Li Gu could not say them. Not in the end.
Throughout his life he had pursued doing “the right thing,” and among his principles, being a good husband — sheltering his woman, giving her a sky to stand under — counted as one of them.
And what Xie Yuzhang said was true, word for word.
The three lesser consorts he could set aside, but toward Noble Consort Xian Cui and Noble Consort Shu Deng — Li Gu had not anticipated at that time that he would one day ascend the throne. He had once genuinely regarded both of them as his wives.
“Your Majesty’s sense that you have enough pity to spare for me is only because I have the advantage of having come early,” Xie Yuzhang said. “All told, I also knew Your Majesty earlier than any of them.”
“But in this world, as long as there is a choice, no woman willingly becomes a concubine. The three Noble Consorts and three lesser consorts would never say they are unwilling — because Your Majesty is not a husband, but a sovereign and husband both.”
“I truly count myself fortunate that I am still free, and can still say to Your Majesty, ‘I am unwilling.'”
Xie Yuzhang smiled. “Your Majesty, I am quite content being a Princess. Please take pity on me just this once more.”
She was no longer as guarded as she had been moments before, and a hint of roguish playfulness showed in her smile.
Li Gu said, “You are truly infuriating.”
“Indeed I am,” Xie Yuzhang agreed cheerfully. “Your Majesty has probably seen through me clearly by now — I am exactly this sort of person. Scheming and calculating, greedy, petty, and shameless.”
Li Gu was so annoyed he reached for another cup of tea, only to find it empty.
Xie Yuzhang quickly filled it for him. With the small silver spoon she sprinkled in a pinch of salt, glanced at him, added just a touch more, and placed the cup before him.
Li Gu picked it up and drank. He frowned slightly.
It seemed she’d added too much salt, Xie Yuzhang thought.
But Li Gu drank it all the same. He set down the cup. “You asked me to speak plainly — well, I would like it if you didn’t always keep that impenetrable expression that gives nothing away. Your subject doesn’t know whether Your Majesty is pleased or displeased, and of course speaks carefully, choosing only pleasant things to say. Can I really be blamed for that?”
Li Gu set down the cup. “You understand perfectly well — I would never be angered by you saying the wrong thing.”
Xie Yuzhang said unashamedly, “Your Majesty already knows — your subject dares to be this bold precisely because she relies on Your Majesty’s favor. And besides, your subject said long ago — Your Majesty looks beautiful when you smile, and really ought to smile more.”
Li Gu propped his hands on his knees, looking at her. “I look at you and feel irritated. I cannot smile.”
Xie Yuzhang felt awkward.
The hall was quiet for a moment. Then Li Gu said, “Yuzhang, I had my elder sister placed under house restriction for a month. Consider it my apology to you.”
Xie Yuzhang sighed softly.
Li Gu said, “I know this has wronged you, but my debt to my adoptive father is immense.”
Xie Yuzhang said, “Your Majesty has asked me to speak plainly — I would like to say a few words, if Your Majesty is willing to hear them.”
Li Gu said, “Speak.”
Xie Yuzhang said, “During the reign of the Martial Emperor of the former dynasty, a consort bribed a palace attendant to learn the Emperor’s whereabouts and ‘happened’ to encounter him, seeking his favor. When the Martial Emperor discovered this, he presented that consort with a length of white silk on the spot and had a eunuch strangle her. What the Imperial Noble Consort did yesterday — the scheme she used against me was a lesser matter; what is truly serious is that she monitored the Emperor’s sacred movements and administered a forbidden drug to Your Majesty. These two are the graver offenses.”
“Your Majesty has ruled for three years, and yet the rear palace is still treated as a private household. The rules and protocols truly ought to be properly established by now. How can an Emperor be subjected to such scheming? And by no one — by no one at all.”
Li Gu was silent for a moment, then said, “You are right.”
Xie Yuzhang told him, “This is not a difficult matter. The palace has classical records and precedents to follow for all its regulations. Some may have been burned, but a good number can still be recovered. Both Noble Consort Xian and Noble Consort Shu are daughters of distinguished families — nothing they can’t manage. Your Majesty may assign it to whomever you like; simply ask them to compile and organize the materials.”
Li Gu thought for a moment, then said, “Noble Consort Shu’s child is still small. Let Noble Consort Xian handle this.”
