Traveling to the western frontier vassal state for a marriage alliance.
Li Yuanxu opened his mouth, staring blankly at Wei Shubin who had collapsed on the ground, doubting what he had just heard.
Well, in recent dynasties, there have been many instances of marriage alliances with barbarian vassal states. Although most involved princesses from the royal family were bestowed titles and sent for marriage, there were also cases of daughters from prominent ministers and chancellors like Wei Shubin posing as princesses… Even earlier in the Han Dynasty, there were palace maids sent for marriage alliances… However, there had never been a case where a woman voluntarily requested to be sent for such an alliance.
Life in the frontier territories – with their sandstorms and deserts, yurt dwellings, raw meat and blood consumption, dairy and roasted food… Though the crude living conditions were one thing, the most unbearable aspect was that Han princesses had to endure the barbarian customs of the northwestern tribes where sons inherited their fathers’ wives and brothers inherited their deceased brothers’ wives. Often, one woman had to serve multiple khans across generations, and their children had no proper lineage ranking. In recent times, whenever the court selected a woman for a marriage alliance, her family and friends would weep endlessly, considering the pain of separation greater than death.
Yet Wei Shubin had just petitioned the Emperor directly, volunteering to serve as a princess for the marriage alliance, and wed far beyond the frontier.
Li Yuanxu couldn’t help but look up at Chai Yuluo sitting opposite him. So earlier when she was speaking privately with Wei Shubin in the courtyard, she was instigating this… Clearly, he wasn’t the only one thinking this, as the Emperor sitting before the screen also spoke:
“You’re volunteering to go west for a marriage alliance? This is strange – how did you, a mere girl, know that the court was discussing candidates and preparing for a marriage alliance with the vassal state?”
The Emperor’s gaze also swept toward Chai Yuluo. The Daoist priestess maintained a serious expression, sitting properly with her hands on her knees and eyes downcast in meditation. She had received the Empress’s order to escort Wei Shubin home – if she was found to be secretly defying orders and interfering, the punishment would be severe.
“Your humble servant is terrified… Prince Wu informed me… that the court had matters with the Tuyuhun and would arrange a marriage alliance…”
This!
Li Yuanxu, suddenly splashed with this accusation, was momentarily dumbfounded, staring wide-eyed at Wei Shubin who was lying to implicate him. The young woman remained prostrate on the ground with her head bowed, trembling. Her hair bun was somewhat disheveled without the veil, making her appear pitiful and miserable.
He looked again at Chai Yuluo; the Daoist priestess remained perfectly calm and still.
“…Fourteenth Uncle, you’re willing to help with Miss Fen’s matter, aren’t you? Even if it means bearing some guilt?…”
Her earlier question outside the hall suddenly flashed through Li Yuanxu’s mind. In an instant, the young prince understood.
“Your servant was improper in discussing and speculating about the western frontier situation and marriage alliance matters with Miss Wei,” Li Yuanxu bowed to the Emperor in apology. “If there are consequences for leaking secrets, let me bear full responsibility.”
This is truly wrongful death, the young prince lamented internally. He didn’t even know about the court’s plans to select a woman for marriage alliance – how could he have leaked this to Wei Shubin?
Well… actually, he wasn’t completely unaware. Over the past couple of months, while moving about the palace, he had indeed heard quite a bit about Tang forces engaging with the Tuyuhun in sporadic conflicts and negotiations, alternating between confrontation and discussion of marriage ties. From what he knew, the Tuyuhun Khan was seeking a princess in marriage for his crown prince from the Great Tang. The Emperor had ordered their crown prince to bring betrothal gifts and come to Chang’an personally for the wedding, but the Tuyuhun Khan wasn’t foolish enough to agree, so the marriage alliance topic had been dropped.
Given that this concerned important military and state affairs, how could he possibly discuss such matters with an outsider like Miss Wei? Normally speaking, if they were selecting a princess for a marriage alliance, Chai Yuluo as the Emperor’s granddaughter would be more likely, or even more terrifyingly…
“You children!” The Emperor snorted through his nose, then turned to call behind the screen:
“Empress, what do you think about Miss Wei volunteering herself for the marriage alliance?”
