Su Zhe felt a ripple of unease in her heart.

When a single person attains the Way, even the chickens and dogs of the household ascend to heaven. The Crown Prince had ascended the throne — the officials of the Eastern Palace would receive promotions.

Unfortunately, she was not a chicken or a dog. She was a woman.

Wanting a promotion — of course she did. But it was genuinely difficult. Su Zhe held onto hope, yet knew full well how hard it was. She also knew that Zhù Ying would not let her suffer an injustice — but that would cost Zhù Ying a great deal of effort, and at a moment like this, the cost was not worth it.

Zhù Ying had already been more than good enough to her, and had already expended far too much effort on her behalf. When she was small, she had harbored the thought that “Grandfather favors me in order to display the court’s broad-mindedness” — she had understood from very early on that her identity served another purpose as well. But in the past decade, especially since Zhù Ying had returned to the capital, that aspect of her identity was worth no more than a transaction — certainly not worth the way Zhù Ying treated her.

Su Zhe grew ever more grateful for all the years of cultivation Zhù Ying had given her, and all the more willing to think on Zhù Ying’s behalf. She didn’t know what a normal father was like, but she knew that a “normal” father would never have given a daughter the kind of guidance she had received.

She got ahead of Zhù Ying before she could speak. “Grandfather, what will you do next?”

Zhù Ying said, “Navigate the various parties, more or less.”

Su Zhe felt a pang of sadness. Back in the days in Wuzhou — she now knew that Wuzhou was an obscure backwater of no great importance among the realm’s prefectures — Zhù Ying had governed an entire prefecture with commands that were immediately obeyed, and could accomplish so much. Now she had returned to the court and held authority over the finances of the whole realm — and the very first thing she had to do was “navigate.”

Su Zhe felt, without any particular cause, a rush of hatred for all the sanctimonious lords and ministers of the court!

Zhù Ying had no idea how many thoughts were turning in Su Zhe’s head at that moment.

She had never been one to harbor wishful thinking. By now she already had her plans laid out. Navigating among the various factions was one of her most important tasks — and it was something no one else could do for her. As for practical matters, she would squeeze in time for those.

She patted Su Zhe’s shoulder and said, “The officials of the Crown Prince’s Household Administration will all be reassigned to new positions. In these coming days, you and Lin Feng are not to step forward or make trouble — if someone manages to get hold of your weaknesses, then we’ll have a hard time making plans with any ease.”

Su Zhe heard this and grew anxious at once. “No need! Don’t worry about us first! He and I — southern peoples — the court will treat us as decorative pieces, but it won’t withhold some benefit entirely. You go and deal with your real business first. If you are delayed even slightly because of me, I will never forgive myself for as long as I live.”

Zhù Ying was mildly surprised. “What has gotten into you today?”

She felt, for the first time, a small stirring of anxiety. She was not very good at raising children and did not really know the thoughts of a girl of twenty or so growing up normally. She had never had that kind of experience herself and had no way to grasp what such feelings were like.

Su Zhe steadied herself and said in a low voice, “Xian Jing, who was Grand Official of the Crown Prince’s Household, has been promoted to Chancellor. And there is still Counsellor Zheng in the Grand Council — they’ll be at each other’s throats before long. While immortals are fighting, we common folk had better prepare early. Even if I remain at court, I’m not much use there. We have to have a sense of priorities…”

She made every effort to appear calm and rational — only by doing so could she make Zhù Ying take what she said seriously.

Zhù Ying said, “Understood.”

Su Zhe could not tell whether she was truly thinking it over seriously, and for a moment lost her words.

Zhù Ying’s last few days had been flat and dull. It was only now, seeing this little one standing there with a solemn face, pressing her with earnest eyes, that her spirits lifted somewhat. She smiled with mild amusement and patted Su Zhe’s cap: “Go home and rest a while, then bring Lin Feng back to the Eastern Palace — keep watch there for these next few days.”

Su Zhe was soothed by that single smile: “Yes!” She reflexively made to gather her skirt and run, then spun back around. “Grandfather, will the Eastern Palace have trouble?”

Zhù Ying said, “The central palace still has occupants — they can’t finish moving out all at once, and the new Empress and the others will need to keep living in the Eastern Palace for now.”

“I see!” Su Zhe called out and dashed away.

——

The light relief ended there. What followed was the familiar, well-worn tedium.

Zhù Ying had not been giving Su Zhe an offhand reply. What she had to do next fell into two categories — appropriating funds to dig the late Emperor’s tomb, and spending money on the new Emperor’s household.

