Pei Shaohuai continued reading, examining each line with great care. Since this text had been composed by human hands, some traces of its origins would inevitably show.
The main text was quite detailed — over ten pages recounting the life of Imperial Noble Consort Zhou in thorough and meticulous terms. It described how she was born into a commoner family in Jiangnan, skilled at raising silkworms and weaving, gentle and gracious in appearance, upright in household conduct. At fifteen, she was selected through the Ministry of Rites’ recruitment process and entered the palace, rising to become a side consort for the eldest imperial prince.
In the palace, though a person of distinction, Imperial Noble Consort Zhou was said to be simple and frugal, offering prayers on behalf of the people through all four seasons. She taught the art of mulberry cultivation and weaving within the palace, donated her monthly allowance entirely to Buddhist monasteries, and guided others toward virtue and goodness.
She bore the emperor’s third son, Yan Song, who was said to take after his mother in temperament — close to the people, concerned for their welfare, and sharp of mind from early childhood. He was later enfeoffed as the Prince of Chu.
Imperial Noble Consort Zhou and the emperor were said to have enjoyed a warm and harmonious relationship, which was spoken of as a touching story within the palace.
In sum, every admirable quality one could name was gathered in the person of Imperial Noble Consort Zhou — a model worthy of all Da Qing women. Pei Shaohuai knew full well that every single sentence in this Chuan Cheng – Chapter was fabricated, for in classical writing there were no punctuation marks, and every word here had been deliberately invented in a spirit of flattery.
The author’s brush was skillful and precise — every sentence carried its own deeper purpose. “A woman of virtue from among the common people, selected through the Ministry of Rites” emphasized the legitimacy of her consort status; “silkworm raising and weaving” emphasized her industriousness and love for agriculture…
Pei Shaohuai said: “This text was written by an official at court — it does not have the style of a civilian scholar.”
“How can you tell, my lord?”
Pei Shaohuai pointed out several passages and explained: “The content of the text is fabricated, yet every date it mentions corresponds accurately to the historical record. Private unofficial histories could not possibly have access to such precise dates.” He even suspected the author was someone within the Hanlin Academy.
Yang Shiyue then produced a thin copy of the Illustrated Exemplars of Female Virtue — this was the version compiled by the Ministry of Rites — with a cover identical to the first copy, differing only in thickness. She said: “The paper stock of these two books is different, yet they are sold at the same price.” Under such circumstances, it was naturally the thicker one that sold better.
The identical covers were designed to create confusion.
The matter touched on the imperial family, on the Prince of Chu, and on the Ministry of Rites and the Xu family. Yang Shiyue was somewhat worried, and softly suggested: “My lord, should we have Father quietly look into this?” Her father, holding a position in the Court of Judicial Review, certainly had the investigative ability to do so.
Pei Shaohuai noticed that his wife’s face showed concern, and immediately realized his own expression had been too grave. He softened it with a smile and helped Yang Shiyue sit down on the couch. He knew that Shiyue was sharp and perceptive, and with the heightened sensitivity of pregnancy, if he did not explain things clearly to her, she would only worry more. It was better to speak openly.
Pei Shaohuai analyzed the situation one point at a time: “This book lavishes praise on Imperial Noble Consort Zhou, but it does not necessarily originate with the Prince of Chu. Back when the heir apparent had not yet been determined, making a great display of Imperial Noble Consort Zhou’s virtuous qualities might have served some purpose. But now, she has been dead for many years, the Prince of Chu is in distant enfeoffment at Yichang Prefecture, and the situation is settled. At this point, promoting Imperial Noble Consort Zhou would only provoke the Son of Heaven’s anger and yield no benefit whatsoever. Why would the Prince of Chu go to such lengths? This affair, then, is a matter of factional strife — not a struggle for power.”
His voice was calm and measured, and what was in fact a very serious matter, the way Pei Shaohuai described it, carried a certain ease.
He continued: “Whoever produced this book must have ulterior motives. By adding chapters and creating deliberate confusion, they have launched a concealed attack on the Ministry of Rites and Senior Official Xu. These last twelve chapters may not have been compiled by the Ministry of Rites, but the line between genuine and fabricated can sometimes be difficult to draw. In the mouths of certain remonstrating officials, it becomes: Senior Official Xu deliberately flattered the Prince of Chu and was disloyal in his service.”
Pei Shaohuai deliberately made no mention of the matter of opening the seas or of Taicang Prefecture, so as not to give his wife cause for worry.
