Ci He Buddhist Nunnery was located in Xiu Xiang Ward, not far from Minister Wei Zheng’s residence in Yong Xing Ward – both in the northern part of Chang’an’s Inner City. The troublesome part was that between these two wards lay the massive Imperial City and Palace City.
Wei Shubin rushed to the gate of Ci He Temple, jumped onto her horse, and galloped eastward along Kai Yuan Gate Street. At the Three Bridges over the canal at the corner of Fu Xing Ward, east of Xiu Xiang Ward, some mansion was under construction, with carts hauling earth and timber blocking two of the bridges, leaving only one for pedestrians and horses to pass.
Wei Shubin could only slow her horse down, desperately wishing she could sprout wings and fly across. She wondered if she could use her palace entry token to break through An Fu Gate, gallop across Heaven Street, and exit through Yan Xi Gate to reach home directly…
Though she entertained these thoughts, she wasn’t quite so bold. Instead, she had to first head south along Fang Lin Gate Avenue, circle the east-west street outside the Imperial City’s Vermillion Bird Gate, then head north again. Panting heavily by the time she reached home, she jumped off her horse and ran straight to the inner chambers. She saw household members rushing about in panic with towels, combs, and medicinal broths, but thankfully heard no crying or saw any grieving expressions.
Lady Pei lay in bed, her face as white as wax, breathing weakly. Chai Yinglu was inserting and manipulating needles at various acupoints on her body. Seeing Wei Shubin enter, she breathed a sigh of relief, and after the mother and daughter had greeted each other, she said, “Ah Bin, I’m relieved you’re here. Today I was supposed to attend court at Li Zheng Hall by imperial decree, but I came here first when your mother’s condition became urgent – don’t worry, the hemorrhaging has slowed and is nearly stopped. Your mother isn’t in immediate danger; careful nursing will see her recover.”
Wei Shubin had studied medicine with her at Purple Void Temple for several months but had only gained some knowledge about identifying herbs, brewing decoctions, and verifying prescriptions. Acupuncture required high precision in identifying points and understanding meridians, which she had never practiced. Seeing Chai Yinglu getting ready to leave, she hurriedly begged her to stay. The Daoist priestess comforted both mother and daughter at length, swearing that Lady Pei was past the danger point and would recover with proper care, but the Li Zheng Hall was urgently summoning her and she couldn’t delay any longer, and so she finally took her leave.
Before leaving, she instructed Wei Shubin to refer to the prescriptions for “Crab Claw Decoction” and “Fragrant Fermented Soybean Decoction,” making adjustments as she saw fit, and to supervise the servants in brewing the medicine for Lady Pei. Her father wasn’t home at this time – Minister Wei had said early on that he had official business at the Department of State Affairs and would take leave to return after completing it. Her younger siblings were too young to know what to do, so Wei Shubin had to steel herself to fulfill her role as the eldest sister, directing the household staff while carefully tending to her sick mother.
Her mother had given birth to another son, and the baby boy was healthy and robust with a strong cry. Wei Shubin only glanced at him once before ordering the wet nurse to take him away for feeding, as she urgently needed to find herbs and brew medicine.
For the “Crab Claw Decoction” and “Fragrant Fermented Soybean Decoction,” most ingredients were fine, but “crab claws” and “deer antler” were two items particularly hard to find – servants would have to search for them at the large herbal shops in the Eastern Market. As for donkey hide gelatin, though commonly available in the market, the quality was often poor. Most noble households who needed it for childbirth kept their stock, but her family had just run out, and she worried about finding good quality on such short notice.
The next day, someone from Purple Void Temple arrived, precisely delivering these three medicinal ingredients to their household, for which Wei’s mother and daughter were naturally grateful again for Chai Yinglu’s thoughtfulness. When word spread that Minister Wei’s wife was confined to bed after childbirth, the wives of Fang Xuanling, Wang Gui, Du Zhenglun, Hou Junji, and other families they frequently associated with all came to visit. There were also subordinates and admirers of Minister Wei who came to pay their respects and offer congratulations – too many to count.
Wei Shubin was busy day and night, attending to her mother inside and receiving guests in the hall, with the only benefit being that her father couldn’t find long quiet periods to lecture his daughter. Minister Wei was also extremely busy with official matters during this time, as there was an urgent backlog of government affairs that needed to be reviewed and dispatched after the Emperor Emeritus’s mourning period had ended. He would often leave early for court and return home late under the stars and moon.
After many days passed this way, one day Minister Wei returned home from his duties earlier than usual. While visiting his wife and child in the inner chamber, he mentioned that “the diplomatic mission to Gaochang departed yesterday,” causing Wei Shubin to let out an involuntary soft cry of “Ah!” Both parents turned to look at her, and her father began a long lecture with a stern face, mainly criticizing Special Envoy Prince Wu Yuan Gui for being “young and reckless, pursuing lofty ambitions without understanding the common people’s hardships.”