Zhù Ying at last returned to the Ministry of Revenue.

The senior officials of the Ministry of Revenue had been busy performing ritual lamentations at set hours each day, while the subordinate officials below them ran themselves ragged. The moment they saw Zhù Ying return, they had found their pillar of strength at last. Ye Deng and Li Yuan came forward together: “Has the Grand Council issued a deadline yet?”

Zhù Ying said, “Deadline or no deadline, never mind — tell them to come to me one thing at a time.”

She first called everyone together for a meeting. “Li Yuan, you take half the staff and manage the routine affairs. Whatever was done at this time of year in previous years, continue doing the same now; you need not deal with anything else. If anyone asks you, tell them to come find me.”

Li Yuan felt greatly relieved: “Yes!”

“Ye Deng, you take the other half, and focus on the following matters — the funds and provisions for the imperial mausoleum construction and its labor requisitions; the repair of palace chambers for the Empress Dowager; and once the Empress Dowager moves to new quarters, the renovation of the central palace and other chambers so that the Empress may relocate. Preparations of money and silk for the new Emperor’s enthronement ceremonies. All the various rituals will take place after the national mourning period. For all disbursements of funds — do not release everything at once. Give them only as much as the work completed warrants. Release it in installments — sometimes once every half month, sometimes once a month. If anyone tells you that you are being stingy with them, send them to find me.”

“Yes.”

With the tasks divided, the Ministry of Revenue was busy — but hearts were lighter.

Li Yuan and Ye Deng were in no hurry to leave, and asked with a smile: “My Lord, I suppose another promotion is on its way for you?”

Zhù Ying waved her hand. “The nation has suffered a bereavement — at a time like this, no one should be thinking of their own gains. Let us first do our work well.”

“Yes.”

Ye Deng asked that Zhao Su be given to him as a deputy. Zhù Ying said, “All right, he’s yours.”

Li Yuan could only regret having been too slow. He had lost his chance!

Like mentor, like disciple — Zhao Su had spent so many years at Zhù Ying’s side and had absorbed a few genuine lessons. With someone like him to work under, things would be much smoother.

Li Yuan went off with mild frustration to handle the same dull, painstaking work he had done year after year. Ah, it was the second month already — time to prepare for the spring plowing. A finicky, tedious task.

Ye Deng, meanwhile, wore a contented smile. He said to Zhao Su, “Off to work we go.”

The Ministry of Revenue had experience in these matters. Every time an Emperor died, the Ministry had a set number of tasks to attend to. Not being required to draw up the entire plan for everything all at once made things considerably lighter for Ye Deng. He brought Zhao Su with him, first pulled out the old files from the time they had worked with Shi Kun on the previous succession, extracted the sums to be disbursed in the early stages, then drafted a document and sent it to the relevant offices, inquiring about the progress on the Empress Dowager’s palace renovations. Another document was sent to the Ministry of Rites to inquire about the progress of the enthronement ceremony and other preparations.

The first item still required him to estimate an overall sum; for the later items, he could wait until the other offices returned their replies.

Shortly afterward, he arranged several documents on Zhù Ying’s desk: “They will certainly ask for more than they need!”

Zhù Ying said, “I know. I’ll go to the Grand Council myself to discuss it — I won’t be handing out whatever they ask for.”

Ye Deng left with peace of mind. Zhao Su took the opportunity to linger. Zhù Ying asked, “What is it?”

Zhao Su asked the same question Su Zhe had asked: “What will become of you? Counsellor Zheng has returned early. Xian Jing, the former Grand Official of the Crown Prince’s Household, has been made Chancellor. Yao Zhen is coming back too. And you?”

Zhù Ying laughed. “What would I want to happen? Who told you that everything is already settled for all of them?”

Zhao Su said, “They are bound to fight over it — greed knows no limits. Once they start fighting, you’ll be caught in the middle and it won’t be pleasant. If we don’t expand our strength now while we have the chance, so that they can’t use you as a pawn, we’ll have a hard time of it later.”

He had been somewhat on edge these past few days — and this was not like last time. Last time, when an Emperor who had reigned for forty years passed away, he had not felt alarmed. The court had been so stable then! And now? Who could have imagined: in only six years, the court had changed beyond all recognition.

Zhù Ying said, “But there is still me.”

Zhao Su let out a deep sigh. “But it is too exhausting. The new Son of Heaven…” This Emperor, as Crown Prince, had always seemed impetuous and restless to Zhao Su. Zhao Su did not have great confidence in him.