The Taicang Prefecture affair was aimed at his father; the Illustrated Exemplars of Female Virtue affair was aimed at the Xu family. In truth, both were indirect attempts to pressure and threaten Pei Shaohuai.
“Given the existing connection between the Pei and Xu families, it would be better not to have my father-in-law look into this matter,” Pei Shaohuai explained. “If the matter were to blow up, the waters would only grow murkier, and we risk dragging the Yang family down as well — which would be unfortunate.”
This was only part of what he said aloud.
What Pei Shaohuai was truly thinking was this: since the opposing faction had already made moves against his father and against the Xu family, it was all but certain they would make similar moves against the Yang household, the Zhang household, and others. Asking his father-in-law to investigate at a time like this might lead him to walk straight into the opposing faction’s trap.
The opposing faction was lurking in the shadows. All Pei Shaohuai could do was proceed with caution at every step.
Yang Shiyue took her husband’s words to heart, and the anxiety on her face eased. She asked: “What do you intend to do, my lord?”
“I will find a way to quietly inform Senior Official Xu, so that he can prepare his response in advance. As for tracking down the author of these twelve chapters, it is more fitting that Senior Official Xu handle that investigation himself,” Pei Shaohuai replied.
When he had finished, Pei Shaohuai tried to shift the mood to something lighter. He knelt down and pressed his ear against Shiyue’s rounded belly, then asked: “And did you two behave yourselves today and listen to your mother? There will be plenty of time and space to make trouble later — you must be good for these few months. Do you hear me?”
Pei Shaohuai used “you two” because it had already been confirmed that Yang Shiyue was carrying twins.
Her belly was somewhat larger than that of other women at the same stage of pregnancy.
Yang Shiyue laughed at him: “They are not even born yet and you are already disciplining them — what kind of father frightens his children like this? If you ask me, I want them to be a little mischievous.”
Pei Shaohuai looked up, smiling: “Shiyue, you have misunderstood me.”
“Then what is it?”
“I am consulting with them,” Pei Shaohuai said with a smile. “I shall take it that they have agreed to their father’s request.”
He leaned toward the belly again and said: “Since you have agreed to your father’s request, I in turn give you my word — from now on, I promise to give you two far fewer beatings…”
He then said to his wife: “You see? I am having a proper consultation with them. How could this possibly be called discipline?”
“All you have is a talent for twisted reasoning…” Yang Shiyue was coaxed into laughter by her husband, her mood lifting considerably.
……
That night, Pei Shaohuai let Yang Shiyue retire to sleep first, while he went to his study to continue with his work.
The memorial urging the opening of the seas lay spread open on the desk, its characters clear and elegant.
Pei Shaohuai had originally intended to present the memorial to the emperor within the next few days, but now he could see that there was no room to rush — opening the seas affected the interests of far too many people, and moves were already being made against him. He could see it clearly.
If these problems were not resolved, the policy of opening the seas could never truly take hold.
He had been too hasty before.
Pei Shaohuai gathered up the memorial, locked it away in a drawer, and inwardly looked forward to the day he could take it out again.
Then he began to think through his response to the situation.
Outside the door, crickets chirped in broken intervals. Summer was drawing near.
……
The following morning, in the rear courtyard of the Earl’s manor, two rather attractive maidservants were conversing in hushed tones beside the pond.
“Now that she is with child, surely the young master ought to take in a chamber maid?”
“Shh—” the other maidservant was more cautious, and said: “I have heard that the Yang family does not have the custom of taking in chamber maids. Let us not entertain such thoughts… Besides, the young master is the sort of person who, by all accounts, had a very detached temperament even in his student days…”
“This is the Earl’s manor, not the Yang family home. Just because she came through the door without bringing her own chamber maid, does that mean she can block everyone else’s path?” The first maidservant pressed on: “The past is the past. Right now the young master is in the prime of his years — haven’t you noticed the study lamp burning until the third watch every night? This is the perfect opportunity…”
“Perhaps it would be better if we just did our work quietly,” the other maidservant advised. “Nowhere else will you find a mistress as even-tempered as ours.”
But the first maidservant had already made up her mind and could not be talked out of it.
Deep in the second watch of the night, the maidservant made her move. In weather that was nearly summer, she carried a crock of mutton broth toward the study — it was unclear where she had learned such a ploy.
Unfortunately for her, she had not yet entered Pei Shaohuai’s courtyard before she was seized midway by someone sent by the wife of Shen the First. Nanny Shen had long since retired from service, but her two sons still worked for the Pei household. Shen the Second and his family had gone with Pei Bingyuan to Taicang Prefecture, while Shen the First and his family had remained in the capital. The wife of Shen the First was Lin Shi’s person.
