“Your daughter is lucky to be marrying my son. In this lifetime, I don’t seek power or wealth—I only seek father’s kindness and son’s filial piety, and a prosperous family business. So when a child comes to my family, she becomes my child. I’ll dote on her endlessly—who would make her suffer? Your Eastern Palace is a complete mess right now. With the mistress of the household absent, those concubines must be causing an uproar, right? Stop leaving my daughter-in-law to suffer in your muddy pit. Do you know why I have such patience? Because having no desires means having no demands. Having no demands from your Li family, I can jump outside the Three Realms and beyond the Five Elements.”
“Calling you brother was already against protocol. You are the sovereign, I am the subject. You don’t have the airs of a sovereign, and I don’t have the awareness of being a subject. The old fellows regard ritual propriety as more important than life itself, considering it the foundation for establishing the moral hierarchy system.”
“The main tower of Liu Hongji’s house was built three inches higher than the Cold Palace in the imperial palace. Haha! Yu Zhining actually brought a ladder and personally climbed onto Liu Hongji’s main tower, stubbornly sawing off four inches from the roof’s evil-warding beast head. Old Liu was so angry he nearly grabbed his iron spear to fight Yu Zhining to the death. If you go look now, what’s crouching on Old Liu’s rooftop is a headless evil-warding divine beast.”
“When I was calling you brother, Old Liu pursed his lips so hard at Yu Zhining they nearly twisted sideways. Old Yu pretended not to see, making Old Liu so angry he threw down his chopsticks, thinking this was the old fellows deliberately bullying him.”
Li Chengqian was painting. Not painting lotus flowers in summer would truly be a pity. He Shao’s grand mansion had a huge pond where lotus flowers bloomed brilliantly. Who knew how this fellow cultivated his lotus—the lotus buds emerging from the water were as big as Yun Ye’s fist. Li Chengqian specially selected a large sheet of paper. He spent an entire day doing nothing else but painting a “Proud Lotus in Summer” painting. Whether in composition or conception, it was superb. The lotus leaves outlined with iron-wire technique lost a bit of charm but gained several degrees of strength. Most rare of all was that while painting, he managed to block out Yun Ye’s verbal bombardment, which made it even more remarkable.
“Come up with a poem to go on it. Write it on separate paper—I’ll copy it on in a bit. That way this painting will be complete. Whatever you do, don’t write it yourself. Your handwriting would ruin the painting.”
Li Chengqian set down the line brush in his hand, washed his hands in the water basin, and sat in a chair looking at his work with satisfaction.
“What do you mean ‘come up with a poem’? Can’t you say, ‘I request Brother Yun to display his great talent and compose a poem. With your poetry and my painting both superb, it will surely add luster to this “Proud Lotus in Summer” painting’? Isn’t that how you ask someone to write an inscription? Also, what do you mean my calligraphy would ruin this painting? I’ve been practicing hard lately and have already captured sixty percent of Wang Youjun’s essence. You don’t recognize quality!”
“Apart from your ‘Turtle Drawing,’ which is barely presentable, what else do you have? Don’t even mention your calligraphy. Never compare yourself to Wang Youjun—be careful he doesn’t crawl out of his grave at night to find you. Hurry up! This painting is to be sent to my mother empress. We cannot be negligent. Her birthday is approaching. How is your gift prepared? It absolutely must not be a ‘Turtle Drawing.’ Now all of Chang’an knows that turtles are cursing words for old people who won’t die. If you send that, my mother empress will die of anger.”
“Qingque is preparing phoenixes. Doesn’t it say that however many times the phoenix calls, that’s how many years of dynastic fortune the imperial court will have? In his letter to me, he said he’s training those phoenixes to call without stopping for three days and three nights. The gift I’m giving to Her Majesty is a boat—the entire vessel made of rouge wood. It would be flipped over by one wave at sea, but in Qujiang Pond, it’s definitely more stable than a magnolia boat.”