Zhù Ying said, “Then take on more of the burden for me.”

Zhao Su, surprisingly, agreed with great seriousness: “Yes.”

Zhù Ying said, “Go now. In the next few days I’m bound to be clashing with them, so you and Younger Sister and the others keep a closer eye on things at home.”

“Yes.” Zhao Su answered gravely, gave Zhù Ying a deep bow, and turned to leave.

Zhù Ying reviewed the documents once and sent them out, then took the budget for the imperial mausoleum construction with her to the Grand Council.

——

The atmosphere of the Grand Council was quiet and oppressive. Many people were inside who had come from the mourning rituals to continue their official duties, and everyone’s complexion was not quite right.

From the weeping.

There was also an undercurrent of unease among those inside — take a look at who was here! Counsellor Chen’s temper was decent enough, but he was endlessly fussy. Counsellor Zheng and Counsellor Xian were at odds with each other — they struck sparks every few minutes throughout the day. You could see them at it without a single raised voice or flushed face, yet the instant you let your guard down you couldn’t follow the barbs they were trading.

Counsellor Dou burned with impatient fire — standing too close to him made you fear the sparks would fly onto you.

And then there was Counsellor Li — dispatched to the mausoleum construction. The construction of the mausoleum was also a Chancellor’s role! He still liked to weigh in on many things, even things he didn’t really understand — and then he asked questions.

With four such men at the top, even clever, ambitious people who wanted to curry favor had to think carefully before throwing themselves in — after all, each of the four had their own established faction. Getting pulled in too deep was an easy way to become cannon fodder.

Look — and here came yet another… Oh, it was Minister Zhù. Well, that was hardly cannon fodder.

Zhù Ying had no shortage of familiar faces in the Grand Council, and when she came today, people bowed and clasped their hands in greeting, though their eyes had all turned cautious.

The most oblivious soul in the Grand Council — still innocent to the court’s full ferocity — called out in goodwill as she passed by: “The Chancellors are arguing.”

Zhù Ying said, “Is that so? Then I’ll wait for them to finish.”

She said it lightly. Even this blue-robed young official found himself smiling a little.

Zhù Ying strolled to the window, listening as Zheng Xi and Xian Jing argued inside. The dispute had begun over the drafting of various edicts for the new ruler’s enthronement, the composition of documents for the ceremonies, and the many other writing tasks that needed to be done. Since Liu Songnian had left and not returned, Chen Meng had proposed that Yang Jing handle the most important drafts — a proposal that met with general agreement. Chief Minister Li had wanted to write the funerary eulogy for the late Emperor himself, but this was overruled by the new ruler, who wished to find a man of literary distinction for the task, so Yang Jing received one more assignment.

Xian Jing therefore said that with so much on Yang Jing’s plate, the smaller writing tasks could not also be his to bear — Xian Jing felt Yu Qingquan should be recalled.

Zheng Xi heard this and did not object, for he also wanted to have Chai Lingyuan brought back.

To recall Chai Lingyuan — Xian Jing did not immediately raise his own brother Xian Yujing, but pushed for several other officials who had been expelled from the capital to be recalled as well.

So it became: you recall yours, I recall mine; you raise the stakes, I raise mine — until Chen Meng, watching from the side, looked like his face had turned green. Chen Meng looked around — Dou Peng was nowhere to be seen. Dou Peng, the most senior member of the Grand Council, was currently explaining matters of state to the new ruler.

Chen Meng could contain himself no longer: “You two — can you give the Ministry of Personnel even two days of peace?!”

Zhù Ying was listening as Chen Meng held his own against two men, enumerating the people they both wanted recalled: “Every demotion had its reasons! They have not a single distinguished achievement to their name — how can they simply be called back to the center of power? This is nothing but treating the court’s laws as a joke! Absolutely not!”

Xian Jing said, “These are men of use.”

Zheng Xi glanced down at the list — it was perhaps somewhat long, but not excessively so, was it? He said in a measured tone to Chen Meng, “A new reign, new and uplifting governance.”

Chen Meng’s head was buzzing: “New governance must also leave others room to breathe? Men of use? They must at least be usable material. What is the point of dragging in a piece of deadwood?”

Xian Jing replied with some irritation: “How is it deadwood?”

“How is it not?” Chen Meng shot back. “What has he actually done? Does he have no accounting of himself?”

Zheng Xi stepped in once more to smooth things over: “Why not let the matter be decided by the Emperor?”

