Just by finding the right spot, Wang Daxia instantly turned into Wang Dameow, making cat-like crying sounds.

The bed curtains were instantly filled with the scent of photinia flowers. Wang Daxia was so embarrassed he buried his head in the pillow and wouldn’t come up.

Wei Caiwei pushed at him. “Get up, go boil water. I need to bathe. I have to cut the little prince’s hair tomorrow.”

Wang Daxia felt too ashamed to face anyone and asked in a muffled voice through the pillow, “How do you know so much?”

Wei Caiwei said, “I’ve read extensively in medical books and know the human body like the back of my hand. In books there are houses of gold, in books there are beauties like jade. Unlike you – when was the last time you read a book?”

Wang Daxia couldn’t remember – it was a very, very long time ago anyway. If I’d known reading had this use, I could have become the top scholar!

The next day, Wei Caiwei dressed in official robes and, as a palace lady official, went in Shang Zhaoyi’s name to cut the hair of the newborn in Prince Yu’s mansion.

The little prince’s fetal hair had grown thick from birth, and after growing for over two months, it had become ear-length short hair. In the dry winter air, each strand of fetal hair stood up like Sun Wukong on the opera stage.

Wei Caiwei waited until the little prince was sound asleep, then held up the razor and shaved off all the fetal hair, leaving him a little bald head. Then Prince Yu carried his son’s fetal hair to the Ancestral Temple to offer sacrifices to the ancestors, announcing that he had an heir and begging his ancestors to bless this child to grow up safely.

As for anything else, he dared not hope for too much.

According to protocol, when an imperial grandson is born, besides the hair-cutting ceremony, there should also be congratulations from all officials and announcements throughout the realm, but all of this was waived due to Emperor Jiajing’s taboos.

The hair-cutting ceremony, delayed for over a month, was finally completed. On the day of the hair cutting, Prince Yu’s mansion held a great feast for guests, celebrating the child’s belated full-month banquet. This child finally had official status.

With the mother honored through her son, Prince Yu also petitioned the Imperial Clan Court to enfeoff Li Jiubao as a consort.

Wei Caiwei went to Yunde Palace to report back, saying that Prince Yu’s whole family would remember Shang Zhaoyi’s assistance this time.

Shang Zhaoyi looked at the gloomy sky: “If this child has good fortune, then let heaven send sweet dew according to the planchette prophecy. His Majesty believes in this.”

That night, strong north winds arose. First came hail, large as chicken eggs, small as rice grains, then came sleet – truly heaven-sent sweet dew that drove away the dust storms.

When the hail was falling, the ice pellets knocked against the windows with loud banging. Shang Qinglan was attending the Emperor and, hearing the sound, hurriedly ran to push open the window. A gust of cold air carried hail crashing in.

“Be careful not to get hit on the foot.” Emperor Jiajing pulled his excited, jumping consort over and closed the window.

Shang Qinglan acted coquettishly: “The windows have been closed for almost a month – I’m suffocating! Open it, I want to breathe the outside air.”

Emperor Jiajing waited until it turned to sleet before ordering the windows opened. Both wore thick fox furs and stood side by side by the window listening to the rain and snow.

Shang Qinglan said, “The planchette was really accurate – heaven truly sent sweet dew.”

After the death of his milk brother Lu Bing, there was no one who enjoyed his complete trust anymore. Emperor Jiajing became even more suspicious, but everyone needs a spiritual pillar, so he became increasingly dependent on divination and heaven’s will.

He held Shang Qinglan and revealed a secret he’d kept in his heart for years: “I once established two crown princes. When my eldest son was just a month old, I made him heir apparent and doted on him immensely, but he died after just over two months. The other was my second son. When his mother was pregnant, she dreamed of an immortal in star crown and feathered robes carrying an immortal child to deliver a son, and indeed she gave birth to a boy.”

Shang Qinglan thought: Everyone knows His Majesty believes in this – that’s why people deliberately say such things to please him. Just like how I used the planchette excuse to reveal that Prince Yu’s mansion had a little prince. Everyone has weaknesses, even the Son of Heaven.

Emperor Jiajing looked at the wind and snow filling the sky, recalling painful past events: “Of all my children, I loved him most. From childhood he was intelligent and filially pious, preferring quiet to noise, disliking luxury. At such a young age he was already pure-hearted and ascetic – truly a banished immortal. I worried he was too young to bear such fortune, so I waited until he was three and properly established before making him crown prince. At that time, the magician Tao Zhongwen warned me that two dragons cannot meet – if they meet, disaster will surely follow. He advised me not to establish a crown prince so early.”