While speaking, Yun Ye’s hands weren’t idle either. On a sheet of paper, he wrote down Li Qingzhao’s “One Cut Plum Blossom”: “Red lotus fragrance fades, jade mat turns to autumn. Lightly loosening silk garments, alone boarding the orchid boat. Who in the clouds sends brocade letters? When wild geese return, the moon fills the western tower. Flowers drift of their own accord, water flows by itself. One kind of longing, two places of idle sorrow. This feeling cannot be eliminated—just descended from the brows, yet risen to the heart.”
After reading it, Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment, then said with a sigh, “The lyric poem is naturally excellent, but I painted iron-wire lotus flowers, naturally symbolizing my mother empress’s strong character. Is your lyric poem appropriate for this painting? A woman’s gentleness and melancholy are completely expressed in your lyric. This isn’t what my mother empress likes to see.”
“It would be strange if she didn’t like it! Not one person in your Li family understands women’s hearts. His Majesty is the same. Her Majesty followed His Majesty her whole life through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. If she wasn’t strong, she was forced to become strong. Now that the realm is firmly settled and she’s preparing to live a few good days as a woman should, who knew that in a blink you father and son would be at each other’s throats again. Regardless of what purpose it serves, the one hurt most in the middle is Her Majesty. Making Her Majesty cry loudly to relieve her feelings might not work, so let her express herself through literature. Let me tell you, people who are strong their whole life inevitably have short lives. For women, shedding tears is their nature—being sentimental is their right. Your iron-wire lotus painting represents Her Majesty’s strong side. My lyric poem represents a woman’s tender side. I think the lyric and painting—one firm, one gentle—perfectly complement each other. Most suitable. Though it’s not very festive, you can give it to Her Majesty privately.”
This speech made Li Chengqian feel melancholic. He closed his eyes to rest his spirit for a while. Waiting for his emotions to calm, he carefully and neatly copied Li Qingzhao’s “One Cut Plum Blossom” onto the painting. The entire work had no signature—only a full page of iron-wire lotus flowers and one mournfully poignant new lyric.
Li Er stayed in Shandong for a long time, repeatedly hosting banquets for Shandong’s powerful clans. One couldn’t see any discord between them at all. During the feasts, their toasts and exchanges were proper and measured—neither intimate nor awkward. When the forty-two-year-old Li Er actually held a halberd and sang Cao Cao’s “Short Ballad” under the great moon, Yun Ye finally understood that Li Er would absolutely not compromise.
The singing was very interesting. Sitting in his seat, he sang in a low voice: “While drinking wine and singing songs, how long does life last? Like morning dew, days of suffering are many. Feelings should be generous, worries hard to forget. What can dissolve sorrow? Only Du Kang wine.” After singing these lines, all the military officials shouted loudly: “Your Majesty need not worry! If any are disloyal, this subject will relieve your worries!”
Li Er laughed heartily, rose from his seat, and came specifically to Cui Yanshou’s table, waving his long halberd and singing: “Green, green is your collar, long, long is my heart. But for your sake, I ponder deeply until now.”
Seeing Cui Yanshou’s expression change, he shifted his tune and came to the seat of Wang Ben, head of the Langya Wang family, continuing to sing: “The deer calls yo-yo, eating wild apples in the field. I have honored guests, playing zither and blowing sheng. Bright as the moon—when can it be grasped? Worries arise from within, cannot be cut off.”
Finally, he came to the Yangxia Xie clan and sang: “Crossing paths and fields, troubling you with visits. Though far apart, feasting together, my heart remembers old favors.”
The head of the Xie family prostrated himself in obeisance.
Having attended to all the great clan heads, Li Er waved his long halberd like a wheel while finishing with: “Moon bright, stars sparse, crows and magpies fly south. Circling the tree three times—which branch can they depend on? Mountains never tire of being high, seas never tire of being deep. Duke of Zhou spat out his food—all under heaven returned to his heart.”