Chen Meng genuinely wanted to roll his eyes. “I would be too embarrassed to bring this before His Majesty! The two of you — please, just think for a moment: if all these people are recalled, is there still room to place anyone else? Counsellor Xian, you still have the old Eastern Palace staff to arrange, don’t you? Or does that no longer matter? And Counsellor Zheng — surely you also need to make room for the Empress Dowager’s and the Empress’s families from the outer clans?”

He himself, Chen Meng; his in-law Shi Kun; and for that matter his brother-in-arms Zhù Ying — were they just going to stand aside and watch? Do not push things too far!

Zheng Xi responded quickly: “Of course those matters will be handled! We can shift things around — the Ministry of Personnel conducts reviews and removes some who are unfit.”

With a change of reign, personnel naturally changed as well.

Chen Meng said, “Can we first get the situation stable?”

Zheng Xi said, “Fine.”

Xian Jing also first produced the list of Eastern Palace officials, setting the matter of Yu Qingquan aside for now.

Zhù Ying waited until they had stopped arguing before having someone announce her. The imperial mausoleum was a major affair — all three Chancellors heard her report. Chen Meng supported Zhù Ying; since Zhù Ying had arranged it this way, there was certainly good reason. Chen Meng only asked one thing: “Monthly disbursements?”

Zhù Ying said, “Monthly is still too often, in my view — I would prefer every three to five days. Otherwise, even if we release the funds, where are they to store them? The Ministry of Revenue’s own vaults are far safer.”

Zheng Xi raised no objection; Xian Jing could find no fault in it either.

With the business concluded, the atmosphere turned somewhat peculiar. Zheng Xi said, “Your work has always been swift and thorough. Still, you must take care of yourself — there is still a long stretch ahead.”

Zhù Ying said, “I already have a handle on things; I’m not tired. The Counsellors must take care of themselves as well.”

After that mutual courtesy, Chen Meng was looking genuinely pained. He pointed toward the main hall and said, “Oh — it’s time again. Shall we go together?”

Time for another lamentation at the bier.

The area before the bier was not very peaceful either. Zhù Ying could see the Prince of Wei and others huddled together, weeping pitiably, their heads bowing occasionally for hushed exchanges among themselves. These princes had been unruly for ten years now — and after all this time, they still had not given up.

Zhù Ying genuinely wanted to drag them all off to the Court of Judicial Review.

The Prince of Wei was bad enough; another nuisance was Mu Chengzhou. For all that he had been given such a fine sister, Empress Dowager Mu had offered him a splendid opportunity, and he had squandered it, bringing shame upon both the Empress Dowager and the new Emperor.

His official post had been stripped by the new Emperor in a fit of anger. He now held only a title of nobility granted on account of his connection to the Empress Dowager’s family.

He hovered and lurked, also eager for a “revival,” but the new Emperor paid him no mind. So he sidled over toward the Grand Council, making himself especially warm and agreeable toward Chen Meng.

Zheng Xi, seeing this, curled a faint, contemptuous smile, and paid Mu Chengzhou no further attention.

The new ruler watched the scene unfolding before him, his head throbbing in a slow, steady beat. He was also deeply exasperated. When he had been Crown Prince, he had always felt his father was not quite up to the standard, and had harbored the treasonous thought of “if it were me instead…” But now that he sat in this seat himself, he truly understood for the first time: being the Emperor was not easy!

Take what was right before him now!

Did he particularly like Xian Jing? No! But he could not allow Zheng Xi to dominate everything unchecked! He had a fairly good impression of Chen Meng, but Chen Meng still fell short of what he envisioned a “virtuous Chancellor” to be. Dou Peng was equally a man consigned to a life of toil. Shi Kun had the ability — yet his age was too advanced; he could not be used for long. As for Chief Minister Li, he was there purely to fill the numbers — once the mausoleum was complete, let him retire!

When all was calculated, Zheng Xi was still somewhat useful — yet he dared not entrust everything to him.

Behind each of these men, webs of interest were deeply intertwined. How to maintain a balance tested a young ruler’s every resource.

The new ruler was vexed. His thoughts wandered. After weeping at the bier, he barely listened to the report on the mausoleum construction that had been submitted. He gave only a vague nod. When it came to the personnel appointments reported by Zheng Xi and the others, he also did not listen carefully, saying merely, “Write up a memorial for me to read.” He planned to go over the list at leisure.

Because of that one remark, he had given himself another headache.

The following day, the new ruler held a small court session.

Mu Chengzhou shamelessly stepped forward and said, “When the late Emperor ascended the throne, he granted several Chancellors the privilege of establishing their own government offices. Does Your Majesty intend to be less generous than the late Emperor?”