“But I was already over thirty then, and the court ministers were anxious for me to establish an heir to secure the state foundation and stabilize the realm, so I made him crown prince. When he grew to thirteen and was to begin formal education, I was impatient and decided to hold his capping ceremony before he began his studies. After capping, he would be considered an adult man. Tao Zhongwen again advised me that the crown prince was still young and shouldn’t have his capping ceremony so early – it could wait until he was fourteen or fifteen, before selecting a crown princess.”

“I loved the crown prince too much and was too satisfied with him. I felt that at that time, I could hand over the Daming realm to him without regrets. In the heat of the moment, I didn’t listen to advice and insisted on capping him. The result…”

By the end, Emperor Jiajing’s nose was blocked and his throat seemed choked by something, unable to speak.

Having been in the palace for three years, Shang Qinglan naturally knew what happened next.

The crown prince’s capping ceremony was held on the fifteenth of the third month, with Chief Minister Yan Song assisting and Second Minister Xu Jie reading the imperial edict. On the sixteenth, civil and military officials congratulated him outside the Gate of Heavenly Purity, celebrating the crown prince’s capping.

For these two days the crown prince’s health was fine with nothing unusual, but at dawn on the seventeenth, the crown prince suddenly fell ill. When the imperial physicians consulted, they couldn’t diagnose anything. Medicine was ineffective, and within a day he was critically ill.

That night, the crown prince suddenly got up from bed, bowed toward the palace where Emperor Jiajing was, and said “Your son departs!” Then he sat in meditation on the bed and passed away, only thirteen years old.

Only now did Shang Qinglan understand that regarding the crown prince’s death, the magician Tao Zhongwen had warned Emperor Jiajing twice, so afterward Emperor Jiajing firmly believed that “two dragons cannot meet.” No matter how ministers advised, he resolutely refused to establish another heir.

In his later years, with a weak body, he didn’t even want to see his sons and grandsons. With two consecutive crown princes dead, when two dragons meet, one dragon must die. Previously when the sons were young, they were fragile while the father was strong, so it was always the “little dragons” – the sons – who died.

Now the old emperor was weak, having become an old dragon, while Prince Yu was the elder, physically robust, and had just had a son – clearly he was a young, disobedient, unruly great dragon.

If two dragons met, obviously the weak, long-impotent old dragon would die.

The old dragon didn’t want to die.

Even having lost his only trusted milk brother Lu Bing and sitting alone on the imperial throne, he was willing to endure it!

He’d rather cry on the dragon throne than die.

Moreover, the old dragon had found new spring, nourished by love’s moisture. His consort was only seventeen years old – the old emperor was even more reluctant to let go.

Only at this moment did Shang Qinglan understand the old emperor’s true thoughts – simply put, he was afraid of death.

Who isn’t afraid of death? Shang Qinglan was afraid too, and she also feared having no support, feared that after her current favor she’d die old and alone in a cold palace. How glorious now, how miserable later.

So, Your Majesty, it’s not that I don’t like you anymore – I just need to pave my own future path. I’m going to live a long, long time, and I want to keep living these good days forever, comfortable for life.

On this wind and moon night, by the window, an old husband and young wife shared the same window but different dreams.

Goose feather snow drifted in from outside the window, landing on Emperor Jiajing’s eyebrows and melting. On his face, one couldn’t tell snow-melt from tears as he missed his lost crown prince and blamed himself for not heeding Tao Zhongwen’s advice.

Shang Qinglan took out a handkerchief to wipe the moisture from the old emperor’s face: “Crown Prince Zhuangjing was born after his mother dreamed of an immortal carrying an immortal child – clearly he was a god reincarnated, naturally pure-hearted and ascetic from childhood, different from us mortals. Immortals descending to earth all come to undergo tribulation. After tribulation, they naturally ascend and resume their places among the immortals. Your Majesty shouldn’t be too sorrowful. Look at the night sky – perhaps Crown Prince Zhuangjing is watching you right now.”

Emperor Jiajing looked in the direction Shang Qinglan indicated: “Beloved consort speaks truly. Life in this world brings many hardships. Even being emperor brings endless troubles – it’s better to be an immortal. I practice cultivation diligently, hoping that in future I too can transcend the mortal flesh like Crown Prince Zhuangjing and ascend to immortality.”

