“Why is it like this?” Yun Shou asked Li Xiang in confusion.
“There’s a source for this. The rule belongs to the imperial family, but it wasn’t established by them. I heard it’s to prevent us from being led astray by feminine beauty and abandoning our lofty ideals. It was established by those old fellows from Chengying Hall. Be careful—they’ve established extremely many rules, reportedly a full seventy-six regulations. Now is precisely the time of perfecting them, so be careful in the future.” Li Xiang lifted his robe and sat in the chair, looking at Yun Shou’s limp appearance, couldn’t help but voice a warning.
“I’m not an imperial prince. In the future, I’m definitely going to be a great general. It’s best to be as far from home as possible, just like my father went to the ends of the earth where no one could find trouble with him.”
“Don’t you miss your mother?” Li Xiang glanced at Yun Shou.
“Do you know or not—when parents are far away, you miss them in your heart. When they’re close, you want to run away. Look at me now—I very much miss my father and want to be far away from my mother.”
“These words aren’t wrong. ‘Close brings disrespect, distance brings resentment.’ The books have already explained it clearly. Why did you come to my house today? I know you didn’t come to see me. Yan Rong accompanied my father to the palace—you won’t see her.” Li Xiang casually responded to Yun Shou. “Do you know this person Li Yifu, the Chamberlain of the Inner Palace?”
Yun Shou thought for a moment and said: “I know him. He’s my father’s student. I heard he’s quite remarkable. My father generally doesn’t praise people, but he once mentioned this Li Yifu in front of me—he must be an extraordinary person. What about it? You’re only Prince Changshan. Right now you don’t yet have the qualification to establish a household. Recruiting worthy talent this early will invite trouble.”
“It’s not me who wants to recruit him. My father is preparing to ask this person to serve as Crown Prince’s Gentleman of the Caparisoned Horse, because my father once consulted him about how to get my mother out of the Cold Palace. You don’t know—my mother is pregnant. If she remains in the Cold Palace, something might happen. I want to go find him to ask if I can help in any way.”
Yun Shou shook his head and said: “My father told me before that your mother’s situation can only be left to take its natural course—absolutely cannot be forced. Otherwise, the consequences will be even more serious. My father won’t be wrong, so you should just practice your calligraphy well. If we have an opportunity, we’ll secretly go see her. No one can say anything about this—out of filial piety, there won’t be trouble. But it’s limited to this. Wanting to use external force to make the Emperor Grandfather yield is a pipe dream. My father said moving Mount Tai is easy, shaking His Majesty’s mind is difficult.”
Li Xiang said irritably to Yun Shou: “Every other phrase is ‘my father,’ every other phrase is ‘my father.’ Can’t you have some ideas of your own?”
Yun Shou laughed and said: “My father’s ideas are correct. Why would I need to think of some wrong ideas? Li Xiang, you tell me—are we together smarter, or is my father alone smarter?”
Li Xiang was stunned. After hemming and hawing for a long time, he had no choice but to squeeze out a sentence through his teeth: “Uncle Yun is smarter!”
Yun Shou laughed heartily, patted Li Xiang’s back and said: “You know it too? My father’s words are best listened to. Since he said not to seek outsiders, then don’t seek them.”
Li Xiang shook his head and said: “My heart is burning with anxiety. I can’t wait any longer. Whatever consequences there are, I’ll bear them.”
Seeing Li Xiang’s mind was made up, Yun Shou no longer spoke further. Instead, he discussed with Li Xiang the matter of entering the academy next year. He was full of yearning for the academy, but Li Xiang didn’t quite agree. He believed he should receive a different kind of education. No matter how abstruse and strange the imperial family’s education was, he single-mindedly wanted to complete his studies of emperorship.
After leaving the Crown Prince’s residence, he took He Lan and went directly back to Yushan. He planned to stay at his maternal grandfather’s house at Yushan during this time, not returning to the Yun household or to the capital. The external explanation was that he would study the Book of Documents with his grandfather.