Speaking of children, Xie Yuzhang smiled. “The First Prince is truly a lively little one — one look and you can tell how bright he is.”
Li Gu’s expression softened visibly. “That rascal — always causing trouble. I often have to discipline him.”
There was something different about a man once he became a father — nothing like his younger self.
Xie Yuzhang hid her smile behind her sleeve.
Li Gu watched her curved brows and crescent eyes. His gaze was undisguised, unlike anything he had shown before.
Was the effect of “Spring’s Embrace” still not fully worn off?
Xie Yuzhang pressed her sleeve against half her face. “Your Majesty?”
Li Gu said, “You look beautiful when you smile.”
Xie Yuzhang said, “Your Majesty has a bearing that is truly magnificent and regal…”
Li Gu said, “Speak plainly.”
“Ahem.” Xie Yuzhang said, “Force of habit.”
She lowered her sleeve and said with mild reproach, “When Your Majesty compliments someone, all you know how to say is that they look good.”
Li Gu gave a rare smile, and his posture relaxed. “Yuzhang, this — this is just fine.”
“As for the Imperial Noble Consort — if you don’t enjoy going there, you don’t need to go anymore,” he said.
But just as he finished speaking, he saw Xie Yuzhang’s face light up with undisguised delight, and he paused, then said: “From now on, every last day of each ten-day period…”
He thought again — the first day of each period fell on court assembly day, and those usually ran long — and so changed his wording: “From now on, come see me on the last day of each ten-day period.”
Xie Yuzhang smiled. “Wonderful. I’ll come with Seventh Brother to see Your Majesty.”
Li Gu said, “You are welcome to try.”
Xie Yuzhang faltered, then bit her lip.
Li Gu said, “What are you thinking about?”
Xie Yuzhang recalled him carrying her toward the bed yesterday, arms like iron… She lowered her head slightly. “Nothing.”
Li Gu said, “Yesterday I was affected by the incense.”
Xie Yuzhang said at once, “I never doubted Your Majesty.”
Li Gu said, “Your face says otherwise.”
Thinking back on yesterday, his anger flared again. “I told you long ago — in matters like this, men cannot be trusted. You knew full well I had been exposed to the incense, and you still dared to come into my chambers. Yesterday, had I not retained even the thinnest thread of clarity — whatever I might have done to you, you would have had no one to blame but yourself.”
Xie Yuzhang drooped, looking crestfallen. “Your Majesty is right. It’s only that Yuzhang trusted Your Majesty’s character.”
Li Gu said, “I am a man, not a saint.”
Xie Yuzhang bit her lip. “The fact that Your Majesty still let me go yesterday — in my heart, you already are.”
Li Gu laughed despite himself. “Are you insulting me?”
Xie Yuzhang startled, and quickly said, “I’m complimenting Your Majesty!”
Li Gu gave a low sound of dismissal, then said, “For recommending those people — what do you actually want as a reward?”
He took one look at Xie Yuzhang’s bright, darting eyes and said with ill temper: “No speaking plainly means no reward.”
Xie Yuzhang had no choice but to swallow all the flattery she’d been preparing to say, and said, with a begrudging honesty: “I want some land.”
Li Gu said, “Your farm estates aren’t enough? I told them to select the best for you.”
“That’s precisely it — they are too good,” Xie Yuzhang said. “The estates Your Majesty gave me are all cultivated land, complete with tenant farmers already in place. There is nothing I need to do myself. But there are still many people who followed me back from Mobei, and I cannot find a good place to settle them. I found land, had houses built for them, and identified some plots I wished to purchase — only when I looked into it, I found that the land belongs to Your Majesty.”
Yunjing had passed through years of war and strife. Many of the prominent, well-established families had perished in the fires of conflict, and vast tracts of land in the capital region had lost their owners — eventually all concentrating into the Emperor’s hands.
Li Gu said, “For something this small, you need only come and tell me.”
Xie Yuzhang said, “If I came to tell Your Majesty, Your Majesty would certainly just grant it to me outright. One should not accept reward without merit.”
Li Gu raised an eyebrow. “Don’t put yourself in the category of a subject.”
Xie Yuzhang said, “Your subject holds an imperial title and commission — of course I am a subject.”