When the song finished, the heads of Shandong’s powerful clans looked ashen, while various court officials praised endlessly. Yun Ye quietly explained the Emperor’s song meaning to Old Cheng.
“Uncle Cheng, what His Majesty’s song means is that human life is like morning dew—when the sun comes out it disappears. It’s very brief, yet there are many things to do. What can eliminate my worries?”
“As for the Cui family—I’ve always been concerned about your house. Your family business is large with many followers. I’ve always been very worried, so I’m very concerned about you. Then he said to the Wang family: The realm is like a grass-eating fat deer, calling yo-yo and lovable—everyone wants to obtain it. You Wang family used to be my honored guests, but your family has grown very large these years, making me very worried. In comparison, His Majesty was very gentle toward the Yangxia Xie family, telling them your family has always supported me—I’m someone who remembers old favors and won’t forget past friendship. Finally, His Majesty sang that my heart for killing is like crows flying all over the sky—I don’t know whose house they’ll land on. As long as you divide your families, I’ll magnanimously forgive you.”
Old Cheng nodded: “So His Majesty wants to strike at two families and win over one—this is a dividing strategy. He didn’t say it explicitly, but Uncle here always feels like something is missing.”
“That’s right. According to precedent, His Majesty should now stab someone to death with his long halberd. So Uncle, you see His Majesty is searching all around—he’s looking for a scapegoat. At this time, one absolutely must not say ‘circling the tree three times—which branch can they depend on.’ This line is inauspicious. Back when Cao Cao’s Grand Music Director said this line, he was stabbed to death with one halberd thrust. Let’s just drink nicely and not be the scapegoat.”
Not only were Yun Ye and Old Cheng keeping their heads down focusing on eating and drinking, but anyone with any learning in their belly carefully shrank their bodies. Xu Jingzong simply pulled over an attendant and quietly inquired, having this attendant block in front of him.
The Music Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices’ face turned green then white, not knowing whether he should criticize His Majesty for singing inauspicious lines, then properly be stabbed to death by Li Er with one halberd thrust, finally earning glory for his clan.
The Great Tang never lacked people of extraordinary courage. Chu Suiliang, who had come all the way to welcome Li Er, stood up and said: “Your Majesty, when Cao Cao composed this song years ago, he suffered crushing defeat and fled at the Battle of Red Cliffs. Though Your Majesty now returns in glory, chanting this song is still improper. Shandong’s Cui, Wang, and Xie three families are also Your Majesty’s subjects. What matter cannot be discussed sitting down? Why must you coerce them with military force? If the three families violated prohibitions, send a minor official to arrest them and imprison them—that would suffice. There’s absolutely no need to go to such lengths. It damages Your Majesty’s benevolent virtue.”
It’s over! Chu Suiliang was seeking death. He’d only just been brought back from the south, and now he was seeking death himself—he couldn’t blame others. The heads of the Cui, Wang, and Xie three families quickly left their seats and kowtowed beneath Li Er’s long halberd, displaying an appearance of accepting whatever punishment came.
The words couldn’t be spoken explicitly! If spoken explicitly, apart from embarrassment there would only be more embarrassment. Li Er had painstakingly sung his song only to bring out about this result—how could he not be so angry his Three Corpse Spirits jumped violently?
From far away, he saw Li Er’s nose turn red—this was the precursor to his true fury. Chu Suiliang still stood in the great hall, turning a blind eye to the gleaming cold light of the horse halberd in Li Er’s hand, as if just waiting for Li Er to thrust the horse halberd into his chest.
Zhangsun Wuji was about to speak but was stopped by Li Er, who said coldly: “Throughout my life, I’ve traversed the realm with no match. Wielding my halberd in campaigns across all directions for ten years before pacifying the realm. Pacifying the realm uses military force, settling the realm uses civil affairs. Now I carry the might of great victory, using the horse halberd in my hand to educate all people—what is improper about this? Chu Suiliang, how dare you!”