The atmosphere in Chang’an still hadn’t improved. Zhang Jian was defeated at Jingang Mountain. Under circumstances where forty thousand Tang troops suffered more than half casualties, they had no choice but to retreat and defend Pyongyang. Niu Jinda, stationed at Baishi City, carried large quantities of supplies and arduously advanced into Goguryeo’s interior. Along the way, rebel subjects were everywhere, and the road damage situation was extremely serious—daily progress did not exceed thirty li.
Under such severe circumstances, the great victory Yun Ye achieved in the Western Regions was no longer mentioned by anyone. With Guo Xiaoke’s precedent as a warning, everyone held a pessimistic attitude about whether Zhang Jian could hold Pyongyang.
In the seventh month of that year, Zhang Liang’s Liaodong naval forces attacked and broke through Changkou Town from Jiao Island. The naval landing forces drove straight in. Zhang Liang personally led troops and engaged in battle at Nanpu with thirty thousand troops led by Xinluo’s great general Echuan. When the battle was at its fiercest, a Goguryeo savage suddenly rose up violently, tearing and biting Echuan’s neck, sucking three liters of fresh blood. In the midst of the great army, he actually drained the Xinluo commander’s fresh blood completely, yet not one of the thirty thousand troops dared to obstruct him. Zhang Liang took advantage to attack and kill, routing the enemy for three hundred li. Later, seeing the Goguryeo savage, he was greatly shocked—it turned out this child was precisely the cannibal he had seen on the road when Yun Ye escorted him back to Goguryeo. He then adopted him as a sworn son, naming him Blood Sucker.
The allied forces of Xinluo and Baekje had no choice but to stop attacking Zhang Jian and turn to pursue Zhang Liang’s army, which was conducting guerrilla warfare outside Pyongyang City. Zhang Liang led five thousand naval troops in battle for sixteen days. Everywhere he went, blood flowed like rivers. Helplessly, the disparity between enemy and our forces was extremely great, and he had no choice but to return to the sea again, seeking good opportunities to defeat the enemy. Zhang Jian gained a chance to catch his breath. The entire Liaodong battlefield once again fell into a stalemate.
Fang Xuanling put down the military report in his hands and let out a long sigh of relief. He hadn’t expected that the usually cowardly Zhang Liang would actually establish such merit this time. He had to admire the Emperor’s strategy of deploying generals—placing Zhang Liang, who bore a blood feud deep as the sea, in Liaodong was indeed farsighted.
Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, he saw Prince Changshan’s memorial. The entire memorial contained only one poem, “The White Cap”: “May I see the white cap, the vexed man weary and worn. My heart labors anxiously. May I see the white garment, my heart wounded with grief. I will simply return home with you. May I see the white covering, my heart wrapped in knots. I will simply be as one with you.”
Fang Xuanling’s heart jumped in alarm. He turned to the first page, where a line of large characters was written, titled: “Petition for Mother.” Seeing this title, Fang Xuanling’s vision darkened wave after wave. Forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart, he placed this document at the very bottom of the paperwork, wanting to reject this memorial—this was the only thing he could do for the Crown Prince.
What is “The White Cap”? This is a poem discussing compassion. The heart of compassion—all people possess it. This is to say that all normal people have a compassionate heart. It means placing oneself in the position of those who encounter misfortune, thinking for others, worrying for others, sharing in others’ misfortunes. This is one aspect of human nature, and also a manifestation of benevolent love and universal love.
But who caused the tragedy of the Crown Princess? It was precisely the current Emperor. She was a product of his power struggles. Even if it’s wrong, it cannot be said. It relates to Hou Junji’s rebellion—who dares to get involved?