The wife of Shen the First came to the woodshed, spat in contempt, and said: “Madam guessed right. No matter how good the household’s reputation, no matter how many times she is taught, there are always those with no sense and no knowledge of proper conduct among the servants.”
She gave the maidservant no chance to explain herself, and had the girl sent that very night to a farm outside the city, there to await Lin Shi’s return and final judgment.
The next morning, as Nanny Chen combed Yang Shiyue’s hair, she said with a smile: “Madam is truly fortunate to have such a wonderful mother-in-law.”
Yang Shiyue nodded, then asked: “There was no disturbance for my lord last night, I hope?”
“It was handled very quietly — the master was not disturbed at all.”
“Good,” Yang Shiyue replied. “My lord has been burdened with official duties of late and is already not getting enough rest. The affairs of the household must not be allowed to distract him… After breakfast, I will go and meet with Steward Zhang and the wife of Shen the First.”
……
Outside the Qianqing Palace, Pei Shaohuai spent a good while waiting in the corridor before he finally “caught” Yan Chengzhao.
Pei Shaohuai shook his head and sighed: “Commander Yan is on duty within the palace, yet has no fixed duty office. Finding Commander Yan for even a brief meeting is truly difficult.”
Then he added with a touch of humor: “When Commander Yan is on duty outside the palace, I fear I could wait all day and not even catch your shadow.”
“Does Censor Pei have a matter to discuss?” Yan Chengzhao asked directly.
Pei Shaohuai nodded. Their eyes met, and both understood immediately. Together they moved to another location for a private conversation.
Since those close to him — family, teachers, and friends — had all been placed under watch by the opposing faction, Pei Shaohuai thought of Commander Yan. The opposing faction likely had not anticipated that he and Yan Chengzhao had a reasonably good rapport.
The matter was neither trifling nor enormous. It would be better to wait until Yan Chengzhao had looked into it and then report to the emperor.
Yan Chengzhao read the book at a rapid pace, taking in the broad strokes. His expression remained calm and composed — clearly he had not found it of great interest. He returned the book to Pei Shaohuai and stated definitively: “The Prince of Chu could not have done this.”
His assessment matched Pei Shaohuai’s own.
“What makes you say so?”
Yan Chengzhao replied with a trace of disdain: “Before the Zhenhai Garrison affair at Taicang Prefecture, when his power and influence were growing and gathering strength, the Prince of Chu still did not dare act so brazenly. Now that he is watched and guarded at every turn, with his carefully woven networks cut away one by one — how much less so.”
Indeed. Once the emperor understood the Prince of Chu’s predatory ambitions, he maintained the outward facade of “brotherly harmony” while certainly not remaining entirely passive behind the scenes.
Pei Shaohuai nodded with understanding, and said with a note of admiration: “So Commander Yan’s quiet disappearance over the past several months was spent accomplishing all of this.”
What Yan Chengzhao had chosen to mention meant the emperor did not mind Pei Shaohuai knowing.
That note of admiration carried a hint of gentle teasing.
Yan Chengzhao replied: “So in Censor Pei’s eyes, I am someone idle and without purpose, drawing a government stipend for doing nothing — free to come and go as I please when on duty outside the palace?”
So Commander Yan was capable of sharp retorts as well.
“Not at all, not at all.”
Back to the matter at hand. Pei Shaohuai asked: “It should not be difficult for the Northern Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate and find out who wrote the last twelve chapters of this book — after all, the matter concerns the imperial family, which falls squarely within the Northern Office’s jurisdiction.”
“Not difficult at all.”
“Then…?”
“Two days,” Yan Chengzhao said.
“I am grateful.”
“There is also something I would like to consult Censor Pei about,” Yan Chengzhao said.
“Please, Commander Yan.”
Pei Shaohuai assumed it would be something related to silver coins, the opening of the seas, or foreign trade.
Instead, Yan Chengzhao’s normally cold and impassive face flushed slightly, and after considerable hesitation he finally spoke, visibly ill at ease: “My wife is suffering from morning sickness — unable to eat a thing day after day. Is there anything I can do?”
Pei Shaohuai was quite surprised — first, because the question Yan Chengzhao had asked was so entirely unlike what he expected, and second, because… the timing was remarkably swift. By his count, Yan Chengzhao and his wife had been married for barely two months.