He was still focused on Li Yuangui requesting to go beyond the frontier to marry a princess in Gaochang. In Minister Wei’s view, the Prince of Wu was going to serve as an inside agent for his brother, the current Emperor, looking for opportunities to provoke a war between the two countries, thinking only of expanding territory and gaining fame, with no regard for the people’s welfare. Wei Shubin just listened without responding or talking back. Her mother, who had recovered somewhat after a few days of rest, smiled and interrupted her husband:
“When I hear you criticizing Prince Wu this way, it sounds exactly like how you criticize His Majesty – truly worthy of being brothers… It’s good that young people have ambition. I’m just concerned about him and Ah Bin – what should we do about them in the future?”
“What is there to do about it?” Wei Zheng replied irritably. “He’s going to be Gaochang’s prince consort now – what more connection could there be with our family! Listen here, when you’re better, quickly look around again to see whose son might be willing to be your son-in-law!”
“No!” Wei Shubin burst out, “I will either marry Young Lord Fourteen or follow Master Shangzhen to practice the Dao – there will not be a third path in this life!”
Her father slapped the bed in great anger and shifted his target to berating his daughter. Fortunately, after just a few sentences, someone announced from outside that Crown Princess Su had come to visit Minister Wei’s wife.
Su Lingyu’s arrival was sudden – though her carriage procession was grand with many escort riders and she brought several loads of congratulatory gifts, one could see the preparations were hasty and not completely in order. Wei Zheng withdrew, and Wei Shubin went out to welcome and guide the Crown Princess to meet her mother in the inner chamber. Su Lingyu repeatedly apologized for “coming late and being so abrupt and discourteous.”
It turned out she had been attending to her mother-in-law Empress Chang Sun at Li Zheng Hall every day. The Empress had fallen ill from the summer heat in the palace gardens and had been seriously sick for several days. Under the careful treatment of the court physicians and female officials like Chai Yinglu, she had only just begun to improve in the past two days.
Just this morning, she heard that Minister Wei had added a son to his family. The Empress ordered her daughter-in-law to come to offer congratulations on her behalf and bestowed items for the child’s third-day celebration. Su Lingyu dared not be negligent, and without sending anyone ahead to announce her visit, she had gotten ready and come directly by carriage.
The Empress’s bestowals were no small matter. Lady Pei couldn’t fail in courtesy either and ordered her daughter to help her get up to properly receive the gifts. The serving maids and nurses brought Wei Shubin’s new little brother for the Crown Princess to see, and the group of women chatted and played with the baby for a while.
Seeing Lady Pei’s complexion worsening, Su Lingyu firmly made her lie back down, saying “I’ll just have a few more words with your daughter before leaving – Madam need not stand on ceremony, we’ll have plenty of time for future visits.”
Wei Shubin had also been wondering how to have a private word with Su Lingyu, and the Crown Princess saved her the trouble by suggesting “Let’s take a walk outside.” She led her friend to under the apricot tree in the courtyard, and after checking that no one was around, Su Lingyu held her hands and asked:
“Ah Bin, while at Li Zheng Hall, I seemed to hear people discussing that the Empress’s illness this time had something to do with the Princess of Hai Ling. Could it be related to what you told me before, about the Princess of Hai Ling carrying the Crown Prince’s illegitimate child? What happened after that, do you know?”
Uh… this… Wei Shubin thought guiltily that she had started a momentarily satisfying but false rumor…
Now she knew the truth, and it involved the Emperor’s private matters which absolutely shouldn’t be spread around. But the person asking wasn’t just anyone – as Crown Princess and future Empress, Ah Yu was closely connected to this messy affair and had already been misled by her. Rather than let Ah Yu continue stumbling forward in confusion, shouldn’t she clarify the truth as soon as possible?
Lowering her voice, she explained to her friend as briefly as possible the origins of the child in Yang’s womb. Su Lingyu listened quietly, her eyes clear as autumn water, showing neither joy nor anger, as if listening to someone else’s family matter.
“So that’s how it was.” After hearing Wei Shubin’s explanation, the Crown Princess let out a light sigh and asked: “How did you come to know so much about this?”
Wei Shubin’s face reddened, only saying “I went to ask Princess Yang directly” and refusing to say more. Su Lingyu didn’t press her, sighing: “No wonder a few days ago when I privately asked Master Shangzhen, she just told me to come ask you, saying you might know more details than her. She also told me to advise you to stop getting involved in this matter – you’ve already entangled yourself and your family too deeply.”
“My family?” Wei Shubin was startled. Su Lingyu nodded: “Have you forgotten that your father was also a former palace official? Back then he was in the Eastern Palace every day, advising the former Crown Prince on how to suppress and undermine the current Emperor… Princess Yang was the Princess of Qi back then, so you could say they were all on the same side. Though the Emperor and Empress don’t dwell on old grudges, it doesn’t mean they’ve completely forgotten them. Don’t bring trouble to your whole family.”