Shang Qinglan wrapped her arms around Emperor Jiajing’s waist and buried her head in the emperor’s embrace: “Your concubine’s thoughts are selfish – I hope Your Majesty can live a hundred years and stay in the mortal world to accompany me longer.”

Emperor Jiajing stroked his consort’s waist-length hair: “Naturally. You are my only earthly attachment.”

Shang Qinglan thought: Actually, it’s the dragon throne, isn’t it? But as a favored consort, one cannot puncture the emperor’s lies. Moreover, one must appear to believe the emperor.

Shang Qinglan acted coquettishly: “Your Majesty mustn’t go back on your word. If the snow is thick tomorrow, accompany me to build a big snowman, and I want to roast meat in the snow to eat.”

Emperor Jiajing indulgently scraped Shang Qinglan’s nose: “I’ll do whatever you wish.”

Because the planchette prophecy of heaven-sent sweet dew proved accurate, although Emperor Jiajing still feared the newly born little prince and didn’t give him a name or order official congratulations, to show compliance with heaven’s will, the next day he announced the birth of Prince Yu’s little prince to the world.

Announcing to the world was much more significant than hair cutting. Hair cutting was held only at Prince Yu’s mansion, but announcing to the world meant publishing in the official “Court Gazette” printed by the Daming Office of Transmission. The “Court Gazette” was equivalent to a newspaper, published periodically with important official documents. Local officials learned about recent court events through the “Court Gazette.”

So the news that Prince Yu’s mansion had been blessed with a heaven-sent unicorn child who brought sweet dew to the capital troubled by dust storms immediately spread nationwide, known throughout the realm.

This naturally included the Yan father and son in Jiangxi and Prince Jing far away in Anlu, Hubei.

With the little prince’s birth, Prince Yu had become the uncrowned crown prince. This was bad news for the Yan father and son and Prince Jing.

Yan Shifan took the latest issue of the “Court Gazette,” still fragrant with printer’s ink, to show his old father: “Father, the people we secretly sent to court Prince Yi have repeatedly shown favor, but the imperial family keeps the feudal princes like pigs – they’ve all been spoiled, understanding nothing but pleasure, not daring to have ambitions. Prince Yi has been evasive and won’t give a straight answer. He just waits for us to seize the throne for him so he can move his rear end to the dragon throne in the capital, unwilling to contribute anything, just wanting free meals.”

“I think we still need to cooperate with Prince Jing. Prince Jing has ambition and methods, and is willing to listen to us. Hubei and Jiangxi are close – we just need to clear away a few obstacles, then we and Prince Jing can work together.”

After Yan Song read the “Court Gazette,” seeing that Prince Yu enjoyed popular support and now had a son while Prince Jing’s household of wives and concubines hadn’t even produced a county princess, making him even more removed from succession, he felt it was time to act: “Then proceed according to plan. Do things cleanly without leaving evidence or clues. Wang Daxia is with the Embroidered Uniform Guard – the most troublesome bastard to deal with.”

By the eleventh month, even Jiangxi had snow. Wang Qianhu took leave and, while the river hadn’t yet frozen, hurried aboard an official ship with his son, heading for the capital.

When the official ship reached Wuhu, snow was falling heavily when they encountered two ships that looked like fleeing pirate vessels.

The pirate ships fired cannons at the official ship. Wang Qianhu ordered return fire.

On the broad waters of the middle and lower Yangtze, the three ships fired at each other but all missed, hitting only the river water.

Wang Qianhu ordered: “Don’t get entangled with them. Turn the ship around – we’re returning to Jiangxi to gather the water forces for encirclement. We can’t let these pirates break into Jiangxi.”

His advisor said: “If we don’t leave now, even if the river doesn’t freeze, the Grand Canal will probably freeze, and we’ll miss the young master’s wedding.”

Wang Qianhu said sternly: “Military affairs are naturally more important than weddings! Hurry back!”

Just as he finished speaking, the ship’s hull made a violent sound. The captain hurriedly ran over saying: “The ship’s bottom has been blown open by infiltrated spies – we’re taking on water. The big ship is sinking. Everyone quickly change to small boats to escape!”

Author’s Note: This story is a bit hard on fathers. We could call it the “Fathers’ Worry Alliance.”