A bout of coughing came from behind the screen.
Li Yuanxu and Chai Yuluo both anxiously stared at the large screen. Wei Shubin’s action was openly defying orders, expressing her determination to be banished to foreign territories rather than being sent home for an arranged marriage, greatly disrespecting Empress Zhangsun’s face. If the Empress became furious about this and insisted on sending her home, it would be a very normal reaction…
After the coughing subsided, the hoarse female voice from behind the screen was full of weariness and fatigue:
“I leave it to Your Majesty’s discretion…”
Li Yuanxu let out a breath. As long as the Empress relented, there was still room for maneuver in this matter. Wei Shubin, still prostrate on the ground, also choked once, then her head tilted and her whole body went limp as she fainted.
The Emperor frowned, and Chai Yuluo quickly rose to support the fallen young woman, pressing her philtrum and patting her face while saying to the Emperor: “Your Majesty need not worry, Miss Wei has been cold for too long and was also anxious, causing her to briefly lose consciousness. After a few days of warm care, she will recover. I await your orders – where should she be sent?”
She was asking whether they should still follow the Empress’s order to send Wei Shubin directly home. The Emperor waved his hand in frustration: “Whatever you think best, just quickly take her away for treatment.”
Chai Yuluo acknowledged the order and helped carry Wei Shubin out of the hall with palace maids. Li Yuanxu was wondering if he should also excuse himself to follow them when his imperial brother the Emperor turned to him with a more serious tone:
“Fourteenth Brother, you’ve reached the age to manage elephants, yet you still treat important military and state affairs as child’s play? Don’t you have any sense of what should be heard and passed on, and what shouldn’t be discussed and gossiped about with women? Our troops are fighting and bleeding against the Tuyuhun at the frontlines – is this meant for your children’s casual conversation and amusement?”
This anger seemed somewhat inexplicable, but Li Yuanxu could only repeatedly bow his head in apology. After a long string of “I deserve death,” he took the opportunity to bring up an old topic:
“Your servant wishes to don black armor and join the battle at the frontlines, spilling blood on the battlefield in the Western Seas to atone for this crime…”
Simply go and crush the barbarian state of Tuyuhun, incorporating it into Tang commanderies and counties – then the entire marriage alliance topic wouldn’t need to be mentioned again, and all the women around him would be safe – he thought this plan to eliminate the root of the problem was quite brilliant. At the end of last year, he had similarly petitioned the Emperor to join the military campaign.
At that time, the Emperor and Empress had decided to conceal the death of his birth mother Consort Zhang, and wouldn’t even allow him and his Seventeenth Sister to wear mourning clothes. They had specially summoned him here to the Lizheng Hall for consolation. When Li Yuanxu first brought this up, the Emperor responded with a roll of his eyes:
“What wild imagination. You aren’t afraid of tripping over your tongue.”
“Our Li clan of Longxi has been a military family for generations, with male descendants learning archery and horsemanship from childhood. Your servant is already sixteen, fortunately, come of age…” He stole a glance at the Emperor’s expression, gathering the courage to speak his heart: “When Your Majesty followed the Emperor Emeritus in Hebei and the Three Jin regions to suppress rebels and establish the empire, you were also this age. Though your servant dares not compare himself to the sacred ruler…”
“Stop with this nonsense. When I led troops into battle as a prince during the Wude years, I always carried the title of Grand Marshal. Do you also want to lead troops into battle? Fine!” The Emperor slapped his desk, “Should we ask the old Military Director who’s just returned to retire again, and give his position as Grand Commander to you, this child? Take six armies of over a hundred thousand troops to climb mountains and cross waters to destroy another nation – I dare to assign this task, but do you dare accept it?”
“Your servant has no such intention!” Li Yuanxu was truly startled – he had never dared to have such thoughts, “Your servant knows he is young and inexperienced, lacking training. I request to serve under the Military Director’s banner as one of the three guards, holding a halberd to serve and learn, or to lead a unit of fifty soldiers as a military captain, charging into battle and scaling city walls. Beyond this, your servant dares not think of anything else.”
