeased, since the Crown Prince bore official responsibilities.
Zhao Sui: “Just say you need to accompany me to look after my daily needs. Father Emperor won’t mind.”
Yao Huang thought for a moment and smiled: “No need for you to say it. I have a better reason.”
The next morning, Yao Huang pushed Jun’er to stroll through the Imperial Garden. There she encountered Consort Du and the Second Princess, who had come out to relax. Yao Huang quite liked seeing Consort Du dislike her yet be unable to do anything about it, especially now that the Second Princess stood on her side. After passing time with the mother and daughter for a while, Yao Huang continued strolling through the garden. When the sun grew too strong, she went to visit Empress Zhou.
Empress Zhou was extremely fond of Jun’er. The imperial grandmother was also better at coaxing children than the imperial grandfather, making Jun’er laugh continuously.
Yao Huang had originally planned to bring Jun’er to pay respects to the imperial grandfather along the way when it was almost time to take her leave. Unexpectedly, upon hearing that his little imperial grandson had come to the Central Palace, Emperor Yongchang himself strolled over.
Yao Huang then stood up, yielding the seat on the couch to Emperor Yongchang.
A palace maid brought tea. Yao Huang intercepted it halfway and personally presented it before Emperor Yongchang.
She adopted the full posture of a filial daughter-in-law. Emperor Yongchang understood. After drinking the tea, while playing with Jun’er, he said: “If you have something to say, just say it directly.”
Yao Huang said in surprise: “This daughter-in-law is usually very filial to Father Emperor. Why is it that just offering tea today makes Father Emperor see that this daughter-in-law is hiding something?”
Emperor Yongchang smiled at his grandson: “Your filial piety is sending local specialties and saying clever words. Offering tea is the first time.”
Yao Huang looked completely impressed: “Before Father Emperor, this daughter-in-law’s little tricks are truly insufficient. Since Father Emperor has seen through it, may this daughter-in-law speak?”
Emperor Yongchang had already guessed: “You want to accompany the Crown Prince to the traveling palace?”
Yao Huang said frankly: “Yes, but Father Emperor absolutely cannot guess why I want to go.”
Emperor Yongchang became interested. Besides clinging to the Crown Prince, could there be another reason?
Of course Yao Huang had one. She leaned against Empress Zhou, holding the Empress’s arm: “Last year during the hunt at the traveling palace, I promised my two younger sisters that after I gave birth, I would teach them archery and take them hunting in the suburbs of the capital. But as Father Emperor knows, what good prey could there be on these mountain peaks in the suburbs? We might wander for half a day without finding a single rabbit. Going deep into the mountains to search isn’t worth it, and my sisters couldn’t endure that kind of hardship either.”
“Yesterday when the Crown Prince mentioned he would stay at the traveling palace during the gunpowder testing period, I immediately thought of my promise to my two younger sisters. The Northern Park is spacious—convenient for archery practice and even more convenient for hunting in the enclosure. We won’t release fierce animals like wolves, just some pheasants and rabbits, just for fun. What does Father Emperor think?”
Emperor Yongchang first thought of his two princesses.
He still remembered how happy his two princesses looked playing together with his second son’s wife at the Northern Park, like two birds raised in a cage finally gaining their freedom.
Children’s nature is to love play, but the palace was the place with the most rules in all the world.
The Eldest Princess had only been married for just over three months. The Second Princess would marry soon. Since his second son’s wife was willing to take them to properly enjoy themselves for a few days, why not let them have one more good time before they became mothers?
Having made up his mind, Emperor Yongchang said to his daughter-in-law: “I’m assigning three thousand imperial guards to escort the Crown Prince. Your brother Yao Lin is among them. Since you want to teach the princesses riding and archery, just bring your sister-in-law along too. Then you can each guide one.”
Empress Zhou: “Since His Majesty is so considerate, why not assign the two prince consorts to go along as well? Yu Shenxin is careful and meticulous, Fan Ruochuan is skilled in martial arts. They can both accompany the Crown Prince when he’s on duty. When the Crown Prince has leisure time, these couples and betrothed couples can also go hunting together, taking the opportunity to deepen their feelings.”
Yao Huang: “Perfect—we can also let the two prince consorts witness the power of our Great Qi’s heavy gunpowder. I guarantee that after marriage, they’ll obey my sisters in everything and absolutely won’t dare entertain thoughts of bullying them.”
Whoever dares disrespect the princesses will be made to taste the power of heavy gunpowder!
Emperor Yongchang looked at his daughter-in-law’s domineering posture of backing the two princesses and asked: “If the prince consorts don’t dare bully the princesses, how do you treat the Crown Prince?”
His second son had such a good temper.
Yao Huang said without any guilt: “This daughter-in-law treats the Crown Prince so well that both prince consorts combined probably couldn’t match this daughter-in-law.”
Although she occasionally stepped on the Crown Prince a few times and made him sit in his wheelchair to serve her tea and water, those were all things the Crown Prince was willing to do himself!