At the third watch of the afternoon, while the Imperial Music Office musicians played “Shuhe” at the field’s edge, Li Yuangui had just parted from Crown Prince Li Chengjian and was walking to his seat in the viewing tower.
At the corners of the large bamboo mat, the young servant A Chen and the maid Fen Dui, dressed in men’s clothes, had prepared water and fruits. Li Yuangui’s throat felt parched and burning, and he hurriedly drank a bowl of cold water to quench the fire. Since the end of yesterday’s funeral ceremony, he had barely rested or eaten.
He didn’t even know why the task of “preparing the polo field” for the Tuyuhun prince and his uncle had fallen to him again. Thinking back, the Emperor had initially called his eldest son Chengjian to handle it, as this match was still related to the Crown Prince’s “Tuyuhun assassin” assignment.
Then Li Chengjian summoned his fourteenth uncle Yuangui, claiming it was inconvenient for him to go around talking to people himself, merely giving orders while dumping all the legwork on his young uncle.
Li Yuangui had initially thought the polo match would be held at the field behind Zixu Temple, as that location was readily available. But Li Chengjian said, “Foreign envoys will all come to watch, that field is too small, and it’s inconvenient being inside the imperial garden.” Li Yuangui found his tone and expression peculiar and secretly wondered if His Highness the Crown Prince simply didn’t want so many outsiders disturbing the place where he had first found love.
Besides the Zixu Temple polo field, where else would be suitable? Li Chengjian thought for a moment and specified a location: “Outside Duke Guo of Guan Yang Gongren’s residence, they built a new polo field in May, go see if it’s suitable. It’s also close to the Imperial City, convenient for watching.”
Li Yuangui had no choice but to follow the Eastern Palace’s orders, braving the heat to rush to Duke Guo’s residence. Duke Guo, Special Deputy Yang Gongren was the son of former Sui Dynasty’s Prince Guan Yang Xiong and the half-brother of Fifth Prince Consort Yang Shidao and Princess Dehua Yang Guanniang. Yang Xinzhi—Murong Nuoheba—was his nephew by marriage, so holding the match at his house was quite appropriate.
Duke Guo’s residence was also in Xiuxiang Ward, extremely close to Wanshan Nunnery where Empress Xiao and Imperial Consorts of Zhou and Sui had taken their vows, and Cihe Nunnery where Yang Buyao had secluded herself, separated only by East Cross Street—the temples to the south, the duke’s residence to the north. The Yang family had many members, and earlier this year they had demolished a street-side stable and converted it along with the courtyard into a polo field for entertaining relatives and friends.
The field was built evenly, and most notably could be viewed from all four sides. The north side had a three-story tower where noble lords could sit and overlook the entire field, quite splendid. After inspecting it, Li Yuangui explained his purpose to Yang Gongren. The nearly seventy-year-old Duke Yang naturally agreed, calling his household steward to let Li Yuangui make arrangements.
He stayed busy at the Yang residence until dark, finally completing all the security arrangements for the Emperor’s viewing presence. The next morning he received another message from the Eastern Palace:
The Empress would also bring the ladies of the court to Xiuxiang Ward to watch the match.
Li Yuangui nearly spat blood… When the Empress left the palace, not only did security need to be tight, but they also had to consider the separation of inner and outer courts, propriety between men and women, and palace etiquette. With no choice, after the night curfew lifted he rushed back to Duke Guo’s residence. After inspection and discussion, they decided to close both ends of East Cross Street for the carriages. The Empress and court ladies would enter Wanshan Nunnery and ascend its northern tower to watch the polo match across the street.
He was very puzzled. Palace talk said the Emperor Emeritus’s funeral had exhausted the Empress terribly, her jade constitution was poor, and yesterday she couldn’t even attend the funeral ceremony to pay respects. Moreover, his sister-in-law Lady Changsun had always been dignified and quiet, avoiding public appearances. Why would she suddenly want to leave the palace to watch a polo match?