He felt his wish was completely straightforward and proper. It was tradition for young men from noble Guanlong families to enter battle. Since their Longxi Li clan’s rise during Western Wei under the first Tang Duke Li Hu, every generation had young men who died in battle at sixteen or seventeen. The Emperor before him had also fought among thousands of troops at sixteen or seventeen, following their father in campaigns east and west during the Wude era, always accompanied by brothers and nephews like Yuanji, Daozong, Daoxuan, and Daoyan.
Take this current Tuyuhun campaign – among the six armies, the two commanding generals, Military Commander Li Daozong of Shanzhou Route and Military Commander Li Daoyan of Chishui Route were both younger cousins who had fought their way up with the Emperor. During the Wude era, both had already been enfeoffed as princes, yet still served in Prince Qin’s command, attending to his needs when inside and leading charges in battle when outside – no one found anything improper about it. If Li Yuanxu wanted to follow their example, why couldn’t he?
“Very well, I won’t obstruct your brave and ambitious spirit,” the Emperor smiled. “You can turn left outside the door, go to the Central Secretariat’s Political Affairs Hall, find Military Director Li, and ask if he’s willing to take you as a personal guard attendant. Let a noble prince like yourself announce the night watches, patrol his tent, tuck in his blankets, and empty his chamber pot every night – if Military Director Li agrees, I’ll issue an edict letting you join him in the campaign against Tuyuhun.”
Li Yuanxu drew in a sharp breath, thinking of that humble, modest, seemingly speechless old general in the Political Affairs Hall, and felt he didn’t even have the courage to go ask – upon hearing such a “death-by-embarrassment” request from the Emperor’s own brother, Li Jing the Military Director would probably immediately claim his leg condition was acting up and pack up to retire to his hometown.
“If you’re not comfortable asking the Military Director directly, I have another way,” the Emperor’s expression grew more serious. “Do you think only inexperienced youths like you yearn for the glory of expanding territories and gaining battlefield fame?”
Ah… who else wanted to go to war? Li Yuanxu stared blankly at him, waiting for what came next.
“Isn’t your Second Imperial Brother, the Great Tang’s number one general, more qualified than you to go to war?” The Emperor slapped the table and sighed heavily. “When the Western Seas campaign strategy was decided, I said I would personally lead the army. And what happened? The ministers of the Political Affairs Hall lined up to submit daily memorials against it. Fang Xuanling silently dragged the old and ill retired Military Director out to take the blame, and even the Empress advised me that an emperor shouldn’t go to war lightly. Just as you can’t go to war, I can’t go either! If you have the ability, go convince the court and the people to support my campaign to the Western Seas, and I’ll take you along as my guard – how’s that idea?”
…Your Majesty, may your servant cry? May I spit in your face…
“In your youthful impetuousness, you’ve only heard of the glory and honor of victory announcements and triumphant returns. You children, born in the deep palace and raised among women, how could you endure the hardships of crawling through ice and snow, eating grass and drinking blood, let alone the constant mortal danger of having your head hanging by a thread?” the Emperor admonished. “In the several years of bitter fighting to establish the dynasty, how many of our royal relatives and in-laws died? The former Fifth Imperial Son-in-law Zhao Cijing and Prince Huaiyang Daoxuan were both skilled in archery, horsemanship, and martial arts, far superior to you, but when their time came, they couldn’t be saved. In your hot-headed eagerness for battle, have you thought about the Emperor Emeritus in the Da’an Palace?”
Li Yuanxu held back repeatedly, but still couldn’t help mumbling under his breath: “The Emperor Emeritus has twenty-two sons, he won’t miss just one…”
“Nonsense! Go back and copy the Classic of Filial Piety twenty times, and properly attend to the Emperor Emeritus!”
