Mu Chun was no longer the old Mu Chun. He knew Fengtian Hall wasn’t the Marquis Xiping residence, and the merit reward ceremony was solemn – even the imperial seal had been brought out. This wasn’t a place where he could act wildly.
It was true that Their Majesties doted on him, but their affection wasn’t without principles. Prince Qin had made grave errors and was still demoted to commoner status and exiled to the frontier as a soldier.
Therefore, though Mu Chun was so angry his soul nearly left his body, he couldn’t indulge his temper and have a fierce fight on the spot with Wang Ning, who had deceived both his heart (calling each other brothers) and seen his body (coming out to pour water while bathing)!
At this moment, Mu Chun’s desire to beat up Wang Ning was as fervent as his father Mu Ying’s desire to beat him up.
Mu Chun knelt in the southwest corner, finally waiting for his turn.
Emperor Hongwu spoke almost identical words, only changing the name to “Mu Chun” and the official position to “Commander of the Left Imperial Forest Guard,” a first-rank official leading an imperial guard unit in the palace, stationed at the Eastern Five Residences where the princes lived.
This showed trust and favor.
Mu Chun called “Long live the Emperor” three times, received the decree, and expressed gratitude.
Emperor Hongwu’s face showed satisfaction as he carefully examined Mu Chun, sighing to his assembled officials: “Our family’s son has grown up.”
After the reward ceremony, there was the customary banquet. All officials kowtowed in thanks and accepted the feast. During the banquet, Mu Chun wore a smile while toasting others, but inwardly plotted to find a chance to slip away, enter the palace, and explain the Wang Ning situation clearly to Sister Shanwei – this matter could no longer be hidden.
Sister Shanwei would be angry and heartbroken. Would she ignore me from now on…
Mu Chun despised Wang Ning and signaled his trusted followers Centurion Shi and the newly appointed Centurion Chen Xuan to ply Wang Ning with alcohol – these two bandits had also been granted centurion ranks for their military achievements.
Bandits never had poor alcohol tolerance. Centurion Shi and Chen Xuan knew that following Mu Chun meant good food, so they pulled Wang Ning into drinking contests.
In Fengtian Hall, besides Mu Chun’s mental explosion, Huang Weide, who had come to “deliver the treasure,” was also extremely shocked.
Huang Weide knew Wang Ning.
On Hu Shanwei’s first day in the palace, she had been responsible for the body search inspection. At that time, Hu Shanwei was dressed shabbily – even the rough servant maids in the palace laundry bureau dressed better than her. She didn’t even have a bundle, carrying only an iron military tag, which left a deep impression.
Hu Shanwei was a “waiting widow” – most people only knew her fiancé had died in battle, but she never mentioned her past to colleagues. Female officials who entered the palace at the flower of their youth each had their own hardships and reasons, tacitly not speaking of them or asking about them, rarely discussing such topics.
But the name on the military tag was Wang Ning. Huang Weide was Hu Shanwei’s student and paid more attention to details than others. She guessed this person should be her fiancé.
Was this Earl Yongchun Wang Ning the same Wang Ning from the military tag? Was it just a coincidence?
Huang Weide’s heart was full of doubts. After the merit reward ceremony ended and the banquet began, the treasure officials packed up the imperial seal and carried it back to the palace.
After putting away the imperial seal, Huang Weide hurried to Kunning Palace to find Hu Shanwei, to tell her that someone with the same name as her fiancé had just been granted the title of second-rank Earl Yongchun.
But the palace personnel at Kunning Palace told her: “Clerk Hu has been ordered by Her Majesty the Empress to go to the front court to summon Lord Mu for an audience.”
With her godson returning triumphantly, Empress Ma had been thinking of him constantly. Figuring the reward ceremony was over, she ordered Hu Shanwei to go summon him.
Hu Shanwei was now a sixth-rank Clerk, equivalent to the Empress’s mouthpiece. Delivering imperial decrees and running errands was part of her duties.
Huang Weide realized she was a step too late and hurried to catch up, but Hu Shanwei was young and exercised daily with boxing and staff practice, walking briskly. She had already left through Longguang Gate toward the front court.