The privilege of establishing a government office — who would not want that?

The Emperor did not want it.

The new ruler’s accession was nothing like the late Emperor’s. The late Emperor had faced genuine danger; the Chancellors had steadfastly supported him through a crisis, and of course they deserved greater reward. The new ruler’s enthronement had been entirely smooth — to then grant the Chancellors the privilege of their own offices?

The new ruler suspected that his maternal uncle had struck some sort of deal with the Chancellors.

The new ruler said, “The late Emperor’s remains are not yet cold. You say — am I not as good as the late Emperor, or am I better? Chancellors — what do you say?!”

Mu Chengzhou started to speak again, but found himself pinned by his nephew’s gaze, which carried an immense, piercing pressure. He gave a start and dared not say another word.

Zheng Xi and the others hastily prostrated themselves. The privilege of their own offices — of course they wanted it. But Mu Chengzhou was truly incapable of saying anything right! How could he put a new ruler who was already not particularly enthusiastic in a position where he had no graceful way to respond?

Chen Meng even wondered if Mu Chengzhou had done it deliberately — framing things in such a way that the Emperor had no good way to respond, and thus the question of the offices could be shelved for the time being.

What a pair you and your nephew make! Chen Meng thought.

The new ruler withdrew his sleeve and left.

This time Chen Meng was wrong to suspect the new ruler. He genuinely did not want to grant the Chancellors their own offices — but he would absolutely never have discussed such a thing with Mu Chengzhou! This was entirely Mu Chengzhou acting on his own initiative.

The new ruler went in agitation to find Empress Dowager Mu: “This was not the kind of thing to say openly! What on earth was he thinking? And didn’t they say he fell off his horse? He recovered this quickly?”

Empress Dowager Mu said, “Did you actually want him to really break both his legs?”

“Well, that would truly have been heaven’s mercy,” the new ruler said. “His life would have been preserved, and so would my dignity.”

Empress Dowager Mu heard these words and sensed something off. She quickly said, “He has never borne great responsibilities before…”

“And let him not bear them in the future either — lest he make a mess of things,” the new ruler said without ceremony. “For Mother’s sake, I will give him a life of ease and comfort. But if he takes office and breaks the law, I will not be able to protect him. I want a Wang Yunhe — and to have one, I must be an Emperor willing to support Wang Yunhe in punishing the Empress Dowager’s family.”

Empress Dowager Mu was taken aback, and tears came to her eyes. “Would I ever want to make things difficult for you?”

The new ruler realized he had spoken out of turn and apologized to Empress Dowager Mu. Mother and son made up at last. Empress Dowager Mu did not raise Mu Chengzhou again; the new ruler said no more about punishing him.

Empress Dowager Mu asked her son to stay for dinner. The new ruler had just smiled and agreed when a eunuch came to report that the Prince of Wei requested an audience — on an urgent matter.

Empress Dowager Mu said, “You have important business — go. He is the late Emperor’s brother; you must show him proper courtesy and not give anyone grounds to criticize.”

The new ruler said, “I’ll be back shortly.”

——

Between uncle and nephew, the roles were now settled. The Prince of Wei was inwardly bitter with resentment. He looked down on the King of Zhao, and toward this nephew before him he harbored the sentiment of “being his nephew is just right — being his subject is deeply disagreeable.”

And this wretched nephew had even given him a promotion that was in truth a demotion! Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince — and where was the Crown Prince?

The Prince of Wei still gritted his teeth and endured.

Mu Chengzhou had given him an opening — one more chance to persuade the new ruler to rely more heavily on the imperial clansmen.

The new ruler was not particularly interested in relying on the imperial clan. He said, “The royal uncles are all of an age where they should be enjoying life. The younger brothers have lost their father and are still young — they should be studying hard. Everything rests with me.”

The Prince of Wei said earnestly, “These are surface matters — people outside your own blood will never spell things out plainly for you. Your Majesty, consider what happened at court today: what Mu Chengzhou said about the Chancellors — were they willing or unwilling? They have already reached the summit of worldly honor. And what comes next?

Since the late Emperor passed away, many things have already changed. There are now factions in the court — who belongs to whom is plain to see. Zheng Xi was almost certainly brought back by Zhù Ying. Chen Meng and Shi Kun are of one camp.

Who does Your Majesty have? Xian Jing? If only Wang Yunhe were still alive — that would be someone to lean on. After Wang Yunhe’s passing, there are no more ministers of pure devotion.

Your Majesty — who can be your arm and your strength?”