“So when Noble Consort Yin used a forged decree to send you to Ganye Temple during mourning to attend Yiniang’s wedding, you agreed because it was a Chai family matter,” Wei Shubin asked softly. “Of course, also because Seventeenth Sister was in Yin’s custody… otherwise, knowing your temperament, Fourteenth Prince, you would have rebelled right there in Da’an Palace.”
Li Yuanji smiled bitterly, looking down at his palm. The east and west windows of this thatched cottage had holes without shutters, with only broken reed screens to block the wind in cold weather, making the room very dim. He sat half-perched on the edge of the kang, barely able to make out the calluses at the base of his right palm – marks that all warriors bore from years of drawing bows and wielding swords.
“You know, I was born the year His Majesty took Luoyang. I grew up hearing stories of the battle at Hulao, capturing the two heroes… I always thought if I worked hard at martial arts, and studied military texts and strategy, when I grew up I could be like Second Brother and my cousins the Princes of Rencheng and Huaiyang, leading troops into battle and achieving eternal glory… When I grew up, I realized it wasn’t like that at all. No one cared about martial skills or strategy – they were completely useless…”
His hand clenched into a fist. He dared not raise his head to look directly, afraid he couldn’t hide the moisture in his eyes:
“At the end of last year, I accompanied my brothers on a hunt. We had a good catch, and His Majesty even patted my back in praise. That evening, Mother summoned me. I saw her eyes and face were swollen – she’d been crying heavily. When I asked what happened, she wouldn’t say, only told me to stop showing off my skills and to take care of my sister… No matter how I asked, Mother wouldn’t explain. It was very late when I took my leave to return to the Seventeenth Prince’s quarters. Just as I reached the Da’an Hall doors, something felt wrong. I went back to ask again, wondering if that wretch Yin had bullied my mother and me again… When I pushed open the door, Mother was already hanging from the beam… It was too late to save her…”
Through tear-blurred eyes, he heard the young lady sigh: “So that’s what happened…”
So that’s what happened. He later asked around and learned that his mother had indeed been summoned by Noble Consort Yin that night, who spoke to her, and upon returning she gave those final instructions to her son before hanging herself. He had always known his mother was driven to death by that wretch Yin, but never understood what leverage was used to force his mother into such a desperate situation that suicide was her only option.
Until that night when he led the Tuyuhun assassins to raid Da’an Palace and kidnapped Noble Consort Yin. In the watchtower, that evil woman laughed and cursed him before her death:
“Your behavior is just like your real father’s – born with a violent, rebellious nature… That slave Zhang would rather hang herself than tell her son the truth… Bastard, born lowborn… Do you know why I sent you to Ganye Temple, to attend the wedding of Crown Prince Jiancheng’s daughter? Wanted to fulfill your flesh and blood obligations… Do you know why Yiniang died…”
At the time, the situation was urgent, and afterward, he was busy fleeing and searching for his sister, so he hadn’t given it much thought. After arriving at the Pei estate, he spent most of his time waiting for news, with many moments of solitary silence, and these words would surface repeatedly, howling and screaming in his turbulent heart.
“I… don’t even know… who I am…”
These things he hadn’t even told Yang Xinzhi, but now he haltingly told Wei Shubin everything. His mother had never told him about her time as a palace maid in Noble Consort Yin’s quarters. He only knew it lasted about a year, during which his mother became pregnant with him, and was confirmed to be carrying a male child, and afterward, mother and son moved to live in the palace quarters.
In the third year of Wude, the Great Tang was still in its early days. The Emperor used Wude Hall as his sleeping quarters, with Prince Qi Yuanji living in the rear courtyard of Wude Hall, Crown Prince Jiancheng in the Eastern Palace, and Prince Qin’s family in Chengqian Hall. These palace quarters were connected day and night, and it wasn’t… very difficult for the three elder princes to visit the imperial concubines’ residences.
Those two years, the Crown Prince and Prince Qin were still on good terms, and there were no rumors about Consort Zhang or Noble Consort Yin committing adultery, but… who knows? In the third year of Wude, all three brothers had times when they were in and out of the capital. Counting the months, any of them could have possibly…
“Fourteenth Prince,” the young lady sitting cross-legged on the kang leaned forward, one hand supporting herself on the mat, moving closer to him, her voice soft, “In my view, you needn’t worry about these things. Whether it’s true or not, who it is or isn’t – what difference does it make? The imperial clan register records you as the Emperor Emeritus’s fourteenth son, the current Emperor’s young brother, a descendant of the Li clan of Chengi in Longxi. Who would dare question it?”
Li Yuanji raised his eyes to look at the young lady’s blurry, swaying face as she continued speaking, her voice soft but firm:
“Even Yin… the Yin woman’s own words had contradictions that couldn’t be reconciled. She spoke of violent rebellion, then of flesh and blood loyalty between you and Yiniang – however you think about it, these can’t be reconciled… In my opinion, she was just crazy with anger at the time, speaking without thought, saying whatever would hurt you most. Why take the words of a mad woman seriously?”
If it were only Noble Consort Yin’s ravings, it truly wouldn’t matter. But… before that, many years ago, he had vaguely heard similar things from the old palace servants around his mother:
“…Would have been better to leave Noble Consort Yin’s quarters earlier, that place was filthy… Fourth Prince dragging First Prince off to drink, getting drunk and causing trouble indiscriminately, not caring about rank or status, simply unbearable to watch… Poor Fourteenth Prince…”
“Stop thinking about it!”
A clear, crisp rebuke, with hints of Princess Pingyang’s mother-daughter commanding presence. Minister Wei’s eldest daughter, who had stayed for a time with the Zixu Temple abbess, grabbed Li Yuanji’s sleeve and pulled his hand over, demanding his full attention:
“Everyone involved is already gone – First Prince, Fourth Prince, your mother, Yin, even your father the Emperor Emeritus doesn’t have many days left… What’s the point of dwelling on these past events? Are you too idle? Your sister Seventeenth Princess is still missing, we’re all fugitives unable to return home, there are the Hu merchants and foreigners, General Cheng, the Emperor, and the Crown Prince’s family… There’s so much to be done, why not think more about how to handle these matters?”
Compared to these important matters, who my birth father is doesn’t matter at all, is that it…
Li Yuanji smiled bitterly as he gazed at her. Their faces were very close now, the young lady’s brows furrowed, her lips pursed slightly in an angry curve. Perhaps because of the recent burn, her cheeks were very red, her lips even more crimson as if painted with rouge, glowing softly in the darkness.
“Shubin…”
He didn’t know if these words had left his lips or were just murmurs in his mind. Within the earthen walls, atop the brick kang, the mellow scent of wine and ethereal notes of a flute intertwined.
Her lips trembled slightly, but she didn’t pull back, nor did she close her eyes. Her black pupils sparkled with shyness and uncertainty… and, true beauty.
“Fourteenth Prince!”
From beyond the reed wall, Yang Xinzhi’s loud shout came through like thunder from another world, shattering the sweet sanctuary into which he and Minister Wei’s young daughter had briefly escaped.
Note: The burn treatment prescription Li Yuanji mentioned appears in “Sun Zhenren’s Essential Emergency Formulas Volume 78”: Treatment for burns: 40 pieces of gardenia, 5 liang each of bailian and scutellaria. These three ingredients are crushed and simmered with 5 sheng of water and 1 sheng of oil until the water evaporates. Remove the dregs, wait until cool, then apply to wash away the toxins, allowing the flesh to heal.