Huang Weide was out of breath, watching helplessly as Hu Shanwei’s red skirt hem disappeared beyond Longguang Gate.
The front court and rear palace were separated by only a gate wall, but entering or leaving without permission was a capital offense. Palace personnel could not step foot in the front court without orders. Huang Weide had just gone to the front court to “deliver the treasure,” but with her task completed, she had no reason to leave the palace again.
Huang Weide consoled herself: There are thousands upon thousands of people named Wang Ning in the world. I hope I’m just overthinking this.
Meanwhile, at the Fengtian Hall banquet, Centurion Shi and Chen Xuan flanked Wang Ning, pressing drinks on him. Wang Ning was nearly drunk under the table when Mu Chun seized the opportunity to approach the imperial presence: “Your Majesty, this subject wishes to pay respects to Her Majesty the Empress.”
Emperor Hongwu was in high spirits today and waved his hand grandly: “Go ahead. The Empress has been thinking of you too.”
With the Emperor’s permission, Mu Chun slipped away from the banquet. Wang Ning was deeply scheming – though appearing drunk on the surface, he remained actually clear-headed, secretly watching Mu Chun.
Seeing Mu Chun slip away, Wang Ning pretended urgent need for the toilet, clutching his stomach: “I’ve drunk too much and can’t hold it. I need to visit the latrine.”
Centurion Shi and Chen Xuan had received orders only to pour drinks, nothing else, so they let Wang Ning go, planning to continue plying him when he returned.
Once Wang Ning left the banquet, his gaze immediately cleared as he followed Mu Chun.
Fengtian Hall was northeast of Longguang Gate. Hu Shanwei walked along the stone-paved road when suddenly a small pebble hit her skirt hem, rolling to the edge of her shoe.
Hu Shanwei was startled. This was Mu Chun’s habitual way of greeting her. From her first day in the palace, he had thrown pebbles at her skirt, and once given her a pair of shoes.
Hu Shanwei turned toward the direction of the pebble and saw Mu Chun standing under the corridor of a side hall.
He was thinner, darker, and taller, wearing bright red court robes with a seven-beam crown on his head.
He had returned.
Returned alive. He had accomplished his mission and was now promoted to a first-rank military official.
I too had accomplished my mission, promoted to sixth-rank Clerk.
Indeed, worrying, praying to gods and Buddhas, vegetarian diets, and charitable deeds were all useless – doing one’s own work well was most important.
Hu Shanwei smiled: “You’re back? Her Majesty the Empress summons you.”
Seeing Hu Shanwei’s smile, Mu Chun felt his heart cut like a knife as he walked step by step toward her.
She wore black official boots, purple official robes, a jade belt, and a black gauze hat. She wore no earrings or any ornaments – only the red silk skirt beneath her purple official robe indicated her feminine identity.
Naturally unadorned, she was more beautiful than in memory, brilliant as the bright moon. After half a year apart, her gaze was increasingly confident and determined, not inferior to those meritorious officials and generals at the reward banquet.
She was happier, more confident, and stronger than before. It was time to tell her about Wang Ning.
Mu Chun gathered his courage: “Sister Shanwei, actually Wang Ning he—”
“Shanwei.” A voice from behind interrupted Mu Chun’s words.
Hearing this voice, Hu Shanwei’s body trembled violently, plunging from warm April into the depths of winter.
“Sister Shanwei!” Mu Chun grasped Shanwei’s hand. Her hand was so cold, like an ice person who would crack with spider-web fractures and fall into pieces with the slightest touch.
Seeing the mixture of compassion, pity, and regret in Mu Chun’s eyes, Hu Shanwei instantly understood everything. Mu Chun was saying something, but Hu Shanwei seemed to have gone deaf, hearing nothing.
Zhao Wuniang’s song from “The Lute Song” echoed in her mind:
“In these barren, unfertile years, with my husband so far away and not returning, my anxious parents-in-law growing impatient, and my weak, helpless self alone.”
The former Hu Shanwei seemed to return – so desperate and helpless.
No, I am not Zhao Wuniang. I am not that Zhao Wuniang who pinned all her hopes on her husband.