That day’s petition ended with him being sent back to Da’an Palace to copy scriptures. Later he heard indirectly that the Emperor had praised him to others, saying “Fourteenth Brother has natural talent and admirable ambition, it’s truly a pity he was born too late – if he could have fought with me a few times during the Wude era, we could have trained another capable military commander.” Because of this, Li Yuanxu hadn’t completely given up hope.
Two months later, when he brought up the topic again, the Emperor maintained the same attitude:
“This matter is not up for discussion! Just two years ago when your pampered children went to your fiefdoms, you couldn’t even handle wind and rain on the journey. When Eighth Brother died outside, the Emperor Emeritus was grief-stricken, and I bore the guilt of being unfilial – what a great sin I carried! Yet you still want to go to war? When the drums and gongs sound and thousands of troops charge, with arrows falling like rain from the sky, you’d die of fright alone!”
“Your servant will personally petition the Emperor Emeritus, making clear that going to war is my own willful decision…”
“Nonsense, who would believe your words?” the Emperor sneered. “If someone wanted to spread rumors about discord between my brothers and me, who would care what a mere child like you said? To put it plainly, which is more important – your ambitious aspirations, Fourteenth Brother, or my reputation for filial piety and brotherly devotion?”
…Your Majesty, you’ve already killed your brother and forced your father, yet you still care about your reputation for filial piety…
“However, Fourteenth Brother, your dedication to participating in the Tuyuhun campaign does show your patriotic spirit,” the Emperor suddenly changed his expression, stroking his chin in contemplation. “For a young man just coming of age to have such lofty aspirations, I shouldn’t discourage your spirit…”
Seeing the Emperor’s sword-like eyebrows and phoenix eyes curve into a smile, Li Yuanxu immediately tensed up. From his limited experience, this kind of smile was not a harbinger of anything good.
“The case of the Princess of Linfen is temporarily concluded, and I must withdraw that discretionary edict I gave to Wei Zheng, however…”
“Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough…”
The coughing from behind the screen always came at such opportune moments. The Emperor waited for his wife to finish coughing, then cleared his own throat:
“Fourteenth Brother, I have another task for you.”
“Your servant humbly awaits your instructions.”
“The current Tuyuhun Khan Murong Fuyun has a legitimate grandson who is lost somewhere in the Central Plains. This grandson is crucial to our military campaign against the Tuyuhun, no small matter. Go find this grandson for me.” The Emperor spoke with complete seriousness.
“Your servant…” Li Yuanxu wasn’t quite sure, “would like to hear the details?”
“As for the details, Wuji knows them. Have him explain everything to you later,” the Emperor said while rolling up his sleeves to write. “This grandson might still be in Chang’an. You’ll have to go door to door, mobilizing the Three Departments and Six Ministries, and the street patrols to search slowly. Don’t be lazy or negligent. If you discover anything, you can come to report to me in the palace immediately.”
As he spoke, he quickly wrote another piece of yellow paper and handed it directly over. Li Yuanxu hurriedly shuffled forward on his knees to receive it, glancing briefly to catch only a few phrases like “Prince Wu” and “act with discretion” – it seemed identical to the investigative edict given to Wei Zheng a few days ago regarding the Princess of Linfen case.
An investigative edict for the Princess of Linfen case…
The Empress insisted on concluding the case, using her illness as leverage. The Emperor, unwilling to argue with her, outwardly agreed, that the edict given to Wei Zheng would certainly be withdrawn. Yet he used this deceptive method, writing a new edict for Li Yuanxu right in front of the Empress…
“Don’t take this new task lightly,” the Emperor warned him. “Murong Fuyun’s legitimate grandson has a complicated background and is key to instigating internal strife among the Tuyuhun crown prince and princes and supporting our army’s advance. I give you three months, Fourteenth Brother. If you can’t find this grandson, prepare to impersonate him yourself and spend the rest of your life by Qinghai Lake!”
[Vol 2 – Chapter note: The text explains that “It was tradition for young men from noble Guanlong families to enter battle. Since their Longxi Li clan’s rise during Western Wei under the first Tang Duke Li Hu, every generation had young men who died in battle at sixteen or seventeen.”]