It must be said the Crown Prince had done fairly well these past few years. He never brought it up, never inquired about it. On the first and fifteenth of each month, he would lodge at the Cold Palace to accompany the former Crown Princess. He also had no plans to establish a new Crown Princess. This was merely expressing his innermost feelings to his father, considered fulfilling his husband-wife duty. Recently, hearing the Crown Princess was with child—this was the opportunity for the Crown Princess to return to the Eastern Palace. After the child was born, no matter what, the Emperor and Empress would not let the Crown Princess remain in the Cold Palace. This matter would be quietly resolved.
Now it was good—with Prince Changshan’s recklessness, he actually dared to accuse the Emperor of lacking compassion. The Emperor wouldn’t care about the life or death of a mere woman. Doing this would not only fail to have any effect but would instead place his own mother in a dangerous position.
Since the world-wide attack on Tang began, countless people had already been accusing the Emperor of being fond of great accomplishments and continuous warfare, which brought about such calamity. For this, the Emperor had already demoted no fewer than seven remonstrating officials.
At this time, once the reverse scale was touched, Prince Changshan’s fate would certainly be extremely miserable.
Once stubborn people drill into a dead end, they’re beyond saving. The reckless Prince Changshan actually changed into white clothes and white cap, kneeling before Wanmin Palace to plead for his mother. No matter how Li Yan Rong tried to obstruct him, he still alarmed the Emperor who was taking an afternoon nap.
The Crown Prince was far away in Yingzhou providing disaster relief—no matter what, he couldn’t arrive in time to prevent this. Fang Xuanling hurriedly ran to Wanmin Palace. Seeing the scene before his eyes, he nearly fainted.
Li Xiang actually recited “The White Cap” aloud before the Emperor’s face. Although trembling all over with fear, he still stubbornly read it word by word. Li Er’s complexion was as ferocious as a malevolent ghost. “May I see the white covering, my heart wrapped in knots. I will simply be as one with you.” Li Xiang persisted in finishing this poem. Before he could state his request, he heard the Emperor’s icy voice.
“Finished reciting? You are accusing me of lacking compassion? My grandson is accusing me of lacking compassion?” Li Er’s voice became shrill: “Who taught you to so successfully arouse my fury?”
Li Xiang raised his head, saw the Emperor Grandfather’s distorted face, and said dully: “Teacher Cheng taught me to say it.”
“Cheng Dayong? Your teacher? Li Xiang, if you wanted to seek counsel, why not ask someone sensible? Why did you have to ask a mere pedantic scholar?” Li Er suddenly wasn’t angry anymore, and his voice also became calm.
Li Xiang’s body trembled like chaff, stammering: “Grandson asked Yun Shou. Yun Shou said his father had said long ago this matter cannot be raised or discussed, and will eventually slowly be resolved. Grandson also asked Inner Palace Chamberlain Li Yifu. Li Yifu said, ‘Why raise this matter now? There’s no necessity.'”
Speaking to here, Li Xiang’s voice suddenly rose three notches as he said hatefully: “They all look down on me, all were placating me. My mother is pregnant—she cannot remain in the Cold Palace any longer. If it continues like this, she’ll die. Only Teacher Cheng was willing to help me come up with an idea. He said as long as I recited this poem, it would certainly make you give rise to compassion. Imperial Grandfather, I beg you, spare my mother.”
Li Er’s complexion completely became calm. He walked forward to help Li Xiang up, carefully looked him over, and said in a gentle tone: “You inherited your father’s kindness and filial piety, but didn’t inherit your father’s wisdom. Never mind, kindness and filial piety are also two virtues—not wrong. You paid such a great price to plead for your mother—how could I not grant it? Someone, send Lady Su out of the palace!”
Immediately, palace servants rushed toward the Cold Palace to prepare matters for Lady Su’s departure from the palace.
“Elevate Prince Changshan Li Xiang to Prince Hengshan, commending his complete filial devotion.”
Fang Xuanling stood below the steps and painfully closed his eyes. Originally thinking the imperial family’s succession could peacefully and smoothly transmit for three generations—now everything had turned to bubbles.