When the sun rose high and Li Chengjian hurried over from the Eastern Palace to direct arrangements, he finally learned from his nephew that the Empress mainly wanted Princess Dehua Yang Guanniang—whom the court had decided to re-title as “Princess Xihai” and grant the surname Li—to see her son’s heroic bearing on horseback and take the opportunity to properly advise her on how to nurture the people and serve the Great Tang after going to Tuyuhun.
“The task of finding the Tuyuhun prince that had you running around for so long was arranged by my honored mother,” Li Chengjian told his young uncle bluntly. Li Yuangui accepted this completely without argument.
The key figure who had caused his failure was former Sui Empress Xiao, who had refused to tell the truth to him and Chai Yingluo but readily revealed everything to Empress Changsun. Now Empress Xiao usually resided at Wanshan Nunnery across the street and would receive and attend the Empress’s party in the afternoon. Li Yuangui hoped the old woman would slip on the stairs, at least break a leg, or better yet fall to her death.
“The Empress wants Princess Xihai to see her son win,” he asked Li Chengjian, “but how can we ensure Yang Da—Nuoheba wins on the field? Yesterday I already reported to Your Highness that Yang Xinzhi is not skilled at polo—”
“Why are you worrying about this? Too much free time?” the Crown Prince interrupted, “When His Majesty personally arranges it, how could he not win?”
“Did they tamper with Prince Zun’s horse?” Li Yuangui ignored his nephew’s harsh words and continued speculating, “Or with Prince Zun’s food and drink…”
Li Chengjian rolled his eyes heavenward: “You think His Majesty is as underhanded and devious as you? I interrogated that Prince Zun kid at Sifang Pavilion yesterday afternoon—he’s inseparable from the white horse he chose, eating and sleeping together. He won’t even drink plain water, only eating fresh whole melons he cuts himself—he’s being cautious too!”
“Ha?” Li Yuangui couldn’t help but laugh, “That’s strange indeed—if he’s so clever, why did he act like a fool, abandoning his comfortable position as Crown Prince in his own country to sneak into Chang’an and cause trouble?”
After saying this, he realized something was wrong—it seemed he was insulting someone… right to their face…
Li Chengjian glanced at him but showed no anger, only giving a cold laugh: “When you’re not in that position, you don’t know how it feels. Think being Crown Prince is so great? After interrogating that kid for half a day, I envied him a bit. At least in his life, he got to live true to his heart once!”
Uncle and nephew chatted casually while inspecting the polo field inside and out. According to Li Chengjian’s account, in the first half of last year when Tang and Tuyuhun relations soured, Khagan Murong Fuyun had sought a marriage alliance for his son Prince Zun, requesting a Tang princess in marriage. It was normal for Chinese and barbarian states to alternate between fighting and negotiating, so the Tang Emperor went along with the marriage proposal but set the condition that Tuyuhun Crown Prince Zun must come to Chang’an in person to receive the princess.
Murong Fuyun wasn’t stupid and naturally refused, ending the marriage negotiations. However, this news caused waves within Tuyuhun. Although Prince Zun was born to the current Tibetan Queen, he was much younger than his elder brother Murong Shun, and some tribes were already unhappy with a younger son usurping the elder. Nomadic tribes traditionally admired warriors and despised the weak. When people within the country spread rumors saying Prince Zun was cowardly and afraid to go to the Tang capital to marry a Chinese princess, the young Prince Zun flew into a rage and determined to go to Chang’an to “accomplish great deeds to prove his courage.”
His parents naturally wouldn’t agree, so Prince Zun conspired secretly with his trusted Fushi City’s Great Sabao, Kang Sumi’s brother, and with his help, brought a few confidants to sneak into Chang’an. Tuyuhun’s government and tribes were loosely organized—Prince Zun found an excuse to be away for a long time before his parents realized something was wrong and hurriedly sent people to pursue him… Li Yuangui knew what happened after that.
Come to think of it, Prince Zun could be considered a contributor to the Tang army’s conquest of Tuyuhun. His parents’ elite guards were repeatedly sent out to chase and serve him, drawing away nearly half their forces, leaving those remaining even more powerless to resist General Li Jing’s army. So this was also a story of a willful son bringing disaster upon his parents…