Li Gu said, “Yuzhang, stop being stubborn. You know full well — in my heart, you are different from the rest.”
Xie Yuzhang looked at him. Her eyes were clear as still water. “Your Majesty is different in my heart too. Only, many things — it is not about what I want, but what I ought to do. Your Majesty treats me well, and I understand that clearly. Otherwise, how would I dare be so presumptuous? I even struck Noble Consort Shu’s brother.”
At the mention of Deng Jiu, a flash of fury crossed Li Gu’s face. There was probably not a man alive who could have swallowed that insult easily.
Xie Yuzhang said, “I heard the matter concerning Hongwen Institute was called off — it gave me quite a fright. That had originally been settled between me and Noble Consort Shu, and all of a sudden I was anxious again.”
“She is very reasonable,” Li Gu said. “You don’t need to worry.”
“Indeed,” Xie Yuzhang said, nodding approvingly. “Noble Consort Shu’s character — she has real backbone.”
“But Your Majesty need not worry about me. As I’ve said before — if anything happens, I will come charging into the palace to find Your Majesty myself. Since I haven’t come running to you, that naturally means I can handle it on my own. I’ve made it through Mobei — Deng Jiu and his sort are nothing but a handful of pampered young idlers. Your Majesty need not lose your temper over it.”
Li Gu was silent for a long moment. “I always want to do something for you, but always feel my hands are tied.”
Xie Yuzhang said, “Of course — Your Majesty is now the supreme ruler. A single careless move, and countless people are left guessing at Your Majesty’s intent. Take just this one occasion — Your Majesty sent an imperial envoy to reprimand them. For the past several days, who knows how many households have been trying to figure out what it all means. It’s only fortunate that those dissolute young men had indeed committed all manner of reckless offenses before — otherwise, people might have traced it back to me.”
In truth, every one of those involved, once they understood what had truly happened, had been so terrified their courage shattered, and none dared breathe a word of the real story to anyone. They had each cobbled together some excuse to feed the curious, and only in that way had the public been put off the scent.
Li Gu was just about to speak when there was movement outside.
Both of them looked over. Liang Chen appeared again, stepping quickly forward with a bow, bringing good tidings: “Your Majesty, congratulations — the imperial physicians have just diagnosed Noble Consort Xian as with child.”
Li Gu was very pleased. “Reward them. Reward them generously.”
Liang Chen accepted the order and went out to give instructions.
Xie Yuzhang clasped her hands together with a smile. “Congratulations, Your Majesty. The imperial family is soon to welcome another.”
She considered for a moment, then said, “Perhaps the matter of the inner palace regulations should be set aside for now — Noble Consort Xian really cannot be overburdened at a time like this.”
Li Gu said, “Then you handle it.”
“Oh?” Xie Yuzhang thought it over, and said with pleasure, “Very well then. Since Your Majesty trusts your subject, your subject will certainly not fail you.”
She was visibly far more at ease playing the role of a subject than the role of a woman. Li Gu, however, was no longer angry with her, and found he preferred seeing her speak her mind freely in front of him like this.
Xie Yuzhang rose from the couch. “Your Majesty should go and visit Noble Consort Xian. Your subject will go and look in on Fuchun.”
Li Gu frowned. “What do you want to see him for?”
Xie Yuzhang sighed. “There are not many old hands left in the palace. Those who lived through former times — any who survived Huang Yungong’s uprising — I hope they can all carry on and fare well.”
Li Gu said, “Don’t bother.”
But he called for Liang Chen all the same, and instructed, “Have the imperial physicians attend to Fuchun.”
Liang Chen was moved to gratitude on the spot, and knelt in a full bow: “This servant thanks Your Majesty for your mercy.”
Xie Yuzhang rose and took her leave. “Your Majesty, remember to issue a written decree for your subject when you have a moment.”
Li Gu said, “The last day of every ten-day period.”
Xie Yuzhang curtsied, and said with sweet obedience, “Not even thunder and rain could make me forget.”
Still not speaking plainly. Li Gu was left without words.
Xie Yuzhang left the palace and let out a long breath.
A new point of balance had been found. Only, the distance between the two of them had been pulled closer by force — going forward, she would need to be even more careful in managing the line.
The Emperor ultimately still wanted her to be a woman in his presence, but — all things considered, it was still better than what had nearly happened yesterday.