Hu Shanwei broke free from Mu Chun’s hand and slowly turned around.
It was Wang Ning.
He wore the same bright red court robes, with a seven-beam cicada crown – one jade cicada more than Mu Chun’s seven-beam crown. Living in the palace, Hu Shanwei was familiar with ministers’ court attire. Seven beams were worn by first-rank officials or above, and if the seven-beam crown was topped with a jade cicada, that indicated an earl, marquis, or prince consort.
She had never heard of a prince consort named Wang Ning, so Wang Ning must have been granted earl or marquis rank.
Whether earl or marquis, both outranked her sixth-rank Clerk position. Hu Shanwei performed the proper etiquette for meeting a superior: “Congratulations on Lord Wang’s promotion.”
Wang Ning saw Hu Shanwei in official robes for the first time. She was more beautiful than before and seemed to have grown taller. She held her spine straight, and those official robes fit her like armor on a warrior – perfectly suited.
She was still that Hu Shanwei, yet no longer that Hu Shanwei.
In midnight dreams, he had countless times dreamed of his fiancée sweetly calling him “Ning Lang.”
But meeting in reality, she only politely and formally called him “Lord Wang.”
“Ning Lang,” “Lord Wang” – the two voices alternated in his mind. It was as if his heart had been torn out alive and ground to pieces inch by inch. Wang Ning staggered back two steps as if struck by a devastating blow.
The feelings remained. The heart was already broken.
Seeing Hu Shanwei’s reaction, Mu Chun thought: After three days apart, one should look at someone with new eyes. The current Sister Shanwei was even stronger than before.
This is my Sister Shanwei!
Mu Chun felt both proud and heartbroken: “This is Earl Yongchun Wang Ning, whom His Majesty just enfeoffed. During the northern expedition, Earl Yongchun saved me, and I also saved Earl Yongchun – we’re even. Sister Shanwei, I was wrong. I actually learned from Xu Zengshou long ago that Wang Ning hadn’t actually died, that he had changed his name and identity to work as a spy in the Northern Yuan, but I—”
“I understand.” If Hu Shanwei had no anger, that would definitely be false, but in Wang Ning’s presence, she couldn’t explode on the spot. She only spoke in official language: “If the ruler is not discreet, he loses his state; if ministers are not discreet, they lose their lives; if affairs are not kept secret, harm results. He didn’t even tell his own mother the truth about faking his death. This matter must involve state secrets – the fault is not yours.”
To maintain his cover in the Northern Yuan, Wang Ning had severed contact with everyone, including his widowed mother. Between loyalty and filial piety, between loyalty and love, he had chosen loyalty.
The former Hu Shanwei would have blamed him for being heartless, wailing that he wasn’t the right man for this life. But the current Hu Shanwei, serving as a female official in the palace, had different experiences and understood the dilemma between loyalty and filial piety, loyalty and love.
Regardless, a man who chose loyalty deserved her respect and that of the world.
He was worthy of the word “hero.” It was just that being his family or lover would be very painful.
“Right, right, Sister Shanwei is absolutely right – if ministers are not discreet, they lose their lives.” Mu Chun nodded repeatedly, pointing at Wang Ning accusingly: “This Earl Yongchun is quite wicked – he watched me bathe and even slept with me, calling each other brothers. I nearly lost my virtue.”
Hu Shanwei: “…”
This fool, his trip to the Imperial Academy was wasted! All those books in my family were read for nothing! This “losing virtue” is not that “losing virtue” – that’s not how this phrase is interpreted!
Wang Ning hastily said: “I didn’t, I’m not, I didn’t do it. I accidentally saw the poem on the fan with your name as the signature. I just wanted to get news about you from him.”
Strangely, with this fool Mu Chun beside them taking things out of context and speaking nonsense, Hu Shanwei felt her heart didn’t hurt quite so much. Her hands gradually warmed, and sensation returned to her whole body. She said: “You’ve now seen with your own eyes that I’m well, having entered the palace as a female official. Earl Yongchun, I still need to escort Lord Mu to an audience with Her Majesty the Empress. I take my leave.”